Sunday, July 12 – Saturday, July 18, 2009
Sunday-Wednesday, July 12-15
Sunday morning the quiet of Heather and Andy’s home loomed around us! So…we decided to leave Richardson for a cycle road trip after attending church at Murphy Road Baptist Church which was just down the street from the kids’ house.
The destination was not important as this trip would be a test run using our new hydration vests we had bought for riding in sweltering weather. Since we left right after church, our first stop was to a convenience store to soak our vests. We had been told that by wearing these handy dandy things, we’d feel like we were riding with air conditioning…and, by golly, they were right!
Can’t begin to tell you where we went since we took every back road around there, but we did ride by the South Fork Ranch, which for you old folks like us, was the location for the TV series Dallas. Not being a fan of this show, I didn’t recognize a thing; but Jim assured me that he knew it all!
We decided eventually to call it a day and held up in a motel until the morning. Though the vests were terrific, nothing is that terrific around 4 in East Texas on a hot, humid day. It was nice though to kick back and enjoy being totally away from everything familiar.
We did find that Jim’s vest was definitely not functioning properly as his shirt was now pea green instead of white. So…Monday we high-tailed it to a Harley shop in Allen where we showed off his yucky colored shirt. It took a little persuasion on our part to get them to exchange it for another since we had bought them in New Mexico; but once they agreed that a Harley vest was a Harley vest, they succumbed to our charm and traded him a new one for the defective one!
Shortly after returned to H and A’s house, we got the long awaited phone call that the part for the Vibe was in; so back out in the heat we went. By delivering the Vibe to the Pontiac hospital, we had no choice but to ride the cycle back to the house. Yuck! Vest or no vest, there’s just some times that the heat makes cycle riding not fun, especially when you have to stop at traffic lights! (Strictly my opinion…I think Jim could ride it any old time!)
Thankfully, the Vibe was ready Tuesday before we were to meet our good friend Bonnie over in Carrolton for a Mexican lunch. Bonnie once worked at Central Office for USD480 in Liberal, KS, while we were there; and we both taught her children, who by the way, are now adults themselves! My, how time flies. When we are in the Dallas area for any length of time, we always try to meet up with her during her lunch hour.
Jim and I are getting anxious now for the kids to arrive home! This house is totally not meant for two old folks and 2 old felines! It needs the pitter patter of our grandkids! To help pass time these last few days, we have done odd chores here and there, finishing with getting the lawn edged and mowed.
Once the work was completed, it was time to clean up and prepare to meet Paul, Stephanie, and young Wesley (part of the Francis clan…Paul is Jean’s grandson) and Stephanie’s mom at Red Lobster in Grand Prairie (maybe…we don’t really remember…just that we took the Esters Rd exit!) We were really excited about this visit as we hadn’t really gotten to meet Wesley since he arrived almost a year ago.
Jim stayed up late that night to wait on Heather and Andy and the kids, but this tired old body couldn’t go the distance!
Thursday-Saturday
Thursday we awoke to the long awaited sounds of Alexander and Abby! There’s just something so special about grandkids! It doesn’t mean you love your kids any less; but…ah…the overwhelming love for grandchildren is just hard to explain. Anyway, we filled the minutes with watching, hugging, loving and absorbing every action.
Finally, it was time to pack us up and head back to our East Texas home; but not before we shared Jim’s cycle with Abby and Alexander.
The rest of the week was basically just getting back into the routine of daily living on our Little lot, which translate into mowing, pulling vines, etc., etc., etc. However, we did do our share of resting up and taking time to enjoy Big V and the comforts of our own home.
Next on our hit parade and a definite must before we head to Richmond is to get to Lenexa, Kansas, to see our youngest grandchild, Jimmy! It’s been over 6 months since we’ve seen him and know he has grown from a baby into a toddler…after all, he’s 2+ now!
“Pray as if everything depends on God…it does.” – Mineola Northside Baptist Church Sign
Back home at Lake Fork,
Jim & Barbara
Sunday-Wednesday, July 12-15
Sunday morning the quiet of Heather and Andy’s home loomed around us! So…we decided to leave Richardson for a cycle road trip after attending church at Murphy Road Baptist Church which was just down the street from the kids’ house.
The destination was not important as this trip would be a test run using our new hydration vests we had bought for riding in sweltering weather. Since we left right after church, our first stop was to a convenience store to soak our vests. We had been told that by wearing these handy dandy things, we’d feel like we were riding with air conditioning…and, by golly, they were right!
Can’t begin to tell you where we went since we took every back road around there, but we did ride by the South Fork Ranch, which for you old folks like us, was the location for the TV series Dallas. Not being a fan of this show, I didn’t recognize a thing; but Jim assured me that he knew it all!
We decided eventually to call it a day and held up in a motel until the morning. Though the vests were terrific, nothing is that terrific around 4 in East Texas on a hot, humid day. It was nice though to kick back and enjoy being totally away from everything familiar.
We did find that Jim’s vest was definitely not functioning properly as his shirt was now pea green instead of white. So…Monday we high-tailed it to a Harley shop in Allen where we showed off his yucky colored shirt. It took a little persuasion on our part to get them to exchange it for another since we had bought them in New Mexico; but once they agreed that a Harley vest was a Harley vest, they succumbed to our charm and traded him a new one for the defective one!
Shortly after returned to H and A’s house, we got the long awaited phone call that the part for the Vibe was in; so back out in the heat we went. By delivering the Vibe to the Pontiac hospital, we had no choice but to ride the cycle back to the house. Yuck! Vest or no vest, there’s just some times that the heat makes cycle riding not fun, especially when you have to stop at traffic lights! (Strictly my opinion…I think Jim could ride it any old time!)
Thankfully, the Vibe was ready Tuesday before we were to meet our good friend Bonnie over in Carrolton for a Mexican lunch. Bonnie once worked at Central Office for USD480 in Liberal, KS, while we were there; and we both taught her children, who by the way, are now adults themselves! My, how time flies. When we are in the Dallas area for any length of time, we always try to meet up with her during her lunch hour.
Jim and I are getting anxious now for the kids to arrive home! This house is totally not meant for two old folks and 2 old felines! It needs the pitter patter of our grandkids! To help pass time these last few days, we have done odd chores here and there, finishing with getting the lawn edged and mowed.Once the work was completed, it was time to clean up and prepare to meet Paul, Stephanie, and young Wesley (part of the Francis clan…Paul is Jean’s grandson) and Stephanie’s mom at Red Lobster in Grand Prairie (maybe…we don’t really remember…just that we took the Esters Rd exit!) We were really excited about this visit as we hadn’t really gotten to meet Wesley since he arrived almost a year ago.
Jim stayed up late that night to wait on Heather and Andy and the kids, but this tired old body couldn’t go the distance!Thursday-Saturday
Thursday we awoke to the long awaited sounds of Alexander and Abby! There’s just something so special about grandkids! It doesn’t mean you love your kids any less; but…ah…the overwhelming love for grandchildren is just hard to explain. Anyway, we filled the minutes with watching, hugging, loving and absorbing every action.
Finally, it was time to pack us up and head back to our East Texas home; but not before we shared Jim’s cycle with Abby and Alexander.The rest of the week was basically just getting back into the routine of daily living on our Little lot, which translate into mowing, pulling vines, etc., etc., etc. However, we did do our share of resting up and taking time to enjoy Big V and the comforts of our own home.
Next on our hit parade and a definite must before we head to Richmond is to get to Lenexa, Kansas, to see our youngest grandchild, Jimmy! It’s been over 6 months since we’ve seen him and know he has grown from a baby into a toddler…after all, he’s 2+ now!
“Pray as if everything depends on God…it does.” – Mineola Northside Baptist Church Sign
Back home at Lake Fork,
Jim & Barbara
