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.