On our way to Cooper, TX We arrived in Cooper, TX on Saturday, January 6th just as it was getting dusk.  We had planned on being there earlier in the day, but we had a flat on the RV and had to wait to get it fixed before we could leave Mauriceville, around 11:30 am.  All good, as there were others there before us and we got a spot in front with no one on our passenger side, so it worked out well for Annie to get in and out of the RV using her ramp.  When we got there, there was just a concrete slab but on Monday, the guys did a great job getting the sides of the building up Over the next couple of days, they started putting on the walls, the braces for the pull through drive way and then the trusses.   The ladies of the church served lunch and dinner each day.  They did a great job!!!  PLENTY to eat and even left overs to take to our Rigs after dinner, the first couple of nights.  Then, they adjusted the amount of food ...

Back in Mauriceville before New Year's.  We were invited on Dec 31st to join the rest of the church in a little get together.  They had tons and tons of snacks and we really enjoyed the fellowship with everyone. We went back to our RV as everyone had places to go to spend time with their families and friends.  We watched TV for a bit and then went to bed.  But, you could hear the fireworks going off all around us throughout the night.   We spent the first week of the New Year helping out where we could at the church.   We helped our new friend, Maxine move buckets, trim, heavy items and other things left behind, from the sanctuary.  We had to use a dolly to move out the larger items.  It took us about 3 hours.  Not bad for 3 old people, lol.  Maxine also is a VCBer...but this is her church and she was mainly in the kitchen but you could find her helping out everywhere else, too. I got a few good recipes from...

Rather than share each day spent in Florida, which is really only of interest to us....I have decided to just share the main things we did and then get back to our work with VCB. We shared our Anniversary with our Son.  We went out for breakfast at a place he hadn't been to before.  Later, that day, he took us out for dinner for our anniversary and we also spent part of the day on Christmas Eve, together...and then David and I went to the St Augustine outlet malls.  Wow...did we ever get a long walk in.  I think I got 7,000 steps that day and 5,000 of them were at those two malls. Here is something you don't see often near a mall parking lot. And, really, who in their right mind would attempt to feed an alligator?  I did look really close as we were driving past that area.....kind of hoping I'd see one so I could get a photo :-) Here are some of the places we visited over the course of a few days.  Whitey's Fish House.  It was so cool to si...

Almost there! Finally, entered Florida and headed for St Augustine to our RV park. Our Son met us there and we visited for a bit.  Great to see my Grand dog, Reggie, too. We headed over to Sonny's BBQ across the street where we enjoyed Gator Tail and Deep Fried Pickles for appetizers. Evidently, I didn't get a photo of the Gator Tail.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually really good.  And, I LOVED the Deep fried pickles. We went back to the RV and visited a bit more than decided to call it a night and Jim would come get us in the morning and we'd drive down to Daytona Beach and tour the Daytona International Speedway. Next day, Friday,  on to Daytona!!       Tickets in hand, we only had a 1/2 hour wait for our Tour Tram What a huge speedway!!!  Never imagined it being this huge!!! I took a ton of photos but couldn't begin to do it justice. One of the turns on the speedway. is ...

Wow, when I wrote that last post in Mauriceville, TX, I had no way of knowing I wouldn't have Wi Fi for weeks.  YIKES!!! And, a good lesson I have learned from that is, yes, you CAN survive without e-mail and the internet.  Not fun, but it's doable!! :-) So, to carry on....I'll catch you up on our trip to FL. and then our break for Christmas. Since all the other VCBrs had left to go home or other places for the holidays, we decided to stick around for a couple of days before taking a trip to Florida, to see our younger Son, for Christmas. David was signed up to work at a church in Vidor, TX, just 12 miles west of Mauriceville with one other guy from the previous group, for a week.  So, I stayed at the Mauriceville location while the two men worked in Vidor during the day.  On December 14 th , they were finished over in Vidor but, the pastor at Mauriceville invited us to stay till we took off for Florida on Monday, December 18 th .  And, he ...