Our RV Adventures

Jan and I were up about 8am this morning, not to see what Santa brought us, I mean, no chimneys in the rig, right? No, we were up so we could have coffee and a few sausage balls for breakfast before we headed out for our daughter Brandi’s down in Katy.

On the road by 9, we made a quick stop at the Chase Bank ATM before joining I-45 south. There was probably less traffic than I’ve ever seen on Houston freeways during the day, or the night time, either. So it was an easy trip and we made good time, getting there about 10:30.

Getting the truck unloaded, we found Santa Claus had already come and Landon was deep in the wrapping paper playing with his new stuff. Even Miss Kitty got a new toy from Santa.

Landon was in charge of handing out the presents under the tree as Brandi gave them to him. At one point he ended up with a present for each of his grandmothers in his hands at the same time.

He ran out to the middle of the living room, looked back and forth, and then ran back to Brandi and said, “I’m confused. There’re too many grandmas.”

As far as Jan, Santa Greg brought her a new Amazon Fire. It’s amazing how much lighter, thinner, and faster this new one is over the old we bought in 2012. And of course she’s going to need a new cover, so once she picked one out, I ordered it right then. This time, rather than the normal black, blue, or red, she went with something a little more colorful.

One thing I noticed is that apparently Amazon has just shut down all shipping until Monday. Normally if I order something on Friday evening, it will ship on Saturday and I’ll get it Monday or Tuesday. But now, nothing will ship until Monday, even if you select One Day Shipping.

Another thing I discovered with this is that there is apparently a new name for imitation leather – ‘Vegan Leather’

Funny, I thought all cows were vegans.

Chris, Lowell, and I received Air Swimmers. These are helium balloons shaped like fish or birds.

Chris and I got these.

A Shark and a Clown Fish. Should I feel insulted that I got the Clown Fish?

And Lowell got the Angry Bird from the Angry Birds game.

Here’s Chris with his.

And here’s Lowell with his Angry Bird.

Filled with helium from a small tank, and remote controlled, they have a moveable weight system that heads them up or down, and the tail flips back and forth like a real fish to provide propulsion.

Really neat, and fun to play with. But I wouldn’t really know.

Because I was the last to put mine together, and Chris’ ginormous shark bogarted the rest of the helium, there was only enough left in the tank for me to inflate mine just enough so that it would hang upside down just like a real dead fish.

I wonder how long before it starts to smell?

About 1pm, the food was laid out buffet-style and we all dug in. Turkey breast, Spiral-Sliced Ham, Cornbread Dressing and Turkey Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Candied Yams with Marshmallows, Scalloped Potatoes, Corn Casserole, Baked Potato Salad, Cranberry Salad, and probably a few others I missed.

But it was all really delicious, and we ate until we hurt. Or maybe that was just me. But I did hear others moaning and groaning, so maybe not. And it seems like a lot of people disappeared for naps. Or was that just me too?

We got back to the rig about 7pm, bring home a lot more food than we took there. So we’ll be having delicious leftovers for a while. Nice!

So another really nice Christmas can be marked off the calendar for this year. Hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas as much as we enjoyed ours.

Merry Christmas from Jan and Greg White

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Thought for the Day:

Peace On Earth

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Christmas Eve started for Jan and I this morning when we headed out a little after 10am. Our first stop was the Cracker Barrel right down at the next exit for breakfast, and to also pick up the Cornbread Dressing and Turkey Gravy that we called to reserve last Saturday.

And apparently a lot of other people  had the same idea, at least the breakfast part, because the parking lot was full and there were people waiting outside in the rocking chairs. Pretty much like a Sunday morning, not a Thursday. Or at least not a Christmas Eve Thursday.

But while we were there to have breakfast, Jan was very happy to find that CB was already serving lunch, even though it wasn’t 11 yet. And Thursday being CB’s Turkey and Dressing Day, that of course is what Jan ordered.

Did she forget what we’re having for dinner tomorrow? For my part, I stuck to the script and had breakfast. While we were eating, the server brought out our 2 lbs. of Cornbread Dressing and quart of Turkey Gravy to take with us for tomorrow’s dinner at Brandi’s.

Traffic was heavy for a normal Thursday, but not bad at all, so we were down in the Katy area in just a little over an hour. But before Brandi’s, we made a couple of stops. Well, one stop, but two stores. The Harbor Freight Tools for me, and the 99 cent store for Jan.

I wanted a cheap pair of Channellock-type pliers to keep in my water bay, and Jan wanted to pick up some more wrapping materials. Lucky for us they were both in the same strip center.

We finally got to Brandi’s a little after 1 and got everything unloaded. While Jan wrapped presents, I worked with Landon putting together a Lego Santa Claus visit.

The box says it’s for 7+ years, but it certainly was a challenge for Landon and I. There’s never a 7 year old around when you need one.

About 4:30 we all headed over to the nearby Little V’s Vietnamese Bistro, one of our all-time favorite places. This was not our usual Christmas Eve eatery, since for many years we’ve all gotten together at King Food Chinese Restaurant down in Webster. But that didn’t work out this year.

The entire Friendswood contingent of the family, our son Chris,our daughter-in-law Linda, and our granddaughter Piper, all had to work at their respective jobs tonight. So as much we would have like to keep up the tradition, it didn’t make a lot of sense for all of us to drive down to the Clear Lake area for just ourselves. So Little V’s it was.

On the left side, it’s Lowell’s sister Sherry, our son-in-law Lowell, our daughter Brandi, and our grandson Landon. On the right side, it’s Lowell’s father Lendell, Lowell’s mother Sonja, and then Jan.

Landon’s thoroughly engrossed in watching a Minecraft video on Brandi’s phone.

Everybody has their standard order here, starting out with an order of their Pork Spring Rolls.

Really great!  Very tasty with a crunch of vegetables, the slices of pork, and the herbs and spices.

Next up, I always have the Shaking Beef Vermicelli.

You can’t believe how tender the slices of beef are. The mix of vegetables really enhances the texture and taste in this dish. It’s a must have.

For dessert, there’s no other choice but the Mini Creme Brulees,

toasted up fresh when you order them. The perfect end to a great meal.

Getting back to the house, the ladies started a cookie/treat assembly line, making up Rollo Pretzel Bites and several others.

Wrapping up, Jan and I got back to the rig a little before 9pm, just to get ready to do it again tomorrow morning.

Really looking forward to having everyone together at one time.

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Thought for the Day:

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