Busy Weekend

Rick and Brenda left today for Memphis. We won't see them again until mid-June when we meet up at the IRV2 rally in Dundee, OH so we spent most of the weekend with them. They asked us to meet them at Rayford Friday night to visit Jay and Stella and tell them goodbye. We arrived just in time to play their five bingo games. I won $27 and Ted won $72. Winning two out of five didn't make us real popular! But Ted took $55 of his winnings and became "one in a thousand" at church where they are asking for 1000 people to donate $55 to raise $55,000 to build our second Habitat for Humanity house. Ted worked on five houses in Florida and believes in this group. After bingo and some refreshments we retired to the breezeway and talked until 10:30 or so.

Saturday I putzed around while Ted went shooting. I still had to unpack our suitcases and do laundry. We hoped to attend the Valentine's Show at the Opry but "he who hesitates is not only lost, he is 15 miles from the next exit" and they were sold out. We knew every restaurant would be impossible or a really long wait so we opted for the old standby, Sweet Tomatoes. Our thought process was sweet is a nice valentine word and tomatoes are red. It worked for us. Afterwards we came back to our house and played three games of Jokers and Pegs. Ted and Brenda won two and Rick and I only won one. But there will be many more games during the summer.

We went to church at 9:00 on Sunday to be ready at 11:00 to go to the RV show. Rick had access to free admission for the four of us so Ted drove and Rick paid the parking. I have to say I was underwhelmed. I never see a motorhome that I would be satisfied with. I'm sure they make them but I have never seen one with a couch and two recliners in a place where you can comfortably lounge and watch TV. Many of them are beautiful but for that kind of money I want to be completely satisfied.

The high end 5th wheel manufacturers are dropping like flies. We did see a Daydreamer that Ted liked but I didn't, an Escalade that we both liked except for the cabinets and a Mobile Suite we both liked. However, they were all 38 feet long and our storage space is at capacity with our 35 feet. We would need to have the owner move a shorter rig behind us and rent us 1.25 of a space. We would also need an F-350 or F-450 to pull it. Buying one vehicle is gut wrenching (for me). Buying two would be ... well some day I'll tell you the story about buying the HitchHiker!

We were finished at the RV show around 4:00 and then were given two tickets to the Home and Garden show with the advice, no one is taking tickets there anymore. So Brenda and I went in while the guys took our bags to the car. However, when they came back they were taking tickets and they were stuck. So Ted went to ask the Will Call if anyone had not picked up their tickets and the guy gave him two tickets. Ted always says "asking is free" and lots of times it pays off.

The Garden show turned out to be more fun than the RV show. We came home with a bag full of goodies and travel info. We also had our picture taken with a Royal Canadian Policeman. It was the last hour of the show and everyone was in a good mood and talkative.

When the booths started emptying out we decided it was time to leave. We stopped at Culver's for a burger and then called it a night. Rick and Brenda left right from the driveway after hugs and kisses. I wanted to watch the Amazing Race and we got inside just in time.

Today I played bunco and won! Ted asked if he could buy a new RV now and I said I didn't think the $20 would go too far. Tomorrow is a trip to Harwin with some gals, Wednesday we are meeting my old Celanese boss and his wife in Brenham for lunch. They are visiting their son in Austin so we're meeting half way, more or less. Thursday is our neighborhood ladies' luncheon and Friday we head to the Rio Grande Valley for 2-3 weeks. No rest for the wicked. Retirement sure keeps you busy but we want to keep going while we can. We know the day will come when the RV is too much for us or one of us is not in the best of health for traveling. We hope it's a long way down the road.