Sunday, February 28, 2010

Back at Winter Ranch and it's cold and raining!!

Mary Temple's 90th Birthday Party

Winter Ranch, Texas

We arrive at Winter Ranch on Nov. 8, 2009.  Our site is quite large and has more cement than normal. 
So we are happy but what a mess we have to clean up. Dirt needs to be hauled in, grass planted and my plants arranged.  We buy a shed, have more cement poured, the shed is delivered, we paint the shed and plant grass.  It's time to go out for Thanksgiving and it hasn't quit raining down here.  In between rain storms we finish our Christmas shopping, painting our shed and it's time to fly home for Christmas.  We are happy to be going home.  We miss our family. 

Down to the Texas golf Shore at Rockport, TX

Our friends, Mark and Sandy join us and we head for Rockport via Corpus Christi.  We overnite at a Walmart in Victoria and head for Rockport.
We park and Luna and I hold down the fort while Denis, Mark and Sandy go look for a spot to land.  No such luck.
But I chat with a couple from Canada and they tell me about a County Park in Port Aransas, called Blanca County Park.  It was a fabulous location.  1 sand dune away from the shore and sand.  The park was just a tar lot with electricity and water but a dump station was at the entrance.  Only $12.00 a nite but oh so beautiful and the color of the sky at sunset was a beautiful quilt.  So we walked the beach and watched the fisherpeople at Bob Hall Pier.  Many oriental couples - the old women fished and the men watched.  What a life for them.
Look at the shark we saw caught.  It was very exciting.  Families would come on the weekend nites and stay all nite.  The kids would sleep and the folks would party and fish.  Until it rained - and did it rain -

Another technology mishap !

I must have stepped on my laptop and cracked my screen.  Now what?  Call Tim again.
Send him the computer - and my phone. 
He calls and says I need a new screen for my laptop.
He finds one and goes to the AT & T store to look at mew phones.
What would I do without him? 
I am devastated.  My budget is stretchedddddddddddd.  And I am isolated technologically.

Grapevine, Texas

We arrive at Grapevine, Texas, a little micrcosm within the big city of Dallas.  What a treasure.  It is beautiful weather, howeever they have received more rain than ever this fall.  Many sites are under water and unable to be rented.  So there is plenty of site pressure here.  Besides it's Halloween and many families are enjoying the holiday with their families camping. 
We contacted another cousin, Julie and David Suprenant and their family, AJ and Bryan.  We meet Julie for lunch and she shows us around this quaint little mecca.  What a treat! 
Julie invites us to their home and we spend Sunday watching the Vikings playing on their 52 inch big screen TV and have dinner with them.  Again - another treat.  Julie and I catch up on old times and share ideas for knitting and our other "girl" hobbies.  The boys are curious about who we are and watch the game with Denis and Dave.  We plan on leaving the following week to head further south. 
Along the way, a friend from Winter Ranch calls and says there is a site open that we should call about.  And we did and we got it.  Again another blessing !

Late October in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

We are in Oklahoma City and stop at a campground to visit with my cousin Bob and Sharon Lundstrom.  We meet for brunch and spend the day touring and shopping in Oklahoma City. 
Off we go - heading to Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

Off to the Winnebago factory

Our final goodbyes said, it's Oct. 21, 2009 and  we are going down the road to Forest City, Iowa to the Winnebago factory for our service appointment.  
We registered, parked and went to bed early in preperation for our 7:00 AM service advisor knock on our door.  And it's pouring rain.!
I think the God of repairs is looking after us.  We are here to have a major water leak repaired on our bedroom slide out.  We spend the day in the waiting room filled with people and dogs.  Luna is a very good girl.  We spend a nite in a motel to insure the repairs can dry over nite.  What an expensive nite.  I spilled my coffee on my phone on the nite stand.  I was just sick!!!  And of course it didn't work.  And that is how we connected to the internet.  A quick call to our son Tim and the AT & T store.  Now what should we do ?

Day 1, 2 and 3 are spent fixing, testing, refixing and waiting.  Thank goodness thre Winnebago waiting room has WiFi we can use. 
Since it is still raining we decide to stay at the factory on Friday to make sure all repairs hold before going any further.  More talk with Tim about what phone to buy. 
And luck is with us. It appears our leak is fixed.  Off we go on Saturday !!! HEADING SOUTH !!!

Fall of 2009

We spent the remainder of the summer at Carefree Country Club in Big Lake, MN., customizing our new chalet.  It's just a great additional space on our lot.  We had it moved to our site from another locaiton in the park.  What a bargain and wonderful addition to our lives.  It is air conditioned and has windows all around for light and warmth of the sun. 
We're talking about our departure date as it reamins a very cool, temperature wise, Minnesota summer.  Our trip south must include a stop at the Winnebago factory for some slide out repairs.  
We continue to call Winter Ranch in Alamo to inquire about a larger site for the fall.  And we are booking flights home with Luna for the Holidays and a 90th birthday party for Mary Temple, Denis's mom.  We are in the final stages of planning the birthday party now.