What a day, what a day, what a day!!!

Well it started out as any normal day.  We got up, early for us, around 8:00.  We closed shop (got the MH ready to roll) and headed down the street to Dennys for breakfast.  We had one of their $4 egg and pancake breakfast plates and I must say it was very good.  Couldn't eat it all.  By 9:30 we were on the road headed to Houston.  We had a very uneventful day until we reached Houston.  The GPS didn't want us to go the way we were told to go by our son.  I tried the, travel via, but that didn't work either.  Mike, our son, told us to just stay on Highway 59 until we got on Interstate 10W.  We were to stay on I-10 until we got to Eldridge Rd.  Well, what can I say.  I was talking on the phone to Mike when I looked up and the GPS was tell me that I-10 was a right and the interstate was splitting so I told Doug to go right!  Well, right was right into old downtown.  Not a very good part of old downtown either.  Of course I realized my mistake as soon as we got off and I saw the words "Main St.".

Believe me it was worse than it looks and it gets even worser.  Yes, worser!!!  We came to a stop light and had to make a right turn.  Well what do we see in front of us. A tunnel!  A very dark, long, tunnel.  Sorry I didn't get a picture for you. I was too busy screaming!  The height says 13'.  Can we get under 13'?  Barely!  I am now on the phone to Mike telling him to get us on his GPS and find us a way out.  I am calling out street names as fast as I can so that he can locate us. He  asks me if we are headed north or south?  What direction?  I tell him that I have no idea what direction I am headed. Am I headed into downtown?   He says, Dont you have a compass?  No!  He then says, Mom, look ahead are there tall buildings in front of you?  No!  Then you must be headed away from downtown now.  Of course his co-workers are listening to this conversation and laughing out loud at the hillbillies that have come to the big city.   Thankfully he figures out where we are and where we need to be.  He leads us around to I-10 again.  We finally find the RV Park. ( Oh, I forgot to tell you that the new RV Park that we were going to stay at made a mistake in their bookings.  It seems they have new software and the person I talked to wasn't trained in it yet and he overbooked.  We had to find another RV Park. )  We are staying at Traders Village RV Park.  It's more concrete than anything else but they do have a very large flea market here every weekend.

 This is the entrance and the only part of the park that has trees and grass.  The people were all friendly in the office but it's more like a carnival than an RV park.  I will take pictures tomorrow of the big flea market.  The thing that caught my eye today was the largest fifth wheel I have ever seen!  It had to be custom made.  I only have one pic right now.  I will get the other side tomorrow.  Please note that there are 5 yes I said 5, slides on this side of the rig!  There are 3 on the other side.  Unbelievable!  I wish I could go in it.

For some reason they didn't have the kitchen slide out.  They didn't even fit on the site!  The truck hangs over about 3 feet! All I can say is WOW!
Glad I survived today!
Later.

We made it as far as Shreveport La.

After a very stormy night, we woke up late and finally got on the road around 11:00.  There was rain off and on most of the day.
While traveling on I-20 west of Ruston, LA.  a van passed us and threw a rock into the windshield.

Yep we have a nice little star break.  The first thing we will do when we get to Houston tomorrow is call and get that fixed before it spreads.
We called it a day around 4:00 and are stopped at the Southern Living Rv Park

.
There were 3 other motorhomes that pulled in right after us.  Cost for the one night stay was $25.00.  They have wifi but it's not secured so I am not using it.  We have our on hotspot for places like this.
The sites are gravel and they have pull throughs for the overnighters.  There seems to be several rigs here that are living here full time.

This is the office and the white fence that you see surrounds the outdoor pool.

Here you can see more of the pool/fence and the small yellow building is the restrooms and laundry.

Here we are at our site #21.  It finally turned into a pretty day and looks like we will have great weather ahead of us.
Houston bound tomorrow.
Later

A new porch light and a new date of departure

The day started out read productive.  We got the new porch light installed on the motorhome.  This new one is so much brighter.  That little orange thing that was up there didn't supply any light at all.  No problems get it changed out, but Doug did fall off the ladder once.  Luckily he wasn't too far from the ground and caught himself.

Notice how little the porch light was.  The amber color lens didn't help either.

This one is clear, with 2 bulbs and reflector screen. It's real bright!

 After checking to make sure everything worked fine, Doug got it all caulked up with silicone.
Next on our list of things to do was to change out the rollers on the slideout.  It seems that ours have come apart.

This is what they are suppose to look like.  

This is what ours looked like.

We definitely needed a new one.  The orange plastic had hardened and everytime we ran the slide in or out some would break off.  It was harding finding the right ones too.  We finally got them from the factory (monaco) and they even sent the wrong ones the first time.  They were very nice about it and even paid the shipping to return the incorrect part.
This was a bugger to adjust though.  The part went on easy enough it was getting the roller level with the same amount of weight on both ends that was hard.  We had it on one side and the orange plastic started walking off the edge.  Not a good thing.  This silly thing cost $125 we sure didn't want to ruin it.  Doug moved the weight to the other end and walked it back.  LOL  Then he had to adjust it level so that it quit moving.  We think its level now.  We ran the slide in and out about fifty times to make sure and it looks like it's going to be fine.  We left the cover off of the roller so that we can keep an eye on it for awhile.
We had to delay leaving for another day or two.  It seems that I have a very bad kidney infection and will have to retest to see if its improving before we leave.  There were also signs that I might have a kidney stone so we want to make sure thats not so before leaving.  I finish my meds tonight and will retest in the morning.  We should leave shortly after that.  They are calling for bad weather tomorrow so we will have to watch that also.  Plans set in mud!  It's a good thing we are retired now.

Packing up and getting ready to roll!

It's time to start loading up and getting ready to leave on Monday.  It has been raining for the last two days so I haven't been able to do much as far as loading.    I am hoping for better weather tomorrow.  We are planning to head first to Monroe, LA. to the business of the "Duck Dynasty".  If you haven't watched this show, you might check it out.  These folks are hilarious!
The plan is to just spend one night in West Monroe and then head toward Lake Somerville, TX.  This lake is northwest of Houston.
Doug had a dentist and doctor appt today.  He got good reports from both doctors.  He will go see the dermatologist about a rash on his ankle tomorrow.  He should be caught up on all doctor appts. for awhile.  I have blood work in the morning and then I am good til we get back.  It will be time for my mammogram at the end of this month.  You know how insurance companies are, I can't get it done early so it will have to wait.
We went to Camping world yesterday to look at some new light fixtures for the bedroom.  Ours are not working well.  Something to do with the switch.  Plus I don't like how they swing around.  This is what we have.

I am looking for something that either is directional or just a small wall sconce.  We found one that we liked but of course they weren't in stock.

Picked out another and guess what,  none in stock for that one either.

They said they had just put up this new display the day before and most of their stock wasn't in yet.  Wish they had held off on the display until the stock was in.  Iit's just frustrating for me.  I was all set for something new.  Oh well.  Maybe they will be in stock around Houston.
Later

It's so quiet.

Way too quiet.  The kids left for home this morning.  I miss them already.  I just texted them and they are home now. It is a 10 hour drive.  I am glad that they are home safe and sound.
I have been washing most of the day. (glad I don't have to watch the tank levels)  I guess I will spend the next few days getting the house clean and us ready to hit the road again.  Doug has a dentist appt on thursday so I know that we won't leave before then.  I  hope that we will be on the road by Monday week.  This will give me a chance to get everything done at the house and the motorhome cleaned and loaded again.  There are some people that I want to see while we are in town also.

It sure was nice to have

them home for a little while, I just wish it had been under better circumstances.

Ashlynn did get to ride Doc before she left.  She said she really liked to "drive" Doc.  She does do well for the few times she has ridden.  Maybe there will be her own horse in her future. 

Change of Plans on our way home

Son is doing great after his surgery but his mother in law passed away on saturday.  Because of this we are headed back home.  Son and daughter in law left today also.  Since they are in the car they are driving the 10 hr drive straight through and will be at our house tonight.    Her mother was from our home town but had been with them for about 4 months.  She was diagnosed with cancer and went to live with son and DIL so they could take care of her.  My heart hurts for her and my granddaughter.

RIP Judy, we will miss you.

We have made it as far as Salisaw, Ok.  We are camped at a KOA for the night.  The wind has been terrible all day long.  We have been blown all over the highway.  It was nice to finally get parked and still for a change.  We had pizza delivered to the motorhome so that we wouldn't have to unhook the car.  (We are in a pull through site)

While enjoying our supper, Doug's phone beeps.  Its the weather alert.  It seems that it is snowing all around us.  We are in for some snow tonight.  What happened to spring!  Did the groundhog think this would be a funny joke!  At home they have had enough rain that some family members are talking about building an ark!  Snow, rain and wind, we seem to be getting it all.  Hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Later

Time to catch up

Its been a busy few days here for me.

We went looking for the Cadillac Ranch and found this RV park that had buried a motorhome.  LOL It turned cold that day and no one wanted to stay outside long enough to get pics of the cadillacs down the road.

 Son, Brian and I left Amarillo Tuesday afternoon headed for Dallas.  It was a long day.  This is some flat country around here!  They also have the shortest trees I've ever seen.  I don't know it they are mesquite or not.

Amongst the flat country we came across these.  It looks like the fields have just been plowed and they had been growing cotton.  The white you see on the ground is leftover cotton.

We got to Da

 I wish I knew why this pointed hill existed.  It was almost cone shaped.

We got to Dallas and found the hospital that we were looking for.  It was very pretty for a hospital.

These were blown glass bowls that were hung on the wall.  Picture does not do them justice.  They were very pretty.  I couldn't figure how they hung them on the wall.

 Brian came through his surgery just great.  He was up and walking by 2:00 that afternoon.

He talked to his wife via facetime.  We head back to Amarillo tomorrow.  I hate driving in Dallas so....
hope to see you later.  LOL

Still sick but feeling better

Not a lot going on here today, I still feel pretty rough.  Since we spent most of the day in the MH I decided to catch up on my laundry.  Around 5:30 we had a thunderstorm blow through.  It blew through so fast that it was gone before we got the warning on our phones.  It was mostly wind and dust.  It rained just a few drops. whish! it was gone!
We went to eat at the Plaza tonight.  This is a mexican food restaurant that is wonderful. I had the Plaza Especial.  It was a taco, guacamole enchilada, chili renno that was stuffed with cheese and fried crispy, a cheese enchilada, rice and beans.  No, I could not eat it all.  I didn't have room for my taco, beans and half of my rice, chili renno, and enchiladas.  It sure was good though.

Later

I have a head cold!

Gee I wonder why?  Could I have caught this cold from my son or granddaughter, both had one when we arrived?  Could I have caught it from swimming everyday in a heated pool and then walking back to the motorhome in the cold?  Was I just lucky?  It's almost 2 in the morning and I can't sleep because when I lay down I can't breathe.  Of course when I sit up I can't breathe either.  I tried some dayquil today without a lot of relief so I guess tomorrow I will head to the store and see what else I can find.
Since I didn't feel to well today and Doug's shoulder was hurting him all day we had a do nothing day again today.  Hopefully we both will feel better tomorrow.  We are thinking of heading out to the Cadillac Ranch or whatever its called.
I guess I will go blow my nose and try to get some rest.
Later.

Just swimming and playing

Not much going on here.  We swim everyday (indoor heated pool) and play.  Have really enjoyed the granddaughter this week.  We went to Chili's for lunch and I didn't know they had a new menu with pizza.  Lori ordered the taco pizza and it looked great.  She said it tasted great too!

She bought Ashlynn a movie that she is wanting to see and I have spent the better part of the afternoon trying to figure out how to get it to play.  We have this problem everytime we swap from satellite, cable to whatever.  I just hope I can figure it out and then get it back the way it was.  LOL

Had some bad news from home.  One of Dougs best friends daughter was killed in a car wreck yesterday and his mother died today.  So so sad.  It makes you really think.  No one  is promised a tomorrow.
LIVE LOVE LAUGH
You never know.

Woke up to the smell of sausage cooking!

Boy did it smell good.  Doug fixed eggs, sausage and biscuits this morning and they sure were good. Especially since I didn't have to cook it!

After doing some wash I think we will go do alittle shopping.

Another day

  I think the wind rocked me to sleep last night.  It wasn't near so windy today thank goodness.

Still windy  though.  Ashlynn and I went swimming in the indoor heated pool. I think I finally dragged her out after about 3 hours.  The warm water did feel good but that walk to the MH was a cold one.  We did at least bring  dry clothes so that we could shower and change before having to brave the cold.  I wrapped our hair up in a towel so that it didn't  freeze. LOL

After  that we went to Brian and Lori's to spend the evening and have supper.  Lori cooked chicken spaghetti and I must say it was wonderful

I have asked for her recipe it is definitely a keeper.

They are still getting moved into their new house.  It was our first time to get to see it.  I sure do like it and Lori has done a great job of decorating it.

Brian was doing what he does best.   Standing around and smiling. LOL

This is Chewie their newest family member.  As you can tell from Brian's t-shirt they are star wars fans and Chewie was named after Chewbacca.  I think that is how you spell  it.
Well Ashlynn has already fallen asleep and I guess I better hit the sack too.  That girl is wearing me out.
Later

Wind Wind and more Wind

Amarillo has to be the windiest city in the USA.  It is common to have 20-35 mph winds daily and days like today are just, well WINDY!  They were calling for gusts in the 40 mph range and they surely hit that.  Everything we tried to do outside was a complete wash out, or wind out. LOL Our poor motorhome has rock and rolled all day.  Tonight the gusts got so bad we finally brought the slide in.  I was worried that all that noise I kept hearing from the slide flapping in the breeze was it tearing and we just had that repaired.  It's a lot quieter now. Just a swaying motion.  Since the wind was so bad I didn't take any pictures today. sorry
Ashlynn made a list of things to do today.
1.  fish
2. put together her trampoline
3. swim
4.eat
We went out to fish and the wind was so bad and the water so rough you couldn't tell if you had a nibble or not.  It was way too cold to be outside holding a fishing pole.  So that lasted about 10 min.  We came in and she said, lets do the next thing on my list.  At almost that very moment, Doug got a weather alert about the wind, and what did they say to watch out for.... blowing items like chairs, tables and trampolines! So we decided this wouldn't be a good day to put her trampoline together.  Next on her list was to swim.  I asked her dad to bring her swim suit to the RV park and by the time he did that it was time for supper.  I told her we would eat first and then swim.  By the time we got back to the RV it was so cold even she decided it would be better to wait till tomorrow.   Looks like we will start her list again tomorrow.  let's hope for a better (calmer) day.
We did eat at a great mexican restaurant tonight.  The Plaza.  Name sounds more like a hotel but the food was excellent.  Would give it a 10/10.  Service was excellent also.  If your in Amarillo you should give it a try.  Yesterday we had a great burger at Blue Sky.  It's just a burger joint but they have the best burgers and onion rings.  They also have fried pepper fries.  I cant remember the kind of pepper it was. They were green (but not bell) and cut in long strips, battered and fried.  It wasn't a hot pepper. Very good.
Will hopefully get some pics tomorrow. I think I will let the wind rock me to sleep. LOL
Later

Playing fishing and just having fun!

I actually set an alarm this morning!  I wanted to make sure that I was up and ready in plenty of time to go see Ashlynn's music program.  It was so cute.  All the kids were dressed in cowboy hats, boots and western shirts.  They sang songs about Texas.  The kids did a great job and I am so glad that we were here to see it.
Lori checked Ashlynn out of school after the program and she came back to the RV park with us.  She wanted to go to the pond and fish.  Last year when we were here she caught a baby catfish and she wanted to catch some fish again.  This is a catch and release pond and the surprise this year was that they had put alot of goldfish and Koi in the pond.

It didn't take them long and they caught a fish.

A GOLDFISH!!!  Oh well it is a catch and release so I guess it doesn't matter what kind your catching. LOL

There were several ducks in the pond.  I thought they were trying to drown one of the ducks. Hmmm It was a female.  I didn't know.  It's not like I've seen mallard ducks procreate before.  I worried they were going to drown her.

Then she caught another fish!  We left the pond and went back to the MH.  By this time it was time to take Ashlynn home to do her homework and prepare for a spelling test tomorrow.  Lori had supper waiting on us.  I think I could get use to this.

We are in Amarillo!

Another long day.  We traveled 280 miles today.  We can't make a habit of this.  It was another windy day.  Doug said his arms were sore from fighting the wind all day.  We left the Grand Casino around noon.  We were in no rush to go through Oklahoma City.  That place has to have to worst roads in all of the U.S.  They have been working on alot of I-40 but the west side of Okla. City will beat you to death.
We didn't pull into Fort Amarillo RV Park til around 6 this evening.  There are still piles of snow from their blizzard last week.  After getting set up we went over to Brian and Lori's to see Ashlynn for alittle while.  It seems she has a Music program tomorrow at school.  I can't wait to see her perform!
Doug did figure the mileage when he filled up and was surprised with all the head wind we still got 11 mpg.  Diesel was $3.93.
Will get some pics tomorrow.
Later

Stopped for the Night

We drove around 330 miles miles today. That's way over our usual day. Since we had such a short one yesterday, it caused a longer one today.  We are stopped at the Fire Lake Grand Casino Campground.  T'hey let you park free! They even have water and electricity.  I say that is a deal.  When I did a search for close campgrounds as soon as I saw free, I quit looking. LOL  You can stay up to 3 nights free, I will have to keep this place in mind.

There is a stairway down to a brick walkway that follows a stream  Its very nice.  I am standing on the walkway looking up at Doug.

This is the view of part of the walkway.  All this for free.  LOL

We are waiting for the shuttle bus to take us to the casino so that we can register our site. Free pick up and delivery.  This just gets better and better.

When we first pulled in we thought the Matthews had beat us here!  It looks more like their bus from the side than the front.  But alas they are pouring a slab today.  Maybe next time.

Got to remember this place.  Free is always good.