New Years Eve

The big thing for today's was the New Years Eve Party and the Club House. Of course, we had to make a trip to Walmart to get stuff to make something to eat for the party. I wanted to make the water chestnuts wrapped in bacon that Linda Openshaw made for KayKay's baby shower that I thought were so good. Got the chestnuts wrapped and cooked....that wasn't too hard. Decided to wait until around 7:00 to dip in the sauce, the party was supposed to start at 8:00. Worked on my surprise for the girls the rest of the afternoon until it was time to get ready to go.....by the time we got there, about 7:45, there was hardly any place to sit.....again. I did find a place at a table with the Canadian couple, Edith and Kurt, who we sat with on Christmas Day. They are so nice.....they are originally from Sweden. After we ate, Rod and Deb moved over to our table and we had a very good time talking and "sharing my wine".......NOT. It was a very sweet desert wine and Deb and Rod hated it! Stayed til sometime after 11:00; everyone was leaving so we did too!

Today, Monday, Sunday, and Saturday

Today, what great weather we had today. Sunny and warm! Slowly got ready and went down to the club house for craft time. Took my knitting cause I didn't know what their plan was for today. Only three other ladies showed up so we just all worked on our own projects and talked. Very nice ladies. I think a lot of people in the campground had families visiting them here for the holidays. We'll see what craft time is like next week.

Monday, the day to finally wash our trailer. We had plans to wash it since we were back in Missouri in the summer. One of those things that kept getting put off. We started about 9:30 or 10:00 and about 11:00 I made a trip to Walmart to see if I could find a scrubber with a handle on it. Found what we needed and made it back. When I left Nolan had been working on a mop with a sponge on it that kept coming apart. He had managed to get it to stay on and was finished with the front with all the bugs on it.....wow, what a job! We both worked on the rest of the trailer until sometime around 3:00 or 4:00. Nolan decided that while he was working on it and still had the borrowed ladder, he would clean the outside of all the window so I went inside and changed the sheets on the bed and vacuumed the floors and cleaned up everything else. By the time it was bed time I was feeling a little stiff. Sure hope I'm not sore in the morning!!!

Sunday, Did I say we haven't been able to go a day without going into Walmart at least once each day! Well, that's about all we did today; it was a little cooler so we didn't spend much time outside.

Saturday, I said I wanted to drive to Port Aransas to see what was there. Started out down 35S and got to Aransas Pass and turned to go across the causeway. Got the the ferry and decided we didn't want to go across (now I wish we had and we plan to try it again sometime soon). Turned around and headed back to Rockport. I wanted to go see if the Rockport Beach was somewhere we could take the dogs to so we drove over there. This is the entrance to the Beach. You have to pay so we didn't enter.
While we were at the entrance we say this guy take off.

This is the Chamber of Commerce where I eventually found the post cards to send to Cain, Cara and Brenna that I had been looking for. We first checked the museum because they had a gift shop and the lady working there recommended we check at the Chamber.

This is the museum that we checked first. We were not very interested in the museum so we didn't go through it.

Another view of the museum.

On the way to Aransas Pass we saw the sign for the Big Fisherman Restaurant. So after we found the postcards we decided to try in for lunch. Not bad and not very busy; but, as big as it was and looking at the parking lots I can imagine that it might get pretty crowded and busy.

Front of restaurant.

That was about it for the day!

Another Day in Texas

It's hard to come up with stuff to post when you don't do anything......that needs to change. Got up, ate breakfast, washed dishes, messed with computer for a while, ate lunch, took a shower, went to Walmart, took a nap, went for Pizza, and now on the computer again. Tomorrow we plan to wash the truck! That should be exciting but if it rains we'll put that off a day or two and do more of the same that we did today. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day

Started our Christmas Day just sitting around. Was warm and the sun was thinking about coming out. About 10:00 I decided I should start getting things ready for the Christmas dinner at the club house. Quickly mixed together the ingredients for the corn casserole and then off to take a shower. Went toward the club house around 12:00 and found out they were not going to eat until 1:00. There were about 80 people there and as I said before the club house is not big enough for that size group. Food was wonderful but we didn't stick around too long after we ate. Kitchen was full of ladies cleaning up so I didn't even try to help at all. Back at the trailer I put the dogs in their pen and sat outside and read for a while. And....that was about it for our first Christmas away from Missouri!!!

Christmas Eve

Well, I do have to say this is the strangest Christmas Eve I have ever spent! Woke up to warm weather and started opening all the windows. Windows were open until around 4:00 p.m. Kind of an uneventful day......took a shower, wash a load of clothes, went to Wal Mart for fingernail polish remover, fixed the dip and brownies for the park party, painted my toes and fingers, and went to the Christmas Eve Fingerfood Party at the Club House. Lots of people there but really only met one other couple that I didn't meet at the Craft Time......too small a place with that many people to do much mingling. Debbie and Rod sat at our table and of course we enjoyed talking to them again. Left around 7:00 and now we're sitting in the recliners watching TV. Not too Christmasee but it will have to do!

Merry Christmas to all our friends!!!!!

Warmer and Craft Day

Today I decided to go sign up for all the Christmas and New Years activites at the park. So, we're all signed up, we'll see how it goes.....if Nolan will go with me. While there I saw the sign up sheet for craft day which they have on the park calendar for every Tuesday. I signed up for that too. Arrived and there were about 6 or 7 other ladies there and I sat down after introductions and they started to show us how to make a beaded key chain. Here are my results....first time I've ever worked with beads.
Stayed about an hour and a half then walked back to the trailer. Nolan had mentioned going back to Alice Faye's Bar this afternoon but while I was at the crafting one of the other ladies mentioned they were closed on Tuesdays and I then remembered seeing the sign. So, we decided to go to Wal Mart to get a prescription refilled and look for a grill. Walked around Wal Mart for an hour or so; found a grill and of course some other stuff. Left Wal Mart and started looking for a place to get a hamburger. Ended up at Popeye's for fish and chicken and by the time we got home to walk the dogs, you didn't need a jacket to be outside....Yeah, no rain and warmer!!!

Big Tree

Another cold day in South Texas.....the wind is so cold! We couldn't sit another day in the trailer so we decided to take a drive. One of the things on the list of "Things to Do and See" was the Big Tree, supposed to be over 1000 years old. It is a live oak tree and right on the bay. You can see the water from the tree. Can't imagine how it managed to survive all those years.

That didn't take very long; it was fairly close to where we are parked. So, we drove down the Fulton Beach Road then decided to eat lunch at Alice Faye's on the beach front. Special today was meatload for $5.95. Was really good. They have live music on Friday and Saturday night. Maybe we'll see how that is while we are here.

Got back home and took a nap and then Nolan said lets go get some ice cream.....even if it's cold I'll not turn down ice cream. By the time we got home, it was raining but not very hard. I'm really ready for some good weather!

Cold and Windy

I really hate to complain especially when the cold is only 50 degrees when its 12 degrees in Missouri at 8:00 am. But the wind wouldn't quit all day. It was so uncomfortable! Only went out to take the dogs out and then back in as quick as possible. Not much else happened today except I got caught up on my blogging. Hopefully I'll take some pictures of the park in the next day or so and we plan to finally wash the 5th Wheel.....Yeah!!!!

Warm Weather and New Friends

When we got here yesterday we didn't spend much time outside so I really didn't feel how warm and humid it was but it sure got humid in the trailer during the night and I didn't sleep very well. Tried to deal with it all morning but finally gave in and turned the air on.....much better. Around 2:00 or so, I decided to put up the dog's pen and sit outside for a while....turned the air off and opened the windows. A very nice afternoon!

Around 4:00 or later a couple came walking by and I knew it was Rod and Debbie Kendall whose blog I had read and had been talking to her on the RV-Dreams chat room. We talked for a few minutes and then they needed to go get some groceries. I'm sure we will spend some more time with them. They seem to be a very nice couple!

Oh yeah, can't forget to mention we made our ritual trip to find the Wal Mart and ate lunch at Chilis.

Nice warm day!!!

Texas

Nolan is always making comments about me not paying attention to the scenery so today I decided I was going to "pay attention". Boy did I pick a bad day to watch the scenery!!! From San Antonio to Rockport there is nothing to look at.....flat land and some kind of tall brush!

We arrived at the Big D RV Resort around 1:00 and got set up.....no problems. Will have to wait a few days to give my final evaluation of this park but right now things seem to be really close. There's a lot of concrete and the neighbors are kind of noisey. There seems to be a lot to do here at the park so maybe we'll meet some new people.

Fog and Roast

Well, today was the day we were going to move somewhere. Spent hours last night looking and trying to decide where to move to.....went to bed not knowing what we were going to do....very frustrating. When we woke, the fog outside decided for us. We just stayed put and I put a roast and potatoes in the crock pot. Fog didn't clear out till around noon and we decided we would go to Rockport and stay for a month at the Big D RV Resort. Sure glad that decision is made!!!

The Alamo and Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX

Today is the day for visiting The Alamo and Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio, TX. When we left it was misting rain so we weren't sure we would get it all in today. These pictures of the Alamo.....lots to see and read about here. They really keep the ground pretty and neat.

This is Nolan walking over to the well to throw a penny in.....wonder what he wished for.....a house in Roby??

This is the entrance to the gift shop.

I think this wall was where one of the original walls was located.

It was still not raining so we decided to find the riverwalk, neither one of knew where to go. Wasn't too hard. We just walked across the street from this tree and down the steps and we were there.These are a few of the pictures of what we saw. We managed to walk around the complete square. We then ate at a mexican restraurant.

There were ducks everyone. They acted like they were waiting for us to feed them.
Nolan did not want to ride the boats and I thought I could talk him into coming back later to see the Christmas lights.....NOT! In spite of the weather, it was a fun day.

Laid Back Kind of Day

I only had one thing that I wanted to do today and I failed. Before we left MO, I decided that I wanted to have acrylic nails again; however, my nail tech had left since I quit going when I worked so I tried a new one. Bad idea. My nails really needed to be filled/fixed. A couple had broken and several were loose. After calling a couple of places where the person on the other end of the phone could not be understood.....anyway at least I couldn't understand them, I decided to just go looking. I did call the office and asked the lady working there but she really didn't know of a good place. So this morning we left around 10:00 to find somewhere. Of course Nolan was making fun of me the whole time saying I should just take them off. Stopped at the first place and low and behold it was one of the ones I had called and couldn't understand. I knew what kind of product I used and so I asked if that's what they used and she said no. So, I told Nolan to just go to Wal Mart, I would get something to take them off with. When we went in I saw that they had a Nail Salon in the Wal Mart store so I checked them out and tried to explain what I needed. Oh, and yes, this was the other place I called where they couldn't talk so I could understand. I agreed to try what they had by taking off what I had and putting on new. The whole time I was there the people were talking in a foreign language. I hate that. I think it's rude and inappropriate for a place of business. After she got my old ones off, she pulled out the tips and I said wait.....not what I wanted. I paid her $10 and left with no nails!!!!! Very disappointing but guess I won't have to worry about that any more.

We drove back to the trailer and then a little later decided to go find some Mexican Food. Ate then back to the trailer for a lazy rest of the day. Tomorrow should be a fun day....we're going to the Alamo and the Riverwalk.

On the Move, Cold Weather

Boy was it cold this morning......took these pictures while out walking the dogs. This is the I-35 RV Park. Not a bad place to stop overnight but a little more than we have been paying at $25 a night. Not sure I would want to stay there for an extended time. They do have everything but cable......they had full hookups, laundry, pool, cafe, level sites, and very friendly people.
Lucy wasn't crazy about the ducks, she couldn't figure out what they were and wouldn't get very close!

We were hooked up and pulling out by 9:00 am. Temperature didn't get above 43 all the way to San Antonio.

As I've said before, I sure don't like trying to decide where to stay. Finally decided to try the Braunig Lake RV Resort in south San Antonio. Of course I haven't taken pictures yet, it's been too cold to spend much time outside. Doesn't seem to be too bad. This park also has everything plus cable for $18.50 per night. We were set up and resting by 1:00 but it was way too cold to do anything but sit inside. Baked some frozen lasagna and bread and spent the rest of the day on the computer.

In closing today, I want to say thank you to both Gena and Ginny for calling to see how I was on this sad day for me and to all my other friends who were thinking of me.....8 years ago today was the day I lost my youngest daughter in a car accident and this month is always kind of depressing for me. Thanks to all.......

Windy, No Moving Day

Well, when we got up this morning, it was still windy, from the south, so we decided to just stay put for another day and night. Talked Nolan into taking me to Cracker Barrell for breakfast. It was great. While we were out we found a Wal Mart and got a few things since Nolan likes that store so well. The rest of the day was spent inside the RV with the windows open. It was very warm but look out for tomorrow....supposed to be down to 40. We've decided to spend some time near San Antonio to look around and we'll head there tomorrow.

Travelling and Stopping for the Night

We pretty much drove all day yesterday and today, not stopping until around 3:00 or 4:00. Friday night we stopped in McCallister, OK, at the Super 8 Motel and RV Park. Again, I forgot to take pictures until we were getting ready to leave. The building in the back is the laundry and showers. This park wasn't bad either but it was $24 a night. Not somewhere I would want to stay very long. I have to say that I'm amazed at the number of rigs that are permanently parked at every place we have stayed. Not people just staying a month or two, these people stay there all the time. You can just tell from all the stuff they have around and some even have them underpinned and they come home to them at night.....not just a place to spend the weekend or get away to. They live there. I don't mind living in our trailer but I might if I never got to move it!!!!



Trailer park looking down the hill from our trailer.We made it to an RV park on I-35 north of Waco for the night.

Farewell to Missouri

Today's the day we leave for Texas. It wasn't as cold as it had been but still needed a coat. I always forget to take pictures while we are sitting so I got a couple of the park and trailer before we pulled out. This is our trailer all hooked up and ready to go. The park was on a hill (who would have thought that in Branson) and this picture was from looking up the hill.

This one from farther down the hill.

And this one from our trailer looking down the hill. At first we thought this park wasn't going to be so good, but it wasn't bad after we got parked. Seemed like it was going to be a little tight getting in but Nolan's an expert at this parking stuff and just pulled right in and got us situated in no time at all. They have a pool, clean bath houses and laundry, and a small restaurant. Not bad for $13.40 a night (Andrew's Landing Resort and RV Park).

Hard Decision

Found out yesterday that my mother's only brother had a heart attack and died. They are planning to have the funeral on Monday, 15 Dec, in Pleasant Hill, MO, and then bury him at Plato on 16 Dec. After looking at the weather forecast during that time, I finally made the very hard decision that we needed to continue south tomorrow instead of waiting in MO to attend the service. What a hard decision! We, his daughters and I, have been close and I hate to not be there for them. He was a great guy who always had a joke to tell. I have lots of fond memories of him and will be thinking of all them on Monday and Tuesday next week. So glad I saw him when he came up to visit my Mom while she was in the hospital. Here's a picture of him and my great niece.

Shopping, Early Christmas

Friday, 12 Dec, is my daughter's birthday and since we planned to be leaving MO before then, I met Carla at the Landing for an afternoon of shopping "in the cold". Didn't get above freezing all day! We still had fun and spent all my money. It's funny how since I don't have lots of room for stuff and don't need clothes to wear to work, I couldn't find anything that I just had to have....and we shopped hard! I ended up buying a pair of shoes and some hand cream and socks from Bath and Body Works. Must say on the other hand that Carla didn't have trouble finding something to buy......Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas.....I love you!!!!! We ended the day with dinner at Landry's Seafood House. Wow, best food I've had in a while! Excellent!

We're Off

Woke up and it was only sprinkling so we decided to pull out. We were a little worried about the ground being too soft but we packed up and were ready to go by 9:30. Temperature was only 50 so we were good. Got to Branson, the Andrews Landing Resort and RV Park, around 1:00 and it was 40 degrees. Got set up and rested for a while. Not that great of a park but it's full hookups and cable for $13.40 a night. I'll take some pictures and post before we leave. Decided to go out to eat. Ate at Outback....not bad but not wonderful either!

Last Day of Work Again and Movie

We left from watching the basketball games yesterday, the girls were wanting to go home with me so I promised we would come see them today. While working at the convenience store, I decided it would be fun to take them all to a movie and out for pizza. We all loaded up at 1:00 and took off for the movie. First time for Brenna to go to a movie. She was a little afraid because it was so dark in the theater. She soon was over that and running around like mormal. We saw Madagascar 2, ate lots of popcorn and candy and then went for a pizza. A very fun day!!!

Basketball

Today was spent watching my great nephew play his first basketball game against another team. His team didn't win but I think there is potential. They are only 9 and 10 and I think they are learning the basics and will get better. My nephew, Cain, is number 32, the one with his leg stuck out in the second picture.

Tequila

Tequila, our cat for 16 1/2 years. We purchased her for my youngest daughter, Amanda, on her 12th birthday. She was only 6 weeks old when we picked her up. Tequila lived with me all of those 16 1/2 years because of course Amanda couldn't take her off to college when she went. Yesterday she died after the tumor surgery and we didn't get to pick her up from the vet. We'll miss her alot!!!!

Laundry, Vet

Well we were going to take our bedspread and a couple of blankets to the laundry to wash as they don't fit in the washer in the trailer. Monday, the weather was nasty so we decided to wait until Tuesday. After that little outing, I remember why I hate laundry mats and am so thankful that I got the washer and dryer in our trailer. I can only wash small loads but I would much rather do that on my time than wait around in a laundry mat.

We also took our cat with us hoping that maybe the vet had time to see her about the tumor she has on her stomach that has turned into an open wound that won't clear up. He did not so I made an appointment for Wednesday in Waynesville after I found out that the Wal Mart in Houston does not take my vision insurance and I would have to go to Waynesville for that also.

So today I started out at 9:15 for a day in Waynesville. Made a 10:00 nail appointment, took my sister to lunch at Cracker Barrell, took the cat to the vet, and got my eyes examined.

Left the cat at the vets so he could do surgery on the tumor and hopefully he won't find very much more cancer. He said he was pretty sure there would be more but since she was feeling OK, I decided to get rid of the ones he could see now and wait and see how she does in the coming months. She is 16 1/2 years old and will probably not be with us very much longer. But, as long as she is feeling good, guess we will do what we can for her. It's so sad to realize she may not be around much longer.

Looks like things are getting done so we can really start for Texas on Tuesday, December 9th. Yeah!

Thanksgiving, Cold, Texas

Wednesday, 26 Nov.....That's Cain's birthday and since school was out he spent the day with us. Nolan fixed his bicycle tires and they spent some time at Walts. I think we had a pretty good day; however, it gets kind of hard to keep a 9 year old boy from getting bored.

Thursday, 27 Nov......Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends!!!! I spent the morning getting ready to go to Nolan's brother's home to eat. Everyone was there and we had a good time catching up. Food was great! We have so much to be thankful for!!!!

Friday, 28 Nov.....Walts Convenience store called and wanted me to work for a couple of hours so I got around and went to Roby around 12:00. Mom came to spend the night before we have our Thanksgiving meal with my family on Saturday. My sister made homemade pizzas for dinner and they were really good.

Saturday, 29 Nov.....Another great meal with my family and some fun playing games. The girls also decorated the Christmas tree. I had forgotten how noisey little girls can be.....we had six between the ages of 9 and 2. They had a good time.

Sunday, 30 Nov.....Opened at the store today and woke up to snow.....way too cold....we're ready to head for Texas. Will probably leave around 9 or 10 Dec. I'm so excited!

Casino, Graceland, River Park, Dixie Gun Works Museum, Home

Friday, Nov 14 08.....Here's the front of the casino where we are parked. Didn't get a picture of the RV Park but it was the normal parking lot kind of RV Park with clean and nice facilities.

We left the campground around 9:30 to go to Graceland. No crowds and we got right in. This is a picture of Nolan in the ticket office while we are waiting for our bus to go to the mansion.

This is a picture of the mansion after we went through the tour.

Here's Nolan waiting for the bus back across the highway to see the Elvis exhibits of his airplanes, cars, and other stuff. The tour of the mansion was really good and we enjoyed our day at Graceland.

Here's Nolan again in front of one of Elvis' cars this time (sorry, no pictures of me, I do the picture taking).

Saturday, Nov 15 08....we took off to find some water and other supplies from a grocery. The nearest Wal Mart was 40 miles away. Drove thru Tunica to mail some post cards and decided to go ahead and drive to Helena, AR, to the Wal Mart. Nice drive and pretty day!!!

Sunday, Nov 16 08.....we got out again and drove to River Park maybe for a walk but ended up going through the museum instead of the walk....it was very windy. Interesting museum and nice facility....worth the visit. Here's the outside of the museum.

This is the where the Tunica Queen parks when it is not out of the River. It only runs on Saturday during the winter months.

While outside walking down the sidewalk, we saw a barge going down the river. It was really far away and we watched it down the river. The other pictures are of the barge zoomed in.

The whole time we were gone Nolan kept pointing out the many cotton fields we saw along the way. I had never seen them in real life before so I finally made him stop so I could get a piece of cotton from the field. This is a picture of where I got my cotton.

Monday, Nov 17 08......We had decided to stay at Tunica until today because Nolan wanted to drive to Union City, TN, to visit the Dixie Gun Works Museum....it wasn't open over the weekend. We got up early and left Tunica arriving at Union City around 1:00 or 2:00 pm. Set up and went over to the museum. Spent a couple of hours going through the museum; mostly antique cars and guns.

Tuesday, Nov 18 08....We were up early and arrived in Roby early afternoon.

Wednesday through now....we've mainly just been trying to decide what we want to do now. The options are:

Buy a house already built now.

Build a house in the Spring.

Spend the winter in Texas and then build a house in the Spring.

I won't be posting on a regular basis now but I will keep the blog up til we decide what we are doing.

Scenic Drive, Plantation Day, Travelling Home

Wow, can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. I'll try to catch everything up!

Thursday and Friday we spent mostly just at the campsite. We did make a run to Wal Mart....can't stop anywhere and not go to the local Wal Mart.

Saturday we left the trailer for somewhere. I finally decided that I wanted to go to Gulfport. So off we went. Knew the hurricane had gone through there but it hadn't occurred to me that things wouldn't be back to normal. Mostly cleaned up but still lots of land for sale and lots of rebuilding to do. We didn't find a place to eat on the gulf during the drive back and we were almost back to New Orleans before we knew it. So we decided to drive back across the causeway, a 23 mile long bridge across the middle of Lake Pontchatrain. Nice drive!

Sunday and Monday were days spent at the RV park reading and walking.

Tuesday I talked Nolan into going to see a plantation. We started out and soon found out that it was a bit farther that we expected so we ate lunch at The Cabin Restaurant. Very nice and great food!

The next two pictures are of other buildings around the restaurant.

From there we drove to Oak Alley Plantation. This guy was our tour guide.

This plantation is called Oak Alley because of these trees that were planted by the guy who purchased the land. There are 28 trees that start at the Mississippi River and end at the small house that he built.

This is the back side of the mansion which was built later by a creole couple.

The front of the mansion

Other shots around the plantation.

These are pictures of the river along I55 going south.

The rest are pictures of the bridge crossing the Mississippi river to get to the plantations.

Wednesday we packed up and headed north......yes north not south! We're going back to our home town. The full time lifestyle is not for Nolan......he's been pretty unhappy. Our first stop was in Canton, MS, where we just stayed overnight. We drove about 200 miles and it was time to stop and this place was convenient; not someplace we would stay for very long (Movietown RV Park).

Today we drove another 200 miles to Tunica, MS. We're staying at the Hollywood Casino RV Park for at least 2 nights maybe 3. Nolan said he would go to Graceland in Memphis tomorrow so I'm excited. I'll have more pictures tomorrow!