Bear's Den Resort - Grove, OK

Well, this is an interesting place, to say the least. Our site is in the grass under a tree. I suppose we are lucky to have hookups! Tried a site where they sent us first, but that one had no electric.

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!!!

Steve took a trip to Har-Ber Village on the Grand Lake of the Cherokees. When he came back, we spent most of the evening in the tornado shelter (a building they had not used since the previous Halloween, which they had been using for storage) It was not comfortable and no air. Claustrophobic Cathy spent much of that time standing in the doorway or outside in the rain. This place is only 49 miles from Joplin, and we heard of that devastation. Several tornadoes were sited near here.

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN... but we left for Chanute, KS anyway, packing up in standing water halfway to our knees. We are hoping to get our electrical system fixed. We spent the night in Chanute amidst the carnival folks that were parked there. That was an interesting night.

On to Kansas City...

Twin Fountains RV Park - OK City, OK

We were able to visit the Oklahoma State Capital Building and Governor's Mansion. The Capital ground were interesting, with several memorials, including one from all of the Native American Tribes from the area.

We lunched at the highly recommended "Cattlemans Steakhouse" in the stockyard district. Several whole cows were eaten while we were there!

Steve visited the National Cowboy Museum and we both visited the zoo. The baby elephant was out for the first time, and his mom and aunt were keeping him very close!

We spent the next day at the National Memorial and Museum, dedicated to the 1995 bombing. It was a very sobering and moving tribute to those who died there.

On to Grove, OK...

TT Lake Texoma - Gordonville, TX

Our first visit was to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. It was very hard to find the HQ, as they are in the midst of construction and off to the side in a trailer. We had a good drive through the place, but not much wildlife was visible.

We ate at the "Catfish Platter", which is a local spot where you MUST eat if you are in the area.

Cathy broke her Kindle, and may never survive!!!!!

We took a tour the next day with our friend Joanne. We visited the Eisenhower Birthplace in Dennision, TX as well as the Audie Murphy Museum in Greenville. What an interesting life he had!

On to Oklahoma City...

Lone Star RV Resort - Austin, TX

We braved I35 to go downtown, where we took a 90 minute tour through the area. We had lunch in the 1886 Cafe in the Driscoll Hotel and still had time to tour the State Capital!

We were able to see friends from the Killeen area, some of whom we haven't seen since the 1980's.

We traveled to Driftwood, TX to meet our friend Joe, his wife Pam, and their daughter at the "Salt Lick BBQ". The slogan on the billboards for this place say "you can smell our pits for miles". The sauce is put on the meat with mops! Great 'Q! The visit and rememberance of old times was fabulous.

We were also able to have lunch with our former neighbors, Nancy and Dale, in Round Rock at Chuy's. The best Tex-Mex around! We laughed a lot during lunch and then decided to hit the outlet mall together. We "saved" quite a lot, as you could tell from the store receipts (all claiming the amount saved on your purchases today).

Traveled to Killeen to see Clarence and Shirlene. Their house was Steve's very first attempt at Halloween "trick or beer" in the early '80s. It was semi-successful. Their new house is large but cozy and we had a great visit. Stopped to see Nancy and Dale at their house, since we were in the neighborhood, and visited again. Finally were able to get our new TX driver's license in Killeen!

We toured the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum. We weren't aware before of the amount of important legislation that was passed during his presidency. We also visited the LadyBird Johnson Wildflower Center. Not as much color as we had hoped, but TX is in the middle of a drought.

Toured another Del Webb location in Georgetown.

Now, on to Lake Texoma...

Medina Lake Preserve - San Antonio, TX area

This Thousand Trails preserve is overrun by deer!!! They are very scraggily looking, but Steve is feeding them corn twice a day, so they stay pretty close, and even wait for him in the mornings.

Since we are staying here awhile, Cathy takes a plane trip to Denver to help her sister Sharon househunt and pack up her house.

While she was gone, Steve toured the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, went to a car show, and went fishing with two new friends we met at Lake Conroe! He even caught some fish.

Both of us toured the Del Webb complex in San Antonio. We like the idea of a planned community with lots to do. The more we get used to living in an RV, the smaller the home we think we will need when it is time to stop RVing. Cathy has already picked out the floorplan she likes best, now we just need to look for the best place to settle...still looking.

We met some new friends, Pat and Dave, and they helped us tour the San Antonio Missions, we took a river tour, and stayed for the IMAX presentation of "The Alamo - The Price of Freedom".

We are off to spend the night in the Camping World in New Braunfels, on our way to Austin!

Willis/Conroe - Lake Conroe, TX

March 1 and we are camped in the Castaways RV Park on Lake Conroe. The first night we camp in a temporary spot, as we need to take the house to have an axle looked at. The next day, we drag the house to the service by only to find out that they can't work on it. They suggest somewhere else, and we make an appointment for Friday.

We took a drive to College Station to visit the George Bush (elder) Presidential Library on the A&M campus, and are able to have dinner and visit with our good friend, Kathy.

On Friday, we drag the house to Odom Trailer Sales, who agrees to order a new axle for us.

On March 8, we moved to the Thousand Trails park at Lake Conroe. We also go for a visit to the St. Francis Wolf Sanctuary for Cathy's birthday (she insisted!). She was thrilled to get wolf kisses on her birthday! This sanctuary is bovernment approved for wolves and wolf-dog hybrids, and they currently house about 14 animals.

We took a drive to Livingston, TX where our Escapees home park is located. We got the tour of the facilities, whick includes the mail forwarding center (huge!) and the park, which has camping, RV's, houses, and the CARE facility for assisted living in your own RV. Got a hug from member #1, Ann, who founded the club with her husband Joe. Joe recently passed away, and Ann is living in her house on the grounds. We also tried to get our TX driver's license in Livingston, but weren't able to. (long story best relayed in person).

Steve took himself on a tour of the Texas Prison Museum and the Sam Houston Statue in Huntsville. He got to see the electric chair.

We ate dinner in Conroe at the Sticky Ribs BBQ! Highly recommended with huge portions!

We also took a drive to Washington on the Brazos, which was the first capital of the Republic of Texas. They had a nice museum in the state park.

The next day was our first "pickleball" lesson from new friends, Mark and Laurie. The game is a cross between ping-pong and tennis, and played with a wooden paddle and a whiffle ball. Supposedly the next big thing in the RV parks! Was kind of fun.

Drove the house to the shop again to have the new axle put on. The cat does not know what is goin on with all of the packing up, hitching up, driving 30 minutes, unhitching, wandering around in the truck, etc... Fortunately, no "surprises" from her!

We rented a car for our drive to Lincoln for Cathy's Dad's 80th birthday. We drove straight through with no problem, and the cat seemed ok with the new wheels.

We were able to catch our nephew Nolan's ballgame while we were there; he was catching that game. Had Dad's bithday dinner at his favorite restaurant, Red Lobster. We celebrated Nolan's birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings, and sister Julie's birthday at brother Bob's house.

We were also able to spend some time with Steve's side of the family, with dinner out, and a celebration of great-nephew Daniel's second birthday!

Back to Lake Conroe via Kansas City, so Steve could have his hearing aid fixed and Cathy could get her eyes checked. It is not fun getting older; and it's expensive!!

Came back to Lake Conroe, only to find our computer crashed! Were able to purchase a new one, have all the stuff moved over, and then got to finish the dreaded taxes!!!

On to San Antonio...