WOW! It’s hard to believe that we have not updated
our blog since March 16th!
Much has happened since then, and we have been very busy (even without
real JOBs). Dick will provide updates on
our trip to Colorado and time in our campground since arriving here. First, I want to bring you up to date on our
last few weeks at Waco Lake and our travels to visit family and friends.
On March 24th,
Dick and I, with our co-volunteer hosts (Dave and Sue) had to move from our
sites to prepare for the gate keepers to arrive in time for the park to open on
April 1st to campers. We moved
to site #34 in the camping area and set up house once more.
Later that afternoon,
Dick and I went to a birthday/”glad to be alive”, etc. party for our friend and
COE worker, Maxine. Our friends Terry
and Joan were there, as well, and great visiting and food was had by
all.
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| Joan and Terry |
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| Maxine and friends |
The following morning,
our friend Dick Wilcox came to say “see ya” prior to returning to Washington
state for the summer.
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| Dick Wilcox and Sue and Dave Lubbers |
That afternoon, we had
Dave and Sue over for some of Dick’s delicious barbeque.
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| Dick and Dave |
On Monday, March 26th,
we received a call from Ranger Liz Anderson to see if Dick and I wanted to go
fishing that evening on the Middle Bosque River. Not being a fisherman, I went along and
brought my Kindle and camera (praying not to drop either overboard). While Dick and Liz fished, I took pictures and
read. Although the fishing was not what
it had been, Dick caught enough for a meal the next day. Thank you, Liz, as we would not have seen
this view along the river from land.
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| Dick and Ranger Liz Anderson searching for a great fishing spot! |
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| Sunset returning to Twin Bridges Park |
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| Ranger Liz and me - enjoying the ride! |
On Friday, March 30th,
the Corps of Engineers hosted a fish fry for all volunteers and paid gate
keepers at Airport Beach Park. That morning,
Ranger Liz asked me to peel and slice potatoes and onions for the event, which
I did with Dick’s assistance. What a way
to fill a few volunteer hours for the week!
The fish fry was a huge success with great fish, fries, hushpuppies and
sides brought by all attendees, as well as great company. To our surprise, all volunteers were
presented with a certificate and pin by Ranger Eric Bonnell!
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| Terry frying fish |
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| Dick on left and Ranger Eric Bonnell on right |
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| Chow time! |
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| Ranger Eric presenting Dick and I with certificates and pins |
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| Ranger Liz with volunteer Jerrie (who works in COE office) |
On Sunday, April 1st,
we had a call from our friends (formerly at the KOA/Good Sam park with us in
West), Richard and Barbara, who wanted to come visit. We had not seen them for months and were
thrilled to have a chance to visit before leaving the area. Our visit ended up being all day, including
going out to dinner and visiting their campground. Richard and Barbara were so impressed with
our campground and volunteer host position that they applied and are now camp
hosts at Waco Lake, too!
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| Dick, Barbara and Richard |
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| Richard and Barbara |
The following week was
spent getting ready to hit the road, including getting the Nitro ready to tow
behind the RV and cleaning and rearranging all bays. Since we were at a site with no sewer
hookups, we decided to go home to spend Easter with the kids/grandkids. On Saturday, April 7th, we drove
the RV to our RV repairman for storage and a few repairs during the next 2
weeks.
We then drove to Tomball,
TX to our son Mike’s home to spend a week with him, his wife April and our
grandsons Colby and Ben. Following
Easter Eve church services, we went to eat Mexican food with April’s Mom and
Dad, Jay and Sue. Then, home for the boys
to decorate Easter eggs and get ready for the Easter bunny. On Easter Sunday, Michelle and Logan joined
us and we had a delicious fried shrimp dinner followed by an Easter egg hunt
for the boys.
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| Heading out from Reynolds Creek Park on Waco Lake! |
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| Dick, April and Mike - after Mexican food! |
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| Ben and Colby - at the wishing well! |
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| Grammy with Colby and Ben - dying eggs |
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| Colby and Ben showing off their dyed Easter eggs |
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| The Easter bunny did good! |
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| Logan and Grampa on Easter Sunday |
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| Our "boys" - Colby (5), Logan (11) and Ben (3) |
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| The "boys" enjoying their fried shrimp meal |
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| Dick, Jay, Sue, April, Michelle & Mike - chow time! |
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| The "boys" ready for the Easter hunt |
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SILs - Michelle and April - with matching crosses -
Michelle's birthday gift to April (4/15) |
We had a leisurely week
in Tomball, including Dick putting the base plate on our Nitro for towing. On Thursday evening, April and I went for a
pedi/mani, which was an early Mother’s Day gift to me from Dick (since I now
consider this an extravagant expense).
Mike and April left on
Friday afternoon with their friends Steve and Lori for a weekend in
Fredericksburg while Grammy and Grampa stayed with Colby and Ben. The boys were awesome and we had a great
time!
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| Colby - just thinking! |
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| Ben with Pop and Mama Sue (April's parents) |
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| Colby and Ben -" reading"! They love books! |
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| Grampa with Ben and Colby - a group hug |
We ended our week by
surprising April with a birthday dinner when she returned on Sunday, April 15th!
On Monday, April 16th,
Dick and I headed for Seabrook, TX to visit Michelle and Logan. Again, the week was fairly leisurely. We picked Logan up from school a few days and
even met him for lunch one day. We had a
couple good visits with my sister Betti, a visit with my cousins Gordon and
Linda and lunch at T-Bone Tom’s in Kemah, TX with our friends and fellow hosts
at Waco Lake, Terry and Joan (who will be volunteers at a park in West Virginia for the summer, and we hope to meet up again one day).
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| Dick, Judy, Joan and Terry at T-Bone Tom's - Kemah, TX |
As soon as Michelle and
Logan got out of school on Friday, April 20th, we drove to Lake
Charles to the Isle of Capri for the weekend.
My brother and sister-in-law (Jim and Sharon) also stayed at the hotel
that weekend, so we all had brunch together on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon, we met them, as well as
my nieces Virginia and Natalie and nephew James at Darrell’s for po-boys. Yummy!
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| Logan - loving our room at Isle of Capri |
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| Jim and Sharon with Logan - in our room |
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Brunch at Isle of Capri -
Michelle Sharon, Jim, Dick and Logan |
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| Lunch at Darrell's - Virginia, Natalie and Michelle |
On Saturday evening,
Dick and I attended my Lake Charles High School Class of 1965 reunion event at
the home of Charles and Karen Woodard, who are awesome hosts and have a
beautiful home on the Calcasieu River - and, yes, our class of 47 years ago has a "reunion" twice a year in Lake Charles, LA.
Again, we ate great food and had a great visit with old friends! I would love to post all the pictures taken that night, but it would take up far too much room, so here are the highlights.
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| Charles Woodard (our host), Bob Soileau and Dick |
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| Dick and Louis Haxthausen |
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Faye Palermo McGee, Judy Tolin Mott (me) and
Kathy Broussard Soileau |
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| Jimmy LeBlanc and Lillie Ray Levy |
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| Karen Woodard (our hostess) and Dick |
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| Mike McClanahan and Gil and Laura Eagle Kaough |
On Sunday, April
22nd, we made a trip to Steamboat Bill’s on the lake to have our
final taste of Louisiana seafood for many months to come. We then returned to Seabrook, settled in and
got ready to head out on Monday, April 23rd, for Tomball and then
Waco. Dick will pick up from here and
chronicle our travels to Colorado and since arriving in Estes Park.
Thanks for stopping by once
again and see ya! ~Judy~
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