2026-7-12 A Breakfast Surprise!

 We had planned on morning coffee as usual but several of our members said that they were going to fix breakfast for all of us.  That is not something we turn down!

I wasn't fast enough with the pictures for this one. Nancy, Beverly, and Whit had these platters piled high with pancakes, scramble eggs, bacon, and sausages along with orange juice and fruit. It was a sumptious and delicious feast made all the better because it was unexpected and volunteered from the heart. Thanks so much ladies.

As I said, I wasn't fast enough at taking the pictures but everyone really enjoyed this spontaneous meal.

I think everyone had a great time at the La Grange rally and enjoyed their time at LGRV Park. I expect that it will be on many members lists for future stops.

2026-7-11 Pizza and Games

 When it's really hot outside and women cringe at cooking for potluck, pizza is always an acceptable substitute in our chapter. And when your hostesses score half price pizza coupons, life is especially good. 

We had about 5 different pizza choices but the Meatza pizza was the group favorite. Good thing there were two of them along with cheese, pepperoni, and supreme. Something for everyone.

For this rally, everyone only had to bring food for one of the events. That way, you don't end of with 20 desserts and 20 side dishes that don't get eaten. I set up the different times we needed food and let everyone choose when they wanted to bring either a side or dessert so we had plenty of food but not a bunch of waste.

                 
We had some great salads and sides to go with the pizza along with a couple desserts.

Everyone loves pizza.

Next up was a game that hostess Kathy Shelton worked on putting together. During the early days of the rally, she asked each person to write down something that no one else knew about them.

The results were astounding and great conversation starters. Kathy had to leave early so Barb and I handed a piece of paper to each person and told them to number them from 1 - 22. Kathy had given each person's submittal a number. I read the fact and everyone had to guess who it belonged to and write it on their paper. Once we went through each of the submittals and everyone had their guesses written down, I read the unknown fact again and asked the person who wrote to stand up. We had some really interesting surprises in our group. I won't give away everyone's surprising item but let's just say we had everything from Master Naturalist to Price is Right participant to Ventriloquist along with a lot of others even more unique.

Fran got the most right with a whopping 9.....I told you there some definite surprises that made for great discussion. Here she is with her three prizes including a boob cooler which is why she is giggling.

Judy had the second highest number of guesses and she is making unique use of a chair wine glass holder. We have a unique and hilarious group of women!

This is the second group picture we took which is missing Kathy and Diana. the first picture taken Friday was missing a third of the group which is why we had to do a retake.

2026-7-9 Kolaches and Cards

 We started the next morning by walking over to Weikel's Bakery which is really close to the RV park. They are famous for their kolaches but they also have pigs in a blanket which is the American name for the ones with sausage inside instead of fruit and cream. 

Most of us had the kolaches but what a hard choice. There must have been 20 choices. Jimmie and Shelley had their breakfast burritos which were huge and also delicious.

This fabulous bakery is inside a gas station and also has a gift shop. In addition to the bakery, they also have sandwiches. Don't miss it if you go to La Grange.

They were doing some renovating after hours but it certainly didn't impact our fun.

That afternoon we got together for a card party. We weren't playing rummy or poker. We were decorating cards for a charity called the Forgotten Wishes Foundation. They don't grant wishes. They make sure that people with different abilities are not forgotten through their Forget-Me-Not Friends Club. Anyone can host a "card" party for this nonprofit charity from groups, to friends, to clubs whether in person or even online. You buy blank cards, decorate them with anything from water colors to crayons to markers to stickers. Then send them to the foundation and they take care of sending them to the Forge-Me-Not Friends club members.

I had cards for everyone to do at least one card because your artistic capabilities are not what is important. Several women did at least a couple of different cards. I was so busy getting supplies out that I didn't get pictures of the work of art in progress.

Here are the completed art projects.

There is also a note inside each card that makes it personal.

That evening we all went to the Sealand Seafood and Steaks restaurant for a group dinner.

They gave us a room to ourselves and we had a great waitress who handled the crowd with ease.

2026-7-8 La Grange Visitor's Center

The' La Grange Texas Ramblin' Roses Rally didn't start until Tuesday but I booked a week's stay and had to leave the following Monday so I arrived on Monday. I thought I would be the only one there but 
"surprise", Kathy, Diana, Emma, and Frankie also arrived on Monday. Elaine was already there as she came in on the Friday before. 

We decided to head over to Sealand Seafood & Steak Restaurant for dinner. A "Happy Hour" time was had by all. The next evening was check in time for the rally.

Wednesday morning co-host Barb had the coffee all ready at 8:30 AM. I was really grateful she volunteered to do that each day as I try to walk early before it heats up. 

Our next agenda item was to head out to the La Grange Visitor's Center.

As you can see, not everyone was up to visit the Visitor's Center as some had been there before.

The Visitor's Center is actually located in te Casino Hall which isn't really a regular casino at all. The last time I was here, we were able to go upstairs to see the big hall where events were held but this time they were concerned about the safety of the floor so that was a no go.

La Grange is located in Fayette County. Knowing the county you are in when you travel in an RV is important in case of bad weather as info is often given by county.

There was a lot of pictoral info given about the town through the years.

Have you ever seen the movie "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"? Well this is supposedly a replica of the inside. The "Chicken Ranch" as it was called is no longer in La Grange. I think part of it was moved to north Texas and the rest is just gone.

If you are a fan of ZZ Top, they played here in La Grange and actually had a song called La Grange.

We had a rally in La Grange a number of years ago and several of our members who shall remain nameless "Judy, Anne...." dressed up and entertained us at the rally.

Texas is known for it's beautiful Courthouses and the Fayette County one in La Grange certainly deserves that description.

The inside is even more amazing and has a feature you don't usually see.....a beautiful courtyard with a fountain.

The rest of the day was free and we did a little more exploring around the square.

The original plan for dinner was took hot dogs on my grill for everyone at my RV site. Elaine and I both brought our canopies so we could set them up facing the pond so we would have some shade. As Elaine and I did our 1/2 mile walk for the second day, we noticed that no one had canopies up including the manager and longer term guests. Oh, oh. On to plan B. We always have a plan B as you just have to be prepared. So plan B was to set up at one of the tow covered picnic tables at the end of the pond. Hmmm. Parking might be a problem and it was really, really hot. On to plan C.

If you look through the window at the back, you can see Elaine's truck parked across from the door. Plan C = my grill on her tailgate and us all eating inside in the nice cool air. Yay for plan C.

All beef hot dogs plus 2 veggie dogs for one member plus Elaine's great potato salad as well as all the fixing including chili plus other salads and deserts brought by members.

Hot dog night was a big success.

After dinner was time for games. Rummikub and Mexican Train are very popular group games but Jimmie, Elaine, and Shelley spent a lot of time at the rally learning to play mahjong following directions on the phone.