Let the trip begin!

These last few weekends Mike and I have been driving all over Texas. We have been trying to get in the last round of visits with our family before we leave for the East coast portion of our trip. Since I will soon have something more interesting to write about than the daily grind, I will start posting more to the blog. The long awaited trip has finally arrived! Today was my last day of work at this contract. Tomorrow we are going to be preparing for the trip and getting the RV ready to travel. Saturday we leave. The first stop will be the beach near the Alabama/Florida border. Yippee!

Wichita Falls Red Draw

Last weekend, Mike and I drove to Wichita Falls to visit Mike's grandma and great aunt. Saturday, we loaded up the ladies and went to the Wichita Falls winery and vineyard. They had a lot of sweet wines, which were good but we are more of dry wine people. We bought a bottle of each of our favorites anyway. LaNell (grandma) even bought a bottle. While on the short tour, we were told that the owners bought the land, built their house, and planted a few vines to play with in their spare time. Both had full time jobs in other fields. Well, the husband lost his job and decided to make the winery a full time profession. There must be more to the story because it seems like quite an investment to make without knowing much about how to make wine. They were very nice and we enjoyed our time there.

Saturday evening, we went out to eat. The decision was made to go to a steakhouse. We had eaten here on a previous visit. I remembered this place. Last time, I saw a waitress serving a curious looking drink in a beer mug. It was red. Well, turns out it is called a Red Draw...a Bud or Miller lite with tomato juice. I tried it out of curiosity and I can report that it wasn't too bad. Kind of tomato soup like with a fizz. I only had one.

Sunday we wrapped up the visit and drove back to the motorhome. Next weekend: more relatives.

The beach, the garage sale, and the end of work

Wow, I just realized I haven't posted since mid-April. I thought I was only a week or two behind, which is bad enough. Anyway, on to the update. First of all, I just wanted to post a photo of our view from the RV. I'm so glad we moved to this RV park. We were able to get the space on the end of the row so that when we open the driver-side windows, here is our view...

It is so nice and peaceful! Well, except when we have the weekly or bi-weekly severe thunderstorm.

During the last week of April, I took a few days off and went to an educational meeting in Sandestin, FL. This area has the most beautiful beaches! The meeting was good and I was able to catch up with friends I used to work with. Plus the meeting was over by around 1pm each day and we had beach time after that. The weather was beautiful and it was a very nice weekend. Mike went to visit his nieces and nephews and said he had a great time too. Here are a few photos of the beach...

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This last weekend, my mom, sister, aunt, and Mike's sister, brother-in-law, and the nieces and nephews came to Tyler on Friday. We grilled out by the pool and the kids went swimming (too cold for the adults). Saturday, we went to Canton Trade Days. This is the biggest trade days/flea market I have ever seen! It was huge! It was awesome! We spent most of the day there and found numerous "treasures".

Mike and I have decided that May will be out last month in Tyler. After the 31st, we're heading out on the east coast half of our RV trip. YEAH!!! Everybody keep your fingers crossed that gas doesn't go too sky high. We have booked the first week of the trip at an RV park on the AL/FL coast at the beach. The second week, will be on the SW FL beach near Fort Myers, FL. My mom and Steve are staying in a condo down there and we will be able to meet up with them. After that, who knows where we will go. It's going to be exciting and I can't wait!