Depressing Weather

Not much happening around here the last four days…..mailed off my Christmas cards, looked for a Flea Market to go to and didn’t find one, usual trip to Wal Mart, baked some oatmeal cookies, finished a book, and knitted.  The most exciting thing that has happened in the last four days is we went to lunch at Alice Faye’s on the Bay and had the best hamburgers…..they were hugh and very, very good!  Weather has been very cloudy and dark.  Today was the first time in a long while that you didn’t need a jacket outside but it rained off and on all day!  Makes for the most depressing days when there’s not a lot to do……I’m getting really excited though cause Friday we’re driving back to Missouri for Christmas….we’ll just leave the trailer here and spend a week or so then be back in time to make another move, probably down to the valley since it’s warmer down there and Nolan’s sister will be there by then.

Time With Good Friends, Move, Weather

Saturday, 21 Nov, the town of Victoria had their Market Days at the Riverside Park. Lots of local venders with lots of crafts and things to buy. Kathy bought a Christmas ornament and we all ate the best Tacos from one of the booths. Then we were off to see the movie, The Blind Side. We thought we were gonna miss it or maybe it would get sold out cause we had to stand in line outside for so long. However, guess everyone was there to see New Moon. What a great movie! Nolan was wishing for his ear plugs cause the previews were so very, very loud. I wasn’t sure I was gonna be able to keep him in the theater long enough for the movie to start. However, once the movie started, it wasn’t so loud and he even enjoyed it. Everyone was hungry after the movie cause we didn’t want to wait in line for anything at the theater so we stopped at a BBQ place. Nothing to write home about but we sure did enjoy the company!

Monday, 23 Nov, Nolan had read that the whooping cranes were coming back to the Aransas Pass Refuge. Chuck and Kathy had not been there before so we decided to make another trip to the refuge. Did not get to see the whooping cranes up close but we think we saw a couple from the tower in the distance. We drove around the loop this time and we saw an alligator and wild hogs along the road. I didn’t have my camera but Kathy did and after I quit screaming to stop Chuck took these pictures.

It was a gorgeous day! I was starving and there is absolutely nothing close to the refuge so we drove to Port Lavaca and found this Mexican Restaurant. Excellent!!!!

Tuesday, 24 Nov, was the parks “Ladies Lunch Out” day. Lunch was at Mumford’s BBQ, a place, if you were not with someone who had been there before, you would not think to stop at. However, the food was really good and I had a good time talking to some of the other ladies in the park. I was supposed to get the name of the restaurant, which is on the sign behind Kathy, in this picture…..sorry Kathy, I’m not the best photographer!

When I got back to the trailer, I thought I saw blood on Oscar’s face so I looked in his mouth……not a pretty sight! I thought it looked like he had some kind of infection or something….his gums were very red and swollen. Nolan asked the lady next door, who is a permanent resident, for a recommendation for a veterinary. I called and the receptionist told me we could take him right then, so off we went. Vet seemed to think he just needed his teeth cleaned and maybe a few teeth would have to be pulled. He gave him an antibiotic and scheduled us to bring him back the next day. When we got home we decided we would see how much it would cost before we took him back in the morning.

Wednesday, 25 Nov, I called early to see how much in would be……with yesterday’s visit and the cleaning today, it would be $247. Kind of expensive but I really wanted to get it done. We dropped him off and Nolan dropped me off at JC Penneys while he went to Lowes and Academy Sports. We managed to mess around and eat lunch at Wendys long enough that it was time to go pick Oscar up. He acted fine and I was relieved! They did have to pull a few teeth but I have never seen his teeth this clean……and he doesn’t have bad breath. That in itself is almost worth $247!

Thursday, 26 Nov, Thanksgiving Day and I’ve really been missing Roby, MO, Today the park was furnishing the turkey and ham and everyone attending was to bring a dish. Good dinner but way too crowded and we missed our friends, Chuck and Kathy. They were not feeling so good and thought it better to stay in their trailer and not give whatever it was they had to someone else.

Friday, 27 Nov, Lucy started getting sick…..she was throwing up everything she ate. She was still full of energy, drinking, and trying to eat. I hate it when my dogs are sick!!! One bright moment of the day though was Kathy dropping off this flower for us…..THANKS SO MUCH!!!

Saturday, 28 Nov, I told Nolan I felt like washing the trailer. It was nice outside so we started getting things ready. I was ready and willing to assist however I could but every time I tried to help, Nolan told me to get out of the way…..well, only so much of that and I get the message. I went back in the trailer!

Next mission for the day was to find a laundry with the large washers for out bedspread. Lucy had gotten sick on the bed…..YUCK!!!! First one we stopped at Nolan said was the worst he had ever been in so down the road we went! Finally found a decent one and were through with that chore and back to the trailer before O’Rielly came on. Busy but productive day.

I really don’t know what had gotten into me but Sunday, 29 Nov, I woke up with the need to shampoo the carpet. Sure looked a lot better after I got that done. Called Kathy to see what they were doing and we decided to go to eat and then another movie. We decided to leave early in case there was a line again. Ate lunch at the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant then went to the theater…….no line and we waited in the truck for about 30 minutes…..just can’t get it right. The movie “Old Dogs” was hilarious…..Nolan was totally embarrassed with my laughing. I think he enjoyed it too! Lucy was still sick!

Monday, 30 Nov, we called the office to stay an extra day because it was supposed to rain tomorrow when we were scheduled to leave. We also changed our plans and decided to move to Rockport not Choke Canyon…..weather was gonna be to nasty. I stayed in all day but Nolan took the truck to get the oil changed. Lucy still stick!

Wednesday, 2 Dec, was moving day. I called early to see if we could get into Big D RV Resort in Rockport……he said they were pretty full but found us a site. Got there and set up before 1:00 and I fixed Cowboy Goulash, a new recipe for me. I enjoyed it but not so sure Nolan was impressed.

We woke up to snow and wind on Friday, 4 Dec, and Nolan was hungry for chili so we went to lunch at Chili’s Restaurant…..chili was terrible. Very cold the rest of the day so I only went out to walk the dogs and that was it! It’s supposed to be warm and sunny here! Did not feed Lucy the regular dog food but feed her cottage cheese.....she did not throw it up.

OK, that’s enough, it’s not supposed to freeze down here but on Saturday, 5 Dec, it did! We didn’t do much except Nolan decided to replace the water regulator so I would quit complaining about the water pressure…..there was none! Around 5:30 we decided we would try to find where we should be to watch the Lighted Boat Parade. We didn’t find the right spot and could barely see the few, about 8 boats, that were lighted up. Decided to go home instead of waiting until 8:00 for the Christmas parade and fireworks. Not very exciting! Feed Lucy more cottage and some of a can of organic canned dog food, chicken and rice....she still did not throw up. I think she's better!

Today, Tuesday, 8 Dec, we decided to try the $2.25 lunch special at Big Fisherman. Nolan had the chicken livers and I had the chicken fried steak…..really good for $10 including drinks and tip! Fed Lucy regular dog food and she is fine now!

Wednesday, 9 Dec, after reading about Linda Payne’s Christmas tree I was determined I was gonna find one also. We drove to Aransas Pass Lowe’s and here’s what I found…….isn’t it cute!

Other than our normal laying around and doing nothing days as you see Lucy and Oscar in the pictures below, I think you’re caught up now!

Catch Up Again!

Sunday, 15 Nov: Not much happened today except we ate the leftovers from dinner last night….they were still very good!

Monday, 16 Nov: Not much planned for the day but around 10:00 Kathy stopped by on her way to the office to sign up for the pot luck so I went with. She also asked about staying for 2 more weeks and they were so accommodating at the office. They even let them have the monthly rate which was cheaper. This is a nice place to stay! We then decided to go out to lunch. When we drove by Ramsey’s Restaurant (small home town kind of restaurant), the parking lot was full so I had the best meat loaf! Good food and not so expensive! Back at the park Kathy and I decided to go to the club house and put together a puzzle. We picked out a 500 piece hoping we could get it together in one day…..we kept at it and got it together around 5:00. Boy did we have stiff backs!

Tuesday, 17 Nov: Nolan wanted to make a trip to Academy Sports just because we had never been in one of their stores before. They sure have a lot of sporting goods! On the way back to the trailer we stopped for pizza. Nothing outstanding but OK. Rest of the day was uneventful!

Wednesday, 18 Nov: Kathy and Chuck called wanting us to go to the gulf with them to find some shrimp but we had already talked about going back to Riverside Park. So, we declined and took off for the park. We decided to check out the Zoo.

A couple of animal pictures…..

Great little zoo! Got back to the park in time to go to the craft time with some of the other ladies and Nolan grilled Pork Chops for dinner…..I just love it cause he cooks!!!

Thursday, 19 Nov: Very lazy morning and other than putting the stew in the crock pot and a quick visit to HEB with Kathy, not much happened until we went to the Park Pot Luck. Of course there was lots of good food and I ate way too much!

Good Friends and Good Times

Thursday, 12 Nov: Early this morning Chuck, on his way to the golf course, was knocking on the door with a note from Kathy to come over this afternoon for chicken wings. Waited until around noon and called to say we would be down and asking what I could bring. That of course was a good excuse to head to the grocery store for some wine and vegetables. Needed to stop at the post office so we decided to go to the HEB Plus down the road a little bit farther. What a big store….kind of like a super Wal Mart. Getting the wine was not such an easy job…..hundreds of different kinds at the HEB and I’m not a wine expert!!!!! Oh well, finally picked out a couple of bottles and made it back to the RV. Got to Chuck and Kathy’s and Chuck was grilling the wings then Kathy put the sauce on them. Then it was time to get messy…..if anyone knows how to eat wings without getting it all over yourself, I could sure use some pointers. Wings were great but the company was ever better! Thanks Kathy and Chuck.

Friday, 13 Nov: Nolan and I had planned to make a trip to Rockport to go to the RV Open House at Camper Clinic and see if I could pick up some Revolution (flea and heartworm medicine) that I use on the dogs. Last night we asked Kathy and Chuck if they wanted to ride along. We left around 9:30 and talked non stop all the way there. It’s so much fun to do stuff with another couple….not that Nolan and I don’t have a good time by ourselves, it’s just fun to do things with other some times. Stopped at the veterinary that we had taken the dogs to last year where I thought I got the first doses of Revolution…..well, I was wrong (I don’t say that too often) and they didn’t even sell Revolution for dogs. Guess I’ll have to find some place in Victoria that will give it to me. The Open House advertised free food but the line was soooooooo long we didn’t even think about standing in it. They did have a few vendors set up and Kathy and I found an Avon lady…..bought some Skin So Soft to see if that may keep the mosquitoes away!!!!! Looked at a few new Montana 5th Wheels….they sure are nice but I’m still happy with our Alumascape! Lunch…..we drove through the Last Resort where we will be staying in March so we decided we would just try out the Big Fisherman again since Kathy and Chuck had never been there. All of us but Nolan and the Mini Seafood Platter…..was pretty good!

I kind of wanted to drive on over to Aransas Pass but we were running out of time so we just drove back by the gulf in Rockport and started home! Nolan likes to drive back different ways than the way you first got there so we took another route home…..a long route home. So, we had to stop and take a break at our favorite place in Texas…..Diary Queen! What a fun day!

Saturday, 14 Nov: Really started out slow today……but I knew I needed to go find some Revolution for the dogs especially since there are so many mosquitoes here. Made a call to one place and he said sure they would sell it to me so off we went. As we were pulling out of the park, a funeral was driving by….we decided we would try to take a side road and go around……every time we came to an intersection where we thought we would get in front of them…..there they were. Ended up they were going to the same area we were…..veterinary was across the road from the cemetery. We wanted to go out to this Italian Grill that we had driven by several times and the parking lot was always full so I called Kathy and Chuck to see if they wanted to go with. A couple of hours before we were going out, Kathy called wanting us to come play a game and have something to drink. Played a few games of Mexican Train and drank a couple of margaritas. Chuck drove us to the restaurant and what a great meal…..I had a 5 cheese Tuscan pasta that was to die for…..another great day!!!

Weather, Mosquitoes, RV Park, and Stuff

Wednesday, 28 Oct: Today I wanted to find some travel/tourist information on Texas so we took off for the Visitor’s Center in Fredericksburg, TX.  Here is a picture of the main street in Fredericksburg….it’s such a great little town with so much to see and do.

Found the information I wanted and then we went to one of the many coffee shops and had a cup of coffee!  This is really a good life!

Thursday, 29 Oct:  Today we drove over to Kerrville just to look around and see where we had enjoyed staying so much last March.  Everything still looked about the same……great place to visit and stay.  Nolan agreed to let me go to JC Penneys to shop a little after we ate some chicken for lunch.  Of course I found a few things….some day I’m gonna have to find a few things to take out of the trailer!!!!!

The forecast was for rain tomorrow so we decided we would stay an extra day.

Friday, 30 Oct:  Well, sure don’t know what happened to the rain but didn’t look rainy at all so out the door we went to Luckenbach, TX, again.  Hopefully, not so crowded today.  What a beautiful day to visit Luckenbach.  We kind of just roamed around, ate a sandwich, and talked to a few people.  And, Nolan carved our initials in a table again.  Last year when we were here he carved his initials in a table but we couldn’t find the table so now there are two tables with his mark on them at Luckenbach, TX.

There is almost always somebody playing music there and today was not exception.  He was really pretty good.  He’s sitting among these trees…..kind of hard to see.

 

Also made a stop at the Circle E Candle store…..what a great store….I picked up a couple of great smelling candles and I can’t wait to burn them!

A couple of days ago one of the best, so far, RV’s pulled into the park…..I just had to get a picture.

If I had left it up to Nolan to pick out our RV, I’m sure we would have ended up with something similar!!!!

Saturday, 31 Oct:  Travel day so up we got and started down the road by 9:30.  Nice drive and we arrived at the Lazy Longhorn RV Park early afternoon.  Got back into our site and set up in the bright sun shine.  Sure is nice weather!  Needed to stock up on stuff from Wal Mart so off we went…..what a mistake!  Besides being very busy because it was the weekend….Nolan was in one of those hurry up and get out of there kind of shopping trips….I think I forgot half of what I wanted but still managed to spend over $100 and I’ll have to go back!

Sunday, 1 Nov: Mosquitoes are everywhere!  Can’t sit outside without getting eaten up.  Been lots of rain here and our site is shady and on the other side of the fence is an old junk car lot.  Can’t see it but I’m sure there’s lot of nasty water around that those little pests love!  Talked Nolan into going to Lowe’s to find some kind of defense against them.  Brought home a bug zapper with mosquito attractant, mosquito fogger, and citronella candles.  All the while Nolan was laughing at me and telling me nothing would work!

Monday, 2 Nov: We’re close to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge that we visited last year.  We took off on another beautiful sunny Texas day for the refuge.  Hopefully since it’s rained there will be more wildlife out than there was last year.  Well, looks like the refuge didn’t get enough rain…..even the pond that held a small amount of water in it last year that had hogs and alligators was completely dry….nothing but mosquitoes around!!!!  Drove on down to the tower and spent several minutes there looking out at the marshes for Whooping Cranes…..don’t think we saw any but we did see stuff….I could have spent hours up there looking around.  Decided since it was so dry there was no sense in driving around the loop but we did stop to see if we could see the alligators up across from the visitor’s center.  Saw one with all kinds of green slim on his head….looked nasty!  Back at the RV, we decided to try shopping at HEB again, looked like they might have some pretty good sales from the add in the paper.  Well, it was a much better shopping experience and we actually got out of there with spending around $50 and lots of good stuff for Nolan to cook!!!!  Made my day!

Tuesday, 3 Nov:  Today we decided to take a drive to the Goliad, TX, area….several historical sites and memorials there. 

This was our first stop….The Fannin Battleground State Park….a very nice park with lots of history.

The we were off to Goliad to find something to eat and whatever else was there.  First we drove down to the square and back around to the main road.  Great town square, you know one of those old time ones….lots of older buildings with lots more history.  Decided to eat a hamburger before driving on out to the Goliad State Park and Historic Site.  On to the park….

What a beautiful park….they have an RV park with full hookups also!  We paid the admission fee, all the Texas State Parks have an entrance fee.  Went through the Mission.

 

They have done a really good job restoring this mission and maintaining it!

We drove around the park for a while and again, I can’t say enough about how pretty it was…..if it was for the daily entrance fee that you have to pay on top of the RV site fee, we would have stayed there!

We still were looking for the memorial where they had buried all the soldiers from the Fannin Battle that were captured and then executed.  So on down the road a little bit and there we found it.

Nice memorial for those who lost their lives in this terrible way.  But the most interesting this was that we found my brother’s name on the memorial….of course it wasn’t him but kind of neat that someone else shared his name.

Well, it was time to head back to Victoria after a fun day of exploring!

Wednesday, 4 Nov:  While we were in Fredericksburg, we had ordered parts for the washing machine, another reason for waiting until after Friday to leave.  The parts were supposed to arrive by Friday….they didn’t but the repairman said he would mail them to us here in Victoria.  We got them today so Nolan started working on it and had it all fixed by mid afternoon….he such a great handyman!!!    For those of you would followed last year you will remember that we couldn’t stand going into the HEB stores….they were always so crowded and we could never find anything….just wanted everyone to know that we had another good experience at HEB today….maybe it is a good store after all!

Thursday, 5 Nov:  I wanted to find a beach that we could take the dogs to so we left around 10:00 on another exploration trip.  We first went to Seadrift…..small coastal town but no beach.  Then to Magnolia Beach…..you might think there would be a beach here but no, just another small coastal town.  We did stop at a local restaurant and had some great Mexican food.  Then it was on to Port Lavaca.  What a nice town….a little bigger than I had thought it would be but again, no sandy beach.  We did see lots of pretty water and lots of interesting scenery.

Friday, 6 Nov: Today I decided we needed to move to another site on the other side of the park or maybe in the middle section so I went to ask if it would be OK at the office.  I explained that I was interested in moving to a site that might not have so many mosquitoes and they kind of laughed at me which is what Nolan had been doing.  They told me to try spraying mouth wash on everything…..they said that would work!  So off we went to find mouth wash and a spray bottle.  As soon as I got back I started spraying everything…..the grass in the dog pen, our chairs and all around….before I got through, I got bite 5 times!!!!

Saturday, 7 Nov:  I had been planning for a year to wax my shower.  I had read and been told that it would help keep it cleaner and be easier to clean.  Well first that means you have to clean it really good…..this whole process took me all day!  Of course I didn’t work at it constantly but I did work at it pretty hard!  Turned out pretty good and I think it will help.

Sunday, 8 Nov:  Not much happened today but I sure can tell that I used my arms a lot yesterday….as Nolan says I don’t do enough physical exercise!

Monday, 9 Nov:  I forgot to refill my prescription at Wal Mart the other day and I took the last one this morning so our excitement today was to get that done and then back by 1:00 so I could go to the Craft Time at the Clubhouse.  NOT!!!!!  When I dropped it off at 11:45 the lady said it would be an hour.  When I went back at something after 1:00 it was still not ready….OMG, we waited for over an hour and a half for them to refill my prescription….good thing Nolan was not having one of his bad shopping days!  Needless to say I missed the Crafts but got home and Nolan grilled something for dinner and we just relaxed the rest of the day.

Tuesday,10 Nov: During one of our outings to shop we drove by the Riverside City Park here in Victoria.  WOW!  What a huge, beautiful park.  I talked Nolan into going back today with the dogs.  I thought they could run loose because there was so much room.  First, we stopped at Lowes to buy a pole for our flag so we could put it out tomorrow, then we bought some lunch, and then we spent a couple of hours at the park with the dogs running loose……we’ll be doing this again!

Wednesday, 11 Nov:  What a great surprise today around 11:00 or so we had a knock on the door…..that doesn’t happen in a park where you don’t know anyone.  Nolan went to the door and then went out.  He didn’t come back in so I got up to look and see what he was doing and he was talking to Chuck, one of our RV friends from the RV Dreams rally in Branson and who spent the month with us last winter in Kerrville.  I went out and gave him a hug and then asked about Kathy…..she was getting their trailer set up after travelling….they had just arrived here in Victoria….I rushed over to get another hug and to say hello!  Great to see friends again.  I decided to join the park ladies for craft time today for the first time and I sure was glad I did….it’s always fun meeting new people and talking about how they got started, besides learning about what crafts they’re are doing.  Nolan grilled steaks for dinner and we took it easy the rest of the day!

Texas is Much Warmer

Saturday, 24 Oct: Today was a big Wine Festival at the Marketplaz in Fredericksburg and also a big Motorcycle Rally at Luckenbach which is real close to our RV park. We drove downtown and there were so many people you couldn't hardly drive down the highway let alone fine a parking place. We just made a circle and came back to the RV and I made tacos for lunch. Later in the day we decided to go check out the motorcycle rally and that was also very crowded. The whole field they use for parking was full. They also were charging $10 a person to enter so we just made a circle there also and headed back to the RV. We'll wait til things calm down a little before we venture out again.

Sunday, 25 Oct: Wine Festival was only on Saturday so we decided to go downtown and walk around for a while. Went into a couple of stores and then Nolan took me out to eat a Mamacitas. What great mexican food! It was such a nice day that I set up the dog pen and I sat outside with them and read for a while until the sun started going down and it got cold. Love this warm weather!

Monday, 26 Oct: Rained all day.....early afternoon Nolan decided he wanted to go get a cup of coffee somewhere and I wanted a slice of pie. We started out on Main Street but when we saw the menu outside of one place and the pie was $5 a slice, we went to another store on a back street that we had seen that was a pie store. Pie was still $4.95 a slice so Nolan only got coffee and I ate the pie. I had German Chocolate Cream Pie. Sure was good but I don't know if it was $5 good or not. It was cold and rainy so we just spent the rest of the day in the RV.

Tuesday, 27 Oct: Today was hair cut day. Nolan decided he was gonna find a barber and I was going to the post office. Post office was first and then we found the barber. We then decided to try the Catfish Haven that we had eaten at last year. We both had their catfish dinner.....not wonderful but not bad. Nolan was going to ask the barber about a washer repairman and forgot so we stopped back by and then we were off to find the repairman's shop. Nolan just needed to ask him some questions about the machine making so much noise when it stops spinning. The repairman seemed to know what he was talking about and when we got back to the RV, Nolan pulled the machine out and took a look. Couldn't really find anything wrong so I printed out the parts diagrams from online and Nolan went back to talk to him again. While Nolan was doing all this, I again took the dogs outside in their pen and read my book some more! Nolan decided to order some parts from the repairman tomorrow and hopefully that will fix the washer problem!

Tuesday, 20 Oct: More wind and cold. Went out for breakfast at Johnnie's Grill in El Reno and made a stop at Wal Mart. Decided we would go out for pizza for dinner and that was about it for our day except for playing on the computer and rocking in the wind.

Wednesday, 21 Oct: More wind, cold, and now rain.....we didn't leave the RV all day!

Thursday, 22 Oct: Up and around, no rain and very little wind! Made in to Stephenville, TX, at the Lost Creek RV Resort. Very nice park but a little expensive for our tastes. It was $26 a night and we like to stay under $20. Dogs were exhausted and I was hungry! Passed a BBQ place on the way in that we went back to and I had a great ham sandwich. I managed to talk Nolan into finding a DQ so I could have some ice cream.....great ending to a much warmer and calm day!

Friday, 23 Oct: Yesterday I had called the Lady Bird Johnson RV Park to see about staying a week. They were booked because of a Wine Festival in Fredericksburg so we looked around online for another option because we were sure all the other parks would be full also. Decided we would go to Sowell Creek RV Park in Comanche, TX; or Brownwood; or Brady. When I got up this morning I decided to call the Hill Country RV Park in Fredericksburg to see if they were full also. They had 3 sites left so I reserved one for a week. It's only $100 a week just like Lady Bird Johnson RV Park. Sure glad I did, when we got here the sign at the office said full! We stopped for a sandwich on the way today so we're planning to eat leftovers for dinner. Dogs have been sleeping since we got settled. Not too bad a place for the price, we'll see if we stay a little bit longer....lots to see and do around here!

Moving.....Not Yet

Friday, 16 Oct: Sat around all day and then about 3:30 we left for Charlcie and Kenneth's for dinner. Great stew and cornbread!

Saturday, 17 Oct: Nolan again met Curtis and they ran around all morning while I had a day to myself.

Sunday, 18 Oct: Met at Charlcie and Kenneth's to got to a couple of estate sales. I had never been to one of these before.....I think it's a cross between a hugh yard sale and an auction. You go into the person's house and everything in there is priced for sale. We enjoyed ourselves but didn't buy anything. They again took us out to dinner at Luby's this time.....ate way too much but it was good! Said our goodbyes as we planned to leave for Amarillo tomorrow.

Monday, 19 Oct: Wind blew all night and we were slow to get around.....wind was still blowing so we decided to stay put. Went out to eat breakfast and then for a drive around El Reno. Found a Wal Mart and stopped for milk and water. Sat in the RV and listened to the wind until about 3:30 then we went out for Pizza. Wind is still blowing but not as much; hopefully, it will quit soon and we will pull out tomorrow.

Scenic Drive

We had decided today we would take a drive to Red Rock Canyon and Meers, OK. We started off the trip by stopping at Cherokee Trading Post......lots and lots of western stuff to buy. Charlcie, Nolan's sister, bought me a very nice small hand woven blanket that I put under a basket on our dining room table.

This was a mural painted on the side of one of the buildings at Cherokee Trading Post. Very pretty!

Then we were on to Red Rock Canyon. Nolan and I had thought about staying here and I really wished we had......no sewer hookup but they had electric and water. It was so pretty in the canyon. Charlcie wanted some walnuts so they all got out and tried to pick up some good ones.....we'll see!

Then we headed toward Meers, OK, for lunch. The only restaurant there was definitely a great tourist attraction! It was an old store that they had kept building on to turned into a great hamburger place. We had to wait around 45 minutes to get seated. Had a regular cheeseburger and fries and homemade ice cream for desert. Really good. The Meers Burger that most were ordering was huge!

Nolan standing in the entranceway to the restaurant.

After lunch Charlcie wanted to drive to the top of Scott Mountain. This was taken from the top.....what a beautiful day for a drive!

All along the road to the top of the mountain were these very pretty purple flowers!

Got back to the trailer around 5:00 p.m.......just in time to take the dogs out and Nolan went up to the Casino to make an appearance.....and won a little, very little!

Catch Up

Friday, 9 Oct: Rain and more rain! Did finally decide that we would spend the next night in Guthrie, OK, at the Cedar Vally RV Park and then start out early for the Lucky Star Casino in Concho, OK, to see if there would be a free parking spot available.

Saturday, 10 Oct: Nice day for moving.....NO RAIN! Got to the Cedar Vally RV Park and checked in at the Passport America (PA) rate for $11. Very level sites with grass in between the sites. Seemed like a park that people just stopped for a one night stay. It's right next to a nice looking golf course but sits on top of a hill.....Nolan said there would be lots of wind. PA rate is only available for one night or we might have stayed another night. We saw that the oldest saloon was in Guthrie so we decided to go find it.....we found it CLOSED and FOR SALE. Shucks! That was about it for the day!

Sunday, 11 Oct: We got around and took off for Concho, OK. It's very close to where Nolan's sister lives in Yukon, OK, so if there is a site available it will be perfect for our visit. Got here and there were severall sites available and after being here for a few days, we made a good decision to get here in the morning.....by 5 or 6 each evening, it fills up with "one nighters". There are only 10 sites but they have full hookups and don't really care how long you stay if you come play in the casino. Nolan has been up there several times but so far I haven't made it there. It's defintely no place you would want to stay for very long but nice that is free. There's a lot of grass behind the trailer to walk the dogs and if it wasn't raining every day, not so bad. Nolan's sister called about an hour after we got set up and wanted to know where we were. Told here we were here and within a few minutes she called back and wanted her family and us to go out to dinner. We met at her house and then went to eat.....great to see them all again!

Monday, 12 Oct: Decided we needed to go to Camping World to see what they could tell us about the gas line and look for some washers for the water hose. Found the washers but they couldn't tell Nolan anything more about where he might find a gas line. Nice drive through town and to some of the places Nolan used to remember. The rest of the day we just laid around and did nothing.

Tuesday, 13 Oct: Nolan got up and met an old friend for breakfast. Needed groceries so off to our favorite store, Wal Mart. We decided to check out the Chisholm Trail Museum in Kingfisher, OK. Nice museum with lots of stuff. When we got back I talked him into cooking dinner.....fried potateos with sausage, onions, corn, and green beans mixed in. Very good! That was about it for the day.

Wednesday, 14 Oct: Today the plan was to meet Nolan's sister at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum where she volunteers as a tour guide. She got us in free and then had a tour so we went off on our own. Great museum but it is really big....takes a long time to go through. Nolan and I enjoyed our visit there. We then decided to go out to Pops for a hamburger. What a neat place.....over 500 flavors of pop and really good sandwiches! I had a blackberry soda and Grilled Onion Burger.....Great and a fun place! Made it back to the trailer around 3 pm and I think Nolan and I are both getting sick.....really tired and stomachs don't feel so good....we'll see what tomorrow brings?

Museums and More Museums

One of our favorite things to do is go to museums; the small kind that you find in out of the way places.

Wednesday are goal was to go to the Tom Mix Museum in Dewey, OK. Not a very big place but had lots of interesting stuff in it. We really hadn't planned to go but across the street was the Dewey Hotel Museum. Great building with three floors of antiques and stuff. One of the rooms on the third floor was supposedly used to secretly play poker. Bank could be seen out the windows so the local sheriff could watch out for possible robbers. Warm and sunny day; great for getting out and about.

However, today when we got up it was raining cats and dogs and continued all day. We did not let that change our minds; we headed for Claremore, OK, to see what was in the Will Rogers Museum. Great facility.....huge and very nice! They show his movies all day in a theater in the building. It's lots of fun to see all the pictures and memorabilia.

Well since we were close we again went the the J.M. Davis Museum. This museum is amazing......tons and tons of guns that J.M. Davis collected. There is also several other collections there but nothing compared to the guns. Nolan loves guns and knows lots about them and both this time and the last time he didn't make it through every isle. I of course looked at some but mostly they all looked the same to me.....either a pistol or a rifle.

In between museum we ate pizza and it was still raining. Most of the way back to our trailer, it was still raining. About 5:00 p.m. it was still raining but the dogs had to go outside.....I got soaked and so did they!

Not sure what we're doing tomorrow but have I said how much I like this lifestyle!

Rainy Day Travel

I guess I was in such a hurry to get somewhere that I got too impatient. Rain was supposed to be stopping and it had for a bit so Nolan said he didn't care what we did so I said lets get going. So around 9:00 yesterday we started packing up to go. We were ready by 10:00 to leave but Nolan was soaked and not a "happy camper". Getting ready in the rain was not a good idea. It also was raining as we took off and rain on us for about another 2 hours and......we were driving on a curvy, narrow road. Nolan is such a good driver but I think he was stressed a little and getting someplace else was not that important. We made it safe and sound to the Riverside RV Resort in Bartlesville, OK. When we got here I asked the owner if we could possibly stay another night making in 4 nights instead of 3. She was so nice and worked things so we could spend the extra night so maybe we won't have to travel in the rain. Don't know what in store for the next 3 days but I'm just happy to be "out and about".

Plato PTO Carnival

Saturday, we were up at 6:00 am and started getting ready to head back to Roby, MO, for one last visit before we take off for who knows where. Left the trailer by 7:00 am and got to my sister's by 10:00 am. Got her stuff for donating to the carnival and took it down to the school gym to be counted. Wow was there a lot of stuff being brought in. Carnival should be a success!

Back at my sister's we visited with my Mom, Brandi, and the kids. Had a great day eating and playing.

Then it was time to take off for the carnival. Lots and lots of people there and way too crowded, I guess that means it was a success. Stayed for about an hour and a half then we said our goodbyes and left for Branson.

Today, I spent most of the day with Carla going over her wedding plans and creating a timeline with a budget. She's so much like me.....wants to know how and when everything will get done. She's already way ahead of the game but not quite sure she is. Should be a great wedding and I'm really looking forward to August 6, 2010, my baby girl's "big day".

Nolan BBQd chicken for lunch in the rain. That's pretty much our day.....not a lot going on!

Another Great Day in the Ozarks

Not much on the agenda today other than making sure we got the truck washed, so out we went. We decided to stop at the Ralph Foster Museum and the College of the Ozarks. Nolan had been there several times but I had not and had said I wanted to go.

One floor was mostly full of gun displays that Nolan really enjoyed.

Also on that floor were several animal displays. Very interesting.

On the first floor was the Beverly Hillbillys vehicle that they drove in the TV series. There were also lots of glass collections and lots of antique furniture. Lots of very pretty stuff!

Really great museum for a very cheap admission fee of $4.50 per person. Three floors of tons of stuff. Another great museum!

We were then off to wash the truck.....it was cold and I didn't help....I should have but I was being lazy!

Back at the trailer Nolan began fixing steak and baked potatoes for dinner. A really great meal and a nice end to another good day.

More of Branson

Today we really didn't know what we were going to do other than I needed to find someplace to buy some cellophane to wrap some baskets for the Plato School PTO Carnival that we would be going to on Saturday. So we took off and on the way Nolan said he would really like to see the 57 Heaven Museum; we had stopped to go yesterday but thought it was too expensive....almost $40 for us both. I told him to go ahead and stop. It was sure worth the expense. Great museum and would recommend everyone going if you visit Branson but on October 24th, they are having an auction and selling everything in the building. I would say almost a hundred cars and lots of other stuff.....everything that was around in 1957.....very interesting!


Just a few of the cars.....

This was a display of a typical home in 1957........everything was pink in most of the house. They had this kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom. That's a washer/dryer to the manikin's left....I thought that was pretty cool that it was built into the kitchen cabinets...those metal kind.

We were then off to find the shopping center that I had been to when I attended the RV Dreams Rally. We drove around a little but finally found it.....but first we ate lunch at Wendy's. I then went into Michaels and found everything I needed for the basket. Made it back to the trailer and had beans and ham for dinner. Great day....slow paced and relaxing.

We're on the Move!

Wow, we finally pulled out of my sister's back yard on Tuesday!

We had planned to moved to Branson on Monday but there were a couple of things that we needed to do before we could leave......antifreeze in the old truck for the winter, tires checked, dog pen painted, propane tank filled, and I can't remember what else but we stayed busy all day.

Made it to Andrew's Landing RV Resort in Branson around 2:00 and got set up. Weather is much better than when we were here last December....it was snowing!

Wednesday we got around and took off to look at the other RV parks that I had thought about staying at this time. We drove by several others and for the price I'm glad we stayed here again this year.....$94.80 for a week, full hookups. We then drove down "76" highway with all the attractions and decided to stop at the Roy Rogers Museum. Here's Nolan looking at some of the many, many things in this museum. Very interesting!

We then decided to drive down to the Branson Landing. We shared a funnel cake and a pretzel while walking around.

We finally left so we could meet Carla at Lambert's for dinner. We all ate way too much but it sure was good!

Made it back to the RV and settled in for the night.....a fun day in Branson!

Getting Ready to Leave Missouri

Well, here's the plan.......we will be leaving my sister's back yard on September 28. Plan is to head west a little then south ending up in Rockport, TX, in March. Hopefully at the Last Resort with some of the RV Dreamers. I think our first stop will be someplace in north central Okalahoma. Then down to Oklahoma City for a visit with Nolan's sister. Then I don't know just someplace farther west. Next week we'll be renewing our truck license and saying bye to several of our friends and family til next April. I'm really getting excited!

We're OK

Just a short note to say we're doing great and we're still parked at my sister's in Missouri. Sure would like to say we'll be out of here in a couple of weeks but we don't have any plans as of yet! I'll be sure to update when we decide to take off.

Just Home Visiting

We've pretty much just been catching up with what everyone at home has been doing and visiting. Nolan is doing great after his scare while we were in Texas.....has a couple more doctors appointments but looks like he will have no lasting affects from the stroke. Other than the bad weather that I'm sure most of you have been watching on the weather channel, everything here is calm. Can't wait to head north in a month or so and see what we can see.

Update

We pulled out of Buckhorn RV Resort on the 28th of March heading for Round Top, TX. This is a picture of our vacated site.....I really, really enjoyed this park!
This is a picture of the office at Buckhorn RV Resort. Everything here was so convenient, clean, and nice!

We headed for Round Top, TX, and he biggest Antique Show I've every seen.....this is a picture of a church I thought was cute on the way there.

We had reserved an RV site in Brenham, TX, for two nights and this is a picture from the truck as we were sitting in traffic trying to get back to the Antique Show to look around on Saturday afternoon. We could have looked for two weeks here and still not seen everything! It was fun walking around with Carla though.

Back at the RV, we just sat around the rest of the afternoon until I went to pick up Carla so she could spend the night with us in the RV. Here's where I really lost track of things! Around 4:00 a.m., Nolan woke up not feeling well......couldn't talk him into going to the hospital but around 7:30 a.m., he finally decided we needed to go. Doctors determined that he had a mild stroke and we spent the next 3 1/2 days in the hospital getting all kinds of tests done. They could not find anything major wrong and recommended he see a doctor when we got back to Missouri. Thursday we took off for home and arrived Friday afternoon. We got parked in my sister's backyard and have been catching up with everyone since!