Holiday Blur: Back in Houston

At Northlake RV Resort in Houston…

I'm beginning to see a pattern here:  Thanksgiving away from home in Branson and Christmas away from home in Houston, both holidays spent with Mindy and her family.  When you're retired and "portable," as we are now, you have some interesting choices in where you gather for family functions; we like that!  Branson was a lot of fun, and we were so glad when Mindy insisted that we join them for Christmas.  It was such a hoot to watch Mason open his gifts--he is so into Santa this year.

We did not come empty handed, of course.  Phannie served well as a "sleigh" on our trip from Ft. Worth to Houston. We had gifts packed everywhere; the overflow from the lower bays went in the cabin, so it was lucky we didn't have any extra passengers.  After arriving in Houston, it took two cars to transport the gifts from Phannie to the kids' house.  

Here is Mae, stuffed to the gills:

We made a video of Mason's wakeup on Christmas morning, and his reaction to Santa's largesse was priceless.  We're so grateful to Mindy and Tyler for sharing this time with us.  And we're so grateful to God for providing us with our blessings of health, prosperity and happiness.  Sadly, many people cannot make that claim, and that would be especially painful this time of year.

We are eagerly awaiting the appearance of our new grandson Pryce.  Mindy is, too; her due date is January 10, and she is pretty uncomfortable most of the time now.

Can't be long now---

We are at Northlake RV Resort in north Houston for a month.  We had tried to get a reservation at Rayford Crossing, a favorite upscale park in Spring, but they couldn't accommodate us for such a lengthy stay.  Northlake is a new and very nice park, well manicured, with all concrete pads and roads.  In that regard, it is every bit as upscale as Rayford Crossing, but we haven't quite figured out the rather remarkable difference in clientele.  Northlake is quite full, but almost all of the occupant rigs are older fifth wheels and travel trailers.  There are a few older gas motorhomes, but there are only six late model diesel big rigs like Phannie.  At Rayford Crossing, there would be a much greater mix of higher-end rigs. We think the location of this park attracts more longer-term guests who are still in the work world.  It doesn't appear there are many retired folks like us here.

Beautiful grounds at Northlake

Great outdoor cooking pavilion

Phannie (background) sitting contentedly in her January parking spot

Inviting pool and guest center

Concrete everywhere but, oddly, nothing but trailers; where are the big rigs?  Phannie is lonely.

Everything is neat, clean and manicured.  No mud ever to track into your coach.

We plan to take a few side excursions while we're in Houston this time, perhaps to Kemah and Galveston, among other places.  Next Tuesday, we are meeting a couple of cyber friends, Kevin and Evelyn, whose blog we read and who are passing through Houston. it will be exciting to visit with them in person.

In February, we are looking forward to traveling to Mercedes, Texas to visit dear friends Ed and Marilyn at their winter home in the Rio Grande Valley.  These two and their cohorts there will provide a fun experience for sure.