Buckhorn Christmas 12--10

Christmas Season at Buckhorn Lake Resort in Kerrville, Texas, starts with the "lighting up" of the resort. Thousands of lights merrily adorn the buildings and roadways starting in late November.















Even Santa is here in his RV!














But the REAL Santa and Mrs. Claus are parked just across the street from us! Ceilidh didn't like Santa very well, with the big beard and all, but she sure liked Mrs. Santa.













In mid December the workampers all got together for a potluck with the meat being provided by the owners of the resort, Dee and Kathy. Dee is on the extreme right and Kathy is seated in front with her leg in a cast from ankle surgery. We had a white elephant gift exchange and also were presented with Buckhorn jackets from the owners. What a great crew we have!!








Christmas day finally arrived and I guess Santa forgave Ceilidh for not being friendly to him as she got several gifts to open. How she loves to tear off the paper. Sometimes I think she'd rather play with the paper!

















Many of us gathered in the "Barn" for the traditional pot luck Christmas dinner. You know how potlucks are-loads of delicious dishes to try and the deserts.....go right to my hips!!





















Our dear friends, Guy and Judy, were able to join us for Christmas dinner and we had this snapshot taken in front of the fireplace. They will be getting married at their new home in Custer, SD, in September and we are planning to attend the wedding on our way back from Alaska. They are the sweetest couple and so much fun. We wish them only the very best that life has to offer.








MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

San Antonio River Walk Dec. 17, 2010

We took a trip to San Antonio with our friends from Buckhorn, Christine and Steve. The first stop was a tour of the Alamo. For 13 days in 1836, nearly 200 men under the command of William Travis defended the Alamo from Mexican General Santa Anna's army. The final assault came on March 6. The desperate struggle continued until the defenders were overwhelmed. People continue to "Remember the Alamo" as a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds-a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. The Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.

As expected, the Riverwalk was a profusion of color. Lights hanging from the trees and luminaries along the river made for a happy holiday stroll.

Back at the Riverside Mall a huge Christmas tree was decorated in white lights and surrounded by red poinsettias in the center of the river.

Several horse drawn carriages covered in Christmas lights lined the streets. This one reminded me of Cinderella's coach. The horse was strikingly similar to my favorite horse that I had owned many years ago, Sully's Casidoll, a part Arabian mare.

San Antonio gets all decked out for the Christmas season even if there is no snow!

Friends-Jim and Nancy Dec. 12,2010

We had a pleasant surprise phone call from Jim and Nancy wanting to stop by for a visit. Bill and Jim worked together at Meadville Medical Center in Facilities Engineering Department and Nancy and I worked together in ICU at the same hospital in Pennsylvania. We did some catching up on families, my daughter Lisa and their daughter Jody were good friends in school. We showed them around the resort and tried to convince Nancy that fulltiming was the way to go, but she has strong ties to her grandchildren in PA. I think Jim would like to get "on the road" maybe someday..... We always welcome friends to visit us. We'll leave the light on for ya!

1 Million Lights in Johnson City, TX 12-07-10

We rode the Buckhorn Bus to Johnson City, TX on Dec. 7 for dinner and to see the (over) 1 million lights in town. First stop was the Silver K Cafe where we had a very tasty meal. I had Mediterranian Pasta with olives, artichokes, spinach, feta cheese and a light sauce. Bill had fried catfish. I would highly recommend the Silver K Cafe to anyone traveling through Johnson City, and the prices are very reasonable.

After dinner we took a stroll through town. Our first stop was a little park a block from the cafe. It was filled with cartoon displays that would delight any child and adult alike!

Next stop was the court house. All four sides were covered with lights, top to bottom. It was stunning! Many other buildings in town were also decorated with beautiful lights.

We saved the best for last. The Pedernales Electric Company Headquarters in Johnson City puts up a breathtaking display of over a million lights. Each trunk, branch, and limb were covered with lights as well as the tree tops of the many live oak trees surrounding their buildings.

I doubt that there's a display anywhere in Texas as beautiful as Johnson City at Christmas time. Sure gets you in the Christmas Spirit- Merry Christmas to all....

New Mexico and Back to Texas Oct. 22, 2010

Heading into New Mexico on I-40 we came upon the little town of Gallup, New Mexico. I noticed in a tour book that there was an exhibit devoted to the Navajo Code Talkers at the Gallup NM Cultural Center. Bill's dad, a radio repairman in the Army during WW II, was accompanied by "Dyken" (sp??), a Navajo Code Talker. Bill's dad could repair the radios but couldn't talk on them Most of the time he didn't even know what island he was on, only that they were occupied by Japanese. There was a very informative 2 hour movie on the code talkers. The Navajo Code was never broken by the Japanese and thus enabled our troops to communicate with each other without exposing troop movement and battle plans.










Next stop - Albuquerque, to visit Bill's cousin, Ben, wife Joan, and Aunt Ernie. The four days we spent there flew by-what fun they are! Ernie, in her early 90's, even fixed spaghetti for us one night! What a sweetheart, ya gotta love her!!










We spent three nights in Amarillo, Texas and were able to visit the American Quarter Horse Museum. It is a beautiful new facility depicting the history and achievements of the Quarter Horse industry. What a versatile animal, race horse (fastest for a quarter mile, hence the name), ranch horse, and pleasure horse. They can do it all.

We witnessed some beautiful sunsets from our RV Park, the Oasis, just west of Amarillo. A few days after we left, some friends were staying there and had 70 mile an hour winds! That's not a fun time in an RV! Glad we were back in Kerrville by then.

We were greeted by this sign at the entrance to our winter "nest". It was good to be back among our many RVing friends and look forward to a fun time this winter!

Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, Arizona Oct 12, 2010

Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Parks, Arizona

October 12, 2010

On our way from Arizona to New Mexico via I-40 we visited the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Parks.

The Petrified Forest contains one of the largest petrified wood deposits in the world. Here I am standing beside a huge petrified log.

There's Flat Stanley. He liked the pretty colors in the petrified wood which is abundant throughout the park.

Blue Mesa is an ideal setting to see the effect of erosion on badland hills. A one-way spur road leads to the top of the mesa for an awesome panoramic view One area of the park, Newspaper Rock, has more than 650 petroglyphs adorning boulders that tumbled to rest below the cliffs. Due to defacement of these petroglyphs and unstable hillsides, the area is closed below the cliff. The petroglyphs are visible with binoculars, but difficult to photograph.

Continuing through the Petrified Forest soon brings you to the Painted Desert. Several overlooks provide breathtaking views of the area.

The Painted Desert area once served as a respite for travelers along Historic Route 66 where an in is located, now a National Historic Landmark.