And Time Marches On.........

DECEMBER -  After a wonderful Thanksgiving with Dan and his family, our heart strings were pulled toward Alvin, TX. We decided to travel once again to the Gulf Coast. So, we packed up and off we went. It took us three days to get to Miller RV Park in Johnson City. Robbie, Haunani, Palani, and Alii came for a visit. I fixed Chicken'N Dumplings for supper, then we all went into town to see the Christmas lights. What a wonderful surprise. It was breathtaking. What fun we had that evening.

We left the next morning for Alvin to visit with Barbara, Harrel and Alice. We had a wonderful visit. Sonny's brother let us park at his RV park at Chocolate Bayou. Alice and I got to spend some quality time together. I spent the night with her and we went to a great seafood restaurant for dinner. On Saturday she picked me up and we drove around Alvin. It brought back a lot of great memories. Willard and Harrel managed to play a round of golf. Jeanie, Michael and Yvonne joined us all for dinner one evening. It was good to touch base with them once again. We went over to Mary and Robert's home for an afternoon visit. Bud and his friend came over for a visit while we were there. It was so good to see them again. One day while at Walmart, we ran into Pat, Willard's cousin. We hadn't seen her in years. It was a nice surprise. On Saturday morning we headed for the Woodlands to visit with Randy and Lisa. Randy made pancakes for us all. The girls were all home for Christmas break and it was great seeing them once again. My they have all grown into such lovely young ladies.

After a week of visiting with relatives, we started back toward Arizona. On the way, we stopped by to visit with Willard's cousin, Edres, and her husband, John, at Canyon Lake. We left early the next morning in the misting rain. We were glad to get back to North Ranch just before a rain storm and in time for the holiday festivities.

On Christmas Day, we joined about 200 others for Christmas Dinner.

JANUARY: We spent the first part of January getting ready for the Alfa Roadrunner's Quartzsite Campout. We were the Wagon Masters this year and had to make a lot of arrangements and do a lot of planning. We arrived a week early to set up camp. On Wed. we entertained with our music at the Escapees Happy Hour. It went really well. The next day we got a chance to have lunch with some Indiana friends, Jeanie and Jim. It was good to visit with them again.

And I celebrated my Birthday by having dinner at the Quartzsite Yacht Club with Dan, Arlene, Bud, Jan, Deena, Avery, and Terilu. Everyone in the restaurant sang Happy Birthday to me. Oh what a fun way to celebrate the big 70. When I got home I read all my Birthday wishes from my Facebook friends. It was a perfect day.  I am so blessed. Now, onward into another decade.

(This is a picture Robin took last year, but it give you a visual of our annual Q Campout)

By Saturday we had 32 Alfas at the Campout. With lots of help, we were able to feed 65 people the first night at the Wagon Master's Dinner. We entertained at the campout twice, had coffee and donuts each morning and Happy Hour each afternoon. We also shared meals together, had a Walk Thru of some of the Alfas, shared ideas and solved problems concerning our coaches and living in them full time. It was a wonderful week with great friends. We even touched base with Sue and Jim, some newbys we met in Indiana this summer.

Back at the Ranch, we batted down for some of the coldest nights ever at North Ranch. And our furnace motor started making a loud noise. It seems the barrings were bad, so we had to order a new one. Willard went to Prescott to get us a bigger electric heater to keep us warm. We are not used to 19 degree weather in the Sunshine State.

That just about brings me up to date on our life on the road. All is well.........