Sunday School Songs & Hymns

 One of the conditions of our coming to work here at Lone Star Corral was that we have off on Sunday's so we could attend church.  One of the things we realized last summer was how much we missed being in fellowship with other believers on a regular basis.  No problem we were told.  This week our days off were Saturday and Sunday.  Starting next week our days off will be Sunday & Monday's.

So today we attended First Baptist Church of Hondo.  It is a pretty big church and they have a school associated to it.  We don't know if this is where we will settle.   There are a few other churches in the area that we would like to check out.  We would appreciate your prayers as we seek where the Lord would have us settle while we are in the area.

Back to today's service.  Today's service was designed to honor those turning 90 and 100 this year.  There were 7 or 8 people being honored.  Between all of them they had over 650 years serving the Lord with 465 of those years serving at FBC of Hondo...an amazing and encouraging statement for sure.  One thing we noticed, at least today anyway, they sing hymns.  We sang Standing on the Promises, The Old Rugged Cross, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder and Only Trust Him.  And they did a special medley of Sunday School songs: Do Lord, I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, I'm in the Lord's Army, The BIBLE, I Am a CHRISTIAN, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, This Little Light of Mine, Hallelu, Hallelu and closed with If You're  Happy and You Know It.  Oh the memories of singing these songs as a young child in Sunday School at the little Assemblies of God Church in Rancho Cordova that flooded my heart.

And more surprising was the tears that flowed when we sang "Jesus Loves Me."  That song holds special meaning to me ~ it was sang at our son's, Royce, funeral.  It is hard to believe he has been gone from us for almost 34 years and yet every time I hear or sing that song tears just start to flow.  And when the tears flow I think of that precious little boy who was only with us for a short time yet I have so many strong memories surrounding his birth, his time here on earth and his death and the service we had for him.  One thing that always comes to mind is the fact that my mom came to the service.  I have only known my mom to attend a service at a church three times in my adult life: when I married Ron, when Royce died and when Ron and I renewed our marriage vows on our 25th wedding anniversary.  And then I say a prayer of thanksgiving that even though my mom did not attend church after she divorced my dad she never stopped me from attending church and for that I am thankful.

I first new at the age of 12 that I wanted to follow Jesus.  I made that commitment when I was 17.  Because of that commitment I was led a a little church in Las Vegas and that is where I met Ron (remind me to tell the story of our meeting and meeting Ron's family ~ that is a blog post in itself).  We married and together in 1976 we rededicated our lives to the Lord one weekend in the back of our little pickup truck inside the camper shell.  And we have followed the Lord for the last 35 years.  We have faced some hard struggles, had to climb some pretty tough mountains, rejoiced in the beautiful meadows and sang from the mountain tops.  And for all of that I have to say a prayer of thanksgiving for a mom who did not stop me from attending church when I was child.

Thank you Mom for that small gift.  No not a small gift, probably one of the best gifts I have ever been given.

First Week at Lone Star Corral

We have had a busy but fun week.  We have met lots of people.  We have a job just learning everyone's names.  They have it easy.  They only have to learn two.  We are known as the "new managers" or Ron & Ali (my Texas name :).  We arrived at probably the busiest week of all - week of the Annual Meeting.  This is how our first week went:

Sunday ~ we got the motor home organized, attended our first ice cream social and found out our cell phones don't work to well here in the park.  We can get text messages no problem but actually receiving calls well that is another story.  We don't know what we are going to do for phone service.  The two major carriers in the area  AT&T and T-Mobile want a two year contract.  We don't want to do that.  We are going to check on a Cricket phone as that is a month to month plan.  We also had to make arrangements with DirectTV to come out because we couldn't get the satellite to work.  They are coming on Tuesday.  And we set our alarm for 7:00 a.m.  We are so not used to having to set an alarm.  But that's life as they say.

Monday ~ we had to fill out all the new hire paperwork.  And we followed Ed & Jeanette around, a lot!  But we jumped right in with greeting members and guests alike.  We kept hearing how crazy the day was but we thought it went fine.  At lunch I did ask Ron if he was ready to go home.  He said yes, it's just outside the door.  I said, no home, Blaine?  He said nope and I said okay...and then we both laughed and said "we can't go to Blaine, we don't have the money to get there!"  Monday evening we went over to the clubhouse to do laundry and watch my show "The Bachelor."  Well we did laundry but no go on the show...couldn't get ABC in on the clubhouse TV...bummer.  Oh well there's always next week.  

Tuesday ~ we were up with the alarm and ready for work at 7:55.  We had another great day learning where things are around here and how things are done.  Tuesday afternoon I went to the bank with Jeanette.  I will have to get pictures the next time we go to the bank...the tellers sit behind counters that were built in the late 1800's when D'Hanis was founded.

Wednesday ~ was more orientation, reading of manuals, learning the computer system and working around the park.  In the late afternoon we met Bob & Linda, fellow RV'rs and bloggers.  They came here to get their refrigerator worked on and Linda said to meet us!  Pretty cool huh!!!  They have followed my blog for quite awhile.  Linda came by our rig Wednesday evening and invited us to dinner Thursday night! Yippee...new friends and I don't have to cook.

Thursday & Friday ~ Ron and I were on our own though Ed & Jeanette were only a phone call away.    Thursday was pretty quiet in the office as the majority of the people were in the Annual Meeting.  Ron worked with a few of the guests/members around the park and escorted new guests to their sites.

Thursday evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of sausage burgers, asparagus and broccoli salad with Bob & Lynda.  We had lots of fun sharing about our lives, our children and of course, our grandchildren.  Check out Linda's blog by clicking on their name.  Thanks Bob & Linda for a delicious dinner and even better fellowshiping.  Be safe as you continue your travels.

Friday was a little busier in the office and around the park.  We said good-bye to Bob & Linda early in the morning and greeted new guests later in the day.  As we ended our day on Friday we commented to each other "this has been a good week and we are excited to be here, to make new friends and see more of this beautiful country.

Saturday we went grocery shopping and then did some work around the motor home.  We pulled the four totes off the roof of the motor home.  Switched our winter clothes from inside the motor home to our summer clothes.  It has been interesting to see people around here wearing sweatshirts and we are wearing tank tops...we think its warm and the members say it's kinda cool.  While we were out running errands we plugged into Maggie (our GPS) a few churches in the Hondo area.  We drove around and found a couple of churches we want to try out.  We stopped by First Baptist Church of Hondo and met Alan & Yvonne.  Found out services our at 10:45 and they are having a lunch aferwards and invited us to join them.

Sunday morning we woke up to a light rain and cloudy skies.  We went to First Baptist Church of Hondo and met lots of people during the meet and greet time.  The services focus today was honoring those who turned 90 and 100 this year!  We sang hymns!  Standing on the Promises, The Old Rugged Cross, and When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.  And in doing so they sang a medley of favorite Sunday School songs.  They included: Do Lord, The BIBLE, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, If Your Happy and You Know It, I'm in the Lord's Army and we did all the hand motions.  Singing those songs brought back many memories of being in Sunday School for both of us.  The sermon was on relationships: our relationship with the Lord, he wants to be in relationship with us and us with him.  And at the end of the service the Search Committee came forward to say they have asked someone to come and candidate in two weeks.  He will give the sermon, they will have a potluck and a time of questions & answers and then in the evening they will have a meeting to decide if they will call this couple as their new pastors.  We think we will attend there that Sunday to hear the sermon and share in another potluck.  I say another because they had one today and we stayed for that.  It was fun to hear the history of the birthday honorees.  Between the honorees they had over 650 years of walking with the Lord and 465 years of service at FBC of Hondo ~ amazing and encouraging.

In the afternoon we took a nap and then have just rested and relaxed to get ready for another week of work.  Last week we set the alarm for 7:00 a.m each morning to give us an hour to get up, have our quiet time, eat breakfast and get ready to work.  This week we are setting the alarm for 6:45 and next week we are setting the alarm for 6:30 - we are doing that so starting next week we can do a 30 minute walk before starting our day.  We both have commented we have missed our walks that we used to do while working for the carnival.  And we have to walk in the early morning hours because it will be too hot to walk after work.

So now you are all caught up on our journey to D'Hanis, TX and the beginning of our new jobs at Lone Star Corral.

If you are ever in the area, give us a shout and stop on by.  Talk to y'all again soon!!!

From Kerrville to D'Hanis

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The big day arrived with drizzling rain.  For mere moments we thought we were back in Whatcom County.  And then we looked around and checked the calendar and knew we were in Kerrville, TX and the destination of the day is D'Hanis, TX, the Lone Star Corral.

It was a short drive of about 95 miles from Kerrville to D'Hanis.  We saw some huge ranches and beautiful homes and amazing gated entrances.  We plan to make that drive again in the Jeep so we can get some pictures of the different gates leading to the homes on the ranches.  Below is a picture of an old church and some other buildings.

 

 And then before we knew it we were in Hondo.  We stopped at H.E.B. - a chain grocery story that had a gas station.  Believe me when I say we will not pull into that gas station with the motor home while towing the Jeep.  Ron pulled in and up to the pumps and then we realized we would have to unhook the Jeep so we could back up the motor home.  Before we even got out of the motor home there were a couple of guys commenting about us, the motor home and the predicament we were in.  But what could we do.  Ron got gas.  I went into H.E.B. to get a few groceries that we had forgotten the day before.  By the time I came out Ron had unhooked the Jeep.  I jumped into the motor home and drove it around the parking lot and behind the gas station so we could re hook the Jeep up.  I was thinking as I was driving "I sure am glad that I decided to learn how to drive her."  I think Ron is glad too.

Once hooked up we headed west on Highway 90.  We passed "Billy Bobs" which we have heard is a great place to eat.  We have put that on our list of "must do's" to accomplish during our stay here.  We pulled into Lone Star Corral at 11:50 a.m.  We walked into the office and received a very warm welcome from Ed & Jeanette, the Assistant Managers.  We were introduced to Bonnie, the Vice-president of the Co-op.  After chatting for a few minutes Ed guided Ron into our site.  I followed them in the Jeep.  After chatting for a little while we made plans to meet Bonnie and her hubby, Ed (a different Ed from Ed & Jeanette) at 1:30 to go to Bill & Rosa's for lunch.

We got the motor home level, rugs put out, windows open, it was already 75', and organizing our home.  When we travel lots of things get stowed here and there, pictures our tucked away, the Christmas cactus is put into the tub (to avoid being spilled if we round a corner to sharp or slam on our brakes ~~~ been there done that). As we were busy getting settled a few people came by to welcome us to the park.

At 1:30 Bonnie & Ed picked us up.  We went to Bill & Rosa's for lunch.  They have great prices and tasty food and HUGE portions.  It is quite the interesting place with all sorts of things hanging off the walls and the ceiling and me, of course without my camera.  We will definitely be going back there so will remember to take my camera to show you what I am talking about.

After lunch and a quick tour around D'Hanis we returned to the park to do some more organizing and settling in.  In the evening we were invited to the weekly ice cream social where we were introduced and welcomed with a round of applause.  The ice cream was pretty tasty too and at only 50 cents a scoop it was quite reasonable and they had lots of sugar free ice cream to choose from too.  After visiting for a little while we called it a night and returned to the motor home.  We went to bed about 10:00.  Set the alarm clock for 7:00 as we had to report to work at 8:00 a.m.

Please join us as we give thanks to Our Father above for answered prayer on this journey from WA to TX.  We had some bumps along the way, shared lots of laughter with family and friends, shed some tears, faced some anxiety (me) and saw lots of new things and places we have never been.  As we went to bed on Sunday evening we thanked the Lord for this new adventure that He brought us too.

Stay tuned for our first week of work!

From Arizona to New Mexico to Texas

Knowing that Thursday, February 17th was going to be a long day of travel Ron wanted to be on the road by 10:00 a.m.  We were up and at 'em at 8:00.  We had a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, sliced tomatoes, fresh orange slices and toast that Aunt Erma cooked for everyone.  Boy have we been spoiled as we have made this journey to Texas.  We have had some of the best chefs cooking for us:

Danalyn & Brandon

Aunt Joan & Uncle Don

Cousins Sharon & Jim

Niece Jennifer

Aunt Tiny

&

Aunt Erma

Thank y'all for all the wonderful meals you provided for us ~ we enjoyed each and everyone!

Before getting on the road we had to take some more pictures.  Do you notice the one of Aunt Erma taking a picture?  She is taking a picture of us as Ron was taking a picture of her and Uncle Rex. I just love the daffodils ~ Uncle Rex bought them for Aunt Erma for Valentines Day and we were able to enjoy watching them open from little buds to beautiful flowers.

 And before  we knew it we were crossing into New Mexico.  As you can see from the pictures we had a beautiful day for travel. The picture in the upper left corner is a type of cactus.  People cut the stalk off and make walking sticks out of them.

 And then we crossed the Continental  Divide.  We enjoyed all the different desert vegetation that we saw and especially driving with clear blue skies.

 During our travels on Thursday we had to go through an inspection station.  The Border Patrol Guard was very nice, just asking a couple of questions: were we US citizens, where were we from, where had we come from and where were we headed.  After answering his questions we continued on our drive to Von, TX where we stopped for the night.  Friday morning we were up early and continued on our journey.  Again we were blessed with beautiful weather and glorious scenery.  We pulled into Kerrville KOA about 4:30 in the afternoon.  We were welcomed by Karen from Womens RV Forum.  If you look closely at our picture you can see me being welcomed officially into the Forum as I receive my Flamingo Wine Glass.  And of course, we had to have a glass of wine together.

We spent Saturday in Kerrville with a shopping trip to Wal-Mart and getting things organized in the motor home.  In the evening we went out to dinner with Karen to a small Mexican restaurant.

Stay tuned for our drive to D'Hanis, TX and the Lone Star Corral.

Visiting Family in Tucson & McNeal, AZ

We left Scottsdale pretty early as we were woken up by our neighbors who started their engine and generator at 7;30 a.m.  Between the diesel coming in our bedroom window and the yelling from next door we decided to just get on the road sooner than later.  Below is a picture

We were in Tucson, AZ to visit with Aunt Tiny & Uncle Ken on February 13th & 14th.  We stayed at Voyage RV and Resort on Kolb Road.  It is a very nice park and huge!  They have a restaurant, pools, a spa, barber/beauty shop and activities that run from early morning to late evening.  The only thing we did in the park during our stay was go in the hot tub (well Ron went into the hot tub) and visited with our neighbors for a little while.

On our way to Tucson we saw a place where we could get the motor home washed.  It really needed it as we had driven through snow, 7 miles of dirt road to my Aunt & Uncle in Middletown and rain.  Below is a collage of pictures of the before, during and after.  The Jeep came out as clean as it was the day we picked it up at the dealer. 

 These are views along I10 from Scottsdale to Tucson.  Isn't the driver lookin pretty happy driving in the sunshine and not all bundled up in a sweatshirt and gloves.   I sure love that guy!

Below is cousin Erv and his lovely wife Anita, Uncle Ken sharing stories of his time in the Air Force.  Aunt Tiny busy cooking, a pretty cool spice rack (looks like test tubes don't they?) and Erv with Uncle Ken.

Pictures from Davis Monthan AFB.  Uncle Ken said these airplanes are checked monthly and can be ready to go very quickly if needed on short notice.

Uncle Ken & Aunt Tiny.  Uncle Kenny has always been Ron's hero and it was because of him that Ron went into the Air Force.  Erv & Anita and then Ron with Aunt Tiny & Uncle Ken.  We enjoyed our time with lots of visiting and eating something I had never had before Ham Loaf.  Will definitely be adding that to my menu repertoire. 

The morning of February 15th we got up and got on the road about 9;30 a.m.  We made plans to meet Phyllis & Len, fellow bloggers, just outside of Benson.  We enjoyed a tasty breakfast and great company.  All too soon it was time for us to get back on the road

 This is the buggy out in front of the restaurant.  Pretty dilapidated but was probably very beautiful in its day.

Our drive was an easy one of 90 miles to McNeal, AZ where Uncle Rex & Aunt Erma live.  Ron missed the turn onto their road and we had to drive about 2 miles to a spot where we could unhook the Jeep, turn the motor home around and re-hook up the Jeep.  Ron drove really slow so we would not miss the turn a second time.  They live on about six acres.  They have a house, a garage and a small shop.  And room to park the motor home.  We pulled in and around the gaage and the shop and parked.  We didn't even have to unhook the Jeep.  Shortly after we arrived we went for a ride to The Lavender Pit and the little town of Bisbee. It is quite the interesting little town.  And just as we went up the hill in Bisbee the camera died :(

Shortly after these pictures were taken the camera died.  What we didn't get a picture of was the guy with bright blue hair (reminded us of our carnival days).

In the evening after a delightful dinner of meatloaf (Ron's favorite), mashed potatoes, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and corn Aunt Erma & I beat Ron & Uncle Rex at Spades.  We also played Spades on Wednesday before and after we went to see the cranes (see the movie below) and whupped those boys 5 games to 1!!!!  (Thanks for being such terrific losers Ron & Uncle Rex).  We'll let you have a rematch soon.

On Wednesday we got to see a very special treat...the cranes coming back to roost for the night.  There is a little lake about a mile from Uncle Rex & Aunt Erma's place where each year the cranes make their winter nesting ground.  Sure hope you enjoy the movie that I put together.

Thursday morning came to quick and then it was time to get on the road for our last two big days of driving to Texas.  Before heading out we had to take pictures.  The three pictures on the left were taken on Wednesday evening while watching the cranes.  The three on the right were taken on Thursday morning.  Thanks Uncle Rex & Aunt Erma for a fun two days. We loved the great food and all the visiting.   Ron says he can't wait for a rematch at playing Spades.  Maybe next time we can get Aunt Tiny & Uncle Ken to join us.

 And then we were off to Texas!

Sure hope you enjoyed this time with family...we know we sure did.