The days are flying by and it's hard to believe
that most of February is already gone. We're still hanging out in
Kansas. Heinz has been working like a dog in the cold, snow, rain, melting
snow, warm weather, cloudy weather, and crazy weather - heck, one would think he was a mailman in a previous life! It's been anywhere
from a high of 15 to a high of 60 during the past few months. But the maintenance he planned on the rig is about done. We had quite a bit of rust in the basement that Heinz decided to tackle on his own. Luckily he has an uncle in Lawrence KS who has an auto repair shop who offered up his tools, side yard, and advice. We moved in back in late November and Heinz went to work rebuilding the bays behind and just in front of the back wheels. He got pretty good at using metal saws, sandblasting, grinding, and welding along the way.
Before repairs.
Before repairs.
Battery bay after reconstruction.
In addition he and various relatives (thanks Craig,
Carl, and Grady) changed out the ball joints and brakes on the rig.
Ball joint replacement.
Next up was powder-coating the bases of the outside mirrors and we were done in Lawrence. Heinz’s estimate of a one-month job was
a little off, closer to two, but what the heck, the labor was cheap. While he was busy crawling around in the dirt, I tried to help where I could and stay
out of the way where I couldn't. In
that endeavor I took advantage of some of the holiday events in Lawrence.
First up was the
annual Christmas horse parade. Suzi and I took in the 20th anniversary of this parade where costumed horses and wagons came from as
far as South Dakota to participate.
There were 113 official participants this year, with a total of over 600 horses and 1,000 riders. This is a parade
made up of only horseback riders, horse drawn wagons, horse drawn carts, horse
drawn stagecoaches, horse drawn buggies, etc. You get the idea - horses drawing things everywhere. It was really pretty cool to watch. There were some absolutely beautiful animals on
display. If you're interested in checking out more photos, go to: s1004.beta.photobucket.com/user/thuester/library/ Then click on "show albums and stories" on the left side, then Lawrence KS 2012.
This is my best side, dahling!
All dressed up.
Working boots.
Head high Lester, there's cameras shooting.
Man, is my stylist is GOOD - or what?!
Next up was the Holiday Farmer's Market. Suzi and I met up with Aunt Annelee and her future daughter-in-law, Jessica to explore all the goodies on display. We bought some odds and ends and picked up lots of ideas for home projects for holiday decorating. I also enjoyed picking up some great winter vegetables along the way.
A couple of miles down the road, a local Methodist church was having their annual Festival of the Nativities - so I walked down. The parishioners have been collecting Nativity scenes from all over the world for years and have been displaying them for the month of December for quite a few and inviting the community to visit. There are scenes from Christmas ornament-sized, to life-sized displayed all over the sanctuary and several classrooms throughout the building. In addition, the congregation has a bake sale and ornament/decorations sale each weekend during the month to fund new acquisitions.
Peru
This one, made of brown paper, was found on the church doorstep, no one has come forward as the maker or donator.
One wall, in one classroom.
Along the way we took some time for cooking (lunch every Monday for the guys in the shop), baking (all those Christmas goodies), exploring Lawrence's downtown area (mostly me), and enjoying being around Heinz's family.
Linzertortes cooling.
Lawrence, all dressed up for the holidays.
Moon gazing thru the treetops.
Decorating the rig.
We pulled out of Lawrence in mid-January, leaving our fabulous gated community behind. I don't think anyone believed us, but between the propane and space heater we stayed toasty warm even when the temperatures dropped into the single digits and with easy access to both fresh water and a place to dump gray/black water we were set. On leaving we thanked Uncle Craig for the hospitality and told him we'd be sure to recommend his place for anyone looking for all the amenities:) Luckily, he laughed! Here's a few shots showing all those luxuries...
The gated community entrance.
Modern outdoor sculpture of found objects.
Sculpture garden in the snow.
More of the sculpture garden.
The woods on the edge of the property.
Murals were everywhere.
Mid-January found us back in Kansas City with plans of leaving within a couple of weeks. But I ended up with a bad back and we stayed for me to have physical therapy for a month. (I'm MUCH better now.) So while we hung out, Heinz installed a couple of new TV's, exchanging out our old (very old) units for HD and a new self-seeking satellite receiver on the roof. Sure is nice to see all that detail again! I also got a wild hair to get the curtains in the front window cleaned, probably the first time since they were hung. After finding out that it would be around $150 per curtain I reined in that wild hair and made a new set instead.
New curtains with the new TV installation.
But the delay in leaving town didn't leave us with only work to fill our time. We took advantage of hanging out with Suzi and Carl and checked out some of the entertainment opportunities. We checked out the Mid-Plains RV Show, Cirque de Soleil's Quidam, the Science of Rock & Roll and miniature railroad exhibits at Union Station, and spent several nights talking smack while playing Sorry!
Planning out strategy.
Grieving after losing 4 straight games of Sorry.
Poster at the Science of Rock & Roll.
Miniature railroad display.
We haven't quite gotten the hang of the whole snowbird mentality however. We hung out in Kansas City just a bit too long. The plan was to leave today, but yesterday, as you may have heard on the news, Kansas City encountered the biggest one day snowfall in its history: 12 inches in less than 24 hours. So this morning was spent digging out. The new plan is to pull out first thing in the morning and actually start heading to warmer climates. Especially since more snow is predicted for Monday.
We knew we'd stayed too long when the car was this deep by noon!
Home sweet home, all snowed in.
Digging us out.
The neighbors came to check out the action.
So tomorrow we plan to hit the road and I plan to make my postings a little more regularly than over the past few months. Of course, any posting will be more regular. Thanks for your tolerance and stay tuned.
In the meantime, here's our friends of the day.
Sammy enjoys a belly rub.
Frankie shows off his new scarf.
Is it dignified to walk a pig on a leash? For the pig?
Trying to find a warm spot in the trees.
