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September 25, 2006 - Arlington , TX - Since it is Monday, we decided to
work a bit delivering brochures to vets, etc. We managed to do most of the pet
related businesses in Mansfield today despite a train that stayed parked for
about 15 minutes and then construction that held us up for about the same length
of time. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and normal things around
the RV. While we were reviewing the
web site we found some photos of the drive from Boise, ID to Lowman, ID that
were not on the web site. We have posted them now. They are in the
Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway area. September 24, 2006 - Arlington, TX - Today we spent with Laura and Brock again. We spent some time riding around showing them some of the older (very nice) areas of Dallas since they just moved here. The old homes in Highland Park and University Park were beautiful. We then went back to their house and cooked dinner and visited with them and some friends of theirs. It has been very nice to get the opportunity to spend some time with the daughter and son-in-law. September 23, 2006 - Arlington, TX - Today started out almost as bad as yesterday and that is pretty amazing. We were up getting to go with Laura and Brock to breakfast when while making up the bed, I managed to knock the clock off the nightstand and directly onto my little toe. Now, not only am I recovering from the ankle injury but I have a broken toe on the same foot!! After that, we went to breakfast with Laura and Brock. Laura and I went shopping for as long as my foot and ankle could stand. We finally got to see their new house and visited for part of the evening. It was a good day despite the iffy start.
September 20, 2006 - Wylie, TX - Yesterday was spent mostly relaxing at the lake, but last night we went with Jerry Jr. to a wonderful German/Austrian restaurant in Plano – Jorj’s Café Vienna. Last night was the first night of Oktoberfest and a good time was had by all. If you are ever in Plano and love authentic German/Austrian food, this is the place to go. The atmosphere is relaxed and fun, the food is GREAT and the beer cold. The owners are a great couple and strive to keep the food as authentic as possible.
We posted some pictures of Lake Lavon. There are pictures that show the water level. September 19, 2006 - Wylie, TX - Today
was another beautiful day here in Wylie, but also one of those days where some
maintenance had to be done. We bought new tires for the car. It was time and so
we went out and took care of it. Boy, does the car ride and drive better. We had
lunch and then came back to the lake. We took the dog for a walk down to the
water and in the process talked to our neighbor. He mentioned he was going to
Houston and we asked where. He said he was going to visit his nephew who is the
quarterback for the Texans. We were impressed in talking with him, not because
of his relatives, but because he turns 80 next month and he is still driving his
RV from California to Texas and he looks like he is 60 maybe. We walked off with
him giving us hope that we can still be traveling when we are that age.
We visited with Jerry and Ada and went out to eat. We packed away the food at a place named "Babes". You order what type of meat you want and they bring out the vegetables family style. Big bowls and lots of vegetables. We had a great time. September 17, 2006 – Colbert, OK/Dennison, TX - Today started out to be just a do nothing, rainy kind of day here on Lake Texhoma, but turned out to be an interesting day in Dennison, Texas. We were just sitting here listening to it rain and doing some work around the RV and discovered that we needed a few things. This prompted a trip to Wal-Mart, but the closest one is across the state line in Dennison. As we were driving into the town there were signs along the highway about this being the birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower and that the home in which he was born was a local museum. Jerry remembered that he had visited it when he was a kid and I wanted to see it, so off we went. It is actually a Texas State Historic area and very nicely done. We learned a great deal about the 34th President of the US before we went on the tour of the home. Did you know that it was President Eisenhower who started the Interstate highway system? Did you know that he was a painter? Did you know that he was the only President to be given an Emmy Award for the way he used television to communicate with the American people? Did you know that he was the first President to ask a Soviet Premier to the US? There are a couple of these that we didn’t know and a couple that we had just forgotten, and it was interesting to see what he had accomplished. We then took the short tour of the home in which he was born. He only lived there for the first 18 months of his life and he actually grew up in Kansas but it was nice to see his Texas connection. We then decided to go have something that we have not had since about April – Mexican food!! The ladies at the Eisenhower house told us of a good place in town and we headed that way. It was a bit different from what we have in Houston, but close enough. Boy was it good. We enjoyed it almost as much as anything else we have done recently. If you want to see a few pictures of Eisenhower’s birthplace, check out the Texas section in the photo gallery. September 16, 2006 - Colbert, OK - We checked in at the Burns Run West Park. This is a beautiful COE campground on Lake Texhoma. The campsite has water and electricity and we can get on the internet using our Sprint Card. There are a lot of beautiful oak trees all around us. We will post some pictures soon of the park. We took the time this afternoon to add the pictures for Nebraska and Oklahoma to the web site. We can tell we are getting farther south. The temperature is in the mid 90's today. We sure would like to have a little of the South Dakota weather here. September 15, 2006 - Oklahoma City, OK - We spent the day doing normal things. Kathy washed several loads of clothes, vacuumed and general house cleaning. Jerry stowed things away outside and washed the windows. We had dinner with Philip tonight and said good-bye to him until we get to Houston. It was nice to have a down day today. It is going to be windy tomorrow for the drive to Lake Texhoma. It is always fun drive a large box in winds. September 14, 2006 - Oklahoma City, OK - Well we have been in Oklahoma City since last Saturday and there is not much going on but work. We have been delivering pet insurance brochures to vets, groomers, etc in the area for the past few days. It has definitely been a unique way to see a city but have delivered the last of our supply so maybe tomorrow we will go over to the Oklahoma City Memorial and the State capital. Oklahoma City is a different sort of town. It is spread out like Houston, but there is really not much to see or do. We will leave on Saturday morning and spend a couple of days on Lake Texhoma before going to Wylie to visit Jerry's son and his girlfriend - Jerry and Ada. September 12, 2006 - Oklahoma City, OK - Everything has been going great here. We worked today on our "JOB". For those who don't know, Kathy and I distribute brochures for Veterinary Pet Insurance. It's a great way to make a little money while we travel and we can write off the mileage on our taxes. Philip is here at the same RV Park with us and we have been having dinner with him each night. He is here working, also. We should be leaving here on Saturday heading for Lake Texhoma. September 9, 2006 - Oklahoma City, OK - We woke up this morning to a cool and cloudy day. Before we left Wichita it rained a little bit. We left the camp about 9 a.m. and started our drive to Oklahoma City. About 5 miles down the road Kathy turned and said there was smoke on her side of the floor board. It was steam! I slowed down and got off the freeway. Since we have internet in the coach Kathy found the closest RV repair place and called them. The motor did not show that it was getting hot so we decided to drive to the shop. It was about 10 miles away but the motor never got above it's normal temperature. Long story short, a bad heater core. The tech routed around the heater core and we were on our way by noon. We arrived at the park and have settled in for a weeks stay. Just an adventure on our journey. September 8, 2006 - Wichita, KS - We woke up and drove from Alma to Wichita, KS. You learn to expect anything while living in a motorhome. Think about driving your house a few hundred miles a few days of the week. It becomes second nature to walk around with a screwdriver and wrench tighten things that vibrate loose. Sometimes you may not catch everything. In the past, we have found a screw or two on the floor and have no idea where it came from. All we can say is, "If something falls on our heads we will have the screw for it.". Today, as I was driving along I-70, I felt a gust of very hot wind on my feet. That just does not occur. A few miles down the road I was still driving and looking around the cab trying to determine what caused the wind. All at once the dog house (the cover for the motor that is between the driver and the passenger) levitated about four inches in the air. I could actually see the motor and the ground going beneath me at 65 mph. I reached over and pushed it back down. We got pulled over and I knew where two of the screws came from. All is fixed and nothing happened. One more item to put on the list of things to tighten. September 7, 2006 - Alma, Nebraska - Today, we drove across more of Nebraska but the terrain changed a bit and now it sort of looks like areas around Houston, except with no buildings and no urban sprawl. We are staying the night at a Corps of Engineers park which was supposed to have a lake. However, due to a six year drought, the lake is 20 ft below it's normal level. So when we walked to the lakeshore what we saw was about a 15 ft drop off and the water started about 150 yards past the trees now growing where the lake should be. Sort of sad for this community and the park. The park itself is very well laid out and very pretty. We had a bit of a funny thing happen while trying to find it however. The software program we use for navigation was set to the shortest route which meant it took us through residential areas (very narrow streets) and down a couple of dirt roads. When you are about 55 ft long, this kind of route really makes it interesting. September 6, 2006 - Sidney, Nebraska - We spent the day driving across Nebraska. We have definitely left the mountains! Talk about flat... There is nothing and I mean nothing for miles. We drove 50+ miles between two towns and they don't even warn you that there is no gas or anything for that 50 miles. We did see one interesting thing...a major junk yard for old (very old) farm implements. It must have stretched for half a mile. Tonight we are staying in an RV park owned by Cabela's. It is right next to their corporate offices and their store. You see, Sidney, Nebraska is where Cabela's started. In driving around, we saw the building which we believe was their first store and now looks like it serves as a warehouse. We didn't even walk over to the store. You know how it is, you can always find something you don't really need to buy. September 5, 2006 - Custer, SD - This is our last day here in the Black Hills and we do not want to leave. I know we have to, but I think I could stay here forever. We went to Hill City and rode an authentic steam engine driven train (vintage 1880) the 10 miles to Keystone. This train was originally put into service to take miners in this region up the hill to their mines. On this train, the 10 miles took 1 hour. We learned some very interesting things about this area from the older gentleman (Roger) who was the narrator. He has lived in this area for a lot of years and knew things that the average person just would never know. One of the interesting facts that he mentioned is that it was here in the Black Hills where the Star Spangle Banner was first used in military ceremonies and subsequently became the national anthem. It was through the efforts a of Colonel Caleb Carton from Fort Meade here in South Dakota that the Star Spangled Banner started being used on all military installations at evening retreat (lowering of the flag). He continued to campaign for it to be named the national anthem until in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order making it the national anthem, but it wasn't until 1931 that this was signed into law. Besides the train ride, we ate at a Bavarian restaurant here in Custer. Not only was the meal very good, but again our waitress was from overseas. This time she was from Bulgaria. We did learn that here in Custer, all the foreign exchange workers live in a dormitory. She will be here another month before going home. We had a very nice chat with her and found that she was enjoying her stay here. Please be sure to check out the Ramblings section for an interesting article about train whistles. September 4, 2006 - Custer, SD - We drove to Rapid City to do grocery shopping. In downtown they have life size bronze statues of some of the presidents and important people of history. We took several pictures and will post them soon. Ran out of time today to do much on the web. We had another campfire tonight. A person could get used to living here. Most of the holiday crowd left today and the deer returned. We sat outside in the cool night air with an adult beverage, a roaring fire, and deer grazing in the park. September 3, 2006 - Custer, SD - It has warmed up today. This morning it is only 36. We drove the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway again today. This is one of the most beautiful byways in the U.S.. The RV park is really filled with campers today. We had a campfire and roasted wienies and marshmallows. September2, 2006 - Custer, SD - This morning it was in the 30's. The park is nearly full with campers. We took another drive through Custer State Park. When we got back to town, we tried to go to a restaurant that is suppose to serve buffalo chili. We had tried to get it last Wednesday and they were sold out (They said). Today, the girl said they didn't make any. I guess we won't get any buffalo chili. We went for a walk this afternoon that was much longer than we have walked in several weeks. The ankle is mending. Not much of a limp now. Even did some walking on hills. We put an article in Ramblings about the Guest Worker program we have noticed in Idaho, Montana and South Dakota. We added more pictures of South Dakota, also. Someone sure likes their new camera. September 1, 2006 - Custer, SD - Today, we are just sitting in the RV working on the website, watching it rain and hail off and on, and staying warm. The temperature was in the 30s when we got up and is still only 44 at 2 PM. We are cooking, washing clothes and, of course, writing things for you guys. See we do normal things too! |
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