"Today is a Good Day to Drive!" .....Van-Go

After finding a room at the Frederick Motel ( www.frederick-motel.com ) we drove down to Luckenbach where Danny Terry was entertaining. We listened to some music. Will presented bartender Judge Mike Haley with a Pittsburgh Steeler's 75 th aniversary Bud Lite for the bar. We were on our way out when we caught Jay Sims and had a nice little chat; his new CD is coming out soon. Check him out at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile& friendid =129197348 We missed ShAnnie Band's opening set at the Auslander , but got a chance to say hello to Annie and Shan . They thanked us for our review of their new CD Water Over Stones on MySpace . You can hear songs from the album and order one for yourself at their website http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile& friendid =150305923

By the time we got into Johnson City we were hungry. Where to eat? The Texas 290 Diner! Robin, the owner, saw Will wearing his Luckenbach tee shirt and shared that she was married there recently. She showed us her invitation that had Mike Hadley as JP. Kathy had some really moist juicy fried catfish and Will had a tasty Ruben.

We started to head south toward The Valley, but the car just wanted to go toward the Hill Country. We paused it in Marble Falls and walked around the Rodeo Store where they were having an old car auction.

We made our way to Temple, Texas after twenty-four hours straight driving from Pittsburgh. Hungry we stopped to get some pizza and tried their hotwings too; they are really good. We went up to pay our bill and the cashier told us that our table was already checked out. We said we didn't pay yet. Our waitress and the cashier tried to make sense of the computerized register. They called over the manager who agreed that our table was cashed out so he guessed our meal was free. We wished everyone a Happy New Year, gave the waitress a nice tip and headed over to our motel where we watched some TV and got on the internet for some catch up on blogs. NEW MOVIES IN THE GALLERY

We leave for south Texas this evening and plan to spend New Year's Eve at Harley's. We wish each and everyone an evening of celebration that is full of fun and good cheer and safe. If you did not receive a Van Go calendar and would like one just email us your snail mail address or print this one out.

We all arrived at Sueann's about 1pm and such a spread of munches we enjoyed. Then, White Elephant, that special recycled gift that can go round for round. This year the most wanted were the wine carraf filled with pennies and kisses, a little watch in the shape of a guitar and a package of somores. The meal was sooooo good with beef and ham, a salad that melted in your mouth with favors jumping all over your tongue, green beans from Sueann's garden, mushroom cassarol and mash potatoes. The $10 gift exchange went well with gift cards, blankets, lottery tickets and cash. We passed around fresh Texas grapefruits and boxed Kathy made filled with treasures from our travels. Cookies and cakes ended the day. It was wonderful spending time with family.

Kathy had a long chat with Justin as she opened her Christmas presents and he opened his. Check out his new bike- pictures on his blog.

And all through the house there arose such a chatter....Will's cousin Tim and his family, his daughter Nicole and her family brightened the house with good cheer.

We spent the day in great anticipation....

We found the perfect tree at Walmart! Will topped it with Aunt Flo's homemade angel. Kathy put Justin's train around the bottom. Will treated us to dinner at John Anthony's restaurant. And we had time to play with the grandchildren.

Kathy got the results back on the mammogram and sonogram; normal cystic cells in all three areas!

We started at 6am. We made 155 dozen cookies, about half our usual baking extravaganza. Santa came along riding on a Fire truck and we gave him and his elves a dish of cookies. By 7pm we had all the cookies packaged and ready to take home. Don, thanks for treating us to pizza dinner.

It has been a tradition for over a decade that we meet up in the Strip District of Pittsburgh where families purchase their Christmas holiday foods. We usually join in for the eatting; this year we met at Wholey's Fish Shop where tons of fish are sold each day to restraunts and families.

We celebrated Damiana's birthday; she is now six. Taryn has grown up so much in the last few months and Nicole looks great.

Kathy and her sisiter Maria drove across town to their sister Sueann's house to pick up some chairs and what a surprize they found-Jill and her two children! Sueann's house, right out of Better Homes and Gardens, was a splash of toys.

First stop in Pittsburgh was Kathy's sister's. Carmine and Kathy zipped out to shop for Cookie Day! (Check out the slide show to the right for Cookie Day pictures from 2001-2006) Will passed the time computerating and chatting with Robert. Brian and Stevie, it was really great seeing both of you; love your new room, Stevie. Brian, we look forward to reading your latest writings.

We knew when we got near Pittsburgh....traffic! What a site when we came out of the Fort Pitt Tunnel!

The road kept on rolling and we kept on driving. It took twelve hours to get out of Texas. In Austin the car overheated and we were lucky to be near a gas station. Coolant cost us $13.95!The next twelve took us through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. We found a room at Motel8 with the light still on. There was snow on the ground around the bushes! Cracker Barrel was next door so we walked over and while enjoying the fire in the huge fireplace we had a roast beef dinner. The walk back to the motel was quick and we were asleep before we hit the bed.

December 16, 2007 We are in heading north mode: ‘Twas a week before Christmas and all through the van Getting ready for home, just as much as we can A briefcase of papers and bags full of shells Make filling the MR as hard as, well… With a trunk in the front and a trunk in the back You would be amazed at how much we could pack It’s two thousand miles to our destination A spare can of gas may be our salvation When we thought about leaving the Rio Grande Valley We planned one last stop to visit John Harley Some live country music and hot BBQ Then we’re off down the road till Pittsburgh’s in view

December 15, 2007 We woke parked at the Walmart; we have a nice spot we like way off to one side where we face a little lawn and have our own palm tree. Not many people park in this area because it is farther to walk into the store; at night a few other overnighters park in the lot, but they park up with the trucks so we pretty much have this area to ourselves. From there we drove to Victor Park, a community park with tennis courts, picnic area and fields for sports. The restrooms were locked, but no biggie as we have our own facilities. Will started up the generator and worked on a letter to the Chevy Guy in New Brunswick he has been formulating in his mind ever since we left Canada. The Roadtrek just stopped one day and we had to have it towed and lucky for us it was to a Chevy repair garage. We had our fuel tank fixed and they cut the fill tube. Roadtrek had designed a specialty one they didn’t have so they just jury rigged one. Fixed they said; we paid the bill of over a thousand d

December 14, 2007 After working on the MR2 and preparing for departure to Pittsburgh we drove over to Mary’s. Kathy gave her a Boone National Forest pinecone with tiny shells from Ocean City, Maryland decorating it and a string of beads to bring out some color. She also passed along Billy Graham’s Angel book. Mary made us each a fruit smoothie which we enjoyed while sitting on the porch playing Joker. Today we learned two new rules: jumping to the center and playing your team member’s hand. We got to be okay players. Mary and Bob treated us to a yummy dinner; she made a really tasty squash that they brought from MI where Dee and Rich grow prize veggies. After dinner the games began. We played with Joy and Gene making it a round of 6 for Joker. It is definitely more confusing playing with six and with the new rule of playing for your team (we played girls vs guys) of three it was quick and challenging to keep up. We played in the game room of the park where others sat at tables playing

December 12, 2007 After a lazy morning walking South Padre Island beach we switched out the Roadtrek for the sports car and drove to Progresso. We walked crossed the International Bridge into Progresso Mexico for the last time this year. The streets are crowded with cars; the sidewalks are crowded with vendors and shoppers. We explored a few stores and perused a few vendors as we made our way to Al Jalisco’s, our favorite place to eat. Mexican food at its best is served here. Live music and dancers entertain the crowds. Artists stop by wanting to catch customers in character. The heavy wooden chairs fall with a loud crash is not pushed back just right; Kathy knows she listened as someone else did it and then proceeded to tip her own chair upon leaving. How embarrassing! We made our way back up the street past the vendors and shoppers. Police were blocking off the road; a few trucks past with children aboard. Women walked behind in celebration of Saint Mary. Three youngsters were sittin

December 10,11, 2007 Two days at the beach. After stopping at Laguna Atascosa and watching Merrill and Sally paint and Al and Phyllis work the visitor center we headed for the beach at South Padre Island. We parked in our spot along Ocean Blvd. and enjoyed sand sun and waves. As we slept the ocean dunes came alive with such activity. We could tell because in the mornings we followed foot prints where crabs had dug out their holes and made excursions, rabbits hopped about, mice skittered to and fro, raccoons searched for food and a coyote, dog or bobcat sniffed. As morning brightened the blowing sands hid all evidence that anything happened. We watched a large sand crab. He dug out a new home and then abandoned it. He played dead covering most of his body with sand. If we had not watched him stop and cover we would not have even seen him. We looked away, and then back and he was gone.

December 9, 2007 The morning haze lifted and the sun came peeking out from the whispy clouds. The beach was practically empty. There is a man living in his trailer parked out at the shore, but he leaves in the morning and returns for a short time in the afternoon, then leaves again in the evening. We found another load of shells and headed back across the dunes to our spot from breakfast. In the early afternoon a 200 Popular Roadtrek pulled up. We met Sherry and Dan from Northeast Indiana. Kathy learned to crochet squares while Will and Dan talked Roadtrekese. We realized after a call from Carmine that it was Sunday not Saturday...where did we loose a day? We cleaned up and headed over to Harley's for some live music and BBQ.

December 8, 2007 We got up way early 5am and Will took advantage of shower facilities. We drove off a little before sunrise hoping to get out around the auto tour loop to Laguna Madre for sunrise, but the gate was closed. We waited and waited and finally decided to drive to South Padre Island. We made a quick stop at Wal-Mart. The red round sun was burning off the night haze. Our spot along the ocean road was open and we pulled right in. Pelicans flew over in flocks of 10-30 heading or open water and breakfast. Our stay at the Gulf of Mexico was relaxing we walked along the shore looking for more shells with snail holes in them, laid them in the sun to dry and bagged them up. We have enough we figure for about 10 strings at 6 foot. The sands were blowing and we watched the footprints fill in and disappear. We lunched up on the dunes where we could watch the ocean’s white waves and the calmer waters of Laguna Madre in the distance. Another great beach day!