In light of the wonderful family stories my cousin, Valerie, has written and shared on our blog, I decided this would be a good time to once again share with you, Our Magical Christmas Eve…I hope it warms your heart and inspires you to reflect on your own favorite childhood Christmas celebrations. I intended to include the poem in writing as well as the recording, but I couldn’t find it.
These pictures are captures from Aunt Irma Sanderson’s 8 mm recordings. They include Grandpa Sanderson wearing his cap with the flaps while picking up all the gifts and delivering them to the home where that year’s Christmas Eve gathering would be held. (BL) Grandma Sanderson is keeping an eye on all the grandchildren as they wait to eat. Our beloved Aunt Tet is pictured in the bottom center photo. My mother, Loretta, and Aunt Elna are preparing ham sandwiches on potato rolls in my family’s kitchen (BR).
Kip and I decided to go to San Antonio for a couple of days. There is a company there that has a showroom displaying RV furniture. Since at some point we plan to become fulltime RVers, we thought it would be a good idea to actually go where we can see what kind of selections the different manufacturers have to offer. We want the very best don’t ya know.
We loaded Nellie and Rylie into the Jeep and got an early start. When we were a little over halfway, we found a nice big field where the dogs could run. They are still youngsters so we try to wear them out that way. They love it and can really cover the ground.
When we got to New Braunfels, we stopped at a little café for lunch where we enjoyed some delicious sandwiches in their outside courtyard. The day was going great! A couple of hours later, got to the showroom where we were helped by a very nice lady who gave us all the time we needed and answered all of our questions.
We told her we must have a double recliner with a center piece that when folded up, the whole couch is flat…See picture. The arms have to be wide and cushioned. We want the dogs to be comfortable. We also need the lounge type rather than one that has a footstool design…See picture.
Right kind of center (folds back) and chaise lounge type reclinerright center… wrong leather. This is foot rest not chaise lounge type and arms are too narrow
The nice lady didn’t have exactly what we wanted and we didn’t feel the types of leather she showed us would be durable enough for the dogs. She handed us some information on things she could special order and then showed us the door. We were glad we had gotten an early start because she said they were closing earlier than planned that day…hmm.
Next, we went to find a motel room for the night. We didn’t need anything fancy so we stopped at a motel 6. Kip went in and came right back out. “They aren’t dog friendly.” he said.
Next we went to a Fairfield by Marriot. It looked nicer, anyway. Kip came right back out. “Weren’t they dog friendly?” I asked. “Not really,” he said as he got back into the Jeep. “They wanted $75.00 per dog for the night.”
“Good grief!” I said. “How much did they want for people?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t get that far.”
We got stuck in traffic while driving to a Super 8. This time Kip called ahead and found out they did accept dogs and it was only $40 per night, per dog. When I went inside, the place didn’t look so good to me. When I asked the person if I could see the room, she said, “no!”
Down the street a little ways was a La Quinta so we went there. We were hoping that stop #4 would be more accommodating than Motel 6 and Motel 8 had been. It had not even been a deposit they wanted. It was what they charged extra per night for dogs. I told Kip we should have said they’ve only chewed up a couple of towels and a TV remote. He said to be sure and tell them we wouldn’t go a cent over $1000.00 per night per dog.
We were in luck. We got the room and it only cost us $10.00 extra per dog. We were exhausted! Kip walked to Chili’s and got two salads to go. We had also stopped at this wonderful German bakery in New Braunfels and loaded up on Bear Claws and other delectable pastries. We had last been there 35 years before. We took son, Craig, to Sea World for spring break when he was 11. (When we stopped at the bakery, Craig let the van door hit against something and put a dent in it.)
Anyway, we were settled in and comfy in our nice room. We were very tired so we retired early. I was almost asleep when Nellie heard a car door slam and barked. We had just gotten her to quiet down when the people next to us slammed the door to their room. We finally turned all the lights on and turned the TV to a movie channel. The noise from the television muffled the other sounds that were upsetting her. A while later I asked Kip if he thought we could turn the lights out. He said he thought the lights were soothing to her.
I watched Christmas movies all night and was almost relieved when the dogs woke up at 4 am and wanted to go out. I will say the free serve-yourself breakfast did somewhat offset the dog fees.
We will be working diligently to find suitable furniture for the motorhome. We’ve ordered leather samples from 2 online companies that ship for free.
We just love, love, love RV travel…
A side note…I picked up my new glasses today. I got contacts too!I get the side of the bed closest to the TVPlaytime!Nellie and Rylie waited patiently in the Jeep while we had lunchPoor little Rylie got tired outNellie is always queen of the mountain
I really am a good dog. Just look into my eyes. Dogs as young I am, usually aren’t so wise.
My first home was an old rug my momma found somewhere. She was frail and sick, yet 6 pups she had to bear.
She didn’t have much milk and the smallest 3 soon died. It was only by the grace of God that 3 of us survived.
One day when I woke up, I found myself alone. I didn’t know where Momma and the other pups had gone.
I saw a man run towards me with a rope tied to a stick. He tried to catch me with it, but I was much too quick.
When he was out of sight again, I began to roam. I couldn’t find the rug that we had called our home.
I hardly ever bark, but my tummy growls sometimes. Where were all the scraps that momma always finds?
When I finally fell asleep, I began to dream. I saw a little boy fishing by a stream.
He said hello my friend. I have a cup to dip. I’ll fill it up with water and you can take a sip.
He shared a bite of food and offered me another. He said he’d never seen a dog gulp down peanut butter.
When my dream was over, I woke up with a start. That little boy was there and I saw inside his heart.
He took me in his arms and I gave his face a lick. He said Just like peanut butter together we will stick.
So if you see a dog like me living on the street, please give him some water and a little bite to eat.
If you sometimes feel that you’re not so good at friending. You’ll soon find out a dog’s love is never ever ending.
In honor of Calamity Jane, Frank, Angel, Baby Jane, Sadie, McKenzie, Pixie, Pattie, Sammie, Obie, Missie, Cyndie, Lillie Dale, and a little kitty named Dollie…Who all gave us unconditional love.
This video includes just a small sampling of family, friends, and acquaintances who have served our country and those who sacrificed so their loved ones could answer the call. I hope it conveys my heartfelt thanks…
There is something I have been thinking a lot about, lately. In fact, I can’t get it out of my mind.
It’s food.
Not all food. Just the food I ate when I was a kid. Sometimes I crave things like a BLT sandwich. While on our trip, I saw them on the menu at a small cafe and ordered one. They asked me if I wanted it toasted. I thought they were kidding. Who would eat a BLT on anything but toast? I told them to be sure to put lots of mayo on it as well. It was delicious.
I also crave Grandpa Sanderson’s fried cornmeal mush with syrup on it. We always ate it when we were at the Nemo, SD cabin or when we came back to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house after a long day of fishing.
I don’t miss minced ham sandwiches. Some people call it bologna. When he was little, my brother, called it new meat. I guess because it’s pink. He said we ate a lot of it. All I know is that I have never liked it.
Most of you know that I grew up in a small town. We ate breakfast, dinner, and supper. Our big meal was at noon. That was dinner. Supper was usually leftovers or sandwiches. When I was 11, I went to California where Billy was going to college. Several of our aunts and uncles lived there as well. One day my aunt made homemade spaghetti sauce. It simmered on the stove all morning. I sat down at noon to eat what I thought was going to be mouth watering spaghetti and she placed a minced ham sandwich in front of me. “I thought we were having spaghetti for dinner,” I complained. “We are,” she said. “This is lunch.”
When Mom made a tossed salad, she put a little Wesson oil on it. I had no idea there was any other way to eat it until I was in high school and someone introduced me to French dressing.
I miss Mom’s pot roast. She baked it in one of those oblong, egg-shaped, blue speckled pans. My cousin, Mark, sent me one that he found in his parent’s attic. It’s just the right size for a pork loin roast.
The only pizza we had was made from a boxed Chef Boyardee kit. The parmesesan cheese in it smelled so bad, Billy left the house when Mom made it.
We ate a lot of tuna and noodle casseroles with crushed potatoes chips on top. Sometimes, Mom made what she called a boiled dinner. She boiled cabbage with a ring of sausage bologna. We also ate a lot of Swanson TV dinners and chicken pot pies.
Mom made great chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake, but we only had dessert on special occasions or when Mom got the urge to bake.
Not as good as Fern’s Cafe in Murdo, but pretty yummy. It had cold coffee in it. There was sugar, cocoa and butter in the frosting…no powdered sugar.
I have never liked Oreos. Mom took them to a PTA meeting once and it really embarrassed me. All the other moms made homemade cookies. Don’t ever feed me a minced ham sandwich with Oreos for dessert.
My very favorite meal was fried pheasant and corn on the cob, with mashed potatoes and gravy. We sometimes had strawberry shortcake made with Bisquick and thawed frozen strawberries. As dry as that bisquick cake was, when the juice from the strawberries soaked in, it became a soggy mess. Though better than oreos, it is not something I crave.
See how dry it is? This doesn’t have the frozen strawberries that come in a can and make the cake all soggy.This is chicken, not pheasant, and corn is not corn on the cob, but the potatoes have cream gravy on them…
If we’re talking about sweets, the thing I loved and still crave, is a Bing candy bar. That rich cherry mash covered with chocolate and finely chopped nuts is the best!
I always ate the chocolate first and then the cherry mash in the center. I washed it down with an ice cold coke.
Tomorrow will be day 1 of my diet. I’m pretty sure the extra pounds will still be there.
We’re back home. Our house hasn’t sold yet, so we have moved back in for the time being. Here are some highlights of the last days of our 6 week road trip.
All told, we spent time in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and then back to Texas.
Granddaughter, Liv in Tuscaloosa Kip had to drive by Bryant Denny StadiumWe had brunch with Liv. at a cute Cafe on the Black Warrior RiverBlack Warrior River
We saw friends, family, and ended the trip with family and friends who feel like family. We stopped in Tyler, TX for 2 days. Kip had a doctor’s appt there on Monday. Sunday afternoon, daughter, Heidi and boyfriend, Joe, came to see us and brought friends, Ray and Janice. We got to spend a fun time relaxing on our RV deck.
That morning, Kip and I went to Cracker Barrel Cafe for one last food splurge. Kip’s HAPPY shirt aptly describes our final full day on the road
Yes, we ate it all!Rylie and Nellie were awesome travelersThanks for joining us. We appreciate all of our friends and family on the road or back at home.
NEXT trip post: The Yays and Nays of RV living life… example: keep track of your purse. Some nays can create new yays
Remember when I said I would tell you about the things that happened during our trip that weren’t funny at the time, but we laughed about, later? I think I should tell you about today because I need you to validate that it might be kind of funny…later.
I will admit that I might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer. Maybe the elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top. It could also be possible that I’m not dealing with a full deck. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is kind of nice to be blissfully ignorant of most of them. Today threw me.
We’ve had a wonderful trip. We have been having so much fun, that I have gotten behind in my travel posts. Thanks to Cousin Val/Baba/Lav, who is quickly growing a following, I can catch up as I have time. We have done a lot of things I haven’t told you about, yet.
We began today in Monroe, Louisiana and we ended the day about 90 miles down the road.
We were out of some necessities, so we stopped by the closest Walmart. The drill is that Kip stays with the dogs while I shop. I took an extra long time because Kip needed some things in the RV section and I couldn’t find the RV section. There weren’t too many people around to help. By the time I found what I needed, and had made my purchases, it was almost 11:00 o’clock which is kind of a late start even by our standards.
Kip helped me unload the groceries from the cart and began to put them away while I took the cart to the cart drop-off place. I’m not one of those who leaves a cart in the middle of the parking lot. I’ve had my car scratched up more than once by a wayward cart.
We finally got back on the road and had been traveling about an hour and a half, when I realized I had forgotten something at the store. When I told Kip I thought I had forgotten something, he said not to worry about it because we would be home in a couple of days and would have to make another run to the store, anyway. I hadn’t started to panic, yet. I was sure I had brought the item from the store, but after a quick perusal, I determined that I had indeed left without it.
“OH NO,” I yelled. “I left my purse in the shopping cart!”
Kip sighed a big loud sigh and said, “We will stop at this little town a couple of miles up the road and I will help you look for it. You wouldn’t leave your purse in a shopping cart.”
Fifteen minutes later, he became a believer. He decided we would find an RV park, get a spot, unhook the Jeep, and drive the hour and a half back to Walmart. I immediately got on the phone and called the store. After several rings, I heard, “Thank you for calling Walmart. We are very anxious to serve you. Please press 1 for the pharmacy, press 2 for the deli, press 3 for electronics, press 4 for automotive, and press 0 if you need to talk to an associate.”
I pressed 0 and after several rings an associate answered and promptly transferred me to customer service, who never answered. I called the associate back 3 times, no answer. I pressed 1 and got someone in the pharmacy who said, in not so many words, “Not my problem, lady.” I said, “Would you be a nice person and grab someone who can tell the people in customer service that you have a very desperate person on the phone, and she has been trying to reach them for 45 minutes?”
The nice lady at the pharmacy said she couldn’t do that because she was in the pharmacy and the pharmacy doesn’t do that. Before I could say something more convincing, I heard the sound of my call being transferred. No one answered. I was getting close to calling the gas station, nearby, to ask them to go to Walmart and find me some help. Instead, I called the store one more time, even though I could hardly stand to hear the recording tell me for the 10th time that they were very anxious to serve me. An associate finally answered. I began by saying, “Please stay with me. Do not transfer me, because I have called everyone in that store and no one answers. I have already pressed 1, 2. 3, and 4. You are 0, right? I am in an RV 90 miles from you and I think I left my purse in a cart that is in the cart return place. I can’t tell you exactly which one. I need to know if someone was nice enough to bring it into the store and hand it over to someone.”
The nice associate said, “I remember talking to you a while ago. You’re looking for your purse, right? I transferred you to customer service and then I went on my break. I just got back. Lady just take a breath, and I will find out if anyone has your purse. Are you for sure that it was this Walmart? We have more than one Walmart in Monroe.”
“I called the Walmart that I left 90 miles ago. My husband has all of the information in his GPS. The phone number was in the same area that has the button he pushed that said, DIRECTIONS and then START!”
“Okay lady,” the nice associate said. “Take a couple of breaths while I go find out if someone has seen your purse… Oh, what does it look like?”
Kip had been on the phone trying to find an RV park. When he hung up, he asked me who I was talking to. I was busy taking deep breaths so I didn’t answer him. By that time the nice associate came back on the line and asked me if they did happen to have my purse, what would be in it that would identify me as the owner?
I won’t go any further with the blow by blow. They did have my purse, and I am very thankful to the person who found it. I am also very thankful that we weren’t 300 miles down the road before I discovered my purse was missing.
Kip has been biting his tongue, hard. I don’t think he enjoyed driving the same route 3 times. I also don’t think he’s even one bit grateful.
Why isn’t he laughing?
“I think we’ve been down this road, before. Do you think she forgot our bones?”
Here’s the unvarnished truth about life on the road. Sometimes it’s hot and sometimes it’s cold.
Tres Natchez Parkway in Tennessee Tennessee
Some days the sun shines and some days it rains. If the wind doesn’t blow, no one complains.
Each morning we rise and go walk the dogs. We love to build campfires, but have to buy logs.
Charleston, West Virginia
We drive our big rig from Walmart to Walmart. We feel right at home and load up our cart.
We find places to eat without even looking. Anythingis better than Mary’s cooking.
Hendersonville, North Carolina. We tried to have Amazon delivered there, but no one was home.Kip’s favorite bear claws can be found at a bakery in the fun downtown area in Hendersonville NCOur favorite breakfast place in Hendersonville, NCI don’t remember where this was, but they have good pizzaWe were at The Pit Stop with friends. We all went to the Covered Bridge Festival in Rockville, IndianaDelphi, Indiana
We raise our eyebrows at the high price of gas, but an electric bill is a thing of the past.
One of our pleasures is now long gone. Its not possible to order from Amazon.
We don’t really have a permanent address and tomorrow’s location is anyone’s guess.
I bought delicious Pink Lady apples at this orchard in North Carolina
We don’t have grass that grows under our feet. We don’t have to mow or pile leaves in a heap.
We visit old friends and make new ones, too. They always make sure we have fun thing to do.
Molly and Cary Cline live in Lafayette, Indiana. They attended college at the University of Wyoming with KipHAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY!!!Visiting Fran and Merrill Spahlinger in Lake Milton, Ohio.
Rick Spahlinger and wife, Rita, helped make the day so special.
The highways and byways make us ooh and ahh. We can’t believe all the beauty we saw.
Near a camping spot, (The Fancy Gap Campground), close to the Blue Ridge Parkway
There is so much more to share on this venue. We’ll keep you posted as our adventures continue.
As I write what I can, I really must hurry. It’s time to move on and today we must flurry.
We’re hoping we can make it to Vicksburg, where a battle was fought. (Maybe you’ve heard.)
We can’t stay on the road for ever and ever, but we always say. Never say never!
Whatever we see. Where ever we roam, Texas (and Murdo) will always be home.
I’ll write about the funny things and the things that are funny now, but weren’t at the time, later…And we have so many more photos. I’m not keeping up very well, but that’s life on the road…
We had wonderful times with our friends in Indiana and Ohio. I can’t begin to tell you how much we enjoyed both visits. It’s part of what makes RV travel so awesome.
This blog is going to be mostly pictures. I have to show you the scenery as we traveled from Virginia into North Carolina and now begin to drive through the southwestern part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Our spot last nightMy early morning walk with Nellie and Rylie. They are amazing travelers.These shots are not in order. I’m trying to get this posted before we lose service. Nellie thought this was pretty coolExcept for the driving shots, all the photos were taken at the Fancy Gap Campground
We had beautiful surroundings last evening. We stayed at The Fancy Gap Campground. Today should be an awesome picture taking day, depending on how many stops Kip let’s me make to photograph all the beauty. Our goal is to reach Ashville, NC.
Those 70ish Girls 