Summer's End / London

Sept 21 –

Since our last installment, we returned from Arkansas and camped near the dealership, got more warranty work done and went to San Antonio where I worked a trade show.

We returned to Dallas and packed for our trip to London.  We left the RV at the dealership for the two weeks we were gone, which meant we had to completely empty the fridg so Brian got some food items he didn’t even know he needed. 

We spent a wonderful two weeks and two days with Chris, Angie, Caleb and Hannah.  We went to the Natural History Museum, played wiffle ball outside behind the apartments introducing a six year old boy (he told me he is more than 6 and a quarter and more than 6 and a half, but not 7… Imagine that in a little boy British accent) who lives in the apartment complex to baseball, went to the park and played games inside when it rained. Did you know that Chutes and Ladders is Snakes and Ladders in England?  We also got to walk with Caleb on his first day of school starting year 1.

 Playing in the dirt is so much fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baseball (wiffle ball) in the back garden

 

 

Gram & Hannah dancing

Mmmm a milk shake

 

 

 

First day of school

 

 

 

 Hannah in her Princess Sophia shirt


                           Grampa & Caleb wrestling

This is one handsome boy!

 

 

            Gram & Hannah enjoying each other's company

 

 

 

We got back and prepared for our trip to Colorado Springs.  We spent a night in Amarillo (by the way, Jane drove for a couple hours.  It was her first time to pull the house down the road and she was great.  Not only do I have a woman who can drive a one-ton dually, but she can pull a trailer too!  What a woman.) and got to Colorado Springs the following day.  We had a great week up in the mountains.  As we got closer and closer to the mountains, it made me realize how we overuse the word awesome.  The rockies (not the baseball team) are truly awesome.  When I look at God’s creations, I realize how awe inspiring his handiwork really is. 

We took in Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls and went to the top of Pike’s Peak and of course, made it to Coors Field to see the Rockies and Padres.  At Seven Falls, we walked up about a million steps to the top of the falls and found a large water pipe.  What??  Turns out they recycle the water that flows from the mountains down the falls so that they can be open all year without worrying about the water freezing.  Seven Falls Park is now owned by the people who own the famous Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.  Also at the top of the falls, we were told to smell a tree.  Well, the bark of the Ponderosa Pine smells just like sugar cookies!!  If any of you already knew that, why did you never tell me?  At the Rockies game, we were waiting in line to buy our tickets when a nice couple approached me and asked if we needed two tickets.  I said yes we do, and she gave me two FREE tickets.  Their boys had stayed home to watch the Colorado vs. Colorado State football game and, being season ticket holders, they had two extra…..18 rows up from the Rockies dugout.  Well, that was really cool! 

We saw miles and miles of train cars carrying coal in Colorado.  It is the 7th largest coal producing state in the U.S.

 

The Rockies have a really nice park.  Yep, had to take a sweatshirt to this game.  Got a bit chilly.

 

     Oh, yeah did Jane mention we had really good seats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden of the Gods

 

 

 

 

Seven Falls

 

 

 

 

 

 

                          Wind chill below freezing at the top

 

 

We had dinner with Zach and Katie (can’t believe we forgot to take a picture) to catch up on their recent move to Denver and how things are going.  The kids are fine.  Zach has already bought skis and Katie is studying hard. 

We also caught up with a friend, Chris, from my previous job, and his wife Julie at the 16^th Street Mall, which is a really cool place in downtown Denver with great shops and restaurants and huge pots of gorgeous flowers all along the streets.

We left Colorado Springs and spent a night just outside Albuquerque.  We arrived in Surprise, AZ, just northwest of Phoenix, where they were forecasting monsoon rains and flash flooding.

OK, now we know it’s us.  In Illinois, we had two or three bad storms with tornado sightings.  In Kansas City, we had flash flood warnings off and on for a week.  When we came back to Texas, more flash floods.  In Arkansas we had to evacuate the campground because of rain  and now in Phoenix, which gets less than 6 inches of rain a year, more rain and flash floods.  The rain, however, never happened here in Arizona and the weather has returned to its customary HOT.  You know, they say it’s OK because it is a dry heat.  Well, 100 degrees is 100 degrees, dry or wet.  But the desert and mountains are beautiful.  The view from the passenger seat of the F350 was spectacular on the drive from Colorado to Arizona. 

Except for an Indian reservation in northern Arizona, the state does not “spring forward” or “fall back”.  For some reason, this time change has really messed with our minds. 

This is an “over 55” park and has amazing amenities.  Jim and I have frequented the fitness center which is huge and very well equipped.  Not sure one week of fitness will help but it won’t hurt either. 

No trouble finding the TV satellites in the southern sky at this park.

As you can probably tell, Jim and I “tag team” the writing of this blog so some of it is from his point of view and some from mine.   But he gets to choose the pictures so now it is his turn again.

 

 

 

We'll spend two more weeks here in Phoenix, then a month in Tucson before heading back through Texas to Arkansas where we'll get some work done on the vacation house, spend Thanksgiving with the family and then down to Florida Dec. 1 to spend the winter in Ruskin again. 

Arkansas!

August 6

Well, we did indeed get to spend time with old and dear friends while parked in Aledo, Texas at Cowtown RV Park.  The park was very accommodating.  When we got all hooked up, we noticed we couldn't open our front awning, so a guy came the next morning and lopped off a bunch of tree limbs until we could open our awning.

 

I had lunch with Wanice and as a bonus, she took me to visit her sweet mom, Janice Lane.  I had worked with Janice before I met Wanice and I have known Wanice for almost 40 years so I’ve known Janice longer.  What a treat! Wanice and Mike, Dale and Vicki and Jim and I went to Steve and Debbie’s house for dinner one night.  There were a lot of years of friendship gathered there that night.  Wanice brought a picture taken at her house in April, 1980, of the four of us pregnant so we all lined up and took another picture of the four of us today.  All the babies are grown and have babies of their own now. 

 

Brian, Jim and I went out for lunch on fathers’ day and then we went to an indoor go cart track.  Jim and Brain are all about driving fast.   I started to take a picture of the final board showing where they finished and Brian told me to wait because he would be at the top next time……and he was….the next two times.  The boy likes to speed!

 

We also took in a Ranger game while we were in the metroplex. 

 

When we left Texas we were driving into a storm so we stopped for the night in Oklahoma at WinStar Casino.  They have an RV park and the first night is free.  Well, we only needed one night so that worked out great! Then on to Fayetteville, Arkansas, or as Jim said, “returning to the mother ship”. Jim and I lived in Fayetteville for the first three years of our marriage while he attended and graduated from The University of Arkansas.  On this trip, we contacted some friends who live in Springdale and had dinner with them.  Don and Jim went to high school together in Mountain Home and I worked with Don’s wife’s mom at Wal-Mart Stores in Bentonville when it was a very small operation, 1971-1974. Her mom was Sam Walton’s secretary for many years. 

 

And now we are at Lake Norfork in Arkansas.  This is the lake where Jim’s mom and dad owned a marina while Jim was in high school and Jim’s whole family fell in love with this lake.  We camped here many times with our kids over the years always meeting up with other family members.  I must say I am REALLY glad we are not in a tent this year.  The rain has been relentless. 

 

We camped first at Cranfield Park.  On July 10, we were to go to Fayetteville for a wedding of the son of some old friends from Fort Worth.  That morning a park ranger came to our door and told us we had to be out of the camp by 3:00 that afternoon because the lake was coming up so fast that the only road in and out would be under water by later that day.  Most of the people packed up and went home.  Well, that isn’t an option when you are camped in your home.  Kathy, Jim’s sister, called her church and asked them if we could park in their parking lot.  So we packed everything up (which seems to take a couple of hours no matter how many times we do it) and parked at the church.  Then we packed all the food in coolers and an extra freezer at Kathy’s house, and went to the wedding.  Saw some great friends there and spent the night at a hotel.  Returned to the RV the next day but couldn’t move to our next camping spot until Sunday.  So we camped for a day or so with no hookups AND under attack from some renegade ants who came inside and started making their homes in our carpet.  Then we moved to Bidwell Point Park and, in spite of the rule allowing only two weeks at one park, we have been here for four weeks……….due to the fact that the spot we had reserved at another park was also under water. Did I mention the relentless rain?

 That's the road to the campground, which was cut off by rising water.

We have been quite busy during our time here. Jim, of course, works every day, family from Illinois came for a week,

The gang by the lily pad

Jake wondering, "How am I able to float without a noodle?"

"Pops" and little Millie fishing

I got food poisoning and was sick for a week and a half, we (OK, Jim) stained both decks at the vacation rental we own here with Jim’s sister,

 

 

his sister and I painted the kitchen cabinets in the vacation house, we went to karaoke night twice at the Elks Club (Jim does a mean Garth Brooks), we spent as much time as possible on the lake, Jim learned to drive a zero turn lawn mower,  we all worked one night to paint the building where our nephew has his business, 

and we went to Branson, Missouri.  We attended three shows in Branson.   All were really good.  There was one that was a show of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons songs.  Three of the singers and all of the dancers were from the UK.  The young man who did the high notes was quite amazing. 

Oh yeah, and while in Arkansas we did another thing…..ate at Arby’s.  Not a big deal, right?  EXCEPT that we discovered peach green tea.  SO yummy.  Now we are hooked. If you haven’t tried it, by all means, do!

It is a bit strange being in the same place for so long,


but we wanted to spend some quality time with the boat and, fortunately, it has run perfectly.  We have been docking it at the marina that Jim’s parents owned all those years ago.  It is still owned by the people who bought it from them in 1971.  We've had some beautiful days, gorgeous sunsets and moonlit nights.  That's what keeps bringing us back.

 

 

Today is our 44^th wedding anniversary.

 

Tomorrow we go back to Texas where we will leave the truck and the RV and fly to London to see our precious grandbabies and those two people with whom they live. J  It has been six months since I have seen them and I am suffering severe separation anxiety. 

 

And, honestly, we don’t know where we are going after that.  We know we will be back in Arkansas for a while in November to do a bit more work on the house and on December first we begin our winter sojourn in Florida where we hope to keep warm.  We had planned to go to Colorado after London, but we are having trouble finding an RV park with availability.  So there may be some wandering going on for awhile.  We’ll let y’all know where we end up.  Maybe at YOUR house. J

June travels

 

 

 

Had a good time at the Rangers/KC Royals game at the "K".    Rangers won and we did not receive TOO many glares from the local fans.  Had a BBQ sandwich at the ballpark because you have to have BBQ in KC.  AND it was Friday night fireworks.  One more ballpark marked off the list. 

 

Spent some time in Independence, MO.  Harry Truman was not from Independence but he claimed it as his hometown.  We took a tour of the house where he and Bess lived after they were married.  The house was built by Bess' grandfather in the 1800s and he had some rather elegant touches added.  Harry and Bess were more down-to-earth and the things that belonged to them were just like the things is our homes when we were growing up.  On one hand, that was nice.  On the other hand, that meant we are historic relics.  Harry died in 1972, Bess in 1982.  The calendar is still on the kitchen wall from the month and year she died.  Also, because we have a "senior pass" and because this was a National Park, we got in free.  One more perk of being old.  We also had an ice cream sundae at the soda fountain where Harry had his first job.

 

 

The small town of Blue Springs where the RV park was located had some businesses with interesting names that kind of made me wonder: Frontier Justice; Warrior Training; Unity Village. 

 

Downtown Days in Lee's Summit was a bigger deal than we expected.  We came across a fire truck at the fire station that was the same age as Jim.  It was the only red truck there.  All the others were yellow.  That's just not right. 

 

John Denver sings "gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field" and I saw them on our way out of Kansas.  Also saw the "amber waves of grain" in Illinois. Mesmerizing.   As I believe I have mentioned before, I love farms.  Which reminds me, on our way across Kentucky, I noticed that the barns were painted black.  Found out that that was to increase the heat inside the barn and speed up the processing of tobacco. 

 

This campground in Texas is near some old, dear friends we will get to see while here.  Another good thing about being in Texas is that I knew the way to the airport when Jim had to fly to Chicago today. 

 This is Jim. When we arrived and after we had everything set up, I realized we were not going to have room to extend our front awning.  I called the office to see if we could move to a different site, but none were available, so the next morning a maintenance guy came with lopping shears and just wacked a bunch of branches out of the tree.  Now that's customer service!

And after six months of going to the Laundromat, I have decided to go ahead and get a washer and dryer for the RV.  Someone else's hair on our clothes, yeah, that's what pushed me over the edge.

 

Just want to give a shout out to the truck stop where we stopped for gas that had a really nice, clean, inexpensive SALAD BAR.  Wish that happened more often.  And I want to give a shout out to my beautiful bride of 43 years who celebrated a birthday in June.  We celebrated Jane's and Brian's (not pictured) birthday.

OH / IL / MO

Oh my! Jim last posted on April 28 and her it is May 28!

While we were in Kissimmee for Jim's trade show, we contacted my sister-in-law, LuAnn, to make sure the dates we planned to be in Ohio were still OK.....since we would be parked in their driveway,  that seemed like a good idea.  She suggested we come a day earlier so we could watch Niece Becca do a Tough Mudder.  Sounded like fun, so we said "Sure". Well, that was followed by Becca asking Uncle Jim if he would like to be on her team and compete in the Tough Mudder instead of being a spectator.  Jim checked out the website and gave it some thought and decided to go for it.  He only had three weeks to train and he went at it full tilt.  He used the amenities at the RV park for training.  Running.  Chin-ups at the playground.  Push-ups. Weights in the exercise room.  Laps in the pool.  Then we moved to Stone Mountain, GA, for a week and he ran up the mountain. (And we went to a Braves game at Turner Field, home of the Tomahawk Chop)   Well, he was in pretty good shape to start with, but by this time he was pretty buff!  So we arrived in Ohio a couple of days before the event, and he was ready.  Becca's team consisted mostly of doctors, nurses, and EMTs so we were pretty sure Jim wouldn't die.  Angie and Chris weren't so sure but they are in England and couldn't intervene. :) He finished!  I'll have him put some pictures here.  Yes, he looks like he was having a good time!

Speaking of good time, we had a really good time in Ohio.  Jim had to leave for a few days for another trade show so I had to drive to and from another airport in another strange town, but with the help of the nice lady on my phone, I made it.  LuAnn and I spent a fun day in Amish Country and stopped along the way at the longest covered bridge in Ohio.  No cars allowed.....just people and horses.  We all went to Cincinnati for a ride on the duck boat, some famous chili, ice cream and a Reds Game (with a long rain delay, but oh well, the Reds won).  Went garage saling with Zach and Katie.  Went to the theater with Becca to see Wicked (I had already seen it in London, but for some reason, I couldn't remember the story line.  I know, Old Age!) Went to a great little tea house for lunch with the girls. Went for walks with Bill, LuAnn and the dog. Topped it all off with a visit to the Air Force Museum and dinner out in Cedarville followed by ice cream that was sooo good and some games of Corn Hole.  It was a really good trip!

 

And then on to Illinois to park in another driveway.  This time it was Jim's brother Bill's house .  The night we arrived, we had a great dinner prepared by Jake and Jamie, our nephew and his wife, and we got to meet our great-niece, Millie.  What a cutie!  She in almost two and full of questions.  Loves her Pops who always has gummy bears in his truck.  We made fast friends with Bill's dog Max.  Went to one of Jake's softball games. We tried to go to the St Louis Zoo but everyone in St. Louis decided to go that day and the traffic was so horrible that after trying for almost two hours to get to a parking lot, we gave up and went to Cheesecake Factory instead.  Bill, Adrienne, Jake, Jamie, and Jim and I went to a St. Louis Cardinals game.  Great seats and the Cardinals won in the tenth.  (It was tough to go to the scene of the Rangers' Game 6 meltdown in 2011, but I made it through, Jim)

Now we are in Blue Springs, MO, for a few days.  Right outside Independence, where everything is named after Harry Truman.  Perhaps this weekend we can go visit a few of these historical places and visit one of the lakes near the campground if the rain will go away.  Then we will be going to a KC Royals game against the Texas Rangers in Kansas City. 
We found out today that the RV park where we planned to stay in Highland Village, TX, for three weeks in June is under water.  So we will be staying in Aledo at a park that we have passed hundreds of times on our way somewhere else.

We are doing pretty well at advancing up the learning curve for RV living.   Nowhere near the top yet.  But people along the way are helping and trial and error is a good teacher.  For instance, even though the doors of the fridge are strapped closed, having twenty or so bottles of water on the top shelf is not a good idea when rolling down the road.  I opened the RV door to check on things when we stopped for gas and was greeted by bacon on the floor.  That can't be good, I thought.  And I was right.  The water bottles had pushed the doors open and food was everywhere.  Live and learn.

We are getting to do so many things we wouldn't have done otherwise.  Jim still works every day but we find time for the fun stuff too.