Just Some Of The Many Atmospheres Of Canton

November First Monday at Canton was as expected…..a barn burner. The weather corporated and the crowds showed up all four days. You couldn’t ask for a more perfect weekend with our lows in the upper 40’s and our highs in the upper 70‘s. Parking was wall to wall, some Rver’s dry camping on the grass and in the parking lots and we’re told some were illegally parked as you could hear the loud speaker system blaring “move it are be towed”.

I thought I would give a sampling of just some of the merchandise that you can find at this place. Remember this is only a few of the many vendors that are here. We understand that there is approximately 7,000 vendors between the City, Lewis’s, Old Market Place, On the Mountain, Dog Alley, and The Market Place. If you don’t find it here it doesn’t exist.

One of the many parking lots. This one is behind our booth.

Typical crowd in our Pavilion 4000 Saturday.

The Junk Man’s booth. One mans junk another's treasure.

How about some plants?


Wisconsin Cheese.

Furniture‘


Seasonal Wood Crafts

Clothes


Anybody for a bath.

These are just some of the things you’ll find here. If you are traveling to the RGVC or Southwest and happen to be in the area stop by and say hi.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Lordy Lordy Look Who's Going To Be Forty

October 28th our youngest son, Tim will reach that milestone of mid-life ....40 years old. Usually this midlife crisis means a Harley, grow a beard, wear a do-rag, OMG I'm getting older and I need/want to do it all now. I don't recall my 40th but I'm sure being a guy I did go through this stage in my life.
When it comes to his job Tim is a workaholic and gives his company a 110%. He loves his daughter and family. Tim, Sandy and I love you very much and wish you the best on your 40th.

Until next time…..MtnAire Travlers.

November Canton, Friends and Double Whammy

We arrived at Canton a little later on Friday due to our late start that morning. Upon arrival we were surprised to see the number of RVer’s that were already here. Usually this is a good sign for that many to be here the weekend before First Monday. We had a very nice thunderstorm hit Saturday evening that dumped about 2” of rain on us. There were more thunderstorm alerts for Sunday as well.

Our friends Mark and Dortha arrived here Sunday afternoon around 3pm. After they got into their spot they came over to our home. It sure was great in seeing them again. We set and visited and caught up on all their summer travels. Boy, what a grand time they had these past four months…..what an adventure.

Sandy made an excellent taco salad for our dinner and while visiting the weather siren went off indicating a severer weather system was near and may have a tornado in it. There were reports of large size hail in some of the storms so we drove both Jeeps over to park them under the pavilion. That was the first bad weather alert as later in the evening we had the second system roll toward us that had heavy thunderstorms, lighting, and winds. We headed to the 
bathhouse for protection from the storms. Both systems supported 
tornados but none touched down in our area.

The second system came from the same direction as the first one. 
Reports said it was just as bad as the first and off to the bathhouse 
we go for the second time. We called Mark and Dortha to give them a heads up. They chose to stay home this time. In fact there were only three couples there this time. In all we had a total of 54 weather alerts between the two storms. We are so thankful all we got out of it was just the wind, very little rain, no hail but lots of thunder and lighting.

Monday we were up and traveled to Tyler (see Mark and Dortha’s blog for what we did while there). They treated us to the best BQ we’ve had in a while at Rudy's Bar-B-Q. Let me tell you this was absolutely the best I’ve had bar none. I had a sliced brisket sandwich that had at least five or six slices of brisket. Boy was it finger licking good. Their cream corn was out of this world. We sampled their turkey and it is AMAZING!!!

After returning we were to full to eat dinner so we joined in on our neighbors (Bob and Sandra’s) happy hour. We all adjourned around 9pm as Mark and Dortha were getting up earlier for their ten hour drive to the RGV.

This morning they were off around 8:30 am and headed out. We wished they could have stayed longer but we understand. They have a lot of work to do to their coach house at Retama  Village. We had a grand time even though it was short.

There they go!

If you will look real close this photo shows the early arrivals for our November show this weekend. The RV spots are now more than half taken. Come Thursday I would expect them all to be full of Rver’s. We had to go to our Post Office in Diana this morning to pick up some inserts that our supplier mailed to us but did not arrive in time. On our way Sandy and I counted at least sixteen motorhomes and trailers heading west. We assumed most of these were winter snow birds headed South to the valley or to the Southwest.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

What A Special Day and What A Grand Event

Yesterday morning Sandy and I were up at 4:20am. We pulled out at 5:15am and headed south on Hwy 259 to Henderson where we stopped for breakfast at Whataburger. They remodeled the place about a year ago and their theme for the inside was electric guitars and surfboards.

It wasn't long before sunrise and the trip to Rosemont took four hours. When we went into moms room she was napping and when she awoke what a surprise.
Dren my sister arrived shortly afterwards and Sandy and her proceeded to help mom get dressed for her big day.





  What a day it was. We had 23 people who showed up to help mom celebrate this special day. The facility at Rosemont fixed a wonderful meal for everyone. You had a choice of either Salisbury Steak or Cranberry Chicken with potatoes, carrots and rolls.

Her 93rd birthday celebration started shortly after lunch where she was presented a great cake and we all singed Happy Birthday.
The Blasingame (their maiden name) girls Waden, Joan and Barbara were responsible for organizing and getting this great event together for all family and friends.  They have always shown and given so much love to mom. We are so grateful for them. Of course my sister Dren, who is the primary care taker for our mother, was also involved and she brought that wonderful cake.
 

All good things must come to an end. Most guests headed their separate ways about 2pm. My sister, Sandy and I stayed and had dinner with her before heading out back to Lone Star around 6pm. Before leaving though Sandy wanted to make that stop at the HEB her favorite grocery store to pick up some item's you don’t find at other stores.

What a day we all had. We sure were glad we were headed West as the East bound traffic was bumper to bumper. We arrived at the Motorhome at 11:30pm.
We were up a 6 am this morning and was on the road to Canton by 7am. When we pulled into the parking lot we knew right away this was going to be a good first Monday crowd. There were about five 5er’s already here and they had about six spaces blocked off for future arriving friends. We just hope the weather holds up and if it does this First Monday will probably be bigger than last month. Our friends Mark and Dortha from Ft Worth hopefully can make it here Sunday before going to the RGV.

What about them Texas Rangers!!!!!!!!! First World Series ever.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

A Special Tribute To A Special Lady

Tomorrow October 21st my mom will be 93 years young. We will get up early in the morning and drive the 240 miles to Houston to be there with her and family on this special day. She does not know we are coming as she thinks this being the weekend we travel to Canton and won’t be able to make it.

We are so thankful the Lord has blessed us with this fine Lady for the past 93 years. She does not get around very well but she has a sharp mind and loves life itself. Her love for others is unparalleled to anything I know. In all my years I don’t recall anger coming from her lips only smiles and love. She has touched so many with her love. Loving is what she is, its how she is and is who she is. So, mom happy 93rd. We love you!

GO RANGERS!!

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Home Repairs and Restoring The Headlight Lenses

The headlight lenses on the home were yellowed due to UV and exposure over the past nine years. Not only were they dull they just didn’t seem to give us the quality of light for night time driving. I first thought I would just replace them until I found out that each lens assembly would run me about $280.00 each. I have heard and read about the headlight lens restorer kits you could buy but just never had the faith it would clean and restore the lens. When in Wal-Mart the other day I found this kit and it’s price was under $10 so I said it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

The kit includes 3 lens restoration pads, lens clarifying compound, spray lubricant and a lens sealing wipe. After reading the instructions I started restoring the passenger side headlight lens. The four steps took about twenty minutes. Afterwards I could see quite a bit of difference and proceeded to do the drivers side. Overall it took less than an hour and they look better. They weren’t crystal clear as the originals would look but they certainly looked a lot better. How much improvement for night driving we will find out the next time we do nighttime driving.

I took before and after photos but for some reason the before didn’t turn out at all. Here is the after. Take my word they look a lot better even though there is still a light yellow tint which I believe may be on the inside of the lenses.

As to the home maintenance we needed to replace all of our fluorescent lamps in the ceiling and replace the lighting fixture in the bed room as this one didn't work any more (we thought). When at the RV dealer in Longview where I purchased six pairs of 15watt fluorescent tubes I checked on the price of the new fixture. It was $69+ and I decided right then we would go to plan B. Plan B was to swap one of the units up front that we hardly never used with the bedroom unit.

While I was in the process of undoing the mounting screws up front Sandy was in the bedroom removing its mounting screws. All of a sudden Sandy asked “what is this switch for on the side of the light fixture”. I replied that it was an on-off switch. Then I heard…. “stop disconnecting your fixture this one now works”. What apparently had happened this switch was turned off accidently and the wall switch we use for turning the unit on-off did not respond. So, we assumed the transformer  was bad. What is it about that word assume???????

Just think I could have dropped nearly $70. Lesson learned don’t assume and check everything before replacing it..

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Finally We Are Blessed With Much Needed Rain

It's been over six weeks since this area has received measurable rain fall. We were 17" below our normal rain fall for this time of the year. Our lakes, streams, stock tanks and creeks are way down. But, today the good Lord has blessed us with a good steady rain that has gone on now for several hours. Probably not enough to return these water reservoirs and supply sources to normal but for what we receive we're very grateful.

We came into town today to to pick up supplies for ourselves and Sandy’s mom. Boy did it rain! You could barley see across the highway from Chick-fil-a where we met Sandy’s sister Pam and her husband Mike for lunch.. They have a new spicy chicken sandwich which was great. 

  Due to the down pour of rain we were able to get in a good visit with them while eating our sandwiches. They were in Georgetown, TX over the week end for Mike’s 35th high school reunion. We also learned that he might consider retiring from full time pastoring to maybe part time. I told him he should consider retiring completely and get them some sort of an RV and travel the 48 states while he’s still young and has his health. On our way back to Lone Star the bottom fell out on us about halfway to the motorhome.

Driving as you can see was tricky and in several places we hydroplaned which in the Jeep is quite scary. Sorry for all the photos and words dealing with the rain but as I stated early it’s been so long since our last rain that this was an event for us.

One would think this being my 100th blog (whoopee) for this year I would find or do something else that would be more exciting. But, what you see and read is the best I can do for now.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW

This was sent to me by our dear friend from Atlanta Ga. It moved me so much that I wanted to share it. Who took the photos no one knows. This was a beautiful example of our inability to know how other animals handle loss. Inspiring to know God's smallest creatures are full of love.   A female mate was hit by a car as she swooped low across the road, and the condition was soon fatal. Her male mate brought her food and attended her with love and compassion. He brought her food again, but was shocked to find her dead. He tried to move her - a rarely seen effort. Aware that his mate was dead and would never come back to him again, he cried with adoring love... ...and stood beside her with sadness and sorrow. Millions of people were touched after seeing these photos in America , Europe, Australia , and even India .  The photographer sold these pictures for a nominal fee to the most famous newspaper in France .  All copies of that edition were sold out on the day these pictures were published. And many people think animals and birds don't have brains or feelings.  You have just witnessed love and sorrow felt by God's creatures.  The Bible says that God knows when a sparrow falls.  Imagine how much He cares for us! Live simply, love generously, care deeply, and speak kindly. Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Just A Great First Monday Week

Our weather for the past five days as been great. Crisp cold mornings with the days being in the mid to low 80’s. Our high today is expected to be in the low 70’s. Our crowds have been just what you expect for this time of the year. The aisles and parking were loaded with people and automobiles. All of the major restaurants had lines of people waiting to get in to eat. I have no idea how large the crowds were. We had one couple tell us they were having to stay at a hotel in Tyler as all the rooms in this immediate area were booked. This is not that unusual for this time of the year. Tyler is 38 miles east of Canton. All RV spots were full before Thursday.

The best of all is they came with money in hand and purchased. I would say all of us vendors will go home with smiles on our face and looking forward to the November First Monday show as it to usually is a good one too. When in line this morning to pay our booth rent for next month I over heard one vendor say… “We are so blessed". Yes, I would say we are blessed and very thankful for what the good Lord sends our way. Not only has it been a great weekend for us, it so happens I turned 74 yesterday and that in itself is a blessing. It’s better than the other alternative.

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.