Happy Holidays! (Lake Conroe, TX)

Merry Christmas everyone!  We hope this finds you and your family healthy.  

This will be my last post.  I have been posting on this blog and our travel blog for 12 years and I feel it is time to close it down.  Most of our friends and family are in contact with us through Facebook or through emails/text messages.  We will keep traveling and exploring for many more years, but I feel a need to move away from social media. You are welcome to leave a comment below if you would like to stay in contact with me.

So a quick update before I leave:  We left Sutherlin, OR in late September after two of our cats - Dusty and Hitch had most of their teeth extracted.  Poor babies had no idea what happened to them, but they are doing quite well and still eating a lot.

Dusty did a lot of sleeping

While Hitch was back
to causing mischief

Max: I'm so glad I did not have to go to the Vet!

Since we left later than planned, we made good time heading south.  We knew a cold front was right behind us.  We were able to over the Donner's Pass two days before the pass was closed due to snow. 

We made several stops along the way:

Lake Mead near Hoover Dam

View from the front window of Lake Mead

A couple of nights in Homolovi State Park

Then, of course, no road trip is complete without a breakdown or two.  First, the motorhome needed some maintenance, so we spent an unexpected weekend in Tucumcari, NM to get some work done.  In the meantime, we spent some time on Route 66 looking at old buildings and signs.  

 We made it to Oklahoma in time to enjoy Halloween with our granddaughters and our great-grandson.  Finley is such a ball of energy that it was hard to get a photo of him standing still.  The only time I saw him sitting quietly was during his meals.  He loves to eat!

Our visit with family ended up being longer than planned when our new Jeep went into the shop due to a warning alert. The Jeep techs were not having any luck figuring out what was causing the problem.  After waiting several hours, they decided to give us a loaner and kept it for the next three days.  We managed to get our Jeep back just in time to make it to Nacogdoches, TX for our motorhome's scheduled maintenance and new awning installations.  Whew!

On The Cutting Board

A quick look at my latest quilts.  All of these are UFOs that I wanted to get done this year.  I was trying to use up my scraps for these quilts using the Disappearing 4-patch.  The first two were made for our two youngest granddaughters.  They look pretty much alike, but the girls will be able to tell which one is their quilt by the colors in the top right-hand corner.

The dog and cat appliqué design came from FatCat Patterns.  They came out so well that I might use more of her appliqué patterns on my scrappy quilts.

The Happy Hedgehog quilt is by Melly and Me.  This was my go-to project when I just wanted to work with my hands.  I took my time so it took at least two years to finish.

Another 'let's get rid of those scraps! quilt.  The Llama is another pattern from FatCat Patterns.

Finally!  A to Zzz Snowman quilt is done!  I loved embroidering all the different blocks, but I'll admit that I was worried about quilting it without ruining my embroidery work.  I used a swirl for blowing wind or moving snow.  Either way, I think that it came out rather well.  

Well, that's it.  You are all caught up on what we have done recently. 

Happy Quilting! Happy Trails!  And have a Happy New Year!