Monday, February 19, 2018 - Phone Calls; Errands; Lunch with Friends; Walmart; Home Again

Monday, February 19, 2018 - Phone Calls; Errands; Lunch with Friends; Walmart; Home Again

Today was so windy that we decided not to walk or ride bicycles.  The gusts were just shaking Bentley.  With that decision made we ate breakfast, then did our chores before I made a few phone calls.

My first phone call was to the RV center to ask questions about the washer/dryer combo.  The person that we need to talk to about ordering it will not be in until after lunch so I'll call back later today.  They did tell me it would take about 3 days to get the unit delivered from the time the order is placed.  Well, that is good news. 

The next call was to the Mobile RV service to see if they would install it and if so, can they do it before we leave the valley.  I was immediately connected to their answering machine, and was asked to leave a message. 

We have been trying to decide whether to return to the Valley next year, and if so do we return to Val's or look at other RV Parks.  We do like the advantage of being close to Bentsen State Park, our friends in the area.  Now that we have become accustomed to the traffic and learned our way around we do not mind being in this area as much as we did when we first arrived.  There is a lot of traffic here but the heaviest is around 5:00.  We make it a point not to be out at that time if we can help it.  

I made a call to the park office this morning to see if we could still sign up for next year - yes, we can.  What is the price per month, if we do not stay for 3 months?  It increases $60 a month.  Is the lot we have now still available?  Yes, it is.  

We will stop at the office to talk to them when we return from our luncheon date this afternoon.  We only have to put an $85 deposit now and if we notify them at least 60 days prior to our arrival date that we are not coming, we can get our deposit back, so it makes sense to move forward with a reservation at this time.  We are considering coming down after Thanksgiving, and then driving the truck home for a week at Christmas.  We may or may not do this - it's just an option right now.

We need to run a few errands before lunch.  Our first stop was at Sam's Club to buy diesel for the truck.  Everyone was buying fuel this morning, so we had to wait in line.  It wasn't too long until it was our turn.  Dean also wanted to stop at Home Depot to look at a few things.  By the time we were finished it was time to head to Cowboy Chicken for our lunch date.

On our way the Mobile RV service returned my call.  He asked a few questions and when he learned we do not currently have a washer/dryer unit in the RV he was not interested in taking the project on.  He did not want to make the cut into the RV to install the vent.  So we'll do some more checking as we'd like to get it done soon if possible. 

Our next stop was to meet some friends from Oswego.  Fred and Pat, contacted us after seeing the article in our hometown newspaper about our travels and blog, to see if we would like to meet up for lunch one day.  We were delighted they contacted us, and today is the day!  We are looking forward to spending time with them.  We arrived at the restaurant within just a short time of each other.  Neither of us has ever been to Cowboy Chicken before.  After checking out their menu online it sounded great and we have heard positive comments about it.  You order at the counter after arriving, so we were glad we had checked out the menu before hand.  Dean ordered their 3 pc. dark chicken with corn fritters and okra as sides.  I chose the Larredo sandwich which included a rotisserie chicken breast, tomato, housemade guacamole, chipotle mayo, and melted cheese on a toasted bun, and a side salad with chile lime dressing.  We really liked the food.  The chicken was so tender and moist it all but melted in your mouth - no dry taste at all.  The chile lime dressing was very different but very, very good.  Our meals were 7.99 each - worth it for the quality of the meal.

Once we started to visit, we continued talking for the next two and a half hours.  We enjoyed our visit so much.  During our conversation I learned that I've known Pat's brother for years but didn't realize they were siblings.  Dale is married to my step-mom's niece Linda. (Note to my stepbrother Mike----I can't believe I didn't know this!)  Dean and I used to attend the same church Fred and Pat do, in fact it is the church we were married in so we've known them for quite sometime.  I also knew Fred from his association with a township fire department when I worked for the city.  Of course when you get RVer's together there is always a common ground for conversation and a good part of it related to that, but we still managed to do some catching up on what our kids and grandkids are doing.  We also learned the church that our son Jarred works for in Wichita, Pathway, is the church their daughter-in-law's parents attend, and where their son and his wife were married.  (Jarred, I failed to get their names - but asked Pat to have them look you up.)  We had to come to Texas to find out all of these details!!  Isn't it funny how things work out?  

They gave us some tips on things to do while we are here, when Dean asked for suggestions.  We have done a few already, but one thing we want to do is take the hand drawn ferry across the Rio Grande.  They take both walk-on passengers and cars across, but we will not take our vehicle. We'll just ride over and back for the experience.   Another thing they asked, "Do you like apple fritters?". They told us about the fritters they make in Rio Hondo - and how wonderful they are.  We had heard this before and since we both absolutely love apple fritters - it is on our list to do before we leave.  We have some Escapee friends that are staying in Rio Hondo so hopefully we can spend some time with them when we make the trip.  There will be pictures to share for sure!

We left the restaurant, and then stood outside talking for another 20 minutes or so at our trucks.  I hope they did not get in too much late afternoon traffic leaving here.  We needed to make a stop around the corner at Breadsmith as we are down to our last couple of slices of bread.  I was so disappointed they were out of my favorite "Farmer's Wheat", but I ordered one that we will pick up tomorrow afternoon.  We bought a loaf of "Country Buttertop" for Dean.  He's getting a little tired of my favorite.  Since the bread freezes so well, I'll freeze half of the loaves.  

We needed to make a quick stop at Walmart for some milk, and decided to take a chance on finding some of our trail mix - can you believe it, there were 3 bags on the shelf.  We bought 2.  I felt a bit hoggish taking 2, so could not bring myself to take them all.  Evidently we are not the only ones who enjoy this, so hopefully someone else will be as happy to see that last bag as we were.

I failed to take any pictures today so I'll share one I took awhile back and forgot to include at the time.

I told Dean this water tower is just so wrong----my Chetopa and Oswego friends will understand.
Oswego's mascot is also an Indian; Chetopa's school colors are green and yellow!
Chetopa and Oswego are neighboring communities in Southeast Kansas.  Having lived in both city's during my school years, I claim them both as my hometown's!

It was about 4:30 when we returned to the park.  I wanted to stop and visit with them about making a reservation for next year, but the office was already closed.  They are having a meal at 5:00 with a street dance to follow tonight.  We are not going, so I had forgotten about that.  We'll stop by in the morning.

Nancy texted later in the evening and asked if we wanted to go to Mexico with her and Dave, and Jay and Stella tomorrow morning.  We want to go back since to get a few things before we leave the area, so we'll drive over to their park in the morning and follow them in our truck.

We watched the Olympics and just relaxed the rest of the evening.  The wind has continued to blow all day and still is this evening.  We will not ride or walk at the park in the morning since we are leaving early, but hopefully we can get back to it on Wednesday.