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.

Days on the road

We traveled to our home town of Wilmington (OH) Monday late afternoon, and stayed through Wednesday morning.  Visited with Connie's dad (forgot to take pictures!!!) and also stopped by an old friend from HS that opened a new shop, the Wooden Moose.

Wednesday and Thursday were total travel days. 

Wednesday, we boondocked in a WalMart parking lot in Normal, IL  There was a Pizza Hut across the street for dinner, and (bonus) a bakery inside the WM for fresh donuts!

Thursday, we boondocked at the Isle Casino in Waterloo, IA.  They had a nice restaurant (one of four), The Brew Brothers, inside that had local craft beers, and some pub grub. 

I had some loaded fries (pulled pork, BBQ and cheese sauce) that were fantastic.  Couldn't finish it, but they were so good.  Not sure why else people go to casinos if not for the food and drinks?



Friday we rolled into Sioux Falls, SD and the Sioux Falls KOA.  Had an appointment at 5p to renew our driver's license that we just barely made due to some construction.  Our Google GPS taking us to a closed exit (thinking it was open) then having to follow a detour back to an open exit (that was what Google thought was closed).  Let me tell you, we zipped in and out of the DMV in 32 minutes.  They were the nicest DMV workers I've ever encountered.  What a pleasant experience.

After the licenses, we went downtown to a "First Friday" event put on by Downtown Sioux Falls and met our new BDM (business development manager) for Sandals (Adults Only All Inclusive Resorts) and Beaches (Caribbean All inclusive resorts for families), Monica Huether.  Great weather and company.  Talked a lot about our business, our backgrounds, ways Sandals and Beaches is growing and thoughts for expanding our niches.

Really enjoyed the small town feel of the event.  Also got introduced to Monica's friend, Julio Espino.  Great story.  Came to Sioux Falls as an engineer, noticed there wasn't an authentic Mexican restaurant in town, so he started it.  The restaurant did well, but people started wanting his salsa.  So, he started marketing his Inca salsa and sold the restaurant to his sister.  He's getting outlets at Hy-Vee, Wal Marts and working on expanding elsewhere (including H-E-B in Texas).  Fascinating conversation on the ins and outs of his business.  Was nice enough to give us some samples, looking forward to trying them.

Need a day of rest, and what better way than to watch College Football.  Weather is supposed to get crappy, so that will make it even easier to hang in the rig.

Here's my College Football Viewing schedule

Even though we're on the road, we still have a "no travel" on College Football Saturdays.

 

Thursday:

No games

Friday:

Main game:  None

Commercial Games:  Wake at Rice 8p CBSSN / Marshall at Boise St 9p ESPN2

Saturday:

Noon slot:

Main game:  UC at Ohio State 12p ABC

Commercial Games:  WVU at Mizzou 12p ESPN2 / Syracuse at Maryland 12p ESPN

3:30p ET slot:

Main game:  A&M at Clemson 3:30p ABC

Commercial Games:  Nebraska at Colorado 3:30p FOX / So Miss at Miss. State 3:30p  ESPN News

7:30p ET slot:

Main game:  LSU at Texas 7:30p ABC

Commercial Games:  BYU at Tennessee 7p ESPN / Miami at UNC 8p ACCN

In bed game:

Stanford at USC 10:30p ESPN

A reminder of some rules (or guidelines):

1.  I will have a Thursday and Friday night schedule, along with a noon, 3:30 and 7:30 (ET) Saturday slot, along with my game for the bedroom TV to put me nighty night.
2. As an alumni of The Ohio State, the Buckeyes will always be the main game whenever they play
3. The "commercial games" will be who I'm flipping to in the breaks of the Main game.

Ohio State game, bye to our summer home, and on the road again

Spent Saturday at the rig watching Ohio State play with the Davis family.  It's almost become our end of the season tradition.

Smoked some bacon wrapped stuffed chicken thighs.  Men liked them, women not so much.  They were thick.  Was really excited about making them, was equally disappointed in them.

Friday was Connie's last chemo treatment in Ohio.  Had originally planned on leaving Timber Ridge Monday, but pushed it backed to Tuesday to give her an extra day recovery.

Did most of the seasonal things all last week, then packed Sunday.  Today (Monday) she was in great spirits and said "let's go today", so I finished everything up this morning and got ready to leave by early afternoon.  Will give her a good night sleep, then all day tomorrow to spend time with her Dad.

Always tough saying goodbye to folks, especially "The Sisters".  They've been such wonderful friends and we'll miss them.

Got into Caesar Creek around 7p.  Didn't have a reservation, so we took a "walk up" site.  No biggie AND we saved the reservation fee Reserve America charges.

The new steps and back up camera all worked great.  Also had a bonus a few weeks ago.  Camper at Timber Ridge put out a bunch of "free to good home" stuff.  Had been needing to replace my leveling blocks and he had a whole set of them.  Grabbed those babies up and tried them out today.  Perfect!

College Football begins! Here's my viewing schedule

 By noon (or thereabouts) every Thursday, I'll publish my College Football viewing schedule.

Some rules (or guidelines):

1.  I will have a Thursday and Friday night schedule, along with a noon, 3:30 and 7:30 (ET) Saturday slot, along with my game for the bedroom TV to put me nighty night.
2. As an alumni of The Ohio State, the Buckeyes will always be the main game whenever they play
3. The "commercial games" will be who I'm flipping to in the breaks of the Main game.

Let the season begin!
Thursday:

Main Game:  UCLA at UC 7p ET ESPN

Commercial Games:  GT at Clemson 8p ET ACCN / SD State at Minny 9:00p ET FS1

In bed game:  Utah at BYU 10:15 ET ESPN

Friday:

Main Game:  Wisconsin at USF 7p ET ESPN

Commercial Game:  Tulsa at MSU 7p ET ESPN / Purdue at Nevada 9:30p ET CBSSN

In bed game:  CSU at Buffs 10p ET ESPN

Saturday:

Noon slot

Main Game:  FAU at OSU 12p ET Fox

Commercial Games:  Ole Miss at Memphis 12p ET ABC / Toledo at UK 12p ET SECN

3:30 slot

Main game:  NW at Stanford 4p ET Fox

Commercial Games:  SC at UNC 3:30p ESPN / Va Tech at BC 4p ET ACCN

7:30p slot

Main game:  Oregon vs. Auburn 7:30p ABC

Commercial Games:  UVA at Pitt 7:30p ACCN / MTSU at UM 7:30p BTN

In bed game:  Fresno at USC 10:30p ESPN

Lunch with old friends in the Flats

Fortunate today to meet up with our friends from Conneaut (and Bethany!) for a great lunch along the Cuyahoga River at Lindey's Lake House (formerly the Coastal Taco).

We met through boating in Ashtabula and used to be dock partners for a few years at Riverside Yacht Club.  They still have their boat at Conneaut Boat Club.  We had so many good times with these guys and watched both of our daughters grow up.

Had a great time catching up for the first time in a few years.

The week in review

Last week was a "good" week.

Met with our friends, the Greens, in Berea at the Cornerstone Brewery for some beverages and dinner.  (Note to self:  Don said the chicken strips are like Arby's).  Pulled pork was good, Connie said the fried green beans were good.

The weekend at the park was pretty laid back.  I did introduce a new beverage, a Pineapple-Lime Tequila Chiller.  Was really good.

Sunday, it was wakey wakey for French Toast and Bakey as the Davis family came out on their way to spending time at Ohio's Largest Indoor Water Park, Kalahari in Sandusky.