Settled In!

We are pretty much settled in and enjoying the area,except the weather is not cooperating with me. Low in the 40's is fine but it has been high in the 50's and rainy. Like winter in Sugar Land…. It looks like the weather is improving, though.

You know I am going to have some flowers around our RV…. We saw a humming bird around it, so I got a feeder. As soon as I get a good pic of our little hummer, I will post.

Debbie and Chris are here and Dennis is enjoying spending time with his
 
brother. They are full time and on their way to Michigan for the summer. They had a little issue with their rig including a rock hitting their windshield on the way. The windshield will have to be replaced and because of its size it is a special order. It will take about 10 days to arrive and then installed, so they have had to extend their stay here. We are all actually happy about that!!

When we finish our work camper days then we have the rest of the week to play.


Let a guy drive a Gator and pick up tree limbs and he is a happy man! And he gets to deliver wood to campers with it, too.

Lots of nice lawn games here.

                            

One day we all took the scenic loop around the area and enjoyed the beauty of the area. We found some good restaurants, too. We started out with breakfast at the Apine restaurant. We watched a squirrel eat at the Bird Buffet out the window. We had lunch at Bites in the next little city north. Delicious lunch specials.   

While the guys played golf, Debbie and I put together a gift for all those checking in over the Memorial Day weekend. We wondered where the owners found the idea as it is very cute! Thanks to Debbie for helping out! We enjoyed doing it together.                                                                                               

I never win Wahoo but finally did this time!

Voted the best Mini Golf Course
in Minnesota

The park is attached to a golf course and a mini-golf course. The sun finally came out long enough for us to play some. 

The rest of the week was spent taking turns doing the cooking and playing Euchre and Wahoo.

Paul Bunyan is a big thing here.

One entrance to the Paul Bunyan bicycle/walking
trail in Pequot Lakes.

Did you ever see a water tower
shaped like a bobber??

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

We are here and getting used to our home for the summer. We have met our fellow work campers: a single man and a couple from Virginia who have been full time for a couple of years. We spent the first day riding golf cart around the golf course and the campground and getting our bearings.   The weather is perfect. We set outside after dinner in 64 degrees, sunny and no wind looking at birds and the golf course.

 I will get to plant flowers around the park and the golf course, which will not be work for me but fun.  We have settled on a schedule with the other workers. Right now, though, we are helping each other out getting the park ready for official opening on Memorial Day.

 

There is one hotel room and one 2 bedroom suite as well as campsites. One day this week a woman came with her mother to look at the suite to have her wedding attendants dress there and gather prior to her wedding in August. I look forward to seeing everyone dressed up and taking pics, etc.

About half of the park is seasonal and they will be coming on the weekends. Then the rest are a few days to weekly. We understand that beginning Memorial Day weekend it's like a light switch was turned on and the area is alive. The town doubles in size and the RV park is hopping!

Pequot Lakes is a small town by the park. It is a nice little city to go for a few groceries or to eat. There are actually Dairy Queen's up here! Although, they do not serve Tacos up here like in the South. (The Tacos at Dairy Queen are very good, by the way!} There is a Mexican restaurant that opened a few months ago. Do you think we should try it????? Hmmmm.

The Paul Bunyan Bike Trail is the longest bike trail in Minnesota and runs for 120 miles and you can get on it from The Chamber of Commerce parking lot and near the RV park.

Dennis's brother will be arriving soon and we look forward to the week with them before they move on to their summer destination in Michigan.

Winterset, Iowa

We had not intended to do sight seeing on the way to Minnesota as we were visiting family and friends on the way. We booked a site at a park outside of Des Moines thinking to make it an overnight stay before going into Minnesota. We then discovered that the little town of Winterset, 12 miles south of the RV park, was the home to John Wayne's birthplace and museum and that Madison County has the largest amount of covered bridges in Iowa.

It is also where The Bridges of Madison County was filmed. We decided to extend our stay and do some sightseeing.

Beautiful courthouse on the square

And we are glad we did! Winterset is a beautiful little town with a Court House square full of shops and places to eat.

We were told to be sure an get an apple fritter at The Bakery. We went to the Chamber of Commerce to get a map then headed to The Bakery. Yummo.

Notice the coffee carafe and the small coffee cup. A very old bakery but awesome food!

We then headed to the Rosemond bridge , the bridge in the movie.

The next stop was another covered bridge in the city park. Beautiful park and we discovered there was an RV park there. We might stay there on the way home and visit more of Winterset.

The John Wayne museum housed a lot of his memorabilia and we saw the little house where he was born in

 Winterset, IA

The chairs in a theatre in the museum are from the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.

We were walking to eat lunch at the Northside Café and ran into a couple from Dallas. The café was busy so we shared a table. They had come to Winterset to see covered bridges, too. The owner found out we were all from Texas. He is from Austin. So he said since we were all Texans dessert was on him. The coconut cake was fabulous!

Pic of Eastwood in the restaurant

It was also the café where Clint Eastwood stopped in for coffee when he arrived to photograph bridges (in the movie).   I sat on the same stool  he sat on in the movie  to pose for a pic.

Winterset, IA is a high recommendation !!

A stop at Bridges of Madison County Winery and then back to camp. The park was about half full when we left in the morning. By 6:00pm the park was full! We saw maybe 20 RVs come in within 1 1/2 hours after we returned.  People up here are anxious to get outside after the winters.

On our trip we have enjoyed the cups Tif made  to take with us.  As we travel we can take them in and refill and on our way again.

Almost  there! 

Oklahoma City and Kansas

We checked in to KOA in Oklahoma City. Nice park with shade and level sites. At dinner we met Dennis's three  cousins at Toby Keith's restaurant in Bricktown and enjoyed catching up with their lives.

Turtles are getting plenty of sun.

Two of the cousins are sisters whose mother (Dennis' aunt) lives in an assisted living facility.  She is 88 and has lived there the past year.  Since we wanted to visit her while we were in town we checked with them about a good time to see her.   They gave us her "schedule": Exercise at 9:00, Donuts and Coffee at 10:00,  Bingo at 1:00 and Nails at 3:00. So instead of us putting her in our schedule, she was putting us in hers…. We chose donuts! It was a happy time visiting her and others that live there. They love to have company and pretty much talk the whole time - between bites of donuts. They tell stories of long ago and then start over again. We are glad she is still of sound mind and making the most of her time. A lesson for all.

On the road to Wichita we stopped at a Braum's with RV/truck parking. Unusual to find this, so we stopped for burger and ice cream!

In Wichita, Kansas we stopped to visit former neighbors who had moved back to Kansas to be near their son.

We had dinner at their house and caught up on family and neighborhood happenings. Because we have been traveling to visit friends and family, we have been eating out a lot and, at the RV, soups and casseroles from the freezer that I had made before leaving. So it was a nice surprise to be able to sit down to dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, carrots, etc. Thank you Pat and Larry!

Dennis breaking camp

Our campground, Air Capital RV Park, is nice and clean. It IS a parking lot and is busy with contractors, etc. spending the month in the area, but the sites are concrete and level and there is a grassy area outside the RV. Close to Interstate for ease of travel.

We met a man from Katy, traveling alone. Dennis and I both know we cannot do that. It takes both of us to remember everything to do when setting up and getting ready to move on!

One night stopover in Kansas City. No friends, no relatives…. The drive from Wichita to Kansas City is beautiful with rolling hills and cows grazing. The problem with traveling pulling an RV is that you can't just pull over on the side of the road and get a pic.

We did find an overlook to get a few shots.

Trying to stay ahead of the rain, we stopped for gas and purchased some cheese and crackers and a Payday to share. Sometimes you have to make do…..

Des Moines, IA tomorrow. Then one more stop before arriving at summer destination.  

Moving On

We checked in to Lake Murray State Park near Ardmore, OK. Beautiful park on the lake.

We were there to go to Cowboy Way Fest in Gene Autry. My parents grew up there when it was first  named Berwyn, OK. During their childhood Gene Autry bought the farm next to theirs for his rodeo stock. The name of the town was eventually changed to Gene Autry. The day of the celebration the town grew for the day from 500 to 35,000.

Pic of the Post Office front housed
in the museum

My grandmother ran a grocery store and was Postmaster for a while. The town eventually died down and the schoolhouse was no longer needed. It was then turned into the Gene Autry Museum. It houses  Cowboy memorabilia and showcases cowboy singers once a year.

My mother's brother, Les Gilliam, sang with a band during college, then began an accounting career in Ponca City. After early retirement he took up singing again. He and my Aunt Martha have traveled for 20 plus years keeping cowboy music alive. He is famous in those circles and is in the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. He also sings good! If interested his website is Les Gilliam.com.

Sons of the Pioneers singing at the festival

We attended the festival and enjoyed visiting with them and their daughter, Julie.

We also met a relative we had not known before. He is my Aunt Margaret's -- Les's sister's --nephew by marriage. Her husband, George's brother's son. What does that make me and Lou?? Whatever it is, we enjoyed visiting with him and his wife Pam. We found out their favorite  restaurant in Ardmore is Two Frogs (same as ours) so we drove in, had dinner, and enjoyed talking about all our relatives!!

Les Gilliam and Call of the West

Now, on to Oklahoma City to visit some of Dennis's relatives.

Our church at home is now hooked up with utube. We were able to go to church today on the road! We figured out how to watch our service live. Actually, I watched and Dennis drove. Another great sermon, Taylor!!

If you can't go to your church on Sunday, I invite you to ours at utube : Sugar Land Baptist Church.

Will catch you up later as we travel to Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, then our destination in Minnesota.

Beginning our trip North ,we had a nice first stop just south of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area visiting friends and family.

There is always something to do at our daughter's (Tif's) house, so this time Dennis and his brother, Gerald, installed a microwave over the range in the kitchen. They had time for visiting and catching up while working. Thanks to their measuring, and measuring again, and hard work the microwave fits, is working great, and daughter is happy!

Dinner in the crockpot made, visiting with Justin, a nice evening on the back deck with him, Tif and Chad made for a good day all around.

We got to have lunch with Kelsey and her friend, Michaela (who we consider a granddaughter),who is hard to catch with working, college and social life!

Since we would be leaving Texas shortly we felt the need to eat Tex-Mex several times this past week.

Next, visiting with friends, enduring a spring rain and we are on our way again!

This is why we camp

 instead of staying in hotels.

I changed my ringtone on Iphone to:" Deep in the Heart of Texas", so call me so I can hear it to feel close to home! 

Next stop Cowboy Way Festival in Gene Autry, OK!🤠🤠