Happy Birthday Bella!

May 15, 2014 – Thursday

Happy Birthday Bella!

OK, you can blame this ridiculously cute post on my daughter, Lisa. She has a very handsome Corgi and she takes his birthday picture every year, wearing a child’s party hat sitting next to a doggie cup cake she buys from a pet store. I think she has a birthday candle in it too.

Bella is too small to wear a child’s birthday hat, so I searched thru Walmart’s party supplies and found some very small fancy hair clips, along with a birthday girl ribbon and dog birthday card. The pink beads are left over from her visit to New Orleans. 🙂
After I took the photos, I noticed she had a watery eye. Wish I would have wiped it before taking pictures. Nothing is wrong with her eyes, they just water sometimes.

I don’t go to all this fuss every year. I don’t want you thinking I’m totally dog crazy. I did it for you…my blog readers. Ha ha

Since I didn’t buy her a doggie cupcake, I was forced to eat hers. She only got to look at it.

Goodbye Oklahoma, Hello Texas

May 14, 2014 – Wednesday

We had a quiet evening at good old Cracker Barrel last night. We were on the road this morning at 8:30. Destination, Amarillo, TX. We are both in a much better mood today. Bill says he is feeling better.

We see billboards for Cherokee Trading Post in Clinton ahead. They advertise live buffalo too. Bill asked if I wanted to stop, so we did.

So many fancy boots, hats, and western stuff. Then we went outside to look at the buffalo.

Bella and Chica didn’t react at all to seeing the big animals. As we walked back to the RV, I noticed a dead bird on my front bumper. Bill thought he saw a bird fly into the RV earlier that day. Poor little thing.

We continued only stopping to eat lunch and get gas. Along the way I snap pictures of the Welcome to Texas sign, the leaning tower in Groom, TX, a huge cross, and the famous Big Texan Steak House. If you can eat their 72 oz steak, you get it for free.

During our lunch break, I found a half price campground in my Passport America membership book. Full hookups, and they had a laundry room, which I could use about mow, all for $12.50. Nobody answered the phone when I tried to call a couple times to see if they have space for us. Since it was just off the freeway in Amarillo, we just decided to drive there and hopefully get a spot. When we saw it, we drove in one driveway and out the other. It was a dumpy looking campground. Down the road we got gas and saw another campground. It looked a little better, but too many old, permanent trailers living there, so we passed on it too. I got my overnight RV parking website up and found a Walmart nearby.

Good old Walmart and Cracker Barrel have saved us a lot of camping fees. I went in and got a haircut and bought a few groceries. One stop shopping, haircut and camping. We got her around 3:00 I think, and there was already about six RVs here. Tonight there are probably at least fifteen of us parked for the night. Big expensive motor homes as well as a few old ones. It’s like a real campground here. The dogs found a few other dogs to socialize with too. One lady I talked to with the long haired Chihuahua even had relatives in Norwalk and grew up near there.

I have a few more pictures to go with the text above, but for some reason, WordPress isn’t letting me add more right now. I’ll try publishing this post, then go back and try to add the other pictures.

Pulled Over By an Oklahoma State Trooper

May 13, 2014 – Tuesday

We left the campground at 10:15 am. There was a totem pole park pretty close to us off Route 66, (which we still haven’t been on) it’s advertised as having the largest totem pole in the US I think, plus more small ones, a fiddle house and more. I set the GPS to the city we were in and the street as Rt 66. It took us down a paved, but narrow residential street. Pretty land and nice homes all along it. Then the road made a sharp turn and told me to make a right, onto a narrow red dirt road. Ok, this definitely doesn’t look right, and I’m not going on that road, so I have to turn around, which takes two or three backing up and going forwards to do. I’m not too happy and neither is Bill. I decide to skip the totem pole park and just get on the freeway. This requires going thru the same Oklahoma turnpike we got off on last night. We have to pay again.

Bill isn’t feeling good still, he says. He is also car sick now, even though we are traveling straight on the freeway. I’m beginning to wonder if these are excuses for not wanting to stop at any Rt 66 tourist traps. He is grouchy and so am I. I don’t plan on taking this route again, so this is my one time to see things we are passing by. I suggest he see a doctor again, but he says he will wait till he gets home to see his own doctor. We drive in silence most of the way, both upset with each other. I find tears in my eyes more than a few times today. I think we are both tired and I know we both have have totally different traveling styles. He wants to see nothing and I want to see it all. 🙂

OK…I’ll be the first to admit I cry pretty easy. A sad song or movie, scared at the dentist, or an argument with Bill can bring on the tears. Stop laughing. I know I’m a little too sensitive. I tell you this because my tears may have gotten me out of a ticket. :-))

OK, so I’m driving past Tulsa and all my planned stops and heading towards Oklahoma City, where Bill want to stop for the night. We only stop for potty breaks and gas. These turnpikes are strange to us, get off and pay, get on and pay, sometimes you get a refund…we never did figure it all out, and wasn’t there long enough to even try.

One turnpike lady told us to stay on the I-44, then change to the I-40 in Oklahoma City, and not take any of the other interchanges that also connect around the city, to avoid another toll booth. So when we get close to changing freeways, our GPS again, wants to take us a different way and is recalculating. Even though I’m doing 99% of the driving, Bill helps direct me when the roads or GPS gets confusing.

So, we start making lane changes, positioning ourselves in the I-40 lane to change freeways. Just about then, I see flashing lights behind me. I move to my right to let the vehicle pass, but it moves behind me again. There is an off ramp just ahead, so I take it, and the lights follow me off. I pull over at the first safe place to do so. An Oklahoma State Trooper walks up and tells me he pulled me over for an incorrect lane change or something like that. Says I was in a lane that didn’t allow getting out of at the point I got out of it. WHAT? Bill didn’t understand what we did either and he was telling me what lanes to be in.

He asked to see my license and as I’m taking it out of my wallet, the tears begin to fall, again. This is not my day! Bill mentions he is a retired deputy. The trooper asked if he was carrying a gun, then asked to see Bills retired deputy ID, which he shows the trooper. The trooper then asks Bill a few things about being on the LA County Sheriff Department, then asks for the insurance card on the RV. He takes my license and insurance back to his car. We wait an agonizing five minutes for him to return.

He asked me to step out of the RV. I undo my seat belt and get out. He has me walk towards the back of the RV and said he had to ask me some questions, away from Bill. He thought because I was so upset and crying, that maybe there was another reason. He asked if I was abused or in fear or something. He said he didn’t feel he was doing his job if he thought I was in fear or hurt and he didn’t ask. I assured him it was nothing like that. I then unloaded on him all the reasons I was upset, that I mention in the blog already. He even offered info on where Bill could see a doctor in town. I thanked him for his concern, and said we were both just tired and he was home sick and we would be ok once we got off the freeway for the night.

He said he would let me go without a ticket and told me how to get back on the freeway. I shook his hand and thanked him again. So, did I get out of the ticket from me crying or Bills retired cop status???

Once we got onto I-40, we got off after a few exits later to the safety of another Cracker Barrel for the night. I had myself a wine cooler and Bill went to bed.

I should have asked the state trooper for a photo of us together for the blog! Notice I didn’t take any pictures today of our drive.

Ozarkland, Antique Mall, and Heavy Rain

May 12, 2014 – Monday

Last night, while parked at Walmart, we checked all our weather apps for weather conditions for the next few days on our route back west. I had been looking forward to going to Branson, but the weather wasn’t going to let that happen. Yes I could go, but with high winds, rain and thunder storms, we decided it wouldn’t be much fun in that kind of weather. So, another disappointment for Patty on her Bucket List of things she wanted to see. The weather was suppose to clear up on Thursday, but Bill didn’t want to hang around that long. He wanted to try to beat the weather and get down the road.

We left Walmart at 8:50 am and stopped for gas at 10:30. Love the gas prices on this trip…just $3.28 a gallon. Going to miss these prices when we get back to CA.

At 12:30 we saw a big sign for Ozarkland & Antique Mall, right off the freeway in Cimarron just about break time, so we stopped.

The shop was HUGE and had lots of gifts and souvenirs. There were these really tall dolls for sale, every type of collection you could think of like eagles, cows, chickens, Indian decor, etc was there, along with clothes and fudge. I finally broke down and bought 1/4 lb of sugar free fudge, which is now gone.

The antique “mall” was a cluster of old buildings and sheds full of old stuff. I think Bill enjoyed walking around there. The stroller wouldn’t fit down some of the isles, it was so packed it. Kinda looked like a fire trap. Chica was real interested in some animal fur skins on a table, but mainly they just enjoy going places in their dog stroller!

Bill spotted some guitars, but he said they weren’t very good, and was way over priced at $100 each.

Back on the freeway, we passed the Missouri/Oklahoma state line at 12:50. We pulled into the visitor center for information.

We needed to find a campground soon so I wouldn’t have to drive in the storm. I also wanted electric hookups after three days of boondocking. I checked my SKP membership book and found a campground with full hookups about 30 minutes away in Big Cabin, OK. We called and they said there was room for us. We didn’t stay at the visitor center long, as the sky was getting dark and ready to rain again. Back on the freeway it started getting dark. It was daytime and everyone had their headlights on and rain was pounding us. It got so bad, it looked like we were driving in the fog. I couldn’t wait to get off the road.

Sure was happy to see the 69 turnoff exit to the campground. Had to go thru an Oklahoma toll getting off the freeway. The truck stop just ahead had a huge Indian statue, then we pulled into the campground one mile south of the freeway. This place was very “unique”. It was a big truck repair facility that added RV spots behind their truck business, with a big grass area separating the two places. It sounds ugly, but our view was pretty. We looked out at a big field of grass that has cattle in it, and the truck business was behind our pull thru RV spot, so we really didn’t even see it. Plus, there were only 10 RV sites and free wifi. Not bad for only $21 a night. Bill hooked up our water and electric in the rain, while I took the dogs out to potty.

I spent two or three hours going through all the Route 66 brochures and maps, picking out places to visit in Tulsa and Oklahoma City tomorrow. We can even stay here another night if the weather is still bad. Bill says he still doesn’t feel good and now says he is getting car sick, while we are going straight on the freeway! I think he is just getting homesick and doesn’t want to do the touristy stuff I want to do. He doesn’t want to go to an urgent care or doctor till he gets home. I’ve tried to get him to see one now. I suggest staying another night here so he can sleep and get better, but he wants to keep going. Lot of rain, thunder and lightning tonight.

Meramec Caverns Riverboat Ride & Zip Line – Part 3

May 11, 2014 – Sunday – Part 3

As soon as the cave tour ended, I hurried over to the boat ride, as it was due to begin.

This tour was fun and interesting, because of the tour guide, unlike the cave guides. When I got off and was walking back to the RV I took photos of the Zip Line attraction, along with a lady who appeared to be stuck half way, above the parking lot. An employee had to zip out to her and help her back. How embarrassing. I didn’t want to do it after seeing that. I do t have a zoom on my iPhone so it’s hard to see, but she is in the center of the picture with trees in background, 2nd from bottom. Last photo is cropped as much as I could to zoom in on her.

We left after my boat ride and ended up at a Walmart in St Robert, MO at 6:00 pm, our home for the night.

Mother’s Day and Meramec Caverns in Missouri – Part 2

April 11, 2014 – Sunday – Mother’s Day (Continued)

We are on our way to the Meramec Cavers in Stanton, MO. There are a hundred signs off I-44 advertising this, so I’m pretty sure we will be able to find this place, even if the GPS messes up again. It’s a pretty road leading to the Caverns.

We parked and let the dogs out to potty and stretch as we walked by the boat/canoe rental ramp.

There is a rock sticking out of the water and Chica thinks it “something” alive. She couldn’t take her eyes off it. In the parking lot they visited with another dog.

We walked up to Granny’s and the gold panning area with the dogs.

Bill took the dogs back to the RV while I went inside to see when the next cave tour would start. I found out I had a 45 minute wait and went back to tell Bill. He still isn’t feeling good and it was warm in the RV, so he decided to stay with the dogs, leave the windows open for air and lay down, while I did the tour.

I killed time walking around the huge gift shop and displays outside of the cave entrance point. When it was time to line up for the tour, there were a lot of people and kids. I’ve only been on three other cave tours, so I’m hoping this one is just as good, if not better the way it’s so highly advertised. The guides telling us about the cave were very boring the way they talked, almost like they didn’t want to be there. The group was so big, we had to keep stopping to let everyone catch up and stay together so they could turn lights on and off in different sections of the cave. The kids were noisy and talking over the tour guides. The cave itself wasn’t as good as the other ones I’ve seen, plus all the standing around waiting was a bummer. Half the cave, we double backed on the same trail. I couldn’t wait for the tour to end. Glad Bill didn’t take it. I took the following pictures, actually all the blog pictures, with my iPhone. I’m surprised they came out at all, but some are pretty good for a phone camera I think.

Next I did the Riverboat Ride and took pictures of the Zip Line area. See Part Three

St. Louis, MO and Disappointment – Part 1 Mothers Day

May 11, 2014 – Sunday

Happy Mother’s Day!

We left Cracker Barrel at 8:45 am, destination St. Louis, MO, a little over an hour away. It rained off and all all the way there.

There were a few things I wanted to see in St Louis, but the Arch was the main thing. I put an address into the GPS for a place along the river that was suppose to have RV parking. Today the GPS had a mind of its own. As you get close to any major city freeways and interchanges there are roads going everywhere and not much time to get in the correct lanes. My GPS usually does an excellent job, but today, not so. She told me to go one way and the overhead freeway signs seem to say another way. She “Recalculated” over and over, while we were left to our selves to figure the interchanges out. Not sure if the overcast sky or tall buildings threw her off, but she was crazy that day.

I’m not even sure what bridge we crossed but it was pretty and we could see the Arch in the distance to our left. I just got off on a random street and tried to get close to the Arch while the GPS was still recalculating. Bill hates big cities, but I kept pointing out to him how empty it was on Mothers Day morning and in rainy weather. We had no traffic, so I continued to search for the Arch. There are lots of one way streets in downtown, some with construction, some with vehicles blocking lanes. When we got to the river, there was construction and road closures. The following pictures were all taken from the RV. We never got out.

I finally gave up and we tried to find our freeway on ramp again. After more than a few cuss words at each other and the GPS, we finally found our way back on the correct freeway and direction.
To cheer myself up, I pulled into to a White Castle, only my 2nd time trying one. Since it was still morning, I got a waffle, egg and sausage sandwich and a plain hamburger to split between the dogs.

Next touristy thing I wanted to see was the Sculpture Gardens, which I read, allowed dogs. When we got there, we encountered a Mother’s Day Art Fair going on at the park, with a big sign that said No Dogs Allowed for this event. Rats, I didn’t want to walk around without the dogs at a park, so we left. Strike two for the day.
Back on the freeway, eventually getting off at the Visitor Center at the entrance to Route 66 State Park. Finally, I could pick up brochures for touristy things to do on Route 66. I walked away with lots of information.

I thought the dog sign was cute, and reminded me of my dog Bella who loves to lick people.

I will continue this days post in Part Two, since there are so many photos. Stay tuned for Meramec Caverns!

Military Museum Tour and Cracker Barrel Camping Again

May, 10, 2014 – Saturday

We left Cracker Barrel at 10 am, first stop was gas. Seems like we get gas a lot, but we like to keep the tank topped up when we can. I’ve been keeping track of all the gas fill ups, and plugged those numbers into a gas mileage app on my phone, that calculates miles per gallon for you. We are getting an average of 10 to 11mpg. The best was 13.12 mpg and the worst was 8.85 mpg.

Next we went to Best Buy to buy a new car phone charger. The one we had stopped charging.

At 10:45 driving on I-70 we passed the “Welcome to Illinois” sign.

At 11:30 we saw a billboard advertising a historical town just off the freeway. Sounded like a good potty break stop and a chance to walk around. The town is called Greenup on The Historical National Road, also called US 40. Parked on the street next to a grassy park, which the dogs loved. While there, a lady walking to her car stopped to talk to us after seeing the RV. She was very proud of her little town and started telling us about it. She said there was a really nice military museum we should see. We said ok, so she went back to her car to get the key. Apparently, she is in charge or a volunteer of the place to have the key. We got the dog stroller out then walked down the street passing little shops she would point out.

It was a nice old building with a lot of displays. I took a photo of Bill next to the uniform he wore in the Marines. I saw a Navy uniform that reminded me of my dad in his uniform photos. We stayed about fifteen minutes, signed the guest book and put some money in the donation box. We thanked Margaret for the private tour, then walked down the other side of the street.

We went in a couple of the antique/gift shops, then headed back to the RV and back on the freeway.

We are getting really close to St. Louis, Missouri. I don’t want to get there till tomorrow, so we stopped at 3:30 in Troy, Illinois at another Cracker Barrel. St. Louis is where we will pick up Route 66 towards home. I haven’t been able to pick up any information about St. Louis or even Route 66 on the trip yet. I needed an evening to go online and see what to do tomorrow. Chances are, the big city will freak Bill out and he will want to get out of there fast, so I’m probably planning for nothing. 🙂

Bill still isn’t feeling good. He is slowly getting better, but isn’t there yet. I’m hoping the extra day will make him feel better before we start Route 66.

This Cracker Barrel has RV parking in the back, so cars aren’t coming back here to park in the RV spots. We did have a truck pulling a horse trailer park next to us, while the two cowgirls went in to Cracker Barrel for dinner. One kept kicking his stall while they were gone. I think he wanted out.

I walked Chica around the restaurant a few times, trying to wear her out. She has a lot of energy, and misses being able to run free, without a harness and leash, like she does at home.

The Dogs Get a Manicure, Rain and We Are Now In Indiana

May 9, 2014 – Friday

I thought Bill might need another day of rest when he woke up this morning. He still isn’t back to “normal”, but he said he felt better and wanted to get on the road. I dumped the tanks yesterday, so all he needed to do was unhook the electric and water. I got the inside ready to travel while he left in the rental car to gas it up and drop it off at Enterprise. I left the campground at 9:15 and he was standing outside waiting for me when I got there. We got on the I-70 heading WEST.

Gassed up the RV and entered Indiana at 11:30. We are mainly traveling on I-70, and occasionally on 40 which ran parallel to the freeway.

We haven’t had the tires on the RV checked since we bought it in January this year. They are new enough, I just worried if they had enough air in them. The tires don’t have extension valves on them like my last RV, so checking the air pressure is difficult. When I saw a Discount Tires store, we pulled in. Most tire places I’ve found, which check the tire pressure for free. They had to take the hubcaps off the front tires to get to the valve stem, and they were both at 65 psi which was good. They don’t have the right “tools” to check the dully tires on the back, so will have to go to an RV place for those. Guess we also need to have extenders installed, so we can check the air pressure ourselves. Most tire blow outs are due too low tire pressure! Thanks Discount Tires for helping us.

I saw a Petsmart, so we stopped to get Chica and Bella’s nailed trimmed. I just needed their rabies certificate and there was only a five minute wait before it was our turn.

Of course I have to look around the store at the cute clothes and buy a small bag of Bil-Jac puppy food for Chica along with some wet to mix with it for a special treat for being such good girls getting their nails done.

Next we saw a Walmart and thought we might stop early for the night. I went in and bought groceries, but when I asked if we could spend the night, the manager said the city didn’t allow it. I hadn’t bothered to check the Overnightrvparking web site first, or I would have known that. It was 4:10 when we left there. I was tired from the long drive today, in the rain off and on, along with it being windy. I checked the website, before we left and our plan is to make it to a Cracker Barrel farther down the road.

Windy and rainy drive.

We arrived at Cracker Barrel in Terre Haute, Indiana at 5:45 pm. I parked in one of the seven RV/Bus parking spots, then went inside to get permission to spend the night. The manager said yes, like I knew she would, but its still nice to ask. I got a cup of coffee to go then back to the RV to turn on the propane and start the refrigerator. For safety reasons, I prefer to drive with it off. The refrigerator will easily stay cold for 4-5 hrs, but long days like this, Bill’s sugar free Popsicles were a little mushy. 🙂

I have a bone to pick with cars that park in the long RV/Bus spots! Notice even with a sign, cars always park in these long spots, instead of the normal size parking spots. While parked here for the night, I saw it happen over and over. An RV like mine or a truck with a trailer have no other places to park, except these 7 spots. I saw one RV drive thru when the long spots were all taken by short cars, and they had no place to park. I’m not sure if they left or parked someplace else. OK, I’m done ranting now. Just glad we were able to get a long spot.

Bill still doesn’t feel his old self and is sleeping. The dogs are sleeping too. This is a nice Cracker Barrel, with grass for the dogs just outside our door, and trees to give it a park like feel. We are close to the freeway, so it isn’t very quiet, but it doesn’t keep anyone here from sleeping I see. I had a salad I bought from Walmart for dinner. I’m saving calories because I plan to eat breakfast, my favorite meal, at Cracker Barrel in the morning. 🙂

Bill is Sick in Bed

May 8, 2014 – Thursday

This morning did not start well. Bill was up and down from early morning making “trips to the restroom” In the RV. As I type this post, at 5 pm, he is still in bed. Getting up only when “necessary”.

We went to dinner and did a little gambling at Hollywood Casino last night with friends Gene and Gayla. Every thing was fine last night. Bill ate more than he usually does and more variety too. Since his gastric by pass surgery his eating habits have changed dramatically. We think he over did it last night. I feel fine, the food was great. He swears he won’t eat out any more.

So the rental car is just sitting here. We were suppose to go to a nice park for a get together today at noon. That didn’t happen unfortunately. 😦

He said he will feel good enough to leave tomorrow as planned. I hope he is better. I’ve never seen him have this much stomach problems from eating. He has slept pretty much the whole day

Meanwhile, the dogs and I had a quiet, relaxing day. I’m looking at maps and planning our Branson, MO visit. The dogs go out every few hours for a walk with me. Chica just loves to go out and explore. Bella loves laying in grass. We sat on the office steps where they have a cement goose that puzzled Chica.