After the Australia Trip

Wow, I can't believe it's been 6 months since that trip. So much has happened since then. Let me catch you up on life since then. We returned to New Zealand to finish out the next month and a half before our return to the U.S. Easter with Joelle and family was great! It's been so long since we celebrated that holiday with them. Folks in New Zealand do not color eggs at Easter but we did! Of course since that it our tradition. Joelle invited some friends  over and we had a great time doing the eggs. It was a bit trickier and messier since we had to actually use food dye but what fun. We also celebrated our traditional Polish Easter. Made kielbasa and placek for our meal. We ate outside and had a marvelous time. During our remaining time, we also spent a weekend at Pine Valley. We rented the lodges and had the entire camp to ourselves for the weekend. Several other families joined us. While this camp is usually used for various school outings, the playground equipment is really geared for all the big kids too. I rode my first flying fox (several times). It was really fun. Had a big bonfire and roasted marshmallows and had s'mores. They also had a water slide built on the side of the hill. It was a wooden chute covered with heavy plastic. They had a hose at the top of the slide that provided the water and you had to put dish soap on the slide so you actually slid down. Everyone was having a great time until two of the girls collided at the bottom of the slide. A visit to the hospital for both of them and several weeks recuperating but a damper on the weekend but it was a great way to end our year in New Zealand.

We knew it was going to be hard to leave Joelle, Jasmin and Trevor but didn't realize how hard! Really do miss them! The flight to San Francisco was uneventful. We spend three days there with friends that we had met while in Fiji. They are beautiful folks. Had a great dinner that night with some of their friends. Spent the next day sailing in San Francisco Bay. What a treat! Arrived back in Austin to outrageous heat and traffic! We were just getting into Fall and Winter in New Zealand and San Francisco is cold any time of the year. We step off the plane into 100 degree heat. What a shock to the system!

We planned on spending 3 days in San Francisco and arranged flights accordingly. As we got closer to the date, we began to regret that schedule because we were eager to see everyone in Austin. In hindsight, that was the best decision. We got a chance to get over a good portion of jetlag in a quiet, calm environment with no demands on us. Once we got to Austin, it was a whirlwind of activity - good activity - but activity nonetheless.

Since we returned to Austin, we've had several trips - Baton Rouge, Port Aranasas, Sea World in San Antonio with Gracie, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands Monument, Albuquerque, Tent Rocks Park, Petroglyph Park, Grand Canyon, Dominican Republic. About 2 months ago, we bought our camper, Didn't stay in it right away since our granddaughter from Illinois came for a visit. It was only 4 days but we packed the days with activities. Once she returned, we started working on the camper - getting stuff out of storage and store runs to pick up all the other stuff. We finally got everything set up in the camper along with satellite TV. Finally we were ready to head out on our own to the first of many campgrounds. We closed everything up and Ernie was flushing out the black water tank and water was gushing out of the bottom of the tank. We knew that was not right but didn't know exactly what was happening. Since we were still at the dealer campground, checked with them and they said they would have to put this beheamoth of a unit on the lift and see what was happening. That would take a day. So off we were to stay with Chris for the night while they fixed the problem. Turns out it was a backflow safety valve in the black water tank and they fixed it for only $800. Thankfully it was covered by the extended warranty. Next day we take off and I drive 4 hours til we are north of Fort Worth. Can't believe how easy it was to pull this 34 foot monster. Most of the time I didn't even know it was behind me. We stopped for fuel about 14 miles from the campground. Well, I pulled into the gas station and forget this monster was behind me until I hear a noise. It was the passenger side of the camper scraping along the left rear edge of an 18 wheeler trailer. The only thing hurt was my pride! Major hurt!!!! We were sure if we would be able to open the door to the camper since it was pretty caved in. I also took out the canopy. Drove on to the campground, parked the trailer and plugged it in so we could keep the food cold. Tried the door - no luck! The campground put us in a getaway cabin while we talked with insurance and camper repair folks and got all that squared away. The camper is now back at the dealer waiting for a new canopy and frame, new door and frame, and some cosmetic work to the camper skin around the door. Thanks God for insurance. The lesson learned is that when pulling 34 feet of anything behind you, you need to make very very very very wide turns!

We're getting ready to go to South Padre for Thanksgiving with our son Chris for a week of fishing and lazying around (is that a real word?) Hopefully the flounder will be running. When we return, the camper should be done and ready for us and we will give this another go. Can't wait for Ernie to try hauling our home.

Anyhow, that's all for now folks! I've said it before and will probably say it again, I will try to be more diligent about keeping up with this blog. Once I get started, everything just seems to pour out. It's is just getting started. Take care and have a great Thanksgiving. Oh, I am so very thankful for all my family and friends and all good fortune bestowed on us.