March 4, 2009

Kay and Ron, Brooke, Dennis Weaver's oldest daughter from Phoenix, and her boyfriend Vince were here for lunch and some sightseeing. Brooke is 19 and Vince is too, both graduated last year from High School. They are nice kids and Brooke giggles at all of Darry's jokes. She's so cute. They drove up from San Antonio and got here a little after noon. I had ham and turkey for sandwiches, 4 bean salad and chips. Dessert was a banana pudding recipe I found on Kraftfoods.com. They loved it all. We (all 6 of us) got into Ron's Buick (Brooke was in the front center on the little console seat since she had the littlest behind) and went into Bandara and toured the Country Time Museum. Then after that we hit the boutiques in downtown Bandara (very expensive and exclusive). Shopping, but no purchasing. Then we drove up to Camp Verde to the site where Jeff Davis sponsored 32 Egyptian camels to be brought into Texas for ferrying supplies to outpost forts since horses and oxen didn't work well enough. They also imported 25 families to take care of the animals too for a grand total of $30K. The camels worked out very good, but then came the Civil War and the project went down the drain. The camels were let loose and some were purchased by Mexico. All is left is a site that lays claim to being the outpost for Camp Verde camels. After that excursion, we drove on to Center Point down the road 8 miles to Dave's Tavern. Dave is 75+ and runs this restaurant and tavern along with his 50 year old wife and step daughter. The hamburgers are to die for, 1/3 lb of marinated Angus beef with all the fixings. He's also built an aviary (banana plants, trees) along with many birds. Parrots, doves, and many other species. He caters to the biker crowd and that is how we found out about the place through our biker friend Chuck who took us there last year.

So it's been an exciting day of family, food, and sightseeing. We were squashed into Ron's Buick, but we all agreed it was fun. We were back at the Motor Home by 7 and after Vince had another dessert, they were on their way back to SA.

Cell service was sporadic in places today, but I did get your text msg Bob about the computer. We should be at the hotel in Dallas on Thursday shortly after noon. Dallas is the site of the World Ventures Convention that Bob & I are attending. Darry & Honey will stay here in Bandara and Kay & Ron are picking me up and taking me with them to Dallas. They have a Texas Bell Chapter Meeting Friday & Sat at a hotel at the airport. They will let me out at the hotel and pick me up on Sunday to come back with them.

Weather has been beautiful the last few weeks. No rain and it is need desperately. Saw that Albuquerque was to be up to 72 today and KS was to be nice and sunny too. Luckily no snow like the east coast is experiencing.