Santa Fe March 2013

What a wonderful time we had yesterday with our family!!! We knew we didn’t have a lot of time to spend with them before we flew out to Salt Lake City, but we made the most of it.

Jim helped Beth negotiate the purchase of a new, used car for her, had a bite to eat enjoying green chile stew, and picked up a few things at Trader Joe’s.  We were able to catch Christine between double shifts in her new apartment and also got to see our granddaughter, Alyssa.  Even saw Beth’s husband, Tom, for a little bit.

We had fun watching Christine’s cat and Beth’s cat seeing a dog for the first time in their lives.  Poncho was a perfect gentleman and let them check him out.

                 

We also spent an very enjoyable evening at Tom’s parent’s home.  Louisa and Frank are potters and have their large studio in their home.  They have such wonderful pieces. I actually purchased my dinner plate and a couple of bowls.

                  

The Moms in the kitchen

and the Dads conversing

Louisa prepared a delicious dinner of grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, huge mixed salad and a scrumptious pot of white beans with homemade pesto.  They use their own pottery for dinner plates which made the meal extra special.

Thanks Beth and Tom for an evening of laughs.

After dinner we sat around and talked, munching on squares of Belgium chocolate for dessert between sips of wine.

Thank you, Louisa and Frank for a most enjoyable evening!!!

Remember, you are loved.
Read the story behind the saying HERE

Albuquerque area

We had a long drive (for us) yesterday from Amarillo.  But it was good to see familiar territory again and to see mountains once more.

It is definitely colder here as we woke this morning and quickly put on the heat pump, the electric heater and even our propane brick heater for a while.  But as in any high desert area, it is always cold at night and warms up during the day.

It will be good to see our daughters for a while today.  One is working a double shift so we’ll only see her briefly.  Our other daughter we’ll help pick out a new, used car today.

This morning I’ll be busy printing out all the paperwork in preparation for our company meeting in Utah Tuesday.  Hopefully we can get it all read before our meeting.

We’re a bit concerned about how Poncho will react being away from us as we’re leaving him and our rig with friends while we fly away Monday.  In the last eight years he hasn’t spent any time away from us….and he is seldom been off a leash.  I’m seriously afraid he’ll bolt out the door and run away looking for us.

Oh, well, it’s time to start printing…..talk with you later.

Remember, you are loved.
Read the story behind the saying HERE

Amarillo Westward Bound

Drove 288 miles yesterday to Amarillo, Texas. We are staying at the Elks Club here. Very nice place to stay. Got smart this time and backed up real close to the fence and made sure our electrical cord would reach before setting down the rig.  Last October we had to re-attach and move back cause the cord wouldn’t reach….hat when that happens.

Poncho seems to be doing OK now. What? You didn’t know? Oh, I forgot to mention it.  While at Shreveport Elks Club there were some leftover plastic eggs filled with assorted candies.  Jim had opened a few and took out the snack sized Kit-Kats, Twix and Milky Ways.  I put them in the truck for a mid day snack and Poncho got a hold of three pieces of chocolate while we were buttoning up the rig to leave.  After a while Jim noticed the wrappers when we stopped to stretch our legs several hours later.  Too late for hydrogen peroxide (recommended remedy to make them vomit it up) so we just watched him.  The night we were with the Lindas and Smeals, Poncho had a really bad night. He was lethargic. He wouldn’t sleep, Jim took him out four times, he drank volumes of water, he wouldn’t jump up the bed.  At one point when Poncho was hardly breathing we just put our hands on him and prayed…it was that bad. Yesterday Poncho moped around and gradually got better and perked up and started being his old self again….thankfully!!!

For lunch yesterday I got into the rig while Jim was fueling up at a Love’s Travel Center and cut up some fruit, cheese, crackers and a piece of leftover chicken from Babe’s.  When we hit the road again I passed pieces to Jim to eat as he drove.  I felt like a mama bird feeding her youngin….a piece of cheese, a piece of apple, piece of chicken, a piece of banana.  Of course Poncho had to have little bits in-between.

I made up a pot of beans before we left Betty’s so that’s what we had for dinner.  Tasted real good.

I bought a new printer ink cartridge while at Betty’s and sure glad we did, cause last night we started printing out some of the paperwork our company sent us to read in preparation for our regional managers meeting next week.  Budgets, revenues, maintenance requirements…it amounted to 100 pages at least….and I still have more to print.  I’ll start reading it out loud to Jim as we travel today…yes, luckily I can read while riding.

We watched a little of American Idol and got to bed later than usual.

Off this morning to the Albuquerque area to stay at a casino RV park while we visit our daughters and grands for a couple of days.  Oh, and maybe welcome our newest great-granddaughter, Zoey, who is due to be born soon.

Well, that was our day….how did your’s go????

Remember, you are loved.
Read the story behind the saying HERE

Norman, Oklahoma

We learned our buddies, The Two Lindas, were moving from Port Aransas to Norman for their next assignment.  Also some of our campers in South Fork, The Smeals, live in Norman. So we decided to make a change in our prepared route to Amarillo and detoured from Sanger, Texas, and went up I-35 to Norman for the night.

We parked at Lake Thunderbird State Park and look at the view from our back window…..

We parked next to The Lindas and they came over and we got caught up on our individual activities…

And then Dave and Susie arrived to chime in on things….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had prepared a couple of meals before we left Betty’s to eat on the road, so I had some beef stew already made. The Smeals brought a colorful salad and an apple pie from the newly opened Sprouts grocery store.

The Lindas brought over Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burgers and I added a mixed green, bean, asparagus and mushroom medley.  It was quite a feast!

 

Into the night we chatted and exchanged experiences…..

                            

Since Jim and I had gotten up unexpectantly early at 4 a.m. I threw everybody out at 8:30 p.m. because I was tired.  Yes, I know….it wasn’t very polite….but that’s how I am….at my age I can get away with being cranky that way.

Remember, you are loved.
Read the story behind the saying HERE

 

Sanger, Texas

There is a Camping World in Denton, Texas, and I like their RV sheet sets (top sheet is fitted) so we aimed there from Shreveport.  Then I remembered that one of our South Fork campers lived hereby, so we called and set up a time to meet for dinner.

We picked out Wagon Master RV Park to stay because it is a Passport America park.  Then when I checked in I found that the owners owned an RV Park in Buena Vista, CO and both owners earned their masters degree from Adam State in Alamosa, CO.  We talked of favorite restaurants there like Campus Café and El Charro.  Nice to talk to folks about home. 

This is a very, very nice park.  Clean, well maintained, level sites, etc. Cute theme buildings. Highly recommend.

Look at the laundry

Here is a view of the park

Our friends picked out going to Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Sanger. Wow, wow, wow, what a choice! The inside and outside are very unique.

They offer only six choices – smoked chicken, fried chicken, fried chicken tenders, chicken fried steak, fried catfish and something else.  You pick your entrée and then all the meals come with all-you-can-eat sides served family style in big white bowls.  You get creamed corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, biscuits and sorghum molasses.  Look at the platter of chicken.  And see how big Jim’s chicken fried steak is compared to his hand?  Oh, and look at that coconut cream pie!

We enjoyed visiting with our friends Lani, Richard and son, Nathaniel.

We were surprised to see we were in Braum’s country here in northern Texas.  I was happy and had to have an ice cream cone before dinner….yes, I got chocolate, of course.

Well, that’s it for tonight.  We learned that our buddies, The Two Lindas, are traveling to Norman, OK tomorrow, so we are detouring and driving there to meet them and another South Fork campers, Susie and Dave who live in Norman.  It only adds 100 miles to our trip to Amarillo….what’s 100 miles amongst friends?  Nothing!!!!

Remember, you are loved.

Shreveport, Louisiana

We made it to Shreveport and are staying at the Elks Club.  Note to other Elks Club members----this lodge is a real winner.  There are six RV spaces with cement tire strips to park on.  There’s electric on site.  The lodge itself is very large and quite pretty with an outdoor patio overlooking a river.  They even have an Olympic size swimming pool.  We give it five stars out of five.

Both Jim and I were hungry for a salad so drove to Bossier City to Ryan’s Buffet….we were disappointed.  Oh, we got our salad craving fixed, but the rest of their offerings were disappointing.

We were going to stay at the Elks Club in Dallas but saw on the map that Denton/Ponder was only 230 miles from Shreveport.  So we’ll push a little further and stay at a Passport America RV park in Sanger.  I want to go to Camping World in Denton to get another set of bed sheets.  Also we have some camping friends in the area and will see them tomorrow evening since we will not see them in South Fork (Colorado) this summer.

Had to put on the heater as it is cool tonight…in mid-40s.  Poncho is under the blanket already.

Well, goodnight to you…see you tomorrow.

Remember, you are loved.
Read the story behind the saying HERE

 

 

Goodbye Betty’s

After three amazingly wonderful weeks it is time to bid Betty’s RV Park goodbye.  This has been the bestEST of times this year. 

We met new people like Sandy and Charles, who have become fast and forever friends.

Last Thursday we went to the park in town for an outdoor Cajun concert with Geno Delafose.  Absolutely the best Cajun music we have ever heard.  His band played for three hours straight…right into the night.

At night all the large trees in the park are lite up with Christmas type lights….very romantic.

And Jim and I even danced a few times.

We at out almost every lunch time as we were out and about so much visiting attractions and doing stuff with people.  I think I actually got my full of raw oysters.

          

Oh, JIm says it’s time to go….more tomorrow.

You are loved, remember.

Girls’ Day Out

Surprise!!!! Two posts in two days…amazing, huh?

Yesterday the ladies at Betty’s RV Park decided the guys needed a break (LOL) so eight of us took off to Lafayette. This is the official photo of our departure.

And here is how we REALLY act when together…..

We stopped at Sam’s Club to get treats for our daily happy hour and then we went to lunch at The Saint Street Inn.  It was a sweet house converted into a “farm to table” restaurant. 

We looked pretty good all cleaned up and smiling nicely.

The menu shows an amazing array of fresh foods to choose, from burgers to a mushroom sandwich.

Saint Street Club-turkey-avocado-greens	Seasonal salad with pears, beets, strawberries, walnuts, carrots, tomatoes and slices of cheese
Shroomwich with three kinds of mushrooms on ciabatta roll	PETA Pita with sundried tomato hummus with greens, carrots, pecans, tomatoes and olives
Small seasonal salad and cup of mussel and salmon chowder.	Tuscan shrimp salad with warm white beans, greens, herbs and Parmesan cheese

A couple of stops later and we were on our way back home, just in time for happy hour.  Here is a photo of a typical spread every day at 4:30

Yes, life is good at Betty’s RV Park.

Remember, you are loved.
Read the story behind the saying HERE

Events at Abbeville, Louisiana

Betty sent out an email with the activities scheduled for the next week.

• Today is Girls’ Day Out to Lafayette
• Thursday Shrimp man in Delcom $2.50 & $3.50/lb.
• Thursday free concert in the park
• Friday - TBA
• Saturday Chapman barbecuing ribs-BYOR
• Sunday Betty making Shrimp Gumbo
• Monday Chapman's leave

It’s been that way for the last three weeks…something going on every day….AND night.  The happy hours start at 4:30 and last for three hours or till 11.  Most things are impromptu or decided the night before.  It is amazing!!! We love this place….

We’ve had Crawfish Boil with 90 pounds boiled up

 

It was an all day affair that began with Bloody Mary’s

 

 

 

 

 

and ended with a concert with Judy Bailey

 

 

We visited Shadows of the Teche, a plantation house in New Iberia

close by are beautiful live oak trees

We went on a swamp tour

and saw lots of alligators up close

We at shrimp po’boys at Bon Creole in New Iberia

Oysters at Dupuy’s for just $11

 

visited the Cajun Picasso in Lafayette

 

  

 

 

 

 

had lunch at The Villager in Maurice

         

we had a impromptu Sunday Brunch in the park with even an omelet station and biscuits and gravy

   

Some interesting outfits were worn

       

of course we had a Bloody Mary station as well

we always having park jam sessions, sing-a-longs, daily happy hours and just getting together daily

This blog post is getting toooo long so I’ll close it off for now. But do know there is something going on every single day and I just can’t make a post for each activity, but I think you get an idea of how much fun you can have at Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville, Louisiana.

Remember, you are loved.