Family Time In Kingsport, TN

We stopped in Kingsport to see our son, Mark, his wife Christal, and Ethan, age 4. It was great to arrive in time for Ethan's T-ball practice. It was so much fun watching him field grounders and swing the bat. We always enjoy staying at Warrior's Path State Park within the city limits. The park has a wonderful lake where Grandpa and Ethan enjoyed a brief time of fishing. The big ones are still in the lake, and so is part of Ethan's line that hung up on a rock. Within the state park is a new, unique playground that has the latest equipment for handicapped children. We arrived on opening day, and Gloria had a lot of fun playing with Ethan and other kids who needed a grandmother's attention.

Mark has expressed an interest in affiliating with Hissong Associates Inc. on a part-time basis. He will be working with both Robin and his dad, once he becomes certified as an Inscape Publishing consultant next April. He and Christy are also interested in some of the household items that we must part with prior to selling our Virginia home. They will rent a truck and make the trip to VA in mid-June.

Yep! We're Fixin' To Move To Texas

We arrived here at the North Texas Airstream Community (NTAC) in Hillsboro, Texas. Our primary purpose was to play a lot of Bridge with our buddies, Bill and Sue, who live here. We also wanted to look at available properties, which we had done in December 2005 during our last visit. This secure, gaited community consists of about 88 dwellings and several vacant lots. Of these, a dozen are lovely one-story homes with RV ports. The others are metal structures called villas that include many different, attractive, well-designed living units and RV ports. The residents own their homes, but the corporation owns the land beneath. This concept reduces the price of the dwellings and the taxes. One must be an active Airstreamer to purchase a share of the corporation and the dwelling that goes with it. Those who grow too old to engage in RV travel may sell their rigs and continue living in the park. The annual maintenance fee is $650 per lot whether or not it contains a dwelling.

We toured several residences for sale, but the one that finally captured our attention was the only one-story, brick home available. We agreed to purchase it on Gloria’s birthday, April 9. It has a central living area, modern kitchen, two bedrooms, two baths, large enclosed sunroom with a wonderful view, and a small extra room that may be used for many purposes; we will use it as an office. For our vehicles, our new home has a roomy RV port plus a two-car garage. There is also a large unfinished attic that holds many possibilities. It has a real stairway leading from the garage—not just a pull-down ladder. James and Golda (posing with us) built the home about five years ago, but maintained their primary residence 90 miles away. Health problems now preclude their owning two homes. They probably have not spent more than 100 days at NTAC since they built. Therefore, the house and quality Maytag appliances are like new, and the latter all convey. As a bonus, in the distance across a large field, we can see Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and Central Baptist Church. What else could an Airstreamer possible need? We feel truly blessed to now own this wonderful home in a safe, friendly environment with many fellow club members. The house went on the market only a few days before we arrived. We think the Lord designed and delivered it just for us!

We will begin preparing our newly remodeled Virginia house for sale in May when we finally get home. As soon as it sells, we are off to Texas. We already have our TX driver’s license, bank account and TX vehicle plates. Texas is rated right behind South Dakota as a best retirement state for RVers; there is no state income tax, nor do they tax our trailer and cars. We will be residing about three hours from our daughter Stephanie and her family (see last three Blog posts). We have not gotten to spend much time with these three wonderful grandchildren, and both they and we are excited that we will have more time together. Yesterday they visited us here at NTAC to see the new house and to celebrate Gloria's birthday. A favorite gift was the new Texas flag they delivered.

Hillsboro is strategically located about one hour south of Dallas-Fort Worth and two hours north of Austin right off I-35. NTAC is just one mile off the Interstate, so plan to come bask in the sun with us next winter! If you would rather stay in your rig, we have full hookups in our RV port.

Josh's Deal and More Family Fun

Josh, our youngest daughter’s husband, arrived in Texas on April 2. He was delivering their 1989 VW Westfalia Camper to an online buyer from Minnesota, who is flying into Austin, Texas to complete the deal. Josh (right) and a friend, Simon (left), drove over 2000 miles from Josh and Courtney’s newly acquired thatched roof house in Guatemala. Courtney and Althea stayed home to care for their two new large dogs, their cat and two baby kittens. After the car transaction is complete on April 7, Josh will fly to Florida and engage in a lot of red tape in order to air transport their Great Dane, Leroy, back home to Central America. How’s that for modern day business? What an excuse to visit your in-laws! We can’t wait to visit Guatemala one day and hug Althea and enjoy her little zoo.

While Josh and Simon got the VW ready for delivery, Jack, Lucie and Lincoln spent a couple of days with us in Buda playing in the Airstream. They just love the trailer! On two occasions they and Jerry rode the Razor scooters down the hill from the RV park to Cabela’s. In case you don’t know Cabela’s, it’s a sportsman’s dream world. There is something for everyone: A laser firing range, real fish in a pond, a huge, exotic aquarium, a wildlife exhibit of stuffed wild animals plus, camping/fishing gear, guns, boats, kayaks, and sports clothing galore. A few people stared and smiled at Jerry pushing away on the little scooter, but no one came in a white coat.

Evenings with the family were great fun with Steve doing a fantastic job grilling big steaks and halibut. Steph is like her mom, knowing just how to plan and deliver big meals. Everything is so green with all the rain that has fallen on the Gillette’s little country abode. The horses grazed in the front yard, the kids loved swinging on the huge rope that hangs from a big limb, and Josh and Jack chopped wood and attended to the fire. The last night we joyfully celebrated an early birthday for Gloria. Earlier in the day, she and Jerry posed with Pat and Vanna. Their bus and trailer were parked at the dealership near our rig while they performed in San Antonio. As Vanna would say in her sweet, intellectual way, “Bye-Bye.”