Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Time flies when you're having fun

Since Thanksgiving we've been stressed by a number of projects all of which needed to come across the finish line before Christmas in order for us to leave for our winter trip as planned.

First, our motor home Shamu:

The passenger side windshield got smashed a while back so she had to go to the hospital for a repair. Everything went as planned and she now has a new windshield.

Second, our house:
We've had construction going on for more than a month now but the final result is wonderful.



It now looks like a brand new house only much better than it was 20 some years ago when it was new. It's now maintenance free with new, bright white siding, new windows, new railings on the porch and new gutters with gutter guards (these stop all leaves etc. from entering the gutters thus no more gutter cleaning).


Third: Shamu just came home from nearly a month in the paint shop.





She's now a beautiful shiny white that's the result of multiple coats of paint and multiple coats of clear coat, a total of ten gallons. She's gained almost a hundred pounds but is beautiful none the less.

Fourth,our Jeep (Elvis) has plastic fender flairs and bumper covers which over the past year have changed from a beautiful bright white to a not so beautiful light tannish hue. Needless to say, we weren't too happy about the change of color feeling that this wasn't part of the deal when the car was purchased. Following some negotiations with the local dealer and factory rep, Chrysler Corporation generously volunteered with a dying breath to make a warranty repair. The local Chrysler dealer did a high quality repair and Elvis is once again a beautiful solid white.

Thinking about all of this, there seems to be a common thread woven through the past month. WHITE!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas Rally

This weekend we attended the annual Christmas rally of our Dogwood FMCA chapter in Williamsburg, VA along with about 60 of our closest motor homing buddies. As usual, there was a bit too much eating to feel good when it's over. Activities started on Friday evening with a delicious BBQ dinner. Saturday started with a group breakfast. Afterward, most of the women spent the day shopping.




The evening activities included wine tasting, dinner and a Yankee gift swap. There was lots of fun for all.