25 November 2021 Thanksgiving

 We made a green bean casserole from scratch (no canned ingredients here), a cranberry and apple chutney, fresh fruit salad, and a brussel sprout salad as our contribution (along with half a case of Gruet Wines) to the family Thanksgiving Meal. We all met over at Cynthia and Felix’s new home and were in awe of the renovations they had made to the house since they bought it in March. Felix’s sister Deborah was in from Austin. Lauren arrived with Olivia and Avery in tow. Felix’s daughter Ava popped in for a visit and Brian showed up after his workout. There was plenty of food and drink for all and we definitely indulged ourselves to the fine food and drink. By the end of the night, Olivia and Avery had worn not only their parents out, but also all of the rest of us. So much energy! It was great to be with family again after a long 9 months on the road!

Leslie with her Grand Nieces

Prepping the Feast

Thanksgiving Feast all laid out

A full table!

22 November 2021 Fort Worth to Conroe TX

 The drive down from Fort Worth was uneventful but took longer than we expected due to numerous traffic jams. Were staying at a different RV Park this winter. We are trying the Leisure Lane RV Park in Conroe ($570 per month) this year. It’s a bit further from The Woodlands, but is more in the country so there is less traffic. Its about the same amount of driving time to our relatives and places we like to go, but longer distances with less traffic. They have higher speed internet connections (with a modem that we rent for $68 per month) that is leaps and bounds above Rayford Crossings. The roads are asphalt but our pad is all concrete. There are no big trees to worry about (no acorns bombarding us during the night) and we have a fairly large grassy area and a large patio. So we are quite happy with the park so far. 

8 November 2021 Amarillo to Fort Worth TX

 The drive from Amarillo to Fort Worth on US287 is long and boring. The highway is lined on each side by hundreds of miles of pasture and cotton fields.  You can see forever, but there is nothing to see! You have to be careful with the little towns US287 goes through because the highway is a major source of income for them (traffic tickets). Coming into Fort Worth, we had to go through downtown on the rebuilt I-35E corridor during rush hour. Having to change lanes in rush hour traffic with 60 feet of rig is no fun. Fortunately, there are still some nice folks out there who will let you over. We pulled into Mansfield just as the sunset at 5:40 after 8 hours on the road. We are staying at the Texan RV Ranch ($305 for 1 week). This is our first time here. We were a bit surprised by the amount of traffic on the roads to the RV Park as it is outside the city in a more country setting. Water pressure is not great (only 40lbs). 

7 November 2021 Canyon

 We paid for reservations a couple of weeks ago for a visit to Palo Duro State Park. We wanted to hike the Lighthouse trail. But when we got up in the morning, the wind was blowing hard. David had hiked the trail once before on a windy day and the wind picks up a lot of sand and dust and blasts you. So we decided maybe we would just drive the canyon. We stopped off in the town of Canyon to pick up some local honey at the Honey Bee Vineyard before heading out to the park. At the entrance, we informed the ranger of our reservation. But she said she did not have one under that name, and David had not gotten a email from the system. So we were denied entry to the park. We were halfway back to the Wanderer before we realized that the reservation was probably under Leslie’s name and we had not thought to ask. But it was not worth the drive all the way back, so we called it a day and rested up for tomorrow’s long drive to Fort Worth. 

6 November 2021 Albuquerque NM to Amarillo TX

 We got an early start this morning for our drive to Amarillo. We knew we would lose an hour in the time zone change but did not realize we would gain it back the next that night with the change to daylight savings time. We are staying at our usual spot in Amarillo, the Oasis on the west side of town. Our spirits got a lift when we saw the Welcome to Texas sign! It’s always good to come home to Texas! Were only here for a couple of nights.

Home Again

Oasis version of Cadillac Ranch

25 October – 5 November 2021 Enjoying Albuquerque

 David had to work most of the week days we were in Albuquerque this time. But we got out to our favorite places around town. Etta has made big progress and is more like here self than we have seen since March or April.  We got her Cushing’s test back and it looked good at her current medication level. We stopped at Gruet for a wine tasting and ended up picking up a couple of cases of wine for the holidays on the 30th. We drove down to Old Town on the 31^stand were surprised to find it pack with people in costumes! We had completely forgotten it was Halloween and did not know that Albuquerque has a big Halloween (and Day of the Dead) celebration in Old Town each year. So we went back in the afternoon on the 1^stand were disappointed to find many of the restaurants in Old Town had not survived the pandemic. But the Old Town Pizzeria was open and we found they had really good  Pizza and beer. One new place we also tried was the Nexus Brewery and enjoyed their New Orleans style food and good beers. We went over to Andy’s one evening to once again be wowed by his sound system.

 

Leslie and Samantha got together one of the days when David and Rick were working and took the tram up to the top of Sandia Peak before enjoying margarita’s in Old Town’s Church Street Café.