Monday, April 10, 2017

We were up and off this morning to Camping World which is located right next door to our campground.  I wanted to check out the prices for water filters for the motorhome.  We left not having satisfied my curiosity.  The filters were in disarray and none of them had been priced.

After Camping World we headed off to Golden Corral for their Buffet Breakfast.  We got quite the surprise when we arrived.  The lights were on but the doors were locked.  While I was walking away Sharon checked their hours on the door as someone walked up and opened the door.  We had never arrived before they actually opened the doors.  In any event we had a wonderful Breakfast and left with our bellies full.

We wanted to do a couple of things today.  One of them was to take a ride down Central Avenue which is the old Route 66 highway.  We had been on the road before but today we took it from the Interstate back to the Interstate which is probably around 6-7 miles right through the heart of Albuquerque.  We got back home about noon.

Sharon called the Bank of the West again today to check on our request to establish an LLC in Montana and license the coach there.  We would be saving a ton of money by doing it that way.  We had to resubmit our preliminary paperwork because we had submitted it before we had been entered into their system.  So we printed up a new request letter, with some additional information, and faxed it out to them.  We’re hoping to hear something positive before we get home in two weeks.

Because we are leaving tomorrow, I dumped our tanks today.

  We had gone 11 days on our black water tank.  I hesitated dumping cause I wanted to see how long we could go without dumping.  Now I know.  We’ll be okay up until, and through 10 days.  We also hooked up our car late this afternoon so we’d be ready to just pull out tomorrow morning.

We assumed our usual positions in front of the idiot box tonight.  We had some regular shows on tonight but it seems that some shows are coming to the end of their season.  We’ll be getting home just in time to see the regular season end.  I finished out the night by watching some taped shows because they come on an hour later now since we changed time.  By tomorrow we’ll be changing time again into Central Standard Time.  That’ll be our last time change since we’re on CST at home.  We were up until 10:30 tonight before we finally turned out the lights.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

We were up this morning but not in much of a hurry as we got ourselves together and left for Amarillo, TX.

Our first stop was at the Flying J gas station on the west side of Albuquerque.  We checked gas prices all the way to Amarillo and they were just about the same all the way.  We also found a Denny's Restaurant at the same time so we decided to stop and have a substantial Breakfast to set us up for the day.

After Breakfast we got back on the road and Sharon checked our gas mileage and we got pleasantly surprised with a 13+ miles per gallon figure.  That was almost double what we were getting with our Itasca.  We had left Casa Grande and drove up into the mountains by going through the Salt River Canyon on our way to Show Low, Arizona.  We expected the gas mileage to be mediocre since we were in the mountains most of the time on that segment of our trip.  If our next fill shows the same results this could turn out to be a fantastic savings.

As we got out of the mountains, and back on flat smooth highway, Sharon drove for the first time today.  She took the wheel in New Mexico and finished up our trip today into our campground at Amarillo.  We would be staying for the next few days at Cadillac  RV Resort just west of the city of Amarillo.  Needless to say it’s in the immediate vicinity of Cadillac Ranch.

We arrived about 4 PM and the office was empty.  So we just drove around and found ourselves a site and settled in.

We were in the mood for Hot Dogs for Supper tonight.  We hadn’t had them for   quite a while this year. Besides neither of us was very hungry since we had a very good Breakfast this morning when we left Albuquerque.

After Supper we settled into our chairs for the nights entertainment.  Unfortunately every show of our favorites except one was a rerun.  We have one show on tape that we know should be original programming.  We did however, last until 11 tonight before we finally retired to bed.  Programming is now coming on an hour later because of our time change.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

We ate a mini-Breakfast at home this morning and then hit the road to go shopping into Amarillo for a few things.  Sharon had groceries to find and I had a particular T-Shirt that I wanted.

We took a ride past the Cadillac Ranch on our way to the gas station where we filled up the car.  We drove down old route 66 looking for a souvenir shop which we never found.  We then drove down and across I-40 looking for a Supercenter and managed to find a Wal-Mart Market.  We were looking for groceries so we picked them up there.

By this time we had been on the road for a couple of hours and were getting hungry.  We were in the immediate vicinity of the China Star Restaurant so we stopped there for a bite to eat.  We’ve been to the China Star on several occasions in the past, and thoroughly enjoyed their food.  We, of course, had more than a bite to eat while we were there.  We actually had several bites to eat.

We got back home and the Chinese food went directly to our eyes.  We both sat down and took a little nap.  After waking up we got a phone call from Phil and Joyce Bach, friends from California.  He wanted to check on our light situation that we had in Quartzsite and to also give us a new report on our former homepark, Catalina Spa & RV Resort.  It seems he managed to speak to the manager finally.  It didn’t matter because he never got any new information that we didn’t already know.  He just reiterated the rhetoric that we’ve already been hearing over the past 3 months.  And basically nobody knows what they’re going to charge the members of the park next year to stay their two weeks.  Everybody associated with the park has been very close-mouthed about the situation.  And that’s the reason we refused to pay our dues for next year.  Besides now we’ve found two parks that will be cheaper than Catalina. 1 in Desert Hot Springs and another in Casa Grande, AZ.

After Sharon got up we settled in front of the TV for the night.  All of the shows on tonight were reruns.  At least the shows we like to watch were reruns.  We both stayed up late tonight but I folded up my paraphernalia before Sharon did.  She was still “stitching” as I left for greener pastures.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

We were up this morning and ate Breakfast at home before we took off with the car to find a t-Shirt.  I swear we hit every store in town to find this t-shirt.  It was the one with “Amarillo” on the front and the two l’s are cowboy boots.  We went from Wal-Mart to the Big Texan restaurant, back to Cracker Barrel, calling Target and Dillard’s on the way, stopped at a Shell Station up on the corner from Cracker Barrel.  Our last stop was downtown on Third Street to the Visitor’s Center which we couldn’t find even though we had the address.  We even called the visitor’s center out by the airport to no avail.  So at that point we just gave up and went home.

As soon as we got home Sharon took off with the laundry and I got about dumping our holding tanks so we’d be ready to leave tomorrow morning.  Actually I only dumped the grey water since I had dumped in Albuquerque.

We had Rigatoni and Meatballs for Supper tonight with a little Garlic Bread and Vino to wash it down.  It was very good indeed and we walked away from the table feeling Italian.

We assumed our positions for the night of entertainment even though it seemed like the shows were going to be reruns.  Actually only about half of them were reruns.  But we hung in there until closing time and then shut off the lights and turned off the TV.  We had had a long day today for sure.

Friday, April 14, 2017

We were off this morning having done everything to get on the road early.  However, we didn’t make it until about 9:30.  I guess it just doesn’t matter anymore if we get on the road “early.”  Practically speaking, it means we arrive an hour earlier.  Where are we going in such a hurry?

We managed to get gas in Oklahoma City at a Flying J which wasn’t the cheapest gas in town.  We like to find the cheapest since when we do fill up it takes 60-70 gallons.  And at a nickel a gallon it adds up quite nicely.  Better the nickel is in our pocket than theirs.  Sharon figure our gas mileage again and it was 8.1 and a far cry from the 13 she figured the other day.

We stopped at a Rest Area for lunch today and that was the only other stop we made.  Sharon made sandwiches for us today saving us the cost of eating out.

We arrived at our campground about 4 o’clock this afternoon.  It is the Bar H Bar in Seminole, Oklahoma.  We’ve been here before and in fact we stopped here on our way out to California this year.  It’s a perfect stop for us since it’s about halfway from Branson to Amarillo.  And there’s a nice little restaurant that’s called the Roadhouse Diner in my walking distance.  For a campground, there’s really nothing here except the sites which all have EWS and concrete pads to park on. And the price of $21.15 is a bargain when you think of the cost of most campgrounds.

We settled in and decided that we could have leftover Rigatoni for Supper tonight.  By the time we got done eating we had one serving leftover for a lunch probably.  The Rigatoni were still very good indeed.

The weather was so nice tonight that we sat around watching TV with all the windows and the door open.  It was one of the first nights the furnace never ran at all.  We were up until 11 before we finally called it a night and went to bed.

Saturday, April 15, 2017

It looked like another bright sunshiny day today.

We were up and ready to go and we decided to go next door to the Roadhouse Diner and have Breakfast.  We had eaten here before and remembered that the food was good and the service very friendly.  And we weren’t disappointed again today.  We had a great Breakfast and 15 minutes later we were on the road and headed to Branson.

We didn’t make any other stops today and just drove for the day.  The weather was nice and there was only occasional wind.  Wind seems to be the norm everywhere this winter.

We arrived at Treasure Lake RV about 2:30 coming in the back way on Hwy 165.  I didn’t remember it being so narrow and winding.  With the motorhome it was a regular nightmare.  I don’t ever want to come in or go out that way again.  I told Sharon to remind me but I don’t think I’ll soon forget that experience.

When we arrived at Treasure Lake there were people waiting in the parking lot to get in and when we got to our site the park was fuller than we’ve ever seen it.  One portion of the park was closed, but the rest of the place was crowded to the max.  We settled into our site and got all hooked up and found we couldn’t receive a satellite signal. So we pulled up our jacks up and pulled forward about 5 feet which solved the problem.  I guess having a smaller coach doesn’t always mean everything’s going to be easier.

We snacked all afternoon on the way over here so we really weren’t hungry for Supper.  We just kept right on snacking except with more serious food.  Sharon put out a spread of snacks.  We also had a couple of beers to wash it all down.

We settled in for our usual entertainment for the night.  We stayed up until 11 watching Lockup on MSNBC.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

We woke up this morning to rain and plenty of it.  Sharon got herself ready and was off to the church that she help build.  Every Sunday that we’re her in Branson she donates to the church fund.

I was up and headed to the TV for my Sunday shows.  That was pretty much unsuccessful since the rain was still falling on our Dome and I was experiencing rain fade.  Actually the rain was falling on our Dome and everywhere else.  By the time Sharon left for church the bulk of the rain had fallen, but it was still coming down pretty well.

While she was gone I cooked up a nice Breakfast for myself.  It consisted of Bacon, Eggs, Hash Browns, Toast and coffee and juice.  It’s been a while since I went all out for a Breakfast like that.  The last few times I just had Pancakes and Sausage and it was very good also.  It takes about two hours since I have to clean up the dishes afterwards.

After she left I started working on the new logo for the Newsletter.  It seemed like it took me forever to get it done.  I was still working on it when she came home from church.

She made herself a sandwich and sat down to a quick lunch before taking off to the Craft Store just down the street.  She was back in about an hour and by that time I was just finishing up the logo.

We watched TV for awhile this afternoon and then Sharon got up and cooked our Supper.  We were having Fried Chicken Breasts with Butternut Squash, Corn and Crescent Rolls.  And then for dessert we had Crescent Rolls rolled up with Apple Slices baked inside, and a liquid mixture of Sugar and Cinnamon poured over the top.  It was quite yummy indeed.

After Dinner we had a ton of dishes to do before we could sit down and watch the TV for the night.  Although we certainly had enough to watch and we even had enough to tape a show that we can watch tomorrow.  We were chomping at the bit to head south at 11 tonight.  It had been a long day for both of us.