Sioux Falls to OKC

We took off from Sioux Falls in 58 degree, rainy weather to head down I-29.  My goodness, the standing water from this spring's flooding was unbelievable.

We stopped at the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs to boondock the night.  It was Sunday and the Bengals had the 4p slot, so we went into the newly remodeled sports bar and book.  It was great.  They had a tailgater sample platter that was too much.  Loved it.

Monday, we arrived in Kansas City and stayed at the Worlds of Fun Village.  It's a part of an amusement park (that was closed on weekdays).  Great park. 

Nice long concrete lots with patios and your own trash can.




We were there in part to see our BDM (Business Development Manager) for Carnival Cruise Lines, Amy Shortall.  Amy's been with Carnival for 30 years, and our BDM for South Dakota since 2013.  For the first few years, all of our correspondence was through emails.  Amazingly, I found out she thought I was kind of cold, gruff, and for some reason she thought I didn't like her.  I get that a lot.  Not sure why.  🤣🤣

A few years ago, we got to meet on a Seminar at Sea that she was hosting from Galveston.  Had a great time, and she got to realize what a nice guy I am.  🤣🤣   Of course, like everyone, she loved Connie.  Promised her the next time we were in KC, we would look her up.  

She couldn't have been more generous with her time.  She came over to the rig to "see how we roll" on late Monday afternoon, had bakery goodies for the girls, and KC beer for Connie and I.  We went out to Strouds restaurant, famous for their fried chicken.  Was a really neat place.  Part of it was over 200 years old.

Tuesday, Connie and I did a brewery tour at Boulevard Brewery.  So fascinating. 

Also, had some really good brews.  Every part of the brewery was top notch.







Amy joined us to tour and taste some Kansas City BBQ.

We started off at Arthur Bryant's BBQ.  Every President that's come through KC has stopped there.  I wasn't crazy about their sauce, but the meat was great.  We also got fries at each place.  In the end, Arthur Bryant's had the best.

Next we went a short way up the street to Gates & Sons BBQ.  Got a rack of ribs so we could sample the bones.  Something got screwed up, and we got their spicy sauce.  Good Lord.  If you know Connie and I, we just don't do hot.  Thought their fries were below average.

Finally, we went to Joe's Kansas City BBQ which was located in a working gasoline station. Went with brisket and pulled pork.  Both were great, and they got my vote for the tops.  Fries were 2nd to Bryant's.

Before she left us, Amy gave us a gift of other KC BBQ sauces.  

She's a peach.  Will see her again in December out in Los Angeles for the inaugural of the Carnival Panorama.

BBQ Chicken and Rice Enchiladas

No secret that Connie and I don't "do" hot, spicy foods.  Zero tolerance.  So, we pretty much bastardize every Tex-Mex recipe there is to make them Northern Ohio tolerable.  This is another one.

Preheat the oven to 400.

On the grill, I grilled two good sized boneless chicken breasts.  While I was doing that, I sautéed about half of an onion and some minced garlic in Canola oil in a large sautée pan on the oven top.  All the while, I was microwaving a bag of rice.

When the chicken was finished, I shredded it and added it to the onions/garlic.  Then added the rice.  Then I took some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (I think hickory and brown sugar) and liberally stirred it in to the mix.  I added about 2 Tbl of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.  (There.  There's your heat.)

I only had the big burrito sized tortillas, so they had to do.  I sprayed the bottom of a square baking pan that the burrito sized tortillas would fit in.  Then I added some BBQ sauce.

After letting my rice/chicken/BBQ sauce simmer for awhile, I added it to the middle of the burritos along with some shredded CoJack cheese.  Folded them up tightly and placed them in the baking dish.  Whole thing made a total of four, with a little bit to pour over the top.

I poured BBQ sauce over the top, along with a healthy bit of shredded cheese.  Covered with foil, and baked for about 25 minutes.

From Memphis to Tallahasse....

Sunday was getaway day for us.  We really enjoyed Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park.  Electric and laundry were included, making it a great value for a month stay.  We'll miss our walks to the river and just there and watch barges go by.

Sunday, we left at our typical 10:30a and was a pretty uneventful ride to a suburb of Birmingham, AL (Bessemer) where we stayed at an Elks Lodge.  Road was surprisingly good, spare a few miles that looked like they were the last to be repaved.  When we entered B'ham, we noticed some storm damage from the April 2011 tornado that really raked some damage on this area.  Parking at the lodge was one of our first challenges with the new rig.

Monday morning, we took off with the girls to Tuscaloosa to see the home of the Crimson Tide.  Again, before reaching campus, we saw the devastation that they really haven't recovered from with that awful storm.  Very hurricane-ish the way there was just a swath of nothing where the storm touched down.

Bryant-Denny stadium was nice.  They've really done some nice work on the walk up with statues of all the coaches who have won national championships, plus brick work that includes the names of all the players on those teams.  Lots of reminders of Paul "Bear" Bryant

We took a quick run out to see the Sewell-Thomas baseball stadium and Coleman Coliseum.  Both were impressive, especially the basketball arena.  From the outside looks like a barn, but once inside they've done a great job with their facilities and looks like a wonderful place to watch a game.

After some work upon returning to Bessemer Elks Lodge, we went out to dinner with our old friend Dick Turner and his new wife Cathy at the Southern Legacy BBQ in Hoover, AL.  The food was fabulous, half price beers and appetizers through 7p.  We had some BBQ nachos that were splendid.

Catching up with our old friend was a treat.  It had probably been around 15 years since we've seen Dick.  We spent the night laughing, catching up on everyone we knew, our families, their new life in Birmingham and our business and RV'ing lifestyle.

Tuesday was an easy getaway day.  We came upon a wreck in Birmingham just after it happened, and was about a 45-50 delay getting out of town, so that up and going at 8a was wasted.  It's really one of the first long delays we've had which is pleasantly surprising.

We're in at the Tallahassee Elks, which has really secluded, wooded sites.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring, which is as it should be!