Retired But Still Having To Retire!

We headed out on Labor Day, anxious to get to Gulf Shores.  This was, by far, the strangest (and most expensive) trip down here.  When we left the storage lot at 7:00 am, Mark says, "Well, if anything goes wrong, we know it won't be the tires since we have brand new tires on the trailer and on the truck. 

We pulled into a rest area on I-55 just south of Hernando, Mississippi.  When we came outside, I said, "I think that tire is a little low on the trailer."  Sure enough, 10 minutes later, it was flat!  Luckily we were safe and in a rest area. I called the roadside people - Good Sam, and someone showed up within 45 minutes to change the tire and send us on our way.

We stopped in Grenada for the night in a park we had never stayed before.  It was a nice park, a little farther north than we like to stay.  In was raining really hard when we left in the morning, but quit 10 minutes down the road.

We were now on the lookout for a commercial tire dealer to either repair or replace the damaged tire.  As luck would have it, we found someone less than an hour down the road.  The guy told us to pull around back, back it in, and he'd have us on our way in no time.  $300 later, he was correct!  We had to pitch the other tire that only had 300 miles on it.  It made us sick to do that, but a repair was impossible.  There was a small hole on the inside sidewall.

It was an uneventful trip for the next hour or so.  I had been driving for a while, and we needed diesel, so I pulled into a station.  It's not always clear which direction large trucks (or trucks with large trailers) should pull into stations to get to the truckers spots, so I just pulled in.  Unfortunately, I was going the wrong way.  I get anxious driving in and out of gas stations, so we switched drivers.  There was a large empty lot behind the station, so Mark was going to turn around so we could be facing the correct direction.

All of a sudden he puts the truck in park, and jumps out.

See those streamers?

Yep - we were too tall to turn around in that lot.  He had to get up on the roof and get it all untangled from the air conditioner.  It was a very small used car lot.  Some guy came out and told Mark he would have to put it back up, and he would be calling the owner of the lot.  We somehow got the three strands rigged back up with the string we had in the truck.  The guy came out and said the owner should be there soon, and then he left.  We didn't wait - we boogied out as fast as we could.  We can now laugh about it!

We finally rolled into the RV park in Gulf Shores around 3 pm.  It has been in the upper 90s since we got here.  It's too hot to be anywhere but in the water at the beach, in the pool, or inside in the air conditioning, and the forecast is the same for next week as well.  

After we got set up, Mark had me run a bunch of water into the sink, to get all the old smelly stuff out of the pipes.  Later that night, I noticed that there was a lot of water underneath the sink.  What next?  A trip to the hardware store the next day, and it was good as new.

Some friends we had met last winter, who live in that park, came down for a visit on Saturday, and then we ended up going to dinner with them that night to celebrate Jim's 70th birthday.  It was good to catch up.  Mark and Jim will be golfing every Tuesday until we leave to go back home.  

We've been biking a few mornings, when it hasn't been too hot.  Yesterday we ended up at the fishing pier.  The only thing we saw being caught was this ray.

Except for the weekend, the beach has been almost empty - just the way we like it.  The water is the warmest we have ever had.  The jellyfish are not here, and neither is the seaweed.  Life is good!

Our Trailerless Trip To Montana

After dropping Butch off at the new kennel on Monday, July 22, we loaded up the new car and headed off to Montana early the next morning.  Never having traveled in any of the states, getting to Montana was all new and exciting.

Iowa is nothing but corn fields.  

Our hotel reservation for our first night out was in Mitchell, South Dakota. Mitchell is home to the infamous Corn Palace - the only corn palace in the world!

The front and sides of this building are all decorated in corn.  Each year it is replaced with new scenes.  The old ones are displayed in  the gymnasium inside the building.

Yes, her sister did it.

We started off the next morning headed towards Deadwood, South Dakota.  Along the way, we found yet another infamous tourist trap - Wall Drug, in Wall, South Dakota.  We were so unimpressed that we only took one picture.  

We had intended on stopping at a couple of RV parks where we had hoped to host next year's Cedar Creek Rally.  Unfortunately neither of the parks were interested in our business so we decided to be tourists, in case we did not get back up this way.  

We first headed to Mount Rushmore.  What a great place.  

Next up was a cemetery in Deadwood where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane were buried.

 The town of Deadwood

The next morning we got up and headed up to Mark's brother's vacation home in Big Fork, Montana.  The scenery along the way was beautiful. 

First we drove through Sturgis, SD.  It was early in the morning, and Bike Week didn't start for another week so there wasn't much to see.

Along the way we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the battlefield of Custer's last stand.  

We stopped in Bozeman, Montana for the night before arriving in Big Fork on the 4th day out.

 The view of the golf course from the deck of Pat and Mary Ellen's house.

Flathead Lake in Big Fork, Montana

We had a rental boat for the week while with the family.  Both Mark and I were able to get up on skis after not trying for almost 10 years.  Even though the water temperature was only 71 degrees, everyone thought it felt wonderful - the air was 90 degrees. (except for Mark - he froze.)

All the family.

After a week with the family, we headed 10 miles north to Kalispell, Montana for a couple of days with our friends, Steve and Carol.  They were our tour guides on our 8 hour visit to Glacier National Park.  

 St. Mary's Lake

A moose and her calf (Steve took this picture with his high powered zoom lens)

 One of many waterfalls in the park.

We came across a whole bunch of goats in the park. 

The second grizzly bear we saw.  (Again, Steve's photo I'm borrowing.)  This one was very close - within 50 yards of the car.

Steve and Carol told us we were extremely lucky to see all the wildlife that we did in one day.  We saw one coyote, two grizzly bears, the moose and her calf, lots of goats, and one grasshopper.

We stopped just outside the park at Johnson's for lunch.  The burgers were delicious, but the dessert was the best.

The four of us split two of these slices.  

We left Kalispell early on Saturday morning to start the three day trek home. We were anxious to get Butch out of the kennel - even though I called four times checking on him.

On out way south out of Kalispell, we came to this:

It's call an Animal Trail - grass is growing over the top so the animals don't get killed on the road.  I wonder who taught them to do that???

Once we started driving home, we got in a hurry.  Except for a fuel or food or hotel break, we just kept driving.  We spent the first night on Casper, Wyoming.  We went a different route home because it was "Bike Week" in Sturgis, SD, and we didn't want to be anywhere near all the bikers.  We avoided that, but we did not miss the tiny blip on the radar map - a hail storm.  The new car is now dented up with over $2500 damage according to the State Farm adjuster.  

Our last night was in Lincoln, Nebraska, and we got to bail Butch out at 4:00pm.  We were all happy to see each other!

Wrapping Up the Winter of 2013

We really enjoyed playing cards with everyone in Victoria.  

Playing Hand and Foot with Monette, Roger, Pam, and Mike.

We said all our goodbyes and headed to Oklahoma early Thursday morning.  Sadly, when we hugged Gene and Charlene, little did we know that that would be last we would ever seen them.  In a tragic accident on Saturday when they left Texas headed toward Florida, Charlene was killed in an accident with their motorhome.  I'm glad we got to spend a week playing cards and laughing with them.  

We stopped at the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, OK right on the OK/TX border to spend the night before getting to Tulsa and the kids the next day.  The casino had a spend $10, we'll give you $10 per person, per day, so we had to take advantage.  We blew through Mark's $10 first, then played the comp $10.  On the very first spin we won!  Sadly, we didn't win anything on my $20.

Our $100 win was more than enough to pay for our night of camping, our buffet dinners, and enough for half a tank of diesel to get us to Tulsa.

Dennis and Ann have a beautiful house right across the street from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.  They took us to a great BBQ restaurant downtown where we got an appetizer of bacon.  It was great, as were the sandwiches we ordered.

Right after we got back to their house, Michael, Angie, and Matthew showed up.

Matthew really liked the upstairs.  Aunt Ann had to make sure he didn't try to climb through.

We headed back to the RV park, less than 10 minutes from their house.  We made plans to meet the next day to do some sightseeing.

Our first stop was the Tulsa Aquarium.  

Matthew loved looking at the big fish.

Some girl offered to let Matthew use the last of her bait to feel the rays.  I think he was more interested in the water than the rays, but we all had fun watching. 

Matthew chillin while Uncle Dennis was making us all ribs.  

Early Sunday morning we headed for home.  Time to unwind before we head to Tunica for a rally with our fellow Cedar Creek friends.

Slowly Heading Home

We are now back in Victoria, TX at the same RV park we worked, and have stayed for four winters.  This time we're here for only a week.  The weather is much nicer here - in the 80s each day.  

Now to catch up on the past two weeks.  Sadly - most of it had to do with eating - our favorite pastimes!

The best part of our winter was being at the beach.  Unfortunately, it was a 18 mile drive and the weather wasn't all that great for sitting by the water.  

Mark and Dennis pulling the new cart that Dennis and Pam bought.  It held four chairs, beach bags, and coolers.  Can't wait to use it in September and October again.

There was at Stacey's Rexall Drug's - a great little soda shop/drug store in downtown Foley, just a couple of miles from the RV park.

We had a good lunch, and great hot fudge and turtle sundaes - and yes, we had a coupon!

Last Sunday was the Perdido Art Fair and Wine Tasting Festival.  Mark's back was really bothering him so I went with Pam and Dennis and Karen and Steve.  We had great expectations, but it was really just a big letdown.  We opted not to pay the $15 each to sample a couple of wines.

The weather did not cooperate, and all the art booths shut down because a storm was rolling in.

Since we didn't want to return to the park, we headed to McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola.

The ceilings of this gigantic restaurant are covered with one dollar bills.  The waitress told us there are are 1 million stapled up there.

Pam and I split this gigantic 3/4 lb. burger.  Unfortunately, we also split the potato skins I had ordered.

Butch and Darla never really bonded in March.  I had such high hopes, but Butch just doesn't want to be nice around others.  He tolerates her (sometimes), but she's a pup, and just wants to play, and Butch doesn't know how to play.

Our second to last day in Alabama was spent golfing with Karen and Steve.  It was a cold, but sunny day, and a good time was had by all (until a threesome behind us kept hitting into us, and Mark had to go "have words" with the guy.  Then the guy started chasing after us with his club.  Not funny!)

Later that evening we all gathered at our favorite restaurant, Cosmos, for a farewell dinner.  We had an hour and 20 minute wait, and it was freezing outside (the only place to wait).  Fortunately for the guys and Karen, the Miller High Lites were only $1 each.

This past Wednesday we left Alabama for a roundabout trip to Tulsa to visit Dennis and Ann.  It was a good winter but I'm ready to be back home.  

This picture shows us in at the deepest we were willing to go.  The water never made it to 60 degrees, but that didn't stop the thousands of spring breakers from getting in this past month.  

Come September we'll be out there in those waves.

We stopped at L'auberge du lac Casino on our way to Victoria TX.  They added a nice little RV park where we could walk to the casino for dinner buffet.  At 4:30p we inquired about the price of the dinner buffet.  Before 5:00p it was $19.99 each, after was $24.99.  We hurried back to the RV to let Butch out for a few minutes, and then raced back to get the early bird price.  It was well worth it.

We had four plates of these babies!

We arrived at Lazy Longhorn RV Park on Thursday.  It's been fun catching up with all our old friends.  Sadly, the pool and hot tub are not working and this is what we were really looking forward to.  

Happy Easter!  We're going to a Chinese buffet with Carolyn, Paul, and Elaina.  I guess the diet will start when we get home a week from tomorrow.

Next stop - casino campground in Oklahoma, then a family reunion in Tulsa with the boys, their wives, and Matthew.  

Eating Our Way Thru Lower Alabama!

I know it's been a really long time since our last post, but the internet in the park is extremely slow, bordering on non-existent.  They are working on improving it, but probably won't be great until after we leave.

We did have one tragedy in the park. I had been walking Butch and noticed tons of smoke coming out of a 5th wheel near the clubhouse.  It turns out there was some kind of electrical fire while the owners were in the clubhouse.  Unfortunately, those who ran to put out of the fire couldn't find the dog that was inside until it was too late to save him.  The trailer was only a month old!  

Since my sister and her husband, Pam and Dennis, arrived, it seems like we've done nothing but eat!  It's those darn coupon books.  Gotta get the most out of the buy one, get one free offers.  The good news is, we're trying a lot of new restaurants.

One of our favorites is Fish Grill No. 2.  The last time we tried it, we discovered the beignets for dessert.  They are stuffed with apple and peach pie filling.  We hope to get back there before we head west in a couple of weeks.

Not sure why, but this old phone company telephone book with Western Electric phone is in the lobby, along with the Superman costume.

One day last week we headed up to Spanish Fort to the Sam's Club.  Pam found us a restaurant that had a coupon.  It didn't look like much, but what a meal.  I'm sorry I didn't think to get a picture of our meal.  We all ordered off the specials board; three of us had the pot roast, and Pam had bacon wrapped chicken.  Of course each meal comes with a salad, two sides, and a muffin.  Before we even got our meal, our waitress (who is also the girl who comes in at 5:00 am each day to make the desserts), brought us first a small plate of chicken salad to sample, and then another small plate of a Chinese chicken salad to try.  Even though we were all stuffed, we had to try the desserts.  Mark and Dennis had the coconut cake, I had the strawberry pie, and Pam had some kind of cheesecake.  

Cheryl's Cafe

Mark and I have golfed the past three Wednesdays with some of the guys at Lost Keys Golf Club over in Pensacola.  Now that it's March, the course charges $40 each, but on Wednesdays, it's still customer appreciation day, and it comes with lunch - usually fried chicken, hot dogs, slaw, baked beans, and cookies.  Quite a deal - the regular price on any other day is $80.  

We went to check out a couple of new trailers that came into the sales lot out front.  Although we're not buying, we still like to look.

Pam and Dennis proving they could get into one with a big shower.  Most of our trailers have showers that barely fit one person!

Since numerous people are getting ready to head back home soon, Steve and Peggy reserved the small lake building yesterday so we could have a big meal with about 15 people.  George cooked the pork in the Green Egg and we all brought a dish or two.  My contribution was a potato casserole and a jello cheesecake.  Again, everything was fabulous and we all ate way too much.

Lou and Linda.  Note the empty green tray - that was my plate!

Joe, George and Pattie.  George and Pattie are leaving tomorrow, so we had to say goodbye to them today.

We are trying to get Butch to get some exercise, other than just walking around the park.  Darla loves the dog walk area, but Butch usually just walks around sniffing.  He finally got mad at her because she just wants to play, so he started chasing her and barking.

Note that his mouth is open, trying to bite Darla.

Today we went bike riding with Pam and Dennis.  We parked at the State Park fishing pier, and rode into the state park so we could meet up with Steve and Karen.  The six of us then proceeded to ride 20 miles!  Thanks to some gadget that Pam and Dennis each have, we knew exactly how far we went and how fast we were going.  

Steve and Karen by the recently installed bench in memory of Steve's dad who loved Gulf Shores State Park.

Dennis, Pam and Karen taking a break.

I couldn't get close enough to take a good picture, but we finally found the three legged alligator with her tiny babies in the swamp along the trail.  The babies were only about six inches long.

After 11 miles, we found ourselves in Orange Beach and then rode over to Tacky Jacks for lunch. 

It was a beautiful day and we had a great view while sitting outside for lunch.

Another strange site on the trail:

A dog in the basket, with an umbrella over its body.  The guy in front has the dog's carriage attached to his bike.  We had passed them earlier when it was riding that way.

What a cute manatee mail box we found, decorated for Easter.

It was a hard ride once we got out of the park and had to go against the wind to get to our trucks.  Now we need a hot tub or a masseuse!