Hank and Lillie Return to McKinney

It is always wonderful to be with friends we have met along our journeys and some of those friends become very special to us. Hank and Lillie are two such people. We enjoy their company and when we meet up, it is like we never left each other. A really nice feeling.

Well hank and Lille returned to get new shades installed into their motorhome and they would be with us for a week. It was time to get out and see some things we have not seen before, so we went down to the Plano Mall, not too far from here. This is a really huge mall and it even has an indoor ice rink. Some kids were practicing hockey (my favorite sport) while the four of us looked on. Pretty cool (literally)!

Across from the rink is an Apple Store. Hank and Lillie and Peg and I are all Apple people. Well...Lillie is coming over from the "dark side".  She has a new iPad and it was pretty cool. We all had to stop in to the Apple Store and play with all the gadgets. I almost have to leave my wallet at home for fear of using it to purchase some neat stuff. I was good this day!

After wandering around in the mall, we got a bit hungry so we went over to one of Peg's and my favorite eatery's in the area, Joe's Bistro. They have great Italian food and a real nice atmosphere. We enjoyed our meal and of course each others company. We stumbled on Joe's a while back and continue to take friends there.

We had a wonderful week with Hank and Lillie and we hope to see them again, real soon, on the road...

Visiting Southfork with Rod and Jean

Our good friends Rod and Jean rolled into McKinney with their motorhome to visit us and get a few adjustments done to their shades. We have been blessed with visits from many of our friends. Peg and Jean wanted to visit JR Ewing while in Texas (see photo) so we headed to the ranch!

The famous Southfork Ranch, made popular by the 80's TV show Dallas and the Ewing Family, was about an hour away. Who could ever forget the night we found out "Who killed JR"! This was one of the most watched shows in TV history at the time. The mansion consists of the 4800 sq ft building that was built by the Duncan family.

The TV show ranch shots were filmed only in the summer, as requested by the ranches owners and no filming was done inside the main building where the family lived. The indoor shots were shot on a sound stage in Hollywood, California and the sets matched up to most of the rooms of the house. They used mirrors at the ranch near the pool area to give the appearance of a much larger pool, even though it is a relatively small pool.

The current owner had a decorator redo the interior of the house so it matched the TV sets. It is pretty neat to relive the old show as you enter the house. Since the show, a convention center was added to the property and of course the property was opened up to tours. Many weddings are held there.

While we were wandering about, we saw a couple of newborn longhorn calves in one of the barns with their mother. We also had to take a photo of us "stars" near the pool.

After the tour, we headed for the Spring Creek BBQ in Richardson, TX and had a great meal. We then proceeded to Central Market which Peg refers to as "Trader Joe's on steroids." The market is huge and we got to sample a variety of produce.

That evening, we topped off the day with a few games of Pegs and Jokers. Peg and Rod beat Jean and I but we vowed to beat them the next time!!!

Dog Sitting...

Since we no longer have pets, we got the opportunity to "dog sit" a cock-a-poo named Max for the owners of MCD Innovations.

Max is about 9 years old and he is a great dog. We had fun adapting to his world and he seemed to like living with us. For Memorial weekend, we all stayed at Clear Lake Park and looked out over the water.

We had Max for about 2 weeks and grew close to each other. Guess Max and I "bonded". It was sad to see him return to Dave and Carla but, as with being grandparents, it's nice to have the kids visit and also nice to have them go!!

A Visit With Family

Peg and I drove over to Peg's brother Sam and wife Louise's house in Denton (Valley View) Texas. Their kids, our niece and nephew, were there and we had not seen them for a while. I should say we had not seen Nancy, her husband Harry and her son Austin for a while. Son James lives in Fort Worth and we have visited with him a few times since being in Texas.

We spent the afternoon with them and were treated to a wonderful dinner. Nancy and her family live in Minnesota, so they had a long drive to get down to Texas. They had just purchased property across from their mom and dad so we may be seeing a move south soon??

We had about a 75 minute drive back to the motorhome so we got going before the sun got too low. It was nice seeing everyone again...

Reunion at MCD...Take Two!

Honesty I had thought that when we decided to work for MCD Innovations here in McKinney, Texas, we would rarely get a visit from our friends. Well, I am happy to say that, so far, that has not been the case.

Dave and Marie Ostrander have been next to us in their motorhome for the month and yesterday our travel companions from last year, Lew and Dottie Anderson, came by to get MCD shades installed in their bedroom. It was so nice to see them again. We recently have seen each other in Tucson and Albuquerque but, since we were working the sales booth at both those rallies, we did not have too much time to get together and talk. Here at MCD we are still working during the day but both yesterday and tonight all six of us went out to dinner. It was a really great time both nights.

Here is a photo of our table at Joe's Italian Bistro in Plano, Texas. Good food, good atmosphere and great company! We all ate way too much. This is the second time Peg and I have been to Joe's and both times the food has been great.

By the way, Lew and Dottie came in to get just the bedroom shades done and it looks like they are now getting the Full Monty! They will leave with the entire coach fitted with MCD shades, including the windshield. I think Peg and I will be getting a reputation of having friends come down to visit and having them leave with a lighter wallet! We like to keep the coach weight down to a safe limit!! Hey, I guess the product sells itself.

We're delighted to have Lew and Dottie and Dave and Marie here until Saturday. We will enjoy our time together this week...

A Reunion at MCD

We got a wonderful surprise here at MCD in McKinney. Hank and Lillie were coming across Texas with their motorhome so they called and said they would like to stop by for a visit. "Come on over", I said "and we'll find a place for you to park!" They were coming off highway 35 and thought MCD was pretty close to that highway but, in reality, it took them about two hours to get to us. It was worth the visit! We were so happy to see them. Dave and Marie were here next to us for the month as well, so all six of us had a wonderful visit and we all went out to dinner together.

I guess we talked Hank and Lillie into staying around for a couple of days with us and, while here, they decided to get their coach measured for MCD shades. The shades will look great in their Dynasty! The day after their windows were measured, they took off down the highway headed for home in Tennessee. They will return at a later date to have the shades installed. We look forward to seeing them again at the end of the summer...

Our First Two Rallies With MCD Are Now History!

I have not posted much on this blog since we have been so busy as employees of MCD Innovations (the RV shade people) and doing their marketing, website, graphic design and traveling to rallies to work the MCD booth. We just got done with a "double header" rally. The first in Tucson, Arizona which was the Monaco Pre-rally at Beaudry RV and the second which was in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the FMCA Convention.

At the Tucson rally, we were fortunate to see several of our RVing friends. We were able to eat dinner with Lew and Dottie, Dave and Marie, Ron and Wanda and of course our new bosses, Dave and Carla (not pictured). This was a good rally to get our feet wet in the MCD booth and get to know the product and pricing better. We also learned how to set up the booth and get the materials ready for taking orders and giving out information. The food at the rally was great and Peg and I had a few libations after a hard day at work!

The Albuquerque FMCA rally was much bigger and we were constantly busy talking with folks and taking orders. Many of the new coaches on display had our MCD shades in the Class A motorhomes, Class C and Class B units. The final count on coaches at the rally was 1600, slightly down from previous years, but a rather good turnout for this economy! We were a bit more experienced at this rally and I think we both felt more comfortable quoting prices and helping people at the show.

The two rallies went very well and we sold a lot of MCD products. It has been a tough two weeks and we have been on our feet a lot. I am not used to that, but I survived! We packed up our booth around 5pm yesterday along with MCD owners Dave and Carla and Peg and I headed for a motel since we did not have the coach last night. That was the first time we did not sleep in the coach in a long while!

Peg and I are now just outside of Albuquerque in a small campground (Hidden Valley) staying put for the afternoon/night because of the high winds we are having here. We had to take the motorhome in to the Cummins dealer in Albuquerque for an exhaust manifold gasket repair yesterday, and they didn't get it repaired until just after noon today. We noticed a high pitched whistle coming from the engine when we accelerated, so we knew something was wrong! It's all better now, so if the weather cooperates, we will be on the road heading for McKinney, Texas in the morning.

We look forward to being stationary in McKinney for a month or so and then we head out to the next rally that MCD Innovations is sponsoring a booth at. The good news is that because of the rallies, Peg and I still get to travel through out the year instead of having to be at one place to work and give up the RV lifestyle. A perfect compromise for us!