LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO

This is the view of the city lights from our wonderful campsite at Las Cruces KOA. We arrived just in time to open a bottle of wine and watch the sunset!! Our back window blinds were open all night so we could enjoy the view!

LAST DAY OF CASITA RALLY :(

Today was the last day of the Casita rally, here in Bandera. We have had a wonderful time and met many wonderful people! We even won a prize and certificate for the "newest Casita"!!

Today, we attended several mini-seminars that were taught by club members. Tony learned how to apply a veneer finish to cabinets. I attended one on 'Care-a-Van for Habitat for Humanity. When we have more time, we really want to participate in that organization. We also attended a good seminar on communication while on the road!

This evening, we had a cook out, followed by a really fun show. A couple of club members did a musical performance that we all enjoyed!

Tomorrow morning we start our drive home. We will be really sorry to leave because we've had such a wonderful time. Maybe we can come back next year!

SAN ANTONIO & CASITA CLUB FUN

San Antonio, Texas is a really unique city. Knowing we would probably never be in this area again, we spent the early part of the day visiting the city to see the Alamo and River Walk, which we had heard about. We didn't realize that today was "fiesta" in celebration of the War of the Flowers so there was a parade and many roads closed. Nevertheless, we had a great time. First we had Margaritas and Mexican food at a cafe beside the river. After that, we took a boat ride down the river. I hadn't realized how old it was and the history of many of the buildings.
We took lots of photos.

On the way home, we picked up some authentic Texas barbeque to bring home to the Casita.
It was wonderful.

This evening, the Casita group had a wine and appetizer get-together with line dancing afterward. We sat down at a table alone and were joined by a really nice young couple. Their other friends joined us and we found ourselves at the "young table"! We had a great time. Turned out that three of the couples were photographers so there was much to talk about.

We're having a really good, relaxing time and we're looking forward to tomorrow when we will attend seminars on subjects related to travel trailers.

Old Courthouse

Bandera, Texas

Mexican

Cafe on

River

Walk!

River walk seen by boat

Wine & Appetizers at the Casita Club!

Lots of fun!

BEAUTIFUL BANDERA, TEXAS

What a beautiful day in Bandera, Texas. We're at Skyline Ranch RV Park. This is our first "camping experience" in our new Casita. What a great beginning! The night we arrived, most of the group was out to dinner in Bandera but several of those who remained in camp greeted us and pointed us toward a camping spot. Several of the men decided to pull up their chairs to laugh at the "rookie" in his first attempt to back the Casita into a spot. Well, we all know Tony. what a disappointment he must have been to them! Their "initiation" wasn't nearly as much fun as they'd hoped! Boy, was Tony relieved!!

The first morning in camp, they had what they call an "egg parade" where people who have made modifications to their Casita's allow others to come and take a look. This group seems to be really big on modifications and they're really willing to share. Somehow, we got on the list and everyone kept stopping by. They wanted to take a look at the newest trailer in the camp to see what had changed since they got theirs. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of friendly people.

Later in the day, Tony and I took a walk to a nearby stream that is part of Medina Lake and we took some photos.

We
live
here!
:)

Beautiful river - flows into Lake Medina!

...and more animals...

That's why they're called "Texas Longhorns"!!

A walk in the woods...

That's what I call a Casita modification!!!

Casitas, Casitas everywhere!!

Is he relaxed or what!

Our little camp!

CASITA PICK UP DAY

We drove all day and finally arrived at the Bandera Casita Rally! We got set up and our first meal was hot dogs cooked on the grill and cabernet! Bandera is a beautiful place and the people seem really friendly. We are anxious to spend our first night in our loverly little casita.

Sweet Dreams!

At last!!! The big day!! It's finally time to pick up our new Casita!!!

Last night we had a tense evening watching the news because we were again in the path of a potential tornado. We watched the news all evening, watching the television radar pictures as they drew closer and closer to Innes, Texas, where we were staying. Tony, true to form, was really excited. I was concerned. About 11:00, it looked like the worst was over and we finally got to sleep.

This morning, we woke up really early to get ready for the big day. We were at the Casita factory at 7:15 for our 7:30 appointment. Jay did a great job showing us all the features of the trailer and making sure we understood everything! Jeanne was as wonderful as she has been on the phone, since we placed our order. Finally, we were able to load up our things and take off!

What a glorious day. There were no clouds and nothing but blue skies!

CASITA PICK UP - DAY THREE

Well, we just wanted to be sure we knew the way to the Casita Factory, so we drove over and snapped some photos. We can hardly wait! They're so cute!!

We arrived in Ennis, Texas where we will spend the night before going to Rice tomorrow to pick up our new Casita. Here in Ennis, the surrounding country is so green and there are fields with livestock everywhere. We took a couple of photos.

Tony couldn't believe what he saw as we drove along I-20, so we had to double back to see up close. Someone has made a really interesting yard for goats and they are really enjoying themselves!!

One sight caught our eye along the highway and Tony couldn't resist "celebrating life" by dancing among the flowers!

Today was another great day (even with the continued threat of tornadoes all around us) We started the day out continuing our drive through Texas on I-20. There were a couple of highlights. One was finding a Starbucks!! This was the first one in Texas and it was great to have a really good cup of coffee!

The tornado

As we reached the end of today's journey, we saw dark clouds that were really ominous and turned out to be tornadoes. As luck would have it, the town we are staying in tonight, Big Springs, Texas, was under a tornado watch for several hours and a storm passed over us but didn't touch down and become a tornado until after it passed. We experienced really heavy rain and hail. Tony thought it was really exciting! I've had enough excitement for one trip and I'm ready for calm, sunny days!

Tony took this photo just behind our motel. Shortly after this, the funnel cloud touched down. Fortunately it was moving away from us!

CASITA TRIP - DAY TWO

What a day we had today. We left Lordsburg, New Mexico about 8:30, had breakfast at McDonalds in Deming, New Mexico and then continued on our way. We detoured off of our regular route to take I-28 down to Mesilla, New Mexico, a really picturesque little town that has lots of old adobe buildings. They are a farming community with lots of trees. We actually criss-crossed the Rio Grande twice and enjoyed taking lots of photos in that area. When we returned to I-10, our regular route, we crossed over the Texas border and began the long, flat drive across the state. We had another wonderful Mexican lunch in Van Horn at a Restaurant called Chuey's.

CASITA FACTORY, HERE WE COME!!

After many months of anticipation, we are finally on our way to the Casita factory to pick up our new Casita travel trailer! Our first day on the road was wonderful!! Tony is a genius "packer" and managed to get everything into the 4-runner!! We stopped at Brownie's Cafe in Yuma, Arizona for lunch. Tony had the "specialty" - a half-pound steerburger, which he said was wonderful! I had a fruit salad with canned fruit...yum! We arriver in Lordsburg, New Mexico about 7:15PM and had dinner at El Charro restaurant, recommended in our guidebook. We both had "wonderful" chicken tacos, rice and beans! We couldn't ask for a more perfect beginning. Life is wonderful!!

Happy Birthday DeDe!!!

Today was DeDe's 81st Birthday Party. We went to Brockton's Villa Restaurant in LaJolla for Brunch. It's a very old restaurant on a hill overlooking La Jolla Cove and today was a perfectly beautiful day for the party. Our waiter, Brice, was really great! The food was amazing! We had Tangerine Mimosa's and we shared some wonderful desserts. We all want to return soon.

Happy Easter 2007

We had wonderful Easter Sunday. Jim, Missy, Nathan and Caitlin were missed this year but we know they are happily building a new life and a new home in another state. Jerry was out of town and we missed him too! Everyone brought food, flowers and drink and we spent time playing with Wayland and with Picot. This year's group included DeDe and Pop, Julie and Dick, Joanie, Amy, Jeremy and Waylond and Tony and I. Dick brought his new remote-controlled car and the men enjoyed playing with his new toy! Julie, Amy and Waylond danced and sang around the piano. Waylond has definitely got "the music in him"! We all ate too much, as usual and we are looking forward to the next family get-together.