Parkway Offices

Vaughn has asked Woody to stay on in Lewisville for a couple of weeks to help in the Estimating Dept. Woody's work will involve making calls to a variety of subcontractors to remind them of bidding deadlines. The upside of this task is seeing another side to the construction process, working in a different setting with Michael Sawyers, and preparing for the next project. Possibility of leaving for Kansas late next week has arisen. Confirmation will come early part of next week. Meanwhile, we moved from the Lewisville Lake RV Park to Carollton at Sandy Lake.

(Pic insert is of the lake at Lewisville Lake RV Park.)

On the road again

This morning we packed up in the rain and headed back to Betty's. They had men over constructing the shelter for their new RV. Friday we spent the day with Rhonda and Rick. Saturday we picked up Woody's parents and headed to Madison to eat with Rhonda and Rick at Hamil's Home Cooking. Sunday we drove to Jackson to have dinner with Bonnie, Woody's mom. And now we are driving to Lewisville. Woody has to go to work at the office first thing in the morning.

...and through the woods

Finally, it's THANKSGIVING DAY!!! And we've made it to Betty's house. Turkey, dressing, corn casserole, cranberries, Rhonda's Coca-Cola cake, and that's just a few of the wonderful items we enjoyed today. Rhonda, Woody's sister, and her husband, Rick joined Woody's parents and us for our Thanksgiving Feast. Back home in Littlefield, it's snowing.

Over the river.....

Yippie! We've crossed the Mississippi River.....Today, we arrived in Vicksburg, MS. We settled in and picked up some take out. Woody's parents were delighted to be seeing us again so soon. Last time we visited we left after a week to head to Santa Barbara, CA to help with the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Turkey Day is only hours away.

Abilene to Shreveport, LA

We left for Mississippi late Monday afternoon and drove to Abilene, TX. Dinner at Cracker Barrel's and shopping at Wal-mart before settling for the night. Today we are already on the way to Lewisville, TX to Parkway offices. After meeting with Michael, PM, and Vaughn, SPM, it was decided that we'd go on to Vicksburg for Thanksgiving and we'd plan to be back to Parkway offices early next week ready to go to work. Today we awoke in Abilene, had lunch in Dallas, and are now settling in for dinner in Shreveport, LA.

Congratulations! Another great Grand Opening...

Today the doors were open early....the weekend's grand opening was a success. Guy will be leaving to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Michael is already back at headquarters in Lewisville. We are off for Vicksburg, MS for the holdiay. This store looks excellent inside and out. While stopping by this weekend, several customers commented on how nice the restaurant looks. Guy will be back next week to finish up items that still need tending.

Almost all done in Littlefield

Still waiting for shipment of corian for the window sill. Meanwhile the ceiling has been repainted in the women's bathroom, the siding of the roof of the storage room was resecured, some ceiling tiles were replaced, a lock replaced, etc....The glass company is coming back out to finish some work. Matt's team will be back out to finish the concrete pad under water heater. Will check back Monday to see if shipment arrives.

Dining area at new McDonald's

Two corner booths give the dining area a cozy, yet modern look. It's easy to envision a group of teenagers eating fries and burgers. A couple of long bars offer other options for enjoying the company of friends or family while dining. Electricians and tilemen are working at finishing up the last of their work.

"R" Gym

Children are destined to be well entertained in McDonald's latest play area. The gym has basketball goals, slides, climbing gym, jumping/bouncing tent, and a slide. In addition to this, the air hockey table and large dining tables and booths will accommodate children and their parents alike. It was interesting to see the rubber flooring laid in this room. Older children, teens, adults will enjoy the televisions located in the general dining room.

Lubbock's Newest McDonald's

Work continues as Michael leads Guy and Woody to meet the turn over date. As usual change orders, delayed deliveries, and installation by the McDonald's team may effect the actual turn over date. The driveway and sidewalk is stamped concrete. The driveway and parking lot lines are being painted. A big part of the work has been the construction clean up. Slowly, the project is coming together.

McDonald's, Lubbock, TX

WOW! This is a BIG McDonald's. In addition to the restaurant, a conference room/meeting room and an office for regional managers. The play area is the new McDonald's R Gym, very impressive. Michael Sawyers, PM, and Rick Mathews, ACM, will be here for a few days helping out with the items that need to be done to turn over the restaurant. Plan to be open by Monday, Nov 12, 2007.

McDonald's, Littlefield, TX

Woody was off first thing today to meet M Sawyers, PM, and R Mathews, ACM for McDonald's, to discuss finishing touches needed. The plan is for Woody to travel to the McDonald's location in Lubbock on the corner of 82nd and Milwaukee to help Guy before turnover. While there Woody will pickup materials needed to finish the work at McDonald's in Littlefield. For now the plan is to be here til Thanksgiving weekend.

Littlefield, TX......Again?

Anyone that has been keeping up will recognize Littlefield as the location of McDonalds that Parkway built. Well, today we arrived back to this location. Going to tie up some loose ends. Also, will wait to see what Michael (Woody's PM) has planned.

Albuquerque, NM

So did I even spell that right? We left the Grand Canyon reluctantly. It was a wonderful short stay. But arriving in Alb, NM made up for it. We toured the downtown town square. Vendors were on the sidewalks displaying their goods for sale. Most of it was indian jewelry made by the vendors. The aroma of the authentic mexican and new mexican food was tempting....However, we opted to leave the square and head to ABQ Mall. We headed to the Elephant Bar that Parkway built there about a year ago. We enjoyed appetizers there and admired the quality workmanship and how well it has held up the past 12 months. Then, Woody and I went to the Back Door for a NEW MEXICAN dinner. This place is one of the place's Vaughn had previously taken Woody to for dinner. The best part is the dessert...they bring a big basket of sopapillas to the table with honey...YUM, YUM!

Grand Canyon

We took a train ride the 50 miles from Williams to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful....! Words and pictures can do no justice. Upon arrival of the train at the GC Depo we were escorted to our motorcoach. We had an excellent tour guide.

Our return to Williams was slow on the train. We were able to unwind. We went to the World Famous Saltan Restaurant for a great steak dinner. Not often do we get great food and great service at the same time.

The RV Park is so clean and nice. Great ammenities. Tomorrow we head for New Mexico.

Pic of sunset from train on return to Williams, AZ.

Williams, AZ

Thanks to LA traffic, we got in late to Barstow, CA. After setting up the RV, we headed out for dinner and turned in early so we could get up early to head for the Grand Canyon.

Arrived in Williams, AZ early afternoon and set up at the Grand Canyon Depo RV Park. WOW! We did a little exploring, picked up our train tickets for the ride to the Grand Canyon the next day and our motorcoach tour tickets......CAN'T WAIT!

Pic: Site of the Wild West Shoot Out.....

Barstow, CA

We left Santa Barbara, CA and made it out 195 miles to Barstow, CA. The drive should have been about three hours. And any hopes of making it further were out the window once we got on 210 outside of Los Angeles. About six hours after leaving we were finally at a campground with the RV set up. TRAFFIC was unbelievable.

Today we'll catch I40 in Barstow and make our way to Williams, AZ.

GRAND CANYON!!!! Catching a ride on the railway.

Goodbye, Pacific Coast....

Yesterday, we got word that it was time to return to Texas!!!

Richard will be finshing up the job at Ruth's Chris....which as of yesterday was looking really great.

Enjoyed yet another great meal at EnterpriseFishCo last night.....that is something that we will surely miss.

It's been a great learning experience for Woody to work with another supervisor and project manager.