Holiday Christmas Party and Grapevine

Saturday night was our boss’ Christmas party at his house. We were able to meet several of the other  couples that sell for AGS or Texas Advertising. It’s great to put faces with the voices/names of people we’ve talked to but hadn’t met yet. Brian and Debra have a great house and it’s decorated beautifully for Christmas. We got to meet Rick, who will be the person taking care of scheduling and other duties for Brian. He’s from Maine and is excited to start his new duties after some training with one of the trainers that we started out with. There were a lot of people there…probably around 35 or so. There was a Chinese gift exchange, where people can steal a present that someone else has already gotten and then that person gets another present. It was fun…Linda got a new back massager that I’m currently sitting on. It’s great !
Today we drove to Grapevine, Texas which is only about 30 minutes away. One of the other RV parks that our  company does is Vineyards RV Resort and we have heard that it’s a gorgeous park and that the town of Grapevine is really cute so off we went to check it all out. The resort is situated around a lake and the layout of the park is awesome. They took advantage of every view for RV site placement and it’s gorgeous. There is a view of the marina and I can only imagine how spectacular the view is on a sunny, warm day when the lake has more water in it (remember there’s a bad drought going on here. Look at where the water level should be in the pictures.) There was a storm coming in so it was really overcast and windy but still a perfect setting to put an RV. Many of the sites had little decks, large fire rings with a grilling grate and nice picnic table. Some even had little pergolas over the deck area.


A short distance from the RV park is the historic downtown area, which is really cute. Lots of great shops and decorations for Christmas too. We had heard that Grapevine is the Christmas capital of Texas with all of the events and decorating and I can see why. We walked up and down the streets, checking out all of the shops and restaurants. We really enjoyed the town and would definitely go back again.
Tomorrow we leave for the Escapees park in Livingston, until after the first of the year. Anxious to get on the road and see some different sights out our picture window. Will post again once we get there and get settled in.

Sunday Drive….

Took a great drive today…left around 11 this morning and got home around 4. We drove to Jackson, an hour away and then went over the Teton Pass….When we met fellow Escapees Molly and Bob the other day, here in the park (thanks to an introduction from Bobbie), they told us about taking their motorhome over the Pass. Although we didn’t take our rig, it’s still a 10% grade (Jim, you’d be really proud of Linda !).


Gorgeous views from on top of the Tetons… Once we came over the Pass, we were in Idaho and continued on to Victor, took a turn onto Route 31 and continued towards Alpine. There is a great recreational area, called Palisades Reservoir that you drive along for many miles and extends all the way down to Alpine. What a great resource for boaters, jet skiers, etc.

This is at the base of the reservoir….

A gorgeous day on the water…

We found a place where we could stop and let Boomer go swimming. For some reason, unknown to us, there were a number of butterflies that were attracted to this area of the shoreline. Couldn’t see anything special about it. There was a lot of wood pieces washed up on shore and this mushy black stuff on the gravel.

Beautiful pattern on the butterflies…

Drove along this view for many miles…. Clouds so fluffy and white and snow capped mountains in the distance.

As I mentioned in a previous post, there has been flooding in the area. With the extensive snow pack and melting, the Snake River is huge and over its’ banks in many areas…..perfect conditions for the rafting companies. Saw several groups taking on the river today. Not a time for novice kayakers or boaters to be on the water….
It was great to drive around in Jackson and check it out. It’s a good sized town…population is over 8000. The campground, where we’ll be staying, is right in the middle of town so it will be very handy for selling and going out to eat or checking out all of the cute shops. Have about another week here in Thayne to get our work done. Hope everyone had a great weekend. Back to work tomorrow….

Terry Bison Ranch

We spent last night in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the Terry Bison Ranch. Great location…just off of I-25. They have about 75 pull through sites, full hook up and they offer an Escapees discount so it only cost $17 for the night. On the premises you’ll find a restaurant/bar, playground for the kids, train rides, nice gift shop and the best part…all kinds of animals to check out. It’s like camping at the zoo. They have bison, camels, ostriches, peacocks, horses, goats, alpaca, chickens and probably other things we didn’t see. They also offer an excellent means by which to see everything.  They have a cat walk over most of the pens where the animals are kept so you get a bird’s eye view of all the animals. What a neat idea !
There were lots of baby animals there too.

A great place to stop for the night if you’re passing through…..

Tampa RV Show....

Yesterday Linda and I went to the Tampa RV show, which is supposed to be the country's largest display of RV's. We wanted to see the vendors, as there are a couple of products that I use that I was hoping to find. One item I was hoping to find is Envy, a waterless wax for the rig. I had never heard of this item but when we were at the Escapees park in Livingston, Texas a couple years ago Linda won a whole bunch of these items at a get together they had. There is a metal polish, wet look for tires, etc. I love the wax....quick and easy for touching up the rig, without hauling out a bucket and brush. Didn't find it at the show...

The other item is 303. I use this on all the rubber gaskets around the lights on the RV, on the door handles, plastic recept. covers, tires, dashboards, RV decals, etc. I think it does a great job of protecting these items from yellowing, fading, etc. Helps this three year old rig keep her youthful look ! Didn't see this anywhere either...Was hoping to save the shipping/handling by buying it there but no cigar....time to do some on-line shopping.

We looked at Class A motorhomes at the show. Not the multi-million rigs that required "no shoes" and a hands off approach to going through their rigs. There were many of them....we walked by several that displayed a 2 million dollar+ price tag but they are are so glitzy that they appear to be more of a showplace than a "home", which is what ours would need to be. We looked at all the major manufacturers and initially I liked the looks of a Four Winds Magellan motorhome Seems to be the big thing is 1.5 baths to 2 baths now. This one had a 1/2 bath behind the kitchen and then a full bath in the rear of the coach. I liked the modern styling of the cabinets with contemporary door handles but on my second trip through the coach noticed things that seemed a little on the chintzy side. The friese style carpeting is too much like "shag" carpeting. I installed this type of carpeting in my house when I had it on the market and it was all the rage but don't want it in our traveling house. I did like the other flooring though...was a totally different look from anything else I've seen in other motorhomes.

After looking at everything there and pondering on it, we both came to the conclusion that we like our 5th wheel and there wasn't anything else out there that would serve us any better than what we currently have. We've gotten all the major things fixed or "tweaked" and as long as we can get in or out of a work location, we're OK. We want to wait to see how long we keep doing this type of work before we decide on anything different. It's fun (and exhausting) to look but in the end we are both very practical about our needs.

Tomorrow we'll relax around here...do some laundry....Watch some football. Still waiting to hear from the RV doctor for our appt. Will call Monday if they don't call first. Was 70 degrees today...supposed to be warmer tomorrow but with thunderstorms. I think tomorrow might be a good day to check out the indoor heated pool.... :)