Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Winter home

We arrived at Copes RV park, in Zapata, Sunday the 9th around 3:30 pm. We are enjoying sunny warm days (80's) and connecting with folks down here. We will be here until either the first of April or May not sure which yet.

Brother Jon is doing well, he had surgery yesterday, four bypasses were done. Doctor's say he should have a full recovery. He will have to make some life style changes as any one does after having a heart attach. He was very lucky.

Our two hairy children (dogs) are now skinned children, Dad gave them both their Texas hair cuts this morning. The sand burrs are really bad down here. They have to stay on our patio or in their pen which has had all burrs removed. They don't like to get hair cuts, but Earls does a really good job with them.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

It's Tomorrow

It's tomorrow and the sun came out, but the wind did not blow. How cool is that.

We are parked for the night, at where else, Wal Mart in Austin, Texas the capital of the great state of Texas. There is a sign on the garden center gate just in front of us that says " Christmas Trees Coming" Guys it's 71 degrees here right now at 10 til 7 pm. It is a beautiful balmy night, all kinds of lights showing from down town, sirens blaring, I 35 traffic, and we will only be here overnight, why be concerned that Christmas trees are coming? Why, because I don't think the trees will do well in this kind of weather and besides we have not had our turkey yet!

God willing and the creek don't rise, and, we can figure out how to get back on I 35 in the morning we should be in Zapata by tomorrow afternoon. We can enjoy the peace and quite and not worry about Christmas trees until after turkey day or even longer. Earl says he is not going to worry about it period.

Brother Jon is hanging out in the hospital hoping his blood sugar level will level out and not be so high and waiting for his bypass surgery on Monday. He tells me that the Doc's will wire him shut and he should be dandy in about three months or so. Please continue to pray that this all will come to pass as planned, without any hiccups.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Wind Corridor

If you did not already know this; now you will. Up the central part of the US from Mexico into Canada there is a wind corridor. T Boone Pickens is very exited about this because he wants to build wind energy farms. There are already a lot of them in Iowa. In fact the Iowa State Fair is powered by a wind turbine. We have not seen any as we make our way from Iowa down I-35 to Zapata Texas our winter home. The wind has been perfect for turning those big, tall, airplane looking things. The wind has swayed us and gusted us and made driving really hard to do. The wind keeps wanting to move us from between the white lane lines into the way of other silly folks also battling the wind for supremacy.

"The sun will come up tomorrow, tomorrow" (Can you hear me singing?) However so will the wind. Are we ever excited, NOT! We were told by a man at the welcome desk at the last service area on the Kansas turn pike that the wind had been blowing for 7 days like it was today, and he thought that could be a record. We are about 90 miles from the border between Oklahoma and Texas may be the wind will die down in Texas, we can only hope. There are a good number of all kinds of RV's headed in the same direction as we are, flying from the snow that has already started to fall in Iowa and states to the north of there. We are Snow Birds after all.

My brother Jon has had a heart attack and is to have bypass surgery. Five bypasses. Please say a prayer for him and Sandy and their five kids. This is a very scary time for all of us.

Monday, November 3, 2008

No longer an Iowan

It's official we have our South Dakota drivers licences and are now residents of the state. No more state income tax! Lower vehicle insurance, lower cost of vehicle plates, to awesome. We are parked at Sam's Club on Louise Street in Sioux Falls and will head back to Iowa for two days and then we will be off down I35 to Zapata, Texas for the winter.

This trip was a pleasure, fuel was 2.95 per gallon compared to the 4.69 for the Indiana trip or the 3.79 for the Ohio trip. Now when we leave Texas for California in May who knows what fuel prices will be.

The fall colors followed us back to Iowa from Ohio. The trees are changing every day and it is so beautiful. Fall is my favorite time of the year, we even get that hour of sleep back.

The most awesome thing we found in Ohio, and there were alot of things, was the grave stone of my great, great, great, great grandfather, John Duer. He died in 1831. The stone was still in one piece and readable. If you have the chance to visit Ohio in the fall, Holmes County is the place to be.