2023 A bit of a Family Reunion

 Sun. May 14 We arrived in Jackson, MO just past noon on Fri. and met with Scott and Marlene at the Elks Lodge. We were able to drop the trailer and have it hooked to electric through our stay. We then followed them back to their house and spent the afternoon catching up, since it had been a while since we had seen each other. Marlene fixed dinner, chicken, pasta salad and apple pie. We had a great evening of conversation and laughter. Sat. we woke to coffee and coffee cake before heading into Cape Girardeau. We were too late for the farmer's market, but in time for the flea market along the wall that protects the city from the Mississippi River when it is full. When the river is high, approaching flood stage this is what the other side of the wall looks like. Without the wall the first few blocks of the city would be under water.  Back to the house for a nice evening and a shrimp creole dinner. The weatherman has been nice to us since we have been here and only dropped a few ...

 Thursday May 8, Monday the weatherman was less than friendly and decided to drizzle on us most of the day. The walkers got in their walk and we spent the day in the condo or on the balcony. Our nephew Brandon and his wife Joi came over and spent the afternoon with us. This is Joi and my sister Bunny. Brandon cooked for us and made Cajun shrimp etouffee, which was wonderful. Here is a group photo minus photographer Deb. Brandon is standing on the left and Joi is front right. Tue. was checkout day, so we all packed up and then met at Duck's Diner for a final breakfast before Bunny and Michael headed for Fl and we returned to Bob and Roz's house. Later, we made our first stop at a semi-fast food place, Culver's, for dinner and an ice cream. The evening was spent watching a movie. Wed. Bob went to work at the golf course, while Deb and I prepared for the Thursday departure. Repacked and reorganized for a visit to friends in Jackson, MO, before starting west. A quiet evening at...

Monday May 8, Fri. after morning showers, we spend most of the day lounging around the pool and lazy river. Later we will go to steak night at he American Legion for dinner and entertainment. They have music and dancing after dinner. The music was a wide variety, catering to a more senior crowd and pretty good. Good to see the folks doing the jitterbug and other older style dancing. Fun evening and good steak dinner with plenty of left overs. Sat. early we went to Mo's BBQ for a smoked cheeseburger for lunch - Really good flavor! Then we walked off the meal meandering the farmers market that is held next door to Mo's. Back at the condo we relaxed until dinner when we decided we needed to put a dent into the left overs we have brought back from the many restaurants. Dinner is served with scrambled eggs, steak and home fried potatoes. A quiet evening on the balcony finished yet another terrific day. Sun some of us started with biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Early afternoon Bra...

Fri May 5, The last few days have been fun. Tue. we went in separate directions for a bit. I got a propane tank filled and stopped at Walmart. The wives went places and Deb saw the quilt shop where Roslyn works. We met up for lunch at a BBQ restaurant. There are so many of those around! Lunch completed we went back to the house to plan for Wed as we will be moving down to the condo. Wed. is like moving day, as we will be spending the next week at a condo on the water. Packing takes place and then Bob and I go to his basketball practice while the wives drive down to Orange Beach. My brother is coaching a high school basketball team and now is running special training sessions with some of his players for next season. After the session we drove down and joined everyone at the condo. My nephew, sister and BIL in the kitchen and the view from our balcony. Since it was already past 5 when Bob and I got there is was time for a restaurant choice and dinner. Doc's Seafood was a short dista...

 Tue morning May 2. The last few days have been generally nice weather-wise and it has been fun to be with my brother. Saturday we went to a German Festival fund raiser. They had a good turn out in spite of the weather, which brought in a thunder storm. We got in line for the sausages and had about a 20 minute wait to get to the window. They were worth the wait. We went to the bake sale next, should have been first. The storm drove everyone inside and they all but bought out the bake sale. We did manage 4 cookies and some peanut clusters. A quiet afternoon followed - while the rain stopped, it was overcast and we were more comfortable inside watching the Mexican Open. Sunday we went for a buffet meal at Saraceno's. This is a tiny place with excellent food and numerus choices. The desserts were wonderful as well. After the meal we drove down by the pier in Mobile Bay and walked the open air market that was going on for small businesses. They only allowed people to display what the m...

 Sat April 29 from Foley, Al. The drive from Kerrville to Egan, La was uneventful and the route alteration worked perfectly as planned. Not a drop of rain and mostly blue skies all the way, with the weather staying in front of us. We spoke with Bob, my brother, during the run on Thursday and they were getting pounded with rain. He was checking in as a good brother would. We landed in the campground called Hidden Pines in Egan a little before 4pm and got setup. We went for a stroll around the grounds and discovered it was a really nice facility with 2 pools, one that had slides for kids. There was also a pavilion that was to have a crawfish cookoff over the weekend - the park for sold out Fri-Sun. Fri morning we were not in a hurry as the remaining drive time was a bit over 5 hours. The weather had completely moved through and we had clear sailing all the way to Foley and my brother's new home. This is a look of the front and back yard. They back up to open space and have a lovely v...