On the lighter side . . .

I've been rushing through these blogs due to low internet signals.  (That's what I'm calling it.)  It's hard to get on sometimes or it's really, really sloooooowwwwww.  And, my blogs have been way too serious, educational, and possibly even boring.

I thought I'd share some thoughts with you . . .

I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don't have any clean laundry because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?

Whenever I start getting sad about where I am in my life, I think about the last words of my favorite uncle:  "A truck!"

When I woke up this morning, Mike asked me, "Did you sleep good?"  I said, "No, I made a few mistakes."

When I die, I want my last words to be, "I left a million dollars under the . .. "

Life is too short to be serious all the time, so if you can't laugh at yourself, call me, I'll laugh at you.

I will be posting telepathically today, so if you think of something funny, it was me. 

Okay, enough.  I feel better, anyway. 

Needles, California

We were on the road by 8:15 this morning heading to California.  Our final destination in California will be Anaheim where Mike's last surviving uncle lives.  We will be there tomorrow.  We are only staying in Needles for one night at the Desert View RV Park.  It's a very pretty park off Route 66. 

Again, before we arrived in California, the scenery changed drastically.  We were in the Mojave Desert and it looked hot and dry.  When we left this morning, the temperature all day was to be in the 60's and it was raining.  As soon as we arrived in California, I had to change from jeans to shorts.  It's blistering hot here--in the mid 90's. 

Each rv site is separated by a row of flowering shrubs providing each camp site privacy from the ones on either side. 

I believe we will get out and explore for a while.  So ta-ta for now.

Flagstaff, Arizona

I can take pictures all day of these mountains in New Mexico but they don't do it justice.  So I quit taking pictures.  We would come over a rise and both go "WOW!"  It's breath-taking here.

We began passing what looks like lava flow.  There are volcanoes here but not active.  We keep seeing signs to watch for elk, which is different.  On both sides of I-40 are train tracks.  We have never seen so many trains as we have today--nor as long as these trains.  Each train has way over 100 cars.  As we drove through the Petrified Forest National Park area, it told of an AM station to tune in to hear about the forest.  So I did.  It was all in Indian language, probably Navajo, since we're in Navajo country.

It's strange how just a mile down the road, the scenery can change so drastically.  We've been seeing desert with small shrubs scattered about and lots and lots of mountains--every direction you look.  The closer we got to Flagstaff, we began to see lots of pine trees.  It was beautiful.  Flagstaff has some of the prettiest scenery we've seen. We stayed at Black Bart's RV Park.  It was a very nice park.  It even had a steak house, that was so popular they even had bus loads of people who came in every day. 

We stayed here two days and ran around looking at Indian ruins and mountain volcanoes.

This was a nice view.

Albuquerque, N.M. - Day 2

to Jesse High and Sherry Peacock in September

 

Today we drove to Old Town.  It was soooooooo neat.  You guys would love it.  It was a place where you park your car and get out and walk and walk and walk all through hundreds of shops and art galleries and restaurants. 

 

 

Then we drove up into the Sandia Mountains.  B-E-A-utiful!

 

 

 

Then we drove down a large part of Route 66.  Again, so neat.  So many little motor inns and shops and restaurants.  We drove through downtown Albuquerque which was very pretty. 

 

So today, we saw and experienced a lot of Albuquerque.  We need to return next year for their annual international balloon fiesta.  It's next week and we'll be gone by then.  It's the biggest thing happening in Albuquerque and the main thing that makes them famous.  There will be over 600 hot air balloons. 

 

Tonight, we pack up and tomorrow we head out to parts unknown. 

 

 

 

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Riding across New Mexico is beautiful.  Sometimes it's so flat you can see for miles.  Then you pass mountains with huge boulders all over.  The only vegetation, other then tall grasses, were some kind of evergreen shrubs.

The overpasses were beautiful.  They were etched with Indian symbols and birds. 

 

This was one of the overpasses.  It was very pretty in person.

Some of the beautiful scenery.

I truly believe the majority of the traffic on I-40 here are the big rigs.  I see a lot of RV's too.  We see more shorter class A motorhomes (like ours) then the huge diesel pushers and a lot of them aren't towing a car.  So I don't know what they do when they stop somewhere unless they don't get out and explore like we do.

Tonight we're staying at the Enchanted Trails RV Park in Albuquerque.  Did you know that New Mexico's nickname is "Land of Enchantment"?  Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico. 

We are right in the middle of the state.  We'll be here for two nights, then head towards Los Angeles, California.  So for now . . . HAPPY

 

 

Tucumcari, New Mexico

We went to the "Fired Up" Festival last night.  It was a local event.  They had a car show and a small pageant crowning a Prince Tucum and a Princess Cari.  They looked to be about 4 years old.  We toured a train museum which was interesting.  This town is pretty much like the last few we've driven through.  There's not a whole lot open along large portions of the old Route 66 but there is lots of potential.  If I had billions of dollars, I would be tempted to fix these old buildings up.  There really are some neat buildings along the way.  They look like the 50's and 60's.  This town actually does have several old motor inns up and running.  They're so pretty.

We met a group of people from Hungary, England and Australia travelling together on Harleys.  They had begun Route 66 in Chicago and driving to the end.  What fun that would be!  Maybe Mike and I can do that some day--in the motorhome, though.  Lots of the road is pretty rough though.  It jars things around, a lot, even though we have things packed pretty tight for that very reason.  I could pack tighter for a trip such as that, though.  It would be worth it. 

Today, we are driving to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We may hang around there for a few days.  The time here is an hour behind our normal time so I'm a little off schedule.  This morning, I woke up before 5 thinking it was about 6:00.  We got up, made coffee and Mike realized the time. Oh, well.  Since, we're so far west, the sun doesn't rise here until about 7:30. 

Texola, Oklahoma

We stayed at the Double D RV Park in Texola, Oklahoma right off I-40 and right next to the old Route 66 for two nights.  The park was very small and the town of Texola is just a ghost of a town.  We took a day to drive up Route 66 to some of the closest towns.  They were full of museums but not much else.  It's sad what we have lost in the name of progress.  With the building of I-40, a lot of these old towns along Route 66 have dried up and blown away.  A lot of the buildings in Texola were just shells of their former selves.  There was one restaurant that claimed to be "Watering Hole #2" close to us.  We didn't check it out though.  However, we did drive to the town of Erick.  This place was interesting. 

 

We went to visit Harley's Curio Shop.  This guy has turned hoarding into a money making business.  He wasn't selling anything, he just took all of us through his "castle" and this shop.  He was dressed in red and white overalls.  He even sang a couple songs for us.  He actually wasn't a bad singer but he was crazy. 

 

We also visited a museum of Erick's history while we were there.  The museum was very nice and informative.  Then we drove to the next town over called Sayre and had linner and drove back to the rv park.  By this time, we were the only rv in the park except for one that lives there.

 

This is Harley and his late wife I copied off the internet.  (I took a short video of him singing to us but it wouldn't download to my computer.  ARGH!)

 

Tonight, we are at the Cactus RV Park in Tucumcari, New Mexico.  We drove across Texas today.  It was a pretty drive.  Tonight, we may go into town for an annual event called "Fired Up".  Will let you know how that goes. 

 

 

 

Driving across Oklahoma

This was an interesting trip.  All across the state were signs every so often about leaving one Indian tribe nation and entering another Indian tribe nation.  Most of the city and town names sounded like Indian names.  There are about 39 different Indian tribes in Oklahoma today. 

This is Skydance Bridge which we drove under in Oklahoma City.  Oklahoma City is beautiful.  The interstate system is even beautiful.  Mike and I may have to return here sometime and explore a little more.  Today, we just drove through. 

 

Tonight we are in Texola, Oklahoma--one mile from the Texas border.  We literally are out in the middle of nowhere.  This is a small RV park called Double D RV Park.  It's small but nice.  There are only around 20 sites.  The people who own the place were gone but there was a sign at our site with our name on it and we just put our money in an envelop and put it in a slot.  Kind of an honor system here.  The site is a pull-through and plenty of room. 

 

There was a lot of wind today driving here.  Once we got here and were setting up, I noticed that there were no bugs flitting around.  Maybe because of the wind?  I don't know. 

These wind turbines were everywhere you looked along I-40.  I was reading about them and it said one Turbine produced about 1.5 megawatt of electricity.  This was enough to provide electricity for 330 houses for a year.  However, they're only as good as the wind is blowing.  No wind, no electricity.  Today was very windy.  The motorhome felt like it was going to lift off the ground. Mike did a great job of keeping it between the lines.  He's a great driver.

That's all for tonight, so . . .

 

Checotah, Oklahoma

Tonight, we are staying in Onapa Campground and RV Park in Checotah, Oklahoma.  This is a small park with about 26 sites.  We have a pull-through site which is very nice.  We were told to come in, get set up and they would come by later to check us in.  That's what we did.

Then we drove into Eufaula (a town down the road) and stopped at a small restaurant for dinner.
The restaurant was called, "I Smell Bacon."

 

They serve breakfast all day.  If you are ever in Eufaula, give this place a try.  The food was great and the service was also.  While we were there, a car pulled up out front with a handicapped man and two people from the kitchen, ran out to help the guy into the restaurant.  The owners of the RV camp said in the mornings for breakfast, it's packed.  Must have the best breakfasts ever!  We didn't happen to eat breakfast for dinner.  Mike had pork chops and I had hamburger steak.  We were pleased with our dinners.

 

The gas station next door to them was called, "I smell gas."  Hilarious!  The town of Eufaula is a very nice town with lots of little shops and restaurants.  It sets next to Eufaula Lake which is a reservoir  located on the Canadian River.  It's the largest lake in the state. 

 

 

We are here.  Tomorrow, we will be at the Oklahoma/Texas border.  We'll be staying in a town called Erick, Oklahoma.  Check ya later.

 

 

 



North Little Rock - Page 2

Tonight we went outside and took pictures of the walking bridge. It was beautiful.

This is what we walked across a few times this morning.  At night it lights up and changes colors. 

We are staying on the river but our motorhome is not actually next to the water.  This is a really great rv park.  We have enjoyed staying here and walking through downtown North Little Rock. 

Today, we drove over to Jacksonville to hopefully, tour the Little Rock Air Force Base but because of terrorists, no tours are allowed.  But I did see where Mike was stationed and where he lived while in the military.  Pretty cool! 

Anyway, I just had to share these lights.  They're pretty neat to see in person.

Night Night

North Little Rock, Arkansas

We are staying at the Downtown Riverside RV Park.  It's a very nice place.  We have a foot bridge right next to the park (which we walked this morning) that goes across the river and winds up at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. 

We took a nature trail close by.  The water was full of turtles and alligator gar fish.

This is the largest bat house in Arkansas.

 

 

Part of our walk taken from the river walkway bridge.  North Little Rock is a beautiful city.  We drove all through it.  Also, if ever in this area, stop at David's Burgers.  Wonderful experience and a great burger.

We will be here until Wednesday when we drive to Oklahoma. 

 

 

 

First Day of our New Lifestyle

This is the first day of our new life living on the road.  We packed up everything that we absolutely thought we couldn't live without and said "adios Viejo amigo" to our home and farm.  We thank the Lord for allowing us to live and work there for all these years.  It's been most excellent!  After working our entire lives, we are able to retire comfortably and live a different kind of lifestyle--and by "different kind of lifestyle" I mean owning nothing more than a motorhome and a jeep!  Yeah, you thought I was going to be all "uppity" didn't you.  No, my friends, as Mike and I try to tell our family, stuff is way over rated.  When you die, what's going to happen to all that stuff you have accumulated?  That's right, your kids are going to have an estate sale and get rid of it all.  They don't want that stuff!

So we sold everything we own except for the motorhome and the jeep.  We have most generously donated to Portland Cares over the past couple months.  (All those "church clothes"--gone! )  We don't dress up anymore.  We wear shorts and jeans--mostly shorts--and tennis shoes and flip flops.  That's our wardrobe.  It's cheaper to dress that way too.  We aren't cheapskates but we don't waste money on unnecessary things, either.  We cut out unnecessary expenses in order to live as we do.  WE LOVE OUR LIFE!  We're happy!  We're living our dream and we're having a ball doing it.  We laugh a lot.  We don't have to get in a hurry, ever.  We can take our time and stay as long as we want wherever we want.  For instance, today we left the house (for the last time) at 9:30 this morning.  By 2:00 PM we were finally on the other side of Charlotte Pike in Nashville.  For real!  There was a bad wreck that totally shut down the interstate for hours.  We sat there for over 3 hours then had to be detoured off and around.  I feel for the people in the wreck. 

It was around 8:00 PM by the time we arrived at our first rv park.  We are all set up and showered and kicked back in our recliners.  The name of this park is Tom Sawyer RV Park.  We are in West Memphis, Arkansas.  This is a very nice park with 100 rv slots.  We had a pull through which makes it easy to park.  We are not on the water but we're only here overnight.  This place is full!

Tomorrow, we will be going to Little Rock, Arkansas where Mike was stationed while in the Air Force.  We will be there a few days.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Our Last day and night in our home

Well, we did it!  We put our farm on the market and we have a buyer.  One thing I love is that a local farmer bought it.  This is a great farm and I'm glad someone will continue to grow crops on it.  That was a blessing from God.  Another blessing was, we can take our clothes and walk away.  They wanted everything in the house and on the farm!  YAY!  We don't have to have an estate sale or auction.  We can get in our motorhome and drive away.  God has blessed us in so many ways this week and yesterday was one blessing after the other. 

We are tired!  We have worked so hard to clean out our personal stuff (tax records, files, clothes, etc.) and giving our kids all the family pictures.  Man,  we accumulate so so much over the years.  We have learned that "stuff" is over rated.  Who needs all that stuff!  Do you know what's gonna happen to it when you die?  Yeah, that's right.  Your kids are going to throw it away.  They're going to have an estate sale or auction and sell it all.  Less is best.  That's our motto, now. 

Today, we will empty the house of our most personal belongings and leave it for the last time.  Our home from now on really will be wherever we park it.  We will take our time heading west to California to visit Mike's uncle.  Then we will head south to El Paso, Texas to visit our daughter and grandsons before going to Florida for the winter.  We are on no time schedule.  We will get wherever, whenever.  We are taking our time and taking the time to "smell the roses" or see that "largest ball of twine".  We will own our motorhome and a jeep.  That's all.  One of these days in the future, we may decide to settle back down and at that time, we will buy a permanent dwelling but for now, we are gypsies. 

We are so excited and I hope all of you will be excited for us.  This is why we worked so hard all those years.  Now we are retirement age and we can live our dream life for as long as God will allow. 

We want to thank our kids for telling us to "go for it".  We will!