Tying Up Loose Ends For November

I made a day trip out to Cranes Mill Corp of Engineer Park to visit my friend Birdie. It was a gorgeous day.

Wildflowers still blooming in late November.

This is a nice park. The RV portion of the park was not damaged in the May and October rain that raised the level of Canyon Lake way above normal. The tenting area was damaged but most of the damage has been cleaned up. The tent area is closed for the season while the damaged areas are brought back to normal. The other COE park with water and electric hookups, Potters Creek, was heavily damaged and only one small area was reopened and then closed again with the last flooding. It will be quite some time before Potters Creek, a much larger park, is reopened.

We decided to take a walk out around the tent area to see how it looked.

There are some residents out there.

The water is higher than it was before all the rain.

The boat ramp is open and was in use while I was out there.

Things are looking pretty good and most of the cleanup has been completed. Very little has been done at Potters Creek.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our kids and some of the friends as well as the grandkids. This was the only picture I managed to get which only included a few people. Helen cooked the turkey and several other dishes and the rest of us brought lots of sides and desserts. One of the guys cooked a fantastic pork loin dish and sweet potatoes. Two of the guests were from Denmark. It was a great way to celebrate together.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Helen called and said the grandkids wanted to come over and decorate for Christmas. They had already put up all the decorations at their house. Believe me, this is the earliest our tree has ever been put up and decorated.

There were lots of observers because Cameron and Morgan did most of the actual decorating.

It was a great way to end the month and get a head start on the upcoming celebration of Christmas.

The Happy 12th!

The birthday boy is 12. After an exciting day of ice skating, everyone grouped back up at our house where Steve grilled steaks (steak and rice is Cameron's favorite food). Helen fixed vegetables and I contributed a salad.

Ever need to wrap a really big package? A tablecloth from Dollar Tree makes it real easy to do and looks good too.

The audience gathers for the grand unveiling after dinner.

Excitement is in the air. It's a stunt drone!

I think Steve and Helen scored a highly successful gift.

Somehow I missed getting a picture of the big box opening but you'll see it in pictures coming up. It was a hit too. Birthday cake up next. 

The birthday boy wanted vanilla cake with chocolate icing. I think we have a photobomber in back.

The next morning we headed over to Steve and caught the two "boys" outside flying the drone.

Then Steve set to work putting the air hockey table that was in the big birthday box together.

Cameron took care of the batteries for the counter.

Getting close.

Everyone wants to get into the act.

Okay.....almost time for a game.

First up, Cameron versus Dad. I think the game is a hit!.

 

 Hard to believe that our grandson is 12. I remember when.......

Hooking Up with Friends

Tuesday, I headed south from Schertz and Birdie headed west from Lake Medina. Our goal was Travelers World RV Park where Judy, a friend from WomenRV forum was staying. We decided to take the bus downtown rather than drive and park. Susan, if you read this, I was going to stop by and say hi but both your vehicles were gone. The bus dropped us off right near the Riverwalk so we had a very scenic walk to and from the Alamo. Judy, Birdie, and I in front of the big tree on the Alamo grounds.

Luckily, the scaffolding that was up in front of the entrance to the Alamo a few weeks ago was gone so Judy was able to get a great picture right up front.

The well near the big tree. It was a Tuesday so it wasn't too crowded here.

There was a demonstration going on in the grounds where kids were learning about the Alamo.

We had a great lunch at Charlies on the Riverwalk but didn't get any pictures there. Not crowded at all so we could take our time and visit. This fantastic statue is right along the Riverwalk in front of a museum.

It won't be long before the Riverwalk is lighted for the holidays but it is always beautiful especially if you walk further down away from all the shops and restaurants. All in all, we had a really nice visit with Judy and the chance to give a friend a guided tour.

Thursday, I went to a Get-Together of a different sort. I belong to RVillage.com, a group just for RVers....no charge, great site designed by RVers for RVers.  Check it out. There are hundreds of groups you can join at the site. I manage a group called WOMEN RVing which is just for women who RV or want to RV.  We have almost 600 members just in our group. So I set up a GTG. We picked Johnson City Texas as we knew several women who were interested in meeting and this was kind of central since they would be coming from different directions. No, we didn't meet at the Jail but Pecan Street Brewing is right next store, just across from the courthouse..

We had eight women show up for our first GTG. L to R: Johnnie, Diana, Joyce, Birdie, Vicki, Donna, Me, and Karen. Two of the ladies are fulltimers, those two plus two more are currently traveling in this area, and the rest of us are part-timers. It was a great lunch and fun to meet new friends. Karen joined RVillage the day before after meeting Donna and Donna brought her along.

RVing is such a good way to meet new friends. I see a lot of future GTGs for RVillage and WOMEN RVing group members.

Off We Go...Into the Wild Blue Yonder...

We heard "the sound of freedom" roaring across the skies even more than normal last week as the Thunderbirds and several other groups practiced for the Joint Base San Antonio Airshow on the 31st. It was touch and go as to weather as we had heavy rain on Friday but skies cleared off in time for the airshow on Saturday.

We arrived at 11:00 AM and didn't leave until about 4:00 PM as there was a lot to see and a lot of walking to do.....a lot of walking.

Can you see the parachutist? The plane was flying around him in circles.

 

Both the Air Force Wings of Blue team and the Army Golden Knights team of parachutists were on hand to present some pretty spectacular jumps.

 

Afterwards, the Air Force team was available to answer any and all questions from spectators.

This female parachutist was very popular with the kids as she spent a lot of time talking to them. She even had them help her fold her chute and pack it away.

The static displays are always popular and they had quite a few exhibits that they allowed people to climb in to get a feel for the aircraft.

Future helio pilots??

Steve ran into a friend of his. She is currently in training to fly drones for the Air Force.

Lots of photo opportunities too.

Old and new planes were on display.

The kids got a chance to sit in a glider too.

Another plane that is about 25 years old.

Cameron got a chance to try out his video skills with the Navy.

The Army Golden Knights also spent a lot of time with the attendees. The kids got to see just how heavy those parachute packs really are.

The C-17 and C-5 were also open for viewing. Those are some really immense planes. Steve got to show the kids closely he and other troops were packed in as they deployed to Afghanistan. The kids were surprised when I told them that I flew in one of these planes on the jump seats from Tokyo to Okinawa with their Dad when he was only about a year old. It was cold in the plane and they gave us blankets to keep warm while we were in the air.

View from the top.

Hate to say that we missed the Thunderbird show as we had to leave at 4:00PM and they didn't fly until after that but I did see them practicing earlier in the week and I've had the privilege of seeing them fly many times. It was a great airshow.