22-25 Dec. 2018 Christmas in Houston

We had a busy Christmas in Houston. Sunday morning we joined Cynthia, Felix and Ava (Felix’s daughter) to go to church. They attend the Methodist Church in the Woodlands for the last day of Advent service. The church is huge with over 12,000 members. They have three church venues going at the same time, one being a more traditional service (which we attended), another for younger members and another for millennia’s.  The service was very good. We then all went to lunch in the Market street mall. The place was swamped and finding a place to park the big truck was tough but we persevered. Following lunch we went our separate ways to finish up Christmas Shopping.

 

Christmas tree at the Woodlands Market Place

Later that day Cynthia and Felix joined us to go to The Heights theater to see Bruce Robinson and Kelly Willis in concert. It was the final show in their Christmas tour. It was an excellent concert and we all had a great time.

 

Leslie with Bruce Robinson and Kelly Willis

Monday morning David made some of Aunt Marjory’s date nut cookies to take over Christmas Day. We went through the few cook books and recipes we had brought with us in the RV and realized the cookie recipe was 300 miles away lost somewhere in a large storage unit. So David texted his cousins to see if they had it. His cousin Beth went through her Mom’s recipe box and found the recipe. But what was funny was the recipe was an email from David’s Dad to Aunt Marjory and listed it as David’s recipe! David had gotten the recipe from his Aunt Marjory in a hand written note. He later sent it to his Dad, who then copied it into his on line recipe book, which at some point he had emailed it back to Aunt Marjory! Funny how these things work!

David also took advantage of the beautiful weather to climb up on the roof of the Wanderer to wax some areas that are easiest to reach from the top verses trying to stand on the ladder to reach. This finished off the front of the fiver and started the waxing down the sides.

Later on Monday, we went to Lauren and Brian’s (and Olivia’s) for a Christmas eve dinner. Brian’s parents (Edward and Mary) and brothers (Adam and Kyle) made the traditional Troianello Christmas Dinner of Prime Rib steaks with mushroom cream gravy.  It was a fantastic meal. That was followed up with the opening of family gifts. Little Olivia received a mound of Christmas gifts for her first Christmas. We think she had more fun with the paper than most of the gifts. But she did take a liking to the talking Christmas Bear (it recites the Christmas Story) we gave her. It was a happy and fun evening. We really enjoyed getting to know Brian’s family better. Edward and Mary are thinking about buying a RV, so we had plenty to talk about! ;-)

 

Brian and Kyle cooking dinner with Lauren and Mary looking on.

Mound of gifts for Olivia (Brian, Olivia and Lauren in front, Cynthia, Edward, Adam in the back and Felix's son Andrew to right side)

Lauren and Olivia with her Elvis Onesie

Christmas Day we were up early to make the dishes we were bringing over to Cynthia and Felix’s house for yet another magnificent meal. Afterward we all sat around and caught up on the topics of the day. It was another fun and relaxing day. We left Etta behind at Cynthia’s and drove back to the Wanderer early since we needed to pack for our trip to Ohio to visit David’s family. 

Christmas Day feast (Left to right: Cynthia, Leslie, Adam, Kyle and Lauren)

Olivia in fur!

20-21 Dec. 2018 Benson Christmas

Leslie’s Mom, Diane, drove down from Dallas today. Leslie and her Sister, Cynthia, met up with her at Chuy’s for some lunch before coming out to the Wanderer (David was stuck on telecons for work).  After some relaxation time we loaded up presents and drove over to Leslie’s Niece’s (Lauren) house. We unloaded gifts but decided to go out for dinner before we opened gifts. We had a great dinner and got to sample some great bourbons at the Refuge before heading back to Lauren and Brian’s. Little Olivia was a doll. Everyone took a turn holding her and keeping her entertained and she was a delight. The restaurant staff even came by and said she was the best behaved baby they had ever seen. Full of good food and fine spirits, we tore into the Christmas gifts! Little Olivia was not quite sure what to make of all this wrapping paper and boxes. She had a good time pulling tissue paper out of a bag and then playing with the bag! But really did not care about her gifts. 

 

4 Generations of Benson girls!

After the gifts were all opened and the mess cleaned up, we headed back to the Wanderer. Leslie’s Mom decided to stay with us for the night. Of course Leslie, Cynthia and their Mom were up to 3 in the morning catching up. Diane was up early anyways to drive back to Dallas in the hope of beating the worst of the holiday traffic. In the afternoon we drove up to Livingston to pick up our mail from the mail forwarding service so we could collect our Christmas cards. The traffic in Houston is terrible with everyone out panic shopping for Christmas. Once we got out of the Houston traffic we moved along pretty well. 

The Christmas Dinner Crew

17-19 Dec. 2018 The Usual

It’s been a quiet few days. David has been working to close out some tasks for his customers. He also decided that it was a good time to begin the job of waxing the Wanderer from end to end. At 43 feet long and 13 feet tall, there is a lot to wax! But he plans to do a section a day and figures he can finish before we pull out in February. 

16 Dec. 2018 Celebrate Good Time!

Leslie’s Sister and Brother in Law celebrated their 6^thanniversary tonight. They came over to the Wanderer with their friends Renee and Dan.  They are new to RVing and recently bought their starter RV and wanted to see ours. After the tour, 

hors d’oeuvres, and plenty of good wine, we went out for a wonderful dinner at Carrabbas. Cynthia and Felix came back to the Wanderer for a few more drinks before they headed out dancing till the wee hours. A good time was enjoyed by all. Happy anniversary Cynthia and Felix!

9-15 Dec. 2018 It’s That Time of year!

We took advantage of the nice weather to wash the Wanderer. It’s a lot of vehicle to wash. But it sure looked nice once all the road grime was cleaned off and the windows washed inside and out. 

Well, it’s the crush before Christmas. With David’s career there has always been a crush of things to get done before the holiday break. It’s no different this year as David’s customers squeeze in last minute meetings and tasks. This week David was off to Albuquerque most of the week for meetings. Leslie stayed home and wrapped Christmas gifts and got prepared for the holidays. While traveling through DFW, David came across the American Airlines Christmas Tree contest for which department had the best tree decorations. They all looked fantastic! 

American Airlines Christmas Trees 

American Airlines Christmas Trees 

When we pulled into this parking spot back in November, they had to trim back a tree that protruded over our bedroom slide out. What we did not notice was that the sucker was packed with acorns. They have been falling off and onto the roof of the Wanderer for the whole month and there seems to be no end in sight. Sometimes when they hit the roof it sounds like a bullet hitting. Other times it’s a gentle pop. Several times we have jumped out of bed when they hit hard in the middle of the night. Then when the winds blows you can hear them rolling across the roof. We keep hoping that it will run out of acorns at some point!

Acorn Bombing Pinto Oak

8 Dec. 2018 Tomball Market

Still looking to fulfill our Christkindle Market itch, we drove over to the Tomball Texas German Festival. It’s a bit different than a German Christkindle market since the vendors sell more than Christmas decorations and there are fair rides, nachos, polish foods, etc. But they had the key things we were looking for, Bratwurst and Glünwine! It helped put us into the Christmas Spirit!

Tomball Christkindle Market

Tomball Christmas Tree

Ferris Wheel at Tomball Christkindle Market

Ahhh, finally some German food and drink!!

3 - 7 Dec. 2018 UAI Reunited

We dropped Etta off at Cynthia’s for a few nights. Then we drove up to Fort Worth from Spring (3.9 hours). We left the Wanderer in Spring since this is a business trip. David had meetings in Downtown Fort Worth with the old program he used to be Chief Engineer of when he worked in Lockheed Martin. So it was like a reunion with his former colleagues. Leslie took the opportunity to visit with friends. When her former employer found out she was in town they invited her to a retirement party for one of her former colleagues. They also invited us to the Christmas Party for our former apartment building. Leslie had fun catching up with her work colleagues at the retirement party. On Wednesday evening we went over to Arlington to visit one of the largest Christkindle Markets in Texas.  Unfortunately the market had a falling out with the city when it was decided to move the market into the baseball park and charge admission ($11) and parking for what previously had been free. Some of the venders had already signed contracts with the city and were stuck. So the free portion was about one tenth the size. It was very disappointing. Thursday we caught up with doctor appointments and met with our financial advisor before going to the Sanger Lofts Christmas Party. We had a fun time catching up with friends and old neighbors. We even got to meet the man that moved into our old pent house apartment. We toured the Christmas Decorations in downtown. It made us feel nostalgic for our previous lives. But we drove home (Yes, the wanderer is Home) Friday. It was raining hard almost the whole way, but at least it was rain and not ice. 

Fort Worth Christmas Tree

Arlington Christkindle Market

Sanger Loft Christmas Party in Reata Restaurant

Cold and Wet Fort Worth

Santa Claus on the Stage in Sundance Square

26 Nov. – 2 Dec. 2018 Houston Homework

David’s consulting customers asked him to work some priority items that kept him busy most of the week. Leslie kept busy putting up additional Christmas decorations and catching up. Monday night we drove over to the airport to pick up Lauren, Brian and little Olivia. They had just gotten back from Brian’s Grandmother’s funeral. Later in the week they all came down with a nasty flu that had them all laid up for several days. So far we have avoided catching it. On Saturday night, Cynthia and Felix came over for dinner. We decided it was too pretty a night to not eat outside. David pulled out our new mosquito repellant. While he was setting it up he killed 12 of the little beasts! Five minutes after we turned it on, the mosquito’s were gone! We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed a fun evening.

25 Nov. 2018 Head Ache

While David was working around the outside of the RV he bent over to spray one of the stabilizers with bug spray and smacked the top of his head on the sharp corner of one of the slides. He got a nice cut on the top of his head but was otherwise alright. We went out to Chuy’s to continue our TexMex Sunday lunch tradition! While we were out we picked up some additional Christmas decorations, including some lights for Norman (See picture). 

Norman getting ready for the Holidays

24 Nov. 2018 Hobo Stew!

One of the nice things about this RV resort is they have activities going on through the holidays. Today was Hobo Stew day. The resort provided meat (and did all the cooking) for the stew and the resort guests bring ingredients to add to the stew and deserts. Cynthia came over and joined us. It is a great way to meet our neighbors and compare RVing experiences and plans. One of our neighbors had an earlier version of our fifth wheel. So it was interesting to hear the issues he dealt with over the seven years they had it. Later we met up with Felix and had dinner. 

23 Nov. 2018 Black Friday

We took the day kind of slow. We avoided going anywhere near any stores due to the Christmas crowds. We drove over to Livingston to pick up our mail from the mail forwarding service. But unfortunately they were closed for the holiday. We should have called before we went. When we got back home, we pulled out our limited Christmas decorations out from the basement and put them up. We decided we need to pick up a few more things to help put us in the Christmas spirit. We also did a little research and found where there will be some small Christmas Markets in the area in the coming weeks. 

22 Nov. 2018 Happy Thanksgiving!

We went to Cynthia and Felix’s (Leslies sister and brother in law) for Thanks Giving dinner. David’s nephew, Jason, drove over from San Antonio, Where he is stationed with the US Air Force. David and Jason had not seen each other in over 20 years and had a great time catching up. We were so happy that Jason could join us for this holiday. 

David and Jason

Cynthia and Felix had Felix’s son (Andrew) and Daughter (Ava), Cynthia’s daughter (Lauren), son-in-law (Brian) and grand-daughter (7 month old Olivia), Felix’s sister (Debbie) and her son (Caleb) along with Leslie, Jason and David. Little Olivia was so good! We all took turns holding her. It was a good crowd! We all had a fabulous Thanksgiving, ate too much, talked too much, and had a wonderful afternoon.

We also were able to pick up some packages we had delivered to Cynthia’s. One of those packages was our new sign we will put outside our RV to help folks know who we are. 

21 Nov. 2018 Caddo Mills TX to Spring TX

The drive down was uneventful. As we moved further south, we could see the fall colors starting to appear again. The area around Caddo Mills was already brown. We are staying at Rayford Crossing RV Resort ($770 + Electric a month with Good Sam discount). We have a nice pull through site. All the roads and sites are concrete and have a concrete patio with a picnic table. This is a really nice RV resort with a nice club house, BBQ area, pet area, and the staff was very helpful and friendly.  The site was level and all the utilities were good (50Amp site and WiFi was good and strong). They did have to trim a tree back from our site so we could put the forward slide out. We are staying here through the holidays until 21 January 2019. Leslie’s sister lives 20 minutes away and her niece about 30 minutes. We are far enough away from the freeway to not get any noise. We were a little concerned driving in since the roads were approaching the park were residential streets. But we were pleasantly surprised as we pulled in. As we checked in, they were in the process of putting out Christmas Decorations throughout the park. 

18 Nov. 2018 Mi Cocina

A slow day today. We decided to revive a former tradition of Mexican Lunch Sunday! There is a Mi Cocina in Rockwall, only 20 minutes away, so we drove into Rockwall for a wonderful lunch. On the way back we decided to drive the county road he had navigated the night we arrived. The road was every bit as bad in the daylight as it was at night. We vowed to make sure we always arrive where we are headed in daylight from now on!

17 Nov. 2018 Mudder

It was a beautiful day. Weather was perfect for a stroll, so we walked around the fishing lake here at the RV park. Leslie’s knee felt good for the short hike. We then drove into Dallas to meet up with Leslie’s Mom and Step Dad for dinner. We had a great visit with them. The evening was over all too soon. 

16 Nov. 2018 Hudson Cafe

David needed to catch up on some work in the morning. Later in the afternoon we drove into Dallas and met our friends Anne and Bill for a wonderful dinner at the Hudson Café. It was a lot of fun to catch up with them. They are considering buying an RV so they had a lot of questions about our experiences. Leslie’s knee was much better today. So much so that she is thinking about getting a cortisone shot in the other knee. Etta’s eye has finally cleared up as well, so we all seem to be on the mend.

15 Nov. 2018 The Tooth

David had a cap on one of his teeth come loose back in Nashville. Since we were headed for DFW he decided to wait to get it fixed until he could see his dentist. So today we headed over to Fort Worth (2.5 hours each way). He got his tooth fixed, picked up a prescription refill and we did some shopping in our old stopping grounds. Best of all we got to Rio Mambo for more TexMex! Since we wanted to avoid the worst of the Dallas rush hour going back, we did not linger long. It felt like we had never left! Leslie’s knee was sore from the shot. But it was better than it had felt the last several weeks. Etta’s eye has finally cleared up as well, so we all seem to be on the mend. We will be visiting with friends and family for the next several days. 

14 Nov. 2018 The Knee

We drove into Dallas to see Leslie’s knee doctor. It’s about an hour drive from Caddo Mills to North Park in Dallas. The traffic was enough to make us miss our farm to market road! The verdict on Leslie’s knee is that she has Osteoarthritis in both knees. When she slipped on the hike, it irritated the arthritis in her right knee. She may also have pulled a muscle. She injured this knee in a car accident when she was in college where she hyper extended the kneecap in addition to tearing the ACL while skiing in 2011. This makes this knee more susceptible to movement and arthritis. The good news is no surgery required. The bad news is there is no quick cure. They gave her a cortisone shot to help with the arthritis, some anti-inflammatories to help settle things down and sent on our way. Since we were in the North Park area, we took the opportunity to do some shopping for some needed items. We looked around for a TexMex fix but could not find any Mexican restaurants! We eventually found a way to a great Mexican restaurant off beltway and had got our margarita and Mexican fix! 

13 Nov. 2018 Memphis TN to Caddo Mills TX

Were back in TEXAS!!!! Yeehaaa!!!!

It was a long drive from Memphis. But the weather was clear and the temps rather cool (upper 30s), perfect for towing. Along the way, we crossed Arkansas, our 13^thstate. Unfortunately we left later than we planned and arrived in Caddo Mills after dark. Our Truck Navigator led us down a very dark farm to market road and where it said the RV park was located, there was nothing visible in the dark that looked like a RV park. There were no places to turn that big rig around so we ended up driving 20 miles to get back to the location, this time backed up with both cell phones navigating as well. Still no RV park. The RV park office was already closed and both our phones died. Leslie saw a loop road on the truck navigator and we jumped on it only to find it was barely wide enough for our rig, with pot holes, low hanging trees and no way to back out, plus it was even darker than the farm to market road. As we came around the loop there was a car coming the opposite direction. He squeezed as far off the road as he could and as we passed we asked him where the RV park was located. Luckily he gave us good directions (on the other side of the interstate from where the GPS took us) and we finally found the RV park after 10 hours on the road. 

Dallas NE Campground ($42 per night with Good Sam Discount) is a former KOA campground. The site and all the roads are gravel. The site (#2) was plenty long enough, but when we put the slides out a tree was brushing up against the forward slide (they came and trimmed it the next day). Water pressure was good but it’s only a 30Amp site. Temperatures were dropping below freezing again tonight. Satellite reception was good and the park WiFi was also good and relatively fast. 

11 Nov. 2018 Beale Street

The all-famous Beale Street in Memphis was just waiting to be explored!  Birthplace of the Blues is truly iconic and well worth at least a 2 hour excursion.  Looking for Tennessee BBQ was easy.  Pig On Beale footed the bill with ribs and pulled pork. Afterward a little local music was within sites.  BB King’s Club is a headliner on a   prominent corner of Beale St.  Live music and heavy blues saturated the senses.  A couple of drinks and 45 minutes later it was sadly time to head back to the Wanderer.  The afternoon (as evening seemed more than a challenge…since a warning was issued at the grocery store the night before to watch out where we were) seemed to pass too quickly. What a fun time! 

Enough said

Beale Street

Can't go to Beale Street and not stop at BB King's club for some Blues

BB King's Note on the Beale Street side walk (The HollyWood Walk for Blues)

10 Nov. 2018 Graceland

A bucket list destination for Leslie, she was more excited than she wanted to admit about getting a tour.  Opting for a standard tour and a look at Elvis’ private planes was a tough call as the tickets were $45 a person.  The VIP tours were $170 a person.  As you can imagine, everything is very expensive!  The mansion was smaller than expected but very opulent. Details were evident at each turn. The second floor is not part of the tour as it is still used by the family today. There was a carport for his 8 cars, offices for his manager and staff, stables for his horses and a racquetball court where he played his last game before his death that very day. His planes especially the Lisa Marie were impressive.  The sink and fixtures in the bathroom were 24 carat gold plate as well were the buckles of the seat belts.  His bedroom suite was all blue suede.  Again, details were evident at every turn.  The afternoon was topped off right with a value pak of event pictures and a shopping spree for appropriate Christmas presents for the rest of the family.  A token and most likely standard $200 plus was spent on Elvis and his legacy. 

Front of Graceland Mansion

Back of Graceland Mansion

TV room in the basement

The Jungle Room

Leslie and the King

Living Room and Music Room at Graceland

Dining Room at Graceland

Elvis's Grave at Graceland

9 Nov. 2018 Nashville to Memphis

The drive from Nashville to Memphis was uneventful. We managed to drive past the entrance to the RV park and had to circle back through a residential neighborhood. We are staying at the Graceland RV Resort ($41.40 per night with Good Sam discount), across the street from Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate. The site is plenty long for our Wanderer. The water pressure is excellent (they warn it is 72lbs and you need a regulator). The WiFi was strong but the connection is slow. With the temperatures dropping below freezing for the next several nights, we filled the fresh water tank and put up the hose so we don’t have to worry about it freezing. Elvis Presley drive is very rough for being a main road. 

8 Nov. 2018 Belle Meade

We went to Radnor Lake Park to walk a bit. It’s a pretty little park with a trail that goes all the way around. The lake was built in 1905 to supply water to the railroad and was subsequently turned into a city park. We did not walk far but it was good to get out and stretch our legs. We had time to kill before heading for the restaurant Greg told us about. So naturally we went looking for a winery! We stumbled across the Belle Meade plantation (which just happened to have a winery). As we toured the plantation they were preparing luminaries along all the pathways for a Christmas celebration complete with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The Plantation was responsible for breeding some of the Kentucky derby champions. It was also a major dairy for the local markets. After we enjoyed our tour (and some wine) we went to Midtown Café, and had a wonderful dinner. 

Radnor Lake Park

Front of Plantation House at Belle Meade

Of course we found a winery!

Memorial for Enquirer

7 Nov. 2018 Dinner

We planned to go to mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. But when we were looking at the tours in the cave the night before, we found that all the tours, except the wheel chair tour, had at least 200 steps or more.  With Leslie’s knee, we decided that would not be a good plan. Leslie heard from her friend Greg Hall after posting where we were on her Facebook page. He gave us some great ideas for other things to do in the Nashville area. We were able to get hold of our friends, John and Cheryl, son Davis and arranged to meet him for dinner. It was fun to find out about his plans in the music field. 

5 Nov. 2018 The District

With the rain over, we went into downtown Nashville to “the District”. Its four blocks of Honky Tonks and restaurants near the river. It was fun to see the musicians walking down the street headed for their next performance. We did not stay for the crazy crowds at night but enjoyed all the music spilling out on the streets. We then took Etta to the vet at Petsmart. Her left eye has been red for several days and we needed to get it checked. She has some kind of infection and we’re given an antibiotic cream to put in her eye. 

The District in Nashville

The District in Nashville

Patsy Cline Museum

Johnny Cash Museum

Where else but Nashville

Had to buy some CDs here!

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3 Nov. 2018 The Grand Ole Opry

After dropping Etta off at the groomers, we made our way over to the Grand Ole Opry House to see the performance stage of country legends. The Grand Ole Opry is actually a live music radio program. First started in 1925, by accident, the program has aired every Saturday night for 93 years. The longest running radio show in the world. The broadcast can be heard in 38 states on AM radio, and also on the internet. It did not really have a location until 1974. Prior to that, the large majority of the shows were done in Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. The Ryman was built in 1885 in downtown Nashville. Ryman became the unofficial home, and became synonymous with, the Opry. In 1974, the Grand Ole Opry House was built on the outskirts of Nashville in its current location. When the stage was built, they inlaid a large circular piece of the stage from the Ryman. The performers normally stand on this portion of the stage when they are performing. In 2010, the building was severely flooded and the show jumped around to various venues until the building was reopened in 6 months. Shows run in the building every Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday, February through October. The shows are moved to the Ryman Auditorium for December through January to allow the Ole Opry House to host Christmas concerts. To become a member of the Grand Ole Opry, an artist has to be invited by the board of directors. There have only been 212 members over the 93 years. For a country artist, and invitation to become a member is a huge honor. Originally, members were required to perform every other Saturday for as long as they were a member. Today they are only required to perform when they are passing through the area. Only two members were ever suspended, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, due to behavior issues on stage. Johnny Cash was eventually allowed back but Hank Williams dies a few weeks after he was thrown out. We took the backstage tour ($27 per person). We got to see the performers dressing rooms and the “Green Room” where they relax just prior to going on stage. At the performers only entrance (where the artist have to park their own cars, no valet or limousines here), there are post office boxes where the members can collect any fan mail sent to the Grand Ole Opry with their names on it. There is also a members wall with all the members names engraved on brass plaques. We also toured the back stage area and got to stand in the Ryman Stage circle to pose for photos. The tour was pretty neat. Unfortunately, the shows were sold out for Saturday night and the only seats left in the Ryman Auditorium were in the nosebleed sections for Tuesday night. 

Us in front of the Grand Ole Opry House

The stage at Grand Ole Opry House

One of the dressing rooms

Another dressing room

The post boxes of the members