To Waco for Master Clubs Event with Kerby

Our first week in Brownwood flew by, and that weekend (February 14-15), Karen and I took a road trip to Waco to see our brother Kerby, who was down from Cincinnati, Ohio.  He is the General Director of a program called Master Clubs (www.masterclubs.org).  Their purpose is to "teach...and train children how to serve the Lord, based upon their characteristics and their abilities." 

That's Kerby in the red shirt.

Kerby travels around the country selling and teaching the program to church leaders and volunteers far and wide.  (He's also taken it internationally, as well; I know he's been to Brazil and the Bahamas.)  What he was doing in Waco is what they call a Regional competition.  From February through April, he and/or other members of his team travel across the United States to conduct these competitions for children in the program.  The children have studied and practiced what they've learned in the program, and they compete against other children in nearby churches.  They sure know how to make learning fun!  And it's obvious my brother is in his element when he's doing this stuff.  He acts as MC for the event.  It's a super high energy day, and he and his staff don't stop for a moment. 

Just a few of the day's activities...



There are basketball competitions... 

Stacking cups

Kerby, getting some of the leaders lined out for the day.

Crafts

Presentations

Quizzes

And all kinds of competitions

This guy was one of the "line judges".  He has a real gift for
getting the kids involved.

There is also music events (both individual and group, instrumental and voice), puppet theater, and a bunch of other activities too lengthy to get into here.  And at the end of the day--ribbons and trophies! 

The kids absolutely had a blast.  And it's fun to watch the adults, too.  You can really see the pride they take in watching their kids achieve. 

Kerby and Karen

The Toastmaster, project manager, and event coordinator in me was watching my brother that day.  I know the pressure someone in that position feels.  And yet, he made sure that every child he touched that day walked away with a good feeling.  When he was conducting an event in which a group of children was not competing well, he took the time at the end of the event to talk to them and to provide for them an opportunity to compete in a different way so that they could walk away feeling encouraged and understanding how they can do better next year.  All while I knew inside he had to have been feeling all kinds of time pressures to get on to the next thing.  And yet, he never forgot the real thing...the real reason for being there.  I'm proud of that guy.  Even if he is my stinky little brother.  :)

Until later, take care!

Max and Paula

Back in Texas!

We rolled into Brownwood on Monday, February 10.  The trip from Phoenix took us three days / two nights on the road.  The first night was spent in the little town of Deming, NM.  About the time we went to bed, the electricity went out at the park and surrounding area for a couple of hours so we found ourselves boondocking (camping without hookups)--with full hook-ups...that didn't work.  We just piled on the covers and waited for things to start up again.

We spent the second night in Fort Stockton.  Earlier that day, my sister Karen had told me, "Oh, it's so pretty there!"  When we topped the hill going into town, we saw this...

My sis tends to be a bit geographically challenged sometimes.  She said she was thinking of Ft. Davis.  What's a couple of forts between family and friends...  :)

Our first night in Brownwood, it got down to about 17 degrees.  With the wind blowing, it felt even colder than that.  When we hooked up, we thought we would be okay without the heated water hose, but it only took a couple of hours for the water to freeze solid.  So there Max and I were...out in the dark...in the cold...in the wind....trying to switch out water hoses.  Things were leaking.  The hose wouldn't screw on right.  What a mess.  With the help of brother-in-law Greg, we got things going again, though.

You may remember last summer we were in Brownwood when it was 100+ degrees and all of our electrical and battery systems were cratering on us right and left.  We seem to like to camp in Brownwood when the weather is at its most extreme.  LOL!  The life of the Gypsy Turtle! 

Goodbye California - Hello Phoenix

We pulled out of Paso Robles, California Wednesday, January 22. 

Before we left, our friends took one last picture of us on the ol' golf cart we toodled around on for four months.  It was sure nice to have at our disposal while we were there.  We put some miles on it.  And when it was charged up--whoowee!  I loved to zip around the corners!  LOL!  (Don't tell Bob.  He was one of the co-managers and was the park police when it came to adhering to the speed limit.  Maybe sometimes I didn't always do that so well.  :))




We kind of/sort of planned to go about halfway, spend the night, and roll into Phoenix on Thursday.  But we got to that halfway point and just kept rolling on. 

Along the way, we saw a crop-dusting helicopter.  We had never seen such a thing before!  I guess it's pretty handy in all that hilly country.

We finally pulled into Phoenix around 8:30 p.m. that night--about an 11-hour day for us.  That's about 5 or 6 hours too long for my Driver.  It also meant some night driving.  Made us both realize how little driving in the dark we had been doing--and NONE with the Turtle. We had to pull over and make sure our lights were working!  They were....and we arrived safe and sound.

We got to spend a couple of weeks with Max's brother, sister-in-law and mom.  His mom is doing so well, she booked an airline ticket to fly home to Lubbock March 4.  She's excited!  We have some concerns about her managing on her own, but she's determined that she can do it.  So what do you do...

 

On our last day there, we took a drive with Danny and Mary.  They showed us the venue for the 2015 Super Bowl in nearby Glendale.  This is so cool.  This is where they can roll the turf outside and get it out of the way when they want to have basketball games, etc., and need a different kind of floor.

We saw a bit of spring in the trees, which was really nice...























And we visited our very first Cabela's.  This one was complete with a taxidermy's heaven.  We had so much fun!  I can't believe we haven't discovered these stores before.  We will definitely be on the lookout for others along the trail.

Next stop--Texas!  See y'all soon!

Max and Paula

The Elephant Seals

About 40 miles from here, over on Highway 1 just north of Cambria, there are elephant seals.  Real ones.  On the beach.  In their own environment.  Not in a zoo.  Last week, we took a drive over there to check them out.

Two males, about to go at it!

As you can see, they did a bit of checking us out, too.

Their bellowing sounds a bit like...the Ricola man, getting after it
with his horn.

Look at that sweet baby...

I just love catching those seagulls in flight.

Then we drove down to Morro Bay, one of our favorite places around here, to watch the surfers.

 

 

On the way home, we caught a lovely sunset.

Normally during "the rainy season" of January and February,
these hills turn green.  We thought we were going to have the
opportunity to see that while we were here, but it doesn't look like we will.
Nevertheless, they are still hold quite a bit of magic
for us flatlanders.

Real life.  Better than TV.  :)

Our gig here is about done.  We plan to leave here next week--about the 22nd or 23rd.  We will head back to Phoenix and then to Texas for a bit.  We hope to see some of you on our swing through.

Until next time, take care!

Max and Paula

The Holidays and Fun with the New Camera

We had a very nice Christmas in Phoenix with Max's mom, brother and sister-in-law.  We were there for almost a week.  Their house was all decked out for the holidays, and it was beautiful.  I felt pretty spoiled to be able to enjoy the holiday decorations without all the work of putting up and taking down!  "The boys" and their mom watched football, we shopped, cooked, ate and in general just enjoyed the time together.

 

 

 

Mom!

Lemon tree in their backyard.  So pretty.

And an orange tree.  That baby was loaded down!

Danny got a new toy since we were there last.  They and their immediate neighbors
have about a mile of dirt road in front of their houses before they get to the pavement,
and their neighbors are loving his new toy, too.

Mary and her youngest son Charlie.  I had never met him
before, and Max hadn't seen him since he was about 5 years old.
He's grown up a bit since then.

One of our Christmas traditions has always been to purchase a Hallmark ornament--
the ones that have the year on them--for our decoration collection.  This year
we went with something a little different to commemorate our adventures
over the last few months.  It doesn't look exactly like the back of our Turtle,
but it still gets the message across.  We love it!

 

On our way home from Phoenix, we made a swing through Las Vegas and stayed a couple of days.  Our route took us right by Hoover Dam.  What an incredible site! 

 

Highway 93 to Hoover Dam.  Some pretty scenery.

As we got close to the dam, we began to see the massive electrical grid
that it supplies--an average of 4.2 billion kilowatt hours
per year.

And then the dam itself. 

The dam was constructed between 1931 and 1936.  Thousands of workers were involved in the effort.  Such a large concrete structure had never before been built, and some of the building techniques were unproven.  Over 100 lives were lost during its construction.




The four intake towers on the Lake Mead side.

A WWII "pillbox", built by the military to guard the dam.
There were originally six of them, but this is the last one remaining.
Some stories say it was manned again right after 9/11.



A view upriver from the dam.  Obviously the water level has
drastically changed over the years.



A monument to the builders of the dam.

The bypass bridge.

Lake Mead.  And some pretty cool clouds!

The Mr. and the Mrs.

I remember Dad talking about visiting Hoover Dam when he was stationed in Las Vegas while in the Marines in the early '50's.  He was so fascinated with it, which is not a surprise if you knew my dad.  He was one of those people who could build and fix almost anything.  And to think that the dam was only about 20 years old when he was there!

 

Then it was off to Las Vegas!  We stayed at the Paris.

 

 

 

 

It was our first time to stay at that particular hotel.  With it being the holidays, it was CROWDED.  All of Vegas was crowded, for that matter.  It really wasn't until the (early) morning that we left, when most people were still in bed, that we were able to truly enjoy the beauty of the hotel.  Up until then, we spent most of the time just trying to push our way through the crowds.  :(  The views outside were beautiful, though, and we had a lot of fun with our new camera up and down the Strip.

 





Inside the New York New York, the Statute of Liberty, made of Jelly Belly's.  
I know some kiddos in Indian Creek that would have
gotten quite a kick out of this.

We were right across from the Bellagio's and really enjoyed their water show.



A view from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Christmas decorations in the Bellagio.

Always love the Coca-Cola bear!  This was also inside
the Bellagio.

 



 

Our very special treat was a Doobie Brothers / Steve Miller Band concert at the Hard Rock.  The Doobie Brothers were awesome.  We weren't so much into the Steve Miller Band, but they were interesting to see.  One of the most interesting things about the concert was just looking around at all those old rockers.  :)  And the young ones, too.  There was a group of four teenagers sitting directly in front of us, and they were jamming out, baby!

 





The Doobie Brothers, getting DOWN.

Steve Miller Band.  Interesting backdrop.  Yes, those are ears.

 

Then it was back here to California for the New Year's.  We rocked in the New Year's here at the resort with a party and a live band, good friends, good food, and even a bit of dancing.

 



Bonnie and Bob

The lady in the green shirt was the belle of the ball.  
She's in her 80's, has had triple bi-pass surgery,
and is loving life.  The expressions on her face were hilarious!

Maria and Doug



Michael

And last but not least...

 

 

Happy New Year, y'all!  Until next time,

 

Max and Paula