Stuff I forgot-March 30, 2012

There are a few things I want to share. First of all, I have heard about Texas Blue Bonnets for as long as I can remember, but have not ever seen any, until Wednesday. I kept telling Jerry about the pretty purple flowers on the side of the road. I just loved them. It was not until that night on the local news that they showed them and said that the Blue Bonnets are in full bloom. So now I know those crazy Texans love their purple Blue Bonnets. I do, too. Secondly, the pecan trees we've seen everywhere are also putting on their leaves. That means the threat of freeze is past, so winter is done in this part of the country. I also meant to tell you that diesel here on the reservation is only $3.83 per gallon. Regular gas is above that in some states. With our card we'd be below $3.80 a gallon. That leaves nothing to complain about. We weren't complaining anyway. We looked online today and found a place about 4 miles from here where we could buy a Mega Millions ticket. We are certain we have the winning ticket!! We will not tell anybody but you will know when I tell you we have traded this Phaeton for a Prevost or a Newell. Stay tuned!

WinStar-March 29, 2012

We lost a lot of time this morning because I decided to wash a load of clothes. But we finally got ready and hopped on a shuttle to the WinStar casino. We heard too much, we had to go. Our driver was dressed as nicely as my Daddy used to dress going to church. He was so polite. We were the only ones on the bus so we asked lots of questions. This casino is now the second largest in the world, second only to Foxwoods in Connecticut. It is one full mile from one end of the casino to the other. As if we did not believe it we walked it 1 1/2 times (total 3 miles). There are 7000 brightly colored slot machines whistling, ringing and making all sorts of interesting noises added to the noise of the people feeding the machines. Table games and 6 restaurants round out the space. It is massive. We were like country folks come to town on Saturday. We had such a look on our face that a Casino Host named Marilyn asked if we needed help? No we didn't. But she spoke with us, gave us her card and said if we ever need a room at the hotel to call her personally. Wouldn't you know that would happen now that we no longer need a hotel room?? That's funny and just our luck. The Chickasaw Nation has 4 big hotels on the property now with 2 more under construction plus a golf course, emergency center, daycare center and this rv park with 200 sites. I personally see on end in sight for them because they surely do know how to run a business and oversee construction. I asked the driver if all of the employees are trained in good customer service or were they born with that talent? He said, "Yes, yes." I think if we ever need jobs we are coming back here to apply!

Thackerville, OK-March 28, 2012

It was an exhausting day today. We are glad to be connected and trying to cool off inside. The roads got worse. We didn't think that was possible. Unless there is a family emergency we will not use this route again. We are on a Chickasaw Indian reservation. We love all of the reservations. They are so welcoming and customer oriented and extremely affordable. We have a ticket for two free buffets tomorrow which we will happily use. We know that Terry Bradshaw lives here and we think he should invite us over for coffee. We went through Paris, Texas today which has an airport probably for only one reason. It is Gene Stallings home and he has a jet. He is the former coach of the University of Alabama. He is a good guy. We saw many funny signs today in people's front yards. They were political so I will refrain from quoting them here. There were lots of pretty wild flowers along the side of the road, most of which I've never seen. And still lots of water everywhere. It will take a very long time for it to go away. The bugs were unbelievable. Big ones, too. We had to scrape them off as soon as we had everything connected. Tomorrow we rest and eat at the buffet.

Jan's in Shreveport-March 27, 2012

Jan's is another of those locally owned restaurants where all the local people eat. That means we get stared at when we walk in, but who cares? Our money spends just like their money does. It is a catfish "joint". Of course they are farm raised catfish, not from muddy rivers. We ate there last year and wanted to eat there again. Good food and lots of it. We left much at the table, but still came away pleasantly full. We have checked rv dealers in Laredo, TX. They have nothing we care to look at, so we are marching forward to Oklahoma. That way we will be situated when the next two weather fronts come through. Plus their clubhouse is a certified storm shelter, so we think it wise that we stay there for a few days. We closely monitor the weather on a daily basis. Will let you know tomorrow when we have "landed".

Shreveport-March 26, 2012

We were in this park in July of last year, in exactly the same site and it is almost as hot as it was then. We are suffering! The drive from West Monroe was not what we expected. The road was great til we got to the east side of Shreveport. Then we think everything that could move in here did just that. Maybe the worst interstate (10) we've driven. However, the drive here was pretty to see. So many shades of green we could not keep up with all the colors. We noticed that when we crossed the mighty and muddy Mississippi River on Saturday, things changed quite a bit. First of all, all radio and TV stations start with K, not with W. Secondly as many words as possible end in "eaux". Instead of 7-11s they have Get-n-Geaux. Every place possible uses purple as their preferred color. And people for the most part are so happy. There are so many family owned restaurants. Apparently entrepreneurship is alive and well in Louisiana. It's a fun state. If they would just do something with their roads. We'll stay here two or three days and then move on to Texas. We have several nice places to choose from there. Stay cool!!

Monroe, LA-March 24, 2012

Our destination today was Vicksburg, MS. There was no room at the "inn" because a nuclear power plant is being cleaned. It takes several thousand people to do that, so we drove on to Monroe, LA. The roads in Mississippi were beyond horrible and the trash on the side of the road was shocking. There was water everywhere and it was filled with trash. Just disgusting. Louisiana roads were a little better and it was definitely flatter. As soon as I knew we'd be crossing the Mississippi River instead of parking beside it, I grabbed the camera and opened my window. I snapped as fast as I could. I took about a dozen pictures and only 3 are presentable, so I'm attaching those. The first one is what the bridge looks like as you go across it. The second one is the depth marker (that was a very lucky shot). It shows the water is 80 feet deep and it is muddy as it can be. The last one shows what used to be the beach where every local spent the weekend, just like at the coast. It also has a pusher with either 14 or 21 barges in front of it. I did not have time to count for sure. This park in Monroe is acceptable for a couple of days. Then we will find a nice place to spend a week or so. Surely there's some of that good Louisiana food around here. Will start searching for restaurants. It's good to be back on the road. We just enjoy the trip. Hope you like the pictures.

Entrance to river bridge at Vicksburg-this is a great river

Depth marker at 80 ft

Where the beach used to be and the barge

Hoover sunset-March 22, 2012

All I had to blog about today was the rain. Almost the entire state is getting rain. Truthfully, this part of Alabama really needed it. Tomorrow every possible plant and tree will be bright green and in full bloom. The beauty of spring. I was sitting at the computer and listening to it rain on the roof when something caught my eye outside. It was this picture of the sunset. The first picture had raindrops all over the lens but this one did not. What a wonderful sight this was in spite of the rain. It was worth getting wet to photograph! Enjoy.

Wind and more wind-March 20, 2012

Tristan and Kenna Rose filling the bird feeders





We were fortunate today to have lunch with my niece and her two adorable children, Tristan and Kenna Rose. We all met at Mother's house. The kids and I had a picnic on the kitchen floor while the "old folks" ate at the table. So much fun. They are so full of energy which showed us why people have kids when they are young! It is extremely windy this afternoon, in advance of some of the weather that east Texas and Louisiana has suffered through. We were ready to leave here tomorrow but have no desire to drive into that mess. Shreveport, which will probably be one of our future stops, had 9 inches of rain yesterday. If we can avoid it we would prefer to not see how much rain that really is. We are studying NOAA and watching the weather channel to see what we should do. We may not know until we get up in the morning. Either way I will keep you posted. You'll know when we are on the move just by my blogs. If we have to stay here longer we will try to find something pretty in Birmingham to show you.

St Patrick's Day-March 17, 2012

We had the traditional St Patrick's Day dinner today. We spent most of the day at Mother's. We had good food and a nice visit. The trees and flowers are really blooming here now. The wisteria is so pretty mixed in with the new green leaves of the hardwood trees. I've seen a few dogwood trees blooming as well as lots of azaleas. Flowers bloom a little later here than on the coast. Of course the downside to the pretty flowers is the pollen. Tons of tons of the yellow stuff everywhere. You cannot escape it. We are going to run out of time before we see everybody, so we will have to return at some point and catch up. We had the chassis serviced on the land barge on Thursday and once again we were blessed with being led to honest, decent people who did a great job. I cannot tell you what a wonderful feeling that is. We are just richly blessed, period. I hope you have a restful and enjoyable day tomorrow. We will start our traveling adventure next week. We are excited to get a chance to do so. Stay tuned!

Still Missing-March 14, 2012

The challenge to find Grandpa Edwin's grave increases. Absolutely nobody can find him. So, we are going to take Mother and go to where we think he should be buried and just start walking. How can anybody loose a grave? We all know that has happened many times and we see the stories on TV often. But it is hard to think it's your own relative who is lost. I hope he is haunting the person who misplaced him! It is very foggy this morning, not pleasant weather to roam through a cemetery. We'll find other things to do today. I hope it's not foggy where you are. Fog is an alarming thing to drive through. Tomorrow we will get the land barge serviced. Don't you envy the fun we are having? Sometimes you just have to do what's needed, not just what's fun. We'll still have a good day. Hope you do, too.

Hoover, AL-March 10, 2012

We arrived in Hoover this afternoon, tired, hungry and driving a dirty coach and a Cute Red Vehicle that looks more black than red. That rain yesterday really messed up our clean vehicles. Such is life. Tomorrow is our day of rest. Then Monday I am on a quest to find my great grandfather's grave which was moved from its original location in 1939. Poor Grandpa Edwin seems to have vanished. So, I need to find him. We will do as much visiting of friends and family as we can while we are here. Sometime within the next week we must decide our goal for this year's trip. Because the trees don't have their leaves yet this year, we were able all along the way to see houses and buildings we have never seen before. It was fun. We were here in May and July last year and you could only see the forests. I can smell pollen but it is not nearly as bad as it was on the coast. This part of the state really is very different from the coast. Both are pretty, but different. I wish you a blessed and restful Sunday.

Montgomery, AL-March 9, 2012

WHAT????





So if you had dozed off in the passenger seat and woke up to this, what would you think??? This was in front of us on I-65 going toward Montgomery today. Obviously the truck is being towed, but it sure created an odd picture. And funny. We did go to Robertsdale to have all the tires checked before we headed for the interstate this morning. We were fine as were the tires. Jerry said it sure felt good to be on the road again. I loved it. It drizzled on us all day. It was extremely windy, no, I mean VERY windy. We landed in this park in Montgomery for only one night so we can get into Birmingham tomorrow. We just could not face getting to B'ham at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. This place is awful, but we only needed to hook up and get a good night's sleep. We really are happy to be back on the road. We do not mind the stay in Birmingham for a week or so as we can visit family and friends. By the end of that time perhaps we will figure out where we want to go. What a wonderful life!

Miro-March 9, 2012

We made a quick stop at O'Choppers last night to say "au revoir" to our favorite waiter, Miro. We talked about it last night and we think he has been taking care of us for 7 or 8 years. As he said, "We've been together a long time." He is a waiter extraodinaire. Thanks, Miro, for putting up with us. See you in about a year. On another note, we are working like maniacs to get out of here in between storms. We were awakened by a nasty one early this morning. So, off we go. Since we will be in Birmingham for a week, the real traveling adventures will begin after that. Hang in there with us until we are officially on our trip again. We'll see what fun things we can find this year. Have a great day even if it rains buckets.

Bottlebrush Tree-March 8, 2012

This pretty Bottlebrush tree is the reason the Cute Red Vehicle is yellow. This tree living on the lot next to ours is lovely but the red "bottlebrushes" you see put out an extremely sticky pollen. It's awful to clean off. This winter was one of the warmest on record here. Therefore, snakes and bugs and pollen are everywhere. We heard a warning this morning that mosquitos are not far behind as they are already hatching in Mississippi. We have huges amounts of standing water everywhere here, a perfect breeding ground for those pesky "skeeters". It is time to move on!! And we shall. I thought you might enjoy seeing this tree as they do not grow in all parts of the country. 



Gas Prices-March 8, 2012

I'm sure that more than one of you has thought we must be nuts to drive around in a land barge with fuel prices where they are now. I want to assure you that we watched, listened, researched and read all we could before we chose this lifestyle. We knew prices were going to go up. They are going to rise more before they return to more normal levels. We still consciously made the choice to become geriatric gypsies because we want to be. Fuel prices are not going to stop us for now. It might slow us down a bit if diesel gets to $10 or $12 a gallon but we won't give up traveling. One thing we will do is stay longer in a park than we did this past year. We wanted to see as much as we could last year. We enjoyed every moment. This year we will slow down a bit and take some time to rest. Also remember that we do not fill up this coach as often as you fill up your car. We've not bought a single drop of fuel in the past two months, but we have filled the car countless times. At 25 mpg we are not complaining about anything. It all works out fine. If you are still worried about us, we appreciate all prayers. We have lots to do today so we can head north tomorrow. It is yet another gloomy day on the coast. Weatherwise this has not been a pleasant stay at all. But we loved being with our friends again.

Pensacola-March 6, 2012

Even though we are quickly running out of time, we went to Pensacola today to see the Eagle Sydney from Panama. It is the largest ship to date to dock in the Port of Pensacola. It is a rather big boat. It will be there for a while because it is being repaired. On the way over we stopped to eat lunch at The Oar House, one of our favorite spots. It is not related to the Oar House in Foley. We watched about half a dozen Mallard ducks trying to paddle against the current. They gave up and came ashore. Then there was a loon floating in the water. The bird kind, not the people kind. A couple of fishermen were casting a net and bringing up several kinds of fish. There's always some type of entertainment by nature at that restaurant. It's just a fun spot that always has good food. Tomorrow and Thursday are booked full of activity which includes our last trip to the storage unit for things that need to go with us. Then we leave on Friday, heading north. It has been a fun stop here in Orange Beach, but we are ready to move on. 

Tacky Jack's-March 1, 2012

We found time last night to eat at the new Tacky Jack's in Gulf Shores. In spite of negative comments when they first opened, we found the food to be very good, the service was excellent so we really enjoyed it. However, our waiter thought we were snow birds. We were absolutely crushed and so bothered by that. My hair is much longer than any snowbird. However, Jerry's gray hair and the fact he had on shorts did make him look like he came from up north. I tried adding a little southern accent but it did not help. Bummer, that was terrible. We forgave the waiter and left a big tip. We knew he would know the true facts then. The heat and fog have gotten to us. We are ready to go! One more week, only one more week.