Winter Trip 2011, Part One

So, we are off again. We left home on November 30th, and after a very windy night in Red Bluff, CA, we started early in the morning and arrived at Mom's on Thursday, December 1st.

Copper was kind enough to offer to take Elle's place on the trip....

Danny helped George with numerous motor home repair projects; 
they are working on the furnace  motor in this pic; the "works" of the furnace are under the cupboard bottoms :/

The night before we left we had a little birthday celebration with Mom.

She still loves chocolates...she leaned over and said to George, 
"I'll hide them."

After I took this picture she wanted to see it. Her comment was,
"Who's the old guy in the middle?"

So George gave her his hat to wear. 
Lots of laughing, a rare thing  to  share with her now days.

Precious Memories.

Time to move on....it's cold in the Southwest!

Arizona.
A blanket of snow certainly changes the scenery.

Sunrise near Amarillo, Texas.
The clouds were more amazing than the picture shows,
 all swept and swirled.

This was a hard camping spot to return to.
We stayed here in February and Elle had such fun chasing squirrels.
 Sometimes when she went out there would be three or four, they would all run in different directions, and she wouldn't know which way to go first.
Whenever I would look out, I expected to see her sniffing in the leaves.

I love this part of the park.

We don't start campfires often.
For some reason George decided we needed one. 
The burning leaves smelled so good!
I miss that smell.

Meet JC, the "go-fer" at the Mississippi mill,
the man who always has a smile.
 George has some interesting stories to tell about JC.
He suggested I share this one:
"He was having stomach pains, so the guys at the mill told him to have his ovaries checked. He went to the doctor and asked him to check his ovaries.
He reported back to the men at the mill that the doctor said he was pretty sure his ovaries were just fine. "

Yes, it really happened.

Alternator went out.
We stopped at a little town north of Tuscaloosa called Berry, Alabama.
 George soon had help.
The man on the left stayed until after dark. 
The man in camo did not talk. At all.
A local citizen and fellow RVer suggested where to find parts and notified the police that we were having engine trouble so he would know why we were parked there.
I like small towns.

The new tag-along :)

This house caught my attention.
It has numerous stained glass windows and is just beautiful,
 sitting in a small town in a neighborhood of much smaller houses.

Alternator not quite right; having it checked out.

"The Wind House"
The owner of the mill graciously allowed us to plug in and hook up to the water.

A huge backyard, perfect for a puppy with a lot of energy.
We make several laps a day and she runs all over the place, sniffing, chasing leaves, digging at bugs and picking up pecans to carry around.

And no long drive to work : )

Time for some more sales work. 

Couldn't pass up this little cemetery out in the middle of nowhere.

As we drive I enjoy looking for unique road names, especially in the rural areas. 

Saw these roads and smiled: Preacher Roy, Rufus John's, Roxie Ridge, and my favorites- 

Scuffle Grit and Shiver De Freeze Roads: )

Traveling with Paulee means potty stops.

And play time.
She's easy to entertain.

Aaaakkk! Cotton mouth.

Our sales trip took us to Monroeville, AL.
How could I pass up a stop at the courthouse where Harper Lee 
watched her father practice law?

The courtroom that inspired the trial scenes in
To Kill a Mockingbird.

One side of the balcony, where Harper sat during the trials.
A beautiful old building.

Carved soap children and Indian head pennies : )

Mothers and Fathers, keep reading to your children!

I made a Crumb Pie for George for Christmas Eve,
 something his Mother made and I don't make often enough for him.
He suggested we take a piece to the young lady at the guard house.
This note was on the plate when she returned it the next day.

Christmas was a work day for George and a quiet day for Paulee and me.
The owner's son and his wife brought Christmas dinner for us: ham, turkey and dressing, potato salad, green beans, corn and a banana cream dessert!
It was a Merry Christmas and God Blessed.

We Found Her!

Introducing Paulee

After responding to numerous puppy ads we found the one we were looking  for.

Her Papa, Luke

Her Mama, Squirt

                                   

Her temporary owner and former home.
The dogs lived in the shed out back.

                                     

"I think I like this guy."

"Oh yeah, I REALLY like this guy!"

"OK, not crazy about the bath, but it did drown some of those pesky fleas and  I smell much better."

"Off on my first sales trip, comfy on the truck seat.
Nap time."

"Wow! A moving house and there's a big world out there."

"Traveling comfortably."

"Fresh water and food, all to myself!"


It's been a long day of new experiences.

                                                      "So, Merry Christmas to all.....

 

And to all a Good Night".

A Rare Thing, A Precious Thing

These two had a very special bond. Love started it. Love for a teen aged daughter going through a tough time. Her Dad thought of her when he stopped to get gas in Northern California on his way home from a job and saw a man with a box of puppies. The one with one ear up and one ear down caught his eye and Elle came home with him, complete with a little red bow that he tied around her neck. Over the years, that puppy loved George so completely that the act of love for his daughter became a gift to himself that he will cherish the rest of his life. Testament to this love is the following Tribute to Elle that George wrote. Key words here are "George wrote". George does not write these kinds of things. A rare thing, a precious thing. The dog, the man, the tribute.

"No more pitter-patter of little feet on the motor home tile. No more sharing my cheese sandwich at dawn (Elle was always up before dawn) 'cause today our little Elle is gone. I laid her in her little box with her head resting on her bunny and placed her under the lilacs, where she liked to go in the morning. 

Don't usually get too attached to pets but after fifteen years and all 48 states the little dog sort of grew on us. She's been to Brooklyn, had lobster in Maine, chased squirrels at the White House and possums in Mississippi. She's braved the cold, cold New Mexico mornings, played in the snow in New Hampshire, made friends with an Amish horse in Ohio, played on the South Carolina beaches and was a big hit on Bourbon Street. She even pooped on the Capitol Building lawn in DC. And Elle, being a good Republican, insisted we not clean it up (good fertilizer).

She was from California but preferred the South...more squirrels. She loved going places where she was welcome: Uncle Tom's, Aunt Sue's, Dan & Ann's, Aunt Carol's, Jon and Jen's, Mike and Kay's, Wayne and Linda's, Bennie and Bobbye's. But she always liked to go back to Jodi's, the girl who trained her and gave her to us. Thanks, Jodi. Rest in peace, Elle."

Winter Travels, Mississippi Snow Day

We were treated to a special occasion, a snow day in Mississippi!

 Early morning visitors.

 

 Time for a drive out.

 This guy was in the highway median - bucket hat, pop can eyes, juice bottle lid nose, wiper blade smile. Cute!

We came upon  some farm families having a lot of fun in a field, pulled in the drive, and enjoyed watching their rare opportunity to play in the snow. Wow, they were going fast around the corners...scared me to watch. One guy lost his grip, went rolling and sliding across the snow but got up laughing and hopped on for another spin. Hopefully no one got hurt.

 Good ol' yella dog, taking it all in.

 A check off my bucket list - seeing a Cardinal in the snow! 

They came in bunches the day it snowed and continued to come, a few at a time, after it warmed up. We bought food and continued to feed them until we left. I saw three kinds of woodpeckers, eastern blue jays, doves, red winged black birds, various finches and sparrows, even a wren or two. And there were no cats around to stalk them. (Bad Joe!) The squirrels shared the food ......

.... but I was not expecting to see a possum in broad daylight! Aakkkk!

He came back several days later, in the evening, and Elle was outside. She took off after it, hair all on end. I was so afraid we were going to have a vet bill. It was snarling and NOT backing down. George managed to get Elle and bring her inside...whew! It waddled off into the trees and I didn't see it again and that did not disappoint me one little bit.

 Just because I thought it was pretty.

 So strange to see the cotton fields covered in a different white....

A beautiful replica of an antebellum home across the river from where we stayed.

Unfortunately, there were no tours that day...closed because of the snow.

So, on to the sawmill where George did a little prep work, getting some equipment ready.

A scenic day, for sure.