but my days have been consumed with board meetings, and my evenings pretty much consumed with letting my brain rest after said board meetings!

But the meetings have finished up and life is beginning to kick back to normal. What that actually means is that today I’ll finally get to the vacumming and cleaning, changing the sheets, and other such interesting chores. This afternoon we’ll be heading to Waco for the weekend – a long awaited visit with daughter Lara. But it will be nice to leave the house in “nice to come back to” condition .
One of the projects I have been slowly working on is my yearly picture book. Yes folks, I try to, each year, put together a photo book (like from Shutterfly) that highlights the places we’ve been during our 6th (yes, 6th!!!) year on the road. And even though the task is daunting, (we visited over 10 Major National Parks/Scenic areas and I’ve taken over 3000 pictures) it’s been quite a nice walk down memory lane. I thought it might be fun to review just some of the headers I’ve used here at rvthereyet.org over the last year, and then in the days to come I’ll try to share some other favorite photos from Year Six.
Here is the header from Glacier National Park -

This one is from our time in the Coachella Valley and was taken on one of our many trips to Joshua Tree Natl. Park

And I really loved the quail in the desert-

But California wasn’t all about the desert -
There were snow capped mountains-

Beautiful cities (San Diego)

Mountain lakes (Lake Tahoe)

and then there’s always Death Valley.

I’m sure you can figure out where this one was taken –
Monument Valley Navajo National Park – Arizona.(one of my very favorites!)

Thanks for coming along on my little walk down memory lane . I’ll have more to share as I keep plodding though the files, but if you have any favorites from the last year, I’d love to hear from you!

Better get back to that vacuuming!

I always find it interesting how different areas refer to themselves. Back where I’m from there’s DelMarVa (Delaware, Maryland, Virgina) and PenJerDel (Pennylvania, New Jersey, Delaware) and in S. Alabama/N. Florida Panhandle there’s The Wiregrass and lot’s of places that call themselves “The Valley” (Palm Springs, CA and the Rio Grande Valley in S. Texas to name a few). Gary & I have just spent the last several days in Ark-La-Tex -

While we did spend a night in Texarkana, most of the time we were camping at Millwood Lake State Park just a little north of town. (See the lake just at the left lower point of the “Texarkana” label? That’s where we were.) Millwood Lake is a bass fisherman’s dream lake, with “a series of boat lanes [that] meander through timber, marshes, and oxbow cutoffs making Millwood Lake a “tree-filled” fishing haven.”



We just thought it looked pretty cool!
It’s also known for bird watching, and we could see why when we checked out the dam -

Every bird seemed to have its favorite perch!

We certainly enjoyed our drive around part of the lake and exploring some of area, but mostly we enjoyed the peace and quiet of our campground. I’m sure this place is hopping during its many bass fishing tournaments and derbies, but while we were there it was one peaceful spot.

And we enjoyed every quiet minute of it!

Right now we’re in Lindale, TX (not quite on the map – just a litte farther West on I-20) getting ready for the Fall SOWER’s Trustee meeting scheduled for this weekend. We’re snuggled in the middle of a row of SOWER RVs, and and after our wonderful summer “off”, we’re excited about getting back to work. Plus there’s the added bonus of getting to spend some time with dear daughter Lara who lives in Waco. I’m sure Texas will be filled with lots of good things (especially if it ever drops below 95!).

PS – In case you think that Oklahoma might be feeling a little left out with the whole ArkLaTex thing, some folks refer to the area as Arklatexoma. Now THAT’s a mouthful!

By popular demand, and with permission from my buddy Roy, here is the recipe for his Cast Iron Skillet Apple Pie.

In a 10 inch Cast Iron Skillet melt 1 stick of Butter and add 1C Sugar and 5 diced apples (Original recipe recommends Golden Delicious, I used whatever it was I had, which was probably Gala.)

Add 1 tsp. Apple Pie Spice (Since I was at the cabin with a limited spice cabinet I only added some cinnamon. Just sayin’.)
Cook apples until golden and bubbly and thickened.

Yummmmm. Oh, I also added about 2Tbs of Vermont Maple Syrup because, well, we were in Vermont.

While the apples are getting golden and bubbly, mix together 1 1/2C Buttermilk Pancake Mix (I used Krusteaze), 1C Milk, 1/4C Sugar and 4 oz (or more – you never can have too much cheese, says Roy) Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese.

Spoon the batter over the bubbling apples, and put the skillet into a 350 degree oven.

Bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.


Serve warm.

We enjoyed it just the way it came out of the pan, but I bet a scoop of vanilla ice cream would be just about perfect!

PS – this was pretty darn good for breakfast the next morning, too.

We’ve put almost 6200 miles on Lizzie since we left California at the end of June. And they have been wonderful, fun, family and friend-filled miles. We’ve giggled with grandbabies, spent time with most of our kids, chilled out in our “hometown” for a week or so, and were refreshed at our cabin in Vermont. I’ve had time with my sisters and brother, cousins and uncles, nieces and nephews, new friends and old. We’ve been parked in front of houses, in driveways, in Walmart, Cabelas and church parking lots, and we’ve even managed to spend a couple of nights in campgrounds (but only 5 mind you!). It’s been a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful three months.
And I am, in a way, exhausted! Right now, for the first time in those three months, we are in a campground alone. Just us. Trying to remember just what “normal” looks like for us. Catching up with our expense reports (ouch! This moving about the country is expensive!) and catching up with each other. And catching our breath.
We still have a little bit of travel ahead (including some time with daughter Lara ), but with mornings like this

I know that “normal” is on its way. **Sigh**

There is soooo much catching up I need to do. Bookkeeping, thank-you notes, journaling, blogging, bank statements, emails…..the list is long. Too long. But this post is about some catching up we were able to do as we traveled from Ontario to Ohio to meet that new grandson. Each night on the road we stopped and were able to catch up with old friends.
Monday night we stopped at a SOWER project in upstate NY -

and had a lovely evening catching up with the folks we worked with on our very first project six years ago. We’ve seen them a couple of times over the years, but not recently. It was great to enjoy a cup of coffee and some very good brownies with them and catch-up.
Tuesday morning we traveled to North Chili, NY (near Rochester) for a lovely afternoon and evening with SOWER friends, Dave and Edie. We worked with them on our third project, have seen them a couple of times since then and were delighted to be able to spend some time with them.

(That’s the Erie Canal they’re standing by. Did you know the Erie Canal is still a viable (363 mile) waterway that stretches from Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY? We were touring an historic canal barge – very cool!).
Wednesday we headed into Pennsylvania. Even though PA is where I grew up and raised my family, we were heading into totally new territory for us. My best friend from high school lives just outside of Mansfield, PA and since we hadn’t seen each other in 30+ years, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to make a little detour to catch up with her! We’d lost touch over the years and only recently “found” each other through the miracle of the internet (and a sweet mutual friend who had an old “where are they now” class list!).

Not only was Gail my best buddy in high school, she was also one of the two attendants in my wedding.

(This was a good summer for reconnecting with the wedding party for me. Back in July we spent a night at Deb’s house - remember?)

Thursday morning we left Gail’s (with great hopes for staying in touch) and continued on to catch up with another SOWER couple that we had worked with a couple of times.
They were also on that third project back in 2005 -
(that was our first “big” project – and it was lots of fun. Earlier this summer we had stopped to see another SOWER that we had met at that project, so you can tell it was a very special month!) We’re delighted to be working with them again this winter in Florida. Such a blessing it is to be part of the SOWER family!

By Friday morning we were heading to Ohio – and those grandbabies!!!!!!!

And although little Noah was (given the newness of his status – oh, and the fact he is a he) the star of the show -

we certainly had lots of fun with the girls (who actually knew we were there!).

And as startling as this may be, there are a bazillion other pictures of ALL the Conrads HERE if you’d like a peek!

Fair warning, there’s a lot of cuteness going on there!

So now it’s on to the rest of the catch-up. I think I’d better start with those thank-you notes! Or maybe the bank statement. Or maybe that new book……