The rains continued again today. There was a brief break this morning, so we were able to get in our walk. After breakfast, John headed back down to the shop to continue making parts and to give a hand with staining the tables that were made the other day.

Making parts for tables



Tables drying on racks after staining

While John was busy in the shop, I did several loads of laundry and some straightening up around the house. Tomorrow we are heading off to the cities to pick up a little boat John bought on E-bay. I spent some time on the computer finding the directions to where we have to pick it up. Hopefully between our Garmin and these directions, we won't get lost.

Last week we bought seed for the birds and finally got our feeders back up in the yard. It took several days, but the birds are starting to return. It is fun to watch how they interact with each other
and how they establish a pecking order for who eats first at the feeders.



By early evening the clouds broke up and the sun came out. Hopefully, we will have some sunshine tomorrow. We ate a late supper and then watched some TV--need to get to bed early as we will have a long drive tomorrow.

A low pressure system moved in overnight so the morning was cool and cloudy. John and I walked to the highway and back and just reached home when it started to rain. Today's all day rain will certainly help put an end to the high fire danger. Northern Minnesota has been very dry this spring.

With the steady rains, nothing could be done outside today, so John went down to the shop to make some more parts. Joanne came to do some packing and brought Julie with her. John had a chance to visit with Jules for a while and to try and get some hugs.

Since I was also house bound, I decided to continue on with cleaning out and re-organizing drawers and the storage closet. Sara is going to have a rummage sale sometime this spring, so I thought this would be a good time to start getting things ready.

Following supper, we watched Survivor and a couple other Thursday night favorites. Just in case you all are wondering, the new mattress was very comfortable--no more air leaks that need to be pumped up during the night. Also, thanks to the Fort Clark friends who called to wish John a happy birthday! We plan to celebrate this weekend--hopefully the weather will be better.

The weather forecast called for high winds today so we got up early to get our walk in before they started. After breakfast, we removed our old mattress from the bed and made sure everything was ready for the delivery of the new one.

John headed off for the day to help Matt with a small interior job and I went up to Matt's house to get a haircut from Sara who has her own hair salon. The mattress was supposed to be delivered between eleven a.m. and noon, so I had to cut short my visiting with Sara. While waiting for the delivery, I organized some drawers and the bedroom closet--found a couple articles of clothing that I had been looking for since we returned home. The morning passed, lunch time came and went, and still no mattress. I had visions of sleeping on the floor tonight. Finally, at 2:30 p.m. it arrived. The delivery guys got it up the stairs and on the box spring in less than five minutes. We are looking forward to a comfortable night's sleep for a change.

John got home earlier than expected, so I was able to fill him in on the mattress delivery before I headed off to Weight Watchers. There were 42 women at the meeting this evening. Saw a couple of familiar faces again and was able to visit with some of them this evening.

Following a quick supper, we spent the evening watching NBA playoffs and catching up on emails and blogs.

The weather today was just beautiful--clear skies, warm sunshine, and no wind. Just a perfect day in northern Minnesota.

We were up early this morning so John could finish up some work in the shop. I had a doctor's appointment in Bemidji and John decided he wanted to go along and take his truck to get it serviced.

I went to see my knee surgeon. I had some trouble with my knee while in Texas and wanted to get it checked out. He looked at the x-rays and told me that the arthritis is getting worse and that the severe knee pain was caused by fragments or flakes breaking off the arthritic bone. However, my knee has been pain free for the past several weeks and it was decided that if I have another flare up of the arthritis, I can just call his office and come in for an injection. There is no sense in getting a shot if I don't need one right now. The bottom line is that I will probably have a knee replacement in the future, but I want it to be way in the future.

Following my doctor's appointment, we dropped the truck off to be serviced. While that was being done, we walked across the street and spent about 45 minutes walking around Target where we picked up a couple of things we needed. From there we headed off to Burger King for lunch and then to the bank. We had one more stop--we had to get the electrical hookup on the rear of the truck fixed. Luckily we were able to get that taken care of in only 30 minutes. All of our errands were now completed and we could head back home.

John worked in the garden this afternoon thinning out the raspberry bushes and doing some more tilling. While he was busy with that, I started moving some things around in the bedroom in preparation for the new mattress being delivered tomorrow morning. That's right, a new mattress. We managed to shop for one in between basketball games on Saturday.

A quiet evening was spent catching up on blogs, emails, and watching American Idol. The competition is really heating up on Idol.

We were up and out for a walk bright and early this morning. The rains had stopped Saturday night, so the road had a chance to dry out a little so we weren't walking through puddles or mud.

John again spent the morning working in the shop assembling more tables. While he was busy down there, I started cleaning out some drawers and closets. It is amazing how much "stuff" one accumulates every year. Matt stopped over to look through the photos I took of the basketball games. Sara is going to write an article for the local newspaper and he wanted to put some pictures with it. After sorting through my many shots, we settled on four that we thought showed all the players.

After lunch, John got the riding lawn mower started and bagged up all the leaves we had raked last night. It was great that we had no wind today-- the leaves stayed right where we piled them. The back yard looks so nice with all the leaves off the ground and the grass greening up. John dumped all the leaves on his garden and then he tilled them into the dirt. He says his garden soil looks very good (whatever that means). We hope to start planting potatoes and onions next week.

We had some rain overnight which left our gravel road rather muddy so we decided to skip the morning walk. We ate a late breakfast and then headed off to church. This was our first Sunday back at our home church and it was good to see everyone again. When we got to church, we found out there was to be fund raiser lunch after the service, so we decided to stay and eat at the church. They served a nice little meal of sloppy joe's, potato salad, veggies, and dessert. The church is raising money to purchase new hymnals.

Since today is my birthday, John took me out for supper. We drove to Bemidji and had a very nice dinner at Applebee's. I had my favorite--medium rare steak and baked potato. It was such a nice evening out when we returned home that we decided to start cleaning up the backyard. We raked the leaves into different piles so John can bag them up with the riding lawn mower. He hopes to get that job done tomorrow.


We spent the rest of the evening watching The Amazing Race and the new Hallmark special. A big thank you to the Fort Clark friends that called and wished me Happy Birthday!!

I have only one word for today. BASKETBALL!! Since we had to be up and out on time this morning, we decided to skip our walk. After breakfast we headed off to the sixth and fifth grade basketball tournament which was being held in Fosston, MN., a town about 18 miles west of us. We were going to watch the sixth graders play. Approximately nine schools participated in the tournament. The school complex houses three different gyms and there were games being played in each one. The games consisted of two 16 minute periods with an eight minute half time. John and I watched Sam's team play four games--they loss two and won two. The first game they lost by five points, and the second, by 2. We have been watching this group of boys play over the past two years, and it was nice to see how much they have improved. The games were very exciting and fun to watch.


Matt did a fine job coaching the boys and they all played well. Sara (Matt's wife) videoed all the games, so I'm sure Sam will spend a lot of time watching the tapes of the games and critiquing his play. After the final game, we all headed off to Dairy Queen for an ice cream celebration of a fun day.

This morning John and I walked out to the highway again. Walking up and down the hills is getting a little easier--guess we are starting to get in shape. Today was a pretty quiet one around here. After breakfast, Matt stopped in for a visit and after he left, John headed down to the shop to assemble some tables that will be stained and lacquered next week.



Joanne and Julie came to the shop this morning--Jo to shred paper for packing and Julie to ride her bike around the shop. Julie also had the job of bringing Grandmom her mail. After Jo was done her work, we had a chance to visit and catch up.


John finished up in the shop around noon and after lunch he started cleaning out the garden. He is planning to cut back on his strawberries and try planting some potatoes this year. It has actually been warm enough to start working up the ground and plant some early vegetables. We usually can't even till the ground until the middle or end of May. Spring has definitely come early to northern Minnesota.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. After supper we watched some of the NFL Draft and basketball playoffs. Tomorrow is Sam's big basketball day so we need to be up and out nice and early.

When we are living in our little house in Texas, there is really nothing that needs our attention each day. Things just seem to take care of themselves. However, back home in Minnesota it's a different story.

We were up and out bright and early for our walk. Once we got home, John did the first of his daily jobs--put wood on the fire. We have an outside furnace that heats our house and hot water. He checks the fire twice a day to make sure the water temperature stays where he wants it and that we won't run out of nice, hot water.


While he was busy with the furnace, I grabbed my camera and took a couple of photos of our apricot tree. It is just starting to bloom. As you can see from the photo we have a long way to go before the trees are in full leaf.



After breakfast, John went down to the shop to make some furniture parts for JD (our son who now runs Uniquely Wood). While he was busy doing that, I finished up cleaning out some household files and getting them back in their right places for the summer. I left home at noon to take our Honda to the dealership in Bemidji to get it serviced and the tires rotated. They gave me a "loaner" car so I wouldn't have to sit and wait. I made a quick stop at the mall and then visited several furniture stores looking at mattresses. The one we have now has a leak--John has to keep pumping up his side a couple of times during the night. Hope to pick out a new one by next week and get it delivered.

John spent the early part of the afternoon working out in the yard--starting his game plan to oust the gophers before they can do some serious damage to underground cables. Matt's basketball team had another practice this afternoon so John went up to the school to help out again. This was the final practice before the big games on Saturday.

We spent a quiet evening watching our favorite Thursday night shows. Survivor is getting better and better.

Today the weather was just about perfect--bright sun, clear blue sky, and no wind. John and I walked to the highway this morning. The round trip is two miles with several steep hills. Our surgically repaired knees felt good--no major aches or pains. As long as we are pain free, we plan to continue to walk the hills and get a little more cardio workout.

After breakfast, John headed off to help Matt finish up a job he was working on. They finished up a deck, installed railings, and then hung a new storm door. The guys were gone all day.

While John was working, I tackled the job of unpacking. I spent most of the morning sorting through the clothes, deciding what could be put away for next fall and what to leave out for the summer. There were also several loads of laundry to be done before some items could be stored away. This afternoon I paid some bills and then worked on sorting through all the "junk" mail that had accumulated while we were gone. John and I have enough magazine reading material to last a month or more.

Before we left Texas, I went online to the Weight Watchers site and found that a WW had started in our town. The meeting was at 5:30 p.m. so I had to get supper semi-ready before I left. If John got home before I did, he could start cooking and we wouldn't have to be eating late in the evening. I don't know what I expected at the meeting, but I couldn't believe how many people were there--over 40 women. I spotted a couple of familiar faces--hopefully next week I will get a chance to visit with them.

I noticed that our apricot tree is starting to bloom. I hope to get outside in the next day or so with my camera and take some photos. We ended the evening watching the Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves.

One of the nice things about being back in northern Minnesota is that it gets light much earlier in the morning. That means we get up earlier for our morning walk and that's exactly what we did today. It seemed strange to look at pine trees instead of palm trees and to walk up and down hills instead of flat paths.

After finishing our walk and having breakfast, we got cleaned up and headed off to Bemidji (the neighboring town about 25 miles east of us) to restock the pantry. Our first stop was the Fleet Farm Store. Our son Matt had called and said there was a great deal on DeWalt tools--exchange an old drill for a new set and get $100 off the price of the new one. John needed a new drill set--the rechargeable batteries in his were worn out, so this was the perfect opportunity to get a replacement.

We made a quick stop at Burger King for lunch and then headed off to Wal Mart to tackle the grocery list. I'm sure that we will find we missed a couple of items, but for right now we won't starve. Matt is coaching a sixth grade boys basketball team. They are playing in a tournament this Saturday so John went up to the school to watch their practice and possibly offer some advice. Grandson Sam is very exicited to play this weekend and we are looking forward to seeing the games.

Our daughter-in-law, Jo, (son John's wife) invited us up to their place for supper. Their kids, Josh, Jenni, and Julie, had all grown taller over the winter and looked more grown up. They have wii, so after supper we had a blast playing the different games. Julie, who will be five in July, beat me in the sword dueling game. She showed absolutely no mercy for her poor, old grandmother. I will have to practice quite a bit before I try playing her again. It certainly feels good to be home and to spend time with family again.

Well, we did it! We finally made it home! After seeing the grandkids off to school this morning, we loaded our bag in the car and took off for home. It was lunch time when we reached Fargo, ND so we stopped at Applebee's for a good meal (we knew there was no food at our house) and then went across the street to a Sam's Club just to get something to have for breakfast tomorrow morning. From Fargo it was another two and half hours on the road to home.

It's funny how the closer we got to home, the more anxious we were to see the place. We're happy to report that it seems everything survived the winter--even the gophers. We found a couple of new mounds on our front lawn--John's continuing war with the gophers will soon start up again.

John and I got the car unloaded and then took a walk around the property to check everything out. When we left Texas, everything was blooming and green. The further north we traveled, the less green we saw. Here at home the lawns are greening up and the trees are just starting to bud. One of the perks of coming home this time of year is that we get to experience the beauty of spring twice.

We weren't home long before the phone rang. It was our granddaughter, Hanna, checking to see if we were back. So, we left our piles of boxes and headed up to visit with Matt's family. We couldn't believe how much the kids had grown over the winter. It was fun seeing them again and catching up on family and local news. Tomorrow will be major grocery shopping and the start of getting things unpacked and trying to get back into the routine of northern Minnesota living.

I must say that it really felt good not to have to get in the car and drive for hours today. After getting up at five the last couple of days, we decided to sleep in this morning. While the kids were at church, we took a walk around their neighborhood and then ate breakfast and got cleaned up. When everyone got home, John played some football and kick ball with the grandkids while lunch was getting ready.


This afternoon, we all took a ride over to Falls Park. This park has waterfalls fed by the Big Sioux River and was once the site of the Queen Bee Flour Mill. There are different paths with observation points for viewing the falls. The kids had a good time climbing over the many rocks and throwing stones in the water.



When we were done walking around the park, we took a vote and decided to head over to the Dairy Queen for some much needed ice cream. The boys enjoyed their milk shake, Artic Rush, and Sprite. The adults all had small Blizzards--the adults had ice cream, the boys drinks? What's wrong with this picture??

After enjoying our treat, we returned home for some more visiting, play time, and supper. We will be heading out for home tomorrow after the kids get off to school. The weather is suppose to be sunny, so it should be a nice day to finish our journey back to the north country.

Well, not much to share about today. We woke up around 5 a.m., ate a very nice breakfast at the hotel and hit the road. It had rained all night and was still raining this morning. Since it was Saturday and early morning, we made it through Oklahoma City without running into any traffic. Fortunately by the time we hit the Kansas state line, the rain had stopped, the skies cleared, and the sun came out. We had dry roads all the way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. When we reached our daughter's house, we were greeted by three very excited little boys--it's so nice to be missed. We will be spending a day or two visiting here before heading home to Minnesota.

What is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and men? Our plan was to get up early and be on the road home by six a.m. Well, we were up on time, finished putting the last few bags in the car, turned off the water, locked up the house and were backing out of the driveway at six a.m. sharp. John and I were very proud of ourselves that we got everything done and were leaving on time.

As we turned left out of the fort toward Del Rio, there was just a very slight mist. However, the closer we got to Del Rio, the harder the rain fell. By the time we reached the outskirts of town, we were in the middle of a major rain storm. John had to drive slowly and carefully because of flooding on the highway and as it was still dark, you couldn't tell how deep the water was on the road. After creeping along for a few minutes, we decided to scrap our plan of breakfast in Sonora and instead stopped at Mac Donald's in Del Rio. We would eat breakfast there and hopefully by the time we were finished, it would be light out and the rains would slow down. Well, we ended up sitting there for over an hour--the rains just kept coming and coming. We had a nice visit with a gentleman who had walked to Mac Donald's for his morning coffee and was also waiting out the rain.

We could not believe how flooded the streets were in Del Rio. There were fire trucks and police cars all over the town. The rains had finally let up so we ventured out. It took us about half an hour just to get out of town. We had to keep trying different streets and backtracking around the deep water. Since our car is so low to the ground, we had to be very careful where we drove--we saw several cars stuck in deep water.

It was well after 9 a.m. before we were on the road again. We kept running into heavy rains all day which slowed our travel time. We had planned to reach the northern border of Oklahoma by this evening--instead we only made it to Chickasha, OK. Since we would hit Oklahoma City at rush hour we decided to stop for the night. So much for our well laid plans--tomorrow is another day!

There was a steady rainfall over night that continued into this morning. Needless to day, our walk was canceled. John was very glad that he had finished all the outside work yesterday.

John and I spent the morning doing a final load of laundry and cleaning up the inside of the house. As each crate and box was packed, John would load it into the car. Since the fridge was pretty bare, we headed down to Burger and Shake for lunch. We then stopped in to see Dave and Valada to drop off some books we borrowed and to say good-bye. They will be back in Bagley near the end of July, so we will see them again at that time. Our neighbor, Neva (a sweet little lady who looks out for her neighbors), stopped by to invite us for a farewell piece of pie and coffee. It was nice visiting with her and hearing about her family. As we left her home, we decided that we need to visit her more often next winter.

John headed off for his final wood carvers' gathering. There were only a few people so it did not last very long. He had a book to return to Ralph Ramsey and found him visiting with the Sandwick's. From there he stopped to see Betty and Harlan Wright and finally made his way home.

While John was gone, I finished cleaning out the fridge and getting the last little items stowed away. Everything is ready to go--we will try to leave bright and early in the morning. I really get sad about leaving Texas, but northern Minnesota is calling us home. We are anxious to see the family once again.

It was another day of cloudy skies and on again, off again showers. Seems like we are stuck in this gloomy weather pattern--it's suppose to continue through the weekend. There was no morning walk because we both had to leave the house at 7:45 a.m. for haircuts. We both wanted to get trimmed up before heading home.

When we got back home, John showered up while I cleaned up the kitchen and got the dishwasher running. John headed off to Sam Lark's to get the front door project done. Lois Carlson and I went off to Del Rio for our weekly Weight Watchers meeting. We both had a few things to pick up at Wal Mart, so we went there first. After the meeting, we took a quick trip to the mall where Lois was looking for a new pair of shoes. Unfortunately, the shoes she wanted were out of stock in her size.

John was able to get much of the outside summer preparations done while I was in Del Rio. Just about everything was stored in the shed. Only have a couple of chairs to bring inside the house before we leave. Since poor weather is forecast for the rest of the week, we have decided to pull out of here early Friday morning. While I was gone this morning, John B. (Mary Ellen's brother) stopped over to say good-bye. He and Theresa are leaving tomorrow. That's about the last of our RV friends.

We took another quick run to Del Rio for supper and to pick up some bags for our Food Saver so we could vacuum store the food items we are leaving over the summer. We ended our evening with additional packing and watching a couple favorite TV shows.

It was another cloudy, overcast morning, but we were able to take our morning walk without getting wet. Sam was not available today to help with his front door, so that job got put off until tomorrow. Since that freed John up this morning, he decided to clean out the shed and get it ready for storing the golf cart and outdoor furniture. When that was done, he started spraying the driveway and around the house with weed killer to get rid of the grass and weeds that grow up through the stones. He still has to spray around the foundation and windows with insecticide and that should have the outside ready for the summer.

While John was busy working on the outside, I continued cleaning out drawers, doing laundry, and packing up a few boxes. We are in pretty good shape for pulling out on Sunday. Still have to deal with food stuff, but that will wait until at least Friday or Saturday--we will try to use up as much of the leftover foods as we can. What we don't use, we will take with us. We still need to find a home for our flower pot--it is just beautiful. I took a picture so we could remember how nice it looked.

There was a potluck dinner and game night at the church this evening. We enjoyed a delicious Mexican meal and playing games. When we got home we spent the rest of the evening watching some TV and catching up on emails and blogs. Just before bedtime Matt called and asked if we could possibly come home a few days earlier as he has a job that needs two people. It looks like we might be pulling out before Sunday if we can get everything ready.

When we looked out the window this morning we saw low clouds and puddles in the street. John told me there had been a thunder storm during the night, but I never heard a thing. I thought it looked it like it might rain again, but John assured me we could take our walk before any drops fell from the sky. WRONG!!!! We were over half way through our walk when the rains started to fall--fortunately I had worn my rain jacket (I don't always trust John's assessment of the weather) and I stayed somewhat dry. At least it was warm, so finishing our walk in the rain was not too unpleasant.

Monday morning means wood carvers, so after breakfast John gathered up his wood carving bag and headed over to John Carlson's place where they are meeting while Wallace and Becky are away. John said there were only seven carvers today--most of them have left for the summer. Thursday evening will be John's last time this spring. He finished up the Santa face he had started--this is his first attempt at doing a face. I think he did an outstanding job. He has decided not to paint this face but to put linseed oil on it--this will seal the wood to keep it from getting dirty and to preserve it.



When lunch was done, John headed once again to Metcalf's to do one last little job. After getting that finished, he went into town to use friend Jack's table saw to cut the wood needed to make a little shelf for our neighbor, Rose. Now there is only one project left to finish--Sam's door. Hopefully he will get that out of the way tomorrow morning so he can concentrate on getting jobs done around here--like storing the outdoor furniture, getting the golf cart ready for storage, and generally putting everything away for the summer months while we are gone.

While John was off doing all his many projects, I did laundry and started packing up clothes and emptying some drawers. Closer to leaving, we will get leftover food stuff ready to either stay here or pack up to take home. Stan stopped over after supper to drop off the Kinney County paper and stayed to visit for a bit. We then took another walk as the sun was trying to shine from behind the clouds--it turned out to be a nice evening. We settled in and watched a movie to end our night.

This morning we awoke to cool, cloudy and misty weather. John and I took our walk even though it was rather damp. While we were gone, Jim and Deb got up and prepared to leave for San Antonio. They were planning to meet Deb's son, Lee, for lunch. Lee is in the Army, stationed at Fort Hood, and is currently attending medical school in San Antonio. Their trip down to see us also gave them an opportunity to visit with him. We just had a little time to visit with them this morning and then they were off to see Lee.

It was a little sad this morning heading off to church as this was our last Sunday there this spring. We went to Sunday school and church and then the potluck dinner. It was nice to have some extra time to visit and say good-bye to the many friends we have made there.

Since the weather remained cloudy and cool, we spent the afternoon watching the Masters Golf Tournament on TV. Later this afternoon, our neighbor, Richard, stopped in. He wanted me to look up something for him on the internet. After knowing him for the past two years, we learned something new today. He told us he is a song writer for a record company in Mexico. He has been in the business for many years, having started in Nashville. John and I knew he played the guitar and liked to sing, but didn't know that song writing was how he made his living. Two of his songs are on CD's just being released.

After Richard left, we ate a quick supper of leftovers and then watched the Amazing Race and a couple other favorite Sunday night shows. All in all, it was a very quiet day. The final packing up starts tomorrow.

Today was a very busy and fun day. We let our company sleep in this morning while we took our morning walk. When we got home they were just waking up. We had breakfast and everyone took turns using the bathroom and getting cleaned up.

Jim and Deb wanted to go to Del Rio to see what the town was like and to look across the border to see Mexico. They also wanted to visit the SAS shoe factory outlet store. Our first stop was SAS where Jim tried on some shoes, but decided not to buy. We then headed down to the Port of Entry building where they could see the vehicles coming over from Mexico and actually see the Mexican countryside. Deb wanted a gift to bring back to her co-workers so it was decided to pick up some Julio's chips and Salsa. It was lunch time, so we went to Julio's and had lunch and got the needed gifts.

We returned home after lunch and visited for a while out on the deck. The weather was just perfect and it was decided to take a tour of the Fort. John had borrowed Sam Lark's large golf cart and all four of us headed off down the many trails where we saw some wildlife and pretty scenery. We ended up over at Dave and Valada's for a short visit before coming back to our place for supper.



Jim wanted to play a couple of holes of golf, so after supper we all went down to the Par 3 course where we played a best ball scramble for five holes. When we finished that, we had some friendly competition chipping and putting. The girls won the chipping and the guys the putting. It was getting dark, so we called it quits on the golf and headed back to our place. We had an enjoyable evening visiting and eating some strawberry shortcake.

Today was another beautiful day. It was cool but clear this morning when we took our walk. Since John's back was feeling much better we walked our longer route.

After breakfast John went over to Metcalf's again to finish up one last job and then headed off to town to pick up a couple of things we forgot to get yesterday while in Del Rio. I spent the morning preparing the food for this evening's meal and giving the house the final straightening up.

Our company, Jim and Deb, arrived from Dallas around 5 o'clock. We had a fun evening sharing different stories and just visiting. There was a little problem getting the sleeper sofa open--it had never been opened before. No one could figure out what the problem was. The guys laid the sofa over on its back and discovered that the frame had been wired to keep it from opening in shipment. For a while there I wasn't sure where they were going to sleep. It's pretty late--time for bed. More visiting tomorrow!

Today was absolutely beautiful. Lower humidity replaced the muggy weather of the past several days. The temps were a little cooler this morning--45 degrees--when we left home for our morning walk. John's back continues to mend--we were able to walk our entire route and keep a good pace. The golf course is so green and lush looking. Just about all the trees have leafed out. The intersection in front of our place was closed all day as the road work continues. They should be finished sometime soon.



After breakfast John headed over to Metcalf's to replace an eletrical panel. When he got back, he finished putting Thompson's Water Sealer on the rest of the deck and on our sign in the front yard.
This will hopefully help preserve the wood and keep it from rotting and warping. While he was busy with those chores, I started sorting through our clothes trying to decide what will be left here over the summer and what needs to be taken home. It is hard to believe that we only have about 10 left before we head north.

Since we are having company this weekend, we headed off to Del Rio to stock up on some groceries. We also made a quick stop at Home Depot--can never make a trip there without stopping at HD. It seems like we always need a bolt, washer, or some such item.

When we got home, John rested on an ice pack--just as a precautionary measure. Today was the first he has sat for any length of time and he seemed to handle it pretty well. There was no wood carvers this evening, so John was home to watch Survivor with me. We ended the evening watching our favorite Thursday night TV shows and catching up with email and blogs. Tomorrow will be a busy day preparing for company.

We woke up to the sound of big trucks outside our window as the road work continued after a little break. The morning was cloudy but warm. John's back was feeling much better, so we headed off on our usual morning walk. We got about halfway out when it started to rain--got a little wet but didn't mind as it was warm.

It's Wednesday--that means Weight Watchers. Lois Carlson picked me up and off we went to Del Rio. Must admit it was nice riding in her brand new car--it's loaded with everything. Our first stop was Wal Mart. Lois needed to fill a prescription and I had to pick up some sheets and blanket for our company to use this weekend. After the meeting, we headed off to Applebee's for lunch and then spent a little time at the mall.

While I was gone, John spent the morning working in the yard and watching the road work. It seems several neighbors were also outside watching the work and this provided at opportunity for visiting. The neighbors wanted to know when we were heading home and also wanted to be sure we stopped in to say good-bye before we left. John is still resting his back and applying heat and cold, but he is much improved. Still has a little trouble sitting for any length of time.

After a quick supper, we headed outside and messed around with the self-timer on the camera. I have posted our new photo here on the blog. Spent the evening catching up on emails, reading blogs, and watching some TV.

Good news today!! John had a much better night and was able to take our morning walk. We took a shorter route and walked at a slower pace, but he made it all the way. When we got home, he laid down with an ice pack for a while. He is definitely on the mend.

We have a list of the different jobs that need to be done before we close up the house for the summer. Since John was tired of laying around, he decided to tackle one of those jobs and wash the windows on the outside. He could do this without having to bend over--so now we have nice sparkling windows and one job scratched off the "to do" list.

While John was washing windows, I got all the music CD's and DVD's packed up and did some cleaning. We are having company this weekend, so I need to get the house in order. After lunch, we took the golf cart and went down to the Par 3 course. I have been waiting to try out my new clubs. John just walked with me as I played. I must say, it is going to take me a little bit to get used to these clubs. I had a horrible round of golf. John has been very patiently trying to show me what I have been doing wrong. Hopefully my game will come around someday.

Late this afternoon, the sky cleared off and the temps reached the upper 80's. After supper we sat outside on the patio. There was a slight breeze and it was very pleasant in the shade. Cora Palmer stopped by to remind us of the condo party on Friday afternoon and later, Stan Metcalf stopped by to ask about some electrical work. We spent the evening watching the women's NCAA final game. We are very thankful that John is doing so much better. Hopefully he will be totally back to normal by the weekend.

When we got up this morning, the sky was overcast with heavy clouds and a little mist. John was still struggling with back pain, so I once again grabbed my MP3 player so I could listen to music while I walked the golf course.

Since John can't sit for any length of time, he didn't go to carvers this morning and pretty much spent the day resting in bed, walking around the house, and taking pain meds. I spent the morning taking care of the monthly finances and doing some laundry. After lunch, I started some more organizing of the things that need to go home to Minnesota.

By dinner time, John's back was finally starting to feel better--not quite so stiff. After eating and cleaning up the kitchen, we took a little walk down the road to see what was happening with the new house being built. While we were looking, John and Libby from Unit 38 stopped by--they also wanted to see what progress had been made on the new house. Sam Lark then drove up and stopped to join the conversation. After John and Libby left to continue their ride around the golf course, Sam returned with us to our house for a little longer visit.

John's back is improving more and more--he thought he would try to walk tomorrow morning. I told him not to try to do too much, he needs to be in good shape for our company this weekend. The evening ended watching the final of the NCAA tournament.

We had such big plans for today--sunrise service, Easter breakfast at church, and dinner with friends at the RV park. Needless to say our plans took a nosedive. As I mentioned yesterday, John hurt his back and it was no better this morning. He has to either stand up or lie down--he can't sit for any length of time. So I went off alone for a morning walk--I took my MP3 player and listened to music while I got my exercise.

After breakfast, I put the finishing touches on the Jello salad I was making for the dinner and then got ready to head off to church. We had a very nice church service and the folks were all asking about John and ready to help if we needed anything. I got home in plenty of time to change clothes and get over to the RV park. About 20 people were there to eat--we had a delicious meal of ham, potatoes, salads, and desserts. In fact, so much food was left, that some were coming back around 7 p.m. this evening to eat again. It was nice to catch up on some of the folks that have already reached home and say good-bye to those heading out soon.

When I returned home, John was entertaining our pastor who had stopped in to see how he was doing and if we needed anything. John has spent the day alternating between lying down and walking around the house. When lying down he puts either heat or cold on his back. Hopefully things will start to improve tomorrow.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching PGA Golf and the women's NCAA Final Four. Hope you all have had a wonderful Easter. Even though our Easter didn't go as planned, we still had a very nice day.

It was hard getting back into our routine after a few days off. I had to force myself out of bed for our morning walk. Once I got moving though, I appreciated the pretty morning and warm temps. There were many early golfers this morning so we had to alter our course a bit, but it was still a good walk.

It was one of those "visitor days" again. Jan Metcalf stopped by this morning to pay John for his work at her house last week. She stayed and visited for a bit--it was good to see her out and about as she had been in the hospital earlier this week. All is well now. Our plan was to head off to the Par 3 for a round of golf and for me to try out my new clubs. I should preface things by saying John did tweak his back earlier in the week while working on Sam's door. Well, John's first swing off the first tee really hurt his back. He tried playing and we only made it three holes when he said he had to call it quits. I at least got to try the new clubs and they are much better than my old ones. Will have to wait a few days for John to recover and then try the clubs out again.

After we got home, John laid down on an ice pack. While he was resting, I headed over to Sandwick's to return some books I had borrowed and to pick up several more. When I returned home, Stan Metcalf was here keeping John company. We spent the remainder of the day watching the NCAA basketball games on TV.

Just a side note to our kids. How come Dad always "hurts" his back when the NCAA Tournament is on TV. The only thing he can do is lie around and watch the games. Do you see a pattern here? Seems like this happens every year at this time. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

It rained overnight and was still raining when we got up this morning. We ate breakfast, packed up, and then headed over to the museum so we could be there when it opened. There were several large tour groups also visiting it today. Since we explored the first two-thirds yesterday, we were able to move quickly to our stopping point from yesterday and not be caught in the larger crowds of people. It took us almost 2 1/2 hours to reach the end of the Pacific War story.

We then looked at another exhibit entitled "Face to Face" which is a cultural and visual art project. Three sculptors sought out WWII vets and asked them to pose. The vets were also asked about their war experiences and to provide a photo of themselves when they served their country. The artists worked with each vet for approximately 3 hours taking many photographs and working up a rough bust. I counted 23 busts on display--they are hoping to do 100. These men and women won't be with us much longer and soon there will be no one left to talk about what they did and how they served their country. In the museum they had displays of the vets sharing their war experiences--a "living history". I have posted a couple of photos from the "Face to Face" exhibit.



When we left the museum, the sky was starting to clear off and it was rather hot and humid. Since it was past lunch time, we stopped at Mac Donald's for a quick bite to eat before heading home. We took a different route back to Fort Clark which took us through some beautiful Hill Country. Many of the trees are just about in full leaf and everything is nice and green. We also saw some beautiful displays of wildflowers.

I was excited to see the new golf clubs I ordered sitting outside the door when we got home. I can't wait to try them out. After unloading the car and unpacking the golf clubs, we took a golf cart ride over to Unit 37 to visit with Dave, Valada and Ralph. Ralph was concerned when he hadn't see us for a few days and had even called us while we were eating lunch today to ask where we were--so we thought we should check in and let him know all is well. It's nice to be missed!

John and I were a little tired this evening, so we just stayed home and watched a movie. Hopefully tomorrow the new clubs will get tested.

Since we are on a mini vacation, we slept late this morning. Once we got up and about, we headed down to the nice complimentary breakfast provided by the hotel. After eating, we started off on the days' adventure. First stop was the Visitors' Center where we picked up a few brochures and checked out some of the things we wanted to do. By that time the Nimitz and Pacific War Museums were opened.


We walked across the street to the museum and purchased our tickets--since it takes approximately 6-8 hours to tour the entire display, the tickets are good for 48 hours. The Nimitz Museum was closed the last time we visited Fredricksburg, so we toured that building first. From there we visited the Japanese Peace Garden and then the Memorial Park. The walls of the park are filled with pictures of vets and all types of ships that served in World War II. We then started our tour of the Pacific War Museum. It is really moving walk through this museum and seeing what a sacrifice was made by so many men and women.


It was lunch time before we knew it, so we took a break and went to lunch at Subway. I saw a brochure for a candle shop just outside of town that I wanted to visit, so after eating we headed off there. We found a nice metal Texas star candle holder which we bought along with several candles. It was then back to the museum for another couples of hours of learning about the war in the Pacific. We decided to hit a few shops on main street and finish up with the museum tomorrow.

We found a nice little family owned restaurant for supper and then took another walk where we found some fields of beautiful wild flowers. Ended the evening watching Survivor. Sorry to see Rob go--he met his match in Russell.