Christmas Day

We had been informed by Rachel and Sara that we should arrive on Christmas morning no later than 10:00 a.m. Vic made his traditional pancake and sausage breakfast. Even Melissa rose to the occasion. There were lots of packages under the tree. They decided to save some presents to open later when Mark arrived. Larry gave me a Digital Camera so now hopefully you will see more pictures on my blog. (Having trouble getting it to work right now though.)

We spent the rest of the day relaxing. Mark and his friend Bill arrived around 5:00 p.m. Bill is a senior at Webster College and was the person who made a short film about Mark's life with Aids. He is a very interesting person to talk to and we enjoyed our visit with him also. Vic's brother Frank and his wife Rita also came for dinner. Melissa made the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings. As usual, she out did herself. After feeling like a stuffed turkey, we headed home.

A couple of days later, we noticed that we couldn't get the front and side curtains to go up. Then we realized that we didn't have any heat. (Yikes!) We still had hot water for our showers though (hooray!). Then Larry went to dump our grey tank and realized that it wouldn't work either. We tried to dump the tanks manually but couldn't get the screw to turn. Then the door to that compartment wouldn't latch so we duct taped that shut. All of these things work off the house batteries. So, Larry checked the batteries and found them to be dead. So we called Howard RV and they said that they would slide us into their schedule. In the mean time, it was a cold walk (32 degrees) over to the RV park's showers. Are we having fun yet? When we left to go to Howard RV, Larry went to put the electrical cord and the sewer hose away but it wouldn't work either. He had to coil everything up by hand and stuff it into the bay and slam the door shut. After getting all 8 batteries replaced, we headed back to the RV Park. After we got home we discovered that things were still not working. This is on a Friday before New Years so we said the heck with it and went to meet Vic and Melissa for dinner. We met at the Glass Olive where Rachel had just gotten a waitress job while she was home for Christmas break. The place is very unique. It has a very long curved bar with seating and then several tables set up. They have wines, beer, other alcohol and of course many different kinds of martinis. The place was packed and we had to wait for a table. Rachel was able to be our waitress and recommended some food items to us. The entertainment was great. The guy singing sounded like Frank Sinatra. We enjoyed the whole evening.

On Monday, New Years Eve day, we called Howard RV again and they said to bring it in right away. We left the RV there and went to do our laundry and go to lunch. When we got back they were all done. There was a loose wire behind the fuse box and that was creating all the problems. Thank you Howard RV. We are now good to go. We rushed back to the RV park and got ready to go the Adams Mark Hotel for a New Years Eve celebration with Vic, Melissa, Frank and Rita. It was 17 degrees outside and my mink coat kept me warm and toastie. I don't care what animal activists say, a fur coat is mandatory in freezing weather.

The hotel was beautiful and it was my first time inside the hotel. We had drinks and then went into this big room. We had hearty appetizers, desserts and drinks available to us all night long. They had two bands that we danced to all night. My feet were killing me but it was worth it.

New Years day we drove over to Vic and Melissa's. We all had our Missouri University shirts on for the big game. It was fun watching the game together and rooting our team to victory. We were very happy. We ordered pizza and then said our sad good byes. We had spent about 3 weeks in St. Louis visiting Melissa and family and Mark. We don't get to see them very often and it was so nice to spend that time with them. We will see them again in May for Sara's high school graduation.

The whole time we were in St. Louis, we kept a close eye on the weather. If it was going to rain and be in the 30s, we would bring our slide outs in. We didn't want to go through the deicing thing again. It was small and cozy but we survived. The night of the 1st it got down to 8 degrees. We had the house heater and two portable heaters going all night. Early in the morning we heard a loud noise. We thought it was our neighbor slamming his door.

On January 2 (our 14th anniversary) we prepared to head for Joplin, MO. When Larry went to put the electrical cord away he discovered what the loud noise had been. Our two water filters had frozen and exploded. On our way to Joplin we found a brand new CampingWorld store and replaced our filters. We couldn't put them on yet because they were still frozen in place. We had to get to warmer weather.

In Joplin we took the RV to Cummins and had the engine and generator serviced for our trip to Mexico. They found a leak in the radiator. We had been holding our breath about this since we had heard that many other Alpine owners had also had this same problem. Apparently, WRV has switched radiator manufacturers. We called Chris at WRV and asked him to send us a radiator ASAP. He said he would send it to Rockwall, TX just east of Dallas and that this RV repair place had done one before. Off to Rockwall, TX.

It took a week for the radiator to arrive. During that week we were able to stock up the food and supplies for our Mexico trip. We went to see two movies; P.S. I Love You and Bucket List. Both excellent movies. We also took a day trip into Dallas to visit the Book Depository Museum. We each had our own headset with narration as we went through the museum. Outstanding display of pictures showing the assassination of John Kennedy. It was eerie being at the exact location where Oswald stood when he shot Kennedy. The museum was very interesting and we recommend it to fellow travelers.

We took the RV over to Walkabout RV dealer on Monday, January 14 and left it there. The radiator was supposed to be delivered that day. We had to go to the bank and get Larry a bathing suit. After running our errands we checked into a motel for the evening.

Today, our RV is supposed to be done at 1:00 p.m. We are so excited because we have to be in Fort Davis, TX tomorrow to meet our friends. Then on to Presidio on Friday. Let's hope the RV can be good for six weeks.

There won't be a blog until we get back into the US in the first part of March.

Happy New Year to everyone.

December 2007 - St. Louis, MO

It was brought to my attention that in my post titled November 2007, I forgot to mention our wonderful dinner with Sean and Christa Tibbitts. We met at a restaurant in Monterey Bay, California. Sean and Christa are attending the California State University Monterey Bay and will graduate in May 2008. The place they chose to have dinner is where they are thinking about having their graduation lunch celebration. The ambiance was very nice and the food was excellent. Of course it goes without saying that seeing both of them was a delight for us because we don't see them very often. It was a fun evening with stimulating conversation and we look forward to seeing them both graduate in May. The omission did not indicate lack of interest or love of both Sean and Christa, only the mistake of an older grandma.

We arrived in St Louis on December 13 after our deicing (that is airplane lingo but we are talking RV) in Columbia, MO. It isn't as cold in St. Louis, only in the low 40s. Is that like saying gas is only $3.00? Anyway, we set up our RV and jumped in the car to drive across the river to meet Melissa, Vic, and Rachel at Carusos. Carusos is a Sports Bar and Grill where Sara works as a waitress and her boyfriend John, works in the kitchen. We were delighted to see everyone and especially Sara's smiling face. It had been a while since we had seen her. She gave us excellent service and enjoyed a few laughs. Sara is a senior in high school this year and will graduate in May 2008. When dinner was over we headed home. It had been a long day.

Two days later it snowed. We got almost 6 inches of fresh new snow. The weatherman said that was more snow than they had had in several years. Lucky us! It was so white and bright when the sun came out. We just had to go out and romp and play.

The snow lasted for several days. As it started to melt and then freeze again at night it made isicles all over the RV. We were fortunate that the car doors opened so we could start the car and defrost the window. Used our scraper to clear the snow off the car. It was like powder.

We went to Tony Gittos with Melissa, Mark, Rachel, Sara and John (Sara's boyfriend). It was a very nice restaurant and the food was fabulous, as Larry would say.

Larry surprised me with an early Christmas gift. Diamond stud earrings that were 2 carats each. Sounds big but there is a small center diamond and then four marquis cut diamonds around the center diamond. I was shocked and very surprised. They are truly beautiful. I wear them every day - even with my jeans. How decadent!!

We had dinner at Ruth's Chris with Jim and Sheila Mills, Mary and Tom McGhee, Bob Mills and his guest. It was lots of fun talking about the present, past and all the kids and grandchildren. Jim gave Larry a very special bottle of red wine. It was really nice to see everyone again and promised to stay in touch. Hopefully, we will see them soon in Florida.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at Melissa's and Vic's house. Mark came with his friend Ray who we had met before. It was nice to see him again. Melissa made a Prime Rib dinner that was soooo good. We brought traditional English Poppers for every one. After stuffing ourselves, we popped the poppers and the fun began. There were paper hats and a small toy for everyone. Larry got magic cards and quickly went to work performing his trick. He was amazed when it actually worked - at least with one person. I got a whistle and decided it would be my rape whistle. It was really a fun night and we laughed a lot.

Columbia, MO

Isn't it beautiful. This was the view out of our dining room window in the RV Park in Columbia. It was so cold but the snow made it really feel like the holiday season. With our Christmas cards done and our RV decorated, all we had to do was sit back and enjoy ourselves. We seem to keep going back to Walmart for one thing and another. It was our big outing while waiting for Rachel to finish her final exams.

Hopefully, you can see in this picture how the RV was decorated. The garland with lights was hung with care under the cabinets. Then we hung some of our very favorite Christmas ornaments (actually those that would not break) and some regular bright colored balls from the garland. In front of the driver's seat is a fiber optic tree that sits on a little table over the steering wheel. It made us feel right at home.

On December 12 we drove to Rachel's sorority house and got a nice tour. They have a very large rec room with a huge TV screen and a big comfy couch. The kitchen is open to them and they also have a lady that comes in and prepares breakfast and dinners for the girls. As you walk through the house you get a very comfortable and homey feeling. The living room is decorated in traditional furniture and beautiful colors. Her room was upstairs and was small but not as small as some of the others. We met her roommate who was very nice. She was studying very hard for a final exam so we didn't bother her long. The bathroom was large with many showers and etc. Rachel said if they had a big dance or another event, the girls would sign up for their bathroom time. Other than that she said it hasn't been a problem getting her bathroom time. There are over a hundred girls in the house so it was hard for me to picture getting any time in the bathroom.

After our tour we took Rachel to the Pandera Bakery restaurant for soup and a sandwich. Great food. Almost every table was filled with students studying for exams. We took her back to her house so she could get ready for her two final exams.

At 7:00 p.m. that night, Rachel called and we took her to dinner at a really nice restaurant. I wish I had taken my camera. The food was presented so beautiful that you didn't want to eat it because it would mess it all up. The steak melted in your mouth. It was a great night - the food was excellent and she was finally done with her exams. We made plans to meet at a freeway off ramp the next morning at 9:00 a.m. to caravan to St. Louis.

The next morning we got up and started our process of closing things up so we could get on the road. We got everything unhooked and the jacks up. We started to bring in one of the slide outs and it suddenly stopped. We went outside to quickly discover that all the slide outs were covered with a 3 inch block of ice. It was freezing cold and we didn't know what to do. I called Rachel and told her to go on home to St. Louis without us because we didn't know how long it would take us to clear the ice. In the mean time, Larry walked over to the office to ask their advice. The guy said, "get a hose and run the water over the top and hope that it melts the ice". You got to be kidding. Here it is 28 degrees outside and Larry had to stand on a metal ladder to reach the hose over the top of the slide out. It wasn't long before he was soaking wet including his gloves. The water helped a little bit but what really did the trick was a long metal rod with a hook at the end that we use to bring down the awnings over the windows. Larry was able to get it under the block of ice and pull it toward him. He then quickly dropped it over the side. CRASH!!! After one hour of freezing to death we had managed to get the bed slide done. Now we had to tackle the long galley slide. It was so long and it was hard to reach the middle. Larry just kept running the water on it and breaking up the ice. He was amazing. I would run inside every once in a while and try to bring the slide in hoping to break up the ice a little. (Also to warm up - but don't tell him.) After we finally got the big galley slide cleared, we only had the little vanity slide left. Hooray!! We could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

After finishing the last slide out, we hooked up the car and off we went. What an ordeal. It certainly was a challenge and we felt pretty good that we had conquered the problem. We left Columbia and drove 2 1/2 hours to St. Louis. Actually, we stayed in an RV Park in Cahokia, IL which is just across the Mississippi river from St. Louis. It will only take us about 20 minutes to get to Melissa's house from our RV park.