On the way to Texas -part 2

This will be a new/different format for my blog, more writing like a journal and photos at the end. Tell me what do you think?

Got up late , still coughing. After 2 pots of coffee we head for Branson
It is windy and Hilly so I drive the car from Columbia to Branson this makes it easier on the Motor Home and Bob. We pull into the Walmart off Hwy 65 and I shop. Talk to Kathy and Will they are at the Landings in Downtown. We will meet up in the morning. We have tickets for 2 shows tomorrow. The weather is still cold..

I slept some after taking NyQuil.

Thursday-10-23-08

Kathy and Will arrive at 9:30. We have coffee and talk. I wash hair in bathroom sink and get ready. We have lunch in our own units and leave at 1 PM for SIX- Six brothers - the only sound you will hear is the human voice.It is AMAZING. You can't believe your ears. A great show. Ate at Bob Evans and go to the 8 pm Liverpool Legends show. The young men look and sound like the Beatles and it is a pretty good show but i think we like the SIX best. Back to our "homes"at 10:30 PM..

Friday 10-24-08

Kathy and Will bring thier mugs of coffee and we talk for a few hours and solve the worlds troubles. HAHA>.

We leave at 2 PM for the Titanic experience. The worlds largest museum attraction. And what an experience it was!!We spent 3 1/2 hours there. Each person is given a "Boarding Pass " with the name of some one who was on the ship. You are not told if you are one of the survivors. As you make your way through the ship and visit the exhbits and galleries different members of the ships crew are stationed and tell you stories about yourself and what happened to you. You can spend as much time as you like and listen to all the stories as people make their way through. Will was given the ID of Captain Smith , who went down with the ship. There are many hands on experiments. It is very interesting and fun despite the pricey 20.00 plus cost.

We eat a quick supper at Baldknobbers and head for the RED HEAD EXPRESS show at the Circle B music theater. A great family show. Mom, Dad, four daughters and three sons from Alaska. Blue grass music. We clap and sing along. The show is new in town and only half filled. We stay after talking to them we find out they are coming to Harlingen , Texas January 15 to audition for the RV parks in the Rio Grande Valley. We get a press kit and CD to help promote them to our activities director.

Saturday-10-25-08

It is still cold , running furnace at nite before bed and again in morning. Time to go more miles southward.. Because of the hills and the long climbs coming into town on the main road we talk to some locals and decide to take a 2 lane road south and west to Ark and OK. Very curvy and pretty views but not too bad on the hills. Slow going , I am driving the car again.

We hook up the car and take 69 south at Chotoch, OK. Spotted Wal mart on the east side of road right at the light. I think we stayed here before. YIPEE a Wifi hit from the Staples store next door.. Cooked supper , Bob walked into Walmart. Iam so tired took shower and to bed still coughing all night.

Sunday10-26-08

It is not as cold this AM, do not have to run the furnace. Fill up with gas , it is getting cheaper [2.15 per gallon] and head for Dallas. Drive through 1 PM still some traffic. At rest Area by Waco I see a very strange man by the back of white Jeep. He had a mask/scarf/gauge on his face. He got into the back and put on 3 jackets one with a hood which he pulled over his head. Now the sun was shinning and you did not need even one jacket. He started walking fast up and down the parking lane, sometimes waving his arms all around. He just looked weird. Others were watching him also. His car had California plates on it. I took his picture.

After Austin we missed our best opportunity for a Walmart so stayed the night at the rest area south of New Braunfels on I 35. It was noisy, lots of highway noise. Not much sleep still coughing. Did not even feel well enough to make my "free minutes" phone calls.

Monday-10-27-08

Drive through San Antonio south to the "Valley". At Corpus Christi where hwy 77 branches we pull into, where else ,,,Wal mart,,, and cut the Alero loose so we can drive to North Padre Island.

Talking to the lady on the gate at the National Park Entrance, we get our senior pass and go check out the campground. No hookups but they have a dump station and water available, also showers. Generators can be run until 10 pm. You can see and listen to the waves , with a nice wooden walk right to the beach. we go out to the end of board walk and watch people surf fishing or walking on beach when Darrell Marshall comes up and we talk for a long time. He retired from Saturn and may know Connie. I took his picture. A nice fellow from a farm in the KY Lakes area. Mousetail ST PK near. He is camping and riding his new motorcycle.

We would like to return for a day or two of camping here , 4.00 per night for us seniors.
Tuesday 10-28-08

Leave at 11 am ,,thinking about all the work ahead setting up the Mobile and unpacking. [Mom came and was a BIG help with that, thanks Mom]. We stop for lunch at rest area south of Kingsville and see some pretty green and black birds looking for handouts. All signs tell us we are in south Texas,,,,birds, 70 and sunny..

Morning dawns foggy over Branson ,MO.

Gathering for morning coffee..

Our area in the far corner high on the hill. There was another Roadtrek that spent 2 nights with us also.

Here we are at the bottom of the Grand Staircase on the Titanic. Can you picture the movie and the fine ladies and gents walking down?? Oh, where are the flowing gowns? We did see the movie ones on display.

Lots of pictures of the RED HEAD EXPRESS family.

When not performing on stage the young boys are very active selling ice cream , CD's and getting drinks. At intermission the whole family waits on the customers.

Dad and one of the daughters.

The girls in their curly wigs.

Mom on this end and Dad on the other. They all worked very hard to entertain us.

Vango heads out to the caves east of Branson and we go south to ARK. We will meet up in the Rio Grande valley about December 1.

The strange man at the rest area.

The beautiful ,peaceful beach on North Padre Island.

Bob watching the waves from the boardwalk.
Darrell Marshall from KY Lakes. See the campground just steps away.

Note ; I go to Doctor on Thursday he tells me I have bronchitis. He fixes me up with steroids, antibiotics, and some kicking cough medicine. I finally sleep through the night lying in bed. After 6 days I feel much better.

On the way to Texas

This year we cross the Missouri River on our way to Columbia, MO. to see Cliff and Lavonne Custin. We are taking our time and enjoying the country even more.

Night time is rough for me as I am coughing non stop when the sun goes down. Nothing seem to help. I have bought every over the counter drug Wal mart has to offer. I even got suggestions from the pharmacy. Cough drops and sipping water are my staple during the day.

When we get to Columbia we follow Cliff's direction to the local Wal- Mart and unhook the car. We spend the night and do a little housekeeping. In the morning Cliff and Lavonne come and pick us up and we go back to their house and spend the day visiting . We go to their favorite sports Bar and Grill for a great lunch and back to the house. After Cliff fixes us a tasty supper and more talk, we are chauffeured back to the Motor Home for the night.

The boys are looking good!!

Rusty likes to keep a close eye on us. Babe is more relaxed and sort of ignores us.

Later that night I am still coughing and move to the couch to try a more upright position. At 3AM,, knock,knock on the door. It is cold windy and raining but there stands a woman in grey sweatshirt Hood. I ask what she needs and she hold up some kind of ID card , points to the north and says something about her son and needs to get a room for the night. I tell her to try Wal-mart [it is open 24 hours, and Ihop is right there also] she throws up her hands and says I tried there and walks away. I watch her wake up 3 other Motor Homes and then get into a SUV and drive to the front door. There she waits until a red pickup drives up and talks to the man. He goes in and comes back to her after about 10 minutes. She then drives away to the north. I felt bad for her, but in this day and age you just can not open your door to strangers, especially at 3 AM..

In the morning I talk to some of the other Motor Home people in the parking lot and they feel the same. One man gave her $5.00 through a window in his door. Later Cliff tells me the county has a great program for people in need but the just want money.

We stop at this very nice Visitor Center in Ill and take a picture of this pink and grey van that is packed to the roof. I mention that they must be traveling alone because there is only one seat available and that is the drivers seat.

Soon we are talking to the 57 year old lady who is traveling with her little pug dog from Rhode Island to California by herself. She sold her house and is not sure what route to take. When I mention a map she says "oh, I am not good with maps". She shows me a wad of notebook papers someone had written directions on. She asks what we think and how many states she will go through and what are they. She did have a Cracker Barrel map that showed the states. I point them out to her. As simply as possible we tell her to take I -55 south to 40 west to California and GOOD LUCK!!!.. Oh yes the dog rode on top of the stuff piled on the passenger seat.

Sunset through the windshield of the Motor Home while driving west on I 70 .

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Family Lake Houses

OCTOBER, 2008

There are four of our family currently living on Lake Fenton and we would love to have more.

I am still working on that plan. I took one last ride around the lake before we took out the pontoon and now have pictures from the lake of our family homes.

The home of Mary and Bob Bills

Home of sister Carol and Dwight Polzin

Home of Nephew Jeff and Lisa Polzin

Home of Daughter Denise and Richard Hauk

Shoreline of our Home , We are lucky to have the extra 1/2 lot to the north of us.

In the fall we are invaded with the Dirty Birds

One of the hazards and annoyances of Lake Fenton.... Pigeons and their nasty "gifts".

This is now the largest house being built on the lake. It completely blocks the house behind it. These are NOT lake houses only out of place shows of wealth.. this is my soapbox...

Getting trees trimmed

September 3, 2008, A crew of hard working young Mexican men [the boss man spoke English]came in to take off some big limbs that were hanging over our roof from the neighbors trees. They did a very good job and we were very impressed. They did not even touch the plastic fencing between houses.


They did all this with one man with a chain saw in the tree and a series of cables and ropes lowering the limbs. Others pulled and guided the heavy limbs to the ground.

It totally filled the yard with branches and leaves.

A chain saw came next and the young strong ones pulled the branches and carried the logs out to the chipper.

When they finished raking you would not even know there was work done..NO MESS LEFT.

The "monkey man" with the saw.. He could balance and knew just where to cut.

Bob kept a close eye from a safe distance. We were both impressed with how quickly and efficently they worked.

I highly recomend them!!!!