Christmas In Texas

My Brother Wayne and All Of His Family

This will be the first time in a long, long time that I've been able to celebrate Christmas with my brother Wayne and his family. Jerry and I were looking forward to it. Even though our children will miss us at Christmas time they are glad we have this opportunity.

Wayne, Gerry Beth, Jerry and the family
Wayne and I With His Family

My Sister In Law Myrte and Her Family

We really had a good time being with Wayne, Myrte and their family during Christmas. My niece Gerry Beth fixed a real good dinner and we spent the day talking about old times and getting to know the new relatives. It was truly an enjoyable Christmas. We would like to do it again soon while we're all still here.

These pictures were not taken during Christmas but I thought they would be appropriate here.

Wayne, Myrte and I

Wayne, Myrte and Jerry

Wayne, Myrte and Gerry Beth's Husband Jim

Gerry Beth, Myrte and Jerry

Gerry Beth, Myrte, Wayne and I

Tarpley, Texas

On December 14 we arrived at Caribbean Cowboy RV Resort in Tarpley Texas. The park is small but it's real nice and quiet. They have a lot of activities here to keep you occupied and the owners are real nice and friendly. It's not too far from Kerrville, Fredericksburg or San Antonio either.

The Texas Hill Country is really beautiful even in the winter time. The weather here is very mild and not at all cold like it is back in Montgomery.

Bandera Texas, The Cowboy Capital Of The World is only ten miles from us. It's a small town of 975 but they have a lot of interesting things to see and do there. On the Court House Square they had a Cowboy Nativity Scene there.

Since Bandera is the Cowboy Capital Of The World what would you expect for Christmas?

End Of Holiday Season

We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving with our children, grand children and great grand children and their families. As usual we ate too much but then that only happens once a year.

We had Christmas with our daughters and families here in Montgomery and we really had a good time.We had a wonderful dinner at Billie's home and the food was out of this world.

On December 11th we had Christmas at Karen's home in Meridian MS. We had our two grand daughters and their families there too. Again we had a wonderful dinner at Karen's and a big Christmas tree with all the kids and great grand kids too.

We had to move up our Christmas with our family here because we have Christmas plans with my brother in San Antonio Texas. We'll leave here in a day or two and head back to Texas.

Our children don't really like the idea that we're not going to be here for a long time but they have learned to get use to it after several years of our being on the road so much.

New Knee Check Up

We had a follow up appointment with Dr McGrory to see how well Jerry's new knee was doing. He had her bend her knee and he was very well pleased at the range of motion. He told her to continue doing some therapy and he would see her next October.

She can now walk through a WalMart of Mall with no problems and that's something she has not been able to do for several years. Of course now that she can do that it means that she'll want to go there more and it'll cost be money. Oh well I guess it's worth it.

Our children and friends cannot believe that it's been just a little over a month since Jerry had total knee replacement. She can walk with out the use of a cane or a walker and there is no limp in her walk.

Now that she's doing so well we will be here till after the holiday season and then head back to the Texas Hill Country to spend the rest of the winter. We really like it there and can't wait to get back there.

New Bass Pro Shop

A new Bass Pro Shop has opened in Prattvile which is just about 20 miles from us. We went with our daughter Billie to see what this store was all about. She said they had over one million dollars of stuffed animals of all types.

We were informed that each Bass Pro Shop is different and that no two are alike. They spend a lot of money building and fitting these stores. Also Bass Pro Shops allow RVers to spend the night in their parking lots.

Going Home

When I got to the hospital, the medical Doctor had already made his rounds and had discharged Jerry. He said she was doing just fine and he didn't even prescribe any medication or any other things she had to do.

The nursing staff was very helpful getting all of Jerry's personal effects and the two new gadgets she had to use at home ready to travel. By the time I brought the car around they were at the entrance with Jerry and everything she had. We can say enough about how nice the staff were at this hospital. We would 100% recommend this to anyone who needs orthopedic care.

When we got back to the RV Jerry was able to navigate the three steps into it with no problems at all. She still has a little soreness with it but that's to be expected for a while.

I stopped at the FAMCAMP office to check out and all the manager charged me for was one extra day. He didn't charge anything for today even though it was past the check out time. They were real nice and we'd go back and stay again.

I had called Mick at the RV Park in Montgomery and told him we were on our way back and he said he would have a real good site for me. When we got there he had us parked on the end of the row so that we had a lot larger space and it would be easier for Jerry to get into and out of. He is a real nice man and we really enjoy staying there when we come home.

Jerry starts her therapy tomorrow and will go three times per week for about six weeks. We go back to see Dr McGrory on October 15th for a check up .

Good News and Bad News

When I got to the hospital Jerry was really in high spirits, Dr. McGrory had been in and said she was doing so well he was going to discharge her this afternoon. He had made arrangements for her to have therapy back home starting Monday and go three times a week for six weeks. Good News.

Bad News, the medical Doctor came in and said the fluid around her heart was not totally gone and he was not going to discharge her till it was. I told him we were covered under Medicare and Tricare For Life and they had a time limit on hospital stays. He said, "don't worry about Medicare, we'll take care of them". He said if all went well he would let her come home on Monday. He'll be checking in on her every day till then. These Doctors here are very thorough and they do their best to care for their patients. He said he and Dr McGrory would take care of the therapy schedule and for us not to worry about anything.

Oh well she could be in a worse place, when the nurses learned that Jerry would be for a few more days they assured her they would take special care of her.

We had thought we were going to be able to go home today and my time at Fort Benning FAMCAMP is up today. I had to go back and let them know I was going to have to say till at least Monday and ask for an extension. The manager was real nice about it and gave me a week extension and said when I knew for sure when I would be leaving, we'd take care of everything then. Don't worry about it he said.