UPDATE FOR THE GIRLS

Tee says---------------------------------------

While the boys were out in the desert on their "continuing education program", the girls were shopping, dining, laughing, and playing "catch-up" on the last 25 years or so with Judy Pirtle. Talk about a good ole' chin wag! We felt as if our tongues were blistered and our jaws needed to be in traction. Duncan said it was like flipping channels on the TV to different stories. What fun we had!

The boys returned on Sun with smiles and sunburns and scraggly beards. It was a bittersweet and meaningful time for them. Thomas had a flight out on Mon and two hours after we left him at the airport, he called and requested a reservation with us for another night. Seems the plane had mechanical problems as did the one they were going to use to replace it. So--hooray for us! We had him with us for another day!

We had our traditional "kiss off" dinner on Thursday, the 15th, at Red Lobster with the Kochs and this time Duncan's birthday & our anniversary followed the next day. The following day the Kochs headed to Mexico for Thanksgiving with their family & we left for Tucson where we had dinner with the Vigals and Hansons.

Saturday, the 17th, found us in Las Cruces and another absolutely fantastic Sunday Brunch at the Double Eagle in old Mesilla! On Monday we drove to White Sands National Monument which is definitely another wonder of the world. The sands are pure white and powdery--you can't discern grains like beach sand--and the dunes go on for miles. The sky was so blue it almost looked lavender on the horizon and there was not a cloud to be seen--not even a wisp. We saw several Stealth bombers out of Holloman Air Force Base and given our surroundings we almost felt as if we were on a Star Wars set.

Because of weather at this time of year we opted to take the southern route home. Duncan picked up her truck which she had stored in Las Cruces & off we went thru El Paso to Ft Stockton, TX for the night and into Fredericksburg, TX for 5 nights. The RV park had a potluck for Thanksgiving & they provided the turkeys so it was a nice day. We arrived on Wed afternoon in 70 degree temp & 42 degrees is the highest we've had since! They were calling for snow this AM but it was a non-event.

We head for Houston tomorrow where it's supposed to be warmer & hopefully, the holiday travelers will all be back at home.