Sunday, November 27, 2011

We headed out this morning around 10 AM a little later than we usually start out.  The temp was hovering around 31 degrees and we stopped for gas in Iron Mountain at the Murphy Gas Station since it was as cheap here as it was anywhere between here and Milwaukee.  We only got 40 gallons and our intention is to top it off in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, just outside of Milwaukee.

The traffic on the way to Green Bay was horrendous.  We’ve only got a two lane to travel on for the first 50 miles and it was bumper-to-bumper for most of the way.

Our first stop was at Lambeau Field in Green Bay the home of the “so far” undefeated Packers.  I wanted to pick up a specialty t-shirt at the Packers Pro Shop but found it way too expensive. $32 to be exact. We ate lunch at Lambeau and then headed out to my son Sean’s house in West Bend.  We arrived just after 3 and settled in, parked in front of his house.

My Daughter Stephanie and her family arrived about an hour later and we got ready to have Dinner together.  They had decided that tonight would be a pizza night so we ordered out from Sal’s.  The food certainly didn’t matter to us even though the pizza wasn’t that good.  But we’ve had worse and better, and it was a nice get-together.

The party broke up about 9 and we came back out to the motorhome and watched a little tube before we settle into our nice comfortable bed.  It didn’t take .long for us to zonk out after the long day that we had.

Monday, November 28, 2011

We were on our way early this morning.  We had no incidents last night, physical or personal.  It had warmed up a few degrees this morning from last night.  Our first stop was the P:ilot Station in Oak Creed which was selling gas for $3.05 a gallon.  As it turned out we never saw it any cheaper all day today.

We met my sister Marge and her husband Wally at our usual McDonald’s this morning to have a little Breakfast before we finally settle in on the road.  Before we left Wally presented us with a Danish Kringle which Racine is famous for.  It turned out to be a Chocolate Pecan.  We had never had one of those before.

After leaving McDonald’s we hit the road and just drove for the next few hours until we stopped for lunch.  After which, we changed drivers and just chugged forward again.  Our next stop was to put me back  in the driver’s seat after a couple of hours, and hit the road immediately afterward.

We arrived at Honey Bend Resort in Litchfield, IL about 4:30 and right at the time it was getting dark.  By the time we got to our site it was night but only about 4:45.

We hooked up and got our TV working and settled in for the night.  We had “Turkey Fixin’s” leftovers for Supper tonight and neither of us complained.  We love having the leftovers from Thanksgiving for meals on our first couple of days on the road.

We settled in front of the tube for the rest of the night and watched our regular programming for the night., We hit the hay about 10;30 after watching the repeat of the O’Reilly Factor

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

We were planning to meet Walt and Kathy Werden at Sikeston, MO today for lunch but as luck would have it we started having trouble as soon as we got up.  After disconnecting, Sharon went out to run the car through its gears and the battery was dead.  Great!  We had to call Walt and Kathy and tell them our problems so they wouldn’t have to wait expecting us to be there.  As it turned out we just put the battery charger on for a couple of minutes, and just long enough for us to get it shifted back into neutral.  As we started to pull out, the alarm on the transmission pump was sounding.  We don’t use the pump anymore but here it was making noise. Before we got to the Interstate we stopped on the side of the road and clipped the wires on the pump until it stopped making noise.

We were back on the road again in just a few minutes.  We called Walt and Kathy and told them we were about 20 minutes behind them on the highway.

We pulled in to Lambert’s Café in Sikeston about 1 and it was just in time for a late lunch.  For the next hour we sat and ate our lunch, including all the pass-arounds.  It was finally turning into a good day.

We had jump-started the car and let it run while we ate lunch and by the time we came out the battery was at least part-way back again.

We pulled into Tom Sawyer campground just before dark and settled into our site.  It was right on the Mississippi River.  It was also $35 a nite.  No chance of finding a Coast to Coast campground here.

Neither of us was hungry for supper so we just fended for ourselves later on.  We still had plenty of leftovers in the fridge.  We now also had two plates of chicken wings from Lambert’s to eat in the next couple of days also.

We saw a couple of huge barges pass by on the river before it got too dark to see anything out there.  They must have been 3 or 4 football fields long.  It’s hard to judge from this distance.

We just camped in front of the TV for the rest of the night.  About halfway through O’Reilly we left the vicinity of the TV and caved for the night.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

We were up and rolling relatively early today since we wanted to make it as far as Abita Springs, Louisiana by the end of the day.  Our only stops were for gas and to eat lunch at 1 PM.

We had a difficult time finding our way into a mall parking lot, and actually finding a place to eat.  We found a Wendy’s after a fashion and pulled up into the parking lot right behind it.  It was one of those shopping centers where all the stores look alike and only the signs distinguish the difference.  Wendy’s had a new sandwich they call the “W” that was on sale, so we both had it, and it was very good.

Back on the road again we would eventually see Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi in our rear view mirror before the day was over.

As we neared our campground we realized that we should probably pick up some LP Gas before we pulled in.  Not knowing where to go Sharon called the campground and found a place on the way in to the resort.  They would close at 4:30 and we arrived at 4:30 but they already had all their equipment shut down and refused to give us gas.  Great timing on our part.

We got into the campground and into our “satellite friendly” site and settled in for the night.

We had our chicken wings from Lambert’s Café tonight for supper and, as usual, they were quite good indeed.  My eyes got heavy after supper and I took a long nap before I went to bed.  Sharon got tired of watching me sleep and went to bed at 9 tonight.  I followed her after a couple of hours and a little tube watching.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

We got up this morning without an ounce worth of ambition in either of us.  Sharon’s back was aching from rolling around in bed for an hour or so before she got up at 6:30, and I slept “late” until about 7:30.

We really hadn’t planned anything today so we wouldn’t be missing out on anything.  We our Breakfasts and then settled in front of the TV for the next few hours.

By the afternoon Sharon thought she might give me a haircut today, but couldn’t remember if she packed the clippers or not.  She didn’t, and neither did I, it appears.  No problem. She was complaining about those shears for some time anyway. We’ll just pick up another pair.

After I took my belated shower this afternoon, I suggested we should go and have the car washed.  She suggested we pick up a pair of clippers at Walgreen’s while we were out.  We did both and then came back home again.

For the rest of the night after chowing down on hot dogs for supper, we just camped in front of the tube until it was time to head to the feathers.  We both went south about 10:30.  This had been a pretty good “rest day.”

Friday, December 2, 2011

We were up early and ready to go this morning with a plan to go into New Orleans for the day.  We left home about 9:30 headed for the Ponchartrain Causeway which would take us across the Lake into the City.

Our first stop was at the Visitor Center in Abita Springs to pick up a New Orleans map for the day.  Although we had our GPS with us, we didn’t know what our plan was for the day.  Mostly we were just going to “wing it” and do whatever we wanted today.

We had to pay a $3 toll for the Causeway which I believe was new since we were here last.

We had been to New Orleans  a few years ago, so there was nothing really immediate that we wanted to see or do.  We did have a restaurant from Food Network that we wanted to stop at and have lunch.  The name of it was Mahoney’s  Restaurant and serves the Poboy sandwich.  It was featured on Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives.

After getting off the Causeway we drove to the French Quarter to see if we could still drive through there.  Surprisingly enough, there was no problem driving through and seeing the changes since we were last here.  It does, however, look the same as it did last time.  We probably drove through there 4 or 5 times before it was time for lunch.

We drove to Mahoney’s with help from the GPS.  It was quite complicated to get there, so we were glad to have directions.  Mahoney’s is quite a site to see.  It’s a restaurant inside a remodeled house that does quite the business at lunchtime.  The food was absolutely sumptuous and we got more than enough to eat.  Sharon had a Muffaletta and I had an Overstuffed Shrimp PoBoy.  We also had Crab Fingers in Remoulade Sauce and an order of Onion Rings.  It cost us $40 for lunch but it was well worth the price since we both had two meals from our sandwiches.

After lunch we went to the St. Louis #1 Cemetery to see the tomb of Marie Leveau.  She was the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.  We got directions to the actual tomb from people walking around in the graveyard.  After the Cemetery we decided to head for home before the traffic got ugly.

Sharon took a nap when we got back and I watched some tube while she was out.  I also connected our sewer and water before I was done.

After Supper we planted ourselves in front of the TV to watch some new shows for a change tonight.  We’ve been watching repeats since Thanksgiving and that gets old after a while.

By bedtime we had already taken in half of O’Reilly’s show and then called it quits.  It had been a fun day today.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Today would be a “get ready to go” day today meaning we’ll be leaving tomorrow to head west into Texas so we’ll have a few clean-up chores to take care of.  I’ve got holding tanks to dump and a water tank to refill for our exodus in the morning.  Sharon is going to catch up on our laundry for the next week and we still want to sit down to some Cajun food before we leave here.

We got a leisurely start today and drove to Covington to find some lunch.  We drove all around the town until we finally settled on Sicily’s Ultimate Buffet where we feasted on foods such as Shrimp Etoufee, Eggplant Beschemel, Crawfish Penne and of course, the usual Seafood Gumbo.  We finished it off with Seafood Pizza and pieces each of Apple Pizza and Banana Pizza.  It was all very good but we knew that because we had eaten at Sicily’s Ultimate Buffet several times in the past. So we managed to have our last Cajun “fix” before we head out tomorrow.

After we got back home Sharon dove into the laundry basket while I splashed around with the holding tanks, so to speak.  She got finished just in time to go to church this afternoon while I filled the water tank for the next couple of days.  We never know where we’ll end up at the end of the day so it’s well to be prepared.

Neither of us was hungry for Supper tonight but Sharon cooked Sloppy Joe’s for the next day or so on the road anyway.  We should be traveling and she won’t have time to whip anything up.  And it’s always better than having to eat every meal out

We settled in front of the Telly for the night even though there wasn’t much on.  The networks having been playing repeats since Turkey day and usually Saturday is a lousy night for TV anyway.  We were up until 11 before we folded our tents and headed for the padded room.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

We were up early this morning but we didn’t get on the road til 9.  I guess we just can’t get going any earlier anymore unless we have a really important reason.  Today was just going to be a travel day and it really didn’t matter how far into Texas we made it.  We were intending to go to Willisville to a Good Neighbor Park, but more frankly just to get to a place where we could watch the Packer game at 3.

After a brief Breakfast, we were off.  Our first stop was for fuel since we wouldn’t have enough to get to Texas for openers.  We stopped and picked up 20 gallons in Louisiana when we stopped for lunch, thinking it would be cheaper in Texas.  And in fact when we stopped inside the Texas border we got to the “station” I found on the Internet and there was no gas, no station and no pumps.  We did find a dead end that we had to disconnect the car and back the motorhome out a couple of blocks.  We wasted about 20 minutes on that fiasco.  We were now officially off our schedule.  We also stopped for LP Gas on the way since we were running on fumes in the LP Tank.

We decided to just find our campground instead of looking for another gas station.  We’ll find one when we leave tomorrow.

We arrived at our campground at the end o the first quarter and still had to mess around with the dish to get that going.  It was more temperamental today than usual and it took me about 10 minutes to get it going.  All the while waiting for the game that had already started.  I was irritated to say the least.

The game was nip and tuck all day and threatening GB’s undefeated season but they managed to pull it out, with a Field Goal, with 4 seconds on the clock.

After the game we ate Supper and then camped out in front of the tube for the rest of the night.  There wasn’t much on, as usual for a Sunday night.  We called it quits about 10:30 and ambled off to bed.