NOMADing in St. Petersburg

Our blog's been silent as we spent time with family and friends. Now it's back on the RV road. We're with the NOMADS again doing volunteer work in St. Petersburg, Florida. The first week Drew redid a wood deck while I did some painting. Last week and this week we've been laying laminate flooring. It's our largest single project yet, covering a whole downstairs--living room, dining room, kitchen, den, foyer and hallway. We're pretty tired, but feel good knowing we've helped a very nice family here.

Christmas + Kids = FUN

Ah, what laughs when you get six kids under the age of 13 together to celebrate a family Christmas. We had a great time in St. Louis with the kids and grandkids. We wish each of our blog followers a joyous Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Snow Dog

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . . at least after today's snow. Our Florida dog wasn't too sure about it at first and didn't want to come out, but he was soon romping around having a great time. We're only one of two RV's in the campground here in the St. Louis area. Guess everyone else was smart enough to head south by now! We'll be doing the same right after Christmas. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Ice! in Texas

Well, it was INSIDE, but it was ice none-the-less. The Gaylord Texan has an annual tradition of presenting a truly spectacular 14,000-square-foot "ICE!" exhibit. This year it was a Charlie Brown Christmas, featuring a variety of magical holiday scenes and sculptures hand-carved by 40 visiting artisans from China. Walking through the exhibit, you feel as though you've been transported to the North Pole. You bundle up in warm parkas and enter a winter wonderland created with TWO MILLION pounds of ice and kept at a wintry 9 degrees. Charlie Brown and friends have never been cooler.

Missouri Wine Country

Autumn is a wonderful time to tour the wineries in central Missouri. We got together with Drew's sister, Kathleen, and her husband, Dave, and traveled the Missouri Weinstrasse from Defiance to Augusta. Lunch was at the Montelle Winery, on a deck overlooking the Missouri River valley. A spectacular setting.

A Family Affair

Our 5-year-old granddaughter, Sophia, is playing soccer this year. Coaching the team are her parents, Jill and Tony. What a hoot to watch! The girls take the game pretty seriously, but their attention span often wanes.

Pet Rocks

I developed a fascination with Michigan's Petoskey stones and couldn't take a walk without searching for them. I ultimately found close to 200 on the campground property. I only got around to polishing about half of them, since I don't have professional equipment to make the job easier. I kept the ones you see here and will be giving some to the grandkids and anyone else who shows an interest! Me and my Dremmel have been busy. The stones I polished but didn't keep are in the campground store and the unpolished ones will be given to a fellow rock enthusiast.