We Had A Visitor,,,,,,,In The Middle Of The Night!

I have been using my "Wild Game" camera in the back yard, getting familiar with using it and mostly getting pictures of Bunny Rabbits. However, the other night shortly after midnight, look who was in our back yard.

Mr. Coyote dropped by! He doesn’t look like he is up to any good either! Trying to sneak up on one of the bunnies probably, or maybe a "little kitty". These cameras are neat and not that expensive. If you want to know what is going on around your place when you're not around, just drop by WalMart and pick up one of these. It's called the N6 model and has excellent quality. It tells you at the bottom of the picture what the temperature is, the time and date the picture was taken and the sequential number of the picture.

This is maybe what Mr. Coyote was in search of......


Or this????

I enjoyed everyone's comments on my Black Friday capers. Now that it is over and I look back, I’m glad I did it and I am really having fun playing with my new guns, mounting scopes, etc. Would I do it again? Probably I would.  It was kinda fun and with Ms. Pat, she makes everything more fun. She is so enjoyable to do stuff with. We met some neat people in the lines and had fun discussing with them how NUTS we all were. It would have been more fun if some friends had of been with us but none of them were NUTS enough!! I bet my good friend JRoger would have gone with us….I wished a zillion times that he was there.  JRoger is extremely knowledgeable about guns.....guns of any kind, and ammo, scope’s, etc. etc. I respect his knowledge so much. I know he gets tired of all my questions...I call and email him all the time.

Oh yeah....BTW.....we also heard through the "grapevine" that the kids, Rollie and Gina, and Rollie's sister, Dana and husband Ricky were out even earlier than we were.  See......we're not the only NUTS around here.  :-)

Meanwhile, I’ve got about everything here that was stored running.

First up was the Golf Cart.....new batteries and cables, remove and reseat all the tires and replace the leaking valve stems....so it's running really well.   Now Ms. Pat can go to the clubhouse for Line Dancing in any weather with no problem. Golf carts are so cool and quite. There are dozens of them here in the park…


Next was getting out the two Polaris 4X4’s and getting them fired up.  Sometimes this takes a little coaxing, but I usually get them going.  I use heavy SEA FOAM applications in the fuel and up into the carbs when I leave them in storage. That stuff is wonderful....I been using it for over 30 years after my Dad told me about it. Beats anything else like Sta-Bil, etc. that I have used.  Give it a try.  I used to a have to go to NAPA to get it but WalMart is selling it nowadays.  I have seen this stuff clear the lacquered fuel out of a generator that wouldn’t start. I buy it by the case!  My stuff starts up every year, year after year.

My old 2000 Polaris that I’ve had for about 6 years fired right up. It is so dependable, it's unbelievable..  I usually run the carb dry of heavily “Sea Foam” treated fuel when I set them up for storage in the spring. Then when I get here in the winter I have to crank them for a while to get new fuel in, and they fire up every time. We have already been on a couple rides out in the desert. (our backyard).

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We are happy to Welcome 3 new followers:

Bud Rassman
Bill and Cap
Allen and Lolita DuGuay

Glad to have you folks drop by.  Hope you will stop often, and comment when you can or stop and see us if you're in the area.

God Bless you all and safe travels!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

OK, I’ve Totally Lost It and Yep....I'm NUTS!

I have NEVER done the “Black Friday” thing and totally agreed that those that did do it, were NUT’S!! Well, that was until Paul & Nancy showed me Cabela’s  “Black Friday” flyer that had a Rifle in it that I wanted. I thought and thought about it and decided that for a gun, I would do it. I told Ms. Pat what I was thinking and she said “I think you have LOST IT”!   That sale starts at 5AM and its in Phoenix, 60 miles away.  She said, "They probably only have a couple of those guns and we’ll never make it."  I thought she's probably right...it’s a dumb idea but I still kept thinking about it.

Finally, I called the gun dept. at Cabelas and asked the guy how many of those guns they had.  He told me they had a good stock.  Hmmm...so I asked him what he considered a “good stock” and he answered "Well, I know we have over 200." Now that intrigued me so I told Ms. Pat I was going but I wasn’t going to leave until about 7am and get there by 8:30 and just take my chances..   It was Dance class morning for her, so I told her she didn’t have to go, that I would go alone. "Oh, No Way!!" she said, "You think I would turn you loose alone in that mess?"


So on Black Friday morning, we took off in the dark headed for Cabelas in Phoenix.....at, listen to this, 0515 hundred hours! Surely not many people will be there at this time of the day. It was a beautiful morning and the highway was clear.  We pulled into Cabela’s at 6:15am. OH My!!! The parking lot was nearly full!! We had to park way out in the parking lot. WOW, now I knew I was NUTS! I asked Ms. Pat, “Who’s stupid idea was this”?  She is such a pleasant Lady...she just smiled and said, "Come on, we better get in line." 

So, we stood in line for just over an hour and finally got a clerk who took the information and secured a gun for us.  While I was there, I asked the clerk if I could buy 2 of the guns. "No, only one per person", he replied. Ms Pat said how about me? OK...you can have one too. So he sold us 2 guns.  Then the guy right next to me was looking at another gun that they had on sale. Ms. Pat said isn't that one of those AR15 rifles like you were looking for?  WOW!! I hadn’t noticed they had those on sale, too. At $100.00 off, I’ll take one of those! The clerk sold us 3 guns and told us we have to go over in another line to fill out the paperwork.  So, off we went to the other line to get the long process of filling out the paperwork completed. That line was even LONGER and it took another hour. Then the paperwork had to be submitted and approved.  "That will take a couple hours, at least", the lady told us…. "go do some more shopping and come back in and pick up the guns later."


OK, we fought the crowd looking around and picked up some other things we wanted and then decided to run up to Sams Club to get a few grocery items we needed.  Well,, that was another ZOO.  Plus, they didn’t have the Pomegranate juice we wanted, so we ran across the street to Costco.  Yep, ZOO # 3 for the day!  It still wasn’t even 10 am and people were streaming in the door like crazy. I do believe we beat the worst of the crowds. ....at least I keep telling myself that. :-)

In a couple hours, we went back to Cabelas and we stood in line for over another hour to pick up the 3 guns.  WHEW!!  Finally we were outta there……and headed HOME!! Made it just barely in time for....yep you guessed it....Happy Hour! We were both totally exhausted and needed all the "Happy" we could get!

The next day when we saw Nancy and told her what we did,  she said “You must be NUT’s”. Ha ha.  We told her, "Yep, we are and never again will we do Black Friday."   But…well, if they should happen to have a special gun.........Nah.... “probably” not even then!!  But I sure had fun playing with my new guns yesterday. I spent all day  mounting scopes and fun stuff like that…….. now to get out and site them in!!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Ms. Pat cooked us a delicious Turkey, Ham and all the trimmings. We can now enjoy the leftovers for days…… I love that!  We even got in a nice ride out in the desert on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and of course, stopped by our secret firing range and had a little target practice.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Hope yours was, too.  Thanks for stopping by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..


PressurePro "END OF THE YEAR SPECIAL"!! If you've ever wanted a PressurePro Tire Pressure Monitoring System, now is the time to get it. These PressurePro Systems are "NEW STOCK" with the latest technology and updates and the supply is limited and going quickly. Some Dealers are selling "outdated" and "used" systems for less but you won't find a NEW PressurePro system anywhere for this price and when we sell all of these, the "sale" is over. We offer excellent customer service and are well known in the RV Community. We are presently located at North Ranch Escapee Park in Congress, AZ. For more information stop by to see us or contact us at 850-294-0281.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS..........Mike and Pat

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have spent many Thanksgivings in this kind of weather. This picture was taken last weekend on the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park.


In fact, here is an old picture taken way back when I used to live in the cold country. This was taken about 68 years ago, (I can’t believe it's been that long) when I was just 8 years old and rode my pony “Patches” to school everyday. I retrieved this picture from those old pictures that my son Patrick brought me last Winter. Gosh does this ever bring back some cherished memories….  It just so happens that yesterday would have been my parents 78TH Wedding Anniversary.


Speaking of pictures, here is a picture of a couple youngsters I know. This picture was taken just short of 25 years ago.

These couple pictures are only a mere sampling of all the things that I have to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving.  Where all this time has gone, I don’t know. However, with the Grace of God, we are where we are today.



Rollie and Gina have been on a Cruise and sent us this picture that was taken with their iPhone on "Formal Night". WOW......aren’t they beautiful? Thanks kids for sending it to us…..their love for us is another thing we have to be thankful for.




One more picture of our little Ms. Megabyte2 on another one of her many perches. This is a recent picture taken as she tried to climb on up to the upper shelves, but couldn’t quite master it.  I'm sure she'll keep trying until she does.  She's trying to look like another one of the "ornaments". :-)  She is a wonderful part of our life....I don't know what we would do without her.  We have so much to be thankful for!!

A very good friend sent me the following and I would like to pass it on to you:

May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes ' n gravy have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious. May your pies take the prize.
May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs.
MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!

To all of our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids scattered around in Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska and Arizona, we miss you and love you all very much.............AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! 


It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by…..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Visiting Karen and the Boys in Tucson..

We had one last stop to make before we continued on home to North Ranch. This is a picture of my son Mikel's home in Tucson where he lived after his retirement from the US Army. You will remember that we lost Mikel back in May of 2010. His wife Karen and our two Grandsons, Mikel Jr. and Stephen, still live here and we stopped to pay them a visit.


This is DIL Karen. She welcomed us to Happy Hour.


Karen prepared a lavish feast for us.. She remembers how much I enjoy Happy Hour! It was delicious and healthy also!


Here are the boys, Stephen 14 on the left and Mikel 17 on the right. WOW, what big boys! They aren’t used to having their pictures taken and weren’t too keen on that but it worked out fine. I remember when they were toddlers.  We babysat them and I remember pushing them around in a stroller. They aren’t quite as big as me yet but close! It was great visiting with Karen and these fine young men and finding out about their busy lives. I know they all miss their Dad very much, as do we.  However, in his honor, we must continue on as this is what he would want.


We quickly got settled into our place here at North Ranch, AZ. Here is Ms. Megabyte and me as we spent most of the day yesterday watching our two favorite football teams.  We didn't do as good as we did last week....Nebraska and Florida State both got beat.:-(

Ms. Pat attended her first line dance Friday and I continued getting things uncovered, unloaded and somewhat organized.  Gotta take things slow, ya know......wouldn’t want to work myself out of a job! :-)

We have two new followers, #207 and #208 that I would like to Welcome aboard.

Miss Lazee
LynnMiles

Glad to have you stop by and hope you will join us often and please comment below, we love to hear from our readers. We get around 350 readers each day we publish. If it wasn’t for all of you readers and all the comments I get, I would be tempted to sign off the Blog business. I get stymied sometimes as to what to write about and wonder if I should give it up. Thank you for sticking with me and all the encouraging words.   It is you all that keep me going,.....believe me! 
 
We are leaving in a few minutes to attend our favorite Church in this area.....First Southern Baptist Church in Wickenburg.  We're looking forward to seeing Pastor Dean, his lovely wife Rhonda and all of our Church family.  We have truly missed them.

God Bless you all!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!
 
Mike

PS:  I wanted to tell you how many miles we drove the Motorhome from the time we left Custer till we arrived at North Ranch....4,200 Total Miles!!.  Normally, it's just over 1,000 miles from Custer to North Ranch but we kinda took the "long way" home so we could visit our kids and in search of some good ole' Florida seafood!  :-)  Thanks again to all the kids for a GREAT visit, their gracious hospitality and all the good seafood.

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We’re HOME!!

This was a Grand site to see as we entered Arizona….

We took the Phoenix Bypass at Casa Grande, taking I-8 to Hwy 85 in Gila Bend, then back up to I-10.  At exit 103, we turned north to Wickenburg and on up to North Ranch.  This route avoids the traffic through Phoenix.  We arrived yesterday shortly after lunch.

I just love this cut across.....it’s a little curvy and wavy but it is beautiful.  It brings you into Wickenburg from the south on Vulture Peak road.


It takes you right by Vulture Peak....Ms. Pat snapped a picture as we passed. There is a nice boon docking area just off the road at the base of the Mountain. We have hiked to the top many times with several of our friends and look forward to doing it again. This Peak can be seen from our lot at North Ranch.  Hey, "geocachers", there is a local "cache" on the top put there by the Chamber of Commerce!


This sign pretty much describes the road but it is an easy trip and the road is excellent…


You can just “inhale” all the beauty, which is just what I am doing as the Foretravel Motorhome easily traverses the curves and small hills……. 


Even before we get to Wickenburg, you can see North Ranch where we live way off in the distance (where I placed the +).  It is a good 12-15 miles away. You can see we are way out in the boonies, which is what we love!


Soon we arrived at North Ranch.  Ms. Pat and I are both anxious to see our home that we left nearly 6 months ago……..


We pulled up in front of the place and unhooked our pickup. I backed the Foretravel into it's spot and  immediately took this picture, even before we went inside.  WOW, doesn’t the place look good? Look how the trees have filled out since we cut them back last year and Gina, your rock gardens look wonderful. All the solar lights even work.

We are so glad to be here and to find the place in such good shape.  Thanks to our great friends and neighbors Paul and Nancy for looking after it for us……

Now we have a ton of work to do!! Ms Pat is already started and I better get to helping her….

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!         It’s going to be a GREAT WINTER!!

Thanks for riding along with us and if your in the area, be sure to stop by or give us a shout….
We are ever so Thankful to our Father in Heaven for continuing to place his blessings on us….
See ya Sunday.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Crossing Texas..

We traveled the 4 states of FL, AL, MS and LA all in one day but it’s taking us 4 days to get across TEXAS!

If you remember we arrived here at Motorhomes of Texas Sunday for some scheduled work and servicing of our Foretravel on Monday.


They pulled us in early Monday morning and began working. This is Mark on the left and Isaac on the right as they serviced our Coach.



They had everything all taken apart as they began looking at different things we had on our list besides the routine annual services.


They totally serviced our big 475 HP Cummins powerhouse, the Allison 4000 6 speed auto transmission, the Aqua Hot  heating system, the leveling air system and the 10K Power Teck diesel generator, plus a few other things. We only traveled 12,000 miles last year but we have found the better you treat and service these big rigs, the better off you are. It usually pays off in the long run. Plus, it makes us feel a lot better!


The last thing was replacement of our driver's side windshield……..glad it’s a 2 piece’er but it is still a big windshield.

Friday morning after a few more quick adjustments on our HWH computerized air leveling system, we were good to go.  We are pleased with the work these guys do and the attention they give even to the smallest items.  They are still the greatest bunch of guys to work with I have run into and make you feel like part of the MOT family. Since I bought the Coach here they provided us with a 20% labor discount and 10% off all parts!!


We took on some fuel and headed Southwest out of Nacogdoches. We cut across Texas and avoided the horrendous traffic of Houston, San Antonio and Austin and hit I-10 at Kerrville. Although we have stayed many times before at the beautiful Buckhorn Lake RV Park, this time we went to the Elks Club for the night. It was a nice club and just happened to be their Meal Night. They provided us with complimentary Happy Hour and the BBQ dinner was only $10.00 per person.  We had a great 350 mile easy day.

Saturday morning we were out of there at 7:30 and continued our trip West on I-10.  The TracStar in-motion satellite dish worked perfectly and we were able to watch the Nebraska-Penn State football game. Well, I should say Ms Pat watched it. I was busy driving and she scolded me if I even glanced at the TV. But she gave me a play by play action description. By half time, we had gone the 300 mile quota Ms Pat has me on and I watched the last half from my recliner.  WOW, it was a super game and back to back to that game was FSU playing Miami.  Our teams Nebraska and Florida State both won their games… What a day!!

This morning we are head on West and hope to make Deming, NM. tonight, which should be no problem since its only 290 miles.  Personally I would just like to drive right on to North Ranch non-stop but Ms Pat puts the kabash to that and says 300 miles is our limit.  I think she had the guys at MOT install a special 300 mile a day monitoring device. If I go over 300 miles, lights flash and alarms buzz. :-)  I love driving this big motorhome.  It is so easy and comfortable to drive, I could go on forever....but us guys are like that.  Right Mike, John and Rollie?

We plan on spending Monday night in Tucson visiting our 2 Grandsons. Mike and Stephen. It will be so good seeing them again…..yesterday was Mike’s 17TH Birthday  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!  I know your Dad wishes he could be here to celebrate it with you but I know he is with you in "spirit".  It was good talking to you on the phone last night....we'll see you soon.

Then.....if all goes well we will pull into North Ranch at Congress, Az on Tuesday.  Here we come Paul and Nancy!!  Have the red carpet ready.  We are both so anxious to get to our Southern Home.  It's been about 6 months since we left and I’m ready!!! What a trip we have had back to Florida…..I’ll go into that next time..

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by……..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Weekend with Rollie, Gina and Family

Friday morning we got all settled into Rollie and Gina’s place in Denham Springs, Lousiana. They had a beautiful place for us to park on a concrete pad.



I really enjoyed some quality time with Rollie. 



This is Gina’s beautiful Rock Garden and Pond.  It is so peaceful and calming.



Soon it was time for one of those wonderful Louisiana meals that Ms. Pat and I love so much….


Rollie and Gina really know how to cook.... just look at this beautiful Crawfish Etouffee over rice…  Yummmmm, it was so good!


Saturday morning we even had time for one of my favorite pastimes, a little Target Practice.



I also noticed a different Flag displayed out front and the atmosphere soon changed to Football!!  This is LSU territory…NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!


Purple was the color of choice and the party began…… Rollie’s Dad on the left, then Ricky(his
brother-in-law), Gina, Rollie  and me getting ready for the 7pm game.


Here is Ricky, Dana (Rollie’s sister), Gina and Rollie for a quick picture in front of the fireplace.



About 6:00 pm we all gathered over at Ricky and Dana's place, just a few houses away, for the big game of the Century..... #1 LSU vs #2 Alabama. That’s Ricky and Dana's son and his wife with front row seats. Let the cheers BEGIN!!


Even their pets were wearing LUS colors.  What a beautiful dog.....I loved him.


Way too soon it was Sunday morning. Time for our goodbyes to a weekend that was so special to us.  I knew it would be hard to leave and I don’t like goodbye so we said  “So Long Kids”.  We love you all very much and thanks for all your wonderful hospitality.



We headed on West through Baton Rouge and then across the Mississippi River.


Then about noon we crossed over into the big state of Texas.



At 3:00pm we pulled into our destination for the day. Motorhomes of Texas in Nacogdoches. We had traveled 300 miles and the timing was perfect.  We pulled in and found a parking spot and hooked up, put out the slideouts,turned on the A/C, sat back and enjoyed Happy Hour.

Monday morning at 8:00 am sharp, they pulled us into bay #2 and two technicians began servicing our Coach. Both of them have been working almost non-stop the last 2 days and hopefully they will get us out tomorrow. I’m impressed with the work they do and how they are dedicated to customer satisfaction. They let us live in the coach while they work.



Several have asked about little Abigail, Rollie and Gina’s first and only Grand Child.  Here is a picture of her and her very proud Grandparents. Isn’t she a beautiful baby? So alert and look at the hair!! She is only 3 months old. This picture was taken in California on their last visit. I wish she had been here in Louisiana so we could hold her and hug her but maybe we'll get to see her soon.  Her proud Daddy, Thomas, is in the Marines and has been overseas.  He just came back to the States and saw his beautiful baby daughter for the first time……  Praise the Lord!!

I wish I could show more pictures.  There are dozens and we had such a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the space.  Hope I’ve shown you a little part of these great “Kids” that we have adopted. I’m sure PROUD to call them Family.

Is is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and hurry back.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

On to LSU Country……Rollie and Gina’s

Wednesday we had a great day visiting Ms. Pat’s Son Gus and his wife Billie in Slidell, LA.  Gus is a builder but his main love is Fishin’.

This is his Fishing boat and he lives right close to many openings to the Gulf of Mexico. It was really windy or he would have taken us out.


Gus and his Mom spent some quality time together.  They hadn’t seen each other for way too long!!  We sure need to do this more often.


This is Gus and Billie. Gus wanted to shuck us some Louisiana Oyster's and show us how they are even bigger and better than Apalachicola Florida Oysters..


WOW!!!  Now take a look at that!!  BIG!!!  And delicious!!


Gus also had some Gulf shrimp he fixed for us.  Now those are SHRIMP!!  He put them on Shish Kabobs and grilled them with some steaks.  Now let me tell you with those super oysters, it was a meal to remember.  Boy are we gonna miss this Seafood!!

Gus and Billie took us all around and showed us the area where they live and Gus works building houses and fishing. Here is Gus, Mom and me saying our good byes and wishing we had more time to spend together.. Thanks Gus and Billie for a wonderful day!!  Somehow we missed getting a picture of Bear, their beautiful boxer dog, but we did get a picture of his house in this picture.

Wednesday we had some PressurePro systems to ship out and other work to do before we headed on West.  Gus stopped by before we left to tell his Mom how much he loved her and how glad he was we stopped by to visit.

Our next stop, less than 70 miles away was to two of the greatest people in this world that came into our lives only by the Grace of God, Rollie and Gina, our Kids.  Rollie met us at the Interstate 10 exit and led us to their place just a short distance away..  

This is there beautiful home near Baton Rouge, LA and this is the house Rollie was raised in. Soon our Motorhome was comfortably parked in the back yard.

We had such a wonderful time with these kids.  They are such a joy to be around. Ms Pat and I can not stop thanking our Father in Heaven for placing them in our lives… Praise God!  It was such an enjoyable weekend and we have so much to tell and show you about that I can’t do it the justice it deserves today.  Plus, we must get on our way this morning and travel on West 300 miles to Nacgdouches, TX. to MotorHomes of Texas.

Tomorrow morning early we have an appointment to give our Motorhome it's first annual checkup.  So, I am sorry but you must just wait until Wednesday to see and hear about our fun filled weekend with Rollie, Gina and more of their Louisiana family.    LSU was playing  football  at Alabama Saturday night and Ms Pat and I found out how seriously these LSU graduates take their football.. It was truly the game of the Century. Plus LSU won!!  They get almost as worked up as us Cornhusker fans and FSU fans.....but not quite. :-)  It was Fun, Fun, Fun.  I didn’t get back to the Motorhome until 10:00 pm last night and that is way past my bedtime. But it was worth every second of it…..

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping b.  Be sure to stop back on Wednesday…

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..