March 20, 2017

March 15, 2017

 On Monday morning we hooked up our towd and left the Elks Lodge about 9:30 AM.  Despite the heavy traffic on I-10 we made pretty good time.  After stopping for some $2.49 diesel fuel we headed to toward Golden Valley, AZ west of Kingman.  The drive up was mostly uneventful with light traffic.

 We arrived at the Tradewinds RV Park about 1:30 and then called our friends Keith and Joann Taylor who came out to the park to lead us to their house out in the desert.  When I say it’s out in the desert I mean just that.  Most of the drive was on gravel/dirt roads with a lot of dust to go with it.

 Keith & Joann have a nice home that is completely off the grid.  Ninety-nine percent of their power comes from four large solar panels they have installed that are coupled to huge battery banks and all of their water is from a well.  They use a generator only to run the well pump to fill up the 1000 gallon water tank and if he has to do any welding.  They fixed us a delicious chicken dinner and since we haven’t seen them in about four years we then we did some catching up on our travels.

 On Tuesday Keith and Joann fixed us breakfast and then we drove over the mountains to the old mining town of Oatman.  This little town is known for the wild burros that roam around town begging for something to eat and generally hang around for pictures.

 Their Solar System

They do have some beautiful views.

 The town was named to honor Olive Oatman, a young girl from Illinois who was taken captive by Indians and forced into slavery.  Founded shortly after a gold find was made near there in 1915, the town grew to over 3,500 in just one year.

On Old Route 66 to Oatman

Oatman, AZ.

Chow Time

Now it's siesta time.

Come on Keith.  Give the little guy some.

 After spending time walking around we then drove up to Laughlin, NV.  Our first stop was at the Riverside Resort where Keith and I toured the Don Laughlin Classic Car Museum while the girls played for a little while.  The cars in the collection are amazing,

I love old cars.

Here ya go Jeff Bright!

This one's for you Jim Glaspey.

 We then went to Harrah’s where we had dinner at the buffet.  And yes, we all ate way too much.

March 16, 2017

 Yesterday morning we left Golden Valley and made our way to the Elks Lodge in Needles, CA.  The Lodge is small but they do have six full-hookup RV sites.

 Joyce decided to drive up to Laughlin, NV. to make her donation to the state’s welfare fund.  Me?  I just hung around the house for a while then checked the lounge.

 This morning we headed on down the road toward the Sierra Trails RV Park in Mojave, CA.  This is another Passport America affiliated park that we have stayed in the past.  We got a pull-through site with 30 amp electrical and water for $20.  Nothing fancy here but it works for us.

March 17, 2017

 Yesterday evening we drove into California City to have dinner at the Green Tea Garden.  One of the best Chinese meals we have had in a long time.
Mary 18, 2017

 We left Mojave around 10 AM and headed toward the Elks Lodge in Fresno.  Since we hadn’t dumped our holding tanks in a couple of days we stopped at the Flying J just north of Bakersfield to take care of that task.  We had a little hassle over the cost for using their dump station but we finally got it done.  We then had a late breakfast at the Denny’s there.

 The Elks here takes reservations and we’re glad they do.  When we arrived our site was the last one available.  Unlike the Tempe Elks, the Fresno Elks Lodge is not a very active.  Their lounge is only open when the have meetings and rare dinners.  But, they do have ten RV spots with water and 30 amp electrical service for $20 a night.  Very reasonable for Fresno.

Lodge RV Parking

That’s all folks.

Barry & Joyce

March 15, 2016

March 5, 2016

 Got up early this morning anticipating our drive over toward Tucson, AZ.  When I checked the weather out that way the forecast was for winds 20-30 MPH and gusts as high as 45-50 MPH with blowing dust.  Well, that ain’t so good.  So we’re going to hang out here at Fort Bliss for at least one more day.

March 7, 2017

 We had some high winds all of Monday night and when I got up it was still blowing hard with some very high gusts.  When I looked at the wether for places along I-10 in New Mexico and into Arizona the winds didn’t look too much better.  We then made the decision to stay here one more night.

 I’m sure most of you know that Joyce has been doing a lot of walking along with a lot of her friends.  The first thing she does every morning is get her phone fired up and look to see how much her friends have walked.  Her goal is to get at least 10,000 steps everyday and so far she has done darned good at it.

 So yesterday since the winds were blowing quite hard she wanted to go up to a mall north of here so that she could walk without being blown halfway to Mexico.  Heck, I even got in a few steps myself but mostly I sat on a time-out bench watching the world go by.

 After hanging in that mall for awhile we then drove up to the outlet mall where she could do some more walking.  On the way into there I saw a Discount Tire store so while Joyce walked, i.e. shopping, I had the tires on the car rotated.  We bought those tires in Georgia last year and there is already significant wear on them.  But not only do we drive the car a lot, it is also towed behind our motorhome as well.  I’m going to do some calculating today just to see how many miles are actually on the tires.

 It looks like mother nature is going to give us a break today so we’re going to head out of El Paso today.

March 8, 2017

 Finally got out of El Paso yesterday morning about 9:30, jumped on TX 54 north and then took the TX 375 Loop out to I-20.  This route bypasses all of the construction and crazy drivers on I-10 in the city.  After getting on I-10 it was pretty much clear sailing.

 While traveling we were passed by a brand new Newmar King Air and a beautiful Marathon coach.  On the back of the that one there was a logo with the name Petty painted in the middle.  We speculated where they were going and if the belonged to Richard Petty Motorsports.  Joyce checked the internet to see if there is a NASCAR race coming up in Las Vegas this coming weekend and sure enough there is one.

 Later on we pulled into a parking area to take a potty break and those two rigs were there.  Of course you know I had to get out and check these guys out.  Yep, they work for Richard petty Motorsports and were ferrying the coaches from Atlanta to Las Vegas.  i mentioned to one of the guys that we’ve been by the factory where Marathon’s are built in Coburg, OR and he said, “Y’all should stop in and get you one”.  Yeah right.  The really funny thing was the other guy was on the phone with the home base for Petty telling them that two windows on the Newmar had shattered while driving down the road.  Yep, even one of the most expensive RV’s in the country will have problems.

 We had planned to spend the night in Bowie, AZ but when we found out that we’d have to drive 25 miles to Willcox to do any shopping or for restaurants we decided to head there instead.  The Elks Lodge has 26 RV sites and we were pretty sure we could snag one since it was very early in the afternoon.  The lodge doesn’t open until 4 PM so we couldn’t call but what the heck, we’ll give it a shot.

 Well, that didn’t work out so good.  Not only we’re all of the parking sites full there were several folks dry camping as well and with not much room for anymore rigs.  So we called the Fort Willcox RV Park who had spaces available and with our Passport America rate it is only $23 with tax for a great 50 amp full hookup site.

 We made a run to the local Safeway to get some provisions and then had some great Mexican food at La Unica Tortilleria y Tacqueria in downtown.  Excellent food and great service.

 So……we have got the Jello bowl out and stirred it up a tad.  We have decided to not visit Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, Las Vegas and Pahrump, NV on this trip.  Our good friends Ed and Cindy Kopic have purchased an RV lot in Florence, AZ so we’re going to to head over that way to see them and check out the area.  Then we’ll go on up to Tempe to visit my brother Mark and his wife.

 Our good friends Keith and Joann Taylor have invited us up to their place in Golden Valley, AZ.  We have been promising them for a long time that we’d get up there someday for a visit so that someday has arrived.

 Mark and Ronna are going to Fresno to visit Mom on the 17th so we thought it would be nice for us to be there as well.  So I called the Elks in Fresno and they said we could come in a few days earlier than we had planned.

March 10, 2017

 We left Willcox around 10 AM and after a quick stop at the Wally-World in Benson we arrived at the Rancho Sonora Inn and RV Park near Florence, AZ. around 2:30 PM.  Instead of running all the way up to near Casa Grande and then taking AZ 387 over to Florence and the south on AZ 79 to the park, we decided to take the scenic route.  Well, that didn’t work out so good.

 After getting off in Tucson we got on AZ 77 and for miles it was stop and go with a lot of stop lights and more traffic than we like to deal with.  That all smoothed out when we got to AZ 79 but   you can be sure we won’t do that one again.

 On the way up we ran into a huge swarm of bees that peppered the front of our rig.  So after getting set up in our site we had to clean off the front which took a while.  After taking care of that chore we drove just down the road to visit our good friends Ed and Cindy Kopic who we worked with Sunflower RV Resort in Surprise, AZ. a couple of years ago.

 Ed and Cindy have bought a RV pad in the Desert Gardens RV Park that they are in the process of improving to make it their own and plan on putting a park model house on the site someday in the future.  The sites in this park are huge and there are a lot of amenities for their use.

 Ed had smoked ribs in his new Traeger Grill that were delicious.  We spent the evening just sitting around talking and enjoying each other’s company.  Joyce and Cindy did go for a soak in the park’s hot tub.

 Yesterday we went back over to Ed and Cindy’s then drove into Coolidge for lunch.  Next on the agenda was to go to the Coolidge-Florence Elks Lodge so that Ed could have his initial interview to join the lodge.  For a really small lodge they have a lot of activities and serve dinners three nights a week.

 After making a stop at Wally-Mart we went back to their park and grilled some steaks.

 Today Joyce and I are heading up to the Tempe Elks Lodge to spend some time with my brother Mark and his wife Ronna.

March 14, 2017

 Before we left Florence I called the Elks Lodge in Tempe to make sure there were some sites available and was told they had several open.  That was good news so we packed up and left Florence about 9:30.

 When we arrived at the lodge at 11AM we got the last site available.  This is a very active lodge and the RV parking is full most of the time during this time of year.  The lodge offers 26 full-hookup back in sites that are all very well maintained for $25 a night and in this area of Arizona that is really cheap.

 Mark and Ronna came over after they got off work and we spent sometime visiting then had some supper in the lodge’s dinning room.

 On Saturday we drove out to Mark and Ronna’s home in Laveen and after we got some laundry started we drove around looking at model homes in the area.  Laveen is fast growing area south east of Phoenix near Goodyear and most of the builders are catering to the first-time home buyers.

 When we got up and moving on Sunday Joyce noticed a crack in the passenger windshield.  We have no idea what caused it but it’s something we will need to have fixed while we are in Oregon.

 The lodge was having their annual chili cook off so Mark and Ronna came over for that.  We tasted some outstanding chili and I even talked one gentleman to let me take some of his green chili home.  That stuff was the best I have ever eaten.

Abby & Skyler

 That’s enough for now.

Barry & Joyce

March 4, 2017

 The other day we were talking to Jan and David Sasse about some of the places we have been during our nine years of traveling and the Ruidoso/Lincoln City, NM area came up.  Joyce and I were there back in 2010 and really enjoyed touring the area.  So, here is another:

“Places We Have Been and You Should Too”
Ruidoso/Lincoln City, New Mexico

 Ruidoso is located in the Sacramento Mountains about 75 miles west of Roswell on US Highway 70. The drive up is fairly easy with just a few hill climbs on the route.

 While here we took a drive on the Billy The Kid Scenic Byway that we really enjoyed.  Get more information at the Visitor’s Center located next door to the Hubbard Museum of the American West in Ruidoso Downs.  While there be sure to tour of the museum as well.  If you are in town during horse racing season you might like to take in a race or two.

 If you are into gaming the Inn of the Mountain Gods located just out of town in the place to be.

 Lincoln City State Historical Site is located on US Highway 380 West about 31 miles from Ruidoso and should not be missed when visiting the area.  When we were there the weather was great so walking around town was easy.

 There are several small museums in town and some really cool shops as well.

 Not to be missed on you tour of Lincoln is the Lincoln County Courthouse and Jail, famous for being the last place that William Henry McCarty, Jr., also known as William H. Bonney and Billy the Kid was held for a short time.  He escaped on the April 28, 1878 killing Deputy James Bell on his way out.  By-the-way, the “jail” was not a place with holding cells.  The Kid was simply chained to a hook in the floor.

 The very short Lincoln County War was fought in here in July 1878.

 Since the whole town is the historical site, if you have something to eat in one of the two places there you might very well find yourself in someones home.  We ate at The Dolan House and when I asked to use the facilities I was told to walk down the hallway then to the right.  Well, the hallway leads to the owner’s living room and the restroom is their personal facility.  From looking at the web site it appears they have done some work on the place since we were there and have turned the house into bed and breakfast.

 There are several RV parks in the area.  Joyce and I stayed at the Circle B RV Park which we found to be very nice.

February 27, 2017

 On a sad note, yesterday morning we had to say goodbye to Dave and Jan.  They have become good friends and will be missed and we hope to meet up with them someday down the road.  Happy trails y’all.

 Later in the day Joyce and I drove up to visit John and Marlene Breitenbach at their beautiful home near Canyon Lake in Spring Branch.  They took us on a tour of the area and then fixed us a delicious steak dinner.  Thank you for the hospitality John and Marlene.  Hope to see y’all again in the near future.

John & Marlene"s Home.

Here are a couple of others in the subdivision.

March 2, 2017

 “On the road again….”

 Yesterday morning we finished packing up about 10:30 and after saying our goodbye’s to all our friends we hit the road to begin our spring travels to Oregon,  Traffic on I-410/I-10 was heavy until about 10 miles out of San Antonio but we did make it through without too much trouble.

 After making some weird turns directed by our GPS we arrived at the Triple T RV Resort in Kerrville, TX around 2 PM.  We’ve been to this Passport America affiliated park several times and really like the peace and quiet of being out in the country.  We had planned on staying at the Elks Lodge in town but their rate is $20 a night without full hookups which is the same here at Triple T.

March 3, 2017

 Good morning from the Parkview RV Park in Fort Stockton, TX.  We pulled in here about 3:00 PM yesterday after a fairly easy run from Kerrville.  This place is nothing but a large field with hookups but at $14 a night on our Passport America membership it beats the heck out of Wall-Mart.  Oh, there ain’t one of those here.  The park does have 30/50 amp electrical, good water pressure and sewer hookups.  The WiFi is also free and pretty darned good most of the time.

March 4, 2017

 Yesterday morning Joyce noticed that our Norcold refrigerator wasn’t cooling as it should.  I checked it out and found that it was actually running on propane.  Well, guess what.  The propane tank was empty.  When the repair shop called to tell us that our rig was ready I asked them to turn the refrigerator on so that it would start cooling.  Rather than turn it to Auto the technician selected LP instead.  This caused the automatic selection of power source to not select AC power when we plunged it in back at the RV park.  We didn’t know this since the only indication we have on the control panel is a green dot that indicates that the refrigerator is working.  Lesson learned!

 On the way we stopped at a Valero truck stop in Balmorhea for fuel.  Since the cost was $2.70 a gallon we only put in 30 gallons.

 After a quick breakfast we left the RV park and after a short stop at the Flying J to get some propane (at $3.00 a gallon by-the-way), we jumped on the boulevard headed west to the Fort Bliss RV Park in El Paso.  This famcamp doesn't take reservations so we stopped at a rest stop and called to check on availability.  We learned that they had three sites left so off we went beat feet and got in here at about 1:45 PM local with the time change.

 The RV park is large with 133 full hookup fairly level sites and is actually off-post.  There is an exchange gas station with a convince store just outside of the park’s entrance.  Our rate was $17 with the National Park’s Access Pass discount.

 After getting set up we drove over to Freedom Crossing, the post’s shopping area.  This mall area isn’t your typical exchange/commissary that you see on most military bases.  Freedom Crossing is more like a indoor/outdoor mall in large cities.  Not only do they have a main Army and Air Force Exchange and Commissary there is also The Grand Theater, a Game Stop store, a Things Remembered and even a Dollar Tree.

 Food selections are Anthony’s Pizza, Burger King, Starbucks, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chipotle, Denny’s and a Texas Roadhouse where we had supper last night.  Heck, they every have a Shamrocks Irish Pub here.

 Freedom Crossing is the model for what is to come for other U.S Army posts. Fort Hood in Killeen, TX recently opened something very similar to Freedom Crossing and we have heard there is one planned for Fort Bragg, NC as well.

Granddaughter Abigail Getting Award.  Proud Grandma and Grandpa!

 I think we will leave if here for now.  Until next time.

Barry & Joyce

February 26, 2017

 Here is another “Places We have Been and You Should Go Too”:

Navajo Nation's Monument Valley Park
Southern Utah and Northern Arizona

 Owned and operated by the Navajo Nation, Monument Valley is one of the most unique and beautiful places in America.  It is said that the park is the most photographed place on earth and after visiting there weJoyce can understand why.

 We stayed at the Gouldings RV Park which isn’t cheap (we paid about $50 a night) but it is the only gig in town.  However, staying there puts you are right in the middle of the park with very nice amenities and close to other attractions.

 We highly recommend you take the Deluxe Tour that can be booked in the campground office.  Riding in the back of a pickup, you’ll get a narrated tour of all the major monoliths and beautiful rock formations.  Photo stops are made at John Ford’s Point, the Three Sisters, the Totem Pole and more.  Since most of this tour is in the restricted areas of the park, you will visit areas that can’t be seen when you do a simple driving tour including the Anasazi Petroglyphs, Moccasin Arch and more.

February 17, 2016

 We’ve had to make a small change to our trip back west this spring.  We’re not going over to visit Big Bend National Park this trip due to not being able to get a reservation.  Waited just a tad too long.

 So, if you are in the El Paso area and want to get together we will be staying at Fort Bliss the 4th and 5th of March.

 Ordered our filters and oil at O’Riley’s Auto Parts to have the RV serviced.  All that came to $344 and we will have to pay a service tech $150-$200 to do the work.  The good news?  We won’t have to mess with this again for 10,000 miles.

 The weather here in Von Army is starting to get really nice.  Temp’s are in the high 70’s to low 80’s right now and no major storms are in the forecast.  In fact, tomorrow’s forecast is for a temperature of 87º.

February 20, 2017

 Yesterday afternoon we met John and Marleen Breitenbach at Down on Grayson for drinks and an early supper.  John flew with the 7th and 708th Military Airlift Squadrons at Travis AFB and later went to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  He now works for Northrop Grumman in their Contingency & Deployment Operations division as a Deployed & Flight Operations Manager.  It was great to see John & Marleen again and we had a great time talking about the “old times”.

 Last night we had some really strong storms move through this area, a few developing into severe thunderstorms on the north-east side of San Antonio.  The thunder and lighting woke me up at 10:15 so I got up and checked out the weather radar.  At just about that time a huge cell was passing just a short distance to the east of us with a lot of hard rain and lightening.  The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning around 11:15 that affected areas in the north-east side of San Antonio.  A small tornado touched down near Randolph AFB causing a lot of damage to homes, cars and trees.

February 21, 2017

 We took the RV in to a shop near here to have the oil changed, fuel filters changed and do a chassis lube job.  They worked on it for two hours and charged us $238 labor.  That included the fee for disposing of the old 18 quarts of oil.

 So, with the parts the total came to $582.  The last time we had all that work done was in Oakridge, OR and the technician charged us $640 total, just $58 more and we didn’t have to get all the parts ourselves.  Guess we will have it done in Oakridge the next time.

February 24, 2017

 On Wednesday the 22nd Joyce and I drove up to north San Antonio to visit with Dave Spector, a former flight engineer who I served with in the 7th MAS at Travis AFB.  Dave had a very interesting career flying the C-141 and the VC-137 (Boeing 707) with the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews AFB, MD. 

 Dave decided to go into the leadership side of the Air Force and served as the Command Chief at 20th Air Force at Francis E. Warren AFB, WY.  He then was selected to lead the Airmen of the  Air Mobility Command as there Command Chief.

 Here are a couple of articles about Dave:
   http://www.amc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/145475/amc-command-chief-retires-reflects-on-air-force-commands-importance-career/ 

  http://www.warren.af.mil/News/Features/tabid/3772/Article/333475/20th-af-command-chief-prepared-to-lead-make-difference-in-few-airmen.aspx

 On Thursday we drove over to Goliad so that Joyce could meet up with the “Cackling Hen” ladies at the Commercial Street Bar.  We had a nice time visiting with everyone.

February 26, 2017

 Yesterday Joyce and I went to see the Extreme Bulls Day at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.  I think we both agree that this was the best one we have seen.

 To make the show even better they had the PRCA Freestyle Bullfights.  This has to be one of the craziest thing we have seen in a long time.  The rodeo bullfighters are in the arena with a very mad bull where they try to mad him even madder and play with him for sixty seconds.  Here are some links to view some of the action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f099EQAsKP0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuEQv1o32GQ

Mutton Bustin'

This young man slipped to the side of the animal and wouldn't let go to save his life.  Winner, winner!

 

Freestyle Bullfighting.  Craziest thing we have seen lately!

The pickup men had a heck of a time getting this guy our of the arena.

After the rodeo we met up with friends for supper.

Dave, Mike, Jan, Ronnie, Joyce and yours truly.

 We’ll leave it there.

Barry & Joyce

February 17, 2017

February 11, 2016

 Barry & Joyce’s Adventures have really been extra adventurous this past two weeks.

 As I said in the last post, we left Galveston on the Liberty of the Seas the 29th headed to the Western Caribbean.  Our first stop was in Cozumel, Mexico and since we have been here several times before we decided to just stay on the ship.

 Next was a stop in Grand Cayman.  Again, we had been here a few times but we did take a guided Land and Sea excursion just for something to do.  Did you know there are a lot of banks in Grand Cayman?  I think we passed at least fifteen just in the downtown of the city.

 Our next stop was in Falmouth, Jamaica where we stayed on the ship and relaxed.

This is where our trip really took a turn.

 As you know we put our RV in the shop on January 27 to have some work done on the roof.  On Friday the 3rd we gout an email from Iron Horse RV informing us that they were delayed by cold weather causing them to be behind.  The new “ball park” repair date will be February 13th.  Well, ain’t that just ducky.

 So what do we do now Ke-Mo-Sabe?  We talked about just taking a trip somewhere in Texas but that would have really been expensive.  Also, since the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo was getting ready to start we thought hotel rooms would be at a premium.  After a lot of discussion we decided to ask about the possibility of just staying on Liberty for another week.

 Joyce went to the next cruise folks who said that the ship was completely booked but would let us know if they got a cancellation.  On Saturday she went down to see what was going on and sure as heck they had a stateroom open up.

 The cruise staff quoted a price but Joyce asked to use their phone to call the Royal Caribbean reservation center in Eugene, OR.  They told her that they could beat the ship’s price so with all  the discounts including free gratuities we got the second week for just over $1000.

 As full-time RVers we carry an insurance policy similar to folks that rent a place to live.  A feature of that policy is “trip interruption” coverage that will pay us $100 a day up to a maximum of $1500 for lodging and incidentals.  Since it was a weekend I couldn’t call the insurance adjuster handling our case to get approval but we think at least seven days will be approved.  At least we hope that will be the case.

 When we got to Galveston the Diamond Club Concierge escorted us off the ship and through customs then right back on the ship.  They even moved all of our luggage from our old room to the new one for us.  Now that is great service.

 After two days at sea we pulled into Roatan, Honduras.  Again, Joyce and I have been here before but we did take a excursion that toured the island.

 Our next stop was in Belize City, Belize where we stayed on the ship and relaxed.

 Next stop, Cozumel, Mexico.  Been here, done that.  We did make a quick run to a pharmacy for some skin cream and a couple of t-shirts.

 So, after two weeks on the Liberty we made it back to Galveston Sunday the 12th but not without some drama.  The ship was held at the mouth of the channel for several hours due to very dense fog so we didn’t get into the port until about 9:30.  With that delay we didn’t get off the ship, through customs and out to our car until 1:30.

 After a quick lunch on the way back to San Antonio we finally made it to Randolph AFB where we had a reservation about 5:30.  We were pretty darned tired so we just found a nice Chinese restaurant close to the base for supper and hit the bed early.

February 14, 2017

 On Monday I called Iron Horse RV to check on the status of our house and guess what?  Yep, it isn’t ready.  We then drove over to the shop so we could get a few things out of it and in our best guess it looked like they hadn’t even started the work before last Thursday.  We talked to the body technician we said he might be able to get it done on Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.

We were able to stay in the suite we are in at Randolph until Wednesday and if the shop doesn’t get it done then the manager said he will find something for us in the Bachelor Officer’s Quarters.

 We had tickets to the San Antonio Rodeo last night where John Fogerty played after the show.  Did you know the John is 71 years old?  Believe me when I say that he can still rock the house with some of the best rockin’ roll ever. His son Shane played rhythm guitar who is an outstanding musician in his own right.  And, he recently graduated from the University of California with a 4.0 GPA.

February 16, 2017

 We finally got our house out of the RV hospital yesterday and she looks a lot better with the dents and peeling clear-coat fixed.  All of the work cost us a few bucks (well, more than a few) but if we had let it go much longer the clear-coat would have peeled all the way down the front and back.

February 17, 2016

 What could be better that going to a rodeo in Texas?  When Willie Nelson is playing after the show that’s what!

 Yep, last night we did the rodeo again and then Willie did his show.  Since he is 83 years old I’m sure I will never get to see him perform again live in my l lifetime.  “Lil’ Sister” Bobbie had to be helped on and off of the stage but when she got behind the keyboard you would think she was twenty again.  The band played a lot of Willie’s songs including “Crazy”, “On The Road Again”, “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die” and many more.  Willie did a great job playing his guitar “Trigger” and sang his heart out during the show.  It was great to see Paul English step up to play drums on “Me and Paul”.  Micky Raphael, probably the best harmonica player ever did some amazing solo’s as well.  Here is a really cool web site about Willie:  http://theboot.com/willie-nelson-birthday/

 By-the-way, it is believed that Trigger is the most valuable guitar in the world and if sold today would fetch about $900K.  Willie bought the guitar sight unseen for $750.

Let's Rodeo!

Until next time.

Barry & Joyce

February 1, 2017

January 15, 2017

 Good morning from St. Augustine, FL. where we are visiting Michelle and her family for a few days.

 On Friday morning we closed up our rig and drove up to Austin to catch a flight to Orlando, FL.  Most of y’all know I hate flying these days but I have to say that this trip on Jet Blue was pretty darned good.  Jet Blue touts they have the most leg room in coach class and that was true.  Also, all of the employee’s we had contact with were outstanding and treated you like they really enjoyed helping you, especially the flight attendants.  Some of the major carriers here in the US should send their employees to Jet Blue’s training academy where they might learn a thing or two about customer service.

 Picking up our Budget rental car was very easy using their Fastbreak service.  They gave us a fairly new Toyota Camry that got the job done nicely.

 After some hassle getting over to I-4 out of Orlando we made our way up to I-95 arriving at Michelle’s house about 1 AM.

January 16, 2017

 Today we all drove up to Jacksonville for a trip to Totally Wine which is very similar to BevMo’! stores on the left coast.  They had some very good sales going on so we stocked up.

January 17, 2017

 We took the kids up to the Museum of Sciences & History in Jacksonville.  One of the highlights was the Anne Frank: Voices of Hope exhibit.

Abby and Skyler eating fried ice cream for the first time.

January 19, 2017

 We got up very early yesterday morning for our drive from St. Augustine to Orlando.  The drive down was relatively easy and getting the car turned in was painless.

 Both of us had a TSA pre-check so clearing security should have been fairly easy.  Well….not so much.  One of the officers told us if you have two computers in a bag to remove one.  Then here came the officer from hell who yells at us to put “everything in the bag”.  Ok, we did that.  Then Joyce and I had our boarding passes in our hands and Officer “Ratchett" says, “I SAID EVERYTHING IN THE BAG!  WHAT PART OF THIS DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?”  She even grabbed my pass, opened my backpack and stuffed it in one of the pockets.

 Then she says that Joyce had been randomly selected to go through the Xray machine.  When Joyce got on the other side she asked another officer if that is normal procedures.  He said no it wasn’t and that the other person just got a promotion and that she was just flexing her muscles.  When we got to our gate Joyce called the TSA to complain.

 It was really great to see Michelle, Harold, Abigail and Skyler again.  We’ll do that again soon.

January 21, 2017
 Yesterday Joyce, Dave, Jan and I went out to Lackland AFB to attend a Air Force Basic Training graduation ceremony.  Dave and Jan had never seen a formal military parade and to say they were impressed was an understatement.

 On Sunday Joyce and I along with Dave and Jan drove up to San Marcos to do some shopping at the Tanger Outlets.  Joyce found a couple of things and I scored a new sport coat that was marked $200 for $63.  After all of that shopping we went to the Cracker Barrel for lunch.

 We also toured Kissing Tree, a new 55+ housing development being built near San Marcos, TX.  This is going to be a beautiful place when it is finished.

January 28, 2017

 Good Morning from Alvin (near Houston), Texas.

 Yesterday we got up early, pack up our house and took it to Iron Horse RV in north-east San Antonio to have to roof work work done.  There are several dents caused by who knows what and some fading of the clear coat that looks horrible that needed fixing.

 After getting that done we jumped on I-10 and drove to Houston to a mall where Joyce picked up some pants that she ordered.  The drive wasn't too bad until we got to near Katy where the traffic came to a stand-still.  There was a really bad accident that was actually on the westbound side but with all the rubber-necking going on we came to a stand-still for some time.  Read about it here:  http://abc13.com/traffic/i-10-shut-down-in-both-directions-waller-co/1723889/

 We are spending two nights here at the Holiday Inn Express and on Sunday we’ll get on the Liberty of the Seas for our cruise to the Western Caribbean.  We have been to all of the ports on this one before so we’ll probably stay on the ship most of the time.  We do have a trolly tour booked in Grand Cayman.

January 30, 2017

 Good morning from somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

 After having a leisurely breakfast at the hotel we left Alvin and drove down to Galveston.  Parking was a piece of cake and what is really cool, it is free to disabled veterans.  If you are taking a cruise out of there and qualify, here is the link to read more about it:  http://www.portgalvestonparking.com/american-veterans.shtml

 We got on the ship about 12:30 and started checking out the ship.  Liberty is a Freedon-class ship and little larger than the Voyager-class and has more amenities. 

 Gotta go for now.  More later.

Barry & Joyce