Saturday, July 14, 2018 - Sunrise: Mary's Flower Cart Cafe-Liberal, MO; 4-H Style Revue; Cooky's Cafe-Golden City, MO; Beautiful Sunset

Saturday, July 14, 2018 - Sunrise: Breakfast; 4-H Style Revue; Cooky's Cafe-Golden City, MO; Beautiful Sunset

Dean was up before me this morning and I got up soon after him in time to have a cup of coffee.  He asked me if I was going to set outside to enjoy the sunrise while having my coffee.  I told him I would be there soon.  Here's the first picture I took.

6:08 a.m.

I took several more as the sun continued to rise.  It was a gorgeous morning.  Nice and cool outside, very quiet and serene.  Yes, I could do this every morning.  Wow, it changed quite a bit in 2 minutes!

6:10 a.m.

I told Dean I'd like to go eat breakfast this morning.  Renae told me about a restaurant in Liberal called Mary's Flower Cart Cafe, so I wanted to try it out since it's nearby.  We asked Brett if he wanted to go with us.  He will drive and we'll follow him since he will be going to to Baxter Springs for Dacy & Tucker's 4-H Style Show this morning.  

It started raining on the way to Mary's Flower Cart Cafe.  It had pretty much let up by the time we arrived.

Flower Cart Cafe

Across the room from our table inside Flower Cart Cafe - Liberal, MO

My mom used to have dishes like this when we were kids.

Everyone liked their breakfast.  The omelets the guys ordered looked really good but it was a lot of food.  I had my normal two, over medium eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and wheat toast.  It was good!

We would love to go with Brett for the entire style show, but it can be quite a long event.  Dean needs to get up and move around every so often and it isn't always easy to maneuver through a crowd of people and chairs, then find a place you can walk around at one of these events.  So, we are going to go to the Style Revue after the Style Show, which does not last near as long.  Last year the Style Show lasted at least an hour beyond the planned time and we were there for several hours.  Dacy and Tucker have done well in these in the past and we have enjoyed watching them model the clothes they have picked out.  They have clothing for various events such as formal, school, sports, etc.  They have to explain about the clothing, what type of material it is made of, when they would wear it, etc.  It's really a great 4H project for them.

We left at 1:15 in order to be in Baxter Springs at the Baptist Church a little before 2:30.  We found Brett and got seated with several minutes to spare, and had a chance to visit with Renae for a little bit once she was done helping Dacy & Tucker, before the revue started.    Tucker and Dacy both won grand champion and reserve grand champion in their age group.  The judge picked out the outfit they were to wear during this afternoon's revue. Dacy wore this dress for prom earlier this year.  Tucker's outfit is his western wear for the fair.

The back drop for the style show and revue.

Tucker and his ribbons

Dacy and her ribbons

All of the 4Her's who were in the Revue.

They also gave a couple of special awards.  One of the awards went to Dacy because she helped some of the smaller girls with their outfits, hair, or whatever was needed before they went out to model.  We were proud of her for being recognized in that manner.

Dean and I left to head back to Brett's before him and the kids left.  We were going to get fuel at the gas station in Baxter Springs, but someone else pulled in before us, so we decided we would just drive to Riverton to get it instead.  By the time we made it back to Brett's they were already there.  We saw some really neat cloud formations this evening - several resembled faces and one even looked a bit like Abe Lincoln.  By the time I got my phone out, and to the place I could take the picture other clouds had moved in with lines across them.  

The horizontal thin clouds were not there when I started to get my phone out.  By the time I got it out, put in my pass code and got to the camera, all of the faces had changed.  We had also moved ahead enough I could only get a portion of the clouds I was looking at.  

Last night we decided we would have dinner at Cooky's Cafe in Golden City tonight.  It has been in business since 1942.  

Just outside the entrance to Cooky's

Article about Cooky's Cafe hanging on the wall inside near where we sat.

Cooky's Cafe, Golden City, MO

The food was really good.  Dean had fried chicken, I had a brisket sandwich, Tucker a BLT, Dacy a Cheeseburger and Brett had Fried Shrimp.  Everyone enjoyed their meal.  I was a little leery about getting the brisket but it was one of their "specialties".  Since Brett told me he had it before and it was pretty good, I went for it.  It was very good.  The bun was toasted on the grill, just the way I like them.  Love that crunch!  Everyone said their meal was great.  Part of the reason we came here was for the pie!  I can't remember how many flavors they have but it was a lot - 20 or more.  Brett had blueberry crunch; Tucker had blackberry crunch; and I had the sugar free blackberry pie.  Everyone was happy with their choice.

Once back at the "ranch" (haha), we visited until about 9 or so, when Dean and I returned to Bentley.  It was a busy, but very fun day.  

Dacy loving on Winston.

Winston resting his paw on Nana's lap.

Beautiful sunset tonight

....and a little to the right of the above picture.

Friday, July 13, 2018 - Air Conditioning Is Good; Trip to Pittsburg; Grocery Shopping; A Fine Grilled Meal; Baking Bread and Cakes

Friday, July 13, 2018 - Air Conditioning Is Good; Trip to Pittsburg; Grocery Shopping; A Fine Grilled Meal; Baking Bread and Cakes

First thing I thought of this morning is how is the air conditioner working?  I was happy to see it was all fine, no water dripping and none in the bowl, so hopefully that was just a quirk and will not be a problem again.  We will be keeping an eye on it though just to be sure.

Dean took his cup of coffee to Brett's back porch to watch the sun come up, but I stayed in Bentley.  I will go with him one morning for sure.  He told me he took a picture of the sun coming up so if he forwards it to me in time I'll post it.  

After our breakfast, we walked over to Brett's and visited before they had to leave. Tucker has a doctors appointment this morning.  They left around 9:30.  We left soon after that for Pittsburg to pick up our mail.  There were several pieces of mail but most of it went in the trash. 

Our next stop was at Dillon's just down the road.  It seems there is always something we need to get at the grocery store.  We were out of bread and lunch meat - which we really needed for our lunch today, and I wanted some red potatoes and an onion for dinner tonight. 

From Pittsburg, we drove straight to Lamar.  I wanted to check out the meat market there that Brett uses.  I bought 4 really nice pork chops that we'll grill for dinner tonight, along with the potatoes and onions that we will be cooked on the grill.  We haven't made those in such a long time and they sound really good. 

Red Potatoes & Onions on the Grill
Lay out one large piece of Heavy Duty Reynolds Wrap.  Spray with Pam or similar spray. Cut potatoes in bite sized pieces.  I use 1 to 1 1/2 medium potato(s) per person, cut up 1 onion and place on top (I usually cut in half, and then in 4 quarters per half).  Depending on number of potatoes I use 1/2 to 1 stick of real butter cut up and layered over the potatoes and onions.  Season with seasoning salt and dried parsley - or whatever seasoning you prefer.  Close up the aluminum foil tightly.  Place on grill for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes or so.  We try not to turn the sealed side down, but just lay it from side to side and on the bottom to prevent the butter from leaking out.  These are good with just about any meat dish.  

Back at Bentley I made sandwiches, followed by a little watermelon.  Brett returned as we were finishing our sandwiches, and we shared our watermelon with him.  We visited for awhile before he headed to his garden to pick vegetables.  Once we finished and I washed the dishes, I followed Dean out to visit with Brett.  

I carried my laptop in to the house so I could work on yesterday's blog post and begin today's.  I'm trying to post daily.  It's so much easier for me, and much easier to follow for all of you, I'm sure.  Once I had posted for Friday, I prepared the potatoes and onions and Brett is grilling everything now.  Can't wait to dig in!

This afternoon Brett canned some relish using various vegetables, then pickled some yellow squash, zucchinni and onions.  I'll be interested to see how these come out.  He bought a book about canning & pickling.  He's used it to make several different things.  He also had several pepperoncini's.  I found a recipe online for canning these that he is going to try as well.  I love these in the Olive Garden salads.  

While waiting for things to grill we were talking about ways to use some of the vegetables he had left.  He has quite a bit of zucchinni  so I suggested he make cakes and bread with some of it.  I had some 8x8 aluminum pans but no bread pans.  He called a neighbor friend who had some, so he drove over to get those.  We made 4 small cakes and 2 loaves of bread.  I grated the zucchinni while he was gone and we got right to it when he returned.  We ate while the cakes were baking, and then baked the bread as we cleaned up after dinner.

We had a nice evening visiting.  Winston and I are slowly becoming friends.  Most of you know I am not an animal lover.  That being said I do not hate animals, I just am not overly fond of them especially if they try to jump on me, lick me, etc.  I guess poor old Winston has tried everything to win me over and finally decided he would try to just sit still and let me pet him.  He is still convinced he's going to get me to play with him....but I'm not sure he'll win in that category.  He's a bit rough for me.  In time, maybe we will be "real friends".  Lol!

Dean and I left Brett's about 10.  We set up for a while but soon we were off to la-la-land.

As I am finishing this up Saturday morning, I realize I could have taken some great pictures yesterday - especially if you could have seen the mess we had in front of us making those cakes and bread; and the final product; the wonderful food we had for dinner; etc.  When I am in the middle of doing something I rarely think of a picture though.  I must do better on that!

  

Thursday, July 12, 2018 - Travel Day, Air Conditioning Woes, Caps' Cabin Restaurant, Tour of Lamar, MO

Thursday, July 12, 2018 - Travel Day, Air Conditioning Woes, Caps' Cabin Restaurant, Tour of Lamar, MO

Today is our first travel day (pulling Bentley) since June 17.  We've had a good time here in Branson.  Fortunately, it's a great location to meet up with friends and as you know we've managed to get together with quite a few of them in the 4 weeks (almost) we've been here.  We are so thankful for our RV friends which have helped make the time past much faster than it might have otherwise.  Even though we haven't done much it has been nice to also get out for a drive, stop at a store, etc.  While we could do that in Oswego - the variety here in the Branson/Springfield/Hollister are is just a little better.  

It was about 11:30-12:00 when we pulled out of Treasure Lake.  Rather than worry about stopping to make our lunch we cheated and drove to Dairy Queen for a couple of burgers. We returned to Bentley to have our lunch.  I called the Treasure Lake office earlier this morning to see about renting a cabin for my daughter Misti and her two children Logan and Haleigh.  They plan to be here on the 29th of July for one evening and spend the day with us on the 30th.  We are not sure yet what we will be doing - maybe Dolly Parton's Stampede; maybe Silver Dollar City; maybe just being lazy....who knows!  No matter what, we are looking forward to it.  

The drive to Lamar was almost uneventful until we both turned north on State Highway 37, with me in the lead.  I looked back after going a short distance and noticed Dean had pulled off the road and was outside.  Oh no, now what?  I was far enough ahead, with no easy place to turn around so I stopped and watched for traffic.  Fortunately, it was a nice level road so I could see a great distance in front and behind me.  When I saw Dean getting back in the truck I called him.  It seems his auxiliary fuel tank was not passing fuel through to the main gas tank.  We only have about 68 miles of gas left on the main tank.  It's not that far to Lamar so we are good.  We'll stop to get gas before going on to Brett's house which is only a few miles out in the country.

When we reached Lamar Heights (a small village literally at the edge of Lamar) we stopped at a large truck stop where Dean was able to get enough gas to not only get us to Brett's but more than enough to take us to Oswego on Monday.   It wasn't long after we left the truck stop that we were pulling in to the driveway just north of Brett's.  It belongs to his neighbor but he's given Brett permission to use it, and it allows us to pull right in next to the 50 amp plug we need to use while we are here.  We were getting things set up when grandson Tucker came out.  We got Bentley set up, turned the air conditioning on and went in to the house to cool off and visit with Tucker until Brett gets home later.  Hopefully Bentley will be cooled down by the time he arrives.  Once Brett arrived we all visited for an hour or so before we decided to head into Lamar for dinner at Caps' Cabin Restaurant.  

Papa playing with Winston.

Dean wanted to change clothes before we left.  While I was waiting on him I decided to start "unpacking" the few things I have to put away when we travel.  We have an ice machine that we set on the floor when we are traveling.  I started to pick it up to put it on the stand Dean made for it and I noticed water on the floor.  Hmmm... it's right under the air conditioner and there is water beading on the cover above.  Plop....plop....yes, water is leaking from above.  I cleaned the water up - it was almost entirely on the linoleum, thank goodness, and I put a bowl under it.  We turned that air conditioner off, set a fan in the bedroom to push air to the front room and went to eat dinner.  We'll investigate it further when we return.

Dean had eaten at Caps' with Brett once before.  He told me how good it was so I was anxious to try it out.  Their special tonight was Piled High fried fish for $9.99, but I thought it sounded like too much food for me, so I ordered the 2 piece fish basket.  It came with 2 sides and 2 hushpuppies and it was more than enough.  Brett & Dean got the piled high and it really was a lot of food.  Tucker had the Peanut Butter & Jelly Burger with Bacon.  Interesting mixture but he liked it.  I would give my meal a 4.5.  The okra was excellent.  The slaw and the fish was very good, but I have had others I liked just a bit better.  However, that being said, I would not hesitate to return here as it was very good.  Brett told us about another restaurant in nearby Golden City, MO called Cooky's.  He said their homemade pies are delicious, so we may have to visit Cooky's before we leave here on Monday.  

After dinner we took a tour of Lamar, population around 4,500.  It's a very nice small town that sits just off of I-49, and the county seat of Barton County.  They have a beautiful courthouse located on the city square.  Lamar is the birthplace of former President Harry Truman.  We drove by the house where he was born and I took this picture.  

There is a visitor's center located across the street but it was closed for the day.  We drove by the city lake where Brett and the kids go kayaking, through the City Park which is really beautiful, tried to find their RV park and when we finally did I have to say it was not much to look at or stay at with only 20amp service; by their schools which were older but nicely maintained, by the golf course which Dean would like to try playing on sometime, and drove through several residential districts with some really beautiful homes.  It was a very enjoyable drive.

Beautiful sunset outside Bentley tonight.

Brett checking out the air conditioner for us.

Tucker's dog Winston and a beautiful sunset.

We returned to Bentley.  Dean thought maybe the air conditioner had froze up - but hardly any water had dripped into the bowl I left underneath it, so we ruled that out.  Brett got up on the roof, took the cover off.  It appeared the condensation from the air conditioner was not running to the drain at the back and instead it appeared the drips were going inside.  Dean raised the front slightly and pretty quickly a small amount of run-off was draining off the back.  It was fine all night with the AC running, so at this point we will continue to watch it and hopefully there won't be any other problems. 

After checking on the air conditioner we came in and visited with Brett and Tucker for awhile before going outside to enjoy setting on the back porch.

View from the back porch.

We headed to Bentley a little after 9.  We were both pretty tired from our day.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018 - Busy, busy day; Morning Walk; Car Wash & Vacuum; Laundry; Selling Our Van; Lunch with Friends; Preparing to Move

Wednesday, July 11, 2018 - Busy, busy day; Morning Walk; Car Wash & Vacuum; Laundry; Selling Our Van; Lunch with Friends; Preparing to Move 

So of course, since we have no where to be this morning I am wide awake at 4:30!  After a cup of coffee I asked Dean if he'd like to walk shortly before 6am.  It is so much cooler if we go early.  He walked a little over a mile with me and I walked my 3 miles.  

I wanted to go to a car wash so we could wash the van and vacuum the inside.  We really liked the Car Wash we used.  It's the first time in a long time that it actually looked like it had been cleaned after going through a car wash.  The windows were totally spotless and the dryer worked so well there was little to no spotting.  Well worth the money!

Once we returned to Bentley, I immediately put a load of clothes in the washer.  We will be staying at Brett's for the next several days so I will not be able to do laundry again until Monday when we move to Oswego and have full hookups again.  

Once we had the rest of our chores done I went out and took pictures of the car, both inside and outside.  We are going to list our van for sale on Craigslist and Facebook tomorrow.  It was nice to have it with us here in Branson for all of the trips we've had to make to and from the doctor, hospital and going back home a few times; but it just does not make sense for us to keep it while we will be on the road most of the time.  We have no where to store it.  We can always replace it at a later date when we are no longer traveling.  If you know of anyone looking for a gently used mini-van, please send them our way.

I noticed a few of you saw my post of Facebook where I reposted a video on The Parsons Sun Facebook page.  It was of the District Horse Show held in Parsons on Tuesday.  Our granddaughter Dacy participated.  Dean talked to her dad today.  He told us she qualified for 4 events at the State Fair this September in Hutchinson, KS.  We are so proud of her and all the work she puts in with her horses.  Unfortunately, we will miss out this year as we will not be back in Kansas until the end of October or first of November.  You can be assured we'll be rooting for her though and watching for pictures and updates via Facebook from mom and dad.

We met our friends Frank and Joyce at Grand Country Buffet at 1:00 for lunch.  They had a great selection of salads, entrees and of course the most important part - desserts!  They had both bread pudding and blackberry cobbler so I had to try a little of both.  The bread pudding was okay but does not compare to Golden Corral's, but the blackberry cobbler was a win!  Yummy!

Back at Bentley, I added another load of clothes in the washer - last one and we'll be good until Monday.  It is so warm out the clothes are dry in about 30 minutes.  Without the dryer running it helps keep the RV cool too!

Later this afternoon I finished up the wording for the advertisement on Craigslist and added the pictures I took this morning of the van.  I'll publish it sometime tomorrow, after we arrive at Brett's.  

We still need to run to Walmart later.  We need to get a prescription filled for Dean.  He will be having a CT scan before he sees the vascular surgeon on July 23.  He's allergic to the dye they use, so he will be taking something to counteract that prior to the appointment.

I took these pictures on our way home from Walmart.  They are kind of interesting.

When I took this I did not notice the smaller white circle in the picture.  I love the fence post.

If you enlarge this, on the left is a bit of a speck in the sky - I happened to catch one of the helicopters giving rides to folks in Branson.

Beautiful sunset as we returned home!

Dean was outside doing a few things, when I noticed his phone going off.  It was Matt calling so we could video chat with Sarah.  Today is her 2nd birthday.  We told her Happy Birthday and she said Happy Birthday.  She repeats almost everything you say, but she can and does say her own words.  We visited awhile before letting them go so Sarah could enjoy her birthday cake and open her presents.  

After our big lunch we just had a bit of a snack for dinner, crackers, cheese, nuts and a few pieces of fruit.  It was just enough.   I took time to store a few things this evening so I would not forget about them in the morning.  When we thought we would be moving this past Sunday I realized I had forgotten to store a couple of things.  Although it wasn't a problem since we did not move, it could have been.  I made a couple of reminder notes that I put around door handles in the kitchen to remind me.  

It was a busy, put productive day!

Tuesday, July 10, 2018 - Breakfast & Visit with Friends; Movie Date; Rain is a Good Thing

Tuesday, July 10, 2018 - Breakfast & Visit with Friends; Movie Date; Rain is a Good Thing

When my eyes landed on the alarm clock this morning and I saw the time, I was up in a flash.  It was around 6am and we are supposed to pick Keith & Drena up between 6:30-7am for breakfast.  I don't think we'll make it.  We left here a little before 7:00 and arrived at Indian Point Campground by 7:15 or so.  We needed to backtrack a little on Hwy 76 then south on Hwy 265 in order to eat breakfast at Billy Gail's.  Donnie & Janie (thank you) introduced us to this little place several years ago and we've enjoyed it every time we've been back since.  We were surprised to find out they have enlarged not only their parking lot; but have also added on to the restaurant.  Because the food is so good, there is still a parking problem if you do not arrive early.  And....you must pay with cash or check.  They do not take credit/debit cards.  Fortunately we still managed to arrive early enough that a few parking sites were available.

We were seated in the new addition - it even smelled new!  I was quite happy when they delivered the coffee to our table - we didn't have time to make it, let alone drink it before we left Bentley this morning.  I think everyone enjoyed their breakfast.  

When we left, the parking lot was full and people were trying to find a spot.  As soon as one came open, someone pulled in.   I'm glad we got here as early as we did, and even more glad we woke up when we did!!  

Indian Point Campground is a Corps of Engineer park.  I was impressed with the park and would not hesitate to stay here, especially since it is only $10 night with an American the Beautiful/Senior Pass.  Keith and Drena had a wonderful site - once the RV to their left pulled out of the park - they also had a nice view of Table Rock Lake!  

We had a great visit.  Drena and I visited about the newsletter for our Escapees group.  I recently gave up that duty and Drena was kind enough to take it over.  I planned to give it up this fall at our rally, where I could pass on all of the files to the next editor, but since we will not be back in time for the rally this worked out quite well.  I know Drena will do a great job.  She loves all of that "computer" stuff.  I have learned so much computer/app information from her since we met her and Keith a few years ago.  In fact she showed me another tip today - how to take a picture of a business card and then add it to your contacts.  I have an app that I have used for this - but I end up re-entering or correcting much of the info every time.  This worked perfect.  

One of the resident turkeys here in the park.

We returned to Bentley around 11:30 and I made chicken taco salads for lunch.  I was just getting things ready when there was a knock at the door.  Frank and Joyce stopped by to see if we wanted to go to eat tomorrow.  Well of course we do!  We decided on Grand Country Buffet at 1:00.  We look forward to the opportunity to visit with them since we'll be leaving in a couple of days.  

While we were enjoying our taco salad I told Dean I was getting a little bored setting around, so he suggested we go to a movie.  I pulled up the movies showing at Branson Meadows Cinema, not too far from us.  They have 11 theaters, so there is a good selection to choose from.  I'm pretty picky about what I watch, and we finally decided on Ocean's 8.  I thought it was a good movie and I'm glad we chose it.  I would watch it again, but not sure Dean enjoyed it quite as much as I did.  He said it was okay.  Maybe because it wasn't the typical Ocean's ## movie!

I suggested we have Andy's custard afterwards and not eat dinner tonight.  Dean agreed so fast my head was spinning!  Lol!!  Maybe we'll just have a little snack of fruit or nuts if we feel hungry later.  Our concretes tasted not only good but were nice and cool on a very hot day.

When we returned to Treasure Lake it had rained here.  Wouldn't you know it, we left our chairs out and they were soaked.  We pulled them out where the sun could hit them.  Hopefully they'll dry quick.  It's been so nice in the evening, we've enjoyed setting outside so I'd like to think we can do it again tonight.  Even though the chairs got wet, rain is a good thing in this part of the country right now!

It's 5:07 and we are getting another lightening storm but so far no rain.  Dean went out to put our chairs up.  We never did go outside to sit.  Lightening rumbled once or twice.  If it rained it was light because we never heard it and you can definitely hear it raining when we are in Bentley.  Later I saw a post on Treasure Lake's Facebook page, "A sudden and unexpected pop up storm hit Branson this evening, specifically in the Green Mountain, Falls Parkway, and Blue Meadows Road area.  There are some trees and power lines that are down, a broken gas line at Stone Castle and debris including glass on the roads.  According to US National Weather Service Springfield, MO...it could be a microburst.  No additional storms are expected tonight".  

Dean watched TV and I didn't do much of anything - other than write most of the blog.  I'm finishing it up this morning while enjoying my first cup of coffee.  I pray each of you have a wonderful day!  Thank you for following along.

I have a very good and long time friend, Tom, who is in the hospital with some serious health issues.  If you would, please lift him up in prayer today.  Thank you!

Monday, July 9, 2018 - Slow Day and Dinner with Friends.

Monday, July 9, 2018

I've been sleeping a little later but this morning I was awake at 4:30.  I felt wide awake so I got up about 4:45.  After starting the coffee I was reading my emails.  A short time later I heard a ping - it was my sister Cindy, sending me a text.  I called her and we visited for awhile.  A nice way to start the morning.

Dean was up soon afterwards and we enjoyed our second cup of coffee outside.  We should do this more often.  

The sun peeking through the trees this morning while we enjoyed our coffee outside.

Once we finished with our coffee we took our morning walk.  Dean walked with me the first mile and then I walked two more to reach my 3 mile daily goal.  It was getting pretty warm by the time I finished.

Today has been fairly slow.  I signed up to begin receiving Social Security beginning in November.  It's hard to believe we will be retired 5 years at the end of this year.  We've had so many memorable moments and look forward to many more.

One of our RVing friends recommended a book recently, Cancer on Two Wheels.  I purchased it on Amazon and downloaded it to my Kindle.  I'm already 2/3 of the way through it.  Cancer on Two Wheels was written in blog form by Chris Haga as he battled Stage IV Lung Cancer - and he never smoked in his life.   After he died his wife had it published.  It is such an uplifting story of his walk with God through this time in his life.  

I used to read all the time, mostly fiction.  It's been a long time since I've read a fiction book that can hold my interest, but I love uplifting stories, biographies, inspirational books, and self help books.  One of my favorite authors is Gretchen Rubin.  She wrote "The Happiness Project", and "Better Than Before".  She also does a regular podcast with her sister.  

We are going to dinner this evening with several of our Escapee RV friends that are here in the Branson area.  I am looking forward to it, first and foremost to see all of our friends, and second it's an Italian restaurant I've wanted to try out.  I'll let you know what I think later.

We are thinking of having some work done to Bentley on our way to New York, when we make a stop in Elkhart, Indiana.  I called today to get an estimate on one of the projects.  We should hear back in a day or two about that.

I received a surprise phone call from Flora, one of our Heartland friends today!  I enjoyed visiting with her very much and appreciate that she took the time to check in on us.  

This evening we ate dinner at Florentine's with several of our Escapee friends.  Don & Linda, Gary & Connie, Keith & Drena, Carolyn, Jack & Connie and Dean & I.  The food was quite good and we had a nice time visiting with each other.   Dean and I shared a trio plate that included lasagna, fettuccine alfredo and Parmesan chicken.  We thought it was quite good.

When we returned to the park, we stopped at Bentley, then drove back to the Club House to hear "The Texans".   We enjoyed their music and having a little something to do.  It only lasted about an hour; and it was a nice way to end our evening.

Sunday, July 8 - Moving Day, Birthday Celebration, Roadside Vegetable Stand, Walk in the Park,

Sunday, July 8 - Moving Day, Birthday Celebration, Roadside Vegetable Stand, Walk in the Park

Well today is moving day.  We are moving what would be a few blocks, if they had blocks here.  We are moving from Phase II to Phase III.  As a Treasure Lake member we can stay in one spot 21 days at our member rate of $8 per night.  After 21 days, you can move to another Phase within the park for a rate of $15 per night - this is called a buy back.  After 9 days you can move to another Phase for three weeks at the $8 rate.  

We did not walk this morning since we wanted to be ready to move as soon after 8:00 am as we could.  That meant most of our "moving day jobs" needed to be done a little before 8:00 so we could be at the office to trade in our current site number for a random number in another Phase (in case we can't find a site in Phase III, we will look in Phase l).  We arrived at the office shortly after 8 and only one person was in front of us.  

When it was my turn, I explained to the lady at the front desk that our 21 days were up so we needed to change Phases (each Phase is a different campground), but we only needed to pay for four nights.  She asked, "You are only going to stay for four nights??  I said yes.  Then she said the happiest words....""We have a grace period of four days and you won't have to move to another site before you leave."  Even though we packed up almost everything before we came to the office, we had not unhooked from water or electric or put the slides in yet.  We were elated to say the least that we would be able to remain in our current site.

We returned to Bentley and since everything was off the counters, tables, and put away I decided it was a great time to vacuum and dust, before I got everything back out again.  This is one of the reasons I do not put much out in the way of "decorations" in Bentley.  First of all we don't have much room, and when we move I must find a place to store it.  We have very little space to hang things on the wall or to place on a surface.  Most of the time it is just us in the RV and when we are traveling, we are typically not in it most of the day. 

We had a little time before we needed to leave for Springfield at 11.  We are meeting Marc and Jen at Olive Garden around 12:30, so we are going to Sam's first to get my sliced almonds I forgot to buy when we were there on Friday.  Shortly before we were ready to leave someone knocked on our door.  I believe it was the mother of our next door neighbors.  We have a Y on our side of the water hydrant.  They wanted to know if it would be okay to use it so they can clean the awning on their travel trailer.  Dean told them it would be fine.  He decided to shut our side of the Y off before we left, so we visited with them for a few minutes.  They were using a water less cleaner on their camper and showed us a section of the RV they were working on.  Wow - it looked great.  It was called Meguiar's Ultimate Waterless Wash & Wax.  Has anyone ever heard of it or tried it?  I think they said they bought it at O'Rielly's.  

We were about 10 minutes from Olive Garden when Marc texted they were at the restaurant.  They went on in and got a table.  I'm sure glad they did, as it got really busy about the time we arrived.  We were met at the door by a beautiful young lady, our granddaughter Kamron, and she took us to our table.  Jaxson was excited to show us his Orca whale he got at the new Wildlife Museum at Bass Pro.  They all loved the aquarium where they spent about an hour and a half.  Jaxson was telling us about orca whales and humpback whales.  We wished him a Happy Birthday, but we'll wait to tell him about his present when we leave.  

We had a wonderful dinner and it was great catching up with everything they have been doing since we last saw them several weeks ago now.  Kamron recently took golf lessons and won first place in a tournament.  We are so proud of her.  She really enjoys it.  She just went to a summer camp at Greenbush.  She had a lot of fun and met some new friends.  Our lunch was perfect.  Kamron and I love Olive Garden and it's our restaurant of choice when we spend the day together for her birthday each year (and so do Haleigh & Dacy, our two oldest granddaughters).

After dinner, as we walked to the cars I told Jaxson we had a present for him - "You have a present for ME?"  I had him walk to the side of the van, and when the door opened and he saw the big yellow fish - he said that's for ME? and grabbed it and just hugged it.  He was so excited - a win for Nana and Papa Peine.  We had one other present and gave him a $20 bill - he said that's for ME too?  He turned to his Dad and said it's twenty money Dad!  

As we were getting ready to leave our table Jennifer asked him if he was tired and he said yes.  I told Jen, he'll have the perfect thing to rest his head on, on the way home!  We sure hope he was able to use it.

6 year old Jaxson William Nile Blair with his long yellow fish.  Even though it wasn't a real fish he was very happy with it!

Dad Marc, Mom Jen, Jax and Kamron

We made a quick stop at Sam's before heading back to Branson via Highway 13.  I told Dean I wish we had a few more fresh tomatoes for sandwiches this week.  He mentioned the vegetable stand they used to have near West Branson, so we decided we'd drive by it on the way back to see if it was still in operation.  We were happy to see it was AND they had tomatoes.  Unfortunately, the ripe ones were pretty well gone but I found two I thought would work for us.  $2 for 2 nice size tomatoes.  They had several other things that looked really good but knowing we will be eating a couple of meals out in the next few days with friends here in the area I hated to buy much.  Brett has a large garden.  Since we'll be spending a few days parked at his house soon, we are hoping we can enjoy some of his bounty.

I forgot to include these pictures I took at Bass Pro the other day when we stopped there to look for Jaxson's fish.  I still enjoy visiting this place after 30+ years.

Gorgeous outside area as we approached the entrance.  Enlarge it to see more detail.

Beautiful scenery.  So much has changed since we were here last.

This bear was so life like it was intimidating!

I stepped outside and the temperatures had dropped so I suggested we take a walk around the park (campground).  Frank and Joyce were outside grilling their supper.  We stopped for a few minutes to visit but didn't want to hold them up with their dinner so we moved on.   I'm not sure how far we walked but it was pretty nice for most of the walk, and then all of a sudden it warmed up.  Fortunately, we were close to our site by then.  We set outside for awhile before finally coming in to watch a little TV.  Neither one of us was hungry for dinner tonight.  We were still pretty full from lunch but we did have a little snack of fruit. 

It's been a good day.  I hope yours was too!