Some Family Time

Nearly six year ago, when we were parked in a Corps of Engineers park along the Mississippi River in Iowa to do some genealogy research on my Longley family relatives, we came back to our RV and noticed that the reservation card on the site next to ours read "Longley." What a coincidence! Harry is a distant cousin. We haven't figured out the exact relationship. He says we might be 42nd cousins.

We have kept in contact and when our Christmas letter in December said we would be spending time here in the Rio Grande Valley, Harry emailed to ask when we would arrive. It turns out, Harry and Marilyn have been coming here for 12 years.

Today, we met them for lunch.



We spent a pleasant two hours talking, learning about each others lives, sharing genealogy research stories and tips. We will see them again before we leave.

It is cool (some would say cold) in the Valley this week. It rained quite a bit yesterday, which is a good thing for the state which has had such a drought and terrible fires last summer. But the rain means mud. Look at the tire on our truck after we drove about two blocks on a dirt road.



Because our running route here is also on dirt, we decided to drive to the refuge and run on the paved road there. It was a good idea and we had a good run. All in all, it has been a very good day.