The sun didn't go out

The past few days have been very wet, and had me thinking the sun might have burnt up. What a disaster that would be, can you imagine life here on earth without the sun ever shining? I would be devastated!

Today I was glad to see the sunshine again, although this AM was very overcast, by the afternoon the clouds were gone and the sun was back. Roger rode his KLR to visit his mother,(such a sweet kid to visit his mom almost daily), and then we met him for lunch. I just wasn't up to riding the dr 400 Roger's son-in-law offered me to ride, but I was grateful that he offered.

Brenda and Marcia took me to Hobby Lobby so I could look at the RC Planes, but Hobby Lobby in Ft Smith has no RC planes or RC cars. Roger suggested we got to Harbor Freights to look at their selection of RC's, so we did. They have several, but I guess I need and want a little more service and knowledge from the people I buy an RC from.

After I took a long nap we went to Tanks, and really cool BBQ joint close to Rock Island where we are staying. Tom, Lisa, and Amber (Roger and Brenda's Daughter, son-in-law and grand daughter) joined us for dinner, and it was a true pleasure to meet them.

Once we got back to the "pad" Roger and I built a campfire and we all sat around talking for a couple hours. It was good to sit at a campfire with such wonderful people sharing parts of our lives in stories.

Tonight for my midnight snack I will finish off the two Kentucky Pies that Brenda made and we have been enjoying the past couple days. I am almost ready to change my favorite desert from yellow cake with chocolate icing, to this chocolate pie with nuts and whipped cream. (yes it is that good)

Tomorrow we will leave the great hospitality of Roger and Brenda to venture north west to meet up with the Carters for a few days before exploring Kansas for a couple weeks before the Escapade. Thanks a bunch R&B.

BUSY DAY IN OK

Pretty Weeds in OK




Roger and Brend's "PAD"


Today Roger, (sorry but I was informed today I have been miss spelling Roger's name)(now Microsoft is telling me I am miss spelling it this way, what do I have to do to win?) and Brenda took us on a scenic tour.

We loaded the Explorer with a picnic lunch (thanks Brenda) and then we piled in and were off to see the sights. Roger drove us through some really pretty country and wound up at a very unique place called the Natural Dam. It was settled in the 1800's, a grist mill was built and then a small community was built around the mill.

Here is Roger and Brenda sitting on a natural chair at the natural dam.


Next it was a drive to Devil's Den State Park. As Murphy's Law would have it my camera gave out about the time we left the Natural Dam, so pictures "might" come from Marcia's and Brenda's cameras. (key word is MIGHT) Devil's Den Park is a beautiful place, with a dam built by the C C C years ago. It has layered rocks forming the dam and was re-built after a flood some years ago.

We stopped at the pavilion to enjoy our picnic lunch. The pavilion was built out of logs and rock, the rocks were the base and the logs formed the roof. There was a lot of excellent craftsmanship put into the building of this pavilion. Roger was so let down when Marcia had to point out the bolts holding it together were hidden by plugs in the logs. I can only hope someone got a picture that I can share with everyone later.
They even have turtles here in OK, almost as many as we saw in FL when we went on the canoe trip with several from the "class of 07".


After exploring the park and eating our picnic lunch we piled into the Explorer again and Roger drove us through some more beautiful country to a Ft Smith State Park. This park is new and shows all the beauty of being new. The information Center was very impressive, the CG was very neat with large level sites, and then the boat marina just set it all off. If not for the #30 +or- I would enjoy spending a few weeks lounging around there.
Roger stopped to let us see this huge beaver dam.


Next on our stopping list was shopping, the A to Z discount place is HUGE. It has several LARGE warehouses with almost anything you can think of in them. There was the flower building, the tool building, the gift building, and then across the street was the furniture building, and the sports building. Each building was like a small Wal-Mart, and there was some deals and some things were over priced as in most stores.

After walking through most of the stores it was time to eat again. Tonight we did satisfy our craving for steak at a Western Sizzler. We had not seen a Western Sizzle since the one in Middlesboro went out of business 20 years ago.

When we finished eating we had just enough time to get our daubers before bingo. Marcia and Brenda got our packs and Roger and myself drove back to the rigs to let the dog out and to grab the daubers. Strange games, rain falling on the metal roof of the metal building, and us sitting under a noisy AC unit made it really hard to play.

The caller was talking so fast and she wouldn't get close enough to the mic for her voice to be broadcast of the intercom system that we didn't know what was going on half the time. Even with all the distractions, confusing games, and lousy caller, I still managed to pull out a bingo and won $100.

One of the sights we saw today and something that would help bring the crime rate down was this prisoner out working and not sitting around in a cell enjoying the hospitality of the state.


Thanks Roger ( I got it right) and Brenda for a terrific day.

It has been a VERY LONG day and I am ready to rest up a few days before we head to Tulsa. So we will wait to see what happens tomorrow.....

Visit with rodger and Brenda

We made it to Rodger and Brenda's "pad" which is in OK just outside of Ft Smith AR. They have a small area leveled out on the side of a hill. It is large enough for two rigs without being cramped, and the gazebo, and a fire pit. If the rain stops long enough I'm sure we will enjoy a campfire one evening.

Today after we got parked Brenda fed us chicken salad sandwiches, and were they ever good. Thanks Brenda! Later the girls wanted to try their luck at the local casino so us guys just had to please the ladies and escort them. We won't talk about winning or loosing, we will just say everyone had a good time, and neither of us have to hock our rigs.

Later we had a terrific meal at one of Rodger's favorite Monday Mexican Restaurants. (only because his favorite is closed on Monday) ( I think they might just eat Mexican on Mondays more often.

Maybe we will find time to ride some since Rodger has borrowed a DR400 for me to ride while we are here. Tomorrow we will take a ride to the local Yamaha dealer to see what kind of deals they have this month. :)....

Couldn't Stand the sitting and waiting

Friday AM we left Livingston, drove almost to Texarkana where we were hunkered down waiting out the storms. Sitting in the rig watching the rain fall is not too much fun. Add in the air card only had one bar and it gets worse. So today we went for lunch in Atlanta TX and the rain had stopped, the roads were dry, and if we hurried back we could get out of the CG before checkout time.

We talked about it all the way back to the rig, lets go, no lets wait, no lets go. This went on all the back and the decision to roll was made. (big mistake) We did manage to get out of TX (YEA) but almost as soon as we got into AR the drizzle started. Oh well the damage had already been done, and another wash job is now it the forecast.

We made it to Mena AR before we stopped for the night. Marcia ask if we could spend the night in their parking lot inside Wal-Mart and they said no problem. We did take a squeegee to the rig to get rid of most of the road grime we picked up, so it isn't really too bad now. We will spend the night here, fill up with gas in the morning before heading on over to visit Rodger and Brenda tomorrow.

I really think it is great that the main thing I have to complain about is the weather. Something I have no control of, (don't tell Nora) except I do have wheels under our house so I can drive it to better weather. I remember guys I worked with years ago complained about their wives all the time, and if it wasn't their wife it was their kids, cars, house, or what ever happened to upset them that day.

Life has to be pretty darn good when the weather is all I can complain about.

We made it through the night

Oh Yea, the storms keep coming. We survived last night and all the storms that blew past us. Flood warnings are every where, our new weather radio went non stop all night until I found the power button about 3 AM and shut it off.

Today the forecast is much of the same as last night so Marcia and I can catch up on being close. Compare this weather map to the one I posted last night.

Not a whole lot of change, these are some nasty storms, but they all seem to be missing us although we are getting the rain, we see the lightening, and we hear and feel the rumble of the thunder. They should end this afternoon, and we will move tomorrow towards Ft Smith.

The CG lost power yesterday around 6PM, and thinking about all the locals here for the weekend, I wandered how many would stick around. We watched cars and trucks leaving until midnight, but then if I had a sticks and bricks around here I would have been at it ensuring things were OK.

Stormy Weather

We are hunkered down about 10 miles south of Texarkana at Wright Patman Lake. The area is under a tornado warning, but the good thing is we are almost out of TEXAS. Look at the weather map and guess where we are and which way the storm is going.



The site we found yesterday had too much of an incline to it, and to get level in the rig the front wheels was off the ground. I don't like the wheels being off the ground so we moved to a level spot today. I guess some of the locals decided not to come to the lake today. Having to pick a site without looking at it is another reason I despise reservations, how would I know if a site was level if I had never seen it?

We are watching the KENTUCKY DERBY as I post this. Dad loves horses and always wanted to go to the derby, so I think maybe next year we will take him. #8 won, 50 to 1 odds and the second biggest upset in the history of the derby. Mine That Bird is the name of the horse that won. I love it when a long shot comes through.

Tune in tomorrow to see if we survived the storms...

On the ROAD AGAIN

Today we left Rainbows End, it was a long 6 weeks for me, but we had committed so we fulfilled the commitment. Now we are in the oldest city in TX. Nacogdoches. This is the first Kroger Store we found and Marcia loves her Kroger Stores.



We know better than shopping for food on empty stomachs so we had lunch at this wonderful Mexican restaurant. It is a little on the pricey side, but the portions are huge and we split a lunch plate and still left food on the plate.


We were talking about eating and we both thought about a good steak, (there is not a good steak place near Livingston) and we both thought about the steaks Walt and Donna prepared for us back in FL. They were TERRIFIC, thanks again Walt and Donna.

Walt and Donna were the first RVing couple we really met. We met at the LOW in Bowlingreen KY back in May of 2007. We had kept in contact over the years and they came to visit Sumter Oaks when we were there last year. They also invited us to spend the night with them in their house when we went to Tampa for the big RV show. We did and were treated like royalty, we really enjoyed the visit and hope to see them on the road when they start traveling more.

Now when Bob and Molly found out we were going to visit Fay and Jay Carter back in the summer, Bob told me to make sure Jay did up one of those steaks he does. I don't know how good it was but Bob was impressed, so I'm thinking when we see them next week we will have to satisfy our hunger for steaks.

We will be rolling again soon because Marcia is throwing things into the RV, I guess she is finished shopping and I had better help her unload the cart.