Out with the Old ~ In with the New

 

January started of with a bang. . .a good one!

First, RV Friends Debi (Debi’s RV Cooking) and Ed (RV Tips) brought their MH out to Thousand Trails – Lake Conroe for a few days.  There’s always some good eatin’ goes on when we get together. . .

then, folks we met in Ohio, Janice and Rick, showed up with their beautiful Mobile Suites. . .

this is their very, very first trip following retirement in December. . .their maiden voyage. . .

they are going to love it. . .we had so much fun getting to know them better. . .

and will meet up with them again in Columbus TX before we all head

our separate directions for the summer. . .

then folks we met in Lubec Maine this past summer, Kathi and Ron, also showed up. . .

although I didn’t know it when I was taking this beautiful pic of the sunset from our campsite in Lubec. . .

that is Ron and Kathi in their sailboat out for an evening sail.   They are very, very active. . .

carrying kayaks, a sailboat, bicycles and two scooters, and are headed to California. . .

They are going to have a great winter season. . .

 
and then will return this summer to their beautiful waterfront property in Lubec. . .lucky ducks!

They were in the process of getting all their utilities finished out on their property. . .

when we met them at the RV Park. . .glad they were still there. . .

Kathi gave me a lesson on preparing a lobster, and convinced me I could do it for myself. . .

we all made it out for an Italian Meal at Joe’s in Conroe. . .really, really great!

 

and then the weather turned yucky. . .which meant kinda staying in and hibernating. . .

 

in between the yuck, David from Sats 2 Go managed to get our old dome removed,

and install the new Traveler SWM Dish. . .

we’re thinking we’re really gonna like it. . .

it’ll mean one less thing to take down and set up on travel days. . .

always a good thing. . .right?

 

Tomorrow, we follow up with some more medical appointments. . .ugh!

The things that are necessary after you turn the big 50 are just yucky. . .

so we’ll spend the night with our son to avoid

driving back across town during rush hour. . .

Catching up with them, and seeing the youngest grands

basketball game will be a bonus. . .looking forward to that!

my entertainment for today. . .

with another cold front moving in,

is sitting at my computer,

watching the birds at the feeder.

They seem to be enjoying it. . .

and I am enjoying them!

 

See you next time. . .stay in touch. . .

send us a note at EvansEscapades@gmail.com

let us know what you guys are up to. . .and where you’re headed.

Never know when paths might cross. . .

Til then,

Janice and Dave

Back in Conroe. . .come see us!

After the two surgeries on Monday,

the doctor’s appointments on Wednesday,

and spending a couple of nights at my brother’s place

after my sis in law’s surgery,

(just to be sure there was someone there if she needed anything,)

we arrived back to the motorhome Friday evening,

knowing that we would spend Saturday fixing a water leak

that we had discovered before we left. . .fun!  Ha. . .

If you’re just dying to know all about it,

you can see the pics and tales of woe here. . .

Dave leaves tomorrow to teach a class. . .yaaa. . .

so I will spend the week doing Lord only knows what. . .

but I’m sure I’ll have no problem staying busy. . .

Not sure how I ever had time for a full time job,

raising two kids, teaching Sunday School,

and the million other things we always had going on. . .

Goodness. . .I sure enjoy not having all that on my plate. . .(big smile!)

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

Evans Escapades–What a Week–Already!

Goodness. . .this is turning out to be quite a week.. .

and it’s only Tuesday. . .

 

My hubby, and my sister in law just happened to have

surgeries scheduled on the same day. . .what are the chances?

 

Dave’s trip to the dermatologist last week revealed a

sqamous cell skin cancer on his left temple. . .

they wanted it taken care of right away,

and sent him to a plastic surgeon in Houston to have it removed.

All is well. . .benign. . .he’s sporting a big ole bandage on the side of his head. . .

 

My sis in law’s surgery, much more severe. . .

a benign tumor on her pituitary gland. . .causing massive headaches. . .

actually requiring brain surgery to remove it. . .scary stuff. . .

but she came through with flying colors. . .

we give thanks to the Lord for His hand of protection in guiding the surgeons hands. . .

we will go up to check on her and my brother this morning. . .

 

Tomorrow, we drive to Silsbee TX for our favorite visit of the year. . .

annual check ups. . .ugh! 

Medical check ups are probably the one negative to full time travel. . .

not every doctor will do only annual check ups. . .

most want you to report back every six months. . .

almost an impossibility, when you are traveling thousands of miles away. . .

has anyone else found this to be the case?

I’m sure a lot of it has to do with blood pressure issues. . .and the liabilities of that. . .

but other than the elevated BP we are both relatively healthy,

with no real medical issues to speak of. . .thank the Lord. . .

 

Soooo. . .after visiting the doc. . .we will probably travel to Orange TX

and spend the rest of the week at my brother’s place. . .

I’m sure my sis will need someone to be there with her for a few days. . .

 

And, that’s it. . .exciting week. . .right?

Til next time,

Janice and Dave

Evans Escapades at Lake Conroe

hey, hey, hey. . .

 

We have arrived at what we consider our

“home” park near Lake Conroe. . .

and I can tell you for a fact. . .

it has not taken me long to get into this mode!

 

Yes indeed. . .life is good!

Evans Escapades in College Station–It Was A Football Kinda Weekend

 

I’m sure you will find it shocking that

when the Texas Aggies have a home game

Football Weekends in College Station are a wee bit crazy.

 

This is not the first time Dave’s had a class scheduled

on a football weekend. . .so we already knew the drill. . .

RV spaces are gonna be hard to come by. . .

and will be at a premium price. . .

$65 a night at the park we usually like to stay at,

and $50 a night at the one we found a little further out of town. . .yaaa!

or if you are A&M Alumni. . .you can stay at the stadium. . .

    

spaces there start at $90 a night. . .what a deal!

 

Hotel rooms go for premium rates too. . .

and then early Sunday Morning everyone’s hooking up. . .

football season is over. . .let the exodus begin. . .

and rates drop back to normal. . .

I dropped Dave off at the Fire Field to pick up this bad boy. . .

which they will pull for six hours to South Texas.

 

The big difference between pulling this, and pulling our fiver. . .

this is a gooseneck. . .so none of that nice air ride suspension.

 

I headed back to the nice comfort of the motor home,

and left them to their fun. . .I’ve been catching up on

miscellaneous little chores that get put off when we are in travel mode. . .

 

The most annoying one for me is that I end up with these stacks of papers. . .

seriously. . .am I the only one this happens to?

 

I guess I lay aside these wonderful pamphlets or even

pages I’ve torn out of magazines thinking I’m gonna research it. . .

and then before I know it, I have this four inch stack of stuff to go through. . .

and then I can’t possibly just chuck the entire stack,

because there might be some receipt or something I NEED in there. . .grrrrr. . .

 

so, those are the sorts of things I’ve been doing. . .

cleaning out the fridge, rearranging the freezer. . .

fun stuff . . .I can hardly wait ‘til tomorrow for it to continue. . .oh boy!

 

Oh. . .and now that I’ve cleared out the stack of papers. . .

it’s time to go pick up the mail. . .jumping for joy about that one. . .

 

Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s having this much fun. . .

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

 

 

 

Evans Escapades–The Reward was great in Austin

UGH!  Another drippy, rainy travel day on Wednesday. . .

but, the owner at Sunny Hill RV Park called just as

we were pulling in the driveway. . .and said,

“I know you guys are scheduled in another space,

but why don’t you go ahead and go to a premium

covered space, so you can set up out of the rain.”

How fabulous is this? 

What a terrific owner. . .we thanked him profusely. . .just lovely!

and of course the reward for our travel. . .

the little man. . .Jaden Carl. . .great nephew #5. . .

they were supposed to be home by the time we got there. . .

but you know. . .things happen. . .a long, long, long labor

that ultimately resulted in C Section. . .but Mr Jaden was worth it all. . .

8lbs 11oz – 21 inches of perfection. . .what more could you ask for. . .

I know my brother. . .his Grandpa is over the moon. . .

 

and no trip to Austin would be complete without

visiting our very, very special friends. . .

how fabulous to just sit, visit and enjoy the company of

Edwin, Kristi and the boys. . .love you guys so much!

 

Although Dave promised to not teach any classes until after the first of the year,

the minute they called wanting to know when he would be back,

and was he ready to teach. . .his answer, of course was yes. . .

so. . . Friday finds us in College Station. . .we had about an hour

from the time we pulled in, until he was scheduled at the Fire Field

to help load a trailer for travel to next weeks class in South Texas. . .

ahhh. . .he loves it so much. . .I could never deny him that enjoyment. . .

so. . .Dave’s in his element. . .

as soon as he gets back. . .I’m going to Lowe’s where I will be in my element,

searching for the new flooring for the rig. . .YES!

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

 

 

 

Evans Escapades in Four States

We were rolling out of Atlanta by 8AM

which is awful, awful  early for us,

with an overnight stop planned in Montgomery for. . .you guessed it!

The Alabama State House. . .very nice

and then on to the River View RV Park in Vidalia. . .

right across the Mississippi River from Natchez. .

.

but. . .it seems as though we’ve entered the rain belt. . .

now truly. . .that is not a complaint, because after the drought of the past few years,

this entire area can really, really use some rain. . .

but it does sort of put a “damper” on sightseeing. . .if ya know what I mean?

   

a driving tour won’t be so bad. . .you know you’ve truly arrived in the South

when the spanish moss is dripping from all the oak trees. . .so beautiful. . .

a view of the Mississippi River from Bluff Park

the American Queen Paddle Wheeler was in port on her way from New Orleans to St Louis. . .

the Isle of Capri Casino is in the background. . .

back in the day, when I used to read 4” thick novels about southern plantation days,

I remember reading stories and descriptions about the sordid, Under the Hill area of Natchez. . .

no self respecting citizen would ever be found down there. . .

it seems pretty innocuous these days. . .not much there at all.

Fire destroyed several of the original buildings, and I believe

I read they have been trying to revive the area with tourist shops. . .

didn’t seem to me to be much going on. . .but then again,

we have arrived when tourist season is winding down. . .

  

The Natchez Trace Parkway begins in Natchez. . .so I wanted to see that.

Our intention in 2011 had been to start at the beginning of The Trace,

and explore most of it. . .due to the severe flooding of the river that spring,

we rerouted our trip. . .so when we return for the Annual Spring Pilgrimage

of the Natchez Mansions. . . perhaps we can  explore more of The Trace then. . .

a lady at the Visitor Center highly recommended the lunch buffet at the Historic Eola Hotel. . .

and boy was she right on the money. . .delicious. . .the best cornbread dressing I have ever had. . .it had shrimp in it. . .delicious. . .

and all the southern eats to go along with it. . .including Sweet Tea. . .life is good!

Friday, Nov 1

on to the next destination. . .we’ve made it through Georgia, Alabama, and into Louisiana

in less than a week’s time. . .coming up today. . .TEXAS! 

close enough to see some of the kinfolk. . .Uncle John and cousins
Karen, Lynn, and Justin with their grandaughter Cara. . .

  

thanks for driving over from Shreveport for a visit. . .loved getting our hugs!

it surely was great that Justin had a basketball game scheduled in Longview,

Saturday, Nov 2

Our longtime friends, the Clarks, have built a new house in Longview. . .

so of course we needed to see that. . .I was so excited to see them

and to visit, that I forgot to take a single picture. . .just crazy. . .

Sunday, Nov 3

Sunday gave us the opportunity to see on of our “adopted” girls. . .

Tamara and a couple of other girls stayed with us during their

Bible College summer break way back in the day. . .goodness. . .

since we’ve seen her last, she’s become Mommy to four precious angels. . .

so wonderful to have lunch with her and Michael, and the rest of the family!

Monday, Nov 4

Monday and Tuesday brings us to Granbury

to see our precious Aunt Barbara. . .

she belongs to Dave really, but I claim her as my very own. . .

She came over to see our “castle” and have chicken tortilla soup. . .

what a wonderful afternoon. . .

We’ll see her again today before we head out in the morning for Austin. . .

Mr Jaden (our newest great nephew) was scheduled to put in an appearance

on Nov 4th. . .but he’s decided to take his time. . .so perhaps today, Nov 5th. . .

We were planning to see him at home. . .but if he keeps up this

lollygaggin’ around, we may visit him in the hospital on Thursday. . .

either way, it will be great to get our hands on him. . .

and to see his Mommy and Daddy of course. . .

and Grandpa, and Grandma, and the other Grandma. . .

and all Jaden’s aunts and uncles

. . .see. . .

family reunion. . .one way or the other.

See you in Austin. . .

Janice and Dave

more pics

Natchez Album

Alabama State House Album