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