Thanksgiving In Palacios

It was good to get away from all the moving boxes for a few days and be with family. On Wednesday, we met Stephanie and her family at their home near Wimberly, TX. They live three hours south of us and reside in the house they built by themselves, with the help of a few friends, when they were first married. Their two horses roam their 10 acre spread. Their three children, Jack, Lucie, and Lincoln are home schooled and have lots of fun in their country living environment. You never know when you are going to get ambushed! (For their photos, scroll back to April 2007.) Husband and father, Steven, has his own construction business and surprised us with his new beard. This was the first we had seen them since moving to Texas. We delivered some special family treasures. They were things that had belonged to our grandparents like a big crock and a glass doored wall cabinet. Lucy inherited a cedar chest that had been Gloria's mother's and Jerry's old Arthur Ashe tennis racket The boys each gained a shotgun. One was an old gangster sawed off shotgun from Prohibition Days. Another was a 16 guage that had belonged to one of Jerry's favorite uncles. Jerry had shot many a rabbit and ringneck pheasant with it in his youth. Ah the memories of spending Thanksgiving Day in the Ohio fields with his remarkable English Setter, Tony.

After a wonderful lunch served by Stephanie and Lucie, we traveled in tandem with her family for three and a half more hours to Palacios, TX near the Gulf Coast. Texas is sooo big! This was the first time that we had seen Ruth Ann since the death of Steve's father, Lannie, a few months ago. Lannie did not quite make it to 70 years of age, but he had a wonderful life. He was the father of three children and a dedicated Christian. A few years ago, he and Ruth Ann built a lovely, spacious retirement home on a bay near Palacios. He loved the water and enjoyed boating and fishing. He was also an excellent golfer. As we celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, there was a mixture of sadness and also joy because of the wonderful family he helped create. Both of Steve's sisters were present along with cousins, neices, friends (note Gail's curlers), and Ruth Ann's pastor's family. Her mom, age 92, from Port Arther was there, and what an inspiration she is. She is bright and alert, walks around taking photos and still drives her car. We have adopted her as our role model.

Ruth Ann did a fabulous job taking care of everyone's needs, and several others pitched in to ensure that the Thanksgiving feast was a huge success. We left the family behind on Friday and returned, totally stuffed, to Hillsboro. Wish we could have stayed another day, but we had shopping to do in Waco and so much to do in getting settled.

Deep In The Heart of Texas

Our furniture was loaded on the Red Ball Express on October 30; we spent the night with our daughter, Robin, and her family. Alejandro prepared a delectable, authentic Colombian feast. Our home sale finalized on October 31. Robin (see photo) was delighted to use her "new" dining room outfit. It has now gone through three generations starting with Jerry's mother. It even had a lengthy stopover in Ohio with Gloria's sister's family.

After getting our long awaited money invested with our broker, we bid farewell to neighbors on Riviera Drive and to Robin, Alejandro and Samuel. Samuel was busy attending to the trick or treat kids, and we, in all of our excitement, did not hit any of them on our way out.

We are now at last in Hillsboro, TX at the North Texas Airstream Community (NTAC) located 65 miles south of Dallas on I-35 and 35 miles north of Waco (sometimes referred to by non-Texans as "Wacko"). There are approximately 88 permanent homes (no double-wides) in NTAC. There are also full hookup lots where a few people live in their Airstreams during the winter months. Other RV brands are not allowed except when rallying in the overnight terraport.
Jerry towed the big Airstream from Front Royal, Vienna, VA to Hillsboro, while Gloria followed in her bright red Toyota Celica--sometimes worried about the big trucks that often surrounded her. Potty stops were coordinated via cell phone. The entire 1450 miles journey took four days, and we had warmth and sunshine every day. We had stopped the first night in Kingsport, TN and camped at picturesque Warrior's Path State Park. We spent that evening in the park with son Mark, Christy and Ethan and transferred several boxes of stuff that they needed and we don't need. Our movers had already dropped off a couch and chair for them. After Kingsport we parked mostly at rest areas and truck stops. Somehow we missed our freebie favorite, a Wal-Mart parking lot. We did stay at a KOA campground in Arkansas the final night of the trip. KOA is not our favorite place to stay, but it was readily accessable and had free Wi-Fi Internet service. At last we could check our email.

The day after we arrived, our movers called to say they were ready to unload our furnishings the next morning. John and Gary, owners and operators of the truck, had carefully loaded our goods in Vienna and traveled with them all the way to Hillsboro. They recruited a muscular, cheerful lady employee at the local Day's Inn to assist with the unloading. They caused quite a stir upon entering our quiet Airstream park with their huge 18 wheeler. The residents here had not seen such an imposing rig in quite some time. The movers paid careful attention to every detail, made sure that each item was accounted for, and even assembled furnishings like our marble top antiques. The only things damaged in the entire move were two lampshades which packers in Vienna had stuffed with other items before wrapping and boxing them. We could not complain about anything, and the price of this commerical move was only a little over $5000--not bad considering the price of fuel.

We miss Virginia, but we are happy in our small, brick home co-located with other Airstreamers in a gaited community. However, we are not excited about all of these BOXES. Did we really do this? Come see us when you can! When you stop at the office, just ask for the old couple that cannot get their cars in their garage due to rubble--the ones all bent over from lifting and sorting stuff. Oh the joy of moving! No wonder John and Gary were laughing as they roared away in their shiney big truck.