Hello from Georgetown, TX

We arrived here in Georgetown earlier today having only to travel about 200 miles from Sanger to here.  Georgetown is a suburb of Austin and we will visit a couple of friends here that we've made over the last few years.  One of the ladies, Becky, is 87 and I can only hope and pray that when I'm 87 that I am as happy, healthy and able to enjoy life as she is.  She now lives with her son & his wife outside Austin and still drives, plays bridge, makes greeting cards, goes fishing, and most importantly is active in her church.   Her husband passed away a couple of years ago & only then did she give up RVing but her son still uses the motorhome when they go hunting and fishing and Becky loves to go along.  We met her in Durango, CO several years ago & they had been coming to that park for 25 summers.  I remember her telling me that she planted the big shade tree that was on their site when it was just a young sapling and by 2008 it was a big beautiful shade tree.  We can't wait to see her.

Dick worked with a guy named Ben for many many years at Goulds.  Ben always lived in TX and had retired a couple of years after Dick.  About 2 years ago Ben was on his way to a little part time job he had and felt sick so he happened to be right near a hospital in Dallas.  He pulled in & died in the parking lot of the hospital from a heart attack.  Ben was engaged to Nancy & since his death we have stayed in touch with her.  She now lives in this area and is taking care of her elderly parents one of which has Alzheimer's, so as her time permits, we hope to have lunch or dinner with Nancy.

We were anxious to leave the park in Sanger this morning because we have fought ants all week at that park.  I'm not sure if it was just our site or the whole park but it was miserable to say the least.  They didn't appear until Tuesday and then they came by the thousands or so it seemed.  We hunted and hunted and finally found where they were coming in.  They were crawling up the back side of the wheel covers, up onto the frame of the motorhome & then crawling along the frame and somehow into the rig's kitchen area.  We tore that whole area apart, emptied drawers, cabinets, etc. and finally by Friday evening we had a handle on them.  They were even up in the engine part of the truck.....it was awful.  Initially I had tried 'non-toxic' remedies but finally went to WalMart and bought lots of ant traps (sticky stuff) and between those and spreading corn meal around outside, we 'think' we're on the road to getting rid of them.

We did go into Dallas a couple of days but let me say that TX must be financially sound because there is construction and building going on everywhere.  And we thought the LA traffic was bad.......this was a hundred times worse and then mixed with construction it wasn't fun.  One day we went to a couple of very big RV dealers just to see what they had and were glad to get back home.  Then the other time we went to President George W Bush's Library & Museum on the SMU Campus in Dallas.  That was the worst of the two drives, especially when the GPS took you ways where the streets were closed for construction.  They have the highest freeways I've ever seen, some of which are double deckers.  I can't imagine taking the rig into that area!

No matter your political preference, this museum is very well done and had a kind of 'homey' feeling about it.  We bought our tickets online and were glad we got there mid-morning as parking is tight, ($7 to park and $10 admittance fee).  We had read and heard good things about the 9/11 exhibit there so that was our main interest in going and it was very well done.  Brought back many many memories when you watched the videos, saw the pictures again of the planes hitting the towers and the Pentagon, the walls and walls of pictures posted by family members searching for their loved ones........just everything associated with that time period.  You could hear people saying to their family/friends, 'I remember exactly where I was that awful morning' and that is just what Dick and I said to each other too........we were getting ready for work as it was 6 a.m. in Arizona.  In the center of the 9/11 exhibit is a HUGE piece of one of the towers.  We were told that no pictures inside the library were allowed with a personal camera, however, they gave you an audio 'phone-like' gadget that also has a camera you could use & then they will email you the pictures off the camera.  Well, mine didn't work so well so the pictures I took aren't worth sharing.  Of course, I didn't know that when I was taking them or I would have switched with Dick.  The replica of the Oval Office was quite impressive and you could actually sit at his desk and have your picture taken by a professional photographer and then buy it at the end of your visit.  We didn't do that either as there was a bus load of ladies ahead of us and they were all waiting in line for an individual picture.  As it turns out, you can use your personal camera, as long as you don't use a flash but I taken my camera back to the car.

Weather has been very hot and dry in TX with rain predicted for tonight and tomorrow.  We had a couple of 100 degree days in the Dallas area so was grateful the a/c was working well.

Mike's cast is off and now he wears two boots for 4-6 weeks.  He can begin to use crutches and put a little weight on the 'broken' heel as pain permits.  He also got a prescription for a 'knee' walker I think he called it and he can start to use that in about 4 weeks.  Next appointment is in early October in hopes therapy can begin then.

Until next time.......

Entrance to George W. Bush's Library in Dallas 

Part of one of the twin towers on display in the 9/11 exhibit (this was my only inside picture
which turned out clear).  This was a very tall piece of steel so was impossible to get it all
in one picture

Just a small piece of the construction going on in Dallas

Freeways everywhere!

Hello from Sanger, TX

As we head west, the temperatures have started rising and it is currently 90 degrees here in Sanger, outside Dallas.  We arrived here a couple of hours ago and will spend a week here.  I know it's still cooler than Phoenix, but when we had 49 degrees one morning this week in IA, we were enjoying that feel of fall in the air.  Well, not so here in TX!

We enjoyed our Winnebago tour last Monday in Forest City, IA.  Winnebago is HUGE with about 600+ acres so they have to be a big economic boost to that area.  Being so large, our tour was on a bus and then we got off in 4 locations to see things up close.  We're glad we went but they're probably not one that would make our 'short list' one day.

On our way back to Mason City where we were parked, we drove through the town of Garner, IA.  Many years ago I had an aunt and uncle who lived in Garner so I wanted to see if I could find their house.  I did remember the street but not the house number (thought it was in the 900 block) so we asked a policeman and he told us where to find Front Street.  I also remembered a park across the street so we found the park (now a baseball field) and sure enough in the 900 block there it was.  I didn't remember a single car garage so I called my brother & he confirmed that he remembered a garage and so I had the right house.  Not a bad memory for 50+ years ago.

Mason City is 'next door' to Clear Lake, IA and one of the attractions in Clear Lake is the Surf Ballroom & Museum so we had to go and check it out.   Since 1933, the Surf has offered music & dancing entertainment from the big band era to the present day.  The original Surf burned in 1947, however, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1948 and is almost identical in style as the original one. They were able to save a few things from the fire, including the wooden booths that surround the dance floor.  Guests still enter the foyer through a 1940s style foyer and lobby including an original coat check.  The 'Surf' is the last place Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens played on 2/2/59 before taking off in a chartered flight that crashed several miles outside of Clear Lake. Also on that plane was J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper", who had flipped a coin with Waylon Jennings to see who would go on the flight & he won the toss.....but not the end result!  When you enter the Surfside 6 Lounge, off the foyer, we viewed their Wall of Fame which includes instruments and autographed pictures of anyone and everyone who was and is in the music business and has played there.  Very interesting and there are still many concerts of all venues held there each year.  They also offer you directions to the crash site if you're so inclined so we went.  It is outside of Clear Lake a few miles, on a private farm, so the farmer has been kind enough to not plant crops right around that site.  I won't go into the specific directions but it included things like....walk along the south side of the fence row to the west about 1/4 mile.  There is a small memorial located at the place where the plane came to rest including many pairs of black glasses like Buddy wore, many artificial flower bouquets (popular in the 50's), a huge very dried up wreath and much more.  As we were leaving, two more groups of people were walking up the field so it is apparently still a popular attraction when visiting Clear Lake.

On Wednesday we had lunch in Clear Lake with the couple who were parked next to us last winter in Sun City.  Their home for the summer is in MN, not too far from Clear Lake, so we called and were able to meet up for lunch.  They'll be back in Sun City this winter too but it was still fun to see them again.

Thursday we left the City Park in Mason City and headed towards Boonville, MO. We really enjoyed that city park and the managers were two of the nicest, most helpful people we have ever met.  Larry has lived in Mason City all of his life so he knew directions to everywhere and his wife was equally helpful.  This was such a lovely park, big trees, good size sites, and a great walking/biking path next door.  The only negative we had was the trains!!  Ugh!  I think they build RV parks near train tracks on purpose!!!  I suppose you get used to the horns the longer you're there but we really didn't appreciate them starting about 5 a.m.  Oh well.......we still loved the park.

Friday we arrived in Boonville, just outside Columbia, MO and got settled in a small RV park.  We had reservations on Saturday morning for a tour at Warm Springs Ranch, home of the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales.  This is their state-of-the-art breeding operation and we were looking forward to this as we've both always loved the Clydesdales and their commercials, especially at Christmas time.  We were not disappointed!!!!  This ranch sits on 300+ acres of rolling hills and is home to about 100 Clydesdales.  They moved to this location in 2008 from California and it couldn't be more perfect.  The other locations are breweries and that is where the 'hitches' are located.  Hitches being the team of 8, and the Dalmation, that we are all familiar with in parades and commercials.  Those are located in St. Louis, MO; Merrimack, NH; and Fort Collins, CO.  Depending on the location of the 'event', which team is transported to participate.  Our tour was a little over an hour beginning with a little history of how Mr. Busch acquired these beautiful animals.  We met John, the farm manager, who has been with them 33 years and is the only employee that lives on the farm.  He does it all but our tour started with John letting us get up close and personal with Evan, a 'retired' horse from a hitch.  When they 'retire', they are brought to this farm to just roam and enjoy the good life.  Evan stood perfectly still for probably 20 minutes while we all petted him, took pictures, etc.  During the tour we walked through the barns, and the breeding stalls, and John showed us where they bathe and groom them at least once a week, one of the things they do to get them acclimated to being on a hitch team.  It was awesome.  We saw 'Hope' who was the little foal that was in the Christmas 2012 commercial where the trainer eventually saw her in a parade and they recognized each other.  About 80% of the foals born at the ranch can be on a 'hitch'.  They do have certain requirements though......4 white hooves, a white diamond like face, dark mane and tail, and a red/brown body color but I can't remember the word he used for that color.  Of course, as they grow, temperament is taken into consideration as well as size and weight.  If they don't meet the criteria, they might be kept for other uses (studs or sires) or they are sold to other breeders throughout the country.  We have seen a 'hitch' team in our Nascar racing days but now we want to go to one of the breweries and see them up close and personal.  They do live in style I will say that. A few other interesting tidbits we learned.....1) they had a little goat in one of the stalls with an orphan foal for companionship and that little goat was a noisy one; 2) there is always two gentlemen on the wagon (with the dog) and the reason for that is that the reins are 75 lbs so they alternate holding onto them.  As an example, he said the Mardi Gras parade is 9 miles long & that would be a long time to hold 75 lbs; 3) there are 14 miles of white fencing throughout the farm and 4) they always take 10 horses to an event, just in case one can't participate for whatever reason.

We were back from the tour in the early afternoon yesterday so we decided to go ahead and leave Boonville and get some miles behind us so that today wouldn't be a 500+ mile day.  Glad we did as the weekend traffic is much less through Kansas City, Tulsa, Oklahoma City and into Texas.   We are settled here in Sanger, where Dick has some former Goulds friends and we'll just hang out this week.

Thanks for following along.  We're 'slowly' headed west and will be back in AZ in about a month.

Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, IA

One of the Walls of Fame at the Surf Ballroom

This large pair of steel black-framed glasses marks the spot where you walk along the
fence line to the crash site of Buddy Holly's plane

Memorial site of plane crash.  

Path from the road back to crash site.   Crops on both sides.

Warm Springs Ranch, a beautiful setting

Entrance to the Ranch

Dick petting Evan

The famous perfectly groomed hooves

Hope, from the 2012 Christmas Commercial

Hello From Mason City, IA

This will be a short blog as this has been a week of some caregiving for our TN friends before leaving on Wednesday.  It was really hard to say 'see you next time' (we don't say good bye) but it was time and so on Wednesday we headed out towards IL.

It turns out that Wednesday was a good day to leave because even though we had a lot of rain going through Nashville, along with construction, it wasn't as bad as it got on Thursday along with flooding too.  We stayed in Marion, IL Wednesday night where we had dinner with a couple we met about seven years ago when we went to Talladega, AL four years in a row for the Nascar race.  Tom & his son parked behind us all four years and we had a lot of fun times there.  They live not far from Marion so they drove over for a nice visit and dinner.

Thursday morning we were up and on our way to my brothers where we stayed until this morning.  Weather was great, the crops (corn and beans) look like they are going to have a great harvest in a few months and it was fun to see everyone twice in the same summer.

We left this morning and the drive west on I-80 and then north on I-35 was an easy one with just a little rain about 30 miles from Mason City.  My brother has always wanted to ride in the motorhome but it's just never worked out until this morning so he rode 'shotgun' for awhile and my sister-in-law sat on the sofa and actually took a little nap.....she said the road noise was 'soothing' to her.  I followed behind in their car and then after about 50 miles we stopped and they went on back home while we continued west.

We are staying at a very nice little city park here in Mason City that has a full hookup campground.  Seems to be very quiet and will be a good place to 'chill out' and regroup a bit.  We'll take the Winnebago RV factory tour tomorrow morning and then we'll see what else is around this area to visit before leaving and beginning our trek west.

One interesting tidbit was that we needed diesel today and at the Flying J in LaSalle, IL it was $3.99 and at Flying J in Walcot, IA it was $3.77.  When you get 150 gallons, it makes a difference!      Crazy!!!!!!

Still in Crossville, TN

Our plans have changed a couple of times this week thus we are still here.  Initially we were only going to stay a few nights and move on.  Then we changed it to leaving this weekend and now it's leaving on Wednesday.  That's what RVers do..........when you don't have to be anywhere at a particular time, it's nice to be able to change plans on a whim.

The sole purpose in stopping here was to see some dear RVing friends that we had made a few years ago when we bought a lot here.  This little town has a community called 'The Gardens' and all the homes are a duplex with an RV garage and a car garage.  We loved the concept, and still do, because when you're not traveling, your RV can be inside and not out in the weather.  We put our house up for sale in Phoenix, bought this lot and even had started drawing out plans to build.  Then the economy turned south, the Phoenix house didn't sell, and we just decided to not build at that time as we didn't want two houses.  As time went on, the Phoenix house didn't sell so we said it wasn't meant to be and we sold the lot here.  It was a prime lot looking out over a pond, and we had no trouble selling it.  Not too long after we sold the lot, the house in Phoenix sold and we decided to fulltime RV instead and have never looked back.  We did make some good friends here and now one of those couples, who are in their 80's, are having some serious health issues so we wanted to spend some time with them as we don't know if they will get out west again or not.  So this has been a week of visiting and a little caregiving which we have enjoyed.

In our visiting with folks here, all having RVs, we have a common denominator.  They convinced us to backtrack a bit and go back to IA and tour the Winnebago RV factory since we're in this part of the country and have had RV factories on our list of things to do this summer.  Winnebago is huge in the RV industry but was never on our 'short list' but who knows......   So on Wednesday when we leave here we'll head back through IL, spend a couple of nights at my brothers in IL and then to Forest City, IA for a tour on Monday before starting to head west towards TX.

Another reason for not leaving Crossville this weekend is something called the 127 Yard Sale.  Wow.......this yard sale goes for hundreds of miles from MI down through AL along Hwy 127 and right through the heart of Crossville.  The vendors started setting up early this week and when we saw that, we remembered what the town would be like this weekend and decided then to wait until Monday (which has now become Wednesday).  Anyway, there are people everywhere.....vendors on both sides of the road.......and people crossing the roads without even looking, making u-turns right in the middle of the road if they happen to see something they want on the other side.  It's crazy!  You can find everything from typical t-shirts to genuine antiques.  When you get off I-40 here in Crossville, that immediate area is packed with vendors on all sides......unbelievable!  And then, of course, as you come through town they are set up all over the place.  All in all it was just easier to stay here on what is referred to as 'homeless hill' in The Gardens.  Homeless hill is so named because 'if' you are building here, you can stay on homeless hill for as long as it takes to build your house at no charge!!  Awesome deal to say the least because some folks have been 'on the hill' for 6-9 months depending on weather or other circumstances.  Currently, there is only one other RV here on the hill with us and they 'go home' for a few days, come back and stay a few days, whatever works for everyone.  The hill has full hookups and they made us a great deal since we were once a lot owner here and so no campground could beat the rate here......well maybe at my brothers!  RVers come and go from here all the time as there are about 6-7 homes 'in process' here in the development so I guess some of the folks continue to travel, then stop in when in the area.

Have a great weekend ahead and we'll talk to you from Iowa next week.

127 Yard Sale Through Crossville

More of the 127 Sale

And more

A duplex within 'The Gardens'  The RV garages are the common wall
and some of the doors are 13 ft. high.  Then a car garage with the
houses on each end.  

The Homeless Hill sign welcoming you to their little campground
here in The Gardens