Since it is light so much earlier this far south, we were able to get out for our walk by 7 a.m. It was a warm morning with a temp of 60 degrees. The days usually start out cloudy, but by mid morning the sun is shining. We walked our usual route of the golf course and then cut over to the back streets--there were a couple of new homes added since we left last spring.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and headed off to church at Frontier Baptist. They had a singing group this morning, The Border Line Singers. They are a group of retired gentlemen who sing Gospel and Bluegrass. Following the service, we had a potluck lunch--there was an over abundance of food and it was all delicious. John and I certainly ate our fill.

It was a beautiful afternoon, so we decided to work off some of our noon meal with a little golf. Must say neither of us did very well--hopefully we will improve as we play more this winter. We ended the day watching some more NFL and The Amazing Race.

The fort was having its monthly board meeting this morning, so we decided to get up early and attend the meeting. Since we have been gone from here for over six months, we thought this would be a good way to catch up on what has been happening around here. It also provided a way to visit with friends we haven't seen for a while.

After the meeting, we headed over to Unit 37 to see Ralph Ramsey. We spent almost an hour with him before stopping in to see Wallace and Becky. Upon reaching home, we remembered we still hadn't done any grocery shopping, so it was back into Brackettville to get just a few staples to hold us over until we can get to Del Rio on Monday. Following lunch, I got the kitchen area cleaned, started the grocery list and got some of the clothes put away. John hosed off the deck and set up all the outside furniture. This morning started out cloudy and cool, but this afternoon was very sunny and warm--John just had to break out the shorts.



Many of our plants died over the summer, but the cactus grew like crazy. The cactus in the picture had only two paddles when we left here last April. Look at it now!


We had a pretty steady stream of visitors this afternoon--folks just welcoming us back. Our pastor dropped in and invited us to the community Thanksgiving service at the church this evening and to also let us know there will be a potluck dinner after church tomorrow. We timed our arrival just right--they have super potluck meals.

It was a very nice service this evening followed by snacks in the Fellowship Hall. We find we are settling back into fort life very quickly. It's almost as if we were never away.

WE MADE IT!! After 11 hours in the car, we arrived in Fort Clark around 5 p.m. I started the morning wearing a winter jacket and by the time we reached Texas, we needed to turn the AC on in the car. Stan Metcalf stopped over a few minutes after we pulled into the driveway and brought us some delicious homemade soup and dessert for supper. He stayed and visited for a while and then we unloaded the car. Everything is just stacked up inside the house. It's going to take a few days to get unpacked and find a place for everything. The dry ice worked great--everything was still frozen solid when we unloaded the cooler. Time to just sit down and relax with a little TV before bed.

John and I got up early, loaded up the Honda, said good-bye to Amy and the boys, and were on the road by 7 a.m. We drove for about an hour and then pulled off the road for our favorite breakfast at McDonald's. The day was nice and sunny so we had good driving conditions. After 10 hours on the road, we reached our planned destination, Blackwell, OK. We ate a quick supper at Bram's and then spent sometime in the motel hot tub easing our stiff muscles. After watching a little TV, it was time for bed so we can be rested and fresh for another day on the road. We plan to be in Fort Clark by late tomorrow afternoon.

There might not be a blog update tomorrow evening--depends if we can get our internet up and running.

Today was another cloudy, cold damp day--we haven't seen any sunshine for a while, so we hope to see some tomorrow when we head south.

We spent the day running some errands. This morning after the boys were off to school, we headed to Hobby Lobby for some scrap booking supplies that are needed to work on a photo album while in Texas. I found exactly what I was looking for and, best of all, it was 50% off. From there we headed back to the school to pick up Noah and then on to home for some lunch. We had time for a couple of games of UNO before we had to leave again.

John wanted to pick up some dry ice to repack our frozen foods for the rest of our trip. Amy did an internet search and found an ice supplier not far from their home. After lunch, we all got back in the van to finish up our errands. First stop was the chiropractor for a back adjustment for Amy's--she felt much better after her treatment. Then it was on to the library to return books and to let Noah pick out some new ones. Sioux Falls has a beautiful public library--coming from a small town, it was amazing to see such a large library with so many books to choose from. Amy did a good job of navigating and we found the ice company without getting lost. John ran inside and picked up a 15 lb. block of dry ice and stored it in a cooler we brought along. We had a little time to kill before picking up Caleb and Isaiah from school, so we stopped at a Goodwill Store to look for kids' winter jackets--none were found.

When we got back to the house, John chopped up the dry ice, repacked all the frozen foods, and then put the cooler back in the Honda. He then took a little trip to the local gas station to fill up the car so we won't have to stop tomorrow morning and can just get right on the interstate.

Our evening was spent helping with homework and watching a little TV.

John and I spent a rather quiet day visiting with Amy after the boys went to school. Noah goes to preschool in the mornings, so he was back home by noon. The boys had received little wooden models to assemble, so after eating lunch, John and Noah worked on a little wooden bulldozer. They sanded, painted, and glued the parts together and by this evening it was finished.




After the boys got home from school, Caleb decided to go outside and play some football with his friends while Isaiah stayed inside and started on his sailboat model. He and John got that finished up after supper. Then it was time to help Caleb finish up his race car that he had started working on earlier. The boys sure kept John pretty busy today.

It was cold and overcast this morning and that made us even happier to be leaving for warmer climates. We loaded the rest of our stuff into the Honda and after one final sweep around the house to make sure we hadn't missed anything--unplugging what needed to be unplugged and turning off the water--we pulled out of the driveway by 10.30 a.m.

We reached Fargo by noon and stopped at Burger King for lunch and then gassed up the car before getting on I-29 for the straight run to Sioux Falls. It was almost 5 p.m. by the time we reached Amy's place. The boys were all playing football in the front yard when we pulled up and we were bombarded with hugs, kisses, and all three trying to talk at once. Things finally quieted down by supper time. We spent the early part of the evening playing a few games and putting a puzzle together before the boys headed off to bed. The adults then enjoyed the peace and quiet watching Monday Night Football.