Viva Las Vegas Baby!

On Sunday morning the 17th, we left Boerne around 8:15.  Since we got out early, we made it all the way to Van Horn, Texas.  We got set up and had dinner at the KOA Kafe!  The next morning we decided to have breakfast at the Kafe and then got on the road about 9:15.  We had just gotten on the freeway, not even up to full speed when we heard a loud thud or pop!  Ted pulled off at the first off ramp and we got out and walked around thinking a tire had blown.  No sign of a bad tire or anything.  We got back in and Ted looked down and all the instruments were going crazy.  He first noticed that the gas tank (which was a full 100 gal) showed empty, thinking but there was no gas on the tow car or anywhere.  Then noticed all gauges were crazy.  Pulled back over and made some calls.  We talked to Cummins (who makes the engine) and then they determined we should talk to Freightliner.  They all decided we were okay to drive and took off for El Paso a two-hour drive.

We got there and of course now they were busy.  We sat in the RV for awhile and then Ted had them do an alignment to make sure that as okay.  At 5:00 they told us to go to the campground and come back at 7:00 a.m.  We did that and they finally took us in around 10:30.  He worked on it until 5:00, still had not found which of a bundle of wires was the problem and back to the campground we went.

Finally on Wednesday he found the shorted wire, fixed it and off we went about 11:00.  Everything worked well and we breathed a sigh of relief!

Here's how Sophie spent her time at Freightliner.  She was really a good girl:

We had a reservation in Vegas for Wednesday so I had called and changed it to Thursday.  Another long day but we made it around 4:00.  We set up, showered and were ready for our friends David and Debbie to come by to meet Sophie and see our new motorhome.  Then we were off to dinner.  It was their 43rd wedding anniversary so we celebrated!  It was a fun evening and we enjoyed visiting with them.

On Friday we had lunch at Boulder Station and tried our hand at gambling.  Machines are tied down pretty tight but we had a good lunch.  On Saturday we met one of his former co-workers, Howard who also lives in Vegas, for lunch at the Red Rock Station.  Again leaving a deposit but having a good visit with Howard.  On Sunday David and Debbie invited us out to lunch.  We had a fun, long lunch and then headed back to the campground.

Today we ran errands and our friends Jeri and Stach are on the way over from San Diego to spend Thanksgiving with us.  They are probably arriving at the hotel as I type this!

We had lots of rain Thursday, Friday and some on Saturday.  It's been in the low 40's at night and today was the first day it made it into the 70's.  Much more normal Las Vegas weather.  There is even a little snow on the surrounding mountains!

Chilly nights in the Motorhome!

Sophie and Mom kicked back on the drive to Vegas:

Friends and Vegas..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Posting from Boerne, Tx

“Elvis has left the building”…and so did we…finally! 

My last blog was written on Monday the 28^th of October and to catch up where we left off, that Wednesday we got in to a bay to get the leak fixed that we had in the sewer storage area. 

We picked up our chairs and the bedspread promised when we ordered the RV.  I love the new bed cover (and the cute puppy on it)!

On Thursday the tile guy got in and got the tile re-grouted.  It looked like he had re-grouted the whole floor but as epoxy grout takes a week to cure, we know he probably didn’t do the whole floor and the grout colors appear like they are still going to be different colors.  He did get the places that looked as though there was no grout done so it’s all the same level of grout.  On Friday he came back in and wiped all the gooey stuff off again and we’ve had to do it a couple of more times.

Friday afternoon we had a new satellite dish put on the roof that will get all three satellites.  The one they put on would only seek one satellite and so you could only watch and/or record one channel.  But we could watch TV while driving down the road.  I don’t know about anyone else, but we travel down the road to see the scenery!    We still had some tweaking that will be explained later!

Oh, one other thing that happened on Friday.  We left Sophie out of the crate to go over to the office to pay.  She chewed an ink pen and then stepped in the ink and we had paw prints all over the freshly grouted floor and on two pieces of white leather furniture.  Yes she is still alive and perhaps only because we were able to get every bit of it cleaned up.  She is now crated if we even step out of the door without her!

So Saturday morning we got out of there about 8 a.m. and drove all day to Springfield, Missouri.  Started in Alabama, through Mississippi, into Tennessee, over to Arkansas and over and up into Missouri!  5 states in one day, I think a record for us!

We got to the campground at 5:15, Ted dropped off the car and Sophie and I took off to Petsmart to get her heartworm medicine!  Made it in time…whew!  On Sunday we drove about an hour to Long Lane, Missouri to visit our friends Bill and Ginny Nasse.  We camp out in their yard since they only have 300 acres to choose from!  They have a large wooded wildlife area and I have no idea how many acres for the barn and house.  Sophie loved running free with no leash for those four days!

One morning we went to the Rocking Chair restaurant.  We all knew what that meant...hot, huge, yummy cinnamon rolls and we were ready!  You get at least two meals out of one!

We had some other good meals including going to The Cave again!  It’s about an hour from their house and the restaurant is in a cave.  You have to get there by a shuttle and as you can tell it was a bit chilly waiting for the shuttle!  It is a resort on a river with cabins, the restaurant and bar, a sweet shop and gift shop!

We had a delicious turkey dinner and dessert! The front door and the bar area are not in the cave but the rest of the restaurant is in the cave.  They have special equipment to keep the water from dripping and have a couple of ponds inside to store all the water that would be dripping everywhere.  They had it decorated for Christmas and it was pretty inside.  Pictures didn’t come out so well.  This is a picture of the pond in the back of the cave!

We left there Thursday morning traveling down to Boerne, Texas.  We drove into Oklahoma and I remembered some of our “Traveling Supreme” group talking about a casino they enjoy in Oklahoma.  So I found it on the Internet and imagine that, it was right on our way!  We drove late all day and got there around 6:00 pm.  It is the Winstar Casino.  They have a great campground and charge less than $25 per night if you have a players’ card.  Since we were there the first time, we got our camping for free.

We set up and took off to the casino for dinner and some gambling!  We decided to play a little before eating and our first machine we both put in $5 and got up.  At the second machine we went to we both started winning!  We finally decided we better eat and at the restaurant in the Paris section.  They are divided by cities.  I had a great croissant breakfast sandwich and Ted had a wrap and back to the games! We each walked away with at least twice what we started with.  Everyone I spoke with was doing terrible so I have decided that the first time you use your card, they set you up to win!

On Friday morning we left early and got to Boerne around 4:00 pm.  Ted’s cousin and her husband had gone to a wedding and we were going to see them on Sunday.  On Saturday we drove over to our San Diego friends’ Pam and John to see their new house in San Antonio.  They have a lovely new home and are really happy to be settled down again.

The four of us went to lunch at the Longhorn restaurant and then they came over to see our new motorhome and meet Sophie!  We had a great visit with them and may see them again tomorrow!

On Sunday we were at Cheryl and Dan’s (John and Gloria’s daughter and son-in-law) for lunch and da Bears game!  It was a really close game but unfortunately they lost.  We went over to John and Gloria’s and Sophie loved playing in their back yard.  We were so full from lunch we had dessert for dinner!  Isn’t it great what you can do when you are old!  LOL

It’s been a busy week here in Boerne.  Ted and I both got haircuts (and color for me), Sophie got a bath, we got our satellite dish completely set up in the motorhome, we’ve had lots of great meals with John and Gloria including dinner out at Maggiano’s Italian Restaurant and we’ve gorged ourselves in fabulous desserts made by Gloria!  I swear we’ve gained a bunch of weight while we’ve been here.  We had lunch with a San Diego friend, Laura JoAnn and had a good visit with her. 

John and Gloria at Maggiano's:

Today we went with Gloria to watch her grandson, Jack, take his Taekwondo test.  I think he’s 8 or 9 and he’s a green belt.  He will find out Wednesday if he passed.  It was fun watching and it is an exhausting sport!  There were a few adults and I give them a lot of kudo’s for participating!

Jack and his Mom, Cheryl (John and Gloria's daughter)!

We are leaving in the morning.  It’s been a quick but fun visit here in Boerne!

Sophie, mom and dad:

Fat and sassy…”Ain’t Life Grand!”