Catching up is hard to do!

How can it be that we have been working on this place 6 weeks??? If we had not needed to remove the tile, we would be moved in by now. The good news is that Claude made it back safely from Ohio with all our belongings. He drove it back in a 24' truck with a trailer on the back hauling his pick up truck and did it in two very long days. Do I need to say 'exhausted'?

He then had to make 6 trips to the dump, using the neighbor's truck. It was such a relief to see all that mess gone. My back will never forgive me for helping load that truck, over and over.

Another great thing is fresh lemons right off the tree. I picked them for the neighbor and they shared with me. AH, fresh lemonade!

Imagine looking forward to days when there are some clouds instead of all day sunshine.

One day we veered off the path for a much needed break!

Added a retractable clothesline...love that! How about my clothespin holder? Great use for an old boot.

One of my favorite places in Phoenix near the airport....Papago Park.

Also made some fresh squeezed OJ for Claude with oranges from a neighbor.

Studio floor with concrete dye......(it is a shame that it didn't last but a day or two...it is all coming off, even though it was given 3 coats of sealer...)

A friend asked me to go to Prescott one day and I just couldn't resist this leather folding screen. It will look great in the "cowgirl" room!

Time sure flies in the West!

Little did I know we would be without internet or any TV for months but we are doing fine, as every minute has been mostly spent on destructing this house we bought and now putting back together.

 These are our new neighbors and part time lawn mowers!

Claude cleaning up some of the destruction we hadn't counted on. The tile was pretty slick and we decided it needed to go before one of us fell.

The carpet was a breeze to tear out but the tile was something else! Then there was the fiberglass shower unit that Claude had to cut into pieces to get it out the door.

Don't you just love my makeshift mask? When you have to drive almost 20 miles, you get real creative.

The garage will become my studio...with that view of a huge Saguaro out my window, you see why!

 Starting some work on the fireplace. It does get cold here in January but the firebox heated the entire house.

Sedona already loves it here...especially when Claude takes a break and she gets lap time!

Just one more reason we love Arizona!

Deep in the heart of Texas!

Yes, it is past Christmas but I am being reminded that mistletoe grows in trees! What a strange sight.

Claude is still the master chef when it comes to breakfast! Even in the RV. YUM!

If you have never driven to Dallas on I-35, be assured you did not drive all the way to the ocean when you see this! Claude and I both were unprepared for this view and wondered how we could have veered so far off course....yet this is just a lake called Ray Hubbard!

 We  maneuvered all the turns and rises of the twisting concrete until we drove one that we thought was taking us all the way to heaven! ( or going to come to an abrupt end and dump us into that huge lake,) 

Then there appeared a sign warning us of storm damage up ahead and we might consider a new route. As I had our route mapped, we plugged on and were unprepared for what met our eyes!

This is just a small portion of what we saw and many were completely gone, thanks to the tornado

that went through just days ago. So grateful we didn't experience weather like this. Our hearts go out to those that did.

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On to San Antonio to meet up with Scott and Laura and finally see Scott's house and all the work he has done and Chris, to landscape the back slope.

Welcome to Scott's...a friend helped design and make the incredible steel entrance...

Here is a portion of one of the back landings. It has the makings of the greatest party pad outdoors you could find! Huge smoking bbq pit, pool, firepit, horseshoe pit, cornhole deck complete with stainless steel scoreboard!

Then we all went to lunch at this great place! Huge and super busy...food was wonderful!

Really upset that I didn't get a photo of the 4 of us together! We were way too busy catching up.

Then on to the River walk to see where our Kristen married Dyllon...

 

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REMEMBER the Alamo!

Here's where I lit a candle for my daughter, Missy!

Love to all....

Adventure awaits those who dare to wander!

High winds and rain delayed our departure on

 this great adventure by a day but we decided to

 get on the road before the next batch of cold

 arrived in Ohio, despite the fact we both had

 come down with a rare cold!

We decided on a route that would take us on some highways that we had yet to travel. Sad fact is that there has been so much flooding that it was all we could see from the time we left; traveling down I-75 to I-71 west then taking I-65 south to I-40 west through Nashville, Memphis and Little Rock.

Our first night was parked right across from the Sheperdsville Government Office in Kentucky with this beautiful Christmas display of lights.

 

Luckily, no accidents along the way but I found it interesting that not many deer as far as roadkill but yet I saw a total of 6 coyotes, 2 turkey vultures, an owl and two young armadillos! The owl was quite a sad sight, as I have only witnessed an owl in the wild twice, both very recently. My only encounter with an armadillo was in the Texas bayou on a short nature walk when I was startled by one! He could have cared less.

We stopped for lunch along this cute little church.

Although the forecast was for cloudy conditions, we were blessed with a blue sky streaked with wisps of billowing transparent white. It surely made for a cheerful drive!

Tonight we are in a charming place called Ramblin Fever RV Park in  Mt. Pleasant, TX. Nice park, nice people!

Tomorrow we should arrive in the Austin area for some days of exploration and start of  my '30 paintings in 30 days' for January. Hoping I can stay on track for that!