DAY 2 – Mon. Jan 3 -- Trip to Mustang Island 2011

We left Down Stream at 10:15 a.m., skipped breakfast, but ate lunch at McDonald’s in the Walmart store at Sapulpa. We went there because we had to get gas at Walmart, (they had a very good price, $2.72.9 with $.03 discount). We also needed to look for a wireless backup camera (the $55.00 repair job on our monitor only lasted about a week, so we are once again without a backup camera). They had just sold their last discounted camera and were not going to stock them any longer.

We had planned another free night of camping at the Casino at Norman, OK, but when we got there we found they did not have any hookups, and because we have not been able to get our generator to work, decided to go on to the Hidden Lakes RV Park in Ardmore. We stayed there twice last year. Once on our way to California and again on our way back. We stopped in Pauls Valley and ate at Braums on our way to Ardmore. We arrived at Hidden Lakes RV Park at 6:40 p.m.

The trip was pretty much uneventful, except for JW’s two wrong turns, which added only a few minutes to the time of our trip. Also, we will not be visiting the Capitol at Oklahoma City because it is too far back. I told JW it is going to be interesting to find at the end of our Quest, that Oklahoma’s will be the only Capitol we never did visit. I pray we are more successful with the Capitol in Austin. Tomorrow we will head to Fort Worth. We are planning on some more free camping. We will be visiting Camping World in an effort to get the jacks, slides and backup camera fixed. Good night all, we’ll keep you posted.

DAY 1 – Sunday Jan 2 -- Trip to Mustang Island 2011

Well Howdy Folks.

Our "New" adventure has begun. This year (2011) we're heading to Mustang Island (N. Padre) down by Corpus Christi, Tx. It's gonna be a fun time. Come ride along with us as we venture along the way. We'll be passing through Joplin, Mo; Tulsa, Ok; OKC, Ok; Ft. Worth, Tx; Austin, Tx; San Antonio, Tx; Corpus Christi, Tx; and our final destination of Port Aransas, Tx.

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We wanted to leave, for Mustang Island, at noon today. We left Branson View at 1:12 p.m. We stopped in Branson West to fill up with gas, then headed out to Joplin. We arrived at the Down Stream Casino (where we decided to take advantage of a free night’s camping) at 4:15 p.m. We had made arrangements to meet our friends (John & Peggy Danner) at the Casino for supper. We had about an hour before John got off work so we spent some time in the Hotel Lobby, enjoying the lovely Fireplace. John and Peggy used to work at Silver Dollar City (John, in the parking lot with JW, & Peggy, in Finance with Wanda.) We enjoyed good food and fellowship with them. Peggy was very gracious and brought us some drinking water because we found that the water in our “fresh water tank” was rusty, so could not be used for drinking. Peggy took us back to our Motor Home about 9:30 and we turned in early for a good night’s sleep before continuing our journey to Oklahoma City for a visit to the Capitol.

WE3BRVn is now on FaceBook

Hey all you followers of this blog, we are now on FaceBook at the following address. Come join us.
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See ya down the road . . .

Hello Friends . . .

Just a note to let ALL our friends (who are following this Blog) know, that we will probably NOT be adding anything to this Blog until our next adventure. Check back once in a while though, just to be sure. Thanks for traveling along with us.

PS: Our next big adventure will probably be in January 2011 to South Padre Island, TX for a two month stay.

Later . . .
JW & Wanda

Day 51 – February 25 – Thursday

LAST DAY - BACK IN BRANSON

Well, it’s very obvious that we are back in the cold, cold hills of Missouri. When J.W. broke down camp for our final leg of the trip, he found that the seal in the outside water faucet was frozen so when he unhooked our water hose the Park faucet would not shut off. J.W. reported it to the office. They came down and took care of the matter.

We left the Joplin KOA Park about 10:15 and took the Motorhome and the car to the Truck-O-Mat Wash House at The Pilot Truck Stop in Joplin, to get them washed, ate breakfast and headed for Branson.

Arrived at Branson View Campground around 2:00 p.m. Park Manager Charlie was blowing the Fall leaves out of our site. What better treatment could one ask for. Got everything set up and settled in for the year about 3:30 p.m.

I finally got all the mail sorted and just barely had dinner prepared in time for Survivor. We finished the evening off by watching the Olympics.

Well, vacation is over. We’ve had some bad times and some good times, some sad times and some fun times, some bad weather and some good weather.

But as I read through our blog I am convinced we had a great vacation and did some really neat things. We were able to spend time with our children and grandchildren, whom we are missing and knowing it will be quite some time before we will see again. We were able to spend time with siblings and in-laws and an Aunt and Uncle. There’s just nothing like being with family. We are really looking forward to January 2011 and another winter adventure.

Tune in again next year as we travel to South Padre Island, Tx.
JW, Wanda & Smoky (the cat) We3BRVn

Day 50 – February 24 – Wednesday

J.W. was feeling a little puny this morning so he slept in. We left Ardmore around 10:30. At 10:45 we came to a construction area where about nine Big Dirt Moving Machines were all lined up with the drivers standing next to them with their hands over their hearts and their heads bowed. . . . . JW wondered what was up with that ? ? ?

1:00 P.M. – Just went through the Toll Booth at Bristow, OK, my mom’s birth place. Sure can tell we are getting closer to home. Getting colder . Ugh!

We stopped in East Tulsa for gas at Flying J and got caught up in a construction jam, again. We only lost 12 minutes this time.

Just a note from JW's personal observations - Oklahoma's I-35 and I-44 is pretty much a construction (destruction???) zone all the way from the Red River to OKC and then almost all the way thru Tulsa.

BUT, We’re really liking the lower gas prices. We only paid $2.38 this last fill up compare to $2.89 in Van Horn, TX, a few days ago.

4:15 – arrived at KOA in Joplin. I’m fixing to give Peggy Danner a call so we can go to dinner. (John and Peggy Danner are good friends of ours. They live in Joplin, Mo and both of them worked with us at Silver Dollar City)

5:00 p.m. - met with Peggy Danner at the Downstream Casino just west of Joplin. Had a great visit with her and later (after JW tried to empty the buffet) we met her husband John and had another real nice visit. (John works at the Casino as a Shuttle Bus driver)

Back at the MH watchin' the Olympics and plan to hit the road in the morning for Branson View Campground, Branson.

Day 49 – February 23 – Tuesday

It started raining at 1:20 a.m. The beginning of the rain and snow storm that is moving in. It started sleeting about 7:00 a.m. and the snow hit around 7:30 a.m..
We had a home cooked breakfast before breaking camp to head out to Oklahoma. We got away about 30 minutes ahead of our targeted time. However, we lost that much time (or more) playing RV Rodeo in the Wal-Mart parking lot while J.W. tried to decide which of the eight pumps at the gas station he wanted to use. He finally settled on a spot, BUT he was about 20’ from the pump so the hose just barely reached.
10:35 a.m. and we’re back on the road. Really can’t believe all this snow in Central Texas.

11:05 - just north of Hillsboro, TX. Big accident has shut down I-35 so we have to detour at Exit 370. I can’t believe all these dumb people who can’t or choose not to read the flashing emergency signs that clearly tell them they have to exit at Exit 370, which is a one lane exit. We stayed in that lane from the time we read the warning. But what do 400 other vehicles (both cars and 18 Wheelers) do? They choose to use all four lanes of the freeway, THEN try to cut across in front of us. I don’t think so!!!

11:45 - and we’re finally at the Exit where we have to detour. We had to go back east four miles to get on I-35E then we took highway 934, a real narrow two lane road, back ten miles to I-35W.

12:05 - and we are back on I-35w. J.W. just breathed a sigh of relief. The snow has not let up, and we lost 45 minutes so we won’t be in OKC until 4:22.

12:30 - it’s still snowing. We stopped and made sandwiches for lunch in a Picnic Area at Shepherds Valley just south of Burleson, TX. That just set us back another thirty minutes. Now we won’t be to OKC until 4:52. The snow quit between Fort Worth and Denton.
2:25 p.m. – We just crossed the Red River into Oklahoma.
At 4:20 - we decided to cut the day short and pulled into Hidden Lake RV Park at Ardmore, OK. We were here on January 9. We’re just going to rest this evening then leave in the morning. We haven’t decided if we will stay in the Tulsa area tomorrow night or if we will go on into Branson. Our trip is just about over. How sad!

Olympics, again tonight - "GO TEAM USA"

Day 48 – February 22 – Monday

It’s our fifth day back in Texas and J.W. still has not seen an armadillo. He just can’t figure it out.
We left our spot in the RV Resort about 11:15 but stopped for propane before we left the Park $3.89 a Gallon, Wow ! ! !). Thanks goodness we only needed 11 gallon. We got to Walmart about noon, did some grocery shopping (first time since February 6) and departed Boerne, TX, at 1:00 p.m.

We are on the north edge of San Antonio now. Guess what I just saw. A 6’ statue of an armadillo. J.W. didn’t see it and it happened so fast I didn’t even get a picture. JW got a picture of it off the internet ( Schertz, Texas - Giant Armadillo )

Oh well, we’ll keep lookin’ for a live (or dead) one.

We had planned to stay in Fort Worth tonight, but due to the late departure from Boerne we chose an RV Park in Woodway, TX. The name of the place is Quail Crossing RV Park in a little out-of-the-way place. The Park has a little lake and an above ground swimming pool, neither of which we will be using beings the temperature is a whopping 41 degrees. Pretty shocking to our system after the 80 degree weather in San Antonio yesterday.

We are set up (before dark, no less) and ready for a good home cooked supper and a night watching the Olympics. “Go Team USA” !

Day 47 – February 21 – Sunday - San Antonio, TX

Before going to San Antonio, to revisit places we hadn’t been since 1988, we stopped off at Denny’s for breakfast. We made it to San Antonio around 10:30 a.m., found a parking place and caught a trolley to the Riverwalk.

Before taking a boat ride on the river, we had chips and salsa with diet pepsi’s at Rio Rio, one of the oldest Mexican food cafes on the Riverwalk. We learned so much history about San Antonio on the river ride and had a really wonderful time.
After making arrangements with Robert and Jennifer, my niece and her husband from Colorado Springs, CO, to meet at The Republic of Texas Cafe on the Riverwalk, for supper at 5:30, J.W. and I went to the Park at the Alamo and just sat for about three hours while we rested and contemplated the happenings at the Alamo so many years ago.

Before our rest in the Park, we had to go shopping so J.W. could get a T-shirt. We also found small key chain pocket knives with our names on them. We seldom ever find anything with our names and especially with J.W.’s spelled correctly. While we were resting and people watching, Rachel Hall, a friend from SDC, contacted us and said she would join us for supper. What an added treat! It was GREAT to see everyone again. And who would have ever thought it would be in San Antonio, TX. We got to see Bradley for the first time, he is seven months old now and such a happy baby. All the children were very well behaved. Kudos to Jennifer and Robert. It is hard to believe that Brianna is almost 5 years old and Bryce is now 3. It was so good to catch up on the news. It had been three years since we’d been together, at that time Bryce was just a baby.
It was also great to visit with Rachel (and share a dessert with her.) Hopefully we’ll get to see her again next year when we go to Port Aransas. It was really a wonderful day and great evening.

We got back to Boerne about 8:30. We will head out for Fort Worth tomorrow. It looks like we’ll be back in rain and snow on Tuesday. I say NO. I had enough of that before we left on this trip, I really don’t want our return to be a mirror image of our departure. I’m ready for Spring. JW says "Bring on the Quartzsite like weather".

Day 46 – February 20 – Saturday

Today was off to a much better start. I was up at 7 a.m. feeling better than I’ve felt this whole vacation. J.W. wanted to leave Van Horn by 10:00 a.m. We left at 8:45. We couldn’t find any place to eat so we drove about an hour before stopping for gas and food. Out here in the vast expanses of West Texas stops are few and far between. We fought winds all day and got into Boerne (rhymes with journey) where we will be staying at Alamo Fiesta for the next couple days. This is the same Park we were in on January 9. When we got to town we saw they had a Murphy Station so used our Wal-Mart card for the first time on this trip. After filling up the gas tank we stopped at Chili’s for supper then came out and got set up. J.W. napped while I worked on the blog.

We found out our niece from Colorado Springs and her family are in San Antonio so we are planning to meet them for dinner tomorrow night before they head back to the Springs. We also plan to see Rachel Hall (one of the triple C kids that worked at SDC last Summer)while we are here. We’ll be spending tomorrow on the River Walk. Can hardly wait. Good night for now.