Day at Dallas Arboretum

Taking Care of To-Do List

Rockwall, Texas

Driveway

Weather Condition; High 82 Low 63, Cloudy

We were BUSY today. We checked several time consuming things off our To-Do List. First on the list was to vote. We got to the polling place early so the line was short. We voted.  

Well we pulled into Sonic for a coke and breakfast before moving onto our second item.

Second item was to have truck tires rotated. We stopped off at Discount Tire and had the tires rotated.

 From there we stopped off to get me a new pair of tennis shoes. I desperately needed new ones. It wasn’t on our list but we had to do it sooner or later!

Third item was to have the oil changed in the truck. We pulled into Kwick Lube. We had a short wait of 30 minutes before they could get to us.  We love going to Kwick Lube for our oil changes. They always vacuum and clean the windows too.

Dawn asked if they would check our K&N air filter to see if it needed to be cleaned. 

They were all shocked when they removed the filter and saw all the insulation stuffed in the filter. They pulled 2 handfuls out and then vacuumed the area out.

A little over a year ago we had a problem with either mice or squirrels nesting under our hood in the winter months. They stripped a large area of insulation from the cab area and made a nest under the hood near the alternator. Well, that must have upset them when I removed their nest and they just made a new one in the air filter.  We had our K&N air filter cleaned.  Seems the truck is running better now!!!!

Tomorrow I need to crawl under the hood and look for any holes near the air filter.

We ran home to let the dogs out for a potty break and then back to our errands.

Next thing on our list was stopping by Wal-Mart for a few groceries. But it was now dinner time and we were hungry.

El Chico! We stuffed ourselves with fajitas. I’ve always heard you should never go to the grocery store on an empty stomach. Problem is, I over indulged and the thought of food was NOT appealing! 

We bought our groceries and stopped for diesel. We didn’t get home until almost nine o’clock.

We are two tired girls.   

What a Day!

Rockwall, Texas

Driveway

Weather Condition; High 79 Low 63, Cloudy

The insurance adjuster came this morning. He crawled around under the fiver and took lots of pictures.  He then went to his car to prepare the estimate. He returned thirty minutes later with a written itemized estimate and a check. He told us if we ran into any problems with repairs or estimate to give him a call.

So far we are very pleased with Progressive Insurance. We’re very pleased with their roadside assistance program too.

We plan to have our repairs made while in Rockport. We can have them done at our site there. Here we would have to take it to the shop.  

My little brother stopped by to see us this afternoon. He wasn’t feeling well and was on his way home. He was complaining about having a headache for the past 3 or 4 days.

We visited for an hour and he left. About an hour later my brother called and asked if we could come to the minute clinic. We were less than a mile away when he called. When we arrived at the Minute Clinic we were told by the nurse practitioner that she believed he was having a stroke and needed to go to the emergency room right away. My little brother is in his middle 40’s. I couldn’t believe he was having a stroke.

She printed out his paperwork , we put him in the truck and drove him to the hospital emergency room a few miles away.

He was not looking well when we arrived at the hospital. We were told that the nurse practitioner had called and told them we were on our way.

They took him back immediately. We talked with a nurse and she checked his blood pressure and heart rate. She also did a few other tests and told us to wait for the doctor.  

   

The problem is that while he was being checked out by the nurse, two ambulances pulled in and that moved my brother down the list. We waited for over an hour before they sent him back for a CAT scan.

Good news, they said there was no sign of a stroke, they think he has bell’s palsy. I’m all too familiar with bell’s palsy. I’ve had it 5 times.  

Bell's palsy is a paralysis or weakness of the muscles on one side of your face. Damage to the facial nerve that controls muscles on one side of the face causes that side of your face to droop. The nerve damage may also affect your sense of taste and how you make tears and saliva. This condition comes on suddenly, often overnight, and usually gets better on its own within a few weeks.

I do have some slight permanent damage from having it so many times but I lived through it and feel much better knowing that my brother has bell’s palsy instead of a stroke.

We are now planning on pulling out of here next week for our migration south. We have a few things we need to take care of while we’re here. The truck needs an oil change and tire rotation. We also need to vote.

Trailer Tire Blow-Out

We pulled out of Daingerfield State Park yesterday about noon. We made it about 6 miles out of town when we had a trailer tire blow-out.

It did some body damage too

We made it to Rockwall safe and sound after roadside assistance changed our flat.

We are now waiting for our insurance adjuster to look it over.

Slight Colors of Fall

Daingerfield State Park is starting to show a little fall colors

Visiting Friends at Daingerfield

Daingerfield, Texas

Daingerfield State Park

Weather Condition; High 82 Low 68, Sunny

We haven’t posted lately because we’ve been busy. We arrived at Daingerfield on Wednesday afternoon. It was a 125 mile drive from McGee Creek State Park. The weather was nice and the traffic was lite.

 We had friends from the Dallas area come in on Thursday afternoon. Their site was one over from us. Our friends from Louisiana came in at 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Their site was next to ours.

We've had a great weekend visiting with everyone. We always enjoy spending time with our close friends.

We ate well. Dawn cooked for everyone even though she's suffering with cluster headaches again.

Last night we had a line of strong storms blow into the area. We didn’t get the high winds and the hail but we did get the rain. Lots of rain! Dawn and I were up at 1:30 a.m. and were sitting in the living room listening to the loud thumps of limbs and pine combs hitting our roof.

We are parked under pine trees that are easily 40 or 50 feet tall. When a pine cone falls from 40 feet, it will cause a loud thump when it hits the RV roof. The real thump came when the limbs started falling!

This morning we opened the door to find a lot of small limbs lying on the ground around our fiver. I climbed the ladder to look at the roof and all looks well. Thank goodness.

Today the sun is shining and all is well. Our friends from the Dallas area pulled out around 2 p.m. heading for home.

We are now having a lazy day.

Lake McGee Creek Pictorial

A pictorial of the lake here at McGee Creek State Park.

It was foggy here yesterday morning

Clear later in the morning

Our site near the lake

Cold Front or Artic blast

Farris, Oklahoma

McGee Creek State Park

Weather Condition; High 50 Low 39, Windy & Rainy

This was NO cold front. It was an ARTIC BLAST! The wind blew like crazy all day yesterday and it rained off and on. The high was 50 and that only lasted a couple of hours. It then dropped after that.

The weatherman said this will go down in the books as a record for high temperature in the Atoka area on this date. It’s normally in the mid 60’s.

If this is any indication of what this winter will be like, it’s going to get COLD!

We stayed in with our electric fireplace on. The temperature inside was nice and comfortable at 67 degrees. We wanted cooler temperatures but not COLD!

Across the street is a group of people that have set up a little tent city. I think they burned a cord of wood trying to stay warm.

Today’s forecast is highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s with a 30 percent chance of rain.

We don’t really have any big plans so we’re just relaxing. We’ll be leaving here in a few days to continue our migration south.  

Dinner with New Friends

Farris, Oklahoma

McGee Creek State Park

Weather Condition; High 63 Low 56, Cloudy

The cold front blew through here this afternoon and the temperature dropped quickly. We didn’t do much of anything today. We stayed in and just lounged around.

This afternoon we received a text from our friend Sandie asking if we wanted to join her for dinner at the café in Farris.

We got off our lazy butts, took showers and drove to Baker’s Diner.

Bakers Diner is a family owned café. It’s owned by Donnie, Bonnie and Windil Baker. This café is located on Hwy 3 in Farris, Oklahoma. I first of all, I have to explain that Farris, Oklahoma is a small community. They have a gas station, Café and school district with 55 students.

We would have never found this café if it weren’t for Sandie. The café is a metal building with  “café” over the door. If you weren’t looking real hard for it, you wouldn’t find it.

They serve good home cooked food. The have the best hamburger I’ve tasted. They serve great Sunday lunch specials. The service is great and everyone is friendly. We highly recommend this café to anyone who might venture into the area.

Sandy saved us 2 seats at her table. Her table already had 6 people when we arrived. Sandy introduced us to her friends and we all enjoyed a meal, conversation and a lot of laughs.

This is blurry because I was laughing!

A couple of men from a wagon train came in for dinner while we were there. They had 2 wagons and 4 mules. They were given permission by the Baker’s to park their wagons behind the café for the night. They tied their mules and let them graze.

Return to McGee Creek State Park

Farris, Oklahoma

McGee Creek State Park

Weather Condition; High 82 Low 61, Sunny

We pulled out of Natural Falls state park yesterday morning about 10:00. It was a great day for travel. The weather was nice and the traffic was lite.

We drove about 200 miles, give or take a little.  We drove the turnpikes which helped. Traffic seems to be better on the turnpikes. We arrived at McGee Creek state park in the late afternoon.

It’s a bit warmer here then northern Arkansas but a cold front is expected here later in the week.

We were able to park in the same site we had when we were here in August. The park is full of fishermen. That’s a nice change from bikers. These fishermen don’t make as much noise as bikers. I have nothing against bikers, I use to be one. I’m just older now and like to enjoy the sounds of nature when I have the chance.

It was so good to see our friend Sandy that works here in the park.

Our fur kids are so glad to be back in a state park. They love walking on a good surface and watering all the trees!

This morning we took them on a long walk. I pushed Abby’s stroller because I knew she would need a ride home. We walked about a fourth of a mile before turning around. Dawn spotted deer walking across the road. I stopped in the middle of the road to put Abby in her stroller. She was ready to ride. I poured the fur kids a drink of water and waited for Dawn and the boys to return. A minute later Dawn and the two boys returned to get a drink. I was standing beside the stroller when Dawn looked down and said “Oh Denise” I looked down and saw a snake below Abby’s stroller. I screamed and ran backwards leaving Abby in the stroller in the middle of the road. Dawn gave the leashes of the boys and I moved them away from the area. She grabbed the stroller and pushed it away from the snake. It didn’t move. She then reached down and grabbed the plastic water bowl. The snake still didn’t move. We think he was dead. I sure hope so.

We walked back to the fiver. I was still a little shaken.