Date: December 1, 2010
Location: San Antonio, TX
0830
It is time for my Waldo Report, as in “Where is Waldo?” I may, in my old age and senility, what to know where I was and what I was doing as December of 2010 began and the last of the year was in sight. I may not remember next week where I was at the end of November and it is a good thing to have a blog to help refresh my addled mind. By the way, the answer to, ‘Where is Waldo?” is just north of San Antonio, Texas in a rather nice RV park just off exit 542 on Interstate 10. Now we know where Waldo is, maybe it would be beneficial to record what Mr. and Mrs. Waldo have been doing.
We started our last month with the opportunity to spend a lot of money getting Aurora in traveling condition. As I reported in my last blog some of this excursion preparation was a lot more fun than other parts of it. As we start December I can pleasantly state that Aurora is performing just as she should and now has two very nice and expensive front tires on her expertly aligned front wheels. The tire dealer in Willis Texas was very accommodating and pleased to have us as customers, unlike some business failures in New York and Pennsylvania. Our old tires made it all the way with no problem and the dealer in Willis was eager to get our money. The idiot in Erie, PA should have been so smart.
Our reason for coming to this part of Texas was to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with my sister and our family. Last year Connie and I were preparing to take our 25th anniversary cruise and could not make it to Houston. This is a fact that my sister has not let me forget. Caroline is a genealogist guru and has found that we are from a Jewish heritage. This is no more exemplified than in the ability of her to lay a solid guilt trip on her brother. That may be a slight exaggeration, because I think Connie and I missed being with Caroline and the Urbano side of the family at least as much as they missed having us. All said, we did make it this year and we did fully enjoy the pleasure of the holiday season at the Spring, Texas home of the Urbano clan.
The RV park that we stay at near Houston is in Willis and is about 45 minutes away from my sister’s house. It is a 45 minute drive that is from the country side surrounding Houston right toward the center of the city. From a two lane country path we enter the Interstate 45 mayhem that would eventually deposit us center city Houston. We go from 2 lane solitude to 10 lane mayhem in a short drive. Along the way, somehow, nearly every idiot that never learned how to drive in or out of Texas gets either in front of us or wishes he were. It is surprising how many people never learned that you should pass at 80 miles an hour on the left side of the vehicle you are passing not on the right. It is also alarming how often the person on the far left lane of a 10 lane highway that is jam packed and traveling at 75 miles an hour decides that his exit is just ahead and will dart across 5 lanes of crowed fast moving traffic to get his exit. It was with screeching brakes all around and many images of blue air filling car after car as the Texas single finger of praise is raised in response to the idiots driving prowess. Yes, driving to and from my sister’s home every day was an adventure, but somehow seemed worth it. It is wonderful how much my sister has improved as I have grown up. You love your siblings when you are younger because you are supposed to do that. You love them when you are grown because you know them.
Our week and a half of holiday celebration went very well with all too much food and just enough love and honest friendship to remind me how it is that we missed them at least as much as they say they missed us last year. Giving and receiving a hug and kiss good night each evening from our sister is special. I do not know why I did not realize that at age six, but I do know that now as I enter the middle of my sixth decade. I guess some of us are slow learners. It was not quite as hard to say good bye this year as the end of our holiday celebration approached. We have already made plans for Caroline and Charlie to come and visit us at the Voyager in February.
As Connie and I prepared to leave Willis, Texas we realized that our time spent in Spring had not allowed us to accomplish too many of our normal house chores so we needed to postpone our departure a day just to accomplish those mundane tasks everyone is required to accomplish. Having done that will take a day out of our San Antonio stay, but family ranks higher than personal play time and clothes do smell better if they are washed occasionally. Our home is cleaner; our clothes are fresher; and we are preparing for a nice day at the River Walk. Our schedule is flexible and still in tact and the weather is interesting. Last night it was freezing; today it is to be in the upper sixties and who knows what tomorrow will hold. This is Texas and this is the beginning of December, maybe this is normal. There is no snow on the ground and none in the forecast. Life is good if not as warm as I would always wish. Wfdo2@wfdo2.com |