Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day! I am so blessed. I am in Palm Springs, California sitting outside in the sunshine and enjoying a beautiful day.

David and Jessica had no problems getting here, airline worked, rental car there and easy drive out to us from Phoenix.

Jessica wanted to see some of our family pictures. As we started looking through them, the memories come flooding back. I remember how happy I was on my wedding day, all the family and friends there to watch us promise to love each other for the rest of our lives.

I remember the labor pains and the long hours waiting for David to make his appearance. Then how awed I was to see this beautiful little child, head full of dark hair (wonder where that went), and trusting us to take care of him, feed him, shelter him. I just couldn't believe God had given us this wonder-full little life.

I also remember the pain during parents' illnesses and deaths, all that they had done for us as we grew up. All that love bouncing around!

When we stop to think about it, we are all very blessed. We have food to eat and share, we have reasonably good health, shelter from the heat or cold, all the basic human needs. Most of all I am thankful for family and friends.

So, on this Thanksgiving Day 2007, I thank you - my family and friends for making my life what it is! And I thank God for putting us all in the right places at the right times.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving From Palm Springs

WOW!!!! Is it really true??? Is it really Thanksgiving in less than a week???

Time just seems to fly by. We are still at Palm Desert Thousand Trails for another week or so. I made a trip to Florida last week so I guess that's where part of my time went. The weather here is still a bit warm, but the forecast is for more typical temperatures by Tuesday. I'm ready for 70's instead of almost 90!

We got some pictures of the "windmill farms" along I-10 on our way over from Yuba City. It's hard to put the size in perspective, or to convey the number of generators, but it really does look like a grove of windmills. There are different sizes and towers. It is a green energy source. I wonder if folks in the Texas Panhandle have considered them??

Check out this little roadrunner. He was sitting on the park's BBQ grill outside a 5th wheel. We were driving by and backed up to get a picture. Wonder where Wylie Coyote was?

This picture was taken at Lake Minden Thousand Trails in October. It was a lovely place to relax and enjoy nature. The lake was so smooth and the colors were beginning to turn. It had been stocked with fish and several campers were trying their luck. I didn't hear about anyone catching anything, tho.

The excitement is building. Dave and Jessica are coming out for Thanksgiving and I can hardly wait! We don't have a lot planned since some attractions are closed, but I'm sure we'll find plenty to do and eat.

I dug out some old pictures to show Dave & Jessica. I am struck by the joy and the sadness of it all. The joy from remembering all the good times (and even some of the bad ones). And the sadness from realizing that I don't know some of the people in the pictures, I've lost contact with some others, and just don't manage to stay very connected to family in far away places. It got me thinking about holidays and stress and siblings, other relatives and giving thanks. So if you have gotten lost, send me an email or give me a call!

Growing up as an only child, I missed sibs, but really didn't understand what I was missing. The older I grow, the more I miss that connectedness. When I hear about sibs fighting about anything, especially the trivial junk, I just shake my head. Don't you all know how very lucky you are to have each other? There is no one who knows you like a sibling. Not parents or friends - only someone who has lived life with you from a very young age.

It's Thanksgiving. Take a few minutes to really think about the grudges, misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and separation. Is it really that important? Or can you let it go? Do you even remember why you are estranged? Can you be the brave one to hold out a hand to an estranged family member or friend? Life is just too short for hard feelings. Reach out-I'll bet you'll be glad you did.

OK, now that I've been on my first soap box, let's move on to another topic. I bought a medical scooter. I go to Ft Lauderdale next week to pick it up. It's used but very little and has new batteries. Look out world, I'm on a roll now! I am so excited about being able to roam around the RV parks, go shopping and see the sights without so much pain.

I've been doing my Bookcrossing thing. In case you aren't familiar, it's a wonderful way to recycle your books. You set up a free account, then register the book www.bookcrossing.com on the site. You can type in the ISBN and the site will fill in most of the blanks for you. The book then gets a BCID. You attach a label or sticky to the book with some simple instructions and the BCID # and leave it "in the wild." The plan is for someone to pick up the book, read it, and log it on the Bookcrossing web site before sending it on it's way. You can track the books' travels. I usually leave the books in the Club House at the RV parks when I trade for ones I haven't read, but I've left books on planes, in waiting rooms, etc. Check it out.

This shot shows our Hughes Net (Internet) satellite dish (foreground) and the DISHnetwork tv dish. We've had the Hughes for several months now. We are really spoiled! No more finding hot spots or carrying notebooks up to the lodge, etc. and wondering who might be reading our computers! John is doing a great job of aligning them. He's using a birddog - no, not a four legged one. It's a sat finder that really makes the job easier. Drop us an email if you want to know more about Hughes or birddog.

I think it's getting to be bed time. I hope everyone has a Thankful Thanksgiving. We truly do have so much to be thankful for.

See you down the road.

Barbara

Palm Springs

We've been off the net for a while. We took our time driving down and we had to make a stop in Bakersfield for the Cummins shop. In the mean time we John has added on another year as has David.

We made here and are pretty much setup. We came in a day early (on the 6th) since we got the motor home done in time. The Cummins folks steam cleaned the radiators and put it on a dynomometer. They said they thought they had our over heating problem fixed. I think they did. We climbed some long high roads and it never got beyond 1/4 on the gage. Cummins now recommends steam cleaning once a year. It wasn't too bad expensive either, about $200.

Palm Desert is the actual town we are in at the Thousand Trails Palm Springs resort. We haven't done much nosing around yet. It takes a couple days to get things like we want them and then to rest up ;-)) It was 90 yesterday and today was a little bit cooler. The forecast is for more normal temps around 75 -80 by the end of the week. We are in the Mohave Desert so the nights cool way down. It is also dry so the warmer temps are more bearable. My skin is sure feeling the dryness. I may have to buy stock in Jergens.

We got a little magazine about the area when we checked in (read that advertisements). There are several things we want to do. There is a date farm that tells about how dates are grown and processed. They have a gift shop and restaurant (of course). We've been told we have to try a "date shake" when we are out there. There are two arts/crafts/farmers markets - one on Sat & Sun and the other on Tuesday evening. We are close to the pool and store. The park is between I-10 and an active rail road track so there is a little noise. It doesn't bother us much.

Obviously no pictures yet, but I promise to work on that. We did take a few shots of the windmill farms along the way.