One Mile From "Home"

I joined everyone in the hall Tuesday morning to listen to the SkyMed pitch and then offered to help clean up but there really wasn't anything to do since all that was used was paper products. Ted kept trying to improve his score on the Wii and I played some Hand and Foot with the ladies.

At 12:30 the Greasy Hat Luncheon and Red Hat Luncheon convened in opposite rooms in the building. We had a talk from the Extension Service on Seed Starting which I personally thought was a questionable topic for a group where a lot of ladies don't own a home or yard. Going to Lowe's still works for me when I want a plant!

We went to a local restaurant for dinner. I said something to Ted about this being his birthday dinner and the waitress heard me. After we ate she brought him a square of cake with a candle, took his picture and then brought him a copy of it. That was nice because nothing had been done for his birthday.

That evening we had entertainment by Keith Longbotham and his group. They were really good and everyone enjoyed the show. The gal on the fiddle was super.

Wednesday was a catered breakfast followed by a Mor-Ryde Seminar. We are talking about having this suspension put on our trailer. The roads are horrendous and it would greatly improve and protect our suspension. If we have it done, it will be next summer when we're up north.

There was an ice cream social in the afternoon followed by a talk with Mike Mitchell, CEO of NuWa. He always comes and brings everyone up to date on what is going on with the company and any new products they are rolling out. The 2012 Champagne is still the same layout we have so we are sitting tight with ours.

That evening our sub-group, Haulin' HitchHikers, had their annual meeting preceded by a potluck. Ted made pulled pork which was well received. There were very good dishes prepared. So many potlucks are heavy on salads and desserts without much "substance" food. But we had bean soup, taco soup, sausage gumbo, two kinds of meatballs, the pulled pork, cowboy beans, mac & cheese, etc. We have a lot of good cooks!

Afterwards we played bingo but didn't win anything. Good thing because last year Ted won a free yearly membership, 25% off the rally cost and $224 in cash. If either of us won anything, there may have been a revolt.

Thursday I chaired the Mexican Train competition. Later in the evening I was asked to present the certificate to the winner. In the afternoon there was a meeting on all the rallies and trips for 2012. We may make the Haulin' HitchHikers Michigan rally in August but we won't do the International. It is set for Goshen, IN the middle of October. That's too far north, too late in the season for us.

We had a catered dinner in the evening and presentation of all the awards. I DID NOT win in the photo contest. Alaska reigned supreme. The people photo that won was of a woman in Eskimo clothes, animal was a bear with a fish in its mouth and the scenery was a beautiful picture of mountains and glacier reflecting in a lake. I'll just have to keep taking photos and see if I can't get another good one for 2013. Entertainment was Johnny Counterfit who sounded like so many different male singers coupled with jokes. I stayed for about half the show but was yawning so much I gave up and went home.

We pulled out this morning around 7:45 heading to Brinkley, AR but we arrived there around 1:00 pm so continued on. We called for a reservation in Benton, AR but arrived there at 3 pm and Ted said he wanted to continue on to Texarkana to give us a shorter day on Saturday. I cancelled the Benton reservation, made one in Texarkana and called Gwen at Rayford to tell her we would be in on Saturday,

We are in the same park we stopped at on our first night out in June. We drove to town to get fuel and have dinner. To get there we had to exit I-30 at Exit 1. So we were just one mile away from Texas. I expect we'll make it there tomorrow bright and early.

“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” ~ Margaret Elizabeth Sangster