Saturday, November 25, 2006

Thanksgiving 2006

We are lucky enough to be able to spend this Thanksgiving at DeGray State Park in Arkanas. This is our first stay here. It is a large park and has plenty of large trees. The fall colors are beautiful and the air is crisp.








How lucky are we to live in such a wonderful place that we can pack up and spend our holidays any where we want?











This is a quite place and there is a lot of places to explore. The friday after Thanksgiving we drove a short distance to Hot Springs.











Hot Springs, Arkansas has a beautiful historic downtown. The Hot Springs National Park include classic hotels, Victorian architecture, art studios, restaurants, nightclubs and famed Bathhouse Row. Hot Springs, AR is also the hometown of our nation's 42nd president, former President Bill Clinton.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Locked Out

We were both so excited to finally get on the road to start the annual Thanksgiving road trip. We spent two days loading the motor home with everything we needed. The most important things, being the pots and pans for preparing our holiday feast. We also need to pack plenty of stretch pants, this trip was all about eating and relaxing. We pulled out of the driveway on Sunday morning heading for Dangerfield State Park, TX. That was our first planned stop before venturing on to Lake DeGray State Park, AR. Lake DeGray is where we planned on spending our Thanksgiving holiday.

We made it to Dangerfield State park and the trees were alive with colors. I spent a lot of time taking pictures of the foliage. The park was quite. For the most part we had the place to ourselves. We walked the trails around the lake. The dogs love Dangerfield in the fall. That is the only time we walk the trails. I am terrified of snakes, copperheads are plenty here in the spring and summer months. The dogs love to explore the area and we get our exercise too. Did I mention that in the fall and winter here it is really dark at night. The trees are so tall and thick that it is so dark at night you can't see a thing without a flashlight. We discovered how dark it can be one night when the dogs decided at ten o'clock they needed a potty break before going to bed. We leashed them up and took them outside. The walk was short, it had gotten really cold and it was extremely dark. Suddenly, we found ourselves in a scary predicament. Somehow the door had locked. We were standing out in the cold with a small flashlight and no keys.


How could this have happened? How could we have just locked ourselves out? We decided to put the dogs in the car while we came up with some sort of a plan. That idea went sour in a hurry, We had locked the car earlier in the day. Dawn held the dogs while I got the ladder out of the basement compartment and checked all the windows. I felt sure that the windows would be locked. I have always been good about securing the windows at home. There were ten windows on this motor home and I checked them all. They were locked alright! It was getting colder outside and the dogs wanted back in. They were cold and it was dark. After a few minutes of discussion, we decided that I would break a window latch and crawl through to open the door. I was afraid I break the window trying to get the latch to break free. Everyone knows that everything to do with a motor home is expensive! Motor homes don't have very large openings in the windows and they are not close to the ground either. We decided I would try to break open the kitchen window latch. I pulled on the window one last time and low and behold it opened! Once it was opened I realized I would not be able to fit through it. I am not anywhere near skinny, and skinny is all that would fit through that window. We could see the keys to the motor home and the car hanging on the hook by the door. The problem was that the window I was able to get opened was a good five feet from the door. We took a moment and put our heads together and came up with a plan. I dug around in the basement compartment and found a coat hanger, walking stick and a roll of electrical tape. I straightened the hanger and taped it to the end of the walking stick. Now we have a long stick with a hook at the end of it. I stuck the stick through the window and fished to get the keys off the hook. After several attempts I had the keys on the end of the stick and was pulling them towards me when they fell to the floor. I am standing on a ladder with my head and arms through a window trying to rescue the keys and they fall to the floor! It has been a half hour since we started this fishing expedition and it is getting colder outside. I am standing on a ladder on my tip-toes with my head and arms through a window that has an opening no larger than a 22" by 14". I can't see the floor from the angle I am standing. Dawn stands on the top door step and tip-toes to see if she can see the keys. She calls out that she see the keys! She said she will give me directions on where to place the hook to retrieve the keys. I follow her directions and after another half hour of fishing we successfully hooked the keys. We didn't realize until we opened the door what a mess I had made with that walking stick. I had knocked over a rather large glass of Pepsi that was all over the carpet and cabinets. We laughed for a few minutes and then thanked God for watching after us. We decided that first thing in the morning we would be hiding a key somewhere outside in the rare event this happens again.













We made it to Lake DeGray State Park and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Thursday, November 9, 2006

Beavers Bend State Park















The scenic beauty of Beavers Bend Resort Park makes it one of Oklahoma's most popular resort areas. This park includes a state park, Lakeview Lodge and Cedar Creek Golf Course. The crystal clear water of the lakes and rivers, as well as the 100-ft. pine trees.
If you want privacy in a natural setting with all of the comforts of home this is a great place. We took a drive up in early November just for the day. The colors of the fall foliage was great. This is a large park with a lot to offer.



















We have not camped here yet but we plan to. You can rent canoes and explore the river. They have miles of hiking trails and see the wildlife.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Savannah,Georgia

In October we took a rode trip to Savannah. We really enjoyed this trip. We saw a lot of new and interesting things along the way. We spent one night in Macon, Georgia before we reached Savannah. Savannah is a neat place full of southern hospitality.

The number one purpose of the trip was to visit the Lady and Sons restaurant. We stayed in a hotel near the river in downtown Savannah. We did a lot of walking. We took the Paula Deen tour and had lunch at Bubba's. We met Bubba before leaving his restaurant.




We had dinner at the Lady and Sons. We didn't met Paula but we did visit with her sons, Bobby and Jamie. 



We had lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House. That was the best food I have eaten. You just can't bet southern cooking.


Savannah is home to one largest National Landmark Historic Districts in the United States. This 2.5-mile district, which runs from River Street to Forsyth Park, features plenty of quaint shops, charming boutiques and many restaurants nestled beneath a canopy of Live Oak trees. The city is full of Georgian and Victorian architecture. Southern hospitality still reigns supreme in Savannah, a city with three centuries of history. You can stroll down cobblestone streets.


We walked through many of the neighborhood parks and we shopped the unique shops. We took a midnight ghost carriage ride. That was interesting and fun. We rode the trolley and visited a small farmers market.


Drove out to Tybee Island and walked the beach. We visited one of the lighthouses. Tybee Island is located just 20 minutes east of downtown Savannah. Savannah's Beach feels worlds away. This quaint beachfront community has been known as “Savannah’s Beach” for decades. You can enjoy the views of the Atlantic Ocean. There is five miles of public beaches. You can watch the pelicans soar overhead and Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin frolic just offshore.



It was a fun trip and we sure ate a lot of really good food.


Saturday, June 24, 2006

Lubbock Monster Truck Show

Niether of us are really into this monster truck thing, but it just so happens that my son, Vance drives them. He talked us into driving out to Lubbock to watch him. That would be the nearest show for me to attend. He was living in Georgia and traveled all over the US to drive in these shows, so needless to say I didn't get to see him too often.



We decided we would spend the weekend in Lubbock so we could see him. The drive from Dallas to Lubbock is really a pretty boring drive and there was a lot of road construction along the way. We arrived at the hotel late afternoon. After we got checked in we found our way to the track. We met the other drivers and took Vance to dinner. The following day we got up and explored the Lubbock area. Did my sons laundry (FUN!) and visited with him before the show. I was very nervous about the show. That is my baby boy driving that truck. This was the first time I had been to any of his shows and I was not going to let him know how nervous I was.



I was amazed at the line of people that wanted autographs before the show. The drivers stand out in the heat for several hours prior to the show to visit with the fans and sign autographs. The children were a lot of fun to watch. They brought their little checkered flags over for the drivers to sign. The show started about eight and lasted for several hours. I snapped a lot of pictures and rooted for my son. It was a little nerve racking but I handled real well, until he jumped a group of cars and was knocked out for a moment when the truck landed too hard. I was a real nervous rick then. He was checked out by the paramedics and was able to finish the show. I was glad to see my son but I don't think I want to see him drive again. He maybe 27 but he is still my lil boy!














Friday, March 10, 2006

San Francisco Trip

We flew out to San Francisco for a five day trip.



The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 14th most populous city in the United States, with a 2007 estimated population of 764,976. San Francisco is located at the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, San Francisco Bay to the east, and the Golden Gate to the north.



San Francisco’s corrugated surface is home to more than 40 neighborhoods, if not more. The claims to fame and the local lore in the “hoods,” are all a wonderful, exuberant part of the Only in San Francisco experience. No two neighborhoods are alike and each is worth a closer look.

Although a neighborhood can be just as much a function of attitude as latitude.


The Golden Gate Bridge was officially opened to pedestrian traffic on May 27, 1937 and to vehicular traffic the next day. The total length of the bridge that many engineers said that could not be built was 1.7 miles. The width of the Bridge is 90 ft while the total original combined weight of the Bridge, anchorages, and approaches was 894,500 tons or 811,500,000 kg.


This is a very busy place with a lot of people in a small area!

We were very fortunate because we were there without any of the usual fog. I shot so many pictures I thought my camera would die from exhaustion. We found that the people were very friendly and there was no reason to get bored. We visited China Town. We rode the cable car. We took the ferry to Sausalito for an afternoon. We watched the seals sunbath at the floating dock. We visited the markets, piers and took a tour of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a clean city. I don't know that we have ever taken a vacation and did so much walking. I now understand why the people there are so fit!