Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  It's hard to beleive today is the last day of October!  Wow it's went fast.  Here is our afternoon view.  When the kids get out of school they head to practice (if they don't have a game)

I love being able to look out my window and watch the kids practice football and track.  We have a great view for this.

   
We’ve had great weather for enjoying the outdoors and i love having a blacktop track next to me as it’s great for walking.  Well it was until i fell again and re-injured my ankle/foot. Several weeks back, I was sitting outside and got up to get something and didn’t use my cane and stepped on rock and lost my balance and down i went and so I’ve been doctoring a badly bruised foot/ankle for some time and this week i did something silly again. 

A couple days ago I climbed on a chair to reach something and lost my balance and went to grab a hold of the molding on the slide out and me and the molding both came tumbling down.  I hung on to the molding so it wouldn’t break but my ankle/foot didn’t fair as well.  yes it is my good foot.  So it looks like i will once again be spending several weeks limping around and nursing a ankle/foot when i walk causes me lots of pain.  Hubby put the molding back up and so sometime this week we need to run to Lowe’s to get some finish nails so he can secure it better.  Unfortunately he couldn’t fix me, but he did growl at me for doing something silly and not waiting him for him to get it for me.  He told me that the slide outs are not my own personal monkey bars :)) 

That is one of things with MS and a back injury.  My right side is my week side and I have no balance anymore and it doesn’t take anything to make me fall like a weeble only this weeble ends up falling down!

Decisions

The past couple of days have been much better.  The sun has come out and it’s been in the mid 60’s.  I like those temps better.  Of course their not my favorite temps as mid 70’s are but hey .. i will take them.


We’ve been tossing around some decision about what our Winter plans should be.  We have been asked to return to Texas and thought that was where  we were heading but things in life sometimes make you re-think those plans.  This will be the 3 rd year in a row we’ve been to this same area.  We’d be stopping about a Month or 2 at each place.  I find that after a month in one place I'm ready to move on.  The hitch itch really takes over on me.  My traveling partner enjoys settling in and staying in one place for like 3 months! 


Then there is AZ and i have been wanting to experience the Quartzsite and Slabs for sometime.   I read about Salvation Mountain built by Leonard and would love to some day see it.  I would love to try the boon docking experiences of living off our own and away from the crazy of being around people all the time.  My traveling partner on the other hand doesn’t like to go without the power from the grid.  He enjoys his TV and all the things electricity provide him.  Yet, he enjoys the solitude and i really believe if he would give it a try he would enjoy it.  Just getting him to say YES.   I do not want to force him to do something he doesn’t want to do.  Yet, i earn for a AZ winter.  We made a deal last year if i could go 6 months without returning home to the grands we’d do the AZ trip and my faithful travel half would honor that but ….  I don’t want to do it and he isn’t happy with it.  I don’t have any real stops planned as we’d spend most of time just stopping for a week or 2 and then packing up camp and moving on.  We’d most likely spend most of time on BLM.  We would stop and visit some RV Parks and friends along our way. 

 
So last night we were discussing what we wanted to do this winter.  Last winter we had decided to leave Mississippi and head toward the Keys!  I have always wanted to see the Keys since i was a little girl.  I’m not sure what it is about that area but when i see pictures of it .. i drool!!  Things occurred and our plans changed and we headed back to Texas for almost 3 months.

We spent some time looking at RV Parks and prices online tonight .. wow … but as hubby has said we live once and why not splurge once in awhile.  The state parks are booked of course you can take your chances on arriving early and getting a first come first serve park .. but .. yes that word again .. you may not get a site.  I have seen the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf but I’ve never seen the Atlantic Ocean and one of my goals before i die is to see all 3.  So if we decided to do our initial plans last year here is what we would be doing.  I would be knocking several states of my map of seeing the entire USA. I would get to see Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.  That would add 5 more states to my list of States I’ve seen so far.   Plus we would not be staying more 3 weeks in place, most our stops would be around a 2 week stay.  Plus we’d get to see friends we haven’t seen in several years along the way.

We are still pondering and have plenty of time to decide what we want to do.  We do have a place in Miami we can stay at and drive to the Keys each day if we want and for us getting up early and driving a few hundred miles seems to be nothing anymore for us.  Although i would rather have a place to park but I'm not going there as my faithful partner reminds if we didn’t have dogs we could just rent a motel which i despise!!  So for now we have agreed to think about it and be honest with the other what we want to do.  As you can see the fuel difference is about $400 if we don’t go to AZ but if we only went to Texas there is a much bigger savings.

Decisions decisions .. hmm what will we do?  Either way AZ and FL out weigh Texas as both parts are warmer then where we’ve been in Texas!!  Guess you’ll have to stay turned and see where we end up for the winter. 

A Dreary Chilly Day

Well the beautiful weather has left us and today has been a dreary and chilly day.

 

Today the high temp has been a high mid 50’s.  Oh well I'm not complaining because it’s much better then the 40’s.  Plus the rain is needed in the area as they’ve had a bit of a drought this summer.  It really hasn’t rained a lot, just at times it’s been like spitting and other times like a drizzle. 

 

I snapped these photo’s of Lexi.  She brings you the food bowl when it’s empty and if you don’t pay attention she scratches it and then barks at you.

I’ve done 2 loads of laundry today since I couldn’t be outside.  A day like to today i enjoy having my own washer/dryer in my home.  I did get out several quilt projects i have started and plan to get the needed material to finish them up so that i can begin quilting them and get them finished up.  I repaired a couple pairs of jeans for hubby.  Then i curled up on the couch to do some reading.

I have the heater on and it’s nice and cozy inside.  All the comforts of home.

Where ever you are i hope your comfy and warm.

Wonderful Temps

We’ve had beautiful, wonderful weather!  If it would only stay this way until after Thanksgiving.  I know wishful thinking.  Our weekend was wonderful well most of it.  Going grocery shopping wasn’t but the rest was.  I spent lots of time sitting outside basking in the sun like a turtle.

Friends Ron and Dorothy pulled in last night and it was great to see them.  I’m looking forward to visiting with them. 

I am so enjoying our wonderful weather and by the end of the week they are predicting cooler temps again :(

   I really haven’t had anything to blog about .. we are just living life and hanging around until Thanksgiving.

In the 60’s today!

We started off with a very chilly morning and of course that meant me sleeping in.  I’m catching up on some very needed rest this week.

Oh What a treat it was today.  By afternoon the temps were back in the upper 60’s and i went for a walk and found this tree with beautiful color!

I enjoyed the afternoon of sunshine and being outside.  Yes, i was still dressed in my sweats but hey I'm not complaining.  Better then having to be stuck inside.

Busy Squirrels

The past few days have been so chilly that all i am able to do is look outside.  Before the 2 really cool days the squirrels were busy little fellows.
    
I put some bird feed out in the rocks for them but their more interested in colleting nuts.

 
I enjoyed watching them find the nuts, chew on them and then go find a place to bury them.


This electrical box seem to be a prime source for hiding.  There were a total of 6 squirrels.


The past few days the squirrels have been MIA, i’m guessing it’s too cold for them as well.

My days have been spent being lazy and mostly taking pain pills and sleeping.  I’m looking forward to warmer temps.

Oh it’s frightful outside

Oh My it’s frightful outsdie!! What a chilly morning it was!  I slept in again today!  I was up earlier today then yesterday but i have to admit i was up most of the night with a aching back and legs.  I was up and then straight to the couch with a morning of doing nothing!  My body does not like the cold at all.  I’m experiencing pain in my left knee as well.  I know that someday i will have to have a knee replacement due to the fact that my left leg carries all my weight and stress from a back injury that has nerve damage on my right leg and it can not carry the weight it should.  I find that getting up and down in low places is getting harder and harder.  Today when i went to get inside the truck i struggled getting in.  Hmmm is it the weather or is my knee getting worse?

After lunch i did get a load of laundry going. A day like today makes me thankful for the washer in our home.  Then the rest of my afternoon was spent resting.  Actually i spent the afternoon reading the beginning of my blog and i can’t believe we spent our first winter in our RV in the extreme cold and survived it.  At times i miss our motor home Ms. Southwind, she was such a good home for us and we have lots of good memories but i have to admit having the more room in the 5th wheel with all the slide outs is very nice since we tend to stay for longer periods.  Hubby is much more happier driving our truck and 5th wheel.  The motor home was very uncomfortable for him to drive being a tall big man.  I miss the good gas mileage our car got compared to the truck for daily errands and stuff.  We have discussed getting a car but there is just no way i could drive it when we travel from place to place.  Another advantage is now that we have 2 grandkids they have much more room to play.  We are really happy with our decision to upgrade.  It’s hard to believe we’re going on 2 years now with our new home.  


With the cold weather I've moved my flowers inside to the warmth.  I’m sure their much happier inside then outside on a day like today.  One thing about it, we are nice and warm and toasty inside the comforts of our home.  I am looking forward to warmer temps soon.  I’m rethinking our decision to stay around until after Thanksgiving.  I sure am praying the weather holds out.  I’m miserable when it’s cold. Once again i up late, it’s 2 am and i can not get to sleep due to my back pain.  Getting comfortable is impossible so I'm waiting for my pain med’s to kick in before hitting the hay again.

It’s Cold!!

Wow the wind started last night and this morning the cold has arrived!  I curled up in bed by 7.30 pm last night   I slept in this morning .. yep i didn’t get out of bed until around 10 am!!!  My back doesn’t like the weather change and so it was a lazy night and morning for me.  When i did finally come down stairs this morning hubby had it nice and toasty with our electric heater going. 

Here is what our temps looked like today.  I believe this is the high for today.  This cooler weather does a number on my back.  So when it get’s like this the bed and couch becomes my good friend.  We had some left over ham steak that we didn’t use so when i got up this morning i put a pot of bean soup on too cook for dinner.  I am not a big bean eater.  I do however like the bean soup mix that has all kinds of different types of bean.  1 bowl and then I'm done.  I thought it would be a great day to put them on to cook since i wasn’t feeling well.


As you can see by this picture the trees are loosing their leaves.  Of course we are snuggled in with all the comforts of home.  The cool temps are suppose to last few a few days and then warmer temps should be back.  Hubby helped me get the rose bushes inside to protect them from the next few nights of freezing temps they are predicting.

My Flowers have Grown!

I left my flowers in Illinois all summer long and they have enjoyed the rain they had there this summer.  My succulents have grown big time as well as both of my rose bushes!  Wanda you done an excellent job taking care of them.  Now if they survive the winter with me .. hehe


Here is a link to see what the my 2 new flowers looked like when the kids got them for me and here they are now .. what a change!
http://fulltimervers2.blogspot.com/2011/05/happy-mothers-day.html
 
My original 2 flowers are blooming and blooming.  This rose bush has grown so much it’s hard to fit inside to ride and not sure what i will do with it this winter .. i know i will find a space for it.

Beautiful Fall Weather

We’ve had 2 wonderful days here in Springfield, the weather has been wonderful and I've enjoyed having my door open to let in some fresh air.  My allergies seem to be better and in fact my nose has opened up and cleared out.  I love being back in Illinois but my allergies do not like it when the farmers are in the fields.  We enjoyed our time with family and friends and even though it was a very busy, hectic and crazy time I have to admits It’s been great having some alone time with my wonderful husband who has showered me with  lots of love.  Thank you honey.

The fall temps we are having are wonderful, but after this weekend it’s suppose to come to an end and get cold.  The trees are really not pretty this year.  The leaves are falling without the beautiful colors.

I’m praying for wonderful temps until after Thanksgiving.  We will be parked here for 6 weeks.  Our plan is to return to Illinois for one more family visit before heading south for the winter.  Since we haven’t spent Thanksgiving with our family since 2006 we decided to spend this Thanksgiving holiday with our family this year. 

When you have a seven year old grand daughter who can not remember spending a holiday with you it tugs at your heart.  Plus my dad and hubby’s mom is not getting any younger.  We plan to spend about a week home during the holiday visiting.  Of course weather will be a huge issue on what really happens.

Our time has ended

The past couple of days have been very crazy .. Convention ended and we spent time with family and friends before packing things up and heading out again our time with family and friends ended crazy.  We found out on Monday our Daughter in Law (oldest son wife) was having surgery on Wednesday which was our planned day to leave.  Of course that changed our plans as we wanted to be there for our son and daughter in law.  Tuesday night around 9.30 pm we got a phone call from our oldest son that his neighbor who is like a fill in grandpa when we are not there for our grandkids was killed in a car accident.  What a tragedy. 

  

After our Daughter in Law come through surgery okay and since we wont know anything until the results come in there wasn’t much we could do.  We talked to our son and since we had to be back by Friday it was decided we would go forward with our plan to leave on Thursday. 

   
So by 8 am Thursday morning we were hooked up and pulling out.  It’s was weird to be leaving before all the other campers around us were gone.  Usually we stay until the end of October and we are one of the last of the campers to pull out.  But as you can see .. there were still several campers who were left.  The trees were beginning to turn colors for the sign that fall is in the air. 

We took our time and had a great travel day and made wonderful time .. we were parked and setup by 3.30 pm!  Not bad huh?  We traveled 300 miles.    It was a beautiful day to enjoy the scenery.