Well, I figured it was time for me to add my two cents. No long stories just short stops along the trail.

ONE COOL DOG On the way to MI, a big rig passed us with a trucker in pure style, open shirt, "white" undershirt with a big belly and large belt buckle (I had seen him at the last rest stop), and beside him sat a Benji dog in even greater style, biker wrap style bandanna, large leather studded collar and so cool reflective shades, yes shades. A female trucker comes over the CB " hey, Freightliner, who's that with you?" Trucker " Oh, that's Buddy, my best buddy." What a pair.

RODEO Mom and Dad came up to see us this summer and one of the highlights on the visit was a Michigan rodeo. This rodeo was at a dude ranch. The lodging choices were no hook up RV spaces, concrete Tepees, or log cabins, Kilroy castles were scattered around, and it appeared that no lodging choices had services. Town was the bunk house shower, potty and chow tables, open air kitchen/chuck wagon, faux store fronts on the stables, and a company store where a mom or dad could outfit the family western style. There was a gazebo for the nightly band and a dirt dance floor. The place was crawling with families just getting back from the trailride dinner.

We went to the rodeo arena which was a mound of dirt with ledges somewhat cut out for bleachers and a square fenced corral with loudspeakers and announcers box. Thank heavens Mom and Dad hadn't taken out the extra pillows and carpet scraps since I didn't want to sit in the dirt.

Cowboys and girls were lined up to pay their entry fees, kids and dads dressed alike in cowboy shirts and hats everywhere, teenagers looking like Shaina Twain, it was great people watching.

Now for the rodeo. The second or third bullrider gets bucked out of the shoot as he's trying to get on the bull; looks like this will be a tough ride. He tries again, bucked again. Third times a charm, he's on the bull. They open the gate and the bull meanders out, not one buck! Bull saunters over to the let out gate and stands with our cowboy just sitting. What a ride!

Now it's the kids turn. They have the calves with ribbons on their tails, the kids are lined up and the chase is on. The first group is 5 and under, as you can guess some of the cowkids didn't get the idea but one kid tried hard and got a ribbon but didn't get to the cowboy before someone snatched it from him. First to the cowboy with a ribbon gets $10! Rerack the calves and it's 5 -10 year olds. The best part about this was the one kid in true rodeo style, red leather vest and chaps, big belt buckle, tight jeans, hat, boots with mother of pearl snaps on his cowboy shirt. He was so cute with red hair and sunburn. The clothes must make the kid because he was the winner. I figure they must be there for the week and he's been practicing.

Next came the Ring of Fire. No fire, it's like a game of chicken with the cowboys in the middle of a circle, bulls loose in the corral, and clowns cat-calling and waving at the bulls. The winner is the last cowboy standing in the circle. This group of bulls charge out of the shoots and run around the corral and then straight to the let out corner. The clowns can't get them to charge the cowboys. After an excruciating long time, the announcer calls it a draw. We leave. So much for an exciting night at the rodeo. Michigan isn't Texas, Kansas or Las Vegas.

HEAT WAVE We loved the climate in Michigan, warm (70-80 degrees) most days with cool nights. People have cookfires at their campsite everynight. Everywhere you drive you see bundles of wood by the roadside with a sign "campfire wood $3 a bundle" and a can on a stick to leave your money. We never had a fire, just not our thing.

If you wanted to use the air conditioning you had to sign up at the office and pay $2 extra for that day. They limited how many RV could have air. We rarely need it until the heat wave. The news channels are warning people all over northern MI to conserve electricity, don't turn on the air, don't cook, don't wash clothes, etc. We pay for air and it's hot. I'm not cooking. I call KFC, they are closing, no power. I call another place, closed. The third place on the other side of town, a small bar that serves sandwiches says a takeout hamburger will be an hour and half wait and a longer wait for a table. What is going on here? I call Burger King and they are open so I head on over. The drive up must have 30 cars in line, and the service line is snaking out the door, it takes 30 minutes to get to the counter. The lady in front of me complains to the kid about how hot the place is and why don't they turn up the air. It's all the way up in exasperation. She replies she only wants water since she came to get cool and they can't even do that!

Back at the bus, we find we can't watch TV and run the air because there is not enough power. But we're lucky, we have power. Manistee has had a power grid failure and in a tourist town on the weekend, 4000 are without power in a town of 6500. All of downtown is closed, the two grocery stores are shut, Kmart is dark and the majority of the motels now have tourist with no air and no windows to open. We're lucky.

CB TALK We listen to the CB when we travel. Most of the time it's where the cops are, gas prices, traffic reports and hot babes but every once in awhile a conversation will go on. One I remember most was about car colors. A woman asks what color is that Saturn and the reply comes back titanium. NO, that's not right, it's pewter. A new voice says silver. The debate begins. Titanium is a metal not a color. Well, pewter and silver are metals and they're colors. The woman keeps insisting it can't be titanium and the guy says he knows so because he was at the dealership the other day and silver wasn't listed and anyway that was a Honda color. She comes back with it can't be a color because it's not like gold and silver, they're in the crayon box. For over an hour, truckers keep adding their opinion of what a color is, what's in the crayon box and do you mean the 64 color or the 128 color box. What about Indian Red?

POLICE BLOTTER In the Corpus paper everyday they run the police blotter. There is always an item of the day. My favorite over the last year was when one physician assaulted and choked his partner over bookkeeping discrepancies.

WATCH THIS When we getting the house ready to sell, I saw an ad on TV for a video to teach your kids how to help around the house. There was this big bear singing "Pick it up, put it away". Well, that became our theme song, I even thought about getting the tape for Steve. Low and behold when we got Direct TV, I found the Bear in the Big Blue House on Discovery. It comes on twice a day and I love to watch. If you're having a bad day, Bear will cheer you up. This bear has the neatest moves and wonderful eyes and a great sniffer, he'll sniff you right through the TV and tell you what you had for breakfast. Tune him in and get set for a treat. No commercial breaks just a fun half-hour.

CHRISTMAS IN THE TROPICS This is our second Christmas in Corpus. Last year we got down here just a couple of days before Christmas and it had been cold and rainy for three weeks in Livingston so I didn't really notice much. If you like Christmas lights, there are plenty. The RV Park is full of trailers, fifth wheels and RV covered with lights, the palm trees are strung and the icicle lights are everywhere. One big hibiscus type bush has big blow up ornaments hang from it. Craft class taught you how to make a decoration for outside using clear plastic cups and a string of mini lights to create a big ball so those are everywhere (they actually look pretty at night). In case inquiring minds want to know, we don't have a cup ball or any lights.

The fire department came through last week with Santa and his helpers. The sirens are blasting every few minutes, the Hook and Ladder truck has Santa up high, a pumper is decorated like a float, the ambulance leads the procession with lights aflashing, and the firemen and wives are dressed up in Santa hats, some even like elves. The elves have sacks of candy and toys to throw, they just waved here. Quite a show. HO HO HO

We hope to get to the beach today, the water is a little cold for swimming for me but Steve will wear his swimsuit so he can surf fish. This fishing is dependent upon if we get the local station feeds out of Houston for the Chiefs game. GO CHIEFS

We head back to KC for Christmas with the family. I had to get out the winter clothes and wash them to remove the creases. We're still in shorts and sandals. I've worn jeans twice. We don't close the windows at night. If I get up early, I sometimes put on sweatpants for an hour or so. KC will be a shock to my system.