Happy 2017!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

(and all that other stuff)

New Years Celebration complete with horns and balloon drop

Welcome to 2017!  We celebrated, well Cindy and two of the grandkids did, in style.  They welcomed in the new year with a big party in Matilda while I sat by making the final adjustments to our first quarter travel plans.  Our first stop was to be Branson, Missouri for a couple weeks.  That would have been okay except one of the reasons we wanted to travel is that we wanted to avoid the cold and we found out after arriving in Branson that we just hadn't traveled far enough south to get "warm."  We stayed in Branson for a few days but the weather report one night was my warning sign to head farther south.  The prediction of ice, snow and bitter cold prompted me to contact my brother and his wife to check out whether or not we could come down a bit earlier that planned.  Nancy told me to come on down so off to south Texas we went!
Now, the last time we went to Cut-n-Shoot, Texas, I was accused of bringing the cold with me so in true obligation to my reputation, I brought the cold with me.....again.  We got to the suburb of Conroe and parked in my brother's yard.  That next morning found this little community facing freezing cold (by their standards) weather that managed to hold on for a couple days.  The original plan called for us all to go to a campground on the 15th so Cindy and I just hung out at Bob's place until then.  On the 15th we all loaded up and headed for The Preserve of Texas, just outside of Cleveland, Texas.  By this time the weather had warmed to what was expected of this southern Texas area and Bob set up his camp and we set up ours right next to his. 

The campground that we had chosen on this complex had been utilized by Bob and Nancy before and I do have to admit it was in a gorgeous area and the only company we had was two empty camping trailers that had been on site for quite some time without any attention.  One was adjacent to our spots, the other (thank goodness) was at the very far end of the campground. 
Cindy was excited about all the wildlife that was right outside our door while Bob and I had become very curious about some wildlife that wasn't very welcome.  Seems that the camper at the end of the grounds had been claimed as home by some 75 plus vultures.  We were okay with the huge menaces as long as they stayed at their end of the park.  Every morning we would awaken to all these vultures surrounding and roosting on that camper.  I even reported it to the security person at the gate and they told me that the vultures had been there for quite some time and that the camper owners could not be reached to get it moved.  Now, most RV resorts we have had the pleasure of staying at had a policy that if you were even going to be away from your camper even overnight you had to inform the main office, Bob said the policy here allowed people to leave their camper vacant up to two weeks but not any longer.  Bob said that this particular camper had been there since October.

Just a few of the "neighbors"

We left the vultures to tend to their business and we set about just enjoying being out and just relaxing.  We had our campfires, sat outside, talked a lot and helped the Coors Brewing Company pay off some its bills.  The time went very smoothly and without any concerns, UNTIL Sunday.  The people that owned the camper came in Saturday night to discover that they had left some food in the camper that had obviously ruined and that was what had attracted the winged crowd.  They, (the owners) for some reason, proceeded to clean the contents of the camper out and put several huge garbage bags out for collection.  Since the collection services weren't scheduled to run again until Monday, the vultures decided to empty all the garbage bags and it appeared that they devoured everything that was in the bags.  This was still no big concern to us, but that was soon to change.  Now, I do have to admit that this did actually become a very valuable learning experience for both my brother and my self.  We witnessed first hand just what kind of damage a vulture could do to a camper.  This camper had massive holes eaten in the roof, resulting in lots of water damage, topped off by the slimy mess that this huge number of vultures had "deposited" inside.  The law of  nature when it comes to vultures is that they follow the food.  The food supply had been depleted at their normal place so it was only logical that they move on.  Let's just say we weren't prepared for where they decided to move on to.

Vultures were upset their free food was gone

I was awakened at the break of light by Ginger barking continuously.  I figured she saw a squirrel or armadillo or something.  Imagine how I felt when I raised the shade and all I could see in front of my camper was a sea of black feathers!  Seems the vultures thought I was responsible for their next meal.  It only took a few minutes to scare them off then we went to the front gate and informed them that we wanted new  camping spots at another campground, the vultures had become far to close for comfort, not to mention that since the food supply was gone, they had now become very violent and were even fighting amongst themselves.  We were granted new sites.  Just a side note here; this particular campground, like many in the Coast to Coast network, sold properties so any Coast to Coast member that came to stay here would, in my opinion, be a prospective customer so the presence of these vultures and the parks lack of concern about even getting that camper out of there definitely turned this prospect into a non-prospect for sure. 

Cindy and her new friends and a view from our front door

We did see some very interesting wildlife while we were here.  The lakes had an abundance of white cranes, blue herons, some huge turtles that could be found sunning each day and even saw an alligator out sunning on one particular day.  Cindy made  friends with some horses that were residents just a few hundred feet rom our original campsite.


January 29 came and it was time for us to move on.  We sadly said goodbye to my wonderful brother and the woman that I give full credit for saving his life, his wonderful wife, Nancy and pointed Brutus and Matilda east towards Mississippi.  Brutus' first trip with Matilda in tow was to my aunt's house in southern Mississippi and that is where we were heading again.  We had a spot out under that huge old oak tree in her front yard just calling our name. 

Cindy and My Aunt Rie (and me)

My aunt lives on a limited income so whenever I visit, I try to help her with something I know a little bit about, her car.  This time was no exception.  I had to move the car for some reason and even with my hearing issues could hear an unwelcome noise from under the hood.  I replaced the a/c clutch and bearing for her and she paid me very well for my service with not one but two home made, none better anywhere pecan pies.  Now mind you, I don't offer deals like this to any one else, so don't ask, besides, no one else could make a pecan pie as good as her anyway.  We only stayed a few days at Aunt Rie's house but they were, as usual, a few days that were well worth it and will never be forgotten.  We loaded up Brutus and Matilda and pointed them south, towards New Orleans and our next camping adventure in Abita Springs, Louisiana. 
That is where I am going to end this segment.  We arrived at a very clean, very hospitable and very comfortable camp site and set up for the next two weeks.  I look forward to doing some fishing in one of their extremely nice fishing lakes and even promised Cindy I would go to the Valentine's dance with her and if the Coors company is willing to help, I might even get on the dance floor....time will tell.
Until next time I will close with our new found slogan discovered carved into a shelter at a camp site of ours in Beaver Lake, Arkansas "Gypsy Life= Destination Unknown"

Just wanted to leave you some pictures of our home for the next two weeks, Abita Springs RV Resort, Abita Springs, Louisiana

Let's get serious!

Cindy and I have made a few short trips and done some camping/living but as of yet, we have mostly stayed close to the  home base or gone to visit relatives.  There have been a few trips to new places like Beaver Lake, Arkansas and Smithville Lake but it has become evident that we need to have some new  adventures in new places so guess what....we expanded or horizons and remember that campground resort membership we bought, it's time to start using it!
November 1 we were supposed to head to Tennessee to have an early Thanksgiving with mom, then we were going to head west from there.  What really happened on November 1st was that I woke up with one off the worst cold/flu bugs I have ever had.  I made my annual contribution to the company that makes Nyquil and proceeded to take my medicine, so to speak.  I awoke on the 2nd and felt really good so off we went.  We got to mom's and spent a week with her.  The original plan was to slowly meander west and meet up with some friends at the Texas-Oklahoma border then go on to Scottsdale, Arizona from there.  Needless to say, plans change, especially when you have a truck that is as experienced as Brutus.

Nothing like a cool, foggy Tennessee mountain fall morning!

I'm really proud of this device, my design and my construction

I knew that there would be some times that we would need our own power supply and visiting mom is one of those times.  I added a truck bed tool box to Brutus so putting the generator at the front of the truck bed was no longer an option, besides, it was virtually impossible for me to load and unload the generator by my self so I devised this generator mounting device on the back of Matilda.  It allows me to easily raise and lower the generator while keeping the generator secure during transport.  I am very pleased to say that the entire set up did fantastic in the real world with absolutely no issues whatsoever.  When the generator is on the mount you can not see the boom because it is partially detached and the remaining part nestles down in it's own little cradle behind the generator.

Enough about that.  One of our original intents when we started this is to go see things that we had wanted to see and to just spend some time with just us, not rushing to get somewhere and aside from just making sure we have a site to stay at, not really being on a time schedule.  Cindy and I had both talked about some day spending some  time on the Natchez Trace.  Now we had passed the sign on the interstate numerous times and had commented many times that someday we would have to go see what it was like.  This trip was going to be one of those times.  We drove through the Pin Oak State Campground just to see what it was like, and we were very impressed.   I decided to check on availability for a site and figured that since it was the off season, should have no problem getting a site right on the lake's edge for a week.  I was able to get a site but there are over 70 sites at this campground and even though I was reserving a week ahead, in the off season, there were only a few sites available so I got one, not close to the lake, but I got one.  I did realize, eventually, that one of the reasons was that it was Veterans day week and that made for a three day weekend for a lot of folks. 
We got all set up and on that day we were the only rig in the campground, but only that day.  We woke up the next morning to rigs all around and  by Thursday there wasn't an empty site in the whole campground, and for good reason, this was one of the NICEST, CLEANEST, and most beautiful sites we have ever stayed at.  The sky was so blue, the colors so elegant and bright and the weather was just perfect.  It kind of reminded me of my Dragon Run motorcycling days.

Check out that blue sky!  We were also in for another treat on this outing, the appearance of a Super Moon!  I took a couple pictures, but they really don't do the beauty justice.  Cindy really enjoyed just walking up in the woods behind Matilda and walking down to the lake.  She also enjoyed gathering pine cones, which indirectly became a false cause for alarm. She put them in plastic bags and I put them in  the back of the truck.  While driving down the interstate on our way to the next stop I kept seeing these little black things flying from under the trailer, looking a lot like a tire that was shredding or something detaching from the trailer.  You can only imagine my relief when we stopped at a rest area and I discovered what was flying from under my trailer.

This picture was the best I could do as a amateur photographer with the huge, bright moon atop Matilda. 

The campers in this campground were very nice and the other thing I noticed was that when the campground had emptied out Sunday night, it was spotlessly clean!  Each site was ready to use with no trash or debris left behind.  People here really respect the beauty they have at their back door and it shows.

One of the things that I had been failing to do as we traveled was make where ever we were be home.  I have been carting these two motorcycle frogs in my truck since May. This trip they made a campsite a home site for the time we were there.  Simply getting them out of the truck and placing them in their new location, the biker frogs made this their home and made this place more like home.

This was on our last day at the park.  Cindy and I went for a walk in the woods behind our site and walked to the water's edge.  For the first time in a long time she volunteered that she had fun on this outing.

We left the beauty of Tennessee and headed for the next stop on this adventure, Checotah, Oklahoma on beautiful Lake Eufaula.  It was on this part of our trip that Brutus decided to develop an oil leak.  Now this leak would be no problem back at home but out here, it caused me some concern.  I didn't want to risk major issues and the leak was getting to be more than I liked so we sadly cancelled out on the trip to Scottsdale and elected, instead to ease our way back towards home base. 

We arrived at our campground, one of the member campgrounds in our membership, and set up.  The trip had been long and tiring and I was ready for a good night's rest.  The Lake Eufaula area is really a beautiful place and we will come back here sometime in the spring.  The lady at the front desk did advise me to utilize another perk from our membership and make a reservation 120 days ahead because if I didn't , it would be extremely difficult, if  not impossible to get a site.

This was our place in Checotah.

Well, one last thing in closing out this session.  My cousin made this nameplate for Matilda and I made the open air end gate for Brutus so, Aunt Rie, if you are reading this, tell Ray I need a nameplate for Brutus so he won't feel left out.  We'll be down your way after the first of the year to see you and pick it up.

So, until the next edition, here's wishing you all safe travels and happy living!

Is My Grandaughter Really 16? (I didn't think I was that old)

Time and reality have set in.  Cindy and I just finished a week in Branson with our oldest granddaughter, celebrating her 16th birthday!  I find it really hard to believe that she is already 16.  seems like just yesterday we were visiting her parents while her dad was in the navy out in Norfolk.  Oh well, I guess time does fly (at least it moves real fast) when you are having fun and I do have to admit that for the better part of my life, I have had fun.
Well, back to the fun filled week in Branson.  We had originally booked this week in order to go check out an RV campground membership program, something that we had been looking at for a while and the 4 free nights were hard to turn down for a 90 minute presentation so we booked our time at Branson Ridge Campground and Resort. 
Now we have been to Branson many times but most of those times were just to visit with some very dear friends of ours that live there, we would maybe take in a show but with the exception of our vacation there in 2007, we never really did the tourist scene there.  That changed this trip.  Lilli had  never been to Branson and I wanted her to have a very memorable time so I let her set the itinerary for the week and Grandpa proceeded to pry open his rusty wallet in order to make sure that she would remember this birthday for at least a week or two. 

Getting ready to hit the town!

Lilli had decided, after some coaching from her mom, that she wanted to Ride The Ducks, see the show The Haygoods, and have a dinner show on the Branson Belle so that is just what we did, plus some!
We picked a really good week to be there, school had just started and the town was kind of in a wind down mode.  The down side to this was that the shows were not running full schedules and you had to buy early for the Haygoods because they were on a roll and had many sold out performances during the season.  I can fully understand why they continually sold out after we saw them, they are beyond a shadow of a doubt the best show I have ever seen in Branson!
Now, for those that know or have known me will find the above photo quite different from photos of my past.  There are two things that are notably "different" about me in this picture.  Can you spot them?  I'll give you a few minutes.....In my 59+ years, I have never , NEVER worn shorts in public.  Number two is that I am smiling!  This, although it has happened in the past (usually motorcycle induced) has become a more common occurrence for me.  It seems that I have finally come to the realization that life is good!

I think she had a good time

some of the old military vehicles on display at the gravel pit

The Showboat Branson Belle as seen from the Duck

One of the original Ducks

We decided that the first venture would be the world famous "Ride the Ducks" attraction.  My friend alerted me that there were two separate Ducks in the Branson area, one based on the strip and one headquartered at the landing.  We were advised to take the one based on the strip and are we glad we did.  I'm not slighting the other one, after all I don't know their route, but the one based on the strip takes you into a gravel pit that has numerous older military vehicles on display and the only way to see this display is to ride the Duck!  Now, the Ducks were not new to Cindy and I, we had ridden them in Hot Springs, Arkansas while attending a Gold Wing Rally back in 2006.

Grandma and Lilli after our guided (or mis-guided) tour of Branson.  The captains on these Ducks give you  a comical and informative history of Branson.  Well worth the money.

Here is a view of Arkansas from the Duck route across Table Rock Lake

The next item on the agenda was to see the family show "The Haygoods".  I had heard from very reliable sources (Lilli's mom) that this was a must see show, and as usual, she was spot on!  I purchased the tickets Monday morning and by Monday evening the Tuesday evening show was sold out.  This is a very talented family and the showmanship was excellent!  Definitely a must see while in Branson.

Now I do ask that you all remember that I am getting old and forgetful, and when in a rush very forgetful so the only picture I have of the Showboat Branson Belle is the one above that I took from the Duck tour because I forgot my camera.  The show was very good, the food was tasty and the excursion on Table Rock lake was beautiful, you'll just have to trust me on that one.

We all went out for frozen custard at Andy's (can't go to Branson without a visit to Andy's) after the Haygood show and just took in the sights of the amazing Ferris wheel and the choreographed light show that it offered during the clear night.  One of the Haygood men was responsible for doing the computer programming for the enormous wheel.  If the Ferris wheel looks familiar it may be because it was at one time  in it's life on the pier in Chicago.  It is a new attraction in Branson.  We did all ride it the last day there.  The view from the top was AMAZING!

Some shots from the Ferris Wheel

We left Branson and we did buy that membership for  the RV resorts so now we are looking forward to many, many more  adventures in many MANY more places.  Stay tuned for more!

Oh yea, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLI!

  

Can You Really Trust Ratings?

We Just finished a trip that had the main purpose of attending a memorial service for Cindy's Mom in Arkansas, just west of the Memphis area.  Now I'm sure most of you are aware that there really isn't a whole lot to do in that part of the country during August that doesn't involve a profuse amount of sweat resulting in that part of the country being fairly boring during August, at least for us.  Another factor about this part of the world is that after visiting there I am 100% convinced that we were there during the international mosquito convention and there were representatives from all over the world, there to announce their plan for world dominance!  I am sorry to say that some of those representatives won't be returning to their home due to the fact that they elected to make themselves a part of the front of Matilda and Brutus.
The memorial was to be held on a Saturday and Cindy wanted to bring the twin grand-daughters with us.  Now, just because I'm a real nice Grandpa, I decided to make the trip a bit more fun than just going to Earle Arkansas and participating in the memorial so I decided that we would leave town on Wednesday and spend a few days in West Plains, Missouri, then go on to the memorial, arriving there on Friday, Leaving very early on Sunday and going to Springfield, Missouri and finally heading back to home base on Monday.

Wilma Martin's final resting place

We loaded  up Matilda and Brutus with bags of stuffed animals and the twins sleeping gear and headed off to West Plains.  We had reservations at a campground that was out of the city and was a very, very nice place.  The campground was given a 10-10-10 rating by Good Sam and the reviews were all very positive.  We had a great time at Chipmunk Crossing campground and I can see where this facility deserved to be rated and reviewed in the extremely positive manner in which it was.  The hosts were magnificent and the grounds were very clean, the sites were large and the facilities were superb!

  Now the twins were looking forward to the pool more than anything so it was no surprise when we arrived, the first thing they wanted to do was go swimming.  The surprise was that Cindy didn't hesitate to go with them.  It is sure great seeing Cindy get active again.  Having her knees replaced was one of the best things we could have done.  The twins did inform me that one of the things they wanted to do on this trip was go to the Mall of Arkansas.  Having visited the Mall of America in the twin cities, they added this mall to their list of places to see, so while we were here, we ventured across the state line to the Mall of Arkansas, commonly known as Wal Mart.

If you want clean, quiet and just all around nice, this is the campground for you!

We spent a lot of time in the pool at this campground and also visited one of the nearby mills.  Natural springs are plentiful in this area and this one seemed like the one to go see.

We stayed at Chipmunk Crossing until Friday morning.  Now Cindy and I have seen Mammoth Springs, Arkansas several times but the twins had not so we decided to make a stop there on the way to Earle.  It had been a few years since we had been there and when we pulled into the area, it was very evident that there had been a lot of improvements made since  our last visit.  The area is now a very nice park with a walking trail all around the springs and water area as well as a very nice visitor's center, some walkways over to a mill and much, much more.  This is a very worthwhile stop when you are in the area.  The Mammoth Springs are the headwaters for the Spring river.  This link will give you more:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Spring

Brutus and Matilda behind a Civil War cannon at Mammoth Springs Park

Grandma and the twins striking a pose

Taking time to admire God's work

We departed Mammoth Springs and headed on up and over the Ozark mountains on to the flat lands and into Earle, where we set up house in Cindy's uncle's yard.  Now, as I stated in the beginning, there really wasn't much that was interesting enough to keep us in this part of the world so we decided to leave real early, like 6 am, Sunday morning and go to Springfield, Missouri and stay the night there.  The twins are huge animal lovers and they really wanted to go through the Paradise Animal Safari drive through park.  I pulled out my "trustworthy" Good Sam directory and found our destination campground, Paradise in the Woods RV Park, in the community of Strafford, Missouri.  Now this is where the title comes from.  We had stayed a  10-10-10 rated park that was very clean, very quiet and very accommodating so I, in my own way, figured that this should be a fairly good place to stay with a 9-8.5-9.5 rating.  We entered the park to a sign that greeted us with big bold letters "RV Park for Sale".  We turned into the entrance of the park to first see the rear of and older motor home that looked as though it had just been towed in from a rear end collision, well, maybe not just towed in, it did after all have some very healthy tomato plants growing through the remainder of the rear bumper.  Now, to see one or two of this style, obviously long time dweller is not un-expected, I do understand that some parks serve a dual purpose and provide a home for many, much like a mobile home park, but I would estimate that at least 45% of the spaces were occupied by long term dwellers. I have to admit this is the first park I stayed at that I made sure I locked and double locked everything that would lock.  It just gave that kind of vibe.  One thing I want when I pay to stay someplace, be it a hotel or campground, is quiet.  This park is so close to the interstate that even my near deaf ears were continuously filled with the exciting noise of the road.  The pads were very, I do mean VERY close to each other.  Now I have never, EVER had any electrical issues with Matilda and thanks to the electrical grid in this campground, I had the first scare in the life of Matilda.  I had gone up to do laundry when Cindy called and said that she had lost all power to Matilda.  I went up and found the breaker had tripped.  Now, we had run Matilda on a 5000 watt, 21 amp generator circuit at her uncles with absolutely zero issues, just as I had done many times in the past.  One of the first things my brother told me to buy was a good surge protector, so, thankfully, for the second time, this saved me a bundle of cash, but not a huge scare.  I reset the breaker and everything came back to life....except my air conditioner.  I realized that the air unit in Matilda was over 18 years old and was some day going to die, I just wasn't ready for today to be that day.  The timed internal breaker just would not reset so I started checking my Camping World coupons and looking at the ads and since we were conveniently just a few miles from a Camping World Super center , decided that first thing in the morning I would have to go buy a new unit.  Not thinking, I turned the switch to the air off, surrendering to the reality that the air had lived its life.  I don't know what made me do it but about an hour later ( I guess it was wishful thinking), I reached over and turned the switch on.  The sound was utter music to my ears!  The unit came back on like it had always done.  That is when it hit me, I remembered reading in the owners manual but had forgotten that in order for the to reset the unit must be turned off for a period then back on.  I had not turned the switch off!   Needless to say, I drew a line through this one in the book.  We did stay there but won't do so again.

We took the twins over to the animal park and they had a blast looking at the animals as we drove through and then it was almost impossible to get them to leave the walk through and petting area.

Needless to say, if there were animals involved, the twins had a blast.  I'm going to close with these pictures and hope you will tune in for our next adventure when we take our oldest granddaughter to Branson. 
Until then, always trust your instincts and not the ratings!