Tag Archives: Friends

Family and Friends, Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, Pictures of the Adventure

Let’s focus on something else, OK?

April 15, 2026 steph Leave a comment

Yes, today is Tax Day. The TV is telling me, Facebook is telling me, and my phone calendar is telling me. But let’s not dwell on that!

Instead, let’s think about some of the delights from this past week!
Just a week ago, we had an unexpected visit from my niece and family, who live in Michigan. The kids were on Spring Break, so they had traveled to see Mike’s family in Texarkana! And in the overall scheme of things, compared to Michigan, Texarkana is just about next door!

Can you tell they made a stop at Buc-ees before they got to Lindale? =)
We had such a sweet visit. which included a quick game of Skip-bo! Of course!

What a treat!
Then over the weekend, we had a picnic with our Waco gang – more beautiful family time!

We love having at least some of the kids and grands just a couple of hours away, and we’ve found a sweet ‘in-the-middle’ spot that shortens the drive for both of us. Life is pretty busy for this family, so we were happy to find time to connect before we head to Vermont for the summer!

We rounded out the week with dinner with a nearby friend (that we don’t see nearly often enough)

and some time in the sewing room (dare I call it a studio??) where I was able to finish up a wall hanging that I’d had in my UFO (UnFinished Object) pile for about 25 years!

It’s a very well traveled wall hanging. (And now it has traveled to it’s forever home in Waco!)

Tax day or not – it was good to look back over the blessings of the last week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Family and Friends, Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, Pictures of the Adventure

Last Week…

February 23, 2026 steph 2 Comments

…was Great!!!
It started on Sunday, the 15th, when we connected with our Waco kids and grands at our favorite midway point – Corsicana. We celebrated Taran’s 11th birthday

and enjoyed some lovely visit time with the whole family!
me
Certainly, a great way to start the week!
Shortly after we returned from that deliciousness, our friends Don and Jenny arrived from South Dakota!! They were on their way to Galveston and hung around in the SOWER RV lot until Friday. Jenny and I took long walks, made a trip to Tyler to connect with some mutual friends,

had a pedicure date

and generally just enjoyed being neighbors! The guys did a bit of RV service work

and took naps as needed!
Somehow I failed to get a good picture of the four of us, but as they were heading out, I was able to snag this one of Jenny and me!

When some of your dearest friends live in South Dakota, you relish any chance to connect with them! We were so thankful they stopped and spent those days with us!
They left on Friday, just as we were driving to Tyler for Gary’s cardio tests, prompted by his little (non)episode earlier this month. The tests (nuclear stress test and echocardiogram) went well, and now we wait for the next doctor’s visit to have the results explained to us! We have copies of the results, and while they used a lot of words beyond our understanding, there were no trigger words like Blockage or Abnormal or Get-thee-to-the-ER, so we feel confident that all is well. And we thank God for that!

It was a beautiful week of family and friends and life! Thank you for stopping by and sharing it with me!

PS – I also got our taxes done (which included a nice refund), so that was a great box to check off too!

On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure

Westward Ho!

September 1, 2025 steph Leave a comment

The journey continues – next up was Wilmar, Minnesota. We were stopping to see some long-time (and long-time since we’d seen them) SOWER friends, Bill & Carole. They graciously opened their guest cottage (aka their motor home) for us and we enjoyedÂ two nights of good conversation and rest! Those catch-our-breath days were so needed! In fact, there were very few pictures taken between a fuzzy picture of the Minnesota state sign when we crossed the border

and then a quick selfie as we bid a fond farewell!

But they did take us on a lovely drive through their corner of the world, which combined farmland and beautiful lakes, but you’ll just have to take my word on that.
There was this one sign that caught my eye when we were entering a busy limited access highway –

I’m used to seeing those buggy signs (and buggies) on two lane roads in many different areas of the country, but I must confess I was a bit alarmed that I’m being cautioned to watch for buggies on a four-lane highway!!
Oh my – wouldn’t that be a sight!

(picture courtesy of ChatGPT!)

Our Minnesota sojourn was quiet but quite lovely!! I do wish I’d taken more pictures, but my heart still remembers fondly our time there!

Next up – the missing hole in our travel map!
Till next time!

Family and Friends, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure

On to Michigan

August 18, 2025 steph 2 Comments

Michigan was great! Not only were we able to connect with friends we’ve met during our travels, but we were also able to visit with and help out my niece with a house project. So let’s start at the beginning.

We started our Michigan sojourn in Holland – reconnecting with friends we’d met down in the Florida Keys.

Though short, it was still great to see these guys! And it was a sweet start to our time in Michigan.
Next up with the renovation project at my niece’s home in Muskegon. It presented a little bit of a conundrum because their home was small, and there were no beds available for us. I’m happy to report that SOWERs came to the rescue! We contacted SOWER friends who lived nearby(ish) and asked if we could stay with them while we worked in Muskegon. Yes, they said – come!! So while our days were full of dry wall and little boys, our evenings were full of feet-up, kickback conversation. It was a great combo!
But about that renovation! The object was to take this room (which already had its dividing wall removed)

and get it closer to being the home office that they needed!
It was a big job, but with lots of help – it moved right along!

(Start ’em young!)
Our SOWER host even came one day to help out with the ceiling – and what a help that was!

With Bethany at work, and the guys busy with power tools, my job was to keep the younguns’ busy! That job included (but was not limited to) Skipbo, Phase 10, Rummicub, Crazy Uno, a jigsaw puzzle, the local (fabulous) library, and long walks around the neighborhood.

By the end of the week, it wasn’t quite ready for furniture, but it was ready for trim and paint!

To celebrate the progress – we took a lovely walk to the Muskegon Lake waterfront

so the boys could get in a bit of fishing!

It was a great week, helping out this precious family,

but also spending time with some of our SOWER family. Aside from spending time with Tim & Ginger

we also joined another 12 SOWER couples for a “Bring Your Own Picnic” picnic one day –

and had dinner out with others in our SOWER family before we left town!

Western Michigan was grand! It was filled with friends and family, some good work, and lots of good play! I think we might need to do it again sometime! =)
Next up is the Upper Peninsula – still Michigan, but in a class (and post) of its own!
Thanks for stopping by!

PS – Here is a link to more of the Muskegon Project if you’d like!

Family and Friends, On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure

The Journey Continues

August 12, 2025 steph 1 Comment

(We’re still hanging out in SD, but in an effort to continue chronologically from this post …)

After our wonderful time at the Cabin, we turned our truck north – to beautiful upstate NY, not far from the St. Lawrence River. Joe & Kim are dear friends whom we met through SOWERs, and it’s always sweet to spend time with them at their little cabin in the woods.

We were just there for a couple of days, but it was a treat to be able to catch up with them!

It wasn’t long, though, before we were once again on our way –

this time, headed to the NW corner of New York and a day trip into Toronto to see our Canadian family.
Since we knew that crossing into Canada with our trailer would be a hassle, we checked with a SOWER project in the area to see about accommodations and being able to leave our trailer there for the day.

Thankfully, it all worked out, and soon we were on our way to Toronto.
First – Niagara-

then on to Toronto!

We love these guys (my Dad’s second wife and her family), but I must confess I’m not a big fan of navigating Toronto!

But we’re so glad we were able to make the trip. Jo turns 94 at the end of this year, so each visit is more precious than the one before!

Back in the states by the end of the day, and early the next morning we were on our way west – Destination: Michigan!