Early Halloween-October 27, 2018

I didn't realize it has been a week since I posted on this blog. I have lost all track of time. If that means I am getting old, so be it.

The girls are trick or treating early this year. Yesterday they went to Fort Collins which turned out to be a treasure trove of goodies. After discussing and changing costumes they finally agreed to be cats.

Hannah is wearing a costume I made. We bought the

other two. Daisy caught onto this game very quickly.

We bought her a pumpkin bucket today so she could

leave the basket at home.

 

Daisy is insanely crazy about Dum Dums. We

can use them as bribery she likes them so much.

 

Zoey loves this costume. She said Mittens chases

her tail in the back which has a pink bow on it.

 

 Hannah is not shy about taking a treat. Zoey follows

her step for step. The businesses in Fort Collins gave out

the candy for the little ones. .

 

Derrick and his three favorite girls.

 

All in all I think they had a great time. Today I had to wash one costume and hem another. So we should be set for the couple of days of fun left in this season. At last check it is supposed to snow on Halloween so I am not sure if the girls will be around that evening.

 

 

 

Scheels-October 20, 2018

Friends of ours from Orange Beach, Larry and Nancy, were driving through here yesterday on their way to Cheyenne. They asked if we could meet them for coffee. We suggested Scheels which is just off the interstate in the Johnstown city limits. We knew they had never seen anything like it. We met inside at the café. But we showed them around the store before they left. They were very impressed. This store opened in September, 2017.

Scheels has some beautiful bronze work outside at the front and the

back entrances to the store. This fisherman has caught a nice bass,

or at least it looks like bass to me.

 

This bow hunter has a nice set of antlers as his trophy.

This is a very detailed piece of work. It's really nice.

 

This huge wooden bear greets you inside the front door.

It's facial expression makes you smile.

 

Not Bullwinkle, but still this wooden moose shares the entry.

 

When you enter you are greeted by a gigantic salt water aquarium.

In the beginning they had huge fish in it that were killing each other.

Now they are all small and appear to be docile and friendly. They

certainly had lots of room to swim.

 

 

As you continue into the store you are greeted by a big ferris wheel.

In addition to the ferris wheel itself you can see a beautiful glass

roof. Well, I am sure it's not glass. It's some type of hail resistant

material, maybe plexiglass? That's only a guess. Also note the pontoon

airplane in the background. The plane is at the back entrance. It's a full

sized plane, not a model.

 

They have a very nice display of stuffed and mounted animals, all that are found in Colorado. We will go back and take pictures of those and post them at a later date. It is stunning. We will also ride the ferris wheel next time.

 

Scheels has 29 stores now. They are based out of Fargo, North Dakota. They are employee owned. No doubt their goal is to keep spreading across the United States but for now they are not in the South or East. Give them time. It is a very nice place to enjoy the better part of a day. The prices are high. The merchandise is displayed beautifully. Still it is a great store to walk through.

 

Happy and safe travels, Larry and Nancy. It was so good to see you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corn and Saws-October 16, 2018

Kansas is corn growing country. For miles and miles all you used to see is corn. Not this year. The entire drive through Kansas both on the interstate and off there was a new crop. No corn.

 

This is sorghum. Those of you from the south know sorghum syrup. This is

where it comes from. There are different colors of grain heads including yellow,

orange, red, and shades of brown. This grain also provides food for cattle.

It can be used to make ethanol to add to gasoline. They claim you can pop

the little seeds like popcorn but I have never tried it. This is all we saw no

matter where we went in Kansas. I suspect it might have something to do with

a higher profit margin for the farmer or that this crop is more drought resistant than corn. 

It's a really pretty crop and we enjoyed the change in scenery.

 

On our way back we stopped in Wray to have lunch with longtime friends, Kathy and Paul. They actually introduced us all those many years ago. (Wray is on the far eastern plains). Their downtown is still a small country town's main street. We passed the hardware store and I could not resist taking a picture of their sign.

 

I thought this was so cute and very clever. It does look like a real

saw, made of metal and with teeth. I admire clever people!

 

We are ready for another trip!

 

 

Choctaw Durant-October 13, 2918

After we left WinStar we went to the Choctaw Casino and Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. We had gone there for a couple of hours in May and vowed we would stay there the next time we went to WinStar. The hotel was absolutely stunning.

This was one of the towers. At night the letters and all around the

windows were very bright pink lights. It was really pretty.

I feel sorry for the guys working on the windows. It was breezy

and that's a long way up.

 

We stayed in this tower, connected directly to the casino and all

the restaurants. This building also contains a movie theater

and a bowling alley plus over 3500 slot machines and table games.

 

This bronze statue is right outside the entrance. It is called The Red Indian.

Yes, that is correct. The local high school mascot is the Redskins. I am unsure

why they say Native Americans do not like to be called redskins or red men.

This tribe embraces it. The plaque states how strong the Choctaw people are.

They have great pride in their heritage just as the Chickasaw do.

 

This is hard to explain. It is a framed wall of water with constantly changing

colors. It is mesmerizing. You can clearly hear the cascading water while

you watch the colors change.

 

 

These are lights very high in the ceiling by the elevators.

They change colors constantly, too. These are harder to watch

because you have to look straight up, but they are still really pretty.

 

The room itself was very large and furnished beautifully. It felt like luxury. We had an end room with two walls that were solid windows. What a view! The bathrooms lived up to every word that the hotel brags about on their website. Big, pretty colors, lots of lights which most hotel bathrooms lack. The shower was the best we have ever had in a hotel. Oh my I could have stayed in it for hours. The room itself was very quiet. We never heard a sound outside the room. And, the most surprising thing was that the entire room had crown molding. We have never seen that in a hotel before.

 

In the bathroom they had all sorts of tubes of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc like many hotels have. But they had a tiny silver container which had Q-tips and cotton balls inside. I have never seen that. But the best of all was a cute box that I almost did not open because I thought it contained a shower cap of some sort. Finally I opened it and was so surprised I nearly squealed with delight.

 

It's a little bar of soap shaped like a white buffalo! I just held it

and fell in love with it. I carefully wrapped it and brought it home.

As you know a white buffalo is very sacred to Native Americans.

I am unsure how I am going to display this cute thing but I know

it will never be used like a bar of soap even though it smells wonderful.  

 

Staying at Choctaw Durant was a delightful experience. The one thing we did not like was their lack of control over the smoke in the casino. WinStar is excellent at removing smoke and even has a smoke free casino inside. We ate at Gilley's and did not notice the smoke in the restaurant but it was thick in the casino, so we did not stay too long.

 

WinStar is still our favorite. And it helps that they comp our room! We are ready to go back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A mini vaca-October 8, 2018

After driving through horrendous thunderstorms in Kansas we arrived at WinStar safely this afternoon. We made it through Oklahoma City with no storms and no problems. If you think Oklahoma City is a cow town, think again. It is massive, over 35 miles from the north end to the south end. Mostly 6 lanes of traffic on I-35. We have not driven completely east to west. It could be bigger or smaller. It's enough of an accomplishment to go from north to south. There are 5 interstate highways that cross in Oklahoma City.

Our room has a balcony this time as well as a view of the pools and the main entrance. This is FUN!

The building in the middle is the north tower. That's where we are.

The building attached to the left is the south tower. And the building

to the right that's a different color is the casino tower. All three

towers are directly attached to the world casino. The casino floor

is over a mile from one end to the other plus the walk from one of the

towers to the casino. Comfy shoes are required!

 

This is the main entrance of the WinStar World Casino and Resort.

 

The colors change continuously from dusk to dawn.

 

It never gets old watching this sight.

 

We also overlook the swimming pools from our balcony.

I wish I could swim!

 

This place is just fabulous, inside and out. If you ever get the chance, you must visit.

 

 

 

 

Penguin-October 5, 2018

We had Zoey and Daisy for a major portion of today. We will have all three tomorrow afternoon. Then Sunday we are headed out of town for a week. I'll tell you about that as we travel.

Today Zoey brought a stuffed toy penguin with her. She calls it Pen-gwee. No, I don't know why. But while she was playing we had a discussion about the little thing. And here is what she said.

Note the black bow. This is Pen-gwee as a girl.

 

And this is Pen-gwee as a boy.

Very clever.

 

It was a fun day inside. But the weather sure turned nasty outside. We are hoping we get away from the cold for a few days.

 

 

I did it!-October 2, 2108

Sometimes it's not good to tell me I cannot do something. It's rather like waving a red flag in front of a charging bull!

Daisy's 2nd birthday was Saturday. Where has the time gone?

The other two wanted it to be their birthday but they have had their

chances this year already. Daisy could open packages better than either

of the other two at this age.

 

 

It only took four of us to open one little gift.

 

Here is the gift it took 4 of us to open.

Four tiny little kittens in a soft carrying case. Each one mews.

They are the perfect size for Daisy's hands.

 

And then there was a delicious chocolate cake.

She didn't need any help eating it. None of us did.

Daisy is the only one who was able to blow out her candles

on her second birthday. She was great! It was a fun time.

 

I have tackled the blog issue. Now I have to work on the email issue.