A Great Family Day

Saturday was a beautiful day and we started the day off early watching Dathon, Ms Pat's Great Grandson, play baseball. He looks like he will be a Major Leaguer for sure. He is at the ball field with his Sister Kylie and Mom Megan. They won the game just for us!! Good job Buddy!

Both Ms Pat and I love boiled peanuts and down South is the only place we see them.  So on the way to the family outing, the first "Boiled Peanut" stand we saw, we stopped and picked up a BIG bag.  Man were they ever delicious.  We'll be back for a couple more bags before we leave.



Soon we were about 12 miles South of Tallahassee at Ms Pat's daughter Lisa and Randy's place out in the woods where the rest of the family had began to gather...


Randy had some fresh Gulf Oysters on ice and soon began shucking them. Oysters on the half shell are another one of Ms Pat and my favorites. They were delisious!! when I moved down here in 1977 I had never tasted one, but I sure took to them fast and I've loved them every since... I must have ate at least 4-5 dozen...  These are local Oysters and these folks been shucking and eating them all their life..  I always said when in Rome do as the Roman's do!! I loved all the Southern food I ran into when I came here...

Here is a 4 generation picture.(right to left) Ms Pat, Grandson Billy, Great Granddaughter Eavan, Daughter Lisa, and Grand daughter-in-law Sarah.  They were headed off to an ourdoor Wedding.

Randy is a big hunter and he had some Vinison "back strap" in his freezer.  He wrapped small pieces in bacon and put them on the grill.  Here they are before they were grilled.  We'll show you later what they looked like when they came off the grill.

The Grandsons are setting up the horseshoe stakes getting ready for their game.

                                                           Grandson Marc starts it off.

                     

                                       Grandsons Josh and James watching their competitors.

                                               Grandson Gabe taking his turn.

Grandson Josh and James taking their turn. These folks are also superb Horseshoe pitchers. I always thought I was pretty good. Well let me tell you, it didn't take me long to bow out many years ago. I soon found out I was way out classed.......

                                                  Daughter Terri watching the game.

                       Randy and Lisa, our host and hostess, are busy eating oysters.

                                           This is the Vinison all grilled and ready to eat.

                                      Grandson Josh getting a belated Christmas present.

                                                                   Great granddaughter Kylie

                             Great Granddaughter Belle and Great Grandson Sage

         Now my belly is to full and it's time for a little football and "quite time" :-)  Zzzzzzzzzz

Son Scott, Daughter-in-law Shelly and Granddaughter Brittany arrived late and we forgot to take pictures.  It was getting close to our bedtime and we weren't thinking too clearly.  Needless to say, we had a wonderful time with the kids, grandkids and great grandkids.  The weather was FANTASTIC!!!

Today Elise, one of my former employees, has gotten together a bunch of the old group that is still around and organized a get together. I am so excited and looking forward to seeing them all.... There will be over 15 attending... many I haven't seen since I retired way back in 1992. Thats wonderful and I am so looking forward to it..... I will tell you about it next time...

That's about it for now, I'm sure you can tell we are sure having fun enjoying our Family..... We are ever so Thankful to our Father above for all he does and provides for us......

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

God Bless you all..

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Thought for the day:

"I think Congressmen should wear uniforms,

you know, like NASCAR drivers, so we could

identify their corporate sponsors."

'

A Seafood Boil to Remember!

Susan caught Ms Megabyte2 and I relaxing on their patio a few hours before our big Seafood Boil took place. We were both all spiffed up and I was wearing my new Harley shirt that Jutta brought me all the way from Germany.  We both knew things would be hoppin' soon and the guests would be arriving..

Ah Ha, here we go!! Lisa, Pat's daughter and Ms Pat along with her son Scott, watch as JRoger pours our outstanding Shrimp Boil on a serving tray. It looked and smelled "ummm good"! It contained potatos, corn, sausage, and lots of shrimp. JRoger also had the Mullet all "smoked" to perfection, it was delicious!! You can tell from the smile on his face that he loves to cook.....and I love to let him!!




























Looks mighty good to me....how about you? Oh Boy, this is what we've been waiting for!! Let's eat!




























Scott is a Certified Licensed Nuisance Alligator Trapper and always has plenty of Alligator meat. Here he is cooking some up for us. I think I have had some before but it has been a long time. I was anxious to give it a try again. I know that if it is cooked right, it's good and Scott knew exactly how to do it up right! It was delicious.




























Here it is all battered up and ready for the cooker.  Scott has his own special spices and seasonings that he uses and this time he added some of JRogers "Rub" recipe.  DELICIOUS!!




























We were so happy that our previous neighbors and good friends Rhoda and Chuck could join us. Chuck was such a good neighbor that I hired him to work for me.  He was one of my top employees. Chuck is now retired and Rhoda only has a few months to go before she hangs it up.. They are considering getting a motorhome and spent some time checking out our Foretravel.




























Going around the table that is Lisa, Ms Pats oldest daughter, then Ms Pat and behind her is daughter- in-law Shelly, then Scott, Ms Pats youngest, standing behind Scott is Lisa's husband Randy, then we have JRoger and Susan our gracious hosts. It is so nice of them to open their place to all of our friends and family when we are here. Everyone is enjoying all the food. Including me!!




























The next morning it was Monday and this is JRoger, Susan and their Kitty "Scratchy" ready to take off on the annual Pheasant Hunt in the great state of (where else?) SOUTH DAKOTA.  We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for being such wonderful hosts. We always have so much fun with them and will never forget all our great experiences with these super friends!!




























JRoger and Susan have a real nice place out here in the woods.  They assured us and we knew we were welcome to stay on at their place after they had gone but we decided it would be best to go closer to all the kids, so we moved about 25 miles West to the Big Oak RV Park in Tallahassee.

This is like an old home coming, as we stayed here for years and years when we came home to see the kids...  Karen is still the Manager and was glad to see us again.  She welcomed us with open arms.

So we are all settled in at Big Oak,

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We continue to thank our Father above for all he provides...

Thanks for stopping by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

It's a BEAR!!

Wow!!  We are having a blast down here in Florida at JRoger and Susan's place out in the woods. What wonderful hosts they are.  We've been so busy having fun that I don't have much time to write a blog, so I will just put in a bunch of pictures to keep you up on all our activity.


























First is the BEAR that the Wildlife Camera caught and forwarded to JRogers computer. It gives the date and time. Here we can't even see the feeder. Note the time is 9:19pm.



























Here is the Feeder some 37 minutes later and the Bear has it in his mouth still working on it.




























Here is a bear track we found nearby.......the dollar bill on top and the quarter on the right gives you an idea of the size of the footprint. Pretty good sized bear.

This is one of the Hog pictures taken by the camera last night.



























JRoger, Susan and I inspect the Feeder. The bear scratched it up pretty good but no damage.. Ah ha, JRogers invention worked.......the Bear couldn't crack it.  What beautiful weather we have been having...just makes it even more enjoyable.


























Plus, we managed to slip down to the coast the other day and pick up some Seafood...  JRoger is smoking some of the mullet we picked up. For those of you that have tasted smoked mullet, you know how good it is. While at the coast, Ms Pat and I decided to satisfy our craving for some fresh Oysters on the half shell. We each had a dozen.  Ah man, were they good!!  So good that we had to have another dozen a piece.  Boy-O- Boy, just like ole times and just what we've been missing.  We loaded up with a bunch more seafood from the markets on the coast and brought it home for a big "Low Country Shrimp Boil". 


























Ms Pats oldest daughter Lisa and her husband Randy came out to visit yesterday and brought a couple of their grand kids....Belle age 5 and Eavan age 2. Ms Pat had never seen Eavan before and Belle was just 2 years old when we were here the last time. Above is Ms Pat and Lisa smiling for my camera.  Lisa has worked for the State of Florida for 32 years & 2 months and has 2 years & 10 months to go for full retirement.  She's counting the days as you can tell.  She can't wait!



























Randy relaxes on JRogers patio taking a break from trying to keep up with those grand kids...they about wore him out.

























Lisa is a proud grandma and is usually chasing kids, too. I got her and Eavan slowed down long enough to get this picture. I never could catch Belle long enough to get a picture but Ms Pat is a proud great grandma too!  We'll be getting all the kids, grand kids and great grand kids together next weekend for another outing so we'll get more pictures then.

Today is going to be a big day for us as the kids and some close friends are coming out to spend the afternoon. We are cooking up some special stuff, one of which is the Low Country Shrimp boil...plus lots of other goodies including the smoked mullet.  Ms Pat's son, Scott, is bringing out some fresh "gator" meat to cook.  UMMM good!!!  Scott is a licensed "Nuisance Alligator Trapper".

JRoger and Susan are leaving Monday going on a big hunting trip. They told us we are welcome to stay at their place while they're gone but we have decided to move into Tallahassee so we will be closer to the other kids, grand kids and great grand kids.  We want to spend as much time as we can with them and other friends before we head "home" to Arizona.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by....

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We Are in FLORIDA..

This Elks Club parking is turning into something I really like.   If you remember, I joined the Elks Club along with 52 other Escapee's at the Gillette, WY Escapade. There are over 2000 Elks Clubs thoughout the US and many of them have RV parking. Some are more elaborate than others but they sure are a friendly group and seem happy to have you stop and stay with them. Most are free or a small fee or donation. Sure beats a Walmart, in my opinion. I am just not comfortable in most Walmart parking lots.. Too public for me.

One time a few years ago, someone "keyed" the side of my new truck.  I don't want the same thing to happen to this new truck or motorhome.   I'll stay in one if I can't find anything else, but spots like the one below at the Elks Club in Nevada, MO, north of Joplin, are perfect for a quick overnight stay and they have security driving through all night.




















































We made our way south of Little Rock out of the State of Arkansas and across the NE tip of Louisiana  into the State of Mississippi, where it was time to stop and take a break at the Welcome Center.
























We continued on across Mississippi and about half way across Alabama to the city of Selma, where this beautiful Elks Club was waiting for us. A welcome, quiet spot for us after a 475 mile day. A little longer drive than usual, but still an easy trip and what the heck. we are anxious to get to Florida and see all our kids and friends.

The next day we ran into RAIN.  Darn....almost made the entire trip without getting everything all messed up..  About 2pm we pulled into JRoger and Susan's place north of Monticello, FL. We parked in the RAIN, got all wet, but Roger and Susan welcomed us with open arms and thanked us for bringing the RAIN. It was so good to see them and Susan, bless her heart, had a wonderful bean and ham soup cooking for us and JRoger made a delicious salad... Ummm, so good!

Roger and Susan have a beautiful place down here in the woods and we have enjoyed time here with them before. I will show more pictures in my next Blog but just a few miles away, JRoger has his hunting camp.  It's a 5000 acre plot of forest and backwoods property owned by a Timber Company that JRoger has rented for the hunting rights..

I was anxious to see JRogers hunting property and he had some work to do there, so early Tuesday morning we took off for the Hunting Camp to do some work . It was still raining but that didn't stop JRoger and his 4 wheel drive Dodge truck. Above JRoger is unloading his new invention of a feeder for wild hogs which we carried back into the woods....




























See that little marker ribbon tied on the tree, that's the entrance to a special feeding spot. We took off deep into the woods carrying the new feeder and a sack of corn.  Wow, thick stuff!! Can you imagine.....5000 acres of this stuff! Now I remember all the fun times I've had in the back woods of Florida. I used to own 20 acres right close to here....more memories.




























We installed JRoger's newly designed feeder at his designated spot. This tube with holes in it is filled with corn and the wild hog's roll it to distribute the corn. But along comes Mr. Bear and he is too impatient to just roll it, he wants to tear it apart so the corn will come out all at once. You will note that it is chained to a nearby tree. He had another feeder just like this only lighter pipe set up here and the Bears tore it up in a heartbeat. They even carried half of it off into the woods.  This one is much heaver PVC....I bet they can't tear it up, We are anxious to see and see we will...........




























With this state of the art infrared camera, JRoger sees everything that goes on!!  Plus, hear this..... this camera has a wire that goes high up into the pine tree and is connected to an Antenna. The camera has a Verizon Cell phone in it and it automatically transmits all pictures right to JRogers smart phone....NEAT, huh? JRoger saw the big black bear tear up his previous feeder.  He showed me the picture and I'll try to show it to you later if I can...




























Then with our work all done, JRoger drove me around the area. What a vast wilderness, right in the center of the panhandle of Florida. I really enjoyed it and I was so turned around that the only direction I knew for sure was UP!!!  I wouldn't want to be stranded out there,  The undergrowth is really thick but the wildlife is quite abundant.......but mostly after dark!! 

It kept on raining and JRoger got us out of there and back onto the highway.   I never thought it would happen, but I was sorta glad to see civilization again as we headed for home.  What a neat experience. Thanks JRoger.   I loved it...

So here we are in Florida.  Let the fun begin as we get together with old friends and our Kid's, Grand kids, Great grand kids, etc.... Today, we're off to buy some good ole' Florida seafood......YUM!!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned as I tell you of our activities for the next couple of weeks.   Who knows what all is going to happen...

God Bless you all!

Mike


This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

We Are 1450 Miles From Custer

Here we are parked at an exit entrance taking a short break South of Joplin, MO on our way to Little Rock. I can't say enough about how good this rig runs. It is a pure treat to drive it. The Cummins 450 ISM diesel runs superb and has plenty of power.. I bet it would run 80mph if I wanted it to but I'd rather cruise along at about 62 and enjoy the beautiful colors down here in the Ozarks.

Here we are parked at the Willow Beach Corps of Engineers RV Park near Little Rock, AR. This is where we always stay when we're in this area and have been here several times before. That's the beautiful Arkansas River right out of our door. The RV sites are paved and have 50amp and water. Plus, since we get a 50% off Senior discount, it's only $9.50 per night. What a bargain!  Sometimes its OK to be old. :-)

We went to North Little Rock and visited with out great friends and old traveling companions, Louis and Janette. They full timed for over 15 years and really do miss it. However, Louis is real sick with Parkinson's. It is so sad to see him in a long term care center,confined to a wheel chair and now at the stage where he can only say a few words. He was always a very active guy and has a heart of Gold. We have had so many, many good times together. They always came to spend time with us every year when we lived in Custer State Park. He truly is a great mind trapped inside a broken body. It really breaks my heart and I know he isn't enjoying life very much. Please God have mercy on him. We pray for Louis and hope he is comfortable. Janette, bless her heart, is an Angel.  She does her best to make sure he has everything he needs and has her hands full working with him and her mother who has Alzheimers.



Our good friends Gregg and Bonnie were headed for Dallas to see family and just happened to be in the area. We directed them to the campground and here they are right across the street with their beautiful 5TH wheel and Volvo Semi tow truck. They have been in several of our Blogs before and have visited us in both AZ and SD. Being avid Harley riders, we have taken many rides to together. Unfortunately we couldn't ride with them this time because our Bike is all packed up and put away in the Toy Barn in SD.   It is so good to be able to spend some time with them as we travel and cross paths. This is such a wonderful life.... I hope it never ends. However, I know it will.  I look at Louis and a tear comes to my eye as I thank Our Heavenly Father for every minute on His great earth and for His many mercies.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for taking the time from your busy day to stop by.  We will continue South towards Florida this morning.  We have a little over 700 miles to go.  JRoger and Susan, Bob and Ely, Chuck and Rhoda and all the kids are waiting for us. It will be so good to see them all.  By Blog time next Wednesday, we should be there, or very close!

God Bless..

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Visiting Ann in Lincoln, Nebraska

As you know, we parked overnight Saturday evening in the Parking lot of The Great Platte River Road Archway on Interstate 80, near Kearney, Nebraska. We got up Sunday morning and toured the Archway Monument. All I can say is my usual....WOW!!  It is every bit as wonderful as everyone else told us.
I showed you a picture of the large statue of this Buffalo in my last Blog, but I wanted to show you this picture with Ms Pat standing in front of it. You can see the enormous size of this Great Buffalo.

From Archway Monument, Kearney, NE Oct 2011

As soon as we got inside the Archway and started to experience all the genuine Western culture, these two desperado's captured Ms. Pat and were going to keep her! No Way!!!  I couldn't ever give her up!! I had to pay a large Ransom to keep her!

Click on the link below the above picture and it will take you to my Web Album and 87 other pictures of our journey through this Archway.   It was some experience and we highly recommend this place.  What a journey and for only $8.50 per person. There is even a couple pictures out the window of the traffic moving under us on I-80. Take a look.

We then continued our journey East to Lincoln and went to our usual parking place at the Lancaster Event Center on 84TH St. in Lincoln. NE. It has many, many RV sites with 50 amp electric hookups and water and dump station close by.   We have parked here so many times before, we know the manager and it is just a couple miles from Scott and Ann's house. As you can see, we almost have the place to ourselves.

We enjoyed spending the last two days helping Ann do all sorts of odd jobs around her place and getting her a little more prepared for Winter.  We cleaned gutters, mowed grass, raked leaves, trimmed tree branches and many other little items., including getting her snow blower started and ready to go.  Ms Pat and I were truly "tuckered out" each day but felt good about accomplishing so much.  I even started Scott's truck and drove it around and prepared it for Ann to sell. We had to say our goodbyes last night as we must continue on down the road. That's always a hard task, to say good bye and I sure don't like that part in the least.  We look forward to seeing Ann again.  She is a lovely gal, an important part of our family and we love her very much.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!! As we continue to enjoy what our Father above has provided..

We want to Welcome our latest Followers:

Hobo Joe
Cat

Thanks for becoming a follower of our blog. Hope you will stop by regularly and ride along with us on
Mike and Pats Travels.

This morning we are leaving around 8:00am and hope to make it to the Elks Club RV parking space in Iola, Kansas.  That's about 300 miles and half way to Little Rock, AR. our next stop.  We're looking forward to spending a few days there with our friends Louis & Janette and Greg & Bonnie.

Stop on back Sunday and we'll be talking to you from Little Rock!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

On The Road Again! YAY!!

We planned on leaving Friday afternoon after we got the water pipes all blown out and everything put away and the "Cabin" cleaned, winterized and closed up. But WHEW!!!  That was a JOB! We didn't get finished until almost 3pm and both of us were dog tired.  We had a meeting and made a corporate decision that we would get a good nights rest and put in a full day of driving Saturday.
Boy, I slept like a LOG and woke up ready to roll.  It was a beautiful morning and made us extra sad to leave such a gorgeous place.  By 7:30AM, we were rolling out of Custer heading South.  The weather stayed nice all day.  We had a great travel day and made our destination to the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney, Nebraska.  We arrived as usual right on time for Happy Hour at 4pm. However, we crossed over into the Central Time Zone and lost an hour. Pat had called the Archway and found out their closing time was 4pm. 

We really planned on staying the night at Cabela's and visiting the Archway first thing this morning but the folks at the Archway told us we were welcome to spend the night in their parking lot.  Cabela's has dozens of trains going all night long and they all love to blow those whistles.  We jumped at the idea of being welcomed to use the Archways big parking lot and being right there to view the Archway first thing this morning .

The Archway is beautiful and extends across Interstate 80 right close to the center of Nebraska. Ms Pat and I remember when they began to build it. We wondered what in the world it was. We have driven under it many times but never took the time to stop and see it...We decided this is the time!

I really wish I had taken the tour before I wrote this Blog so I could show you more about this fabulous structure. It is quite interesting how they built it and what all it is made of.  The special steel and chemicals used on the sides of it designate the Nebraska Sunset.. It is beautiful!. You definitely need to check out their Monument Website and here's a link to Wikipedia that has a little more info.   Don't pass it up if you're ever crossing the state. Many of our friends have marveled at the longest escalator in the state inside that takes you by all the marvelous displays..

Standing out in front of the entrance is this big beautiful BUFFALO!!

The Entrance

It's much bigger that it looks from the Interstate as you fly under it. If you have stopped and toured the Archway, please leave me a comment and tell me what you thought of it.

Here we are all tucked away back in the far side of the parking lot all by ourselves. I really enjoy this Motorhome set up. It's so convenient and easy....just pull in, hit a button and it levels itself and nothing touches the ground. Touch another button and the TV Dome finds a satellite. One more button and the slide, or slides are out.......another button starts the generator if the power meter says you're batteries are low.   Didn't have to start the generator until this morning and that was mainly for the heat pump to take the chill off and, of course, the coffee pot.  What a great way to travel!!! 

We enjoyed the evening except for watching Wisconsin beat the socks off our University of Nebraska. Shucks, that sure shot their winning season!  As soon as we tour the Monument this morning, we will head for Lincoln and spend a few days with our dear daughter-in-law, Ann. After our visit in Lincoln, we will continue on to our next destination, Little Rock, AR. 

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and may the Good Lord take a likin' to ya!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..