Oklahoma, do you know the words?-July 31, 2011

I think the words of the song say something about the wind rolling across the plains. Well, it's rolling across the plains but it is HOT wind. We are in Thackerville, OK. We did not have courage enough to ask for the actual temp outside when we checked in. We drove through some little town in Texas this morning and it was 106° actual temperature, without heat index. It was so hot in Texas the bugs didn't have the guts to hit the windshield! The heat was awful but nice to miss the bugs. Horses and cattle were bunched up under what trees they could find. How blessed we are not to have to stand out in the sun with leather clothes on our backs. We just keep telling ourselves we have to get through this to get to cooler Colorado. Derrick called today and asked when his Alabama migrant farm workers were planning on arriving at his house? His garden is gorgeous this year and is producing more than he can handle. I told him to save some green beans for us, along with tomatoes and cucumbers, but to take a huge amount to work and share it. He planted extra because he knew he would loose some to hail. The hail went around him. Cooler weather and fresh veggies allow me not to be annoyed at being called a migrant farm worker! This is a new and very pretty park. However, the word "new" means trees are so small they don't give shade. Fortunately the concrete pads are white. Every little bit helps. The heat was enough and the miles were long today so we may stay here two days just to recuperate a bit. Wonder if it will rain on us tonight? It did not rain yesterday, a first in a long time. Stay cool.

Lots of $$$-July 30, 2011

When we checked in here, we asked about restaurants and entertainment. The check-in lady said the Horseshoe downtown Bossier has $1 million on display. So, after we straightened up a bit this morning, we hit the road. There is so much construction going on that we missed a turn and had to go back. But we found it. Then we found the money. We probably looked like rednecks who had just fallen off the turnip truck. They had 10,000 $100 bills on a wall that was 15 feet high and 100 feet long. The bills overlapped on one side or the wall would have been much longer. It was quite a sight to see. I didn't look to see how many cameras were watching us. It had to be a lot. If that was sitting on a table I have no idea how big the stack would be. I think it was more impressive on a wall. We had a very good lunch there, too. It was 98 degrees on the car thermometer coming home but we don't know what the heat index is. We have to relax and tolerate this until we get much farther north. We'll go through parts of Oklahoma tomorrow that predicts a real temp of 106 degrees. We sure hope this coach can tolerate that. We are inside taking it easy now. We got our excercise earlier this morning. Tomorrow is Sunday, a day of rest. Stay cool everyone.

Things we have seen-July 29, 2011

First let me say "Congratulations, Alabama! You no longer have the worst roads in the continental United States. That title has been snatched from you by Mississippi. There were holes in the road so big there had to be abandoned cars in the bottom of them. Otherwise we would have fallen in! We have seen: (1) A semi with signs on the back. One big arrow pointed to the left side of the truck and it had "Passing Side" written above it. Then on the right side was the same size arrow pointing right and it stated "suicide". Visualize it. It was funny but so very true. (2) We were passed by 3 brand new glistening John Deere sugar cane harvesters on flatbed semi trucks. They were quite unique and extremely nice. We looked them up and think they probably cost more than $100,000 each. That would mean that John Deere green stands for $$$$. (3) Yogi Bear himself with that stupid green hat with about 100 kids around him. What a creepy feeling. This Yogi was not a statute, he was living and breathing. (4) Girls state champions in some sport headed to the world series. There were about a dozen carloads from Alabama. Then came about half a dozen carloads of girls from Auburn. Then came cars from Louisiana. And it was followed by North Carolina girls in the football team's private bus. We felt so sorry for the girls in the cars. No idea where they were going. Could it be the softball world series? (5) The Mississippi River has receded back to its normal level. The sandy beaches on the side are back. However, it did not smell nice in that area. Maybe decaying trees from where they were underwater? And I will add one statement: guess what it did when we got here? It rained. Again. Never a dull moment.

Yogi and Boo Boo-July 28, 2011

We knew this park is a franchise called a Jellystone Park. It was late in the afternoon when we got here yesterday. We were very tired and needed a place to stay no matter what it was. As we were still setting up, a friend from Forest came to see us. We were very glad to have the opportunity to see him and catch up on news. This morning we woke up to more rain and to the fact we are surrounded by everything in the world pertaining to Yogi Bear. Directions say "bear to the left". There are huge statues of Yogi all over the park. They have "Boo Boo" cabins. There are a kazillion kids here, seriously. If we had not been so very tired, we would have left today. The lake here is really pretty but oh my goodness what a breeding ground for mosquitos. We finally got out for a little while this afternoon and drove into Brandon, MS. There are some extremely pretty and impressive houses there. We don't know what industries provide the jobs but it appears to be a bustling good sized city. Back to the park. We have done our time in the Jellystone Park and hopefully we don't have to do another one. We do not believe in saying we will NEVER stay here again. That's a recipe for repetition. I guess we feel indoctrinated so you may call us Yogi and Boo Boo. And don't forget Yogi is smarter than the average bear! Tomorrow we have reservations in Shreveport, LA.

Mississippi State Park-July 27, 2011

We learned a tough lesson today. Not all reviews on the RV Review website are true. We tried for a very long time and at several spots to fit into Mississippi State Park in Morton, MS. It was a beautiful park although very steamy. There is no way on earth this land barge was going to fit anywhere in that park. They hassled me over a refund, so I have to call tomorrow to take care of that. We moved on down the road to Pelahatchie, MS. It is a huge park but a bit over the top on control issues. We can be evicted if we do not wear our little hot pink wristbands at all times, even inside. Ok, folks, we have a problem here. No way I am walking around with a hot pink wristband on. I don't do hot pink. And you don't even have to think twice about how Jerry feels about wearing a hot pink band around his wrist. So, today was not our best day on the road. But it wasn't awful either. The good part about today is that we got diesel for $3.65 a gallon. Needless to say it was not in Alabama. They must have the highest fuel and gas prices in the country next to California. We did not see any tornado damage as we drove past Tuscaloosa, but there were some downed trees several miles west of there. We saw several places we'd like to visit when we land in Hoover again. Tomorrow will be a great day. Oh by the way, it rained on us while we were getting connected. That is not a surprise, is it?

Great day-July 26, 2011

We had a great day today. We enjoyed an entire day at Mother's house. We took care of her to-do list. We had a great lunch. We talked and laughed. It was a very special time. We spent a long time playing on her new computer. We shared some funny things that have happened to us that there simply has not been room to share with everybody. Special times are never forgotten. We feel badly that this trip to Hoover was not a time to see all of our family and friends. We will catch everybody on the return trip back to the coast, probably sometime in January of next year. I called a State Park in Mississippi to make reservations and was told we didn't need them. They have plenty of room. The park has received great reviews. I guess maybe not too many people want to stay in Morton, MS this time of year. We are excited to see the park. We are very excited about this new venture. Wish you all would get a land barge and travel along with us. It is great fun. Care to make a bet as to whether it will rain at the next park? I say it will.

Hoover-July 26, 2011

We arrived in Hoover yesterday afternoon after our longest day on the road so far (300 miles). It was a very pleasant trip. So, would you care to guess what happened after we arrived? IT RAINED! The rain follows us everywhere we go. I don't feel like we are living under a cloud, but we sure seem to be rain magnets. If you know someone who is needing rain, please let me know. We'll go visit them and see if the rain follows us again. It is bordering on being bizarre. We are headed to my mother's house today to help her with a to-do list she has prepared. It will be a fun day. We leave tomorrow morning to visit friends in Mississippi. We may stop in Morton for the night. The next stop has not been planned yet. Stay cool today.

Power on/Power off-July 24, 2011

The electricity went off at 3:00 this morning. And then again at 7:00. The first time we panicked because of the electrical problems we had in South Carolina (problems were with the park, not our "home")but when we looked out, the entire area as far as we could see was dark. Obviously we can survive power outages but the noises this coach makes when power is interrupted will make you crazy. Everything beeps! It is not possible to sleep through it. So, we are dragging this morning. The storm clouds are building right now. We leave for Birmingham early tomorrow morning. So our next trip begins then. This one will be longer than our last one with many more stops. I wish you all a peaceful and blessed day.

Rain and trip-July 22, 2011

We cannot believe this. We have made our plans for our next trip and the rain started again this morning. It was quite heavy for a while.
We are going back to Birmingham one more time to see my Mother. This next trip we will be gone for several months. Then we are going west to Mississippi and then turn north. Since we have loaded the coach with stuff for Derrick, we will stop there first and unload, visit for a few days and on to South Dakota and points beyond. As is typical with our trips, nothing is carved in stone. But we are starting to wonder if it is a blessing or a curse that the rain follows us no matter where we go? We are headed to the storage unit in a few minutes for another load if we can find space for it. Do you want us to take the rain with us??? And while I am thinking of it, one of the host couples in this park bought a 5th wheel trailer the same time we bought our coach. However, they have never taken a trip in it because, are you ready for this?, they have not bought a truck to pull the trailer. Does that make sense to you? It's a perfect example of getting the cart before the horse. They are very nice people and represent this park well until they tell that story. Then all one can do is look at them in disbelief. To each his own I guess.

Tues, July 19, 2011

I have not been blogging regularly while we are here for a couple of reasons. First of all, we are not here sightseeing. We are here taking  care of business. And, secondly, I just didn't think you would care to read how hard we are working to get everything done. We closed out things at the bank and the post office today. We have had the Brake Assist repaired. (It never really worked well from day one). We have replaced the washer/dryer door handle. We went through 2 months worth of mail. Jerry replaced the springs on one of the basement doors. See, I told you it would not be fun and interesting to read. It has not been fun and interesting to do. We want to be finished by Thursday but that may be pushing it a bit. On a different note, the rain finally ended. It has rained on us every day for 3 weeks. It stopped yesterday. Today was a normal day, if there is such a thing here. Oh, how can I forget? I was honored to have coffee with a friend yesterday morning and lunch with another dear friend later in the day. That made for a wonderful Monday. As soon as we are on the road again, we will get back to doing fun and intersting things. I appreciate your patience.

Ok, my confession! -July 17, 2011

First I must explain. When we get ready to leave a park, we have a set routine. Jerry does everything that has to be done outside while I am putting things away and closing doors inside. Then I go out and put the Cute Red Vehicle through its routine. It has a particular list of things that have to be done in order to keep from harming the transmission. The last step is to leave it in neutral and turn the key to the first position. While I am doing that, Jerry connects it to the coach. Then he attaches the Brake Assist device to the brake pedal and connects it. That's required by law. We have easily settled into this routine. It is not hard in any way. Ok, so when we left Milton, we went through the routine, but................Jerry chose not to connect the Brake Assist since we were so close and I made a boo-boo, too. (Moi?? Say it ain't so).
We got here and when we went to walk into the office I looked back and saw our lights were on. So, I asked him why? He went to the car and guess what he found? I had put it in neutral but had not turned the key to the first position. Oh my. So, the car was running, in neutral, from Milton to Elberta. We even stopped for gas and never noticed it. We also turned on the rear microphone to check the sound and heard nothing different. Now I ask how on earth I could have done that?? Don't know. If Jerry had connected the Brake Assist, he would have caught it. But he didn't, therefore it's his fault!!! There are actually two good things that happened by leaving the car running in neutral. (1) It did no harm to the car and (2) it got 90 miles per gallon! Can't beat that, can you??

The Redneck Riviera-July 14, 2011

For those of you who live on the Redneck Riviera, and those of you who have visited and perhaps those of you who have never been there I will have to tell you that the definition of that phrase supposedly coined by Kenny Stabler, is Pirates Cove, at the end of county road 95 in Josephine. We went there tonight. If they were not inspected by the county health department, we would not step foot in the place. No hostess, no waitresses. You just walk in, go to the bartender and order your food. The food is good. The atmosphere is so unique I cannot put it in words. There are dogs, some with owners, some without, who roam in and out of there all the time. The health department gets onto them and they run the dogs away. Then they come back again. I started naming each of them. We never touched a one of them or spoke to one of them. A tiny chihuahua  (sp?) with only one eye I named Popeye. Two of them limped so they were named Gimpy. People bring their dogs off their boats and they all greet each other. None ever fight. When we left, there was a Jack Russell asleep by our car. He never woke up so we just drove around him. No, he was not dead! He was named Sleepy.The windows in the restaurant (a stretch to call it that) are locked open so you do get a small breeze off the water. But still it was hot. I just can't describe it adequately. It is something that must be experienced. Speaking of dogs, we met the park owner's dog. She is a tiny Yorkie named Crystal Gayle (no resemblence at all). And the guy next door has a 7 week old cocker puppy named Buster Brown. We have met more dogs on this trip than we ever dreamed would happen. It's fun to watch how much they are like their masters. If I gather enough courage tomorrow night I will confess to something I did when we left Milton. Or at least I am accused of doing it. Pertains to the Cute Red Vehicle. We'll see............

Lake Osprey-July 12, 2011

OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT A PARK! We were met at the entrance and escorted to the office to check in. We were given a tour of the facilities and then escorted to our site. This is a beautiful park and it is, hands down, the nicest one we have seen so far. If we find only one more like this one in our future, then we will be richly blessed. We are going with "the group" to dinner tonight. Tomorrow morning we have to go into the doctor's office and have blood drawn, so we will be careful about what we eat. If the days to follow are as much fun as this one has been, then we are going to have a much more pleasant visit here than we expected. Tomorrow begins hard work on the to do list. Just like every place we have been, this area is extremely dry and needs rain badly. We can hear the thunder in the distance but it does not look like it will rain here. A quick look around the outside of the coach showed that we did not mistakenly bring any of those silly little black crabs with us. Jerry said when he started putting cords and pipes away this morning those crabs were hiding underneath by the dozens. We are happy to leave them behind. Wonder what kind of critters are lurking here? There was a very unattractive two legged critter in the infinity pool when we took our tour, but I think she is staying here! Sorry, that was tacky. It's also the reason I don't get into swimming pools.

Rain and black crabs-July 11, 2011

We were at the mall today when another of those toad strangler rain storms hit. It was not even possible to see across the street. While we were having lunch, about 25-30 teenagers came in together. They moved through the mall as a group as far as I could see. I told Jerry I surely hoped they were not a rob mob. I'd prefer a flash mob, but that did not happen while we were there. And usually flash mobs are mainly adults. How sad to think something so bad, but times have changed drastically in the retail business. When we got home it was dry as a bone here. And apparently all of the relatives of the little black crab we encountered the other day decided to come out of hiding. There were dozens and dozens of them running everywhere. They are coming out of the canal and marsh land we are overlooking. They obviously do not have a preditor to keep them in check. Just like sand crabs they run very, very fast. But because they are so black, they are not as friendly looking as sand crabs. We left them alone so they can entertain the next visitor who parks here. I double checked my pomegranate tree when we brought it in as I do not wish to transport one of those black crabs across state lines. Not sure if it's legal! We also managed to get the oil changed in the Cute Red Vehicle today. It was free and took only 15 minutes. Wow, I am pleased with Pensacola Honda.....so far. We are moving to Lake Osprey RV Resort tomorrow. It is supposed to be really nice. You know I will keep you posted.

Yummy good food-July 9, 2011

We had a fabulous meal at Jerry's Cajun Cafe in Pensacola today. That's our # 1 favorite place in that city. Our second favorite is Cactus Flower. Hope we can get there next week. Just as we were leaving the Cafe, the skies opened and it poured. I mean it really poured. We sat on the porch for a while until we thought it had let up so we took off running to the car. It had not let up. We were completely soaked, but we continued with our errands and did not care. When we got home, it was dry as a bone here. And hot. I was moving my pomegranate tree to a shady spot when I thought a black widow spider ran in front of me. It took me a second to process that it was a solid black baby crab. Maybe in total it was 2 inches long. Jerry had to harrass it a little and it stood up and waved its little pinchers at him. It was hilarious that he thought he was such a big crab and stood up to us. We left it alone so it could get back to the water. We will take a day off tomorrow so I wish you all a blessed Sunday.

Milton, FL-July 8, 2011

We woke up to a torrential downpour in Tallahassee this morning. We turned on the Weather Channel to see how we should proceed. They said there was a 40% chance of showers this afternoon. Wow, did they ever miss that one. We went about our business so that we would be ready when it cleared. It was raining very lightly when we left and had quit a few miles down the road. But we heard tonight they had some terrible storms in central Florida. We made it back to Central Time Zone today and we are so happy. This is a normal time zone. Eastern is just awful. The news doesn't come on until 11 PM and then Jay Leno after that. It is just too late if you have to be somewhere early the next day. We already feel better. We are at a small quiet park in Milton, FL for a few days. We got the part ordered for my washer/dryer door today. It should be here by next Thursday. We have an appointment to get the oil changed in the Cute Red Vehicle on Monday. We want to get as much of our Pensacola "to do" list done as possible before moving on to a new park in Elberta, AL. We will have very few days to do many things. It is going to be a tiring rushed time, but that's ok. We know after all the business is done we can head toward South Dakota, possibly North Dakato, Montana and then down to Colorado to see Derrick. At least that is the game plan we have penciled in for now. We just want to spend the rest of the summer in a more pleasant climate. We wish someone had told us this was Blue Angels weekend in Pensacola! That means no shopping there tomorrow or going out for dinner. That's fine. We can cook here. What started out as a really messy day ended up being quite a nice day. I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

Tallahassee, FL-July 7, 2011

This is an odd little park. We probably will never stay here again, but we only needed to be here so we could eat at On The Border in downtown Tallahassee. And, indeed, we did. It was beyond delicious. whatever that word is. There are none of these in Alabama. It was worth the wait. Trust me, it was completely worth it. If you ever have a chance to try this restaurant, save room for the Empanadas for dessert. Chocolate, cinnamon and pecans inside a tiny empanada with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Oh my goodness. No fat, no calories. Hmmm. (and if you believe that...........I have a bridge sell you) If somebody runs us off the road tomorrow, we will leave happy and full. We only splurge on that type of meal every once in a blue moon. But it was worth waiting 8 months for. Tomorrow we will go to Milton, FL. We will spend a few days there trying to get our washer/dryer door fixed and getting the oil changed in the Cute Red Vehicle. If we are successful, that will take 2 big items off of our "to do" list. That list has grown so long we are concerned it will take quite a while to get it done. And we want to get out of LA so we can get to cooler weather. It rained here today. Maybe it is following us. We don't mind as long as it waits until we are settled in. We heard that the Okefenokee Swamp fire along with several others in extreme South Georgia are close to being contained. That will be wonderful. What a sad waste of natural resources a fire is. We were surprised to find that Florida is not all flat as we imagined. East of Tallahassee, on I-10 it is quite hilly. Not mountainous, just lots of up and own hills. We passed miles and miles of huge distribution centers for Publix, Wal Mart, Budweiser and many others. Winn Dixie was there, too, but they are a "retail support center", not a distribution center. We sometimes just laugh at how people play with words. Remember from Savannah it was the War Of Northern Aggression, not the Civil War. I guess that's freedom of speech.

Lake City, FL-July 6, 2011

We made our way to a small quiet park in Lake City, FL today through intense, smelly smoke. We will leave here tomorrow and head for Tallahassee. We want to go there for only one reason. A restaurant we love, On The Border, is there. We stop and eat at any we can find as we travel across the country. However, we've not eaten at one since we left Colorado last December. Last night was eventful in that Jerry, in a quick over reaction to a sound the washer/dryer made pulled the handle off the door. I should say he broke it off. The clothes were still in it. Finally, after some work with a screwdriver, he got the door open. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the machine so I'm not sure why he acted in haste. However, I got even with him today. I made chicken salad with DILL pickles, not the usual sweet ones. He noticed that right away. Honestly, that was a mistake, too, so I guess we are even. However, my dill pickle mistake will not be a problem to fix. We'll just eat it. But the washer is going to be a challenge. I am guessing the entire door will have to be replaced. It is not like a washer or dryer in your home. This may be just another task to add to our growing list of things to do when we get to the coast. If we are not allowed to order the part from the manufacturer, we will have to make another trip to Pensacola to get it repaired. Neither one of us is laughing yet, but we will be. It is raining cats and dogs but the ducks in the pond in front of us do not seem to mind. The owner of this park, a tough woman, must be a retired drill sargeant. I would not want to make her angry. She did invite us to have coffee in the office before we leave in the morning. Not sure we will do that. What a wonderful sound that rain makes. It is so soothing.

Tueday July 5, 2011

After a restful holiday weekend, we got up early to spend some time running errands. It was so hazy. We could see through the windows that either the humidity was very high or a storm was moving in. Everything was very gray. As soon as we stepped outside we knew it had nothing to do with weather. It was the smoke from the Okefenokee Swamp fire covering us up. It was extremely thick. Last night on the news they said a wind off the water would push the smoke east. Wrong. There was no wind at all, so the smoke was very thick, just hanging in the air. We got everything done, stopped for a bite to eat and came home to start getting ready to move down the road tomorrow. Lo and behold a heavy rain has moved in. We both enjoy the rain. But this rain is such a blessing. It got rid of the smoke! That does not mean the Swamp fire is out. No, it isn't even close as of the last report. But it does settle down the smoke. We'll stay in the rest of the day and plan our trip out of here tomorrow. We are going to Lake City, FL. Then we only have one more stop before we get to the coast. Our list of things to be done while there is growing quite long. We hope we do not have to stay a day longer than we originally planned. We hear the heat is quite intense. However, just like all of us, we'll do what it takes to get it done. Next trip out of there is to cooler weather for the rest of the summer. We're such wimps, just can't take the heat. I'm refraining from making comments about what is going on in the news in Florida today. It has nothing to do with our trip. I wish I could figure out how to post pictures on this blog. We have seen so much pretty scenery. We'd love to share it. I'll keep studying.

Nothing new-July 3, 2011

While having coffee yesterday morning, we looked up and saw how dirty the filters were on our a/c vents. So, we spent quite a bit of time cleaning all of the vents and filters. What a lovely way to spend a Saturday. I did not blog that last night since it really is not an exciting adventure to share with you. We try to take Sundays off and we did today for sure. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th. Appreciate the freedom we have. Celebrate safely.

St Simon Island, GA-July 1, 2011

Where did June go? We went to St Simon, Island today. It is everything that Jekyll is not. It is a big island. The houses are huge and beautiful. Lawns and streets are cared for. There was a ton of traffic. It has a huge permanent resident population. And we really enjoyed it. By going there we made our second trip across the Sidney Lanier bridge, Georgia's tallest suspension bridge. It is 486 feet high and 7780 feet long. It's a really BIG bridge! At the base on one side is the import/export port of entry. Many different types of cars go in and out of there. We stood on the pier and watched one cargo shipped filled with cars make it's way through the intracoastal waterway. The captain blew the horn and we all stood there and waved like we were saying goodbye to relatives. Maybe I was. Maybe there was a BMW on that ship with my name on it! After we checked out the downtown we went to Fort Frederica. There was a huge battle there between the British and the Spanish in the 1730s. The British won and the Spanish retreated all the way to St Augustine, Florida. We both have learned more about history in the past two weeks than we have learned in our entire lives put together. It has been so interesting. They have uncovered the remains of several structures at the Fort. They were so tiny. We walked almost the entire fort. The trees dripping with moss created a canopy of coolness and shade in addition to a beautiful landscape. It was great fun to study that Fort. Once again, thanks to our son's purchase of a National Park pass, we got in free. That is so nice. But we would have paid to see this fort because it was so pretty and so full of history. It sat right on the Savannah River. Today was a very nice day. We have not decided what's on tap for tomorrow. It might depend on the traffic. I hope everyone has a great weekend.