Turn about is almost always fair play.....

Friday was much, much cooler than Thursday, and that was due mostly to heavy cloud cover.  At one point we thought it would rain.....but it didn't.  After posting Thursday's blog entry I began to go about the job of setting up our camp site for 2 months.  For those who have been around us when we are in one spot for more than a few days, or a week you know that a lot of stuff comes out.......recliners, awning mat, sun screen, awning lights, malibu lights......and on it goes.  

Additionally, I ran power to my trailer, refilled the oil reservoir for the DD using the last two gallons of Chevron Delo 100....the reservoir is full with 3.5 gallons of oil, but I will need to order some more at the local West Marine before we hit the road.  I purchased 4 gallons when we were in Savannah, GA at the local West Marine, and have used less than two since March......not too bad for a 31 year old diesel engine!

We have an 80 foot concrete pad which, as you can see, is surrounded by dirt....most of the sites here in Rancho Jurupa are surrounded by grass......and don't get me wrong, they are nice, but when you are here long term it is easier to be in one of the "dirt" sites.....you don't have to worry about the mowers that come once a week to mow and edge around your site.....we always had to move a lot of stuff so they could mow.  And, secondly, there are no sprinklers to water our motorhome, trailer and car in the dirt site.

Whilst I was doing all this manual labor, including setting up the BBQ, and fire pit (notice I have the wash tub fireplace out) TLE was off shopping for the night's festivities......what festivities you ask?  Well, we were having the kids over for a BBQ and fire, along with my brother Philip, and his wife Jeannie.  We expected 4 of our kids, including Kate's two kids, plus Phil and Jeannie....a nice manageable group, right?  Well, here is where the "turn about is fair play" thing comes in.

Our kids had planned a surprise of their own........I will let the next pictures tell the story.....

 Not everyone who came appeared in this picture, but you get the general idea......when our kids were growing up our home was a hangout place for them and their friends......and we actually liked all of their friends.  Well, all of those kids, who are now full grown adults, showed up Friday night.....I counted somewhere in the vicinity of 35 people at one time.  Just like it has been on the road, we are once again surrounded by young people......young people we have known since they were like 6 years old.....but are now peers.  My son, along with Tony and Mike entertained us with some acoustical guitar music.....my son, Tim, seated just to the right (stage right) is playing his acoustical bass.  Tony writes most of their music, and we both love it.  What a night we had.....and yes, we were surprised big time as car after car arrived at our campsite disgorging 4, or 5 people at a time.  We laughed, hugged, sang along to the music until about 10:30 and then it was time to say "good night" to everyone.  I found out over the course of the evening that most of these young people read our blog.....I had no idea.

Even now, as I write this blog entry less than a dozen hours later I am still smiling......we love surprises just as much as we like giving them.  We are humbled, and honored to call all of you friends in the truest sense of the word, and to call you all honorary Hockwald's.

Life is good......and I want to know who says "you can't go home"?  We are glad to be home, and looking so forward to the next two months with family and friends......WOW!!!

Thanks for stopping by.......literally!