Monday, March 24, 2014

Lots of Bull!

So Saturday afternoon the sun was out although it was not very warm but I decided to take a walk. I am training to walk a 5K in June. Bill says it is exactly 1 and a half miles from the mailbox to his front door so I figured a 5K is a little over 3 miles - perfect! I have walked a little more than 5K around my neighborhood block many times - it takes about an hour.

So off I go... the road from his house to the neighbors is pretty much a gentle slope up hill - thank fully that is at the beginning of the walk instead of the end! I walk past the neighbor's house where the guinees sound the alarm. I walk on past the sheep and goat pens where they all lay in the sun ignoring me. I walk on past the cows... who all start to follow me!

The cows I imagine were thinking I was going to feed them. They were all out in the pasture cropping the new grass and the calves were frolicking along when they saw me and started heading my way. As I walked they turned to follow. Then I noticed the bull. He was right up to the fence and snorting at me. I don't know if this fellow is friendly or not so I sort of ignore him for a while but he is following me right along the fence. 

So finally I stop and approach. He snorts and lifts his huge head over the fence for scritches! Oh Ho! I think - this fellow just wants to check me out. So I pet him and scritch his soft ears and go on my way.... and he follows me.

I walk on past the end of the pasture and start up the next part of the road between that neighbor and our property. It's a windy rocky road that has a slight incline. About this time my lungs have discovered that we are out and about in the cold air without our inhaler (I have asthma.) So I start to watch for a stump to sit on and take a short break. Of course there is none to be found on this stretch of road! 

Finally I come to a path back into the woods that I can see several stumps. So, having always wondered where it went, I head into the woods to find out! Before I finally find a stump that is not rotted out so badly that I would end up on the ground or that isn't surrounded by spring rain water I'm wheezing pretty badly. (Or very well depending on your take.)

I come to a cross road where I find my fallen log and sit. I can see the farmer across the road from our property's house on one end and cattle at the other end of this cross road. I sit and catch my breath and revell in the warm sun on my face for a good 15 mintues. Then I decide to head toward the cattle end of the road. I finally figure out that this cross road is the telephone pole road that comes out right at the big gate to the cow pasture of bills neighbors house and there standing waiting for me is the bull!

So I walk up to him again, this time a bit braver and give him pets and scritches and talk all cutsy to him. Meanwhile all the ladies and their calves have clustered at the fences to see who this odd stranger is that was walking up their road. I'm still not too sure about Mr Bull and how he would feel about me interacting with his lady friends so I don't try to pet any of the cows or their calves who are very curious until I get close enough to them that they run! Calves are so cute when they run!

But Mr Bull escorted me the entire length of the fence line as I walked back to Bill's house.

walking bull 

I didn't walk all the way to the mailbox but I will before June - I did walk about half way. I could have made it fine if I had my inhaler with me - lesson learned - take the inhaler, even if you don't think you'll need it!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Texas Trip

We started out last Thursday morning ( a little later than I had planned ) for Texas. We are going down to the Kileen/Belton area to see my oldest son Tom who is stationed at Ft. Hood. We stopped along the way in Texarkana at a rest area and were told that they had security so if we wanted to stay the night we could - we had a lot of miles to go yet though...

At a rest stop on the way

Every Camper must have a chandelier - right?

Every camper should have a chandelier

This was the view from our campsite:

our view from the campsite

Tom took us around to the biggest cowboy store in town...

Biggest cowboy store

Where we found belt buckles as big as your head!

Belt buckles as big as your head

We ate Texas BBQ at Rudys:

Rudy's in Kileen, TX

And Tom horsing around - notice no plates - just wax paper.

Tom at Rudy's

Saturday we went to the Sherwood Forest Ren Faire north of Austin. We got a nice fellow who was running the wagon rental to take our pic:

Sherwood Forest Ren Fair near Austin (Yes, that's Eva asleep on Tom's head!)

Then we went to Bucca de Beppo for dinner (our favorite Italian Restaraunt)

Tom and Eva at Bucca's

We even got dessert free since it took so long to get our food - yes, this plate is HUGE!!!

OMG Dessert!

After we order the dessert plate, the table full of real Italians (there were about 12 of them all speaking Italian very loudly and waving their arms around) ordered one too!

We came back on Sunday and stayed the night in the Walmart parking lot in Jacksonville, AR. I had read on an RV site that not all Walmarts but most will let RVs park overnight. This lot even had a security guard on duty!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Traveling to Texas

I leave tonight after work to head down to Bill's house. Tomorrow morning we will hitch up the camper and head to Texas. I have reserved an RV site at WestCliff campgrounds on Belton Lake. So by tomorrow evening I'll be litting by a campfire in my shorts and sandals! Woo hoo!

Speaking of sandals - yesterday I was rocking my capris and sandals because it was 84 degrees in St. Louis. Today, I wore my winter coat to work because it's 34 - gotta love having 4 seasons in 18 hours!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

This bird is ready to fly south for the winter!

 

That's right. I've had enough of cold and snow and cold and... well, you get the idea. Bill and I will be packing up the camper and heading to Texas on March 13 - it will take at least 12 hours to drive so we will be getting there late in the day. Friday the 14 and Saturday the 15 all day are open. Not sure just yet if we will be heading back on Sunday or Monday (depends on my son's schedule really). We will be staying at Belton Lake near Fort Hood where by son is stationed.

Woo Hoo! It's supposed to be 'Sunny and 75' while we are there!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

I survived ION!


As you know, my son Tom was home for the Holidays.  Then ION moved in on Saturday might.  They were supposed to head back on Sunday morning at Oh-dark-thirty but … yeah, he called his CO and got permission to stay one more day.  So on my birthday Sunday, I had all my kids and their girlfriends home!  It was a lazy day of games, snow, naps and food!

Tom stated my day off by making me breakfast in bed.  Shortly thereafter, Bill left to brave the roads as he needed to get home to check on the dogs, the bird, and the pipes in both the trailer and the house.  He was practically the only one on the road and a drive that usually takes 2 hours, took 4!  But he made it home and all was well.

Austen and his girlfriend Holly made us tacos for lunch.  He had to go to the store which is just a block away – got his car stuck getting out of the driveway!  Tom took him in his 4wd truck instead.

Erik and his girlfriend Meghan made us all dinner.  Then we played several games before I retired to my room to watch some “Big Bang Theory”.  Sometime during the night the snow plow came and plowed out our circle.  Unfortunately, they piled most of it behind the kid’s cars so they couldn’t get out.   Erik had to shovel about 4 feet of snow out from behind his car to go to work.

Tom and Ali got up early Monday morning and packed up to head to TEXAS.  They made it in about 14 hours which is longer than it took them to get here but they had some snow packed roads at the start of the trip.  I worked from home on my usual Monday so I didn’t have to get out on the roads at all.

Last night Austen caught the plow again and had him move the mountain of snow that was behind the cars in the circle so today they can shovel them out.

I made it into the office today.  The car was hesitant to start at first but then decided that I was not giving up and after a nice warm up in the driveway we made it in.  The roads were in much better condition that I expected.  Everyone was saying that they were still snow packed and icy.  They ARE on the side roads but not on I64 or Hwy 94.  I have not decided yet if I want to try Hwy N on the way home.  It’s only 18 degrees right now (at 1:00pm) and I know that if they did have salt on the roads it wouldn’t work until it gets up to about 20 degrees.

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find our parking lot pretty much clear!  We have about a ½ inch of salt on it but no ice or snow.

Bill called at lunch to tell me that one of the heaters in the house went off over night and the pipes burst.  He will spend today fixing that up and getting more propane for that heater.  I will be glad when we get temperatures back up above freezing!

 

Sunday, December 29, 2013

A lot to catch up on!

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since I posted. I have several sets of pics to share:

Slot machine Erik
Miss Meghan planned a surprise 21st birthday party for Erik. I had to keep him busy for a few hours while she got everything ready.... so the Hodge family tradition of going to the casino. Here he is at the slot machine.

Erik cutting cake
And here he is at the party and the spread Meghan had for everyone.

Erik and Miss Meghan
Here is Erik and Miss Meghan... since his birthday is in December, the Christmas tree was already up.

We took him bowling on his actual birthday (the 12th):

Erik bowling
Check out that form!

Aubri and Meghan bowling
The girls

Aubri, Meghan, and Erik bowlling
The girls and Erik

birthday cheesecake
Birthday Cheesecake - Meghan bought the candles and thought she had a one - it turned out to be a seven!

blowing out the candles
Blowing out the candles while Holly looks on.

Later that month, Erik, Meghan, Bill and I went downtown on Main Street St. Charles:

Downtown St. Charles Dec 1 - Clydsdale
The Clydesdales where there for a photo op

Downtown St. Charles Dec 1 - Erik and Miss Meghan
Erik and Meghan taking a break

Downtown St. Charles Dec 1 - horse and buggy
One of the horse and buggy's that are available for hire

And then Tom came home with his girlfriend Ali and her daughter Eva for Yule:

Our tree

Tom as santa
Tom being Santa

We took off on Christmas Eve to my nephew's house in Central Illinois for the family Christmas:

Ali, Austen, Shelby
Ali, Austen and my great Niece Shelby (seated)

Aubri at table
Aubri

Aubri
Aubri taking a selfie

Bill and I
Bill and I

Cheri and I in shootout
My sister Cheri and I taking pictures of each other taking pictures

Tom, Eva, Shana
Tom, Eva and Shana

Yesterday, Tom and I took Ali and Eva to Downtown St Charles:

Downtown St. Charles Dec 28 - bird on top of tree
Check out the real bird sitting on top of the tree!

Downtown St. Charles Dec 28 - Tom, Ali and Eva 1
Tom, Ali and Eva pose for a pic in front of the tree.

Today we took them downtown to the Science Center:

Science Center Dec 29 Eva
Eva

Science Center Dec 29 Owls
Owls

Science Center Dec 29 Tom and Eva Arch 2
Tom and Eva after we build the arch!

Science Center Dec 29 Tom and Eva Arch
Another of Tom and Eva

Science Center Dec 29 Tom and Eva bridge
Eva and Tom playing with the interactive floor.  This is a very cool exibit where the floor changes scenes and will react when you step on it.  This was water I think, and it would look like it splashed when you stepped on it.

Science Center Dec 29 Tom and Eva
Tom and Eva having a 'hair raising' experience!

And now you are caught up on 2013 so far. If I remember to get pictures on New Years Eve I'll post them later.

A lot to catch up on!

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since I posted. I have several sets of pics to share:

Slot machine Erik
Miss Meghan planned a surprise 21st birthday party for Erik. I had to keep him busy for a few hours while she got everything ready.... so the Hodge family tradition of going to the casino. Here he is at the slot machine.

Erik cutting cake
And here he is at the party and the spread Meghan had for everyone.

Erik and Miss Meghan
Here is Erik and Miss Meghan... since his birthday is in December, the Christmas tree was already up.

We took him bowling on his actual birthday (the 12th):

Erik bowling
Check out that form!

Aubri and Meghan bowling
The girls

Aubri, Meghan, and Erik bowlling
The girls and Erik

birthday cheesecake
Birthday Cheesecake - Meghan bought the candles and thought she had a one - it turned out to be a seven!

blowing out the candles
Blowing out the candles while Holly looks on.

Later that month, Erik, Meghan, Bill and I went downtown on Main Street St. Charles:

Downtown St. Charles Dec 1 - Clydsdale
The Clydesdales where there for a photo op

Downtown St. Charles Dec 1 - Erik and Miss Meghan
Erik and Meghan taking a break

Downtown St. Charles Dec 1 - horse and buggy
One of the horse and buggy's that are available for hire

And then Tom came home with his girlfriend Ali and her daughter Eva for Yule:

Our tree

Tom as santa
Tom being Santa

We took off on Christmas Eve to my nephew's house in Central Illinois for the family Christmas:

Ali, Austen, Shelby
Ali, Austen and my great Niece Shelby (seated)

Aubri at table
Aubri

Aubri
Aubri taking a selfie

Bill and I
Bill and I

Cheri and I in shootout
My sister Cheri and I taking pictures of each other taking pictures

Tom, Eva, Shana
Tom, Eva and Shana

Yesterday, Tom and I took Ali and Eva to Downtown St Charles:

Downtown St. Charles Dec 28 - bird on top of tree
Check out the real bird sitting on top of the tree!

Downtown St. Charles Dec 28 - Tom, Ali and Eva 1
Tom, Ali and Eva pose for a pic in front of the tree.

Today we took them downtown to the Science Center:

Science Center Dec 29 Eva
Eva

Science Center Dec 29 Owls
Owls

Science Center Dec 29 Tom and Eva Arch 2
Tom and Eva after we build the arch!

Science Center Dec 29 Tom and Eva Arch
Another of Tom and Eva

Science Center Dec 29 Tom and Eva bridge
Eva and Tom looking down at the traffic under the bridge over I64

Science Center Dec 29 Tom and Eva
Tom and Eva having a 'hair raising' experience!

And now you are caught up on 2013 so far. If I remember to get pictures on New Years Eve I'll post them later.