At the end of April, we had a Marathon Coach Rally for a week, in Kerrville, Texas. We stayed at the Buckhorn Resort and RV Park.
Lots of fun, got to see some friends that we hadn't seen since 2006 in Nova Scotia. Jimmy has recently taken up golf, so one day was spent at the nearby coutry club playing golf.
The next day we went to the Wildseed farms where there were fields and fields of beautiful Texas wildflowers and a Butterfly Haus. The next day we went to the Alamo (I had never been!) and then the River Walk in San Antonio, for a lovely lunch as we floated down the river. Each evening we were treated to dinner at the "Barn" at the resort followed by some sort of music or entertainment. One of the days we went to the owner of Marathon Coach's ranch. (Bob Schoellhorn). Another day the group went into Fredricksburg to go shopping and see a great theater production.

Our friend Babs and her dog Bleu.

I have been terribly remiss keeping up with my blog. Since the race in Bristol, we came home and went to the Texas race at Texas Motor Speedway.......Jeff Gordon won!!!! YEA!

We got back from the "Food City 500" NASCAR race in Bristol, Tennessee, on Tuesday. I love the giant shopping cart they drive around the track! We arrived there on Wednesday, after spending the night at our friends' Larry and Linda in Cookeville, Tn.
Friends from New Mexico...Peter and Neida were on the way, but he hurt his back, somehow, so she just drove them home from Georgia, where they were at the FMCA rally. Kelvin and Deann couldn't make it, either....so it was just Larry & Linda, Bruce & Babs, Ken (Kris couldn't make it ) Harriet & Stanley, Jim & Gale and a few people that Bruce Had as guests, that I didn't really know.

Just a short note....last Saturday was my birthday and Jimmy had a surprise for me. He had a Hummer H2 Limo come pick us up, take us to dinner a PF Chang's, then we went to the Majestic Theater in Dallas to see "The Rat Pack- Live at the Sands" ....great fun to see "Frank, Sammy and Dean" sing and tell jokes. It almost seemed like they were really there.

Being stuck in the ice on I-40, we got moving, after several tries.......went a few miles, then stopped again!

Once again....after sitting there several hours, traffic started moving. but we were stuck!

Jimmy tried rocking, back and forth, a hundred times, spinning the back tires so much that they were smokin'!!

We finally got to a spot where we could just stop and the rest of the traffic could go by, so we decided to stop until daylight. We put it in park and went to sleep about 2. When we woke up....the same cars that were next to us when we went to sleep, were still there the next morning! No one had moved!

The snow was nine inches deep, so Jimmy got out with the cat litter scoop, a screwdriver and a Tupperware container to get the snow and ice broken up and cleared away from the tires. (I was afraid he'd have a heart attack!) Nikki loved the snow,.......Shadow was not too thrilled.

Once we finally got moving, we made it to the Petro Truckstop, in West Memphis, Arkansas....pulled up to the fuel island, trurned the bus off, then tried to start it again to move up a little....and it wouldn't start!!! Out of Fuel!!Whew! What a trip!

Anyway, breakfast, then headed home!(click on the picture to make it bigger)

After hearing that one of our customers at K9 had a truck in Nashville with the rod through the block and the engine computer, Jimmy decided that we should go get it in the bus and tow it back. We arrived at the Freightliner dealership in Nashville about 12:30. We had until 4:30, when they closed, to get hooked up and leave......We pulled out just as the guy was locking the gate.

On the way! 2 hours to Memphis, fuel and something to eat.

About Jackson, Tn. it started freezing rain, then snow.then traffic stopped....big wreck ahead.

We noticed a lot of trucks on the off-ramps to the truck stops, some- three-wide had slid over into eachother on the ramps.

The wreck finally cleared up and we moved, a little, at 11 pm.....

When we got home, we noticed some new structures being built in our neighborhood.
OILWELLS! It seems that we are sitting on top of the "Barnett shale!" Pretty cool.....we will be getting a check each month...(not much) ....$150.00, I think...but it's something!

Next weekend, Jimmy has informed me, we are going to take the bus and go to Nashville to rescue one of RBX's Freightliner trucks.

Saturday night, we spent the night in Quanah, Tx. Had dinner in a cute little restaurant that looks like a train depot, complete with peanut shells on the floor.

Then we spent the night in the dirt parking lot of Dutch's. (a little hole in the wall cafe' that has killer Cinnamon toast with butter on both sides of the toast!!)

From there, it was about 4 hours home.

Now starts the transformation process.....roof rack, massive front grill guard and (of course) the K9 Unit Rescue letters on the sides!!

Saturday was Valentine's Day and we woke up in Trinidad, Colorado. Drove all day, Jimy spent all day on the phone, with truck stuff, we watched the Nationwide race at Daytona then decided to stop in Quanah, Texas.

We spent the first night on the way back in the Costco parking lot in Bozeman and had dinner at Outback. The next day we drove to Casper, Wyoming and met Jimmy's cousin for dinner. We stayed in a nice KOA campground in Casper then left the next morning for Denver.
Jimmy spent hours on the phone (work) and we missed a turn, so we took a 12.5 mile "shortcut" which reminded us of being back in Alaska...a gravel road!
We pulled up in front of our friend Harvey's house and spent a couple of days there. Friday morning we woke up to 4 inches of snow on the ground! A real pretty dusting! Then we had to be in the Wal Mart parking lot for a mobile tech to work on the bus 12V heater, he finished in about 30 minutes. We met Harvey and went to P.F.Chang's for late lunch.

Sunday started with a phone call to the people selling the Hummer, and they gave us the GPS numbers to their house! ( they obviously don't speak 45' bus!) As we drove further and further into the country the road turned into a sheet of ice! (note the picture of the road...it was plowed, but no where to turn around)! Luckily, you could keep going.....tenuously.... and get back to the main highway.
Lunch at IHOP, a stop at Petco to get Shadow a new bed (for the Hummer), then Jimmy had to wire the Hummer for towing which took a couple of hours in the parking lot....thank heavens the weather was sunshiney and warm in the sun!

January was a pretty ho-hum month, just work, etc. But, then came February. Jimmy had found one of the two yellow Hummer H1s built in 2004, on eBay and bought it! (I knew he couldn't last a year without one) The one catch was, it was in Kalispell, Montana! For those of you who don't have a map, it is about 100 miles from the Canadian border! So, on Thursday,,,,we loaded up the bus and off we went!

We stopped in Clayton New Mexico and spent the night in the parking lot of a quaint little cafe, where we could wake up in the morning and go in for breakfast, Then on to Denver! We stopped in Denver and saw our friend Harvey, (My very own personal Harvey the rabbit!!) ( My best friend since kindergarden). We parked in the Nordstrom parking lot and he came to get us. He was going to go with us to Montana, but some audit at work (UPS) was scheduled, so he couldn't go. So, after a nice visit and dinner, off we went! The weather was nice, so Jimmy drove hours and hours......we stopped in Buffalo, Wyoming and ate at a cute place called the Hoot and Howl, where we played a rousing game of "Fact or Crap" while we waited for our meal. (speediness was not on the menu!)

We spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Polson, Mt. (about an hour from Kalispell).

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas, this year, was spent in Spicewood, Tx. , at my brother's house. The dogs (except for his "Cosmo" and my "Nikki") all got along and the boys finally got the 1964 Falcon, running. The weather was nice, 75 degrees, but windy! I got the boys all new "leatherman" kits ,
and GPSs. The girls I gave Coach purses and make-up kits. I got Jimmy a new iPhone 3G and he got me a new HP Touchscreen computer!!!! Really neato! I feel like those people on CSI that touch the computer screen and drag around different screens, cooool!

On the way to my brother's house, for Christmas....we stopped off at Jimmy's aunt and uncle's house for a visit....they have acquired 8 (count 'em 8) Feral cats along with their own 2 Devon Rexs. The first one in the picture is one of the inside cats..Lincoln. I call him the Halloween cat! All the others are a momma and her kittens and they stay outside.

Christmas dance!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

On November 29th, 2008....a really rare sight in the evening sky! The Moon, Jupiter and Venus appeared togther! A sight that won't reappear until the year 2052......I set up my camera on a tripod and had to take a time exposure....pretty cool, huh?

(thank you Maricruz...for your comment)

Then,

Thanksgiving week, I got to have my FIRST big meal, on my new table! Impressive, huh? We had a housefull....the boys (my brothers) and their wives, brought their dogs, and I have Shadow, Nikki, and my 2 cats and Buster (the bird). We had to have a schedule to let the dogs out in the yard! (unfortunately, they didn't all get along).
Then, on Friday, Ty and Sandie had to leave, so Jimmy and I took Gaylord and Gloria out to the lake to ride on the big boat.....all in all, a nice weekend.

This month was quite a blur. Jimmy and I got an early Christmas present "for us" and bought a new "SPA" . It's really neat, wonderful jets, color changing lights, waterfall, a fountain, stereo speakers, satellite radio, mp3 hookup,.........Jeez! A much needed relaxation tool, since we just hired eight (count 'em 8!) new drivers!

Then one of our friends from Oregon was in town for business, so we talked him into playing golf out at The Cliffs (the golf course at the lake), Jimmy hasn't hit a golf ball in years....so it was interesting, to say the least! BUT.....the scenery was beautiful!

Probably, one of the neatest things we did, this month....was this.
One of the Fedex dispatchers, Natalie, helps a particular shelter for Battered Women. (She WAS one about 12 years ago), so she asked some of the Fedex contractors to bring some things to help, so she filled her car up.
Friday night, Jimmy and I and Rick (another contractor, friend of ours) went to WalMart and Sam's and loaded up 4 shopping carts at WalMart and the back of Rick's pickup truck at Sam's (about 2 grand's worth of food and supplies), and met Natalie on Saturday morning.
We took all the stuff to the shelter, at an "undisclosed" location...no address, just directions (wild,huh?)
None of the women or children were allowed to come out, because there were men around, until after we all left and the doors were locked. Then I remembered all of our old cell phones...even though they are not on a service, they will still dial 911.
Anyway, it was a really cool experience, they director told us it was about 3 months worth of food.

My brothers and their wives will be here for Thanksgiving, so I'd better go and get ready!

During the month of November, we went to the lake, Mitch (Jimmy's 26 year old nephew, broke his ankle......skateboarding!)
Jimmy has been working a lot, on paperwork, with occasional driving, and we have hired eight new drivers! WHEW!
This economy, taking a dump, has really hurt a lot of people, but the driver pool has increased!
The world may be going to hell, but at least we can all afford to drive there, now! ha!ha! (gotta find SOME humor)

The last of October, brought the NASCAR race to Texas on Halloween weekend! There were a lot of crazy people dressed up, but my favorite was the hanging skeleton of Kyle Busch (driver of #18)....(everybody dislikes him....he's a very talented driver, but horribly arrogant and rude).
We met friends from Tennessee, Texas, Mississippi, New Mexico and even Louisiana., had a blast!
In the meantime, Jimmy was working, between races.