Ya' think Jimmy's planning on going skiing???(I heard him crashing around in the attic one evening and he came down the stairs with these!)

Well, it snowed all day on Christmas Eve.......We had the first White Christmas in the Dallas, Fort Worth area since 1928!!! And, of course, Jimmy decided that he wanted to grill steaks....outside!
Anyway, the doggies had a blast playing in the snow and we woke up to bright sunshine, no wind and not a cloud in the sky on the 25th!
We will, most likely, be traveling by next week......but it was nice to be home, for awhile, anyway......(sigh)

Well, We had Christmas at home, this year. My brother, Bill and his wife Gloria drove in from El Paso and we just hung around here.

More pictures!!

Just wanted to put up lots of pictures....we had to bust out of there, between snowstorms, or the bus couldn'tmake it up the icy hill~
But...it was really pretty and Jimmy wants to head back, soon, so he can ski. (not me!)

Well, we decided to do Thanksgiving in Ruidoso, N.M., so my brothers and their wives drove up on Wednesday and we had a really nice time. Jimmy has pretty much enclosed our deck with insulation and plastic sheeting, so we can run the patio heaters and get it quite toasty..(70 to 75!). We went to the Inn of the Mountain Gods for Thanksgiving. A wonderful buffet of tons of incredible food, with a beautiful view of Sierra Blanca mountain. There has been no snow, so far, so the ski areas are pretty unhappy, but the weather has been beautiful! Ty and Sandie are looking around for a place to buy and possibly move here.

We went home after the Texas race for about 2 1/2 days and then took off driving for the Phoenix race, the next weekend. It was really nice weather the whole time, we parked in Marathon's parking area, about 500 yards from the gate....so it was really handy.The seats were great, so I got some good pictures of the pit stops. Senator John McCain was the Grand Marshall and he rode around the track in the 09 car before the race. There was a really nice "fly-over" and I had to take a picture of all the crazy people who had tents, etc. and set up camp on the mountain outside turns 3 and 4 to watch the race!
After the race....on Monday.... we had some workto do, so we sat at the track, on the internet, until about 2, then went and had lunch with my old college buddy, then went to our friend Bob's place in Apache Junction. It was reaaly a nice "compound" ha!ha! It had lemon, orange and grapefruit trees! (I loaded up) and a huge wall around 2 lots. It is set up for 8 buses to come visit! Lots of very interesting looking cactus, bouganvilla flowers and even a palo verde plant!
We will be headed to El Paso for a few days to see my brother and pick up my Lady Bushmaster, that was jamming and we had our friend Cheater fix it.( it was a screw that was too long, installed from the manufacturer, that was inhibiting the exhaust, so it wouldn't move the bolt correctly) I know you needed to know that!

The 5th through the 8th of November, brought the Texas Nascar race, one of the last three races of the season. It was really cool....a Sikorsky helicopter from Ft. Hood flew in and literally "delivered" the pace car! Then a B52 Bomber (I thnk) flew overhead after the national anthem. We were all in our friend's new RV spot in "Burnout Alley" above turn 2, where we could see all the wrecks that hit the wall, (right in front of us)..! It was lots of fun all weekend, then we head out to the Phoenix race for the next weekend! (next to last race) where we meet a bunch of "bus" friends from the west coast!

A frosted tree!!

Here are more pictures of the process, click on the picture if you want to see it blown up. It's gotten a little cold here, so Jimmy gets bundled up and attacks the day.....I stay in where it's warm and venture out a few times a day to see how it's going or if he needs help. We;re planning to leave probably tomorrow. Finishing up when it gets prettier or warmer...hopefully before Christmas!
I don't know....Jimmy wants to go snow-skiing sometime in the next month or so.

Woke up on Oct.22 to the first snow! it was soooo pretty! But, by Sun. the 25th..it was all but gone. :(
Then, woke up this morning (the 26th) to a light dusting on everything.....brrrrr, cold! Too cold to paint, today, but Jimmy insisted on cutting the tile to lay on the kitchen counter.....
Libby, one of my cats, loves to sit outside or go for a walk, so we clip her up to a lease and hook it to the door of the bus. After about 30 minutes, we looked out and saw about a dozen deer all gathered around the bus.....we couldn't figure out why until we remembered Libby! She was all crouched down and a doe was three inches from her nose! I threw open the window and they all scattered....Libby wasn't the least intimidated.....She said "I had 'em right where I wanted 'em!" ha!ha!
Plan to finish the tile tomorrow and, if it's not too cold or windy, Jimmy thinks he can finish up all the upper painting. Then, all we have left is the trim and the flooring to stain.

Prepping to paint, bagging the lights, etc.

The trees are changing colors...the Aspen, especially.....it is soooo pretty! We are trying to get the remodeling and painting done, before it gets incredibly cold!

Where was I?.......After the drags, we packed up and headed West to Ruidoso, again. The leaves were changing color and we had some heavy duty remodeling and painting to do. We started with the little storage room, by moving the wall out 4 more feet.

Well....the Fall Nationals of NHRA drag racing were in Ennis, Tx. last weekend and we had a motorhome parking place at the finish line! My brother from El Paso called on Thursday and asked if we were still planning to go...I said "yes" and he said...."I want to come!"
So, on Friday, he loaded up and drove all the way from El Paso. On our arrival to the Motorhome Corral.....A big Newell Motorhome was stuck in the mud....in the entrance! So, Jimmy unhooked the Hummer and we pulled it out. We got parked and Jimmy got a call from the "Colorfast" racing team...that their satellite dish internet was not working right, so off he went to work, on the other side of the track! On Friday, they called and asked Jimmy to pull a Suburban out of the mud, then another Newell Motorhome, on the other side of the track. Then, my girlfriend from high school, and her husband, came out and spent the day...later my brother showed up. It was really fun....the rumble of the top fuel and funny cars was really something! Unfortunately, Saturday and Sunday were really hot, so we didn't stay in the stands very long....but it was fun to see Ashley Force Hood beat her daddy's time (John Force)!

We came home for the rest of the week, my brother headed home on Monday morning, then we plan to go spend another week or two in Ruidoso, N.M. Jimmy broke a tooth at lunch, today, so we will be back in time for his crown to come in! Besides, I want to be here to pass out Halloween candy....then the Texas Nascar race, the first weekend in November.

After being home for about 4 days...Jimmy decided that he wanted to go to Ruidoso, N.M. to watch our friend's son play high school football??!! So off we went....arriving Friday afternoon, just in time for the Friday Night Football game. We stayed at our friend's John's house, (he has a lot of room for parking the bus). The weather was wonderful...cool...60s in the day and low 50s at night. after a few days, we were driving around and found a nice RV resort, in Alto...just North of town. As we were driving through, we saw antother Marathon Bus that we recognized. So we left a note, for them to call us and we'd have lunch.
When Rex and Peggy called us, we drove back up to see them and they showed us that 2 lots away...some other friends from the Marathon club, Bob and Harriet, had a place, too! Anyway, Bob showed up too and said.."why don't you be my neightbor?" It seems that Hollis (the guy that owned the 2 lots in between) had built a house up here and decided that he wanted to sell his RV lots.
Jimmy took one look at it and said "done deal"!
It has covered parking for the coach, with a full outdoor kitchen, stove,sink fridge, microwave, etc. a huge deck with drop down window enclosures, a nice sized little "casita" with a full bath and laundry room, another room that had been made into a tool workroom, and another little building that was a storage room/tool shed.
since we had the tool shed, I decided to cut a doorway between the laundry room and the workroom....cleaned it out and made it a little room with an Aerobed, for a "guestroom". My brother and his wife came up and spent the weekend....now all I am planning, is to put the fake grass (better than astroturf) in the little yard, up front...and paint! Jimmy is planning to get the season ski pass, so we can come up in the winter and he can Ski Apache! I'll sit in the lodge in my cute ski bunny wear, and drink hot chocolate!
Right now, we have the bus pulled halfway out, so we can have the internet Satellite dish up, but by Tuesday of next week, we will have the permanent one mounted on the roof, and be able to pull all the way in.
In the middle of all this, we went to the All American Futurity...the world's richest quarter horse race, at Ruidoso Downs.

Click on the picture to blow it up.
After arriving at the Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, we got settled and Jimmy promptly got on the roof of the bus to mess with the satellite dish because the tracking was off a little bit, then headed over to the suite to watch the truck race and the modifieds (type of race car) run, for the first time at the track, on pavement, instead of dirt. The clouds looked rather ominous, but the rain held off until later in the night. Thursday was a "chill" day and we just ran around visiting with friends, went into town for groceries and to eat. Friday was spent taking it easy (I had hurt my back on Monday and was living on Advil and the heating pad) until time for the 1st night race.....the Nationwide series. (kinda the bush league).

Went to the suite on our trusty "whitey" the Roadhog because it is waaaaayyyy too far to walk and we can get around like a golf cart, but it qualifies as a handicapped vehicle, since I have a bum right ankle.

Saturday morning, Ken and Chris ( our friends that own a bunch of "Sonic"s had breakfast for everyone......omelettes! I have never done it this way....but it was PERFECT. Take a baggie, put 3 eggs, cheese, mushrooms, bacon, tomatoes, ham or anything you please in it, seal it, moosh it all up really good, then put it in a pot of hot water for 5-10 minutes, depending on how much stuff you have in it. When it is done, just slide it out on a plate....and viola! perfectly shaped omelette! Really cool! and simple!

Then, by about 5:30, everyone headed over to the suite for the Cup Race. It was pretty exciting, several wrecks, it was Mark Martin's 1000th career start in a race and he had the pole position. He almost won, but that brat Kyle Busch won, instead. But the food, drink and company was good, anyway. Sunday morning, we all pulled out, it was a ghost town by noon...Got home Monday evening, good to sleep in a big bed and take a "real" shower! ha!ha!

We left town, Friday evening and met our friends from Oregon, as they were traveling west, on Saturday. We both decided to pull in and stay at Tom Sawyer's Rv park on the Mississippi, in West Memphis, Arkansas. It's great, very relaxing, watching the barges go by, while you sit and drink your morning coffee.....

It was their 40th anniversary, so we went and had dinner at Texas de Brazil, then took a carriage ride all around Memphis. Saw the cannons in the park, from the war in 1826...mud island, (where Tom cruise was being chased in "The Firm") and the downtown buildings, courthouse, etc. Where "The Firm" was filmed. Very enjoyable!

Going to hang here for a couple of days, then head on to Bristol, Tn. for the NASCAR race and meet with friends from Texas, Tenn. and Miss. for a weekend of fun.

Well, on further investigation.....Kalitta Motor Sports was not a race shop, like the ones in Carolina....so we decided to take off and drive towards home. Shadow was acting a little sick, like when he had Pancreatitus, so we decided to get home ASAP, in case he got sicker. The good news is, he got better the next day, maybe something he got into in all our travels, Jimmy drove all day Sunday. (about 13 hours!) So we made it to Arkansas for the night. Monday was just a matter of about 5 or so hours to drive home, so we made it in time for dinner and slept in our regular King Sized Bed.ahhhhhh! We are going to the lake, tomorrow, for the day, then plan to spend the weekend home, in the pool, before we leave for Bristol, Tn. for the NASCAR race!