We Got a Little Mud on the Tires.....But We Are HOME!

Monday we packed our things, cleaned the camper and loaded up the truck.

This took several hours as we are slowing down in our old age.

Louis Dean originally said he wanted to wait another day to leave but I felt like it was time to get home. More rain was in the forecast and if we didn't go ahead and leave now, we might not get out even the next day. I have a busy week lined up so he said, "Well, pack your mud boots in case we have to hike back if we get stuck."

Dean and Sherry had brought the tractor to the upper road on Sunday evening in case they needed to haul us out. They had parked their truck above the fork in the road since they needed to get out earlier on Monday but said if we got stuck to just come on back to the camper and have some wine and wait for them and they WOULD get us out. In the meantime I called Dean and he gave us some pointers on driving in the we hung up after telling him we were going for it!

It was a wild ride up to the gate but Louis Dean drove it like a real cowboy!

We slid off to one side at the muddiest point but he slid us back on the road and did not slow down!

We made it out!!!!

Instead of driving home to Irving, we put in the direction finder a hotel in Cleburne where we were meet some friends.

This is Terre - pronounced Terry!

You can find her blog at ZoomamaSpeaks.....https://terrewrites.blogspot.com/

This is her husband, Joel, and he and Louis Dean hit it right off!

We talked fast and furious before we all decided to go out and eat Mexican food.

They recommended La Cima and it was amazing!

This sculpture stands on the counter as you walk in......It's the sign of the fish on one side......

but when you look at it the other other side it is a cross.

Terre took some pics but I could only find this one of me.

That margarita was soooooo good!!!

We all got to know each other better and had so much fun!

Then we went to Braum's for ice cream to top off our visit!

I may be the only person in the world who did not know that Braum's makes malts and shakes from any flavor ice cream in the case!!! Did y'all know that?

Joel helped Louis Dean with all the different ice creams and he chose a large Cherry Pecan malt.

He kept chopping at what he thought was a bit of malt in the bottom of the Styrofoam cup.....and push a bog old HOLE in it.....and then the mess kept getting worse and worse and Tere and I laughed louder and louder!

Pretty soon even Louis Dean was laughing as well as all the other customers in the ice cream shop.

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt!!

And where was Joel in all of this?

He was hunting up an employee with a cloth to clean up the mess!

What an adventure we had with both Terre and Joel and we are looking forward to many more when they visit Texas again!

"We stayed too long at the fair." That's what I told Louis Dean as it was getting pretty dark when we left for home. Believe it or not - this was the first time I have ever been to Cleburne and I had to turn on the direction thingy - aka - WAZE to get us home.

She took us by way of Fort Worth and we passed the road to the nursing home.

Louis Dean was driving since we were in the truck and he did pretty well until he didn't!

He got on an Express toll road to Denton and we were halfway there before he had to courage to get off. This was stressful and we were both a bit out of sorts.

I said 'JUST PARK this thing!' 

He did  - at a Dairy Queen so I went in and used the ladies room and got a drink.

We regrouped.

I put in HOME and I drove - white knuckled and hunched up over the steering wheel wearing my night driving glasses. After a tiny glitz or maybe two - we got home and I pulled straight up into the driveway. Louis Dean always backs in. Well, we unloaded some and he turned the water on outside after I told him I really needed to wash my hands. My art tub had jostled the lid off the turpentine and I had a mess to clean up before it got on the carpet. He had turned the water off before we left PLUS the water heater! Now every time he goes to turn the water heater back on - he forgets how he did it before and it takes a lot of time with him flat out on the floor - all 6 feet of him in a room not much longer than that - bumping into all the tins that are stacked up in the utility room and knocking them all over and grumbling and - you get the idea!

At long last - we are home. The water is on. So is the water heater but there's no hot water for a good while so no baths that night. He staggers to the kitchen and pours himself a glass of wine. I go down the hall to do something and when I come back to the kitchen he is using his foot to swipe a wet towel around on the kitchen floor. He looks up and said, "I only spilled a drop or two."

He goes to the den and sinks down on the couch and lets out a long sigh.

I am barefoot so I go out to the den after he does......but my feet are sticking to the floor. 

From the fridge to the table and over to the entrance to the living room - it is ALL sticky!!!

I forgot that his wine is sweeter than mine and sweet wine is STICKY wine! I quietly clean it up.

We sat in a stupor for a bit and then relaxed and finally went to bed at midnight!

And praise God - we had no water come in the house from all the rain!!!

We both slept like babies!

It was about 10:30 when I woke up this morning and a couple minutes later my phone rang.

It was my sister, Luann.

She was in Grapevine and we decided after her appointment there she would come over and we would 'do' a Tuesday!!

We ate lunch at La Madeleine and it was wonderful.

I love that place and always feel like I'm on vacation or something when I'm there!

I love my sister and we had not seen or hardly talked to each other since Mother's funeral at the end of January. We were way past due for a Sister Day!

We shopped at Home Goods and then hot up a thrift store and a Goodwill!

English Laundry is a new fragrance for me and will be the one I wear this summer....

if it lasts that long. I wear fragrance and earrings every single day - even the days I stay in my gown and don't comb my hair or fix my face.

I loved my Tuesday Treasures!

The background is a Queen size silky comforter.

I may use it here on our bed or take it to the camper for the bedroom there.

The shower caddy went in Louis Dean's bathroom and I took his old one to put in mine and my old one will go to the ranch to be used in the shower there!

The two chicken plates are for my friend, Brenda. I have been looking for some for her and today I finally find them!

This is a brand new Wine Lovers Game!!!

I bought it for a song and will send it down with Amber and Mike and his parents when they all go on the annual beach trip to Gulf Shores. We went once but it's a long hard trip and we haven't been able to go again. But the one time we did go - the highlight of our trip was spending time with Mike's parents on the balcony talking and sipping wine together until the wee hours of the morning.

I think they will all love playing this as the older Bells go on trips to wine countries both here and abroad.

Four crystal tea glasses.....

and a sturdy short but thick stemmed wine glass for Louis Dean.

This set of pumpkin votive candles will wait patiently along with me for September first when I will celebrate the day by lighting all of them!

$0.50 cushions for the chairs at the deck table outside by the pond.

Comfy Crocs......

and another pair for yard work.

Luann and I had the best day!

We came home and made tea and worked on my huge 1500 piece Jigsaw Sunflower puzzle.

I made a Taco Salad for our supper tonight and we watched President Trump kick off his 2020 re-election campaign in Florida.

The taco salad was extra good tonight thanks to the delicious home grown tomatoes my gardening neighbor, Tamara gave us. We ate one straight away and chopped this big beauty up for the salad.