Oklahoma where the wind goes......

Jim woke up very early, at 6 a.m. , he couldn't sleep any longer. I woke up a few hours after that. Around 9 a.m.  we had a brief thunderstorm and heavy rain ,  didnt  last very long . Then I made us breakfast, a smoothie for us, and eggs for Jim, he always has to have his eggs. We did our normal morning  routine. We decided to take a little day trip. We ate a grilled Burger to hold us over till later. It turned out to be fairly nice the rest of the day. We had a few drops come down later but not bad. We're very close to the Oklahoma border. We had to mail something back home to a Lebanon  address,  from this rinky-dink post office from Lebanon address in Oklahoma.

We drove to Tishomingo, about 35 miles or so from the Thousand Trails we are at. Went into a visitor center, got a lot of information.

Then we walked around the cute little shops and stores. Love to look at all the little trinkets that I have no room to purchase anything.

We went  into one little store that Blake Shelton's mother runs, we got to meet her. Store is called Junk Stars,

He also has another restaurant there Ole Red, we were getting hungry so we went in for a quick bite. We shared a catfish, Hush Puppy and French fries plate. We shared a piece of red velvet cake. It really hit the spot we were very well satisfied. The whole time we ate there was a guy playing the guitar.

One cute little shop we went into the girl said she works in the restaurant too. There's a former bed and breakfast there  that she was telling us about that Blake and Gwen stay in when they're in town. His ranch in the area is up for sale. We had a nice little walk around. Then we stopped to get diesel so we have a full tank for travel day tomorrow. And they also were selling firewood so Jim bought two bundles of firewood. We drove back to TT, arrived  before dark.  We took a little drive around, not too many people here the place is fairly empty. We had a lovely salad and some boneless pork ribs that we first smoked, and then I put them in the instant pot, so tender. I also steamed some green beans for our dinner. Then they had a live band right across the road at the family center, which we could enjoy right from the comfort of our FW. We watched American Idol in the comfort of our own home while we enjoy the music.

Smoker, new neighbors,

I woke up first this morning, I guess I did sleep well. Jim rolled over and said no not yet, I said no worries babe. I went downstairs and made the coffee, can't remember how much to put in, I didn't make it for a while. It was good but his is always better. Since we have the satellite hooked up and we changed our location I'm able to record The Today Show. So I started it over since it was on for an hour and a half already. Then I had a bowl of cereal and I made Jim eggs  and a muffin from yesterday's lunch. Then he went outside and got a bucket of soapy water and backed the truck up to the front nose of the FW and got his bug spray and washed the front nose of the RV, it was full of bugs. we each had a bowl of vegetable soup for the start of our lunch . Then he got the smoker going, we put on a chicken then took that off and grilled couple Burgers on it I had thawed out. We had a burger today and we will have a leftover one for tomorrow too. Then he had to get it hot again, then we added some boneless ribs, to get a little smoky flavor on them.

Tomorrow I will finish them off in the IP and we will have them for dinner tomorrow, as it is supposed to rain a little. It sounds like a lot of cooking, was about four hours .  Once you get the smoker going  we like to  get a lot of things done at once .  Saves a lot of time , and prepped later , so worth it . He received a call from a tax guy, made arrangements to get everything mailed in, happy we're getting a nice refund, that was great news. Since today is Friday we watched a few RVs Rolling On In, we got a new neighbor behind us. And some of the sites that are set up for the season, they also arrived. Then we went and played a round of miniature golf here. We have our own clubs and balls.

It was fun for some reason I felt like doing it. Jim says he won by one point. That's fine. Then we came back and he got his shoes on while I put the clothes away and went for a little walk around. Then we came back and were sitting outside. And our neighbor Regina came over she's in a motorhome towing a car all by yourself she is from Texas. She wanted to ask Jim about traveling to Pennsylvania worried about going over mountains. We said that's nothing compared to what they have out this way. We didn't come in till after 7:30 I made 4 salads we had one for dinner with some chicken on it. I will have one for tomorrow. Then I made a chocolate chip zucchini cake, I use Jim as my KitchenAid mixer, he is very good at that. Then we watched a little TV had a piece of cake oh, I took a shower and called it a wonderful day in the neighborhood.

First full day of spring

For some reason I could not sleep last night. I was in bed from 11:30 to 1. Finally got up and read some of my RV blogs, went back to bed. Jim was up first this morning, I reluctantly got up anyway. I made us both oatmeal with cherry topping. Sounds weird, but I had a little left over from previous desserts, very good, no added sweeteners except a pack of stevia. We watched  some of the Today Show. Then somehow we got motivated to do some household chores. Jim went outside and cleaned out his hole, as we call it. I wish I had a before and after. He cleaned it also not just straightened it out. Used the torque wrench and did all the RV tires , and check the air and filled all 10 ,  truck, RV. He got a bucket of soapy water and wash the back window so we could see out. Then he took the electric heaters out , we have a little one in the bathroom a small one in the middle of the RV,  and he also pulled the  electric fireplace out, which is in the back, carefully brought it outside  and while the air compressor was out he blew all the dust and dirt out of all three. They don't sell firewood here, when we checked in the lady told Jim pick up whatever is dead laying around. So he took the truck and went for a firewood run, that was later.  Brought back a lot of Twigs that were great for kindling. Meanwhile back inside, I got out the vacuum  and vacuumed  the RV. Jim helped me  vacuum, dust the high spots  of the Cabinetry,  both pantry and fridge where I can't reach . Washed a load of cleaning towels that have been accumulating for a while. I picked up all the rugs, Jim shook them outside for me, and I wiped all the hard floors down. Then we got ready and went to town to look around. It was a little drive to get there, Jim said there was towns closer. We are very close to Oklahoma apparently. Would love to pop in and say hi to Blake Shelton. Funny story, as I'm sitting outside with Jim, doing a blog post from a day and a half ago, which doesn't seem like that long. He decided to read from a few days earlier, right before you post it. And apparently he said I have it all messed up. We went to different KOA in a row and apparently I mix them up, OMG. Now he's trying to fix it. So back to our adventure, we found at Sam's Club but decided not to waste a beautiful day walking around, which we really didn't need much in there. Every restaurant you can imagine is around, we found a Cracker Barrel, have not been in one for a long time. The only time we would really go to one was when we were on holiday. We sat right in front of the fireplace, was beautiful, asked the waitress if he could throw more wood on the fire, as it burned down a little. She said oh it needs wood, and immediately went and got four pieces and threw it in, I wish Jim could have done it.

I had catfish & hush puppies, coleslaw, sweet potato casserole. Jim had country fried steak, pinto beans, corn , hash brown casserole , we also had the biscuits and cornbread, I took one biscuit home for Jim's breakfast tomorrow morning. I'm not even going to mention how many carbohydrates that was. For dessert we shared a piece of buttermilk pie, which I make, but did not for a long time. It was a very large piece, very similar to mine, mine is more lemony. Very good though garnished with topping and strawberries. It was a wonderful meal we left very full and satisfied. Really enjoy the fire burning. I love the gift shop I could have walked around for an hour, Jim not so much. I love the clothes in there, would have loved to get a summary flowing top. But they're kind of pricey. Found out they do have a sale rack for seasonal items. Wish I could have found that and looked longer. Jim's just not into it. Then we went into Walmart, per usual, wanted to shop somewhere else, but we ended up there. When we got back to the FW it was so beautiful out. I put all the food away. Jim actually took the truck now and went and got all the wood, I talked about earlier. Then we went for a little walk,  almost an hour and picked up 4 big chunks of wood for later. I made vegetable soup in the IP, with turkey sausage and added unfried chicken later at the end. I also made 10 hard-boiled eggs, in the IP first. Jim made a fire with all the wood he collected throughout the day.

We sat outside and had a bowl of the soup I made, that was plenty for dinner since we had such a large wonderful lunch. Just wanted to watch a hockey game so he did on his outside TV,

which is wonderful for me. I was able to watch some of my shows that he hates and get my DVR closer to 50% full, which is always the goal. Yeah the Flyers won, when the game was over and all the wood was burned, Jim came in I turned off the show I was watching. We watched one that I recorded earlier we both like, we watch that together and then he went to bed. I went to bed shortly after that, hoping I sleep better tonight. I'm sure I will in this beautiful large wonderful sight, feel so much like home, well it is. Wherever we roam, we're always at home!

Whole day spent relaxing at home

Wonderful to wake up and not have to go anywhere. Jim is up shortly before me and made coffee. I woke up about quarter of 8 because I wanted to watch The Today Show. We have satellite but need to change or service address to get local channels from Texas area. We can get them with our TV antenna on the roof though. We just can't record, and watch it later or watch multiple shows. Our last address was from Palm Springs and that no longer works here. Easier said than done. I made a smoothie we shared another wonderful orange we will really miss only two left, they were from the pickup truck in Benson Arizona. If you go by I highly recommend you buying some. They were 12 oranges for only $3. Then I made paleo blueberry pancakes we each had two pieces of uncured bacon and eggs. Made the bed watched a little TV, wanted to shower but decided to go for a walk first. We walked down towards the lake, it belongs to Army Corps of Engineers, then we walked around a couple loops that had 30 and 50 amp sites in it. Hardly anybody around. The lake was quite large, had a little Island we saw two fishing boats on it.

I know not too many people read the blog, which is fine, and I know no one who does would never do this. But the trash laying around in nature is driving me crazy. I tempted to pick up some but you really need to go down there with a bag gloves, and a golf cart to bring it all back, very upsetting to see. Anyway, another thing we took a selfie which when the trip is over I will never be doing again. Jim says last selfie ever.

Till next year when we go back to our beautiful Florida locations. So we walked almost 2 hours came back had lunch, leftovers which we love, the spaghetti from last night and a salad, and a little diet pudding dessert I made. Which we worked up quite an appetite. Then I threw some clothes in the washer, I tried to call DirecTV to change our service address, what a fiasco that is. First you go through with someone all your info. And they said they have to transfer you to somebody else to do the service address change. Then you have to go through all your info again with them. She kept repeating our service address in Palm Springs, then the new guy ask me for our old address I don't remember the number part of it. But he said you needed it for verification I said ask her she knows it. So I told him I could give him our billing address, which is in Pennsylvania. But I said don't change that. Then he started saying how much money we pay a month and we can get a discount. Jim said that's not what we pay. He tried to give you a higher number and then say they're taking $60 off of it, blah blah  blah Jim is getting so, PO ed. I said just forget it. Maybe I'll try him again later, you always get somebody different. He sent them an email and said WHY??  Couple times ago I called timed it took 12 minutes, boom done. The last time I had to call four different times for a total of over 2 hours till we got it accomplished. Then we sat outside, beautiful sunny day in Texas. Chilling! Then I went back inside and tried Direct TV again, this time I had luck with the first lady I talked too, she  helped me right away, even when she tried to upsell me, all finished in 13 minutes. We took showers, had dinner, I finished the laundry we relaxed and watch TV the rest of the evening.

Moving day to TT Lake Texoma,Texas

If you can meet with Triumph and disaster and treat those two Impostors just the same, if you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by names to make a Trap for fools, or watch the things you gave your life to broken and stoop and build them up with worn out tools, yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, and which is more, you'll be a man my son.       IF  by.   Rodger Kipling.

Starting the day with a poem that I heard on the fourth hour of The Today Show with Hoda and Kathy Lee.

We woke up on this another travel day, hating to leave this very nice KOA in Abelen TX. We left about 9:30 , there is alot to do. We did our normal travel day moving routine. We have a master list before we leave that we go over together. So we do not forget anything.  We headed out towards lake  Texoma  for a 6-day stay at a Thousand Trails. The travel day started out very nice,  Not a lot of traffic, most of it seemed to be because of all the oil fields around. If you are selling white trucks, you would be very wealthy, that's all you see out here, very dirty ones, mind you. We always see rest areas early in the day when we do not need them. But later we couldn't find one, finally we pulled into a Pilot, just so we could go potty, grab lunch, and fuel up, in that order. We only stopped one time today. We arrived TT Lake Texoma  a little after 1:30. No one man's the guard shack there so we went inside. She told us where some 50 amp sites were. Here you have to pay for electric for your 50 AMP, also found out later reading their paperwork if you have a pull through site,  you have to pay for that too, doesn't matter if you have 30 or 50 amp. Also you can only stay on pull throughs for 10 days or less. Also it says use water as you need, no washing Rigs or vehicles unless you are a member staying over 14 days, according to their paperwork, never heard all that before. Which is fine, they all have there Thing. The place is quite large Close to 400 acres, with about a 180 sites. Most we've seen were all very large and quite nice. We had to decide between a back in with an old picnic table and no fire ring,  a huge site with a picket fence out front. Or a pull through site where you face out to the front,  someone can park directly behind you so you're back to back in other words. That's the one we chose, seems like there's a lot of empty sites so no one, chances are would even go in there. We will be here for six nights so Jim put a lot of things out we have not done for a long time. Like the flag, table cloth for picnic table  and larger rug. They said they didn't sell firewood, but he can pick up whatever was dead laying around, which was a lot. After he got set up outside and I finished doing inside things, also put out alot of things I didn't do for a while. Which makes it feel so much more like home, we were both looking forward to not moving for a while. We ate the last of the vegetable soup. Then I used the last of the turkey meatballs in the freezer, I made a little spaghetti in the pot. Had salad,for dinner. Jim made a fire, I watched TV alone, went in and out a few times. I walked over to the family center to look around. It is right across the road from us. Lovely night sky and fire. Very quite, NO one around.

Happy Monday and Moving Day

Haven't moved on a Monday for a while. It was hard to get up this morning after our big walk. Jimmy's up first per usual. I got up after 8. There's so much to do in the morning. I made a smoothie first some eggs for Jim. And didn't even sit in my chair this morning, immediately started getting ready. It was after 10 a.m. till we finally left, I know Jim wanted to leave earlier, but that's on me. We only had three quick stops, we were on back roads, and travel service roads for the trucks and a ton of oil fields everywhere.

A lot in NM and Texas. We pulled over alongside the road for a quick potty break. Then we each had a date nut ball and kept driving. Later there was another rest area but it looks strange so we just pulled along the road for another potty break and grab lunch took it in the truck and ate. Then later we found a place to get diesel. And then we kept On Truckin, we drove total about 280 miles today, about four and a half hours driving. And arrived at Abilene Texas, KOA. We got set up and Jim went to fill the truck up with diesel and came back,  we had them deliver a bundle of wood in a fire ring to use for the night. We shared a salad and  I heated up the rest of the chicken casserole we sat by the fire for a little. Then I came in to watch The Voice.

Saint Patty's Day in Carlsbad Cavern

Jim woke up at 7:30 I got out of bed just after 8 a.m. . I wanted to watch Willie Geist on his Morning Show he has on Sunday. Don't know when it's on, apparently missed it. We had our wonderful coffee and shared a  really good oranges.  I made a smoothie for each of us. The Sun was shining so bright and warming it up, I started opening Windows and the door. I threw the sheets in the washer and got that going. Then I started to make fresh date nut balls with California dates, so much better than the dried-up ones they sell in Pennsylvania. But remembered I needed to buy unsweetened coconut to roll them in, so I put it on hold till we get home tonight. We bought a rotisserie chicken yesterday at Sam's and I took the rest of the meat off the bones and made a chicken casserole that is made in the microwave. I have had this recipe for a million years ,  since my mother and I took a microwave cooking class at Boscov's upstairs,  when microwaves first came out,  I've been making this. You just mix up the chicken with mayonnaise, cream of chicken or  celery soup whenever you have, a can of rinsed sliced water chestnuts, chop celery and onion mix a little  melted butter  with half box cornbread stuffing to coat it, you mix some in and then you put the rest on the top. Microwave for 20 minutes. We had that for an early lunch with steamed green beans. I mixed up a batch of the paleo chocolate chip cookies. We each had two cookies for dessert and will have one for travel day lunch tomorrow . Jim took a shower. We made the bed together , then I took a shower and we got ready and left for our adventure for the day. We drove to the Carlsbad Caverns.

We we're going to walk down and take the elevator up. But it's busy the other way so we ended up taking the elevator down I think it was 70 stories, and then we walked back out.  IT was 750 feet in elevation.

It was fascinating , we talked to a  Ranger coming out ,we were talking about how many people have a hard time and have to be carried out or get a wheelchair for them. He said some weeks they do it a few times and then we'll go weeks and weeks and not have anyone need the service. You have to whisper in the caverns because of the way the sound travels, was so loud if you didn't. So babies and small children wasn't good. There was a family that came out at the very end when we did. She was carrying a four month old baby earlier we seen her nursing I told her she should get an award for walking all the way out plus carrying  the baby,  she was huffing even worse than I was. That walk out was no joke. We saw two women that were walking out the same time we were, we kept passing each other. Once we were out in the open she was over at a plant and thought she was taking a picture of it, and she must have some kind of knife and she sliced off a piece of the plant and I heard her say doesn't look like aloe Vera. Couldn't believe she did that. It took us an hour to walk out. We probably walked over 4 miles. Walking uphill to get out 70 stories up was a nice challenge. When we could finally see the light of day  it's where the Batcave was and bats would come out at night,  and also  cave swallows .

Once we saw the light we still had to walk really far to get over to the truck . After we left we couldn't  wait to get to the water  in the truck, really thirsty .  The cave is about 95% humidity,  which felt really weird after being in dry desert all this time. We then stopped in Albertsons grocery store because  I still have been looking for sunflower seeds and I needed the coconut to roll my date nut balls in. Jim filled up the water jugs while I went in the store. Then we stop to get diesel fuel. Jim went into Lowe's to find wood, but they didn't have any either. I told him Albertsons did but the line was so full I didn't even try to buy any, now I wish I would have. Well we drove back to the FW we could see a beautiful sunset. When we got back  I  grilled some chicken on my stove top Grill and I made some in the oven  too, called oven fried chicken and I made 4 salads we had one for dinner. I finished the date nut balls now that I had coconut. Jim couldn't  believe I was doing so much work after our long walk in the caverns.