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!

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!

 

Lake Degray State Park

Lake Degray is a nice state park. It is just a few miles to Hot Springs, AR. We have spent a week there for Thanksgiving (2005). The fall colors were beutiful. The lake is large and camping area of the park is covered in large mature trees.

The camp sites are nice. This is a large state park with a lot of camp sites. They don't provide full hookups but they do have several dump stations located in several different areas in the park. We look forward to camping this state park again in the near future.

True Entertainment

We must have been great entertainment for everyone in the park the first time we took the motorhome camping. I know the people camping around us must have had a good laugh watching us get our new rig all setup.

We bought the motor home on a Saturday and took possession on Wednesday. We were both so excited. We couldn't wait for our first voyage.

We decided since we were new at this RV thing that we would take our first trip to a near by camp ground at Lake Lavon. I wasn't retired yet and didn't have any vacation scheduled for awhile.

We had one free weekend to get acquainted with the new rig. My Mother went with us. She is such a good sport and is always up to new adventures! It amazes me, no matter how many books you have read or how well you paid attention or detailed your notes are when you do the walk-thru with the dealership, you will suddenly become brain dead when you hook things up for the first time.

It took us about an hour to do a normally fifteen minute job. Mother and I were pulling out hoses and cords as Dawn read from the instruction manual what to do next. Needless to say it was quite an event but we got it hooked up.

There are so many small things that have to be done just to set up. With time I know it will get better. For now we will spend the next two days reading and learning all about this new rig and all it's gadgets. Once we had it all figured out, we were excited to go on a real trip.