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We are running out of data Gb so will be less verbose for a few days.

Fredericksburg, Texas

We figured it has been a good five years since we visited Fredericksburg, so we decided it was time to do it again.

The town has certainly expanded since the last time we were here. In fact we are sure we never saw most of the downtown area before.  I remember the Walmart, but most of the shops were new to us.

We had lunch at Silver Creek Beer Garden, which was a very old building with all the original woodwork….beautiful

Outside patio	Jim looking over the inside
My schnitzel sandwich with German potato salad	Jim M’s platter with three types of sausages

I didn’t take a photo of Jim C’s and Linda’s lunch because he ordered a hamburger and she ordered fish and chips…..yup, in a German restaurant…..

As we walked around town we found a candy store with fudge….had to stopped

Cute store front

Look at all the fudge selections

They had a large selection of nostalgia candies from people’s childhood, like Big Hunk, Bit of Honey, etc.

The buildings in town are so unusual….beautiful stonework.

This one is wood and stone	Look how skinny and tiny this building is
Lost of stone	Verandas and gingerbread abounds
The original hospital	Lovely architecture

It was an hour and a half trip one way so we didn’t stay in town real long …. we had our doggies at home waiting for us … but we sure did enjoy ourselves.

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

Cranes Mill-Canyon Lake, Texas

We left Winstar World Casino last Thursday and stopped in Carrollton to visit a friend of The Mossmans who owns a manufacturing plant there.  We left about 2 p.m. and tried to get into two Passport America(PA) parks but they were both full….stopped in Elks Club in Temple, but they were full….on to Georgetown and at Berry Spring RV Park another PA park.

Friday we tried to get into Potter’s Creek in Canyon Lake….but they were full….so we drove 26 miles around the lake and are staying in Cranes Mill C.O.E. park at $12 a night.

It is very, very beautiful here.  We are on the crest of the hill that overlooks the large lake.

The sites are HUGE…a good 60 foot site with a separate spot for your truck. There’s a covered picnic table with colored decorative gravel.

Where we are sitting there is a lot of space between you and your neighbors.  Here’s the Mossmans next door to us.

The covered tables are really nice and makes for a nice place to enjoy happy hours.

We will stay here for a week, visiting Fredericksburg and maybe the River Walk.  Sure are enjoying sitting under the awning and reading my Kindle or playing Words with Friends with Linda M.

Remember, you are loved.

Winstar World Casino RV Park

We moved to this RV park for a couple of days and enjoyed the “high life” for a while.  This place has cement pads with wide patio area, steel picnic tables and BBQ grill.  Very, very nice.

It was nice to be close to the casino for our daily trip “to enjoy”.  Winstar’s slot machines are very generous….I even made $40 one night and I never make much of anything.  We all did pretty well, with Jim M. making the most.  I think we’ve found a new favorite casino.

Thursday we took off on the road again making a side trip to Carrollton, Texas, for the Mossman’s to visit a former co-worker who has a manufacturing plant there.

We had a bit of a hard time finding a place to spend the night….Elk’s Club in Temple was full, two different Passport America (PA) parks were either full or didn’t honor the membership on Thursdays, so we continued down the road till Georgetown and found Berry Springs RV Park who did take our PA membership for one night.

Today we are off to Potter’s Creek Campground which is a Corp of Engineer park on Canyon Lake, northeast of San Antonio.  We’ll be there for about a week taking day trips to Fredericksburg and to the River Walk.

Remember, you are loved.

Winner, winner….Turkey dinner

Jim and I l-o-v-e turkey….and we eat it several times a year….when we can find a 9-12 pound turkey that will fit in our convection oven.  Then when we DO find the right size (which is hard to do) then we need to find someone else to share it with because even at 9 pounds it’s too much for us to eat even with leftovers.

So here come the Mossmans….yippee….turkey time. 

We all got together for a nice lunch together complete with gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

Oh, not only was the dinner delicious (thank you, Jim) but the leftover for a sandwich last night was even better.

Today is cloudy and dreary so it is a “stay in the house with a book” kind of day….I’ll do that.

Remember, you are loved.
Read the store behind this saying HERE

Day to Wash the Rig

Saturday I washed clothes while the rest of the group washed the rigs. Both of us have been driving a lot and through rainstorms and our rigs were pretty filthy….especially the windows!

We tried the Jet Dry window cleaning solution we saw on Facebook….it didn’t work.  When the windows dried there were lots of water spots…so right that one off the list.

Jim vacuumed, cleaned the blades on the overhead fan, tightened the screws on the valances and took apart the Fantastic Fan and cleaned the screen and blades; so all in all we got a lot of cleaning done. 

We enjoyed happy hour together and decided to stay at the Winstar World Casino RV Park for a couple of days after leaving here on Tuesday.  We’ll be closer for the senior free breakfasts Wednesday and Thursday.  Happily with the government shutdown over the COE campgrounds are reopened so we plan on going down to Potter’s Creek Campground on Canyon Lake outside of San Antonio, Texas, for a week.

Remember, you are loved.

 

Winstar Casino Seafood Dinner

Well, we didn’t get to wash our rigs because of the weather….cloudy with threatening storm, but we decided to “celebrate” our accomplishment anyway by going out to the casino’s Friday Seafood Dinner.

Wow, what a meal!!!  It usually costs $28.99 but with their player’s card it was $24.99 each….yes, expensive but boy was it worth it.  First, this buffet just reopened within the last couple of weeks so everything was new, upscale and beautiful. They had a large staff walking around being very attentive to the patrons…we were treated very well. There was the usual large buffet selections, i.e. Mexican, Italian, Asian but we were there for the king crab legs….that’s right, not snow crab legs, but huge king crab legs. And they also had Dungeness crab legs too. 

I started out with a salad then went for raw oysters and some sushi before starting in on the crab legs….yes, I overdid it but come on, king crab legs…..you got to go for it.  The desert bar was featured right in the middle of the floor, highlighting the freshly made cherries jubilee and bananas foster being made right there in a cooper pan by a chef.  I had a taste of both and preferred the cherries over the banana thingie….too sweet.  But, of course, I had to go for the chocolate cheese cake….

We walked around afterwards and played a little.  We each got $25 free play when we got our players card so we played on their money after putting in some of your own.  They had some fun (and loud) machines that was entertaining to play. 

We came home early and enjoyed a night of TV.  Going to try to wash our rigs today that’s suppose to be nice and sunny.

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

WinStar World Casino-Thackerville, OK

Yesterday we drove over to the casino to see what its 500,000 sq. ft. looks like…yes, 500,000 sq. ft.  It is H-U-G-E!!!!! I swiped this photo from Yahoo images.

Being a “world” casino the space is segmented into different countries…there was Beijing, Vienna, Paris, New York, etc.  The restaurants in those area reflect the area so there was a very pretty outside café with the iron railing and all.  No photos to share as you know you can’t take pictures inside a casino.

They have attendants with clipboards stationed about every 50 feet to answer questions or give directions….very nice touch.

We went early because on Wednesdays and Thursdays they provide a free breakfast to all seniors….and this breakfast costs $15.99 on other days.  No, it wasn’t a crappy, cheap version of the original…it was very good…and you know I’m picky.  No paper plates and plastic forks…they had real plates, cloth napkins, etc. There was the usual scrambled eggs, sausage patties, cottage fries, but also a nice roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, great Danishes, an omelet station, milk, orange juice and coffee….but they also provided several flavored creamers.  I was impressed!!!  Oh, and they had a band and singer who played all the 50’s and 60’s songs.

We all had to laugh at Jim because at one point he said…seriously I might add….“It’s really surprising that the band is playing all those old songs…I wonder why?”  Dah, because there are all these old people here.  [Since it was senior day they played the 50-60 music all through the casino all day]  I counted and they had it set up to serve 800 people at a time in the big event hall, and they turned those tables over several times from 7-11 a.m.  It would be interesting to find out how many people they did serve.

We played the slots a little with Linda being the big winner making $30.  We went home about noon and relaxed after all that walking.  But I must say, Winstar World Casino is one of the nicest casino I’ve ever been in…yes, including Vegas.

Happy hour at 4 p.m. and then we enjoyed a wonderful corn and crab bisque that Jim Mossman made.  It was a real keeper.  He was trying to duplicate a dish Linda loved having at the Riverside Inn in Abbeville, LA and she said he nailed it.

Today we are washing our rigs and cleaning our windows using a “recipe” we found on Facebook that you don’t have to dry off….we’ll see…I’ll let you know how it worked out.

Remember, you are loved.

Look Who We Found? The Mossmans

We were going to stay at the RV park at Winstar Casino here in Thackerville, but we are enjoying Red River Ranch RV Resort so much, we all cancelled the reservations at the casino and are staying here instead.  We can stay here a week at Passport America prices…..great and it’s only about a 2 mile drive to the casino.

The Mossmans left Indiana Monday and we expected them late Wednesday…it’s about 1,000 miles.  So Tuesday I texted Linda to say we would have dinner waiting for them Wednesday when they arrived.

Well…..guess who drove in 8:30 p.m. TUESDAY night????  That’s right….they drove some 500 miles two days in a row!!!

So here they are this afternoon relaxing under the awning while Jim cooks dinner.

And here is the result of Jim’s cooking.  It’s a pork loin  stuffed with corn dressing and wrapped in bacon.  He then cooked it on the charcoal grill.  It was moist and so tender.

Now the boys are off to the casino for a little “recreation” while the ladies are enjoying  some alone time…..ahhhhhhh!!!!

Remember, you are loved.

Thackerville, OK

Decided to drive to Thackerville a couple of days early for our meeting with The Mossmans.  Our trip south was OK, but had so much rain.  It came down so hard you could hardly see the sides of the road to stay in our lane.  In fact, there was an accident between a car and a semi that stopped us on the highway for 45 minutes.

We found a Passport America RV park in Thackerville, OK for $12/night at Red River Ranch RV Resort.  Although I wouldn’t describe it as a resort, it is very nice with 240 sites with long pull-throughs on grassy sites.  It is only a mile from the Winstar Casino where we had reservations for $25/night.  Soooooo, we talked with The Mossmans and all decided we’d cancel our reservations there and just stay here.  The office said we could stay here up to a week at the Passport America prices.  Good deal.

Our plan had been to stay at a Corp of Engineer park outside of San Antonio for two weeks, but with the government shut-down the COEs are closed, sooooo another change in plans in in the offing.

The Mossmans drove 425 miles today and will join us early Wednesday.  It will be sooooo good to see them once again.  Been a long summer without them.

Remember, you are loved.

OKC Area

Since we hadn’t disconnected while in Amarillo, we were able to leave pretty early.  Around noon we stopped at the Lucky Star Casino in Clinton which had gotten good reviews only to find a paved parking lot without any hookups and a sign that said “no firearms, no alcohol, no pets”.  Well, heck, we moved on.

Since we were only 90 miles away from Midwest City, OK (outside of Oklahoma City) we ventured on and arrived and were set up by 3:30 at the Elks Club.  We’ve stayed here a couple times before and still haven’t found the lodge opened.  It’s a very pretty spot…the whole place is grassed.  There’s electric and room for five rigs.  The downside is you are in the direct flight path for planes from Tinker AFB and it is NOISY as the planes pass over about every 15 minutes.

However, we were pleasantly surprised that there wasn’t even ONE overhead plane all night!!!  Maybe they don’t fly on Sundays; whatever the reason we had a quiet and pleasant night.

We called our local friends, The Smeals, and went out to dinner.

The Smeals were campers at Big Meadows the second summer we camphosted.  They had car trouble and we helped them out.  The Smeals were curious about the fulltime lifestyle and I lent them a book to read.  From that encounter in 2008 we’ve stayed friends, emailed and stopped to visit.  FYI…The Smeals are going fulltime RVing next December.

We went to dinner at Cheddars.  We’ve heard of this chain before but never stopped there before.  I thought it was a burger place, but it is more like the atmosphere of a Red Lobster or Olive Garden. They had a wide range menu.  I had a glazed salmon with rice and broccoli and the other three had Cheddars’ homemade chicken pot pie.  All the food was very tasty.  We’d go back.

We were able to watch a little local TV and went to bed early. 

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

Chili & BBQ Cook-Off

We got to Amarillo Elks Club about 3 p.m. to find all the RV sites taken with participants of the cook-off.  We were happy to boondock, but some of the members said they’d see how to fit us in…and fit us in they did….pretty tight fit but we made it with Jim’s superb backing abilities.

We walked around and watched the teams prep their meats

 

 

 

Jim walked around and talked with several of the team members during the night and in the early morning….many teams stayed up all night tending their fires.

The smoke pits came in many sizes and shapes…some simple and some elaborate…

	Back
Front	Lite up at night

Here are a couple of the teams plating up their samples.

       

They asked Jim and I to be judges.  There was to be chili (Texas style-no beans) barbecue chicken halves, ribs and brisket. We judged the chicken and the chili. There are strict judging rules. You have to use a different spoon, fork or knife for each sample. You had to take you taste of the chicken from the same spot on each sample. You have to “cleanse you pallet” with a pickle slice, celery or tortilla chip and take a drink of something between each sample. (I found a slice of dill pickle worked best for me.  Plus we got to drink all the beer we wanted during the sampling “to cleanse our pallets”.  I drank my green tea.) Plus you can’t talk about your opinion of any sample during the judging.

Jim and I tasted 13 chickens and had a teaspoonful of 19 different chilis….between that and all the “cleansing of the pallets” we ate a lot of food.  We bowed out of judging the ribs and brisket…too full.  But we did walk around and sampled one or two ribs. 

Lots of fun and camaraderie all around.  We’ll spend another night tonight and then drive towards Oklahoma City tomorrow.  I think we’re going to spend a couple nights at the Lucky Star Casino in Clinton on the way to use up some of the days before we meet the Mossmans on the 16th.

Remember, you are loved.

Family Dinner

Yesterday we took our family to Red Lobster for dinner.

How do you like the hat I knitted for our great-granddaughter?  Actually matched the dress she was wearing.

Grandpa had fun tickling Zoey Jane and seeing her reaction.

We had a nice “goodbye” dinner as we planned to leave this morning.  However, they are expecting winds of 50-60 MPH so we’ll just stay put another day and take off tomorrow.

Remember, you are loved.

Gathering of the 2007 Clan

As you’ve heard me tell before, we are part of the “graduating class of 2007”.  This means we are members of Escapees RV Club and we are part of the group who went fulltime RVing in 2007.

This particular “year” of graduates have stayed close together.  We seek each other out when we are on the road and are within 200 miles of each other.  We’ll drive that far just to see each other and go out to lunch and visit for a couple of hours….we’ve done that a number of times.

So when we heard a number of “classmates” were attending the Balloon Fiesta this year we wanted to make an effort to go see them.

While in Espanola we heard Marty was in town…not going to the Balloon Fiesta but passing through….so we connected and went to visit. We agreed to move the next day to the RV park at Hollywood Casino in San Felipe, NM (half way between Santa Fe and Albuquerque) and to visit our classmates at the Balloon Fiesta.

So Monday after moving and setting up we all went out to see our friends and the rest of the Boomers (a social sub-group of Escapees RV Club) who always attend the Balloon Fiesta as a group.

Here is the Class of 2007

We enjoyed the happy hour and talking with all our friends, then we participated in their potluck

It was great to be around so many of our friends at the same time.  We know we will see each other on the road again in the future.

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