What a Great Week!!

Today was the day we said goodbye to the last of our friends. Our Cowtown Gathering has come to an end as the last of us brought in the slides, and lifted the jacks and headed off, each in our own direction. The Hall’s had the shortest move as they are just 3 or 4 miles from their Fort Worth base and will be staying here to celebrate Christmas with their family.

Although the pictures look like they are each off in their own direction I am sure it was only a few minutes until they met up at their parking spot.

Next to go were Rod and Deb and they are headed south towards San Antonio to visit their son and DIL.

And last to leave after we made sure every one else got off safely was us. We were just heading to a repair shop to get our slide topper replaced. It had ripped somewhere along the way and was getting pretty ratty looking. We had it looked at last week at Blue Moon RV on our way over to Cowtown and they had to order it in. We confirmed that it was on the the UPS truck and then we tucked in our slides and hit the road. Our route today led us right through downtown Fort Worth and up the George Bush Turnpike to the repair place. Traffic was OK but if anyone is heading to Alaska and concerned about the roads, here is a little tip, I have been to Alaska twice and never saw any frost heaves on the Alaska Highway that were worse than the heaves on the Turnpike here.

Once we got to the shop the guys pulled the old topper off and just as they were finishing the UPS truck arrived with the new one and within a half hour or so they had it on and after paying the man we headed on our way to McKinney.

Sound familiar eh! We had some blinds installed a couple of weeks ago here and they needed a little adjustment and as we were in the neighbourhood we thought we would let the experts do it for us. The crew here are wonderful people and make it a pleasure to stop by. Took Charlie and Brandon about 2 minutes to fix everything up for us but we have a nice spot here in their lot and will spend the night and hit the road first thing in the morning. We are heading east to start with and into Louisiana tomorrow.

Fort Worth Stockyards

Today we looked around town for some parts for Deb and Rod’s Allegro Bus and then we headed to the North Side of Fort Worth to the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. There are a few longhorn steers hanging about there to entertain the tourists and I heard but didn’t see a goat somewhere near by. Other than that it is pretty much a tourist area populated by western wear stores that no self respecting cowboy would be caught in, except for a couple of nice custom boot shops, and a variety of restaurants. But certainly worth seeing if you, like I do, enjoy the historical side of the cattle business.

Fort Worth Stockyards VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Before we headed in for our lunch Dortha and Rod decided that they needed to get in the spirit of the day and take a short ride around the place.

To bad Brenda had done our laundry yesterday so we were short of quarters and they had to just imagine the great ride they would have had if only we had some money.

Here the girls are shopping for a cowgirl outfit for Deb. Another week or so in Fort Worth she will be listening to country music and two stepping all around the campground. She seems to have gotten the hang of this shopping thing.

Just a little history, the Fort Worth Stock Show in 1941 is where the American Quarter Horse Association awarded the Registration #1 to the Grand Champion stallion way back in 1941 to kick off what is now the world’s biggest breed and the home registry for most of our own horses back at home.

We actually had an opportunity to visit the American Quarter Horse Association headquarters the year we started this journey way back in 2007. They have a great building and associated museum in Amarillo, Texas well worth the visit if you are even slightly interested in stock horses.

Hey, how about that not one picture of anybody eating!

And There were Six :(

Today was another day to say our see you laters to our friends. Sheri and Joe had to head out today and although it is never good to say goodbye we know it will bring us one day closer to saying hi again.

 

Here is a shot of Brenda trying to hitch a ride with Joe and Sheri, but no luck she is stuck with me for the winter.

After we said our goodbyes it was time for another shopping run. This time we just headed on over to the local Costco to see what they had that we didn’t. Although their stock was pretty good we had one of almost everything they had already so we managed to get out of there with just a few items.

Here is the group discussing something that we probably can’t do without or at least something that Deb and Rod can’t do without.

And luckily for my wallet it looks like Brenda is not really into this shopping stuff today.

Once we got done with the shopping the rest of the afternoon was dedicated to football and then some extra fine chili that Dortha whipped us for us. Oh yah and Deb brought the potatoes and the soda crackers for the chili, what’s up with that.

Fire, Ready, Aim

Golly dog, what is he talking about. Well I am just trying to record some of the expressions of speech that my friends here at Cowtown have exposed me to these past few days. We have a wide mix of folks here, Texans, Louisianans, Californians and even a fellow from Washington state.

Still cool here in NE Texas but not as cool as back home. Meg and I headed out for our morning walk this morning and I was wearing my sweatshirt and a vest, she just had her usual fur coat on. We walked down pretty near to Exit 418, near the MACdonalds (another Louisiana phrase), where there is a new development going in and there is space for Meg to get off the leash and get a little running around in. Takes us about an hour round trip so it gets us both a little exercise, because for the rest of the day we don’t do much that doesn’t involve food.

Today we are headed over to the Penzey’s Spice store north of Dallas, golly dog, it is a long way over there. I don’t think Marco Polo went much farther to get his spices and probably didn’t have any more missed turns either. They sure have a large selection of spices and it is to bad Brenda was not feeling well and opted out because she is better suited to shopping for spices than I am. After I smelled a few of them it seemed like they all started smelling the same. Well I bought a jar of Apple Pie spice that I liked as well as a bottle of powdered horse radish that you just mix with water and use anyway, but am sure Brenda would have found many more that she could use.

And just in case you are wondering we did see one of Marco Polo’s camels in with a herd of buffalo on  the way home from Penzey’s.

Then we headed off to Goff’s for what they called a Salad Burger, but don’t fear I have not gone vegan that is just how they describe a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomatoes. Once that was done we headed for Cabela’s in search of some Cinnamon Apple jelly. After looking all over the store and settling for Strawberry Rhubarb jam I headed out only to run back in after Deb located the last bottle of Cinnamon Apple jelly in captivity.

After we were done in Cabela’s we headed back to the Cowtown RV Park to check on Brenda and plan our dinner. The girls decided that we should eat Chinese tonight and make it a whole day off for our overworked cooks.

And Then There were Eight :(

Dawn broke this morning on a cool, cool day. As Meg and I were walking I thought I should have brought along a toque, then I came to my senses and thought I should move south a little more. We are going to be in the Dallas – Fort Worth area for another 5 or 6 days though and the weather is already starting to warm up a little.

Today Sandy and Weldon had to move on down the road to their next spot, over Canton way I think? It is always sad to see our friends heading off but we take comfort in knowing that our trails will cross down the road somewhere.

Above is a shot of them heading out and below is a close up of Sandy and her navigator Weldon.

I got a few chores done around the rig today and Brenda was off to see if Black Friday is really the shopping extravaganza that it is reputed to be. Not sure if she figured that out but by the looks of the bags she carted back we may need to get an overweight permit when it comes time for us to move along.

Above is a shot of Sheri and Deb watching intently for Brenda to join them and below the three of them head off to do battle with the Black Friday mobs.

I have got a few questions over the last few days in the comments sections of the blog and maybe I should answer them so that people realize how much we enjoy getting their comments when they have time to make them.

Janna asked about my comment regarding Meg’s apparent disdain for other dogs and schnauzers in particular. She is really just protecting her people and especially her food from what she figures are just short coyotes like at home. When she is off the leash she loves to play with other dogs and for the most part gets along with everydog.

And for you folks Dennis and Denice, I have no idea why you left the warmth of a Texas November to spend time in the frozen north, but it will probably make it feel much warmer when you come back in January.

And Heather of course being the curious type had 2 questions. To answer your first question I am not sure when I became the hugging type but I guess it had something to do with hanging around with you Northern Belles and we do a lot more than eat in this RV Lifestyle. We have to shop for food, plan the food and then get the foodeady before we can eat them, so we do manage to keep busy. But one thing I have noticed is great cooks must be genetically predisposed to become RV’ers because all that food is great.

Tonight we had steaks and cheesy potatoes along with salad and garlic bread for the main course and two kinds of ice cream for desert. And of course I had to have some of each so that I wouldn’t be seen to be picking favourites.

Although we were set up to eat in our coach it was soon apparent that the Ducks / Arizona game was not on Canadian satellite so we soon moved over to Deb and Rod’s to watch the game while we enjoyed our meal. Mark and Dortha were off in town and missed out on the main courses but managed to get back in time for dessert.

Thanksgiving Day

Today the weather changed and for a moment this morning I thought I was back in the Cowtown I was born in. It hovered around 40F all day and with the wind it was a little nippy out there. When we got here the other day I was in such a hurry to see our friends that I drove right by the propane without evening thinking about filling the tank, just in case. So fired up our old electric heater and got a new little one to throw some additional heat into the rig. Sitting here tonight the new little one is carrying the load all by itself so we will probably have no difficulty making it till the next move day without taking on some propane.

This morning Sheri, Sandy and Brenda popped out to pick up a few things that they needed to complete our Thanksgiving feast. Meg and I skipped the long walk this morning and opted to stay in the Park and just do a few circles around here. Lot warmer in the trees than out along the road we have been following other mornings. Later in the day we did get out to a field so she could get a good run in though.

Tonight we got together in the community room across the road from our rigs and chowed down on Taco soup, salad and cornbread muffins, followed by apple cobbler, pumpkin cake, pecan pie and ice cream and if I forgot to mention anything rest assured I didn’t forget to eat any of it anyway.

Thanksgiving Dinner VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Cowtown Day 3

Yesterday was a busy day and it was a little hard to get time to write the blog. Meg and I started off the morning with our usual 3 mile hike and then it was time to start visiting with our friends here at Cowtown. The girls decided that they needed a little retail therapy so they all climbed in Deb and Rod’s Edge and off they went. I don’t think they hit Wal-Mart but I know several other establishments were blessed with a pre-Thanksgiving uptick in sales. And once that initial load was stowed away they needed to run off and do a little grocery shopping so there were another bunch of bags brought back, along with some pizza’s for our dinner.

While all this re-provisioning was ongoing the men were involved in a roundtable discussion to resolve a lot of world issues and although we did move around as the sun dictated there was not a lot else accomplished. But we did manage to work up an appetite with all that chin waggin’ so the pizza was a welcome sight.

This morning after our walk we hosted a group breakfast here in our rig. Everyone brought something so we had waffles, eggs, bacon, english muffins and cinnamon muffins to stave off  the impending starvation. Once the physical plant was fed it was time for most of us guys to head off to Camping World to make sure we had all the necessary accoutrements to maintain our RV’s in the manner they have become accustomed to. I needed some new sewer hoses and surprise, surprise they had just what I was looking for there.

The girls headed to Wal-Mart so the Walton family is back on the Forbes Most Wealthy list again and we again acquired a half a dozen or more bags of stuff, to find places for in our now overstocked rig. Guess we will just have to get eating before the cupboards runneth over.

Tonight the girls decided that potluck appetizers was the meal for the evening so we all gathered down in Joe and Sheri’s rig to chow down.

As usual we over ate, but it wasn’t long after dinner that the ladies decided they needed another bout of shopping to finish off the day. So off to that fine French store, Targét, they went. We put in a request for some Blue Bell ice cream but that seemed to have got forgotten in the heat of the moment so I guess we will have to go without. Not that we probably needed any more to eat anyway.

The men or more to the point Joe and Mark on behalf of the “men” looked after doing up the dishes and putting away the stuff after dinner although from what I could tell later it appeared that not much of it was in the right place. And just in case you were wondering I would have helped but was assigned to be the official photographer for this activity.

Another great day with great friends and we are looking forward to celebrating our second Thanksgiving this year with this great bunch tomorrow.

Cowtown

Now all you folks back home don’t go thinking we have fallen off our rocker and are coming home. Not likely, not when it is –30C out there, we prefer to watch that weather from afar anymore. Afar enough that our long john’s are a vaguely remembered memory, of course at my age a lot of things are becoming vaguely remembered. But there is an upside to that, even I am not sure if the story really happened like that or if I have added some important details in the telling of it over the years.

We are headed over west of Fort Worth, to the Cowtown RV Park, where we are meeting up with a group of friends who we first ran into in March of 2009. Although we haven’t seen some of them since then through the wonders of this blogging thing and Facebooking we have been following their lives in detail every step of the way. New grandchildren, new casitas, new rigs, and even new jobs for the more ambitious amongst them, it is all revealed in the pages of their journals. Seems as even though we only cross trails with these folks on rare occasions we are able to connect with a lot of the detail in their day to day lives so when we do get the opportunity to meet up it is as if we had never been apart. The internet has truly turned this world into a global neighbourhood.

Along the way we had to stop at the Blue Moon RV folks in Carrollton, Texas to have them look at our slide topper. It will need to be replaced and it is going to take a week or so to order it in. Well just happens we have a week to spare, so they are ordering it up and we will head back after this Cowtown South gathering and we will get it fixed up before we begin our meander through Texas and Louisiana again.

I have to make a comment on the trip across the north end of the Dallas/Fort Worth smozzle. There is a ton of construction going on, on the freeways here so the GPS is woefully inadequate when it comes to guiding you efficiently through the mess. At one time we found ourselves headed down the road in twelve lanes of traffic heading the wrong way, Needless to say we contributed to that smozzle when I spotted the U-Turn sign about 9 lanes away from us. But we made it across that nine lanes in short order once we hit the signal and spun the wheel to redirect that 65 or feet of metal hurtling through traffic toward the exit sign. So if anyone hears disparaging remarks about “Alberta” drivers down in this country you are probably listening to one of our victims. But we made the turn and headed back into the proper smozzle, and the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Oh by the way Smozzle is a highly technical traffic term that indicates there are very few folks on the road or the road planning organisations who have any idea what is going on or the implications of their actions.

Once got out of Fort Worth it was only a few minutes until we pulled into the site and caught our first sight of Joe and Sheri Pitman. Good to see old friends and even meet some new ones. Weldon and Sandy who are friends of Joe and Sherilyn were joining this little soirée also. After those initial hugs they left us to get our outfit setup, but soon we were all gathered around catching up on the latest goings on and enjoying the 25 C day. Just had to throw that in for you northern folks…lol. Not long after that Mark and Dortha pulled in with their two grandchildren Caden and Courtney. Sweet little tykes but soon Courtney’s Mom came along to reclaim her daughter before Brenda had a chance to hide them away in our motorhome. And then the Kendall’s, Rod and Deb, showed up. Now that is all we are expecting but there is always a chance that someone else is going to wander in.

Here are Weldon and Sandy and Joe and Sheri looking on with rapt attention as I probably tell them a story based in the absolute truth and lacking any embellishments at all. And we all know that any story that begins or ends with the phrase “No word of a lie” is guarantold ya to be God’s honest truth.

And these two little sweethearts definitely helped Brenda with her “grandchildren deficiency”

Mark and Joe looking on as I greet Rod, well Joe looking on and Mark looking at Rod’s new rig..

Mark and Dortha watching the goings on.

Seems like these gatherings are all about food, and this one is no exception. The girls threw together some appy’s to stave off starvation while we contemplated what and where we should eat supper. Once we got those appy’s done we decided that BBQ was in order. Well a few days ago I spoke of Brenda and my experience with BBQ so you know we were anxious to give it another chance. Mark directed us to a place called Spring Creek and they have reaffirmed our faith that BBQ is a cuisine we could become used to. I had the brisket and sausage special and they were both great. After getting our fill of BBQ and the fresh hot yeast rolls we headed back to our site where we sat around till late in the evening chewing the fat.

And what kind of gathering would it be without pictures of people eating.

MCD Innovations

We arrived here a week ago tomorrow to change a few blinds in the rig.

There was nothing physically wrong with the old blinds but they were hard to keep clean and the strings in them are prone to breaking and we thought seeing as how we were going by the factory here why not change things up a little.

These new blinds give the rig a much more streamlined look and should be much easier to keep clean, and you just know that will make Brenda happy.

I can’t say enough about the staff here at MCD, from our arrival last Sunday right through until today we have been treated like we were the whole reason for their existence. We gave them very short warning that we would like to have our rig measured and they fit us into their already busy schedule. From the marketing person, Peggy, to all the installers, Brandon, Andrew, and Charlie they were doing their utmost to make sure we were satisfied with every little thing. There was an issue with the pair of blinds along our hallway and they changed the material twice and had the manufacturing folks working overtime to get us completed on Friday evening. At no time was there anything but a willingness to do “whatever” it took to make sure we were satisfied with their product and the installation. We asked and received permission to stay an extra few days in their lot here so that we could head directly from here to an appointment we have in Carrollton to get our slide topper repaired. It took a little wind damage a few evenings ago when we had a gentle East Texas breeze blowing through.

Today we headed up the road to Anna, Texas for supper at Joe’s Italian Bistro. The pizza was excellent and the bread was to die for.

We have had a good time here in McKinney but are looking forward to heading over Fort Worth way on Monday to meet up with some folks we have met in other places along the road.

All Points Bulletin

It has been two full days that we have not been in a Wal-Mart and I believe there is an alert in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as the Wal-Mart corporation has detected a looming recession in this area. Well it’s not like we haven’t been shopping and doing our part, we have been in Albertson’s a couple of times and a few other stores but I think the Walton family is concerned that their most reliable customer is changing her shopping habits. I am sure there is nothing for them to worry about and as long as they are patient we will return to the fold soon.

Today we took a ride downtown here in McKinney and wandered around the Old Town Square. This is a revitalized shopping district that surrounds an old courthouse, recently converted to a performance hall, in the older section of town. We strolled around just soaking in the atmosphere and enjoying the sunshine. Meg and I enjoyed more sunshine than Brenda as we found a comfortable bench along the street and just people watched while Brenda did a little in-store browsing. Almost everyone walking down the street had to stop and give Meg a pat or a scratch so luckily she loves people much more than other dogs. But that said she only had to warn off one miniature schnauzer who tried to get to close to me. We will have to work on that as time goes by.

After our stroll through downtown we headed back to Camp MCD where Peggy our next door neighbour extended an invitation for us to join her and her husband Jim and another couple, Paul and Sue, from the group camped here at MCD Innovations, for a dinner celebrating her birthday. Peggy is our contact here at MCD and also a fulltimer who lives right next door to us in the lot. We headed off to the Genghis Grille for a little Mongolie grill type of food and some great fellowship.

From the left, Brenda, Sue, Peggy (the birthday girl), Paul, Jim .

Still in McKinney

Not that being here is a problem either. We have asked and received permission to hang out here in MCD’s lot till Brenda’s contacts arrive at Sam’s. That could be as early as Friday but more likely Monday, so we will enjoy their hospitality till then. The new blinds look great and the customer service excellent. We were scheduled to be here all week, but things are all finished up so we will have a few days to give everything a workout before we move on.

This place is a beehive of activity and like anyplace RV folk seem to gather it is extremely unlikely you won’t get visiting with your neighbours. A couple we met yesterday, Art and Pam, joined us in our quest for a dinner out. They recommended Rick’s Chophouse in Old Town McKinney so that is where we settled in for dinner. Wow talk about value for your money.

On the left above is Brenda’s Country Fried Rib-eye, and over to the right is my Buttermilk Fried Chicken{s}. Those are not butter plates we are using but oversized platters. Needless to say we brought home a doggie bag, well, actually a doggie sack, and it was a full size one. Art and Pam had the Salmon and Rainbow Trout respectively and all reports are that both were excellent also.

But as most folks also know in this lifestyle it is soon time to say see you down the road. Here they go with their beautiful Country Coach heading home to San Diego.

After that meal Meg and I will have to walk all day tomorrow. She and I have been wandering around the neighbourhood every morning to get out walk in, but the traffic is pretty intense early in the morning so today we headed off looking for a Park to do our walking in. We found the Towne Lake Recreation Area and scouted around a little. It will take a little driving to get to it but maybe we won’t be run over while we are walking.

The other thing we did today was head over to Camping World to stock up on all those necessities that we don’t really need but can only get there. A new step to make it easier on Brenda’s knee climbing in and out of the coach and some of those sheets that fit so well on an RV bed as well as a few other odds and ends that somehow seem to always get into the cart.

Here is a shot of Brenda and Meg testing both the new park and the new leash.

McKinney, Texas–day 1

We arrived in  McKinney in early afternoon and got ourselves all settled in here beside the MCD facility. Peggy, our next door neighbour, and the customer representative here at MCD brought us over a welcome package with a listing of a lot of the sights and a bunch of local information to make ourselves at home here in town. She also gave us a run down of what the day/week will look like as they fit us out for an upgrade to our blinds.

But first things first, we ran out and got some of the road grime washed off our pickup and then headed over to Sam’s Club to see if they could order some contacts for Brenda. It will take 5-7 days but they are on the way, and we have cleared it with the folks here at MCD to make sure we have a place to stay till they arrive. then it was off to Petsmart as Meg needed a new collar and one of those fancy, schmancy leash thingy’s. Next thing you know our old farm dog is going to turn into one of those high society city mutts.

This morning we were up and at ‘em early just in case the folks came to measure things up. No fear, although Peggy did drop by some samples soon after 8, the installer folks didn’t make it much before 9:30AM. After they got everything measured up and put together an estimate we reviewed that, agreed upon a course of action and I guess the order headed for the factory floor. And that meant we were off, where to, Wal-Mart of course. We needed a few things and we have time to kill so a trip to the Walton's family store was preordained. Then we took a drive around the neighbourhood finding a laundry to get some of my shirts cleaned and a park for Meg to have a run.

We weren’t there long until she came out of the bush with a baseball for me to throw for her. Nolan Ryan would have been proud it only took me a half hour to tucker her out.

Then we took a little spin through the countryside to see what we could see.

And as we drove along we came on this place and I am sure the owners were looking out saying “Darn I wish we had a rig like the Brown’s so we could get rid of this old pile of “Sticks and Bricks” and hit the road.”

And just when you thought we were done, we were off to Wal-Mart again, needed a couple of ingredients for Gina’s fudge and also picked up one of those new Virgin Broadband Aircards.

Wichita Falls

This morning Meg and I took the truck and headed over to Lucy Park for our walk. We managed to find a back woods trail down along the river that had no other folks on it, so she got to spend a little time off leash. It is a beautiful park and the regular trails in it are all lit so it probably would be a nice walk in the evening also. As we came near to the turn around point we stumbled across a little swinging bridge that led us across the river to a city run RV Park called the Wichita River Bend RV Park. It had 20 odd sites (28 the web says), with water and electric and a dump station somewhere on the premises. It was only $17/night and the fact that it was quite close to the Central Freeway might make it a little noisy. But it would be a great place for an overnight stop and especially so if you or your dog like to walk.

Lucy Park VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We stayed at the Wichita Falls RV Park as we didn’t find the other one till this mornings walk but Meg was kind of partial to this view out our front window anyway.

It was just a 135 mile drive from Wichita Falls to our present location in McKinney, Texas but we saw these fellow headed off down the highway. Maybe they are heading off to Kansas City to get Rod and his scooter moving towards Mesa, Arizona with that new pup.

And just to prove that she has passed by at least one Wal-Mart this trip Brenda took this photo as we slid by on the highway.

Well that is one, and with a lot of positive reinforcement I am thinking we may actually be able to pass another 2 or 3 of these places without stopping to check their stock.

And just to prove that we are thinking of those of you back home working hard to keep those pension checks flowing we got a shot of rig, probably working on those Barnett Shales, north of Dallas. Drill baby Drill! Looks like a great job doing the community work on a job where you are drilling in some pretty expensive neighbourhoods.

One shot we didn’t get though was a huge, and I mean really huge, billboard about halfway along the drive with a picture of George W. Bush and the words, “DO YOU MISS ME YET?”. Got a chuckle out me anyway!

On the Road From Childress, Texas

We had a great spot in Childress last night, right down the trail from the local sports field so we got to listen to the half time show, marching bands and all, and it was a great spot for Meg and my walk this morning. We could get our 2.5 miles in without leaving the park.

The shot above was the sunset across the lake from our site.

We were in no hurry today to get going as we only had a 109 miles to cover to Wichita Falls. We left around 11:00AM this morning and rolled into Wichita Falls RV Park a couple of hours later. After getting set up we decided we would head out and get some of this BBQ that folks are always talking about. We asked around the site office and they recommended a couple of spots. From that selection we chose Stanley’s.

Either we are not BBQ folk or this place was a bad choice. I had the Beanie Burger on the recommendation of the cook and although it was pretty good it was a long way from any BBQ I had ever envisioned. Brenda had an order of ribs and although they had a slight smoky taste they were a little short on meat. Her sides were just “not good.” However the onion rings I ordered were the highlight of the meal.

Then it was off to the main event, a visit to the Dollar Store and finally to Wal-Mart to re-provision our rig.

Tomorrow is another big day, 135 miles or so to McKinney, Texas. We are going to be there for a few days while they fit us out with some new blinds.