Went to Mexico

We went to Mexico yesterday. Prices are up and we were told it was due to inflation. They expect it will get worse.
Also, the begging was much, much worse as is the hawking. (Definition of HAWKING: This term means to sell goods on the street and to attract the attention of people by calling out.)
It was hot and we walked all over that town looking at prices mainly. Susan and Amanda will be happy to learn that we purchased vanilla for them. 

We ate lunch at Elsa's. We had Pancho's with white cheese. Not as good as I remembered them to be. Butch did not share my opinion so perhaps it was just me and the head cold I am suffering that made it seems so.

I was very tired when we came home and took a nap. Went to bed early too. We had a rip-snorter of a storm last night with wind, heavy rain, thunder, and lightening.  I was slightly aware of it.

I conducted a computer class yesterday. It was a trial and a battle of minds with one person who shall remain anonymous. She lost in more ways than she will ever know. Am I worried about her somehow seeing this post. Not even a little bit.

Till next time...

Miss Elise 2016

Myrla on my mind

Myrla called tonight. I have been thinking of her so it was nice to hear from her. Myrla is my half-sister, although I have never thought of her as anything less than full, sister or otherwise. She has a big personality despite her 4 ft 10 inch height.
Myrla recently lost her partner of 33 years. She says Scott comes to her now and then. Most often when "The Price is Right" is on. That's my girl!
Here are a couple of pictures of her. Oh and yes, she is young enough to be my daughter.

Myrla with Hewy and Peaches

Here she is with Peaches and Tippy.

Back to beading

I haven't done much beading for the past two years. I have been saying for far too long that I was going to take it up again. Well, by golly, I did! Yesterday and here is proof!

The current project is the orange and copper one. I have a good start.

Missouri Great Grands

Leo and Elise

Hard day's work

Butch and I managed to get quite a bit done today. Butch cleaned up the tires and got the tire covers on. I recently read how important those tire covers are to the life of tires so that was a good deed done. I went through the mail that had arrived since we departed Jefferson. Fortunately, it was a short stack and easily dispensed with. Butch worked on getting the windshield cleaned and the cover on it. I helped with ladder holding. We are quickly getting down to usual daily life. Peggy and I did 2 walks today. Butch joined us on one of them. Late in the day I was able to enjoy a long conversation with our friend Kay Stilson and we caught up on the happenings of our summer.
Now to find something to post on the Magnolia Blog and at this moment I have writer's block.

In far South Texas

We have arrived at Magnolia Villages/Park for another season of warmth. At least we hope so. They tell us they recently had really hot weather last week in the 90's. But now a cold front has gone through and now these hot house flowers are all so cold. Not feeling their pain just yet as it feels very fine to us.
We came down 77 this year. We had not done that for a very long time. I will have to check past blog entries to see how long it has been. Time can slip away and two years can quickly become five. It is magic. I have seen it happen. As near as I can tell we last came down this way in 2006. And as it happens it was the last time we were on the Indian Nations Turnpike and we tangled with a toll booth. So far that route has not been one our best choices. Perhaps it is because we do not do it often enough to become familiar with all it's oddities.

Ray of Hope

Posting this for everyone I can think of that needs a ray of hope.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/11/10/1595290/-Garrison-Keillor-Trump-voters-will-see-his-disasters-fall-on-them-more-than-anyone-else?detail=email&link_id=3&can_id=b0e31273dd41301ee4bcec3aad2eec75&source=email-trumps-pyrrhic-victory-provides-a-big-silver-lining-for-democrats&email_referrer=trumps-pyrrhic-victory-provides-a-big-silver-lining-for-democrats&email_subject=trumps-pyrrhic-victory-provides-a-big-silver-lining-for-democrats

Wednesday-Fall trip2016

We started early and it was a trouble-free travel day. I have forgotten that I am not at all crazy about the road conditions on Hwy 19, 79, and 77. It becomes okay about at Halletsville but that is a stinking long way down the road! The worst part for me is when there are two lanes on each side but the outside lane has no shoulder. There is a great deal of northern hwy 77 that is exactly that way.
We are parked in Ancient Oaks RV park in Rockport TX. Probably for the last time. When I called for a reservation they wanted my credit card number. Reluctantly I gave it to them but thought it would not be used until we arrived. We were talking it over last night about going more directly south so I called to cancel and was told that we could get a credit for another time but not get our money back. Not a good answer for me. So we stuck with the original plan because it is very hard to tell when and if we will ever be this way again.
They do have good WiFi. They did not tell me right off. I had to ask and make a special trip to the office for the code. Each site has its own code. So far it is indeed working well.
We unhooked the car and went downtown for a restaurant meal at the Bakery Cafe. It was a good meal. It is the first restaurant meal we have had since leaving Carthage. Being able to eat at home is one of the best things about traveling in a motorhome.

My travel basket.

A possible craft project?

Monday and Tuesday-Fall of 2016 trip

Monday, Nov 7th
We are parked at Antlers RV Park in Antlers OK. They say they have WiFi but with only one bar I say they do not. So I am writing this for a future post.
The travel portion of the trip was fine. We encountered a few light rain showers but nothing to give us any problem. We left Carthage at 7:15 AM thanks to the time change. I was concerned about morning commute traffic to Joplin but it was not an issue.
We are parked in our spot for the night. The manager told us that if we hear a train to head for the bunker.  Because there are no train tracks anywhere near here! I think it is great that they are tornado ready.

The Bunker- I have wondered what would happen if they had a tornado and an earthquake at the same time.

They had a small earthquake here yesterday and it broke a waterline. Butch is out talking to the repair guy. You know how that goes...
Yesterday Butch was cleaning bugs off the windshield and he told me to stand up front and point at the bug spots because they are hard to see from the outside. They were numerous so I marked them so I didn't have to stand there and wait for him to notice. When he finally looked at my handiwork he got quite a chuckle out of it.

Tuesday, Nov 8th
This morning I had butterflies. The past trip days I had been fine. But this morning my phone had no data function. This meant I was unable to program the gps. I thought maybe it was my phone but Butch's was giving the same indications. That made me very nervous. Our first session of travel was on the Indian Nation Turnpike. I kept checking and there kept being NO SIGNAL. The road was also terrible. We crossed into Texas and it was like magic, smooth road and phone service. We were elated...temporarily. I verbally gave the gps our next destination. It did not want to take the whole address so finally I shortened it to Franklin Texas and it seemed to work...for awhile. What happened as we found out after the fact was that the phone heard me say Frankston instead of Franklin and yes there are two towns of those names and they are less than 100 miles apart. So all of a sudden the directions were not making sense. It took way too long just to discover that much and we ended up on some very questionable roads in the process. Finally, after a couple of wrong turns that was trying to get us to Frankston we made the correction but still had to get back on track. In so doing we turned onto a road that was one lane and had had zero maintenance for at least 30 years. It was a very long 8+ miles!
Our top speed was 5 or 6 mph. It was rough, bumpy, and the edges were missing in many places. It did eventually connect us to a county road that then got us back to hwy 19 but what a harrowing journey.

We had a few sprinkles and light rain showers for the early part of the day but the farther south we traveled the harder the rain became and as we landed at the park in Franklin it was raining steadily. I asked the gal running the place if they had much rain and she said yes that it had been raining all day. This is not a park we may have chosen had we seen it before but they are friendly, they saved a pull- through spot for us and they have EXCELLENT free WiFi. She also knocked $3 off the fee as a consolation that they were neither Good Sam or Passport America.

So for the night we are warm,dry,settled and soon to have supper.

Monday and Tuesday-Fall of 2016 trip

Monday, Nov 7th
We are parked at Antlers RV Park in Antlers OK. They say they have WiFi but with only one bar I say they do not. So I am writing this for a future post.
The travel portion of the trip was fine. We encountered a few light rain showers but nothing to give us any problem. We left Carthage at 7:15 AM thanks to the time change. I was concerned about morning commute traffic to Joplin but it was not an issue.
We are parked in our spot for the night. The manager told us that if we hear a train to head for the bunker.are no train tracks anywhere near here! I think it is great that they are tornado ready.

 Because there
They had a small earthquake here yesterday and it broke a waterline. Butch is out talking to the repair guy. You know how that goes...
Yesterday Butch was cleaning bugs off the windshield and he told me to stand up front and point at the bug spots because they are hard to see from the outside. They were numerous so I marked them so I didn't have to stand there and wait for him to notice. When he finally looked at my handiwork he got quite a chuckle out of it.

Tuesday, Nov 8th
This morning I had butterflies. The past trip days I had been fine. But this morning my phone had no data function. This meant I was unable to program the gps. I thought maybe it was my phone but Butch's was giving the same indications. That made me very nervous. Our first session of travel was on the Indian Nation Turnpike. I kept checking and there kept being NO SIGNAL. The road was also terrible. We crossed into Texas and it was like magic, smooth road and phone service. We were elated...temporarily. I verbally gave the gps our next destination. It did not want to take the whole address so finally I shortened it to Franklin Texas and it seemed to work...for awhile. What happened as we found out after the fact was that the phone heard me say Frankston instead of Franklin and yes there are two towns of those names and they are less than 100 miles apart. So all of a sudden the directions were not making sense. It took way to long just to discover that much and we ended up on some very questionable roads in the process. Finally, after a couple of wrong turns that was trying to get us to Frankston we made the correction but still had to get back on track. In so doing we turned onto a road that was one lane and had had zero maintenance for at least 30 years. It was a very long 8+ miles!
Our top speed was 5 or 6 mph. It was rough, bumpy, and the edges were missing in many places. It did eventually connect us to a county road that then got us back to hwy 19 but what a harrowing journey.

We had a few sprinkles and light rain showers for the early part of the day but the farther south we traveled the harder the rain became and as we landed at the park in Franklin it was raining steadily. I asked the gal running the place if they had much rain and she said yes that it had been raining all day. This is not a park we may have chosen had we seen it before but they are friendly, they saved a pull through spot for us and they have EXCELLENT free WiFi. She also knocked $3 off the fee as a consolation that they were neither Good Sam or Passport America.

So for the night we are warm,dry

,settled and soon to have supper.

Off we go!

Headed south tomorrow morning. The forecast is for rain.It will be the first time in a very long time that we will be traveling in less than perfect weather. Butch says he does not mind driving in the rain as long as it isn't heavy. So we hope for the best. We are headed for Antlers OK located off the Indian turnpike. It is 251 miles from our current location at Carthage MO. I asked the manager at Antlers RV Park how far off the turnpike they were located and she said about 2 blocks. That sounds doable.
I am not sure of an Internet connection from here on out so it may be a few days before you hear from us. Thursday is our planned arrival date for Magnolia Village. With new owners, we stopped being a park and became a village. Not sure how long it will take to get me used to that change.

Received word that they missed us at HyVee's Trivia night last Thursday. They  came in 3rd. Dick (Dugan) McQuillen is the anchor on that team. He has a fantastic memory and that is a very admirable trait when you are in the later decades of your life. I know because my memory used to be something that never failed me. I cannot pinpoint when it happened but I have enough of it left to know that it fails me with much greater frequency than in the past.

Latest Pics

Taken from my computer window at 6:00 AM this morning.

The office is UP the hill, behind the trees. We have been making 4 trips per day minimum Up the hill.

This is taken from about halfway down the hill. Our MOHO is marked by the arrow.

Been walking

We have tried to get some walking in every day. Butch went to play golf again so that will be his walk so I decided to walk in the park. Many parks are flat as a pancake but Coachlight is not one of them. We parked at the lowest elevation and everything is uphill from here.

I forgot to take my phone on my first trip so the MapMyWalk app tracking below is on my second session so a total of 1.22miles. Oddly enough that is close to what it is for one round in Magnolia. There is another big difference and that is hills. I thought the first trip last Monday was going to kill me but it has become easier. Today was a much better comfort level.

Carthage- Friday

Yesterday was a cloudy, fine mist of a day. We managed to get a walk in spite of it. Most of the day was spent hanging out and watching everyone leave. The park seemed about half full when we arrived but now it feels down to about a quarter. Better WiFi for the rest of us.

This is the one park we have been in that has adequate WiFi. This park is about 1/4th size of Magnolia. It is attached to an RV dealership and that most likely explains why the WiFi is top notch. I should say they would not have to extend it to the park but it sure is nice that they do.

 In the park they have 3 towers and they tell customers to sign on to the one with the strongest signal for them. They give you a password and I know it gets changed sometimes. I read a review for this park where a former customer was giving them a bad review. Management added to the review that what the complainer failed to note was that he was ejected from the park for hacking into the wifi system to stream videos directly among other things. I am certain changing the password would have been essential after this event. 
And in this park with their topnotch WiFi they warn that at times it can be slow depending on how many people are using it at any one time. If we had the same system in our park it would be virtually at a standstill in January and February. Magnolia would also need double or maybe even triple the towers for the same level of coverage. 
Butch and I have  2 phones,2 kindles,3 computers, and 1 television all connected to our personal WiFi system both in Texas and Iowa. And this is why we have our own system. I would never expect to be connected to that many devices on the parks Internet connection. I do know that it is done. Can you imagine if everyone had eight devices connected to the system? They most likely would not be using all 8 devices at the same time but even so it is a sizable load.

I did not expect to get off on this subject . It was a spontaneous occurence.

I do not know what the day holds. Maybe I will do more laundry. I am glad we are not on the road today. It is foggy. I am hoping we are blessed with good travel weather on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

The Powers that be

You know those times in your life when you were brought to a place and unbeknownst to you, you were meant to be there. For your own good or someone else's. Well, this time it was for our own good. I started to do laundry this morning and the washer would not work. Tried every trick in the book many times over and we both determined it was the motherboard. So here we are in Carthage MO with an RV dealer a short walk away and we have a washer problem. Butch went up there and they had a whirlpool washer with a small ding on it and we could get it for a reduced price. Getting a washer swapped out in a motorhome is no small feat but we got it done and I started my laundry much later than planned but we did do laundry today. We feel we are being watched over and guided to where we need to be when we need to be there. It has happened many, many times in our life. It feels like magic and we are so very grateful.

I have put the "map my walk " app on our new phone so we could scope out a walking route. With everything happening, we still managed a 2-mile walk today.

Butch did extra because of his walks to the RV dealership.

Looking back and Forward

I was looking back at the blog to see how long it had been since we had stayed here at Coachlight RV Park in Carthage and it was 2006!! So it has been 10 years since we have stayed here. And yet it seems like it was many years that we did.
Also, we scoped out our routes from past years and it has also been that long since we have gone the route we plan to take this time. And there has been a bit of a change on that score too. We will be here until Monday, November 7th and then we will be staying in Antler OK RV park that night. Tuesday night we will be at RV Relay station in Franklin TX and Wednesday we will be staying in Rockport TX for one night arriving in the Rio Grande Valley on Thursday the 10th.

Butch played golf today in the wind and got his second HOLE-IN-ONE!! Once again there were no witnesses. Hole number 3 on the Carthage Golf Course. He has waited many years for a hole-in-one and now he has had two in one year.

We have taken care of a few details on the motorhome, replacing light switches and bulbs that didn't work. It always feels good to get those little long neglected things out of the way.
I am loving the new floor. So easy to take care of and I like knowing it is very clean.
Time to get supper taken care of now...til next time...

Carthage Day 2

We are in Carthage MO. It is where we bought our motorhome and we used to stop here at least once a year but now it has been at least 5. We like the area so plan to extend our stay for a week. We still plan to go to Palatios but will only overnight there. Should arrive in the Rio Grande valley on the 10th.
Like this park because...
1. Very soft water
2. Excellent WiFi
3.RV parts facilities close by and inexpensive (Colaws)
4. Still have friends here
5. Great walking places.
6. Good TV reception
7. Golf course that Butch likes

One at a time

Leo, Elise and their friends at Trunk or Treat

Reading Rapunzel to Papa Gary

 Little Leo did not like the mask. It does not work to get woke from a nap.

The girl in red is a classmate of Leo's in preschool.

This poor guy was putting up with lots of attention.

Mermaid

Elise is on the left. This girl has a beautiful head of hair.

Papa Gary was Mathman at his school so little Leo had to be Mathman at home.

Carthage MO 2016

We have arrived in Carthage a few minutes ago. We are parked and Butch is unhooking the car. We have not been here in years and yet it feels like home. This is where we purchased our Moho in 2004. Wifi is excellent. TV reception on antenna is great although they do have cable if we want it.

I am way behind on posts, pictures etc and hope to get caught up today and tomorrow. I have some great pics from our stay with the kids that I am anxious to share. Maybe I can share one now. Gary teaches middle school math and so for Halloween he was Math Man. He was a clever boy and is a clever man!