Back in Missouri!

We are in Long Lane Missouri visiting our friends Bill & Ginny Nasse!  Ted used to live in the same apartment building with them back in San Diego in the mid 70's.  We are parked in their front yard and are not plugged in but will update the blog when we run the generator. 

Believe it or not we are having truck problems AGAIN!  We have an appointment for tomorrow so hopefully we will get everything fixed again and hopefully it will still be covered under warranty!  At 98,000 miles we don't have much warranty left!

We managed to by-pass all of the tornados and it's just a bit cloudy here.  We are going to try and not get stuck in the mud again like we did last October!  It looks like we might get more rain and it's a bit chilly here!  We had a nice fire in the fireplace last night!

In the shadow of Branson, Missouri...Ain't Life Grand!"

Clinton, Arkansas

Yep, we are camped just east of Clinton, Arkansas, which is not the home town of Bill Clinton!  But we are in an interesting campground and I thought we should share.

This morning there was a lull in the storm about 9:30 so we got the heck out of the campground and stopped by the Flying J so I could have sweet cream pancakes (yum)! We drove west through some pretty hard rain without any problem. We were listening to the radio for weather and the county we had been camped in actually had a tornado warning.   Mississippi sure got hit by them.  We are still on the fringe of a storm warning for tomorrow but should be safe from any real bad weather.

Safe from tornados..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Scary thunder & lightning!

Before I get to the thunder and lightning, must tell you that we continued having a fun visit with Dottie and Linda.  On Wednesday they took us to Knoxville's Market House.  We went through a few interesting shops and of course stopped for coffee and chocolate (oh my)!  We also went to the Mast General Store.  A cool shop with clothing, shoes, hiking gear, kitchen stuff, candy and more! 

From there Dottie took us to Chandler's for "soul food"!  They have all the fried southern foods such as chicken, okra and fried green tomatoes!  They had yummy marshamallow sweet potatoes!  Everything was so good for us (NOT) but very yummy!

On Thursday Dottie came out to the campground for dinner and to meet Maxie (as she calls him)!  He really enjoyed the attention (and special treats Dottie would sneak to him)!

Yesterday we left Knoxville and made it back to West Memphis, Arkansas about 400 miles.  We got an hour back so it didn't really seem like a long day.  We are parked right on the Mississippi and as I mentioned thunder and lightning, we had a front row seat to the biggest, loudest storm either of us have ever seen!  There was thunder, lightning and hard rain.  We got up at 1:30 a.m. to watch because it was so loud and bright and "Maxie" gets very nervous!   When we first got up this morning at 6:30 it was cloudy but a short time later the "show" began again!  Not sure if we are going to get out of here today or not!  We turned on the weather channel and there is a tornado warning close by.  When we first got here it was only a watch!

No tornadoes yet..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Propane Problem!

On Monday we called the RV mobile repair people to come out to the park to find out why our propane wasn't getting through to the furnace or stove.  They came out and thought there might be air in the line (after four years we never had so much air that the furnace wouldn't work or the stove would barely have a flame but they are the experts).  They also thought the regulator might have gone bad.  So Ted had the tanks filled and had them purge the air out of the tanks.  Didn't work.  We took off to Camping World for a new regulator, Ted installed.  No change!  We called them back and they came out and finally found a bolt on the coupler cracked on the gas line and propane was seeping out, fortunately on the outside of the coach!  So they got it fixed and we are cooking with gas again!

Today we drove out to the Great Smoky Mountains.  We passed through historic Sevierville and the very touristy town of Pigeon Forge.  OMG it's very eccentric!  They have the funniest looking souvenier places, arcades, small little theaters.  They have Wonderworks which is a huge upside down building.  Bungee jumping places, wild west stores, three hugh Christmas shops, the Titanic and much more!  We also drove through the mountain town of Gatlinburg.  We were reminded of being in Estees Park, Colorado.  The road follows the river and the town shops are jam packed together, but unfortunately with no parking!  As it was raining, we elected to not walk around the shops.  Gives us one more thing to come back for!

When got to the mountains it was raining and about 54 degrees.  As we drove up through the mountains the temperature got down to 41 degrees and still raining but fog was added to the equation.  It is really pretty. 

We went back to Pigeon Forge to warm up and got some barbeque.   It was delicious!

The Great Smoky Mountains..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Gardens, Gardens, Gardens!

Yesterday Dottie and Linda drove Ted and I around Knoxville.  We spent a little time on the Dogwood Trail looking at beautiful old and new homes with gorgeous spring flowers particularly the Dogwoods. 

Then they took us to the huge Baxter home to see their gardens.  They open up the gardens during the Dogwood Arts Festival and allow people to roam them.  They have six different garden areas with water features and ponds that can be viewed.  They also have a maze and gazebos!  It is really pretty.

From there we took a Starbucks coffee break (only to allow our eyes to rest from all the beauty of course)!  We then drove over to the University of Tennesse where they have a horticulture program.  Their flower show isn't for a few weeks so it was not really ready for viewing but we still found some beautiful flowers!

Beautiful gardens..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Great visit with Dottie!

Yesterday afternoon we went to Dottie's home and visited.  It is really great to see her.  She took us on a ride for a bit of lunch and through an area of homes with beautiful spring flowers, including those beautiful Dogwoods!  Spring is really bursting!

She also took us to a HUGE used bookstore.  Being Saturday it was jam packed so we decided to go back again during the week.  It's an amazing place!

Dottie also made a wonderful dinner for us.  Like a dope, I took a picture of the beautiful "bird" but forgot to take any pictures of the guests!  Ted said I was enjoying myself too much!  In attendance were Linda Murphey (Su-Hi class of 64') and Robyn Peterson (Su-Hi class of 64') and her husband Steve.  We had a wonderful dinner and great conversation.

A great time was had by all..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Made it to Knoxville, TN

Yesterday we took a ride along the Natchez Trace Parkway.  The Parkway parallels the Old Trace Trail.  Originally the trail was probably a series of hunters' paths.  It was used by the Natchez, Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians following traditional ways of life.  The French and Spanish people began venturing into a world new to them and of people building a new nation.  By 1733 the French knew the land well enough to map it.  By 1785 Ohio River Valley farms began floating their crops and products down the rivers to Natchez or New Orleans.  By 1810 many years of improvements had made the trace an important wildrness road.  There is a lot of history on the Old Trace Trail.

I believe the trail is 444 miles long.  We only drove about 30 miles on the parkway on this trip.  We did see where Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark) died at milepost 385.9 in 1809 near the Grinder Stand (the cabin shown in the picture below where Ted is standing).  The picture in the bottom right corner is a memorial to Lewis.  The river is the Buffalo River and there was an ironworks nearby.  It is also the area where travelers crossed the river.

We  were really not alone in the campground!  It is one of our Thousand Trail Membership campgrounds and 840 acres.  Really big.

We made it to Knoxville late this afternoon and are looking forward to seeing Dottie tomorrow.

Visiting eastern friends..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Natchez Trace, Tennessee

We are now in Natchez Trace in a campground on Chief Creek Lake about 1/2 mile from the Natchez Trace Parkway.   We left Lake Conroe on Monday morning and arrived in Texarkana Monday afternoon.  We stayed at a little campground that had a pretty little pond.  When I walked Max in the morning it was in the 50's and the pond was steaming!  It was really pretty.

We left Texarkana on Tuesday morning and arrived in West Memphis Arkansas Tuesday afternoon.  Going through West Memphis we weren't sure what kind of campground we were going to find but it was highly rated in our Trailer Life Directory.  It was called Tom Sawyer RV Park and it was right on the Mississippi River.  We could see Memphis, Tennessee right across from us.  It was a great campground and we enjoyed sitting out by the river having a glass of wine!   The little bird had a nest on the ground right next to our campsite and she had the most beautiful eggs!  She kept her eye on us and I really didn't let Max anywhere near her!  She did let us get a picture of her and her eggs.

We left yesterday morning for Natchez Trace and here we are! We leave here tomorrow to head to Knoxville to visit our friend Dottie Stamper (Su-Hi Class of 64) and the Great Smokey Mountains!

Seeing new places..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Last night in Texas for awhile!

On Sunday we visited my stepsister, Carol and her Mom, her Granddaughter and husband, Bill.  We had a good visit followed by a good pizza!  It was nice visiting with them.

This morning we left Lake Conroe and are in Texarkana, Texas tonight.  We took the back roads and saw lots of wildflowers!  I took pictures but they are a lot prettier in person!  Tomorrow we will actually be out of Texas!  We were in eight different campgrounds...man this is a huge state!

Texas wildflowers..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Lake Conroe Texas

We finally made it to Lake Conroe Friday afternoon.  We got the RV set up and took off to visit my Stepbrother Ron, his girlfriend Melinda and my Stepsister Carol.  They took us out to dinner and had some delicious Texas barbeque (complete with leftovers)!

Today we were going to Old Spring to the Crawfish festival but alas, it up and rained!  It finally cleared up late afternoon in time for a barbeque at Ron's house.  He and Melinda had a feast for us and Melinda wouldn't let anyone do anything so we sat around and ate delicious wings, hamburgers and hotdogs (much better than Crawfish)!  Carol lives next door so she came over along with Ron's Mom, her friend and Ron's kids.  It turned out to be a nice afternoon! 

Visiting with family..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Stopping Power!

Wednesday morning we got up very early and got the RV ready for travel to the RV Repair place!  They get started on the brakes and find they need another part! Arrrrgh!  Of course it had to be ordered because it's something that ususally doesn't have a problem and of course we had to pay a fortune for overnight delivery!  They have a campground at the RV place so we spent the night there and at 10:00 a.m. when the part was due to arrive, we got in line to get the repair done.  But of course we were scheduled for Thursday at the last minute and they were already booked up so they finished us at 5:00 p.m. (closing time).  Funny how that works out. 

We decided to start out to Lake Conroe since it stays daylight until around 8:00.  We made it to Bastrop, Texas, east of Austin about 20 miles.  We hurried to get set up thinking we would be able to watch Survivor (they have cable here) and of course it was over, it was at 7:00 p.m!  So at 10:00 (8:00 San Diego time) we called Peggy.  She gave us blow by blow so we could keep up with what was going on.  The hero's are doing so much better now I am very excited!

Time to get ready to leave Bastrop.  We will be spending the weekend at Lake Conroe visiting my Stepdad's family who live in Splendora on the east side of Texas.

Getting the brakes fixed..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Last day in Boerne!

Tomorrow morning we have an appointment at the RV repair shop to get the trailer brake fixed.  From there we are traveling to Conroe Lake to visit my Stepdad's family for a couple of days.  Today we had lunch with Laura Joann and stopped by to see Gloria and her 4 charges (the tots she babysits) before fueling up for tomorrow!

Yesterday I left to go get a pedicure and the running lights were back on!  On the way to John and Gloria's for dinner we stopped by an auto repair shop John recommended.  Since it's working again, they would have to go by trial and error to try to find the problem.  The good news is our RV lights work so we don't have to worry about that and will wait until it fails again to try to find it.  What a pain!  We did have a good dinner with Gloria and John and left with some more of her good banana bread and some more leftovers!  We are all set for awhile!

This morning there were 27 deer outside our window.  I was putting some top soil on my bonsai plant and the little pregnant doe wandered over to see what I was doing!  I wasn't dressed too well so I cropped myself out of the picture (author's perogative)!  There are a ton of deer in Texas!  The wildflowers have just popped the last few days.  They are really pretty!

Max was very interested in my interaction with the deer!

Enjoying the wildlife..."Ain't Life Grand!"

A very happy Easter Day!

Ted and I hope all our friends had a wonderful Easter.  We sure did!  We went over to Cheryl and Dan's house who are John and Gloria's daughter and son-in-law!  As always, we had a feast!  There is always enough food we could probably feed most of Haiti!  The good news is, Ted and I also got left overs since they don't like to eat them.  We will be eating well for quite awhile!

Ted and I got the "grandkids" a little Easter gift so I took their picture.  The kids are a lot of fun.  They have a wii game so we worked off our meal by bowling.  They have a bowling game with a 100 pins!  John won the first game, Ted won the second game (I came in last)!  Then we played a game with obstacles.  Again Ted won but I came in second this time!  Ted and John dueled Jack (who is 5) in a sword fight!  Of course Jack whomped them!  He is really amazing at all the sports games on the wii.  There was lots of whooping and hollering going on while we played.  It was a lot of fun!

Family at Easter..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Happy Easter 2010!

On Friday John and Gloria took us on a drive through the Hill Country of Texas. And since they like to take us to all the nice places, we had to visit "Uptown Luckenbach" and "Downtown Luckenbach".   At uptown Monre operates a mill and a little rock shop.  He has the fastest armadillo around!   He etches a picture of one on a beer bottle in about 10 seconds flat!  He has quite a yard of stuff! 

From there we went over to Fredericksburg and visited the Wildseed.  John wanted to see if they had a Passion Plant.  It was a very cute place.  They have garden stuff, a ladies boutique, some food, wine tasting and food stuffs to buy.   Then we had lunch at the Biergarten.  John and I tried the Schnitzil and it was good!

From there we headed back down to " Downtown Luckenbach Texas" the place Willie and Waylon Jennings wrote about in his song!  Downtown is a very interesting place with a  Population of 3!   A friend, Bob Zajonc, asked if that was the "bartender, the cook and the drunk"!  Yes, with a lot of folk visiting (and some of them drunk I'm sure)!  Several people brought their guitars and were serenading the crowd.  It's an interesting place started by Albert Luckenbach in 1849 as a trading post.  Since it's a real town with a real post office, they put in one parking meter some time ago which was stolen last month.  It has been replaced with a double headed meter.  They say "a large cement shoe and a steal dead man" will keep this one in town for a long time to come!

 
On Saturday John, once again, took us to a place you want to visit in the daylight only, Chris Madrid's whose famous for hamburgers!  I had a cheeseburger that had cheddar cheese melted all the way down my elbows!  It was really good.  The nachos were flat corn tortillas on the plate with smashed beans and cheese and they were really good too!

We decided we needed a walk after that big lunch so we headed further into San Antonio to the Pioneer Flour Mill to walk around the house and gardens. Those of you who read the blog regularly, know I LOVE SWEET CREAM PANCAKES!   C.H. Guenther and Sons has been in business since 1859.  They were originally in Fredericksburg then moved to San Antonio.  The mill is right on the river and they built their home there also on the river.  The historic house has been restored and holds their restaurant and store.  They have a very small museum there and they kept the parlor intact.  There is a room on the top floor that was having a private party so we don't know what was up there.  We bought some sweetcream pancake batter which is only sold there or on-line, but they do sell some other items like their biscuit batter is in Walmart and HEB here in Boerne Texas.   You can find their website under www.guentherhouse.com/Main.aspx  if you are interested.  It's a pretty home and you can sit in the garden and have dessert or they have breakfast and lunch on the patio of the restaurant which is next to the San Antonio River.

We got back to John and Gloria's so they could both beat us at Phase 10, a card game WE taught THEM last time we were here!

On the way home I had another adventure; I got pulled over by a Boerne Sheriff!  Our running lights were out again so he gave me a warning that we need to get it fixed.  We had brake and turn lights at least.  This is the problem that one Ford place wanted to charge us a bundle for.  We are going to have to get this problem fixed too!

Great adventures..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back in Boerne!

We got back to Boerne Wednesday afternoon, I selected us a nice spot in the trees.  Our site came complete with deer!  But I forgot one thing, do we have a clear spot for the sattelite????  Nope!  Darn and there are a couple of shows I hate to miss.  Ted is going to try again tomorrow to see if he can hone in through the tree branches!

Wednesday afternoon I found a nail lady.  Boy did I need my nails done.  Yesterday I got my hair cut and color done - yippee!  All's right with the world again!

We had lunch with our friend Laura Joann yesterday.  She is doing well and a very busy lady.  Still working on buildng her home, going to school and working.  Then we went over to Ted's cousin Gloria and her husband John and had a great dinner (and I talked her into the left overs because her freezer is full) and enjoyable conversation.

Ted needs the computer and I need to get ready for today's adventure...more later!

As I've said before, visiting friends and family..."Ain't Life Grand!"