Slow Internet . . .

It seems most of the hotel/motel's internet connections are slow - much too slow to upload pictures or even check my web mail. So I'm going to wait until we're home to update my blog.

It's Been A Busy Day!!!!!

We had a delicious buffet breakfast this morning. After my eggs, I noticed bread pudding at one of the lines - I added a rich chocolate brownie and ice cream to my plate and wandered back to our table - YUM!

After that, we drove out to Dyess Air Force Base and took pictures of the planes that were on display - also checked out the BX.

Soon, we'll be heading out for dinner - have a restaurant already picked out. Tomorrow, we're trucking south to San Antonio. I'm hoping we'll find a motel in the city or in the suburbs - there's a basketball game in town on Tuesday.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the planes we saw today. My favorite is the B-52! It's a beautiful plane (last four pictures).

We're in Abilene, TX

Arrive yesterday around three. Boy is it hot here - not used to these temps. But we're adjusting. Last night we had dinner at the Texas Road House - it was packed - must be the place to go on a Friday night. Great food and excellent service.

Had a busy day - toured Frontier Texas! and a miliary museum. For din din, had Texas BBQ at the Ball Ranch. Food and entertainment were awesome. The family did a great job entertaining the crowd.

Oklahoma . . .

We left our motel in Collinsville later than normal so that we wouldn't be at the Arch when the sun came up. It is awesome - we took the tram to the top. It's a good thing we aren't claustrophobic, four of us were crammed into this little car.

Pictures are taking forever to upload, so I'll only post one of the arch.
























This is where we are staying for the night in Tulsa - right on Route 66 . . .




















Had a nice dinner at Tally's!
















Tomorrow - Texas!

Collinsville, Illinois

We decided to drive the 540 miles today from Medina instead of stopping earlier. Driving the interstate highways makes traveling much quicker and easier. We pulled into the motel around three. Of course we lost an hour as soon as we crossed the state line into Missouri.

I spotted these two water towers in some large city.














Bruce saw this across the highway - he said he wasn't as impressed with the Arch as he thought he would be.















We saw this huge cross and thought there had to be a church nearby. That wasn't so. It just had a sitting area underneath.














I'm hoping we have a comfy bed for the night. Tomorrow we plan on stopping in St. Louis to tour the Arch. Should be awesome. Got to pick out a motel in Tulsa for tomorrow night. Looking for something that is close to a good restaurant.

Almost forgot to add - it's warm here - will be putting on shorts tomorrow.

End of the Day . . .

By leaving at five in the morning, we made it to Medina, Ohio around 3:30. We had already decided where to stay and where to go for dinner - Buffalo Wild Wings. Restaurant parking lot was full of cars - lots of people sitting around watching TV and drinking beer.

I ordered my Blue Moon beer - Bruce had a tall glass of Coors. I order a sampler which had a variety of food - much more than I could eat. Bruce had a Big Daddy Burger - pulled pork over a burger - YUM!

It's going to be an early evening. It's still light out and I'm already thinking how comfy the bed will be!!!


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Tomorrow is the Day!

And no planes to catch. We'll be driving - 4,600 miles total. Our travels will take us to St. Louis, Tulsa, Abilene, San Antonio, New Orleans and Memphis.

We've been busy today - trying to remember everything we have to do before we head out the door at five in the morning.

Most of the hotels I've picked out have high-speed internet. I really don't know what that means - dial up or connecting to a modem. I've tried this before and it's never worked for me. This time I have both telephone and ethernet cables in my laptop case. WIFI is so much easier.

If I do get online, I'll be posting to my blog, checking web mail and Facebook.

Busy Day!

Did a lot today. We headed to Wal-Mart in the morning to pick up a few items for our trip - water and granola bars. Did a little ironing (which I never do), cleaned the fridge, and got all of Smoky's needs taken care of - food, water and three clean litter boxes. He won't be too happy when we leave, but Jeff will look after him while we are gone.

Done most of my packing, just have to add a few more items. I have a list of things to do for tomorrow!

Starting to Pack . . .

With only two full days to go. I have a couple of lists to make sure I don't forget anything. Once we pull out of the yard, there's no turning back. If we need anything and it has been forgotten, we can buy it on our trip.

First stop will be Medina, Ohio - about 580 miles from here. We stopped there last year on our way back home from Nashville - found a neat restaurant close by - Buffalo Wild Wings. It's a chain, there's even one in Windsor, Connecticut. We ate there on our last Massachusetts vacation.

Back to our Texas trip, I'm hoping the motels we stay in all have wireless internet - will be able to keep in touch.

Getting the Truck Ready

For our 4,600 mile road trip! Four more days until we head for the States!














And the asphalt repair on our corner - the mud puddles the kids have been playing in are now filled up!!!

It's a Beautiful Day!

Earlier, I dropped our BP monitor and just my luck, it broke. Off we went to Wal-Mart and bought a new and improved one - does everything! Even tells you if you have an irregular heartbeat. It probably gives more information than we need!

Bruce vacuumed the inside of the truck, then washed the outside - it is now sparkling clean.

AND the town street cleaner went by, vacuumed the water up from the deep mud puddle that is at the corner of the street, then another truck came by and filled it in. I can't wait to see the boys' reaction tomorrow when they all meet to wait for their school bus. This morning, they were kicking at the edges of the hole and throwing clumps of dirt at each other.

Visit to the Doctor Yesterday!

The blood work done just four days after my transfusions show that my iron levels are almost non-existent. The doctor still doesn't know if I'm bleeding somewhere or if my body isn't absorbing iron. He is planning more test. Yesterday I had blood work done - and I guess that will show if I'm absorbing the iron that I take every day - three pills. He is going to call me later this week with the results. In the meantime, I feel great!

Did a little cleanup in the trailer, made up the bed and put the curtain back up that had fallen down. Bruce took the old TV into the house, the one that won't work after mid-June. Need to buy a new one - one that can be hung off the wall - they only weigh about eight pounds. That way it would be out of the way when the trailer is parked.

Temperature is up, almost 60F degrees - warmth and sun, can't get any better than that!!

Camping Season is Just Around the Corner!

Yesterday, we pulled the trailer out of the backyard and parked it on the driveway. Time to get it ready for our first camping trip - that will be over the Memorial Day weekend - Granby, here we come!!!!!












Now we have a clear view of our backyard and our neighbor's!

Brain Fade . . .

The other day I tried to change the order of my music list, but when I tried to 'save' it, a message came back that I couldn't. Between my blog, Facebook and Twitter, I forgot where I was - thought I was using Facebook. Bruce pointed that out to me. So this morning, I got the 'code' for my music list and pasted it onto my blog page. I'm happy to say, I now have music. It's the Lighthouse Family. To check out more songs and even videos - click on these links - "High" and "Lifted." I don't think they've recorded much since their last CD, but I do like their sound.

We did our grocery shopping - bought more T-bone steaks that were on sale. Freezer is now full of beef - steaks and prime rib roasts. Bruce is happy!

Happy Easter!

The weatherman promised us a nice day - well, the sun is out but it's cold!

This morning I watched a neighbor try to take down some loose branches from his backyard trees.
















He would toss a weighted line up into the tree to snag the branch, then pull it down. I was amazed at how high he was able to throw the line.

Our Easter dinner is in the oven, we're having turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes. One of my favorite meals.

Anyone on Facebook?

Why do people update their status with something that doesn't make any sense at all? Is that the plan?

Good Friday

Weather still doesn't seem to be warming any. Maybe by Saturday. No special plans for the weekend - just stay close to home.

Our road trip is getting closer - only 11 days to go . . .

Happy Birthday!

Today is my niece, Jackie's birthday. Wishing her a great day and hoping that she has a great time today. Love ya!!!!

Mid-Week . . .

The sun is finally out - I think spring will be back by Friday. The weekend is going to be nice. This morning we did a little grocery shopping for Easter dinner and bought two more prime rib roast that were on sale. We must have at least ten in the freezer. It's going to be a summer of grilling and eating beef!

Finally, the NCAA Basketball Games are Over!

And we can get back to regular programming on TV. With our nasty weather, not much is happening around here. Even Smoky doesn't want out! He's been sleeping most of the day.

Did I Miss Something?

Like spring, summer and fall? It's snowing and the ground is white.
















Checking the calendar, it won't be long before we are packing our suitcases and heading out on our road trip. Where are we going? TEXAS!!!!

It's Already the End of the Weekend!

Another quiet day - on the cool side. Last night we had a dusting of snow - how's that for April.

Tonight, we're watching the Country Music Awards - hope Toby gets the best entertainer of the year award or something close to that. The show is always fun to watch.

Not a Nice Day!

It's been raining now for two days. But the weatherman says we need it. So what do you do on a rainy day? Nothing! Stay inside and keep warm and dry.

Update to Yesterday!

When Bruce and I were sitting in the sun, we noticed a dog wandering around the yard of a neighbor's house. It spotted us and quickly crossed the road to join us. It was a pretty dog - a huskey. Very friendly, but he smelled as if he had tangled with a skunk. Smoky wasn't too happy about the dog being around and quickly told him so with a hiss. The dog had on a collar with many tags. We managed to find the newest - he was from an area just outside of town. I called the town office and spoke to someone who managed to look up the owner and said he would call them to let them know we had the dog. In the meantime, we tied the dog up to the front of the truck. In about 20 minutes, the owner pulled into our driveway. It seems the dog had just disappeared around one, about three hours earlier . It he didn't have tags and we weren't able to call, he would still be wandering around looking for his home. Our good deed for the day!

Finally . . .

Another beautiful day - sunny and warm. We had a busy morning - took care of all the kitty needs - cat food, kitty treats, and litter. Also bought a headset for my laptop - seems the old set was sounding scratchy. They look awesome and the sound is great, too.

We also stopped at the drugstore to pick up my iron pills. Taking them three times a day, don't know what they will do to my system. Years ago, I was on an iron study for the Red Cross and remember the pills giving me a stomach ache when I upped the dosage from one pill to two a day. This time I'm taking three a day.

I've thawed out a couple of steaks for grilling this afternoon and Bruce has already made the dressing for a Caesar salad. He makes an awesome dressing - been making it for years. He is also attempting to rearrange his shed - somewhere in there is the Harley - it needs some work before it is ready to ride.

Survivor tonight - anyone watching?

Finally . . .

Finally got my haircut today - it had been almost three months since my last cut.

And I heard from the doctor's office - the doctor wants me to take iron pills for a month since my last blood test showed that my blood is still too low.

But I'm feeling really great - no complaints, thank goodness!!!