The temps were very comfortable when we left the house for our morning walk.  Instead of long pants we were back in shorts and sweatshirts--no winter hats or gloves today.  As we were heading toward home, we came across a yard sale and stopped to check out the merchandise.  I found some Christmas place mats that looked to be brand new along with a ceramic snowman.  The price was right, so we asked the home owner to hold the items for us until we could return with our money.  

I have been dealing with a bout of sciatica today, so much of my day was spent laying down and resting my back.  Since I can't put weight on my leg, John has pretty much taken care of the house today.  After breakfast John went to visit Ralph R.  Ralph has been under the weather lately and John wanted to check up on him to see how he was feeling.  This afternoon John played a round of golf before going back over to Unit 37 to see Chuck E.  Chuck and his wife, Lois, are flying home to Indiana for the holidays and he wants John to get his car from the airport if they can't find a spot in the airport parking lot.  

This evening we watched a college championship game and just vegged out.  Of course, I've been vegging out all day and, quite frankly, am getting tired of doing nothing.  Hopefully, I'll be better tomorrow.

John and I didn't get our morning walk today because he had to be in Uvalde by 8 a.m. for a fasting blood test.  We arrived right on time and he only waited about five minutes to be called in.  Since we didn't have any breakfast before we left home, we headed to Mc Donald's for something to eat and then stopped in Wal Mart to pick up some milk and yogurt.

A few of our friends have been after us to play in couples golf, so today we finally decided to give it a try.  The teams are established by drawing numbers and the total scores are figured by strokes and handicaps.  John and I ended up playing with Wes and Shirley (the couple we played with on Sunday afternoon).  Our team ended up with a score of four under par and, with our handicaps, etc., we won the round.  John said everyone is probably sorry they bugged us to play. The only problem with winning is that we have to run the couples golf next week.

This evening John headed off to wood carvers while I just relaxed at home watching some TV.  That was our busy day. 

The thermometer read 40 degrees when we left the house for our walk so that meant wearing long pants and sweatshirts along with winter hats and gloves.  The sun warmed the day up with the highs reaching the upper 60's which made it very pleasant to be outdoors.

After breakfast John headed off to the clubhouse where he met up with eight other men to play nine holes of golf.  They broke up into three teams of three and played best ball.  John's team won again this week with a score of two under par.  While John was golfing, I spent the morning working on some more finances and catching up on emails.

John had a doctor's appointment in Uvalade this afternoon, so we took off after lunch.  Unfortunately, the doctor was running over an hour late, so we spent most of our afternoon sitting in the waiting room before being called in to see her.  John has to return first thing tomorrow morning for some blood work so we'll be up bright and early and back on the road once again.

After a chilly start this morning, the day warmed up and turned out to be just about perfect.  We walked our usual route around the golf course and back streets before returning home.  After eating breakfast and getting cleaned up, we decided it was a good time to put up the outside Christmas lights.  We got the light strands unraveled and I helped keep them untangled while John placed them on the hooks.  All the inside decorations are up as well with only the tree left to be trimmed.  We're just about ready for Christmas.

There were quite a few people golfing today, so we waited until later in the afternoon to get in a round.  I saw a video about golfing on the internet and thought I would try to be more technically correct with my swing, stance, etc.  It was just awful--I couldn't even hit the ball, so now I'm back to my own way of playing and did much better on the final hole of the day.  

This evening John went to watch the Brackville Tigers' basketball game--they won at the buzzer.  While he was gone, I just relaxed and did some reading and computer work.

It was cloudy and a bit cool when we took our walk this morning.  We thought the temps would warm up and the skies clear off as the day progressed; however, the clouds and cooler temps hung around all day with a few little sprinkles mixed in.

This morning John headed off to wood carvers where he found a few more Winter Texans in attendance.  While he was gone, I put out the remaining Christmas decorations in the house and started some laundry.  Since the golf course is closed on Mondays and the day was cool and cloudy, we decided to head to Del Rio and do some grocery shopping.  We left as soon as John got home, so our first stop was Wendy's for lunch.  Next we did some shopping at Ross's and Home Depot before heading to Wal Mart.  Our final stop was HEB for some fresh produce and a few items not available at Wal Mart.

Upon arriving home, we unloaded the Honda, got the groceries and frozen foods stored away, and ate supper.  We spent the evening watching the Eagles game and just relaxing.

   

We had another beautiful day even though it got off to a chilly start.  John and I took our usual morning walk, ate breakfast, got cleaned up, and, since it was Sunday, headed off to church.

After eating lunch, we watched a little football and around 2 p.m. decided to head out for a round of golf.  As we pulled up to the clubhouse, we ran into Wes and Shirley,  They asked if we would like to join them for golf and we said "Yes".  We played with them last winter and had a fun time visiting and catching up as we golfed.

This evening John visited with JD via Skype and I baked some bread
as we only had one small piece left from the loaf I made last week.  We then spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching some TV.

 
 

After sleeping in a little later this morning, we headed out for our walk.  The temps were a little on the chilly side as a front moved through late yesterday.  The shorts had to be replaced by long pants and the tee shirts, by sweatshirts.

John and I ate breakfast, got cleaned up, and headed off to a craft show at the Service Club.  One vendor was selling some hand turned pottery and we found a little piece that we liked.  From the craft show we went to the post office to pick up the mail.  As we drove back onto the fort, we spied a sign for a yard sale in Unit 38.  We decided to take a look and see if they had anything that might interest us.  Before hitting the sale, we stopped and visited with Kit and Jerry.  John and I follow their blog and their adventures in gate guarding and new home construction.  Kit gave us a tour of their new house--it's going to be very nice when completed, but they still have a long way to go.  We stayed and visited for a while before heading over to the yard sale.  There was nothing there that caught our eye, so we left empty-handed.

We were just finishing up with lunch when Chuck and Lois dropped in for a visit.  It was great to see them again and catch up about what they have been doing and to learn what is happening with some other Winter Texans.  Sounds like a few will be arriving next week.

There was an end of the month golf scramble this afternoon, so we couldn't get out on the course until later.  While we were waiting for the scramble to finish, we pulled out the Christmas decorations and put a few of them up.  We managed to get in 8 holes before the sun set.  Oh, well, tomorrow is another day.

 

   

The weather was a little cooler today with clouds hanging around until late in the afternoon.  We took our usual walk and, while eating breakfast, made plans for what we wanted to accomplish today.

First on the agenda was a trip by John into town to check on mail and to send off a couple of letters.  When he got home, he then  repainted the numbers on our house and touched up the sign in our front yard.  

Over the summer, the house gets pretty dusty, especially the floor.  We have been here a little over two weeks and have kept putting off the job of mopping the floor.  We decided today was the day to get it done. This job entails moving furniture around and mopping the floor in sections.  We have a pretty good system for doing this job and it didn't take too long before the floor was nice and shiny once again.

Once the floor was done and the furniture and rugs put back in place, we headed off to play a round of golf.  John didn't have quite the same success as yesterday and even lost a couple of balls.  I, on the other hand, made par on the par four 8th hole by sinking a 30 foot  putt.  This was my first par ever on the big course.  After a busy day, we relaxed this evening watching a couple of our favorite TV shows. 

In observance of the holiday, John and I slept in this morning before finally getting up and heading out for our usual walk.  Things were pretty quiet on the fort and we didn't see one other walker or anyone out with their pet.

As soon as we returned home from our walk, we got the turkey in the oven and then ate breakfast.  We spent the morning watching the Macy's Parade and then switched to the Detroit NFL game.  That was sure an exciting one.  While watching the game we got the rest of our meal ready and sat down to eat around 1 p.m., right on time.
I must say it tasted delicious.

We let our meal settle for an hour or so, and then headed out to play a few holes of golf to work off the big meal.  Since the clubhouse was closed today, we just started on the third whole which is right by our house.  
 

 View from the third tee of the fairway

John had set some golf goals for this year and one of them was to drive the green on the fourth hole which is 268 yards.  Today he made his first goal--he made it to the green with his drive.  We finished playing just as the sun was going down.

 

Putting for an Eagle

 

 Missed the Eagle by inches.  Settled

for a Birdie.

We had a very quiet Thanksgiving, but an enjoyable one, closing out the day with more football.

We had another warm, sunny day with just enough of a breeze to make it very enjoyable to be outside.

Following breakfast, John headed off to the clubhouse to play a round of golf with the men's nine hole group.  Ten men showed up to play this morning, so they divided into two teams of five each.  They played best ball with John's group scoring five under par, beating the other team by one stroke.  While he was out playing golf, I did a little tidying up around the house and worked on some finances.  

When John got home, we ate lunch and then watched a little TV while waiting for the afternoon golfing crowd to thin out on the golf course.  We played a round this afternoon and I hit the ball much better than I did yesterday. 

This evening we relaxed watching Survivor and a couple of other favorite shows and then got the stuffing made for tomorrow's dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving to our family--we'll miss being with you for the holiday.

It was another warm, beautiful day here in south Texas.  We were up nice and early for our morning walk, wanting to get it out of the way before the day warmed up.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and headed off to play a round of golf.  It actually got quite warm out on the course while we were playing so it was a good thing we played early.  I'm still dealing with a stiff back, but swinging the club seems to help loosen me up and each day my back feels like it's improving.

After lunch John did a little yard work.  We have had a couple of cactus in pots for the past several years, but we felt they were getting too large for them and decided to transfer them directly into the ground.  John also found some small Mountain Laurel and planted them behind the house.

     

While working outside, we saw this "stick" insect on one of the chairs.  At first we didn't notice it thinking it was a piece grass or a weed.  I had heard about these insects but had never seen one before.  

This evening John and Stan went to Comstock to watch the Brackville Tigers play their first basketball game of the season.  I opted out to stay home and catch up on emails and do some reading.

 

 

We had a beautiful day here in south Texas with bright blue skies and plenty of sunshine.  The temperature was in the upper 50's this morning when we left the house for our walk and reached a pleasant high of 76 by late in the afternoon.  It felt good to be back in shorts and tee shirts once again.

Right after breakfast John headed off to wood carvers.  There are only five or six guys carving right now, but the numbers should increase in a few more weeks as more of the Winter Texans return.

A few days after we got down here, we payed our real estate tax bill that was waiting for us in the mail.  On Friday afternoon our neighbor, who also happens to work at the tax office, stopped by and returned our check saying that the taxes had already been paid by a mortgage escrow company.  How was that possible--we didn't have dealings with the company.  I tried calling Friday afternoon and found that the office I needed to contact had already closed for the day.  While John was gone this morning, I got on the phone and was able to speak with a very nice woman who said she would look into the situation and give me a call back.  It only took about 20 minutes for her to return my call.  Seems the title company had transposed the last two property ID numbers and ended up paying our real estate taxes by mistake.  Following lunch, John and I went into town to do some errands--one of which was to stop at the tax office.  I gave them my check and was informed the escrow company had already called and the gears were turning to get the error corrected.  Seems that money will have to be returned, new tax bills issued, and then payments resent.  Glad John and I are out of the mess.

We stopped at the post office for our mail and then headed over to the local grocery store to pick up a small turkey and a few other items for Thanksgiving.  On the way home we drove through the RV park to see if any of our Winter Texan friends had arrived--we are expecting some to show up any day.

John and I had a beautiful sunny morning for our walk; however, by the time we left church, the clouds had moved back in once again.

Our day was pretty quiet with our usual Sunday routine.  My back was still pretty sore today, so after church I laid down for an hour or so while John watched some NFL. After the first game was done he decided he needed some exercise and headed down to the clubhouse to play a round of golf.  I spent most of my afternoon reading and just relaxing.  That was our day--nothing special.

Even though the clouds persisted through the late afternoon, the high for today reached the low 70's.  John and I took our usual morning walk, ate breakfast, and then got busy on the list of chores for today.

This morning John hosed down the outside doors and cleaned the glass in the doors.  He then spent some time organizing the outside shed and storing the empty crates and boxes.  The last time I did laundry was the day before we left MN, so I had quite a few loads to get through today.  In between loads, I did some dusting and cleaned a couple of blinds.  We are slowly getting the house under control.

A month or so ago I found a recipe on the internet for homemade hamburger buns and decided to give them a try this afternoon.  While I worked on making the buns, John headed off to play some golf.  When he returned home, he told me his drives were improving and he made par on just about every hole he played.

 
The buns looked so good we couldn't wait to try them--we had cheese steak sandwiches for supper and the rolls were delicious.
Don't think we'll be buying hamburger buns at the store again.

The skies continued to be overcast again today--must say I am sick of cloudy weather.  We had a long line of gray days in Minnesota before we left and were anxious to get to Texas to see some sun.  So far it hasn't shown up too often.  John and I were up early this morning and walked the golf course before breakfast.

Since we had nothing planned for today, we decided to take a quick trip into Del Rio.  Our first stop was Home Depot where we found a new mat to put in front our double doors.  Over the summer the heat dried out the rubber backing on the old, causing it to disintegrate, so it needed to be replaced.  From there we went to Wendy's to grab a quick lunch before heading over to Wal Mart to get some milk and a new black ink cartridge for the printer.  As usual, when we go to Wal Mart, you always pick up a little more than originally planned. 

John wanted to play some golf this afternoon when we got home, but I opted out.  My back has been giving me a little trouble, probably too much lifting of crates and moving things around, so I thought it best to skip it today.

We spent a pretty quiet evening watching "Gold Rush" on TV and Skyping with JD's family. 

 

The weather this morning was still on the cool side with overcast skies.  The clouds hung around until late this afternoon when some sunshine finally broke through.  Native Texans have been complaing about the cold weather, but it feels pretty good to us as we had temps in the 30's when we left Minnesota.

Since it was couple's golf this afternoon, John and I decided to play this morning.  It's amazing how you can have a half way decent game one day and then play like you had never picked up a golf club before in your life.  I started off playing just like that--swinging and missing the ball or hitting it in the wrong direction.  About half way through the round, my game came around a little.  John had some missed shots, too, but not as bad as mine.

After lunch, John ran into the post office to drop off some mail and then did a couple of other errands.  I did some financial work on the computer and finally got everything in our "office" area put away.  This evening John went to wood carvers while I stayed at home and vegged in front of the TV.

The temperature was in the mid 40's this morning, so we had to bundle up a little more before taking our walk.  It was cloudy all day again, but at least it was warmer than yesterday with gentler breezes.

After breakfast, John headed down to the clubhouse to play golf with the men's nine holers.  He said only five men showed up to play, so they played as a group with each one keeping his own score.
John said he had some nice drives and scored a 42 on the front nine.

While John was gone, I spent some time trying to figure out why our printer would not work.  The laptop recognized the printer, but I keep getting a message that the two couldn't communicate.  When we reconnected our internet service, ATT sent a new modem which meant a different network configuration.  I did some reading and found I had to change the network identification on the printer.  Once I got that done the printer worked just fine.

When John got home from golfing, we ate lunch and then headed off to Uvalde for his doctor's appointment.  He has a spot on his face that he was concerned about--the doctor told him it looked like a typical spot to be checked out, but nothing of a serious nature.  John already has an appointment with a dermatologist the end of December, but the doctor will call and see if they can get him in sooner.  From the clinic we went to Wal Mart to pick up some skin lotion she recommended and then hit Applebee's for supper.

This evening we watched Survivor and Skyped with the kids in Wyoming and Minnesota.
  

    

The weather got much cooler overnight and this morning the skies were overcast when we took our morning walk.  We were only home  a little while when we saw a couple of golfers go past our place on their way to the third tee.  Just as they got there, the heavens opened and it began to pour.  The rain quickly turned to hail and the golfers took off.  John and I were very happy to have gotten home before the rain and hail hit.  The storm didn't last long, but it dropped the temps and it stayed on the cold side all day.

After breakfast John went down to the club house and signed us up for a golf membership--we got one that will take us through April.  We have all the boxes and crates unpacked and then refilled one or two with items we don't need here anymore and want to take home in the Spring.  John has been anxious to play golf on the big course, so this afternoon we played nine holes.  I must say it was cold with the temps in the upper 50's, a strong breeze, and no sunshine.  He'll play with the men's nine holers tomorrow morning.

This evening while watching some TV, Matt sent a text saying he wanted to Skype so he could tell us about the kids' basketball meeting they attended this evening.  After getting online, John and Matt visited via computer for a while talking basketball.  

Even though the sun was shining, the temps were a little on the cooler side when we left the house for our walk.  Instead of just tee shirts, we donned our hooded sweatshirts.  

John left the house right after breakfast to head over to Unit 37 for wood carvers.  He was gone for about an hour and a half when he returned and told me the carvers weren't meeting this morning because Becky and Wallace were out of town for a day or two.  While he was in the neighborhood he stopped to visit with Betty and Harlan and then went to see Ralph R.  

While John was gone, I managed to get some more things put away and do some organizing in our storage area.  We have been trying to get a permanent doctor here in Texas, so Stan M. picked up a patient application for John the other day.  I got it filled out and this afternoon we headed to Uvalde to drop it off.  The receptionist said the doctor would look it over and they would call late this afternoon with an answer as to whether or not John has been accepted.  I went to the practice a few years ago when I had knee trouble, so I'm all set for a doctor here.  

It was noon by the time we got done at the clinic, so we made a stop at Wendy's for some lunch and then drove to Wal Mart to pick up a few items we missed when we shopped in Del Rio on Saturday.  John went to the driving range to hit some balls when we got home while I baked some bread.  This evening we watched the Monday Night Football game and just vegged out.

Note:  The clinic called back late this afternoon and told John he's been accepted as a patient.
 

John and I are getting back into the routine of walking before breakfast.  This morning we walked the golf course and the back streets of the fort.  The temps were in the mid 60's, so we were able to be out in shorts and tee shirts.  The weather forecast is for cooler temps coming in this week, but still it's better than northern Minnesota right now.

We went to church this morning at Frontier Baptist and were sorry to see that several folks had moved away over the summer; however, it was great to see those still there.  After lunch we did a little more unpacking and then headed down to the par 3 course to play some golf.  We didn't do too bad considering we haven't played in over seven months.  When we got back, John went over to Metcalf's to return Jan's cell phone--he spent some time visiting with them and then, on the way back here, ran into another neighbor who invited him in for a visit.  He was gone so long I thought he got lost.  

I should have the last of the crates unpacked tomorrow and then we can concentrate on giving the house a good cleaning inside and out.  It gets pretty dirty and dusty standing empty for seven months.
 

Well, our internet finally got hooked up so we should be back to normal for posting the blog.  Like I said in my posting earlier today, we have had a major problem with our cell phones.  After stopping at the library and doing a quick blog update and sending off an email to let the kids know we had arrived safely in Texas, John and I headed off to Del Rio to do some grocery shopping and see if we could solve our phone problem.

Our first stop was Radio Shack we were talked to a some sales people.  They told us a couple was in several days ago with the same problem.  It seems our Trac phones, which were activated in Minnesota, are not compatible with the service in this area. They work off the Verizon towers, but they don't have Verizon in Del Rio and the surrounding area. Our phones worked all the way south and when we last used them in northern Texas.  Looks like we have to be near a Verizon service area.  Now that we understood the problem and that our phones would still work beyond this area, we headed off to Wal Mart where we purchased a phone for $20 and an air card.  The clerk got it all set up for us so now we can keep in touch with the family.  Once that problem was solved, we broke the bank restocking our Texas pantry.  

Right now the house looks like a tornado hit with boxes, bags, and crates sitting everywhere.  When we discovered the problem with our phones last night, we headed over to see the Metcalf's so we could use their phone to call the cell company and ATT about the internet.  Of course, we then stayed and visited for a bit before heading into town where we picked up a couple of subs for supper and some milk and cereal for breakfast.  On our way into town we stopped off to say hello to Ralph R. and to give Gerald I. the coffee we brought down for him from our local coffee bean house.

John and I did a little unpacking this evening and got the kitchen pretty well squared away.  It always takes several days to get unpacked and settled into our winter routine.  

We made it down to FCS by mid-afternoon.  The weather is warm and beautiful.  Our internet connection at the house isn't working yet, so I'm sitting outside the library using their wireless network.  Also have a big problem, our trace phones don't work here in Brackettville, so we'll have to tackle that problem right away. Will write more on the blog when our service gets up and running, hopefully, that will be by this evening.

After a good night's sleep, John and I were up early so we could be ready for breakfast when it was served at 6 a.m. in the hotel's dining area.  We loaded our overnight bag and laptop back in the Honda before eating, and once we were done, hit the road.

We stopped at a Braum's in Guthrie, KS for lunch where we each had a strawberry shake and shared some fries.  It's amazing to see green grass and the fall colors once again.  In fact, we turned on the AC for a while this afternoon.  John and I reached Wichita Falls a little after 3 p.m., just in time to check in.  We rested up for an hour or so, then found an I Hop for supper.  Since we have been sitting pretty much for the last 48 hours, we took some time walking through Hobby Lobby and Target. It felt good to stretch our legs after so much sitting.  Tomorrow is the final leg of the journey--hopefully we'll be in FCS early afternoon.

John had a difficult time sleeping last night after watching the election results, so after tossing and turning, he got up around 4:30 and decided we might as well hit the road.  We both got up, showered, and then packed the last couple of items.  After giving the house another walk through, we hit the road south.

We reached the Fargo area by 7:30 and stopped at BK for some breakfast.  It was then a straight shot down I-29 to St. Joseph, MO where we spent the night.  The weather and roads were good all the way.  Tomorrow will be another long day of driving.

Bright and early this morning, John and I headed up to Sara's for haircuts.  We sat and visited with Matt and Sara for a while and then headed over to the local town hall to vote.  There was a line, but it moved along pretty quickly, so it didn't take us to long to vote and head back home.  

We had just about everything packed and ready to go, so after lunch John got the Honda all loaded.  The only things left to put in are the laptop and travel bag.  The house is all straightened up, laundry done and put away, and the fridge emptied.  We took a few leftover food items up to Matt's this evening when we stopped up to say good bye to the grandkids.  We hope to get on the road by 6 a.m. so we'll be heading off to bed before we know the results of the election. 

John and I were up early and left the house by 7:30 am. to head off to Bemidji once again for the last of our scheduled visits to the doctor.  I was about 10 minutes early for my appointment and pretty much went right in to see the doctor.  Got my prescriptions renewed, received a  flu shot, had blood drawn, and an x-ray of my lower back.  I should be good to go for another six months until my next visit.

From the clinic John and I headed off to the eye doctor where he had another test.  I think this was to establish a baseline for keeping  a lookout for Glaucoma--it only took about 5 minutes--and we were off again.   

We were both hungry by now, so we stopped at, no, not BK, but Perkins for a leisurely brunch.  Our next stop was the bank to make a final deposit and then, lastly,  we stopped at Menards for a new furnace filter and a couple of gas cans.  

Joanne came to the shop this afternoon to help stain and brought the kids along.  John and I spent some time visiting with them and then got our goodbye hugs.  For supper, John ran into town and picked up a pizza.  The fridge is pretty bare right now.