October 4-9, 2015 - Bullard, Texas, K.E. Bushman's Camp

Sunday - Thursday, October 4-9, 2015 - Bullard, Texas, K.E. Bushman's Camp


Sunday, October 4, 2015 - Bullard, Texas

We pulled out of the park in Minden, Louisiana at 9:35 this morning.  It wasn't long before we could tell we were nearing Shreveport, LA due to the numerous casino signs.  Here are a few shots I took as we drove through Shreveport on Interstate 20. 

We soon passed into Texas and began the drive on to Bullard. 

 

We arrived at the park around 1:30.  We are really glad we will be here for several days as we are ready to stay put for awhile.  As we were pulling into our site a man stopped to visit with us.  He told us he and his wife were also here for the rally.  They are full-timers and have been here in the park since June after they left the National Heartland Rally in Goshen, IN.  From here they will go further south into Texas for the winter.  We finished sitting up after he left.

We were soon set up and settled in.  As usual we just set around for awhile enjoying the freedom of being outside.  After dinner of cheeseburgers we decided to take a walk.  The park is quite nice.  It has a great building at the entrance that houses a large office area, an indoor swimming pool (with a very large, oversized garage door that opens to give an outdoor feeling and a hot tub.  On the opposite side of a double wide covered entrance (big enough for two RV's to pass each other) there is a large meeting room, restrooms with showers and a Laundromat.  There is a small pond on one side with a large concrete pad you can fish or swim from.  I'm not sure you could get me to go down the steps into the water as it appears to be quite full of algae but it is a beautiful spot to just set for the enjoyment of it or to visit with others.  On the other side of the park is a large event center that is used for weddings and other celebrations. 

The RV sites are two ribbons of concrete with grass between them.  There are plantings of trees and/or bushes between each site.  Each site has full hookups, with 50 amp service.  We are in site #78.  Even though it is a pull-through, since it is on the very end, we had to back-in to the site as there is not enough space to make the corner and utilize it as a pull in. 

As we approached the office area we saw Allen, the gentleman we met as we were getting set up and stopped to visit for awhile with him and his wife.  They too have a Big Horn.  Deb gave us a tour of it.  It has a living room in the upper area (where our bedroom is located) and the bedroom is in the back (where our living room is).  It was quite nice but I think I still prefer our set-up.  Mainly because Dean would never go for pulling a rig as long as theirs and I still prefer our floorplan.

We had a nice visit with them before heading back to Bentley for the evening.


Monday, October 5, 2015 - Bullard, Texas

Since we arrived a few days early we have some extra time on our hands so we decided we would get out and find some things to do today and tomorrow before the other Heartland Owners begin showing up.

This morning we drove to Canton, Texas for First Monday Trade Days.  It took us about an hour and a half for the drive.  We arrived to find no one in the parking lots and only a few vendors and we weren't sure if they were really open for business or not.  We left and drove toward downtown as I was looking for more information and soon found out the problem.  Just because it says First Monday Trade Days, it is not on the First Monday.  Trade Days is held on the Thurs-Sun BEFORE the First Monday of the Month!  So we missed it by one day.  We still enjoyed the drive and we had a great Mexican lunch at Ochoa's Mexican Restaurant in Canton.

We headed back to the campground and after dinner we took another walk around the campground.  As we were passing one of the Heartland RV's on the other side of the park, a woman walked out and we started visiting with her.  She was going out for an evening walk herself so she joined us.  Judy Parker is a full-timer, mostly residing within Texas for most of the year.  We ended up back at Allen and Deb's and visited for quite awhile.  We had to leave after about an hour as Matt, Megan and Josh wanted to Skype with us this evening.  We had a good time visiting with them and we were thrilled that Josh remembered who we were.

We watched TV for awhile and headed to bed so we could take another day trip tomorrow.  I forgot to take any pictures today so will try to do better tomorrow.



Tuesday, October 6, 2015 - Bullard, Texas

We had originally planned to arrive in Bullard on Monday (yesterday).   Since I knew we would have a day with nothing much going on we already had something we wanted to do - as I mentioned in an earlier blog post.  Once we were up and around we headed west to Waco, Texas to visit Magnolia Store.  You might remember I mentioned Chip and Joanna of the HGTV show Fixer Uppers.  They own the Magnolia store.  It was a bit more of a drive than we thought but it was a nice day and an enjoyable one.  We chose to just take a Texas state road versus the Interstate so it was relaxing since we were not pulling Bentley along with us.

We were about an hour from Waco and it was almost noon so Dean suggested we stop in Mexia to have lunch.  I checked Trip Advisor real quick and there were great reviews on The Farm House so we headed there.  It looked busy, which is always a good sign.  I thought it was pretty neat looking inside so I took a snapshot.  Here it is.

 

The food was great.  I chose 2 fried shrimp and 2 catfish fillets.  It included hushpuppies and two sides and I chose coleslaw and fried okra.  It was delicious.  I think I might have liked the coating on the shrimp better than any other we had.  It was very light.  They had peach cobbler for dessert but we were just too full to have any.

We were quite fortunate to arrive at Magnolia at a bit of a lull.  While there were several people in the store it did not seem many cars were parked close by.  Before we left, the store was getting quite full and there were cars everywhere.  I really enjoyed getting to see the store even though it was small and while I did not buy any decoration pieces, I did buy a T-shirt which I really like.  I went back and forth between it and a coffee cup and finally decided I had enough coffee cups, but can you ever have enough T-shirts?

Inside of Magnolia Store.

Outside shot of Magnolia Store.

I really liked the way the sign was made out of mismatched letters.

 

The store was pretty small but it had many nice things.  Unfortunately my house decoration is quite different.  I have no desire to change it due to the cost involved in doing so but think I would like this shabby chic type style.  I love all of the decorating Joanna does on the show.  I was amazed at the number of pieces that people were purchasing while I was in the store.  Many women had numerous items they were bringing to the registers, but still shopping.

When we left the store we headed to the silo's.  If you watch Fixer Uppers you know they recently purchased some abandoned property near downtown Waco where two old silo's set along with some other buildings.  They are hurriedly working on getting final touches done as there were a number of workers on site moving around outside and on top of the large white building (I assume this will be the new store).  They have a grand opening planned for the end of October.  The entire work area was blocked off with fencing so you could not get close and that only makes sense with construction taking place.  I would not be surprised at all if one or both Chip and Joanna would have been in the building.  So wish our timing would have been such that we could have visited the new store which is supposed to have quadruple the space of their current store....per something I read somewhere.

If you enlarge this picture you might see some of the workers on the roof.

Here are numerous shots of the silo's and outbuildings.

I do hope they have a lot of parking nearby as I believe they will need it. 

When we left there I had a great shot of the ALICO building which you see in a night shot of Waco included in Fixer Upper's show overview, and a pretty decent one of the McClennan County Courthouse.  What a beautiful structure it was. 

 

 

As we left Waco we crossed the Brazos River so I was able to get a picture of it.  It was very pretty with walkways running along the riverbank. 

When we got back Dean talked with Deryl, our RV dealer, about the roller under the refrigerator that has been giving us problems.  He asked if we could send a picture of our flooring.  They will see if the factory might have a piece to repair the tear that was made by the slide.

Tomorrow many other Heartland Owners will be coming in so we look forward to visiting with them.



Wednesday, October 6, 2015 - Bullard, Texas

About mid-morning we started seeing several Heartland's pulling into the park including a few folks we knew.  We needed to make a Wal-Mart run so I would have something to make for our potluck on Saturday evening and we needed a few other things as well, so we headed to nearby Jacksonville, TX.  After we returned I cut up broccoli and cauliflower for lunch.  We set outside for awhile and visited with a few people as they walked by.

We really didn't do much today.  I did a little cleaning around the RV, dusting, vacuuming, etc. and just visiting with folks. 

Tonight I fixed a pork roast that we had with a loaded baked potato.  Pretty tasty.  We walked over a few sites to visit with Paul and Nan Lineen.  We met them at the Oklahoma rallies although they live here in Texas, and only about 30 minutes from the park.

Tonight most of the Heartland Owners that are in the park drove about one half mile east to eat dinner.  Hondo and Shorty's was a great little restaurant with a pretty decent menu and very affordable prices.  Dean and I both had the chicken tenders, fried okra and one other side.  I had cole slaw and I don't remember what Dean had but we both thought  our meals were very good.  There were four others at our table and they all said they too enjoyed their meals. 

When we returned we decided to stay here at Bentley although several were getting together for some games at the rally room.  We'll catch up with everyone tomorrow.


Friday, October 8, 2015 - Bullard, Texas

This morning there was a breakfast for the Heartland Owners who have arrived.  One of the Texas members cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon.  Another member made pancakes.  There were numerous breads, fruit and muffins to go along with them.  In addition to coffee there were several types of juices.  What a great breakfast!  We set with the Chapter Leaders from South Texas, along with Connie from Ohio.  Connie and her husband full-time.  They own a travel agency which they can operate from any place they have internet connection. We had a great time talking to this couple (Tom and Marti) and Connie about places to visit across the United States.  Time flew and before we knew it was nearly 10:00.  We have met some of the nicest people and really enjoy our time at these rallies.

We moved around talking to various people in the park today.  One of our stops was at Orville and Barbara Wright's.  They live near Moore, OK and have made it through two or three tornadoes.  Sometimes I think Southeast Kansas has it bad, but Moore seems to be a major attraction for tornadoes.   Barbara quilts and she was kind enough to show me some of her work.  I really think I'd like to try one but not sure how well I will do.  I guess I won't know unless I jump right in.  We set outside for a while earlier in the morning but it was pretty warm in the afternoon as the temperatures were over 90 today and yesterday.  Sure would like to see some 70 degree temperatures.

We made hash tonight from the leftover pork roast.  It sure was good.  I am so glad Dean introduced me to this when we met.  It's one of my top 5 favorite meals.  I also made the crust for four-layer dessert that I will take to the pot-luck dinner on Saturday evening.

Tonight there was a meet and greet at the rally hall.  The Chapter Leader for the South Texas group brought several containers of Blue Bell ice cream that had everyone cheering.  I guess North Texas does not yet have Blue Bell back on the shelves after the big issue they had earlier this year.  We rarely have Blue Bell but what we had tonight was pretty good.  We enjoyed our time at the meet and greet.  Usually they play board games as well as Mexican train but tonight only Mexican train was on the agenda so we headed back to Bentley at 9:30.  It wasn't long before we headed to bed.


Saturday, October 9, 2015 - Bullard, Texas


Dean got around this morning and headed up to the rally hall to have doughnuts and coffee.   He said it was mostly guys who showed up.  He was really happy they had an apple fritter and he told me it was delicious.  I asked if there were any left over and when he said yes, I asked why he did not bring me one.  He said there wasn't a sign saying it was also carry-out.  :(

While he was gone I did up the dishes from last night's supper since I didn't have time to do them last night, made the bed and made the next layer for my dessert.  Once I showered I added the next layer and after doing my hair and makeup I added the last layer.  I'm ready for tonight.

We set outside for awhile.  It was surprising how the temperatures dropped overnight.  It feels about 60-65 outside with a nice breeze.  I think it's supposed to warm back up this afternoon though.

About 11 we walked down to David and Donna Williams', new to them, RV.  Since we saw them in Durant last year they upgraded from a Big Country to a Landmark.  They plan to go full-time when David retires in a year or so.  It was a beautiful rig, about 4 feet longer than our Bentley.  They probably have an extra 2 feet in the living/kitchen area, 1 in the bathroom and another in the bedroom.  It's amazing what 4 feet will give you in space.  I love looking at other's rigs as everyone has great ideas.  Two they have done is adding tension bars to shelving in the back of the closet and also wire shelving to hold shoes.  Both of these will be happening in Bentley over the winter.  Such a great use of space that could be better utilized.  We oohed and awed over all the extras and left about 30 minutes later so we could have a little lunch and let David get back to cleaning the outside of their RV.

After our lunch, Dean was watching the golf game and I worked on the blog for an hour or so.  We took a walk over to the next row of RV's where a guy was set up to test air pressure gauges for free.  Ours tested 2-3 pounds heavier than what it should which wasn't too bad.  I wanted to take some pictures of the park to include in the blog so we walked around a bit and then stopped to visit with Flora Tayloe and our neighbor a few doors over, Nan.  We soon headed back to Bentley as I want to get as much done on the blog as possible today.  I hope to post tonight after the pot-luck dinner.

We will pull out tomorrow morning and head to McAlister, OK for an overnight stay before moving on to Grove, OK to attend an Escapees rally before heading home.  I suspect Dean will be making a drive to Oswego on Monday or Tuesday from Grove just to check things out. He is really having withdrawals!  He's done great though and I am proud of him for making this sacrifice for me.  We've had a good time and done very well living together in a small space for two and a half months.  Of course if the weather is nice the whole outdoors is our living room.  How nice!

Here are some pictures of the park.

The two pictures above were taken Friday evening. 

These pictures were taken Saturday afternoon as we made our walk around the park.


This is the sand volleyball and pool area.

You can see the pool better in this picture.  This large garage door opens to provide fresh air during the summer.



Notice all the flags.  A number of the rally members are veteran's.  I love seeing the flags fly on their rigs.

This is the large building I mentioned in an earlier post where two RV's can pass through the center as they check in and leave the park.

Our Bentley

View behind our rig.

Everyone met at the rally hall around 5:45 as the plan was to take a group picture of us before our evening pot-luck meal.  The smoked meat of turkey, brisket and sausage was provided by the North Texas Chapter with all of the sides provided by the Heartland RVer's attending the rally.  There was so much food.  I made a four layer dessert and it was all gone at the end of the evening.  I was so glad I didn't have to take any home and be tempted with it for the next day or so.

There are some great cooks in this bunch.  Something new that I've never experienced before was corn pudding.  It was almost like a custard topping over the corn portion and it was delicious!

We said our goodbyes to a number of friends this evening as we plan to leave by 9:30.  By the time we get around and pack up we won't have time to really see anyone before we take out.  Jay Coffman walked with us back to Bentley as we discussed some upcoming rallies for 2016.  Branson in April and Las Vegas in October.  We definitely plan to make it to Branson but we just aren't sure about Las Vegas yet.

Next time you hear from me we'll probably be in Grove, OK. 

October 2-3, 2015 - Minden, LA - Beaver Dam Campground at Caney Lakes Recreation Area

October 2-3, 2015 - Minden, LA - Beaver Dam Campground at Caney Lakes Recreation Area

Friday, October 2, 2015

 We left the campground at 9:45 this morning and headed west which took us along the Barnett Reservoir where we discovered there was a beautiful drive on the Natchez Trace Parkway.  We were so glad the GPS headed us in this direction as it was a beautiful drive for several miles.  We followed the bank of the Reservoir for most of the drive and discovered they have a beautiful bike trail here that evidently is quite well known by bicyclists. 

Natchez Trace Parkway
 

Barnett Reservoir
 

Barnett Reservoir along Natchez Trace Parkway

 

 

In no time we were crossing the Mississippi River and driving into Louisiana.  One thing we noticed right away was the change in the landscape.  In Mississippi there were lots of pine trees and the land immediately turned flat and open as we crossed the River into Louisiana.  While pine trees did come back into the scenery as we moved on west it was interesting how it changed so drastically right at the river.

 

Bridge between Mississippi and Louisiana.  Notice the flag on the bridge to the right.

Entering Louisiana.

 

We ran across a few cotton fields soon after that and I snapped a few pictures.  These were a little better pictures than the previous ones I shared.

Cotton Fields.

 

As we passed through Monroe, LA I was reminded that our son Marc had mentioned the Duck Commander store was here, of the Duck Dynasty fame.  We discussed the possibility of driving back here to visit if the drive isn’t too far.  

About an hour later we arrived in Minden, LA.  I had read about their historical district on Trip Advisor so I was expecting something really nice but was pretty disappointed.  I really didn’t see any shops to visit.  The road to the campground took us right through some of the downtown which isn't much fun if you hit it when it’s busy.  It’s one thing in just a vehicle but entirely different when pulling a 36’ RV behind you, but as usual Dean did a great job of maneuvering Bentley through the twists and turns.

We are staying in the Kisatche National Forest at the Caney Lakes Recreation Area in the Beaver Dam Campground. 

I have to say Louisiana had the worse roads of any state for the longest period of driving we have done.  It started on the east side and was that way all the way to the west side and in all of the towns we visited.  The drive to the campground seemed like it would go on forever and of course we had to drive slow due to the condition of the road.  Once we turned on to the park road I realized we might have a problem here as it did not appear we would have a signal for our phone or any internet service at all. 

We finally decided on site 20, since many of the sites had reserved placards on them.  I called early that morning to see if they had plenty of sites.  The ranger advised they had many sites available so we were surprised there were so many reservation placards as you can only reserve so many days prior.  Our site is pretty nice here, being both level and on gravel.  We have a view out the front door of nice pine trees where we can see glimpses of Caney Lake.  It is a nice large gravel spot with both water and electric hookups.  They provide a grill, fire ring and a picnic table for each site.  We found when setting outside sometimes you could pick up a signal on the phone but it was not constant and it did not work inside at all.  Originally we planned to spend four nights here but due to the lack of phone signal we decided to cut our stay here by two nights and we will go on to Bullard, TX a little sooner.

 

Our view from Bentley's front door.

 

Our site, #20.

So here is our bad news for the day – ha, you thought it was the lack of phone and internet signal, right?  Nope, this tops that.  I was putting the slides out in the living area.  I watch as both go out to be sure nothing has moved during our travels that might be in the way of the slides as they go out.  As I looked from the dining side back to the kitchen I looked down at the floor and the roller evidently is not working again.  Something had caught the vinyl flooring and ripped it back several inches in a big V.  You can only imagine how I felt seeing that, especially since we thought that problem was behind us.  There isn’t anything we can do about it now so we’ll go back to putting the metal plate down and Dean trying to lift the kitchen side of the slide as I bring it in and take it out until we get home and Deryl can look at it.  Oh well, at least we can get it in and out.  I’m thankful for that.

We took a walk around the loop of the campground.  Dean took a look at the reservation placards on some of the sites to discover most of them were old – as much as a month!  We passed up some nice spots because the reservation placards were there.  That was a bit frustrating.  Oh well, the one we have is fine, however one of the spots we had looked at had a really beautiful and open view of the lake. 

I wanted to find a laundromat so we could hit Bullard with everything clean.  We headed into town and after literally driving all over Minden, we finally found a laundromat.  Our first try took us to the far west side of town and we never did find a laundromat, then a second selection took us to the east side but it turned out to be a cleaners.  I went in to ask where a laundromat was located and they sent us on east and then back south, then back west.  After 30 minutes of driving around we finally found it.  I will say even though it didn’t look that great from the outside or inside, the machines seemed to be clean and the dryers worked better than any others we’ve used in other laundromats on this trip.  In less than two hours we had everything done and we headed back to Bentley.

After dinner of macaroni with meat sauce we settled in for some TV (fortunately we picked up several local channels) before heading to bed.

 

Saturday, October 3, 2015

I woke up about 6:30 this morning.  I read some on my Kindle since I was unable to get online to read my daily RV blogs. 

After breakfast we discussed our plans for the day and we decided we would drive back to West Monroe, LA and visit the Duck Commander headquarters.  The drive was still bumpy but not as bad without Bentley following us.  I’m not sure what I was expecting but more than what was there.  It was a large metal building that was pretty plain.  Here are a couple of pictures I took.  Their large trailer with pictures of the Duck Dynasty crew painted on the side was sitting out front.

 

Duck Commander Trailer in front of warehouse.

 

Store entrance

 

Us in front of warehouse/store building.

Upon entering the store, a young lady immediately asked us to step over to a site where they handed Dean a “toy” gun and asked us to pose for a picture.  We looked around the warehouse which was mostly T-shirts, sweatshirts, memorabilia and of course the various Duck Commander duck calls.  It was interesting and I’m glad we went, but really not what I thought we would see.  We did buy the picture of us for a souvenir.  Since we purchased it we also received the rights to email it to others and or post it to Facebook.  I emailed it to myself and then sent it to a few family members.  Here it is for everyone else to see.

 

I took this selfie as we were leaving in front of the building and then we headed out to find some place to have lunch.  We decided to take local highways back to Minden rather than the Interstate.  We stopped in Ruston, LA at a local Popeye’s.  Dean told me it was my turn to pick out where to eat.  I really like Popeye’s, especially their red beans and rice. 

We enjoyed the drive back and passing through the small communities.  We set outside for awhile before I made our dinner of taco salads.  We spent time figuring out our route to Bullard for tomorrow before heading to bed. 

 

Thursday and Friday - September 30, October 1, 2015 - Brandon, MS

Wednesday and Thursday - September 30, October 1, 2015 - Brandon, MS

 

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

We left Rainbow Plantation at 9:45 a.m.  Dean was dreading the drive around Mobile and we worked on the route for over an hour or more once we returned from our movie and dinner.  The drive went quite well and was really pretty easy.  It always looks worse on the map than it is once we actually drive it. 

 

 

 

 

 

From the bridge that routed us around downtown Mobile, AL. 

Lots of barges passing through here.

A ship docked to unload or reload.

We had to make a bathroom break along the highway, and a large Chinook helicopter landed on the field across the highway from us.  Really neat!

We have seen a number of trucks loaded with pine trees logged from the forests in this part of the country.

He did great as always and once we were through Mobile it was smooth sailing all the way to Goshen Springs Campground on the Barnett Reservoir near Brandon, MS. 

What a pleasant surprise!  This campground is wonderful and we would not hesitate to stay here again if we are ever in the area again.  The sites are level concrete and wide enough to park your vehicle on.  Each site has a picnic table and nice trees and bushes have been planted between each site to provide privacy.  All sites are full hookup.  As you drive into the facility the office, laundry, and bathhouses are all located together with a very nice swimming pool.  Right across the parking lot is a nice boat ramp and several boat slips.  There is a canal that leads out into the reservoir.  There are many RV’s here and several park models.  It appears a number of people live here and many must rent by the month as half or more of the RV’s are currently empty with their boats or other watercraft sitting on their campsite.  Many of the sites have the mobile pagoda type tents at the back of their lots and decorated with lights, plants, etc.  For the most part everything is very tasteful and manicured looking. 

 

 

This is the office,

The boat slips and boat ramp are in front of us to the left of the water. 

This is the back of the office area where the pool is located.

Here is a shot of an empty site, that is right behind us.

Bentley and our truck.

Trees and bushes to help provide privacy between sites.

 

It was 3:30 before we arrived.  By the time we had things set up we were pretty much worn out.  We took a walk around the park, about 1.5 miles.  When we returned I made a half sausage and half chicken pizza for dinner.  We watched some TV and headed to bed pretty early. 

 

Thursday, October 1, 2015

 

 

After coffee and breakfast we decided to run into Jackson.  We have a few things we wanted to get at Sam’s and again, we need more groceries.  We needed to wash down our big patio mat.  We put it out in Summerdale since we were there for several days.  With the sandy soil they had and the heavy rains, the sand really attached itself.  We tried to shake it off some before we left but it was still too damp and just didn’t want to “let loose”.  So before we left this morning I helped Dean unfold it and lay it out on the grass so he could wash one side of it.  Then we laid it over the picnic table to clean the other side and left it there to dry while we were gone.

We found Sam’s and it happened to be right next to Bass Pro, so guess where we headed next.  We had a good look around but found nothing to buy.  By now it was after noon, so we happened to spy a Logan’s just down the road.  I had a salad and Dean had their yummy fried cheese, cheeseburger.  I’ve had one before and they are so good, but I'm really trying to be good.  The salad was okay, not what I expected but it was good.

Since we’ve been back I’ve made a few phone calls to make some appointments for when we return home and trying to update the blog posts even though I cannot post them until October 3^rd or later. We are practically out of our data plan and I refuse to buy any more gigabytes this month. 

We will head to Minden, LA tomorrow where we will spend 4 nights.  We really don’t know too much about the park or what we’ll do, so stay tuned to find out more.

 

 

Friday-Wednesday, September 25-29, 2015, Rainbow Plantation - Summerdale, AL

Friday-Wednesday, September 25-29, 2015, Rainbow Plantation - Summerdale, AL

Friday, September 25, 2015 – Rainbow Plantation RV Park

Today is my sister Jody’s birthday.  She is the baby of the family and just shy of being 6 years younger than me.  I am very blessed to have three sisters, Cindy, Crystal and Jody (Carla Jo).  We all live in Oswego and we get together every Sunday afternoon from 1-3 except on the 5th Sundays of the month.  I host the 1st Sunday as the oldest and we work down to Jody hosting on the 4th.  It really didn’t start out with the intent of just us getting together.  It really centered around going to visit my paternal grandpa and then my dad on Sunday afternoons each week.  We did that for many years.  When Daddy died in 2008 we decided we should continue to do it, knowing Daddy and our mom, who we lost in 1993 would approve of us staying close and spending time together.  Of course sometimes one of us is gone and can’t make it due to family birthdays, other family commitments or travels (like me).  I’ve really missed my time with them and look forward to getting together with them when we return home.  By the way, whoever is the host for the week also provides a dessert.  One of the best parts.  Haha!

This morning is Dean's regular day to eat breakfast out so we decided to try a place recommended to us by our neighbor Pauline here at Rainbow Plantation.  It is the The Biscuit King, a local place just a short distance from the park.  It was in a large, square metal building.  There is a sign just inside of the door, directing you to the counter to order before selecting your seat.  We picked up a menu and soon made a decision.  Dean ordered his normal breakfast of eggs, sausage patties, hash browns but today he decided on a biscuit instead of the normal wheat toast.  I had a ham and cheese omelet, hash browns and a biscuit.  The breakfast was delicious, although the biscuit was a bit dry for me and I only ate half of mine.  Dean ate half of my omelet because it was just too much food for me, but we would definitely recommend this place.  He thought the biscuit was pretty good, so it was a matter of opinion, I guess.

The inside was interesting.  There were 3-4 different saddles hanging around the inside with several pictures painted on the walls.  There was a kid’s play area and a small stage where it was apparent they held music events.  There were both round and rectangular plastic tables covered with colored vinyl making them quite easy to clean-up.   It was just a really neat looking place but very basic.  After breakfast we headed back to the campground.

When we arrived Thursday we inquired at the office about RV repair companies and for recommendations.  Bill advised there was a guy in the park we might try and if he could not take care of our needs he mentioned a couple of companies nearby.  Dean called the gentleman (Pat) that lives here in the park.  He agreed to stop by this afternoon to see what work we needed and if he thought he could make the repairs.  You might remember a roller fell out of the slide where the “kitchen area” is located.  The roller missing should be under the refrigerator, the heaviest part of the slide.   While the slide is working okay, it is dragging on the floor and has slightly marred my flooring.  We have been putting a metal plate down and then Dean has to push the slide upwards as I put it out to keep it from doing further damage.  The other issue we have is with our water pump.  If we are not hooked to a water connection while at a campground, we must fill our water tank and then use the pump to provide water for cooking, bathing, etc.  The pump started running intermittently when no water was being used, and now runs quite a lot when the pump is on, so it is not holding pressure.  We cannot find any leak, but to be on the safe side we have stayed in parks with water hookups since this problem started, until we can have it checked out further.

This morning I took the opportunity to clean Bentley – running the vacuum, dusting, cleaning the shower, etc.  We didn’t want to leave in case the repairman Pat stopped by to take a look at the problems with Bentley.  It was a beautiful day and once I was done with my work on the inside we set outdoors.  Our neighbor Pauline walked by with each of her dogs and we visited some. 

Pat stopped by after lunch and took a look at our RV issues.  He said he could jack up the slide enough to get the roller back in and indicated we would need to have the pump replaced, as they no longer even try to repair them.  He returned a little before 3:00.  He and Dean were able to get the roller back in.  The bracket on one end that held the roller in place was bent.  They were able to get it bent back and Dean believes it works better than it ever has.  What a relief!  There is still some work that might need to be done with the rubber that was damaged by the roller messing up and we will wait and address that with our dealer when we return home as well as the pump.  We can do without the pump for the remainder of our trip.

We stayed around Bentley this evening.  Dean grilled some pork chops and potatoes and onions and I steamed some broccoli and cauliflower for our dinner.  It was very, very good.  We watched some TV and called it a night.

 

Saturday, September 26, 2015

I recalled something I’m not sure I ever shared in previous posts but it has to do with teeny, tiny little pests called ants.  We were talking to Patsy, the park host at the Old Salem campground one late afternoon when we were getting ready to head out to see Greensboro, GA and to check out the local Goodwill store.  I remarked how much we loved the campground and how peaceful it was.  She said yes the only downfall is the ants and how you have to be careful about not getting them in the RV.  I made the remark we’ve not had any problems with them and I sure hope we don’t.  Mistake….because when we returned, we had ants.  In the bedroom, the bathroom, at the front door outside all around the kitchen, behind our loveseat.  Everywhere we looked there were ants.  I mixed up a concoction I found on Pinterest of baking soda, powdered sugar and water.  I cut the bottom off a few plastic water bottles and placed some of this mixture in each one and set them around several locations in Bentley.  We went to Lowe’s and bought a spray and some comet.  Patsy told us that comet was what they used on the ground and on anything they had that touched the ground to prevent them from getting in their RV.  I used the spray numerous times over the next several days and we finally eliminated the ants.  I had to do a good vacuuming and cleaning of the pantry and cabinets.  By the way the concoction mix I found on Pinterest was a dud!  We are now ant free and have been for several days.  The spray worked wonders to eliminate them and we now spray the tires and anything that touches the ground to be sure we do not have that problem again.  It gives me the willies just thinking about them.  I felt like they were crawling on me for days.  Finally, we haven’t seen any since we’ve been here.

So today we set outside for a while, kept busy around Bentley and went to the grocery store for lunchmeat, veggies and such.  We have decided to try out a local restaurant for dinner tonight, Big Daddy’s Grill.  It’s just a short distance from the park and Pauline told us it was very good.

Before we ate, I wanted to head to the beach as I had something I wanted to be sure to do before we left the area.  My high school friend Carolyn, who also lives in Oswego started collecting pictures from different family members and friends who would write her name in the sand on beaches and send them to her.  I wanted to include one from Gulf Shores, AL.  We had not yet been on the beach and wanted to do that anyway.  How can you go to a city with a beach on the ocean or Gulf and not walk the beach?  I always forget how tiring it is to walk in dry sand.  It seems like you take 4 or 5 steps but feel like you only move forward one.  It surely is great exercise for your legs. 

Unfortunately we arrived as the tide was coming in and the way the beach is, there wasn’t a lot of room to write in before the water would come in and erase part of what I had written.  I wrote her name with Gulf Shores below it.  I had to redo her name twice before Dean could get the picture taken.  But we got it done.

 

 

A shot of the beach as we walked from the parking lot.

Carolyn - Gulf Shores, AL

I love watching the waves come in on a beach!

This is looking back towards the main street.

Looking east toward Orange Beach, AL in the distance.

 

We decided since we were here we would just drive on east toward Orange Beach and see if there was anything else interesting.  Again it was mostly very large multi-storied resorts along the beach.  There was a state beach with beautiful sand dunes along the highway and a large parking area where you could pull into access the beach along the Gulf.  You were cautioned not to walk on the dunes or disturb the sea grass.  We did not get out, but just drove through. 

Sand Dunes in State Park

Beautiful multi-storied resort on beach. 

Orange Beach water tower.

We took an alternate route home that bypassed all of the traffic and went directly to Big Daddy’s Grill for dinner.

A shot of the international waterway as we drove by.

It was in a very nice setting along the water.  They provided both indoor and outdoor seating areas.  We chose to set outside.  The weather was perfect.  It had a very nice vibe to it with overhead lighting strung along the trellis and great old 70’s and 80’s music playing.  There was a nice sand playground for the kids to play in while waiting for their food, or to keep them busy while parents and or grandparents finished their dinners.  We arrived shortly before the sun started to sink so it had great ambiance.  Our food was delicious.  We both chose the fried shrimp basket.  The meal came with coleslaw and hushpuppies and one side of your choice.  I chose sweet potato fries and Dean had onion rings.  The coleslaw was not as good as we had in Andalusia but it was still quite good.  It was a very nice and relaxing dinner.

My dinner of fried shrimp, hushpuppies, coleslaw and sweet potato fries.  Yummy!

You can see the sand play area just below the sitting area on the deck.

 

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Originally we had planned to leave here tomorrow (Monday), however the weather was calling for significant rain starting later today, with heavy rains for Monday and Tuesday.  After we had breakfast, and took care of our morning chores we decided to take a look at our planned route and see how it would impact our travels if we stayed here until Wednesday.  We have decided to head northwest from Summerdale to Jackson, MS rather than to head west along the coast in order to shave a couple travel days off.  We would have to cut some of our stops short and would prevent us from really seeing the area so we would rather wait until we can return to explore properly.  (I love that about traveling in the RV – it’s not like a week’s vacation that you have little to no leeway with a change of plans). We will then go on to a small community east of Shreveport and from there to Bullard, TX for the Heartland rally.  This works out really well for us and we think it’s a good revised plan.  I called the park office to see if we could stay an extra two days and they said it would not be a problem.  We also had previously decided we wanted to arrive at Bullard a couple of days early so I also contacted that park to see if that would work and it will.  We will only be about 120 miles from Waco, Texas while at Bullard.  I absolutely love the show Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines.  Their business is based in Waco and I would love to visit their store Magnolia, so the day after we arrive we are going to drive to Waco and do just that.  Unfortunately their new store is not opening until the end of October so we won’t be able to visit there but hopefully we can take a drive by and see the site at least.

We made another run to the grocery store for a few things, and after we returned I fixed a simple lunch.

Dean had a little accident with his phone a few weeks ago and cracked it pretty good. It works but he’s had some problems with it that we suspect are related to the cracking.  We decided to visit the local Verizon store that was a few miles down the road.  He still had a Samsung 3 so it was a good upgrade for him from a 3 to a 6.  I’m jealous because of the phone capabilities, specifically the camera, but mine is working.  Yesterday Dean spent some time with my phone and backed everything up and then reset mine to the default and reloaded everything.  At the same time he installed a larger SD card to give me more storage and it is working better, however, I am disappointed to find out it will not allow me to transfer most of my applications to the SD card.  Therefore, I am still pretty short on storage.  I can see a new phone in my future but will try to hold out for a while.

When we returned we were both playing with our phones most of the afternoon, trying to get our apps back on, etc.  We were worse than two teenagers! 

Not too much later the rain started, and it rained all night long.  I made breakfast burritos for dinner and we watched Forrest Gump, one of my favorite Tom Hanks movies.

 

Monday, September 28, 2015

I was up about 6 this morning and it was still raining but it quit an hour or so later.  It is still overcast and it is expected to rain again later today.   According to the local news, Mobile, AL had over 10 inches last night.  That’s not too far away.  After breakfast, we walked up to the office to pay for the two additional days we are staying.  We chatted with a nice couple who are also park hosts here.  They originally lived in Maine but have been full-timing for 16 years.  They used to travel to Branson annually where they workkamped at another Escapees park there, so we had a nice chat about Branson. 

After leaving there we walked over to the clubhouse to check it out, including the laundry facilities.  I am not sure if I will try and do some laundry here before we leave or just wait and find a laundromat in the next town and do it all there.  There are 4 washers and 5 dryers here. 

It’s about 2:00 as I write this and it has never started raining again as they predicted.  Dean is out washing Bentley off.  While we were at the office paying for the extra nights he also asked about washing of RV’s.  They said yes, we could wash our RV, our vehicles, etc. as long as we didn’t just leave the water running while scrubbing, etc.  Bentley had so much road grime and bugs on him it will be nice to see him looking a little nicer. 

We pretty much hung out here at Bentley today.  It never did rain.  Tonight Dean and I actually watched TV in separate rooms.  That really doesn’t happen often but I am a dyed in the wool Dancing with the Stars fan and even though he enjoys watching it too, he wasn’t going to pass up Monday night football with his Chiefs playing.  Our neighbor here, Pauline is a big Green Bay Packers fan.  She has been wearing Packers shirts and has a big old Packers flag in their front yard.  Hmmm!

 

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

After breakfast this morning, we decided we would visit a couple of flea markets down the road.  One is quite large and looks like it might be interesting.  As we drove in – there was an open sign at the far left end but the sign on the door near where we parked said they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  We then realized there was another business on the left end.  Oh well, such is life.

We drove on down the road and saw another place so we pulled in.  As we walked in the door I noticed they had a couple of shelves of Rada knives.  I happened to notice they were also marked down 20%.  We walked through the entire place and I came back to the knives.  I have wanted to buy another paring and slicer knife to put in Bentley as I just have a cheap one.  I have 3 Rada knives at home, 1 paring and 2 slicers.  I bought these from the Oswego Grange Club shortly after I started working for the City in 1974 and I am still using them.  They are the sharpest knives I own.   I kept going back to this really nice set that also included a chef’s knife, bread knife, paring knife, vegetable parer, slicing knife and a carver that was $58.  With the 20% off, plus tax I was able to get it all for $50.   (Note:  I used the chef’s knife last night, Wed, and I love it.  Man is it sharp!)

We came back for a little lunch and I suggested we see a movie.  We both thought the Intern looked pretty good in the reviews we have seen, so we got around and headed out to see it.  Since this will be our last night in the area, we also thought we would have dinner out.  A gentleman we talked to at Camping World the first day we arrived told us about Lulu’s, Jimmy Buffet’s sister’s restaurant.  He told us it was really good and a fun place so we decided to try it out. 

The Intern was a really good show.  It had a good plot and Robert DeNiro is just such a great actor.  He still has it, that’s for sure!  We laughed a lot and to me those are the best kind.  We agreed afterwards this was one of those shows you could watch over and over and always look forward to seeing it again.

We arrived at Lulu’s a little before 5:00.  Our first thought was it was a bit early, but we are so glad we decided to go at that time.  That place filled up so fast I was shocked.  They had live music and he was pretty good.  Their food was excellent.  I had smoked pork tacos with chips and salsa.  Dean had grilled shrimp and fries.  It had a great vibe.  The overhead garage doors on two sides were open to a large patio area.  Around the patio was a large bandstand, sand area where kids could play with playground equipment and many seating areas in different spots around outdoor setting.  It was right next to a marina and the international waterway so you could watch the boats and barges come and go. 

Tomorrow we will get around and head out for our next stop in Brandon, MS, just outside of Jackson, MS.