Tuesday Twitterdeegoinghome

Photos include some tranquil scenes taken yesterday at the Dixon home in Oakdale and part of a monument in the Oakdale Cemetery.

                                           

Bill's going through his travel bag, organizing his clothes.  I've got most of mine packed but am still remaining casual and comfortable.  We'll be leaving Oakdale in a few hours, headed to Houston and then home.

It's been a great trip and we've enjoyed meeting and visiting with some wonderful people.  Yesterday's highlight for me was my visit with the Dixons.  Tom was the realtor on Bill and Margaret's house sale; he's a forester like Bill.  We also went to the Dixon's house for coffee and rum cake with Gene and Gene Ann (hope I spelled that right).

The Dixons have been Love family friends forever, and I've seen one or two Dixon family members every time I've come to Oakdale.  Gene Ann and I may have met for the first time yesterday, but I felt like we became good old friends instantly.   Of course, anyone who rode horses as a kid is okay in my book.

Gene Ann and I went for a drive through the Oakdale Cemetery.  Her mother serves on the cemetery board.  The Dixon family owned a fine department store in Oakdale for years.

I can remember during the years when Bill's mother Ora was alive, she'd send me a lovely pair of panties, purchased from Dixon's Department Store----every Christmas.

In fact, one of those pairs of shimmering panties made it into a story in my second book, thanks to Bill finding them in his coat pocket one night at a Bulldog basketball game.  Ya gotta read the book to know more (that would be Postcards from Potato Land, by the way).

After all the deal-making details on selling the house were finalized yesterday, we headed to dinner in Kinder at the Casino.  When we arrived, I wanted to call Annie to tell her we were at the Casino cuz we had stopped there in 1997 when we traveled around Texas and Louisiana looking at potential colleges for her.

Before I could call Annie, she had already called me.  We had a nice conversation and she told me about hearing from Grandpapa.  He's a geocacher with another name, but he's one of the longtime geocachers that we know.  

She told me about Grandpapa's loyalty to my blog.  Much appreciated, and since you're reading, Grandpapa, I must tell you that yesterday Bill showed his sister Margaret where he had planted a geocache in a small Oakdale park a few years ago.  It's still there---a tribute to military personnel.  

So, geocaching never leaves the mind no matter where we happen to be.  I'm sure you're proud, Grandpapa!

This trip has gone by fast and fun.  I'm sure we're all going to remember it for a long time, especially all the wonderful people and the ever-delightful Southern cuisine.

Bill and Margaret signed closing papers on their house yesterday, and I told them this experience seems like the closing of one door and the opening of another----after meeting all those new family members.

As for me, I loved watching it all, and that's why I came along.  Now, it's time to go home and tell the kids about another fascinating branch of  their family tree.