New window treatments for office and guest room

We've been busy the last 10 days putting the finishing touches on the Oriental guest room. We bought a Levolor Top Down Bottom Up cellular shade from Home Depot and a mirror for the dresser we bought at the consignment shop.

There was a padded cornice valance over the bedroom window that was upholstered with a dark brown material and we wanted to replace the material. Mike and I went to Joann's Fabrics in Vero and took one of the decorative pillows on the bed to see if we could match the red in the pillow and comforter. Mike found a red damask that matched perfectly and we bought enough material to cover the valance and have some left over for a dresser scarf.

I had ordered some curtain panels from Penney's I thought would look good in the office, but when I held them up over the windows

DeFuniak Springs to Sebastian

We got up about 7:30 this morning and had checked out of the motel by 8:30 and drove up to the Burger King to have breakfast. We feel pretty good this morning in spite of having to change our motel last night because of the fire at the Econo Lodge where we had reservations and having to scramble to find another place to stay.

After breakfast we headed east on I-10 until we stopped at the Pilot near Marianna for gas ($3.329 a gal). We reached I-75 near Lake City around noon and turned south on I-75. Mike and I were both ready to get home, so we didn't stop for lunch since we had stuff to snack on. We did stop at a rest area to walk Tinker and give him his lunch.

Our next stop was at the TA truck stop at Wildwood at 2:45 to buy gas ($3.499 a gal) before we got on to the Florida Turnpike. We exited the turnpike at exit 244 at St. Cloud and paid our toll of $4.50 (it was $13.50 when we were driving the RV) before driving east on US-192 to I-95 south.

We arrived at exit 56 on I-95 south at 6:20 and got on County Road 512 east. We stopped at the Dairy Queen next to I-95 and got a peanut butter cup Blizzard for Mike and I before we drove on home.

It really seems strange to not see our motorhome sitting in the driveway! We've unloaded what we need for tonight from the car and will unload the rest tomorrow. We're both ready to sleep in our own bed (Sleep Number) tonight.

Today was one day when I didn't take any photos while we were driving, but we've been back and forth on I-95 and I-10 so much that I've gotten photos of most of the interesting sights.

Courthouse Research & Change of motels because of fire

We checked out of the Days Inn at 8:45 and drove over to the Burger King for breakfast. Then we drove over to the St. Landry Parish courthouse to see if we could find any information on Silas Fletcher (Mike's 3rd great grandfather) and his family. I took my laptop with me so I could look up information on Silas if I needed it. We passed through security and took the elevator down to the basement where the county archives are located.

We met Stephanie in the Clerk of Court's office and she turned out to be a great help. I told her I was looking for marriage records dating back to 1813 and 1820. Some of the records have been digitized and she printed off the 1820 marriage record. She said the digital copy of the 1813 record wasn't that good and she would go upstairs and make me a better copy!

In the meantime, she directed me to the land records and other court records for the parish and I started going through the books. I found Silas Fletcher in a deed index and took a photo with my phone.

From Opelousas, LA

I also took photos of the deeds with my phone. We have so little documentation on Silas and his family in the 1800-1820's that it was great to see all of this. Stephanie was a great help and was very patient when I had to ask her for some help (which I tried to keep to a minimum). By 11:00 it was time for us to leave, so I paid the $6 for the marriage records and we left the courthouse.

We decided to drive around a little before leaving Opelousas and found some beautiful old homes in just the few blocks we visited.

From Opelousas, LA

Acton State Historical Site and driving to Opelousas, LA

We got up at 7:00 and had some coffee before we started packing up to leave Chris and Carole's house. We've had a great time visiting with them even if it was only a few days. Carole offered to fix breakfast for us, but we said we would stop somewhere along the way  and grab something to eat.

We left their house about 9:20 and drove north on FM-167 (FM stands for farm market) and made a quick stop at the Acton Cemetery. Chris and Carole told us that Davy Crockett's wife and children were buried there and we wanted to stop and take photos.

We arrived at the Acton Cemetery and found the gates were chained for vehicles, but we had no trouble getting in to walk around.

There is a huge memorial for Elizabeth Crockett

From Granbury, TX to Opelousas, LA

so it wasn't too hard to find her grave and those of her and David's children.

From Granbury, TX to Opelousas, LA

We walked around for about 15 minutes taking photos before getting back into the car.

From Granbury, TX to Opelousas, LA

We stopped at Burger King in Benbrook to get breakfast before heading

Visit with Mike's brother & wife

Yesterday Mike and his brother Chris drove into Granbury to the Goodyear Tire store and Mike bought 2 new tires for the front of the Vue. Then they stopped at RaceTrac and Mike bought got gas for the car ($3.239 a gal).

While Mike and Chris were running their errands, Carole and I went shopping. We went to a couple of boutique shops and stopped at the Benbrook Antique Mall to browse. Tinker has a white stuffed teddy bear that is his favorite toy and it has definitely seen better days. I found a Coca Cola stuffed bear that is almost exactly like the bear he already has. I bought it for $10 - I checked to make sure it didn't have any beads in the stuffing before I bought it.

Last night we went out to eat at one Chris and Carole's favorite Mexican restaurants Mi Familia in Granbury. Mike ordered the beef burrito dinner and I had the beef taco dinner and some Negra Modelo beer.

We just spent today relaxing at the house before we went out to dinner. Chris and Carole are members of the local MOAA (Military Officers Association of America) and tonight was their monthly meeting and dinner at the Pecan Plantation Country Club.

We went early to the dinner because Chris is selling raffle tickets and he needed to be at the check-in table. While Mike and Chris were out at the

San Antonio to Granbury

We checked out of the Motel 6 about 8:45 ($202 for 3 nights) and drove up to the Burger King for breakfast. Mike and I ordered our usual croissants - it definitely can't compare to the breakfast that our friend Mike fixed for us yesterday morning!

After breakfast we drove north on I-35 to Austin

From San Antonio to Granbury, TX

and we saw this "Electric Garden" of large sunflowers that are powered by

Sightseeing at Fort Sam Houston & Ranodolph AFB

Yesterday morning we met our friends Mike and Gayle at the Denney's just up the road from our motel for breakfast. We brought Tinker with us and he stayed in the car with the windows cracked (it's still cool in the low 50's). After breakfast we followed Mike and Gayle out to the RV park where they are staying in their motorhome. We visited with them for quite a while and then went back to our motel for the rest of the day.

This morning we slept in and then drove over to Mike and Gayle's RV for a late breakfast that Mike cooked for all of us. We visited some more and talked about where to go for some sightseeing and decided to visit Randolph Air Force Base and Fort Sam Houston. Fort Sam Houston, Randolph AFB and Lackland AFB have been consolidated into what is now called Joint Base San Antonio.

One of the first things we saw at Randolph AFB was the Missing Man Monument.

From San Antonio, TX

We drove by the 12th Flying Training Wing Headquarters

From San Antonio, TX

and the airfield where we saw some Air Force Primary Trainers.

From San Antonio, TX

After touring around Randolph, we drove over to Fort Sam Houston where