Hot in Texas!!

As hard as it is to believe June is almost over.  We have had some amazing times in the last 3 months.

We are in Austin, Texas now.

We had a great time in Florida and still didn't get to see or do all we wanted.  So we will just have to return another time.  We need to start our list of missed places and events now.

In April we spent one week in Williamsburg, VA and one week in Washington DC.  Our original plan had included taking the motor home and spending a month in DC, but the costs become prohibitive.  So we drove the car, spent a week in a condo in Williamsburg, VA, and found a relatively inexpensive hotel in Rosslyn, VA near the Iwo Jima memorial.

The condo in Williamsburg was very nice, with a full kitchen, laundry, living room and bedroom.  When we first checked in Bill noticed the toilet would not stop running so we called and they fixed it.  The reason I mention this is because when we got to Washington DC our hotel room had a toilet that ran, as well.  The hotel staff came right up and fixed it that first night.  The second night we realized that the while the freezer worked the rest of the refrigerator was bordering on hot.  So we called and voila.... they wheeled up a new refrigerator.  On the third night we realized that the microwave was not working.  Once again we called .... within a few minutes we had a new microwave.   By the time we left, the room was in full working order.   We weren't there long enough to test the dish washer but ..... I wonder how many spares they had??

We visited Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown.  We took 2 Ghost tours, walked, walked and walked some more.  Driving over to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge we got to see the wild horses.  We covered a lot of ground in one week.

Washington, DC was a first for me.  Bill had lived there twice during his military career and was the perfect guide.  We were going to skip DC this time, since it is really expensive, but 2 weeks before leaving for Williamsburg we got an email from Senator Maria Cantwell containing White House tour tickets.  We had applied for these about 4 months earlier and never heard anything so we forgot all about it.  You have to send a request to your senator, send them all your info, then they do a background check... at least that is what they say.  Once we got the tour tickets, the decision to go ahead was easy.

The White House tour was interesting right from the start.  We were instructed to bring picture id, no cameras, no purses, no back packs.  You could bring a cell phone but if you used it ... they might confiscate it.  We had to pass through 3 security posts where they checked our ids and made sure we were on the list.  Then as we entered a mobile security building they had us stand on a marked spot and they took our picture.  Inside the building there were security dogs and another spot for us to stand and be photographed.  THEN we were allowed to enter the White House.  Surprisingly it was a self guided tour.  It was a fun experience and I was excited to have been able to see it.

On our way from Williamsburg to DC we stopped at Mt Vernon.  What a lovely place that is.  We only had five days to explore the DC area.  We managed to see most of the memorials, visited Arlington cemetery, explored the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, National Archives, National Air and Space Museum, National Cathedral, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, plus a few other places.

Security is the name of the game in DC, all of the museums required a pass through a metal detector and a stern look from guards.  Especially serious were the guards at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, then we remember the 2009 shooting where a man entered the museum and started shooting, killing a guard.  No wonder there was extra security here.  The only place we didn't encounter a metal detector was the National Cathedral but the guards inside all carried guns.  Cement barriers are the landscaping decoration of choice, some even contain flowers.

We saw a great deal, but we missed lots.  We took the Metro out to the Pentagon and walked around to see the memorial commemorating the 9/11 plane crash into the Pentagon and the 184 lives lost.  I found out that we could have requested a Pentagon tour from our senator.  This is like the White House approval process and can take up to 6 months.  Rats.... this will be added to the "next time" list.

With all the memorials and museums one leaves DC with a mixture of sadness and pride. Bill always has problems at the Viet Nam Wall memorial.  I could see the emotion on his face and I could feel the sadness he felt as he touched the Wall.  It is so hard looking at the over 54,000 names of young men and women we lost in that war.  Such a tragic loss of our young brothers and sisters.  The memorials and museums honoring dead, both military and civilian, are heart rendering.  But as a nation we do have a lot to be proud of, this nation was founded with an amazing idea of freedom and optimism.  We could use some John Adams or Thomas Jefferson types in Congress today.

Leaving DC we visited Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home and then drove the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park.  Unfortunately, it was foggy so we didn't get to see as many vistas as we would have liked.  But it was beautiful anyway.  We drove back to Florida, picked up the motor home and we headed west to OK.

If you remember from our last update Bill bought a motorcycle online and had it delivered to our good friends in Bartlesville.  They took care of it and all the other stuff we had shipped to them the last few months.  I have to admit I was skeptical that this would all work ... but it did.  The bike arrived in good condition.  The licensing in WA turned out to be very hassle free.  Bill and Dave tried to modify our car trailer to carry the bike, as well.  I am good at handing tools to workers but as far as coming up with an idea to do something like that ... not likely.  Unfortunately the idea of making the car trailer work for both vehicles did not pan out.  So driving from Bartlesville to Austin was a new adventure with Bill driving the motor home with the motorcycle on the trailer and me driving the car.  Except for the driving rainstorm from the OK border to Ft Worth the trip was uneventful-which is a plus in the RV world.  But let me tell you, TX rainstorms are something to behold.  I could only drive about 30 mph, with flashers on and if a truck passed, I could not see anything and Bill could not see me in the little car.

We have landed in the La Hacienda RV Resort in Austin, and all is good.  It is located near Lake Travis. It is a little further away from Georgetown than we had hoped but it is a nice park and we have a bit shade.  A bit of shade means a lot here.  The temperatures have been in the 90's and we are trying to get used to the heat and drinking vast quantities of water.  

Last Tuesday Bill left on a motorcycle trip.  He is working his way north to Kansas City and then back... enjoying as many scenic roads as possible.... and a few greasy spoons. Judging by the amount of stuff he had on the motorcycle, if we decide to do any long range riding we will either stay in hotels or we need a small bike trailer.

I am enjoying time with Emma and looking forward to meeting Penelope in a very short time.

We hope you all enjoying summer!!! 

Love to you all.... time to BBQ!!!!!!  The picture is Bill getting ready to assemble new BBQ.

Bill and Cathy

Moth Balls, Mardi Gras, Motorcycles and Babies... OH MY !!

February has proven to be an interesting month.

Early in the month one of our neighbors saw squirrels under our car.  Considering the fact that there are acorns on every square inch of the ground and squirrels everywhere, the squirrel sighting did not concern us.  However, our neighbor reminded us that squirrels love to chew on wiring and they suggested we get some moth balls and put on the ground under the car to keep them away.  Sounds reasonable right?  Well, working on the assumption that more is better (as he usually does), Bill bought and put moth balls under the car and motor home.  The smell was obvious right away.  I hate moth balls but how bad could it be???

We decided to take a short trip to Biloxi, staying again at Beau Rivage hotel and casino.  The Gulf Coasts' largest Mardi Gras parade is held in Biloxi on Fat Tuesday, so we got to see it.  We spent hours waiting for the parade to start. It lasted about 2 hours and by the end of the parade we had collected enough beads to last us for the rest of our lives.  I can guarantee no private body parts were exposed in any way to obtain them!!  This was our first Mardi Gras parade.  These parades have been going on since January so we were excited to finally see one.  It was not like any parade I have ever seen.  Only one high school band but each float was playing music.  Lots of costumes and beads, beads, beads.  All of the floats were made from the same design,.. two levels carrying people tossing beads, toys, and moon pies.  Some were painted fancy, others not so much, but everyone seemed to be having a good time.  The crowd watching was huge, whole families set up camp with chairs, coolers, even bbqs.  These folks were ready for a long day of partying. 













While in Biloxi we discovered that our clothes reeked of moth balls!!  On our first day back from Mississippi, Bill crawled underneath and scooped up all the offending buggers and threw them away.  Now we just hope the smell will GO AWAY soon.  We will take our chances with the squirrels.

On the last day of February Bill finalized the purchase of a used Suzuki C90t motorcycle.  This is another first... not the bike, but the purchase method.  He found the bike online, and purchased it from a dealer in New Hampshire.  He is having it shipped to Oklahoma.  Our friends in Bartlesville have been kind enough to store it until we get back there to pick it up.   The check was mailed yesterday and now we have figure out how to license the bike in WA while we are in FL.  So this bike has become a 4 state effort.  We are sending a big THANK YOU to our Bartlesville friends for making this possible.

Now BABIES!!!!  In February Emma. my daughter, had an ultrasound and found out that she is having a GIRL!!!!  I am thrilled beyond words.  What could be better than a daughter having a daughter?  We were told the good news while in Biloxi and I took some pictures of tutus at a shop in the Beau Rivage.  I can hardly wait to start shopping.  My daughter posted the ultrasound pictures on her blog and they are amazing.  They actually did a 3D one that shows her beautiful face.  Her name will be Penelope Juanita.  Penelope was Emma and Aaron's favorite and Juanita was Emma's late grandmother's name.  I have been given the OK to call her Penny....  but PJ sounds good too!!

Blessings and love to everyone

Bill and Cathy

February in Florida

When I left off in December we were on our way to a candlelight service.  We went to a local Lutheran church, it had an odd layout.  There was an aisle down the middle and one intersecting it that led to a stairs to the balcony... like a crossroad.  Unfortunately we picked a spot in the back and had to watch traffic all during the service.  It was amazing, this was only a one hour service but folks were walking back and forth, up and down from the balcony the whole time.  Then the minister got lost in the service and never recovered in fact I am not certain he ever got through the Christmas story.  He was from Minnesota and recounted his time milking cows.  It was an odd service but will not soon be forgotten, so I guess that is good.

In January we traveled to Orlando and spent a week at Disney World.  We stayed at Shades of Green, a military resort on the Disney grounds.  Our deck overlooked the golf course.  Deer and wild turkey made daily appearances and one day I even got to see an alligator next to the entrance to the hotel.  Neither of us had been to Disney World for quite some time so we were looking forward to seeing Animal Kingdom.  The dining Disney has to offer is amazing... we had Irish food at the Raglan Road (meat pie, spaghetti with Guinness meatballs), Moroccan at Restaurant Marrakesh (kabobs, olive salad, couscous and bastilla for dessert) and Japanese.  YUM!

We thought Disney World would be relatively uncrowded in January...kids back to school, etc.  However, we didn't think about the southern hemisphere and their summer holidays.  The park was filled with folks from Brazilian tour groups.  Who knew??

The first two days I wore the wrong shoes and ended up with blisters.  I never knew that you could get one on the top of your foot.  By the 3rd day I had figured it out and fixed that problem.  On the fourth day I spent the evening in the ER.  Turns out I had a gall bladder attack, too much of that rich food I think.  Luckily that did not slow down any of our Disney adventures.  Our last day there Bill came down with a major cold so he spent the day in bed.  I was out and about shopping that last day.   Despite the medical issues, we had a great time.

We returned to Niceville and spent the next 3 weeks dealing with Bill's cold.  It turned into acute bronchitis, so off to the Eglin AFB base hospital we went.  There they loaded him up with meds.  It still took 3 weeks to get rid of it.  I joined the family of the infirm but mine never got that bad.  Some folks in the campground stopped by to see if we were all right, since we hadn't left the rig much.  They said they could hear us coughing.  GADS.

We are now back in the pink and have been enjoying the beaches.  Subway sandwiches on the beach is the perfect way to have lunch.

One thing I never knew about Florida and Alabama is that they celebrate Mardi Gras in a big way.  I thought it was mainly a Louisiana deal but there are lots of parades...2 and 3 a day on the weekend.  We get both Pensacola, FL and Mobile, AL on cable TV and Mardi Gras is the big news maker.... except for the unbelievably frequent home invasions in Mobile.  There is supposed to be a parade near here this weekend, so we may have to go check it out.






And now on to the BIG news.  I am going to be a grandmother!  My daughter Emma is expecting in July.  She is still in Austin, TX so that is where we will be this summer.   We are all thrilled and looking forward to the newest addition to our family.  So far everything is going smoothly.  Emma is healthy and enjoying her pregnancy. 

We send all of you our love and hope you are enjoying every day as much as we are!!!

Bill and Cathy