We are on our way home from Bristol and the Nascar Race, but HAD to stop and spend the night in the Tom Sawyer RV Park on the Mississippi River, again! The river is about 5 feet from putting the RV park under water, it is running so high! It's really cool to watch the barges go up and down the river, almost at eye level. The ones going up river, churn and churn and you can watch the rolling waves from the engine for about 1/4 mile down the river! They are from little short ones to super huge looonnngg ones!
From here, we'll be going home, to touch base, and Jimmy was going to take the jeep and drive to Alto, to go skiing for the weekend and I was going to relax.....but, I guess we'll all be headed to New Mexico, in a few days and maybe spend our 25th Anniversary there.

Well, after the "Interference Fit" process, finally worked, we left and stopped by El Paso for a day, to see my brother and some friends. Then off, quickly, by the house in Kennedale, for a day, then off, madly, to Bristol, Tn. for the Nascar Race!

On the way home from Farley's.....steak fingers and ribs.....we caught this great sunset!

As I sit here on the deck, Jimmy is sawing and drilling on the axle sleeve of the bus and I am watching it snow, between brief breaks of sunshine....go figure! Yesterday was my birthday and our friend Harvey spent the day with us. He had not been here since high school, so we drove all around town and let him remenisce! Then , he had to leave, so Jimmy cooked me dinner and brought me flowers and ice cream! I have been feeling pretty punky, lately, so I'm just taking it easy and trying to stay quiet, so I don't go into a coughing fit!

My friend Dara, is basically running the office and catching up on driver's paperwork, etc. while I'm out of town, and Elevinia went by to write the rent check for us....so all's running smoothly, by remote control. We saw a really pretty Buck while driving around......

Sealing up the "cracks".

Well, it's a pretty, sunshiney day and 41 degrees, and Jimmy is doing some odd jobs around the place. Putting up some underpinning around the roof, to block out some of the cold wind. His new project is to run the dryer tubing, under the deck, thus keeping the water pipes warm.
The bus is still not fixed, I guess I'm just lucky that we made it here and I can just sit on the warm deck, like it was my living room. Hopefully, the mobile service guy will be up from Las Cruces, Tomorrow.

The last day of February! Ski season started late, but is lasting late, too!

These are pictures from the latest snowstorm that hit Spicewood, Tx. (down by Austin) where Ty (my brother) and Sandie live....unbelieveable, isn't it?

Friday afternoon, the parts arrived....and the axle was the wrong one!!! Sooooooo, since our friend John that lives here, also has a bus, same year as ours, Jimmy went and took the axle off of his to put on ours. This, at least, got us to our place in Alto, on the other side of town. Now, he will take it off and replace it on John's bus.
The correct axle arrived today, Wednesday, from New Jersey. They shipped it with the axle sticking out of the box! Crazy, huh? We're suposed to get more snow this weekend, so will be changing the axle tomorrow or the next day, but, at least we're in our comfortable spot with the bus plugged in and running water and the deck to relax on. (We've got it all closed in and my pellet stove heating it, so it may be 27 degrees outside, but it's a toasty 65 to 70, inside!)

Such pretty scenery!

Since the parts were not going to get here until Friday afternoon...Jimmy and our friend David decided to go skiing! Jimmy said it was just like riding a bike.....had a really nice time.

Well, after getting the house re-financed to get a lower interest rate.....and all the stress and paperwork that brings......we decided to go get the Hummer which had been in Tulsa getting some warranty work done. We went and picked it up, headed home and planned to head west. However, on the way up there, I was laying on the couch watching TV, in the bus, and suddenly got a terrible hard hit on my head! It felt like a 5 pound hammer! It seems that a 1/2 inch thick lucite wall of the display case above me, just suddenly, let go! It hit right on the edge on my head. Needless to say, I was screaming and crying, couldn't tell what it was because it was dark (nighttime). Jimmy was trying to find somewhere safe to pull off the road and I looked at my hand that was on my head....it was bloody! Holy cow, did it hurt!!! He pulled over, halfway out in traffic to grab an icepack, wet washrag and look at my head. The gash was about an inch long, but I bled like a stuck pig! We were somewhere in-between Tulsa and Texas, at night, so....no doctor. I told Jimmy to watch me when we went to bed that night...so I didn't wake up dead or somethin'.....ha!

We got home and stayed for a couple of days...long enough to get the brakes on the bus worked on, then we took off for Ruidoso again.

We were 12 miles out of town when suddenly the bus just went out of gear..so Jimmy coasted to the side of the road. When he got out to look, the back left tire was soooo hot, and smoking that he couldn't touch it. We saw a road at the bottom of the hill, that turned off to the right, so we disconnected the Hummer and I followed him, coasting, down the hill to the turn off. Luckily, it was an old dirt parking lot in front of a defunct Episcopal Church. After getting stopped...he investigated further. When they did the brakes, they tightened a bearing too tight and it caused the drive shaft to build up heat. It melted and broke!!

So, here we are....12 miles from town, broken down on the side of the road, with a broken axle.....(sigh)! Some well meaning guys in a pick-up truck, stopped and gave Jimmy a phone number to a mobile service guy, they knew of...and he turned out to be a gem! Anyway, Jimmy had already gotten the tires off, when he got here, but the bearing had melted to the metal, and the axle would not come out. Jimmy had ordered a new axle from Prevost (the bus company), so they were going to overnight it from Dallas.

In the meantime, a friend from Ft. Worth , was here to meet us, so he and Jimmy could go skiing. Sooooo, since the parts wouldn't be here until the next afternoon, they went skiing, Friday morning.

We've been home awhile so Shadow decided to help me do some office work! Ya' think he's a Mama's boy? haha!

It's been a heck of a week, getting all the taxes, re-fi on the house and next getting the bus re-financed.
Jimmy and I took a few minutes to go and have lunch with Dara. She went to High School with me....but we weren't friends, then..... then, strangely enough, when we had the other trucking company, she came to work as the dispatcher! We don't have the company anymore, but have stayed friends all these years!
Great to see her again, She's going to come help Jimmy and I with the paperwork, for a few days at the office and, hopefully, get all the files in order (especially the driver's files) and help me set up a safety program for them to comply to each quarter. (A new Fedex mandate, for each contractor).

Had lunch today, with my friend from high school, Jan.... Can you believe 35 years! We were inseparable our whole sophmore year! Sorry the picture's so grainy.....telephone picture! Hope we keep in touch better, now.

We have been at home for a few weeks now and the last few days in an RV park in Granbury, Texas. Our accountant is here and Jimmy has spent the last 2 days with him. (yes...Saturday and Sunday!, can you believe it?) We have 3 corporations plus personal tax returns that we have to get done, because we are refinancing our house from 7.?% to 4.25% and they want the returns before they do it. Also, the accountant is leaving this week, to Kansas to testify at a trial, I think.Anyway, not much else going on.....getting a new roof on Jimmy's mother's house (now, the rent house) because of hail damage. Lots of things to take care of in the next few weeks, then most likely, we'll be taking off for parts unknown....probably New Mexico will be on the list......more later

We arrived to a sunshiney, clear blue sky and two days of 50 degrees.
What a difference a day makes!!!
We went to sleep on Wednesday night and woke up to all the trees looking like they had bee flocked! Apparently, a freezing fog came through and frosted all the trees....really pretty, BUT REALLY COLD! The last two days have been in the 20s in the day and down to 7 or 4 degrees, at night! BITTER COLD!
We finally gave in and invested in a pellet stove to have out on the deck. it's neat! 68,000 BTUs, so as long as we have the deck closed in...it warms it up pretty well!
The deer are getting pretty used to us, I guess, since they come and eat right outside the door.

After Christmas, we loaded up and drove to Denver to spend New Year's Eve with our friend Harvey (and his son's dog...Toby). Denver was Pretty and cold... I even saw a half full swimming pool, half full and a solid block of ice! We went out to some of Harvey's favorite places to eat, spent a few days then, when he had to go back to work at UPS on Sunday.....we took off driving South, to Ruidoso.