Have You Started Making Plans for the New Year

 

yaaa. . .the holidays are almost over. . .

 

back in our sticks N bricks days, we decorated and hosted most of the family get togethers. . .

now that we don’t do that. . .the holidays just seem so stressful to me. 

Isn’t that weird. . .it should be simpler. . .right?

 

But now we need to figure out. . .who’s hosting?  what time?  what do we need to bring?

we had quite the discussion about the holidays on the RV’ers over 50 group on Facebook. . .

I’m almost to the point that I would like to skip the holiday gatherings

(except the ones with my grands of course)

and just have a big family get together where we can all be outside

and enjoy sitting around together, while the kids run wild. . .but that’s just me!

Here’s hoping all of you had a wonderful Merry Christmas. . .

Now. . .on the the New Year!

 

What exciting plans do all of you have. . .where ya headed next? 

May it be a wonderful. . .joy filled 2014 for each of you. . .

 

til next time,

Janice and Dave

A Water Leak equals a Fun Day. . .yeah right

 

I wanted to be sure the black tank was completely flushed out,

since there was a possibility of us being away from the rig

for a couple of days. . .because I’m OCD (shocking to my family, I know)

I choose to take care of that little chore. . .ANYWAY. . .

 

as I turned on the backflush system, Dave’s comes running out. . .

turn it off. . .turn it off. . .something’s leaking. . .

and sure enough. . .water was pouring out the side of the rig,

 

thankfully, he was inside to hear it, otherwise, no telling how long

I would have ran the water, before I decided the tank was clean enough.

 

because the pipe was to the side wall of the rig,

most of the water went to the outside. . .

but of course the flooring that got wet inside was under the cabinets,

and behind the washer. . .yaaaa!

 

Most important thing we learned from having a water leak in our S/B house. . .

you must get it dried, or the flooring and sill plates will buckle AND mold. . .

so. . .after pulling out drawers, and gaining as much access as possible

we mopped up with towels, and stuck a small space heater and a fan

in the cavity. . .we were there to monitor and check on it regularly. . .

 

once it seemed to be dried out sufficiently, we pulled out the heater,

but left a fan running in the space while we were gone to stay

with my sis in law following her surgery. . .

ahhh. . .so this morning the real fun began. . .

because the washer sits up on a raised platform,

we’ve discovered the best way to maneuver it is with

these webbing straps hubby just happens to have on hand. . .

and here’s the culprit. . .water was pouring out of the top of this vacuum breaker

which was attached to these two lines

here’s the new one installed. . .$39 replacement part

safely strapped to the drain pipe,

so it can no longer move around during travel. . .

 

So, that’s been our fun Saturday. . .

It’s cold, wet and dreary here,

we are happy to be inside.

 

What are you guys doing to entertain yourselves

on a winter day in December?

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

Evans Escapades–What a Week–Already!

Goodness. . .this is turning out to be quite a week.. .

and it’s only Tuesday. . .

 

My hubby, and my sister in law just happened to have

surgeries scheduled on the same day. . .what are the chances?

 

Dave’s trip to the dermatologist last week revealed a

sqamous cell skin cancer on his left temple. . .

they wanted it taken care of right away,

and sent him to a plastic surgeon in Houston to have it removed.

All is well. . .benign. . .he’s sporting a big ole bandage on the side of his head. . .

 

My sis in law’s surgery, much more severe. . .

a benign tumor on her pituitary gland. . .causing massive headaches. . .

actually requiring brain surgery to remove it. . .scary stuff. . .

but she came through with flying colors. . .

we give thanks to the Lord for His hand of protection in guiding the surgeons hands. . .

we will go up to check on her and my brother this morning. . .

 

Tomorrow, we drive to Silsbee TX for our favorite visit of the year. . .

annual check ups. . .ugh! 

Medical check ups are probably the one negative to full time travel. . .

not every doctor will do only annual check ups. . .

most want you to report back every six months. . .

almost an impossibility, when you are traveling thousands of miles away. . .

has anyone else found this to be the case?

I’m sure a lot of it has to do with blood pressure issues. . .and the liabilities of that. . .

but other than the elevated BP we are both relatively healthy,

with no real medical issues to speak of. . .thank the Lord. . .

 

Soooo. . .after visiting the doc. . .we will probably travel to Orange TX

and spend the rest of the week at my brother’s place. . .

I’m sure my sis will need someone to be there with her for a few days. . .

 

And, that’s it. . .exciting week. . .right?

Til next time,

Janice and Dave

Not Many Evans Escapades Happening at the Moment. . .

ahhh. . .we have settled into “winter life” very comfortably indeed. . .

nowhere we necessarily need to be. . .or do. . .

so I’ve decided to take today. . .the day after Thanksgiving,

to just contemplate how much I enjoyed being with the family.

My son, and his love Lori, hosted Thanksgiving Dinner. . .

I did not cook a single solitary thing. . .it was glorious!
Lori made some shrimp and grits that were to die for.. .

I’m still thinking about them. . .

 

We followed up all that goodness  with a pass by Dave’s sisters place

for a visit with the rest of the fam. . .brothers, sisters, in laws, nephews, nieces. . .

and of course. . .the fabulous Mr Jonah. . .

just as adorable as I remember from a month ago in Atlanta. . .

 

If you are spending the day enjoying leftovers. . .good for you!

 

If you are spending the day out shopping with all the crazies. . .

all I can say is. . .Bless Your Heart!

 

Wishing you all a wonderful Holiday Season. . .

Evans Escapades at Lake Conroe

hey, hey, hey. . .

 

We have arrived at what we consider our

“home” park near Lake Conroe. . .

and I can tell you for a fact. . .

it has not taken me long to get into this mode!

 

Yes indeed. . .life is good!

Evans Escapades in College Station–It Was A Football Kinda Weekend

 

I’m sure you will find it shocking that

when the Texas Aggies have a home game

Football Weekends in College Station are a wee bit crazy.

 

This is not the first time Dave’s had a class scheduled

on a football weekend. . .so we already knew the drill. . .

RV spaces are gonna be hard to come by. . .

and will be at a premium price. . .

$65 a night at the park we usually like to stay at,

and $50 a night at the one we found a little further out of town. . .yaaa!

or if you are A&M Alumni. . .you can stay at the stadium. . .

    

spaces there start at $90 a night. . .what a deal!

 

Hotel rooms go for premium rates too. . .

and then early Sunday Morning everyone’s hooking up. . .

football season is over. . .let the exodus begin. . .

and rates drop back to normal. . .

I dropped Dave off at the Fire Field to pick up this bad boy. . .

which they will pull for six hours to South Texas.

 

The big difference between pulling this, and pulling our fiver. . .

this is a gooseneck. . .so none of that nice air ride suspension.

 

I headed back to the nice comfort of the motor home,

and left them to their fun. . .I’ve been catching up on

miscellaneous little chores that get put off when we are in travel mode. . .

 

The most annoying one for me is that I end up with these stacks of papers. . .

seriously. . .am I the only one this happens to?

 

I guess I lay aside these wonderful pamphlets or even

pages I’ve torn out of magazines thinking I’m gonna research it. . .

and then before I know it, I have this four inch stack of stuff to go through. . .

and then I can’t possibly just chuck the entire stack,

because there might be some receipt or something I NEED in there. . .grrrrr. . .

 

so, those are the sorts of things I’ve been doing. . .

cleaning out the fridge, rearranging the freezer. . .

fun stuff . . .I can hardly wait ‘til tomorrow for it to continue. . .oh boy!

 

Oh. . .and now that I’ve cleared out the stack of papers. . .

it’s time to go pick up the mail. . .jumping for joy about that one. . .

 

Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s having this much fun. . .

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

 

 

 

Evans Escapades–The Reward was great in Austin

UGH!  Another drippy, rainy travel day on Wednesday. . .

but, the owner at Sunny Hill RV Park called just as

we were pulling in the driveway. . .and said,

“I know you guys are scheduled in another space,

but why don’t you go ahead and go to a premium covered

space, so you can set up out of the rain.”

How fabulous is this? 

What a terrific owner. . .we thanked him profusely. . .just lovely!

and of course the reward for our travel. . .

the little man. . .Jaden Carl. . .great nephew #5. . .

they were supposed to be home by the time we got there. . .

but you know. . .things happen. . .a long, long, long labor

that ultimately resulted in C Section. . .but Mr Jaden was worth it all. . .

8lbs 11oz – 21 inches of perfection. . .what more could you ask for. . .

I know my brother. . .his Grandpa is over the moon. . .

 

and no trip to Austin would be complete without

visiting our very, very special friends. . .

how fabulous to just sit, visit and enjoy the company of

Edwin, Kristi and the boys. . .love you guys so much!

 

Although Dave promised to not teach any classes until after the first of the year,

the minute they called wanting to know when he would be back,

and was he ready to teach. . .his answer, of course was yes. . .

so. . . Friday finds us in College Station. . .we had about an hour

from the time we pulled in, until he was scheduled at the Fire Field

to help load a trailer for travel to next weeks class in South Texas. . .

ahhh. . .he loves it so much. . .I could never deny him that enjoyment. . .

so. . .Dave’s in his element. . .

as soon as he gets back. . .I’m going to Lowe’s where I will be in my element,

searching for the new flooring for the rig. . .YES!

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

 

 

 

Evans Escapades in Four States

We were rolling out of Atlanta by 8AM

which is awful, awful  early for us,

with an overnight stop planned in Montgomery for. . .you guessed it!

The Alabama State House. . .very nice

and then on to the River View RV Park in Vidalia. . .

right across the Mississippi River from Natchez. .

.

but. . .it seems as though we’ve entered the rain belt. . .

now truly. . .that is not a complaint, because after the drought of the past few years,

this entire area can really, really use some rain. . .

but it does sort of put a “damper” on sightseeing. . .if ya know what I mean?

   

a driving tour won’t be so bad. . .you know you’ve truly arrived in the South

when the spanish moss is dripping from all the oak trees. . .so beautiful. . .

a view of the Mississippi River from Bluff Park

the American Queen Paddle Wheeler was in port on her way from New Orleans to St Louis. . .

the Isle of Capri Casino is in the background. . .

back in the day, when I used to read 4” thick novels about southern plantation days,

I remember reading stories and descriptions about the sordid, Under the Hill area of Natchez. . .

no self respecting citizen would ever be found down there. . .

it seems pretty innocuous these days. . .not much there at all.

Fire destroyed several of the original buildings, and I believe

I read they have been trying to revive the area with tourist shops. . .

didn’t seem to me to be much going on. . .but then again,

we have arrived when tourist season is winding down. . .

  

The Natchez Trace Parkway begins in Natchez. . .so I wanted to see that.

Our intention in 2011 had been to start at the beginning of The Trace,

and explore most of it. . .due to the severe flooding of the river that spring,

we rerouted our trip. . .so when we return for the Annual Spring Pilgrimage

of the Natchez Mansions. . . perhaps we can  explore more of The Trace then. . .

a lady at the Visitor Center highly recommended the lunch buffet at the Historic Eola Hotel. . .

and boy was she right on the money. . .delicious. . .the best cornbread dressing I have ever had. . .it had shrimp in it. . .delicious. . .

and all the southern eats to go along with it. . .including Sweet Tea. . .life is good!

Friday, Nov 1

on to the next destination. . .we’ve made it through Georgia, Alabama, and into Louisiana

in less than a week’s time. . .coming up today. . .TEXAS! 

close enough to see some of the kinfolk. . .Uncle John and cousins
Karen, Lynn, and Justin with their grandaughter Cara. . .

  

thanks for driving over from Shreveport for a visit. . .loved getting our hugs!

it surely was great that Justin had a basketball game scheduled in Longview,

Saturday, Nov 2

Our longtime friends, the Clarks, have built a new house in Longview. . .

so of course we needed to see that. . .I was so excited to see them

and to visit, that I forgot to take a single picture. . .just crazy. . .

Sunday, Nov 3

Sunday gave us the opportunity to see on of our “adopted” girls. . .

Tamara and a couple of other girls stayed with us during their

Bible College summer break way back in the day. . .goodness. . .

since we’ve seen her last, she’s become Mommy to four precious angels. . .

so wonderful to have lunch with her and Michael, and the rest of the family!

Monday, Nov 4

Monday and Tuesday brings us to Granbury

to see our precious Aunt Barbara. . .

she belongs to Dave really, but I claim her as my very own. . .

She came over to see our “castle” and have chicken tortilla soup. . .

what a wonderful afternoon. . .

We’ll see her again today before we head out in the morning for Austin. . .

Mr Jaden (our newest great nephew) was scheduled to put in an appearance

on Nov 4th. . .but he’s decided to take his time. . .so perhaps today, Nov 5th. . .

We were planning to see him at home. . .but if he keeps up this

lollygaggin’ around, we may visit him in the hospital on Thursday. . .

either way, it will be great to get our hands on him. . .

and to see his Mommy and Daddy of course. . .

and Grandpa, and Grandma, and the other Grandma. . .

and all Jaden’s aunts and uncles

. . .see. . .

family reunion. . .one way or the other.

See you in Austin. . .

Janice and Dave

more pics

Natchez Album

Alabama State House Album

Evans Escapades in Atlanta and at Stone Mountain Park

With a wee bit of a jog on our way home

we could stop over in Atlanta

and meet our newest great nephew. . . Mr Jonah Grey. . .

is he adorable or what?

we even babysat the little angelic being,

so Mommy and Daddy could go celebrate Daddy’s birthday. . .

If all goes as planned, they will be transferring back

to Houston soon, so I can get my hands on the little man often. . .

fingers crossed!

of course being this close we wanted to see the Stone Mountain Carving. . .

President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee

and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

the carving doesn’t appear that large, but apparently it actually covers three acres,

and is larger than Mount Rushmore. . .didn’t compute in my mind,

but those are the facts according to what I read about it. . .

and then here is an article that disputes it. . .so I find that info interesting also. . .

regardless of it’s actual size. . .according to our

SkyRide Pilot, dinners for twelve are served up there. . .

I would love to see some pics of that happening. . .

on a clear day, the Atlanta Skyline would be awesome. . .this was the best we could do

there was a little bit of wind up there, so Uncle Dave shared his Tilley with Jonah. . .

gotta LOVE that face. . .

but nothing beat spending the day with our niece Tiffany

and her beautiful little family. . .come home soon Tiff. . .

We have a brief stopover in Natchez. . .

then on to Texas, where the newest of the new great nephews. . .

Jaden Carl is expected to put in an appearance on Monday. . .

and with nephew Aaron's little man Jensen

expected in March. . .

our great nephew total will be six. . .

with one little instant great niece as a bonus. . .

what a lot of fun. . .

we are blessed indeed!

we love sharing our brothers and sisters grands,

since ours have all grown up on us. . .

til next time,

Janice and Dave

Evans Escapades in Atlanta

We were excited to head to Atlanta on Wednesday for two reasons. . .

#1. . .to meet the newest of our great nephews. . .

and to see his Mommy, Tiffany (Dave’s niece) and hubby, Nathan. . .

and

#2. . .there’s a huge Cummins Repair Shop,

where we were hoping to have a repair done to our coach battery’s wiring harness. . .

but alas. . .the shop is slammed from the Good Sam’s Rally that just finished up,

and couldn’t possibly work us in until NEXT Wednesday. . .

we’ll continue limping along to Texas. . .every time the coach won’t start,

Dave pulls the battery tray out. . .it fires right up, and away we go.

It’s not a problem when it happens on travel day morning. . .we just deal and move on. . .

but once. . .when it happened at a busy, busy truck stop. . .with lines everywhere. . .

well. . .that was not fun. . .we know the batteries themselves are fine. . .

Dave’s done a couple of post repairs. . .so we’ll see. . .

Jones’ RV Park in Norcross is nothing fancy. . .but more than adequate. . .

$30 for 50A FHU. . .or $165 for a week. . .easily accessible from I-85. . .

and easily accessible to where the new great is. . .ahhh. . .almost within reach!

I’ll be getting my hands on him very, very soon. . .

with the coach repair on hold. . .and the little angel’s Mommy and Daddy at work,

what shall we do with ourselves?  Hmmmm. . .driving range. . .that will work. . .

if only I could hit the ball on the course as well as I hit it at the range. . .that would be so great!

and then, of course Atlanta just happens to be the Capitol of Georgia. . .

boy, did I ever manage to get a horrible picture. . .yikes!

another one of those that are hard to photograph. . .so, it is what it is. . .

the funny thing is. . .I googled Georgia State House pics

and sadly. . .the pro’s pics aren’t much better. . .

this is one of those instances where the “drive by” shot from the freeway is almost the better one. . .too funny!

We are off to see the little man. . .so guess whose pics will be next. . .yes indeed!

Janice and Dave