Friday, March 30, 2018 - Spending the Day with Jarred & Family; Emmy's First Overnight with Nana & Papa

Friday, March 30, 2018 - Spending the Day with Jarred & Family; Emmy's First Overnight with Nana & Papa

We are meeting up with Jarred and his family around 10 this morning so we had plenty of time to get everything done before we left to head their way.  It's approximately 5 miles from the park to their house, and less than 4 miles to Heath's.  This really is a convenient park for us to stay in when we are visiting both boys and their families.

Andrea had some errands and appointments today.  She is off of work today due to Good Friday and Jarred's day off is always on Friday.  We visited for awhile at the house.  Emerson thought her Papa was okay.

Happy Papa and Granddaughter!

Emerson turned 3 earlier this month but we haven't bought her present yet, so we thought it might be fun to take her to help select it.  Daddy had some suggestions and it will be helpful if he's along to help pick it out as well.  Our first stop was at Academy where we found a nice "Little Pony" bounce ball that she loved.  She knew all of the little ponies names but one.   She loved these bike helmets.

All smiles!

Trying to get it off!

Ta-da!

Our next stop was at Walmart where we bought her the cutest little pink softball glove, a T-ball set that came with bat and ball, and an extra softball.  It seems Emerson might have some of her daddy's athletic ability.  She could throw both balls well, kick well, and hit well for not having done too much of it.  She's very quick and almost fearless.  I think she might be able to hold her own!

Before we left Walmart we had a little fun with this bull ride.  Unfortunately after we put the 50 cents in, it would not work, so Dad told her to pretend she was riding and she obliged.

By now it was almost 12:30 and we were all hungry.  Jarred suggested a BBQ restaurant, "When Pigs Fly".  A good choice.  I had the brisket with creamed corn and baked beans.  Dean chose ribs and pulled pork with cole slaw and potato salad.  Jarred also had the brisket and baked beans - but I don't remember his other side.  Emerson had macaroni and cheese.  It was a very good meal and we enjoyed visiting while we were there.

Afterwards we went back to the house so Emerson could play with her new birthday presents.  We kicked ball, hit softballs, threw both the bounce ball and softball, and did lots of running.  Emerson is also good at instructing everyone on who to kick the ball to and it was quite fun to watch her.  She was having a great time. 

Afterwards, Daddy and Papa went in the house and brought out her "Frozen Jeep" for her to ride.  She rode it down the side road by their house (with us walking along side her) for almost a block, then we turned around and came back.  She did pretty good.  Dad said she steered better today than she ever has so she's beginning to figure that out.  She got it for Christmas and the weather is just now getting nice enough to use it more often.

Speaking of that, the weather today turned out to be wonderful.  I'm glad we are getting a couple of good days to spend with the grandkids before it turns cold Sunday.  Brrr!  It makes me cold just thinking about below 30 degree temperatures.

Once we came inside Emerson and I played in her room.  She showed me all of her beautiful play clothes - she loves being a princess and someone gave her several outfits that she loves to dress up in.  We played with her kitchen set and she fed her babies.  She's quite the conversationalist.  

By now, Emerson was worn out from all the play so she laid down for a nap.  We visited with Jarred for about an hour and then headed back to Bentley.  Our mail was supposed to be delivered to the park today and we wanted to pick it up.  I was happy to see it had indeed made it.  At Bentley, we went through it and then I freshened up a bit before we returned to Jarred's.  We are having dinner with Andrea's parents, Bill and Diane, and Andrea's sister and her husband, Kelly & Chris.  We haven't seen them for quite awhile so we are looking forward to visiting with them.

We had a great Chinese meal at a favorite restaurant of theirs, and a wonderful time visiting with everyone, mostly Bill and Diane since we set across from them.  The food was delicious.  As you can see I didn't think to take pictures of either of our meals today.  We have enough food for at least another meal for both Dean and I in our refrigerator, which is always a good thing.

Jarred and Andrea are going to a place near downtown Wichita this evening to listen to some friends of ours from Oswego.  Craig and his dad, Rick Cook have performed for several years, playing country music.  Emerson is going to spend the night with us - a first for both of us!  Craig and Jarred ran around together during school and Craig sang at his and Andrea's wedding.  I've known Rick for years as he played for most of Oswego's 4th of July celebrations, and his wife is my hairdresser.  All of the band members are staying overnight at Jarred and Andrea's.afterwards.  They stopped by to drop off their suitcases while we were there.  It was good to see both Rick and Craig.  

Emerson just made herself at home once we returned to the RV Park.  She was curious about a lot of things in the RV itself and had to check things out.  We played, watched a movie, cuddled and laughed a lot.  She's a treat and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening with her.  She laid down with us, with the thought one of us would move her to the couch after she fell asleep, but instead we all fell asleep and that's where she stayed for the night.  

I think we have Papa talked into visiting Lamar's Doughnuts tomorrow morning.  We had to twist his arm really hard, but we're pretty sure he's convinced now!

Thursday, March 29, 2018 - Travel Day to Wichita, A Very Interesting Day, Visiting with Family

Thursday, March 29, 2018 - Travel Day to Wichita, Visiting with Family

We were a little slow getting around this morning but that was okay - we do not have far to drive today.  Rather than take I-35 which would have shaved a few miles off we decided to take Hwy 177 north, to Hwy 81 which we took into Wichita.  We took a few local roads to Goddard where All Seasons RV Park is located.  It's conveniently located near both of our son's houses so we stay here regularly when we are in Wichita.

We saw this in front of a school in a town we stopped in for a break.  Our grandson Jaxson has been learning about different monuments and he loves the "Statue of Liberty".  His pose as the statue is adorable.

Just a neat mural on the side of a Bob's Grill.

I loved this metal art in front of a house not too far from Wellington, KS.

We arrived shortly after noon, only to find the office closed.  We know they close from 12:00-2:00 but in the past they've always had park brochures for expected guests taped to the window with the last name written on them, telling us where to park.  There was no information.  It was cold, we were hungry and as you can imagine I was not happy.  There was a number to call, and when I called it all I got was the office answering machine.  Hmmmm!  We set in the RV for a little while and then I decided to call the number again and listen to the entire message - which I should have done the first time - but I was irritated no one answered!  The message said if we arrived when the office is closed to go ahead and pick out a site - so that is what we did.  First we pulled in to the site on the very end, but fortunately before we unhooked we realized it only had 30 amp electric.  If we were here for a day or two we probably would have stayed but since we'll be here a week, we decided to move to the next spot over which had 50 amp service.  By the time we got hooked up it was a little after 1.  We put the slides out, but we didn't put too many things out just in case something happened that required we moved - although I was hoping that would not happen.  We fixed some lunch, then just checked our phones until 2:05, when we walked up to the office only to find no one was there yet.  This is not going well!  There was another couple sitting in their truck out front with their RV, also waiting.  We walked back to the RV and about 10 minutes later the owner (or manager) knocked on our door.  He wanted to know if we had a reservation and I told him yes we did.  Him:  How long are you staying?  Me:  One week.  He said he had someone who had selected this site online but he'd see if he couldn't work something out.  I explained that in the past when we arrived during the noon hour we have always found information on the door telling us what site to go to, but there wasn't anything, so I called the number they had at the door and the message said to pick a site if no one was there so that is what we did.  He just shook his head yes and said that was fine.  

We waited awhile and the vehicle parked out front pulled in to the site next to us on the west side.  We thought they had settled things so we decided we'd go on up to the office and pay for our site.  Unfortunately, the guy next to us was on his way up there and we walked in not long behind him.  He was not happy with his site and wanted to move - but someone else had asked for that site.  That didn't set well with him since he had to move from the site he had selected.  The owner/manager said to go ahead and move there and he would figure it out.  The people that own/or are managing the park are fairly new (I believe they were training when we were here last fall).  It seems they should have stuck with the way things had been done if they are going to be closed for two hours through a time of the day they would expect people to begin showing up.  You have to be out of your spot by noon.  I would say we've arrived between noon and 2 more than 50% of the time we've been coming here. 

It was stressful for all of us, but in the end I guess it worked out.  I just felt bad for the couple.  We really didn't want to have to move since we had already unhooked and he had not, especially since there were other places he could park.  I hope the management realizes how important it is to stick to a plan that works and will do that in the future.  

I also needed to make a few phone calls - to have our mail forwarded to us here; order medication that should make it to Oswego by the time we get home; and to see if my doctor's office had sent an order for my pulmonary function test to my doctor at the Cherokee Indian Clinic in Vinita yet.  Surprise, surprise - guess what hasn't happened yet?  So I had to call, only to leave ANOTHER message, explaining what was needed and all but begging them to please return my call so that I know it is taken care of since I need to get it done before my next appointment with the doctor.  I'm definitely going to have to talk to the doctor about this again when I go in.  I had already called and left one message a few weeks ago - no one ever returned the call, so I decided I'd better follow up on it.  I'm glad I did, but I shouldn't have to.  I've already talked to him about it once before for the exact same reasons - they did change the message on their answering machine to say they will return calls with 24 hours - but I've yet to get a return call, let alone one within 24 hours.

I was hoping to take a nap when we got here, but by the time all of this happened I was no longer in the napping mood.  We watched some TV, then went to eat before we headed to our eldest son's house to visit.  It so happened there was a Subway just a few blocks from the RV Park.  We haven't ate at a Subway in months and it sounded really good - and it was REALLY good!  We arrived at Heath's a little before 6.  He had not made it home from work yet - but showed up about 10-15 minutes later.  Casey and the boys were eating dinner when we got there.

We stayed for about an hour and a half before we headed back to Bentley.  We'll see them again over the weekend and most likely a few times next week before we head home.  Whle we were at Heath's we picked up a few packages I had delivered there.  Two were Dawgs sandals.  I wrote about these a few weeks ago.  In Texas, they were $25 for plain colors, and $35 for patterned ones.  I was able to get both pairs for less than $30 with free shipping from J-Club.  I was anxious to see if they were what I expected and they fit perfectly and was exactly what I looked at in Texas.  I don't know if these are as popular everywhere else but in South Texas I think everyone has at least one pair - and some have several.  They are very comfortable and perfect for summer.

The other thing we ordered was an Amazon Fire Stick in order to stream shows.  When we returned to Bentley, Dean started the process to get it set up.  We forgot that American Idol was on this past Monday evening, so we were anxious to see if we could watch it online.  We could....and, I am going to love this!  We signed up for a free month of Hulu.  If we keep it, it will cost us $7.99 a month.  We've not been overly happy with our Tailgator Satellite since we first got it.  When it works its wonderful but when it doesn't - well, its just not fun for either of us.  Dean loves his TV.  I really don't care that much but when I want to watch something, I really want to watch it.  I do not care if it's a day or two later, as long as I can watch it at some point.  That is what we are hoping for with the Fire Stick.  The worse thing about the Tailgator though is some channels just will not come in well enough to watch - and of course, they are the shows that I prefer (HGTV & Food Network), so I rarely get to see the shows that I enjoy.  We found out last night while we were still in Ponca City, that we can actually use Dish Anywhere with our computer and watch current shows without any problem.  I wish we had known about that option before now, but now we do and that makes me happy.  So we will just see how things go this spring and summer and determine what setup works best for us.  

We watched American Idol, without commercials I might add, until the end - about 10:30.  We wasted no time heading to bed.  We were both really tired...only to discover a semi tractor was running just across the street from where our bedroom is located.  What happened to quiet hours?  Fortunately we turned a show on to watch which mostly drowned it out. I guess we fell asleep before the show was over...we always set a timer for 30 minutes so the TV will go off automatically.  I did wake up about 11:30 or so and the tractor was no longer running.  I had no problem going right back to sleep and I didn't wake up again until around 6 this morning.  So all in all it all turned out fine.  

What an interesting day it was - but all of it turned out okay - well except I still don't know about the test I'm supposed to get, but I'll get it figured out one way or another.

Tomorrow we plan to spend time with our youngest son Jarred, wife Andrea and daughter Emerson.  

Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - Early Morning Wakeup; Breakfast & Shopping at The Merc; Tour of Pawhuska;Tour of Kaw Lake; Ponca City Pictures; Return to Bentley - Dinner, Laundry, Resting!

Tuesday, March 27 & Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - Early Morning Wakeup; Breakfast & Shopping at The Merc;  Tour of Pawhuska; Tour of Kaw Lake; Return to Bentley - Dinner, Laundry, Resting!

Today was a busy day from the time I woke up until - well it still is as I am writing this Tuesday evening, although it may have slowed just a little.  I was up at a little after 4 this morning to start the coffee, and to write yesterday's post.  At 5 I woke Dean up.  Our plan is to leave here as close to 6 so we can and drive to Pawhuska for breakfast at The Pioneer Woman's Mercantile.  It was about 6:15 when we left the campground.  It was raining and very dark.  Dean commented it has been a long time since he's driven in the dark.  Being in unfamiliar territory was even worse, and with rain and fog it wasn't all that fun, but we made it to Pawhuska just fine.  It was a little eerie when I started seeing these red lights flashing around us until I realized it was the lights on the big wind turbines.  

We pulled into the parking lot across the street from the Mercantile at 7:02.  The Mercantile opens at 7:00.  Guess who were the first two people in the door?  Yes, we had the place to ourselves.  

 The flowers were carved in the wood on the wall.  It was really beautiful.

Totally empty except for the two of us!

We had a wonderful young waitress, Josie.  She was extremely attentive, answered our questions, and visited with us off and on while we were there.  It was at least 10, maybe 15 minutes before anyone else arrived for breakfast.  I asked Josie if she thought the reason it was slow today was due to the rain.  She said you just can never tell, although Tuesday's are always their slow day.  She told us last week was extremely busy since it was Spring Break and yesterday (Monday) was also very busy.  I'm glad we didn't arrive in Ponca City on Sunday - it might have been a much different morning for us.

Well on to the breakfast menu.  I took a picture to share with you. We can't wait to go back and who knows we might end up going back again tomorrow.  It was that good.  (We did discuss it, but did not go back)

So what did we have?  Dean had "The Farmer's Breakfast" - 2 eggs over medium, sausage, ham and bacon, "Crispy Bits" breakfast potatoes, and a biscuit that was one of the best we've ever tasted.  There is only one other biscuit we've had that we would compare it to.  Years ago we visited a restaurant in Door County Wisconsin that had the lightest and tastiest biscuits ever and these were very similar but Ree's were twice the size.  Today it was served with homemade jam.  Oh my!   

I had "Eggs In A Hole".  Two nicely butter toasted slices of bread with a circle cut out of the middle and an egg cooked inside of each slice.  They gave me the two toasted circles so I could also have homemade jam (raspberry).  Yummy!  It came with the same "Crispy Bits" breakfast potatoes, sausage and bacon.  I also ordered a Cowboy Coffee - "Shot in the dark style" with sarsaparilla and topped with frothed milk.  It was great!

Sorry - I forgot to take pictures before we started eating.  

Cowboy Coffee!

Dean said this breakfast actually compares very well to Circle L (what he compares all breakfasts to - our hometown cafe in Oswego, KS).  That is really a HUGE compliment from him as there has to date been only one other restaurant that even came close.  It is now in third place to Circle L.  

I asked Josie if I could take a picture of her, so she moved around to stand by Dean.  

From here, we headed into the Shopping area of the Mercantile.  Only a few other people came in during the time we were there.  We didn't buy anything, however it was nice to take all the time we wanted to look, without having to walk around someone, or feel like you needed to move on before you were finished because of the crowds.  We felt pretty special having the place almost to ourselves.  

Literally - it was only Dean and I in the shopping area for almost the entire time we were there.

We were about ready to leave when I remembered we had not gone upstairs yet.  Dean said, What's up there?  Me:  The bakery!!  Dean:  Oh, I thought that was just offices or something.  

We walked through the bakery line and looked at all of the treats and finally decided we would take a package of 3 cinnamon rolls.  They really look good, but we are far too full to even think about tasting them right now.

They had the counters decorated for Easter.

Dean took this picture of me upstairs.

It was about 8:15 when we finally left and walked back to the truck.  We drove all around Pawhuska, checking out the sites.  I wanted Dean to see the Triangle Building, which I think is fascinating and he agreed it was a very neat building.  

We drove on up the street north of it by several other stores.  We saw a sign "Welcome to Pawhuska, Gateway to theTallgrass Prairie" so we followed the road.  

Later another sign indicated it was several miles until we would arrive, so we decided to save that for another trip.  We did drive by some very nice houses.  I thought it was interesting they had a Hillcrest Drive (so does Oswego), and it sits on a beautiful bluff overlooking a beautiful valley.  Similar to our Woodcliffe Drive, that is adjacent to our Hillcrest Drive.  

Dean wanted to check out the RV Park.  We talked to someone who told us there was a cattle crossing at the entrance and we weren't sure exactly what it would be like.  The RV Park was called Settle Inn.  It was a very nice little park and we would definitely stay here.  

Sorry for the rain drops.

Nicely laid out park.

Do you see what we saw?

The drive home was really beautiful.  Unfortunately many of my pictures didn't turn out well but here are a few.

It was just gorgeous!

Entrance to the Drummond Ranch

Wind turbines dotted all over the area.

Loved this old combine.

We stopped at Bentley on our way back, and then we took a tour of the Kaw Lake Area.  We visited each of the Corp Campgrounds.  Every campground was very nice with good sized sites that offered both 30 amp electric an water hookups.  We really liked the Sarge Campground the best I think.  They had a nice group of sites near the water and it would make a great place for a casual campout.

We enjoyed driving through Kaw City.  It's kind of unique that the city is in the middle of the lake. 

We thought Kaw City's Welcome Sign was also unique and fun!

Cute deer!

After our drive around the lake we drove in to Ponca City and revisited a few places that Stan and Linda showed us last night.  

Pioneer Woman Statue 

The Pioneer Woman Statue was voted on and selected by the entire nation in 1926.  12 sculptors created bronze statues depicting pioneer women.  The statues traveled by train and were voted on by thousands of people.  Bryant Baker's "Confident" was selected as the statue to honor pioneer women across the nation.  "Confident" was dedicated in 1930 with over 40,000 people in attendance, with Will Rogers serving as Master of Ceremonies for the event.  A museum is nearby honoring women of the past and today.

 Marland Mansion

Oil tycoon E. W. Marland (and a former Governor of Oklahoma) built this mansion in 1928.  It is a 55 room castle modeled after the Davanzati Palace in Florence, Italy, with 24-karat gold leaf-covered ceilings and million-dollar chandeliers.  It is open for tour by the public.  We did not get a chance to do that on this trip but we hope to include it on a future trip.

This might have been the gatekeeper's cottage or the gardener's?  It is at the entrance to the Mansion.

Beautiful pond with young boy fishing or enjoying the out of doors.

Marland Mansion

Statue of a man (possibly a Grandpa) with his children or grandchildren.  

The original entrance to the Mansion has been closed off.  Entrance is now from the side.

I cannot remember where this marker was, but I love the way the metal art depicts the history of Ponca City.

On our return to Bentley, we stopped at the Overlook at Kaw Lake.

Picture taken from the overlook.

After all of this, we were ready to return to Bentley and rest.  I did a few loads of clothes and it was a good feeling to get them done.  I made a sausage pizza for dinner - one of our favorite things to make in our cast iron skillet.  It was delicious.  Later we had the cinnamon rolls we bought at The Pioneer Woman's Bakery for dessert.  We never ate lunch today we were so full from our breakfast so we were pretty hungry by 6:00 this evening.

I started working on the blog but I was too tired to finish it tonight.

Tomorrow we do not have much planned.  I had hoped to meet up with a friend in the area.  Unfortunately she has to attend meetings out of town tomorrow for work, but we will manage to get together at another time - hopefully this fall.  We did have a nice chat on messenger and that was great in itself.  Thanks Kathy!

Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - Quiet Day; Walmart Trip

We were both ready to just stay in today and that's what we did except for a quick trip to Walmart to buy a few groceries.  We were literally almost out of food to eat.  I'm making a roast for supper and we are just having macaroni and cheese with it.  It sounds sooooo good.  Sometimes simple is best, isn't it?  We'll use the leftover roast later for hash...one of our favorite meals. 

I did three more loads of laundry - it doesn't take long to amass a pile of clothes over a week and now it's all taken care of.  Sewer is a good thing!  Lol!   

There really isn't anything else to tell.  We've just been a little busy and a little lazy today.  We'll pull up stakes tomorrow and drive 100 miles north to Wichita where we will spend a week with the oldest and youngest sons and their families.  We look forward to seeing them all.  I'm sure I'll have lots to share once we are there.