So the kids and grandkids decided to spend Spring Break with Grammy & Poppy again this year and we had so much fun! We camped at Brite Lake the first 2 nights. Our friend came with her granddaughter and everyone played corn hole, fished, and ate. The kids hit it off with Alice and it was a great time. The boys each caught their first fish, and let’s make that 3! Yes they each caught 3 fish! They were catching small large mouth bass, and some nice size trout but everything was released. Lorene also caught 1 or 2 but the rest of us were skunked!

We all had fun in the RV and once we got back home, they stayed 2 more nights at the house and we just had a great time playing games, doing puzzles and legos, hitting golf balls, and making fabulous food. Forgot to mention that we hid painted rocks at the lake too.

The dogs…

NEVER stop playing so here they are all tuckered out. Shred is always under the covers haha.

It’s always schetchy camping at the beach in March in California but we HAVE done it before! This time it wasn’t good weather and it was actually pretty chilly! We went with our good friends, the Machin’s. We followed them out after meeting for lunch inbetween our homes. It was altogether 4 hours from our house and the last 14 miles were on a very windy, somewhat narrow, 2 lane road…but we made it and set up camp.

It’s a pretty nice state campground that allows everything from tents to Class A motorhomes…gotta love the simpler side of life.

We had a couple of problems, our batteries were dead because we never dry camp and didn’t realize they were about 2 years overdue to be replaced, and we had another tire problem but Gary fixed it with Keith’s support and tools. Luckily with the generator and the fridge on propane we did fine.

The beach is pretty much all rocks, but they are mostly smooth, and soooo beautiful and unique! Great little general store too. But, no phone service at all, and we didn’t find out until the last day that there is a moderately strong public WiFi signal.

Probably wont go back just because of that last 14 miles…but it was great getting out and spending time with friends!

So our daughter entered a story-writing contest and won not only $5,000, but they also made her story into a short film and showed it at the 2024 Austin Film Festival in Austin, Texas. A HUGE honor! So off we went!

We took I-10 both ways in hopes of bypassing the horrible roads in Arizona off the 40. Well, it was a little better, but not much, and a super boring drive as you can tell because I took almost no pictures!

This was too funny. Not the exact spelling of my name, but close!

The RV Park was in Downtown Austin, and you could see the beautiful downtown area from the RV. What a great find.

The Film Festival was so much fun. Red carpet kind of fun!

We all had Lone Star Badges, which got us into all of the showings, plus parties and panels. We met some of Hollywood’s elite in the process…mostly producers and directors. The owner of the winery that held the contest just loved Nikki and her story, which was a thriller named Amongst the Large Pines. Nikki was in all of her glory and it was a very exciting and proud moment for all of us.

After the festival, Nikki and Elliott and his parents headed home and we headed to Caldwell to see our close friends, the Bocks.

Our trip was not without a few problems haha. To memorialize, our windshield got cracked by a flying rock in New Mexico. We got it fixed by the nicest man in Bryan Texas. Here’s a shout out to him and his shop. We were kind of in a hurry because we didn’t want the chip to turn into a huge crack and this is the only shop that could even see us that week. He did the repair while we waited in the RV, and it took at least 45 minutes. It’s quite a process. Then he only charged us $30. We were so thankful to him. Besides the windshield crack, we locked ourselves out of the RV in Austin and it took Good Sam 2 hours to get someone to break in for us, and by the time we got home we had a flat rear tire. But we made it!

We arrived in Caldwell and it was like we had never left. We do miss our friends so much. It was a great time in their beautiful home, on their beautiful county road.

We always travel with Chucky and his Bride, so here’s a picture of them. I think I told the story many posts earlier. Pepper loves them. That’s my Tupperware Tumbler in the photo lol.

Heading Home…Stayed in Fort Stockton for the night.

New Mexico, we stayed in Deming.

Arizona…we stayed in Tonopah…yuck.

I don’t know what’s wrong with that state. It has horrible places to RV camp on the I-10. The wind blew 100 mph all night. We got up early to get a head start out of there but hit super high winds with thick dust and torrential rains. We had to pull over to wait out some of the weather. It was scary.

Mixed drinks helped at night. That’s a swizzle Donna gave Gary LOL.

Home sweet home!

Yes California is annoying sometimes, but it’s always great to get home after a long trip. Until next time…

Gary severed a tendon in his hand, causing his pinky to not work at all. Surgery and several weeks of PT cancelled any cross-country driving we had planned, but we enjoyed the summer staying home while he got better. Life is what you make of it, and we had a wonderful summer!

Ha ha we think we went to Lone Pine with the Bray’s again, but these are the only pictures we took!

We replaced our old sofa with this awesome dual recliner this year, and what an upgrade to our comfort!

Just to memorialize, this is the first time I drove after my scary episode in Texas. I look fine, but I was nervous as heck!

Gary & Garrison’s yearly Broski Trip (father and son time) had them taking the RV to Paso Robles for Golf, drinks, and who knows what? They stayed at Cava and hit the Cane Tiki Bar in Downtown Paso and a much hidden and highly revered Speak Easy simply called 1122. Uber escorted them back and forth to the restaurants, bars, and golf course. They will never forget how cool the Speak Easy was.