Our travel to Kansas

Yes, Toto, we're in Kansas.

When last we left, we were waiting out Mother Nature and delayed leaving Shady Creek RV Park by a day.  Well, we got the storms, and Oklahoma City didn't.

It was our first hail storm of note, a good 5 minute droppings of pea to nickel sized hail and it just came out of nowhere.  Was partly cloudy, then all of a sudden it sounded like a small bird flew into the side of the rig.  Then it hit.  Had a few dents added to the front of the rig and our propane heater, but nothing broken or permanently damaged.  We had had so much rain in the two days that the pool was at high tide.


We had a decent day on Thursday to travel to the Elks Lodge in Edmond, OK.  No problems getting through Oklahoma City, traffic was pretty average.

The folks at the Edmond Elks Lodge were wonderfully accommodating from the phone call letting us know they only had 50 amp connections to our arrival and subsequent 'few' in the bar, great folks.

We knew ahead of time that we turned into pumpkins at noon on Friday, because they were having a flea market that would take up all of their parking lot, so we were on the road to Wichita, a mere two hours.

I guess you should know if the place your going to is on the other side of 14 railroad tracks, things probably aren't looking up.  When we got to the Wichita Elks, which billed itself as having "electric and water".  No one there, raining, 15 amp outlets on the side of the building, but no way to get there and no signs of water.  Not where we wanted to spend 3 nights.  We make a quick call to Charlie at the Capital City KOA to see if we can come in earlier than Monday.  Like today.  Like in 2 hours.

Carmen hates riding.  It was tough telling her we had two more hours to go, and we weren't really done yet.  She got through it, though.

We saw some great looking casinos along I-35 including the Winstar which had world replicas of famous buildings as their exterior surrounding the buildings.

So here we are!  A month in Topeka, Kansas.  Got some plans, but all Fred P 'soft plans'.  Stick with us and see how they come out.

Mother Nature Still Decides....

When we were boating, the wind and waves ultimately decided whether we'd stay in a certain port or make the run to our homeport of Ashtabula or our next destination.  It's the single biggest reason we're a "landyacht" instead of being liveaboards somewhere which was the original plan 10 some years ago.

So yesterday, we see on the news where they're predicting 'super cells' for Oklahoma City, our next destination yesterday and today (when we're supposed to roll).  They get pounded last night, as we did.  0.75" of rain around 3 a.m. with pea/nickel sized hail and a dog scared of thunder is not a pleasant way to try and sleep.  Nothing like OKC, though with the hail, winds and rain that really slapped them silly.

With the forecast the same today (decent through the day but building to nasty by evening), we'll pass on leaving.  The truck is packed, we're ready, but the Edmond (OK) Elks Lodge will have to wait another day.

Our Thanks......

Today, we're thankful to be living in a country where proud men and women have fought and paid the ultimate sacrifice to allow us the freedoms we enjoy today.

It's not about making friends.....it's about keeping them

Tuesday will end a chapter for us, as we'll be parked more than 20 miles from Fred and Vickie for the first time since early December.  Strange as it sounds for the two of us who've been on the road since 2010, it's a little hard to imagine.

We've met their family, they've met ours.  We've met their friends, they've met ours.  We've shared meals, drinks, shuffleboard, hearts, euchre, spades and more laughs than should be allowed.   We've each heard each other's 'stories' probably more than once.

Almost everywhere we've been, we've made friends.  Some we keep in close contact with, probably the majority we don't.  One of the things we thought from boating that would carry over would be the relationships that we made at each Boat Club, each port town.  RV'ing is so transient, that it doesn't work nearly as well or as often.  However, we still have to realize we're in our infancy of fulltiming, and many of those boating relationships happened after visiting the same place time after time.

This weekend will be our last for quite awhile, and I'm sure it will be full of more memories.  Then, Tuesday, they'll head East while we head North on Wednesday.

We plan on meeting up again this October, wintering again 'somewhere' in South Texas again.  Between now and then will probably keep in closer contact than any of our other acquaintances along the road to date.

So this long chapter isn't really ending, it's really to be continued later.  So far, though, it's been hard to put down.

Day at the Dog Park

Today was a good day to get "the girls" stretched out, so we took them to the Frisco Dog Park, 'where people meet people and dogs have fun'.

Sloopy had the most fun as there were some teens 'trying' to play soccer with her, and she was winning.  The park had a bit of a slope that she could negotiate at a full sprint, that the two leggers couldn't quite handle in the down hill mode.  As you can see, the next few hours were spent "recovering".

That whole "Jacks" thing.....

Yesterday was another get together with our friends Fred and Vickie.  Just too much fun not to do again and again.

Bob and Fred played golf at the Trails of Frisco Golf Club.  Very nice course, played with an older couple of gentlemen who were wonderful to play with.  Connie stayed back and ran the business then found some time for the pool.

The evening started with us not being able to get our stove lit, so we got an invite for pizza and salad from Fred and Vickie.  Then it was time for playing cards.

While we've been getting better at playing Spades (their game), but last night it was time for another round of Euchre (our game).  Never so much about winning and losing, but rather the fun and tears (from laughing) it provides.  Vickie and Fred still have trouble with "that whole Jack thing", which just provides more laughs from all.

Too much fun.

Today, in learning your RV....

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

The other day, we both noticed that there was a small crack up towards the shower head in the line but no leak.  Today, Connie said it was time to get it fixed because "it was like a little boy peeing on me".

So, Bob goes to Lowe's (which is not too far here at Shady Creek RV Park) and gets a new shower hose.  Bob hates plumbing.  HATES.  Always has, probably always will.

As things would have it, as we're screwing the new hose onto the faucet, something inside breaks.  Not good, but highly typical of Bob's plumbing experiences.

We finally get to unscrew the plate that's in the back room behind the shower fixtures.  Everything is so simple.  All plastic, everything  easily hand done.  No problem to unscrew the plates from the flanges, the water supply and off goes the faucet.  Sure enough, the little "thingy" that you pull up to trigger the shower had broken inside.  Off to Camping World we go.

We knew there was one in Denton, TX, which is about 15 miles from here.  Packed up the girls and off we go.  First time we've been in Camping World since they merged with Good Sam Club.  Had a bit of an issue getting that straightened away, but everything went pretty smoothly, and the girls always enjoy their shopping cart ride.

Funny how that 1/2" longer than the original tends to be a problem.  Not real funny, but typical.  Had to do a little working to get the water supply screwed on.  There was the customary "OK, turn it on....OFF, OFF, OFF!" as water is spewing everywhere from a bad connection.  Then again, as we were missing a washer to connect to the shower head.

All in all, about $40, four hours and we learn a little bit more about our RV.