Halloween Party

We went to the Halloween Party at the clubhouse tonight.  It was fun, too much good "finger" food.  Some people had good costumes - one couple were hippies, he had a long hair wig.  One woman dressed as a convict in a striped jumpsuit and her husband dressed as a police officer, handcuffs and all.  We emptied our bottle of wine, I think I had about 3/4 of it.  I made a very easy dip in the afternoon and found Pita crackers to have with the dip.

Dip -
1 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chunky salsa (I used medium, might have been better with hot)
1/2 cup grated parmesan (kind in can)

Mix and chill

Tampa Trip Today

We went to Tampa today, first to Sweet Tomatoes - one of our favorite places to eat.  It is a salad, soup, muffin buffet.  Then it was Old Time Pottery to see if on some outside chance they would have beverage glasses to match to ones I bought several years ago.  After some looking (you can't imagine how many glasses they have) I found mine!

Then it was off to the new Camping World where Don had several things he needed.  He also got me a flamingo that has a solar light.  Very cute!

From there we went to Parksdale farms to load up on fresh fruit and vegetables, also got a gerbera daisy.

Great nephew Quintin

Brooksville

It was off to Brooksville today for haircuts and shopping.  We had lunch at CiCi's then hair cuts and CVS, Sam's Club, Bealls, Walmart.  Lots of walking.  I was very tired when we got home.

First Ice Cream Social of the season

We ate breakfast at our all time favorite Denny's.  It looks like a Denny's and has their menu but that is where the similarity ends.  Best pancakes!  In the afternoon we went to the Ice Cream Social at the campground clubhouse - sherbert for me.  Talked to our daughters in the evening.

Chinese Dinner

We had our favorite (in Florida) Chinese for Dinner.  What a nice day, we dug our chairs out of the "basement" and sat outside reading in the afternoon.  A few people stopped by to visit.

Dade City

We went to Dade City for a fish dinner at Captain D's.  It was remarkably good, hot.  Even the hush puppies were good.  We are enjoying the nice cooler and drier weather.

Just another day in the park

We go to 10 AM coffee in the morning and that is about it for the day.  Good to relax and catch up on reading and computer stuff.  We grilled some brats that have been in the freezer for 3 months - tasted fine!

A day to catch up

Just stayed home all day and it felt good.  We both got some stuff done around the motorhome.  Don is complaining about all the dishes we have to do, I reminded him that's because we are eating at home.  Tonight we went out for dinner.

Settling in

We didn't sleep well last night, we were too tired I think and not accustomed to the AC running off and on all night.  It was a hot and humid night and today is the same but worse.  We did get a lot done around the motorhome.  I got it cleaned and stuff we don't need put away, a couple hours later it looked trashed again so we had a major put away time again.  (I think I sent the message that dumping stuff wherever is not acceptable, a few things out of place make the whole motorhome looked trashed.)

We went to 10:00 coffee, it was good to see people again.  Not everyone is in yet but more expected every day.  We didn't even move the car today from the awkward way I parked in when we arrived.  Just didn't feel like going on the road again.

Made it to Florida

After 10 hot and grueling hours on the road in the motorhome we made it to our site in Florida.  Heavy traffic most of the way.  Why is it when people see a couple cars pulled beside the road and a state trooper they have to slow way down to take a look?  We had one short but major slow down and another 20 minute slow down caused by gawkers.  Get a life!

We got an early start but it didn't take long to get hot.  Heading south in Florida we have the sun come through our big front window and it bakes us.  We were exhausted and it was about all we could do to hold it together to do a minor set-up so we could get to bed.  The good news is we and our equipment made the trip in without incident.  The diesel is officially broken in now, they say you need 30,000 miles before it is fully happy.  And it is a happy motor, just hums along.

Anouther day at Gulf Shores

We had breakfast at Don's favorite place - Waffle House.  Not just any Waffle House but the one near here.  I went to Old Time Pottery and got a rug for the front inside steps and a new comforter for the bed, this time in golden-green.  Then it was Camping World, we hadn't been to one for a long time so had a list.  I also purchased a flamingo with a pink streamer that catches the wind.  I hope there is a suitable tree on our site in Florida.

I caught up on the laundry in the afternoon, Don took the jeans to the laundry to dry as it is raining off and on so the cloths line wouldn't work.  We went to Chick-fil-a for wraps for dinner, brought them home.  It is cooling off tonight so will need heat, we plan to get an early start for Florida in the morning.

Gulf Shores, Alabama

After another 8 hours on the road including two diesel stops we made it to the Escapees Plantation RV Park.  A nice park and level sites, good to be level after last night.  We came a different way this time to avoid all the traffic lights coming into Mobile, we got on I 10 sooner and zipped east right through Mobile.  It will be good to stay here two nights before heading to our leased site in Florida.

Foley Alabama is know for it's flowers along the main road, they change them with the season.

Vicksburg, Mississippi

After 8 hours and 4 states we made it to Vicksburg.  The drive involves plenty of hills and curves in the morning and two lane roads in the afternoon.  It is the most grueling drive on our trip.  We are at a casino campground that doesn't know level sites are important to us RV'ers.  It will be up and on the road tomorrow again.

Hunt for Arkansas Black Apples

Actually we didn't have to hunt them this year as we now know where to get the apples - at a little store by Harrison, Arkansas.  We also got some tomatoes and candied pineapple and chocolate peanut clusters!

Dutton Family and Rib Crib

We had dinner at the Rid Crib in Branson, a good ole rib meal.  Then we went to the show "The Duttons"  with is a very talented family of musicians.  We enjoyed their show!

The Duttons

Branson Train and Fall Creek Steak and Catfish House

This morning we rode the Branson Train for the first time.  We have been here so many times and never quite got it done.  It was a great trip through the hills and valleys into Arkansas - about two hours long.  We enjoyed it very much.  There were a lot of loud and wild kids on waiting to board so we boarded toward the last and kept walking through the cars until we found one with all adults.  On the return trip one couple eventually decided we needed their wild kid to liven things up and resettled in our area.  Finally the grandparents of the kid (who didn't know what "inside voice" means) retrieved the kid back to where there were.  My suggestion to the train people would to have an adults only car.  It's not that I dislike little kids, just the ones who can't be controlled by their parents.

In the evening we ate at the Fall Creek Steak and Catfish House, home of the tossed rolls.  We had very good dinners - way too much food.  We have leftovers for another meal.

Branson Train engine

View from the train

Inside the Fall Creek Steak and Catfish House

Breakfast

We ate breakfast at a Branson favorite, McFarlands.  We each got 4 large pancakes with our bacon and eggs - we could hardly eat two pancakes.  After we did some walking in Kohls (bought nothing) and Walmart for a few groceries.

We grilled steak for dinner, I made "Red Lobster" cheese biscuits.

Happy Anniversary to Sheila and Ken!!!

Grand Buffett

We ate at the Grand Buffet for lunch, one of our favorite places.  I am not a buffet person but this place has the best crescents anywhere.  Afterward we went to an outlet mall.  I may have gotten a little too close to the Coach store.

We were not at all hungry in the evening but finally got a Subway to tide us over until morning.

A ride around the Branson area

We had a hamburger at Steak and Shake, I ordered a guacamole burger - the picture showed guacamole oozing out the edges but my burger had just a dab..  I would have expected that they would give me a little cup of guacamole extra but they didn't want to make it right.  Just said "sorry".

After we ate we drove down the "76 Strip"  where all the action takes place.  There was a lot of traffic so we drove the damn way home.  Was a nice drive, not much for fall colors here yet.

Table Rock Lake in the distance

Made it to Branson (Hollister)

It seemed like a long day on the road.  We had plenty of road construction to go through and some traffic.  Going through Kansas City went well, not too much traffic there and we easily made it through the mix-master intersection which has caused us anxious moments in the past.  Our other challenge was getting on the interstate in Springfield, MO.  It involves one of Missouri's famous drive on the left side while opposing traffic drives on the right hand side.  Perhaps they have engineers from the UK!  Then it is up and down hill - we're talking major hills - to Branson.  When we got to our RV Park, Turkey Creek, we discovered the site reserved had trees that would not allow us to put out our front slides.  There was one more site available and it worked out very well.

One of our favorite places to eat is closed so we settled for Sonic.  We are both so tired tonight, don't think the sirens on the road and the very near railroad will bother us tonight at all!

Osceola, Iowa

We left Prior Lake, MN this morning and got to our planned stop at Osceola.  An easy 5 hour trip in the motorhome.  We had a lot of road construction to go through, it was rough going around Des Moines.  We have had our current GPS for almost two years and it has suddenly started giving us road condition updates such as construction, slow traffic, etc.

Nice day

It is a much nicer day today, what a difference a day can make.  We went to Dennis' for dinner and to say "see you at Christmas" as we plan to move south on Wednesday.

Miserable weather

What a dark, drizzly, mersible day.  But then we don't have tons of snow, tornados, hurricanes or any of the other stuff that is happening around the U.S.  We went out for breakfast and then stayed home.  We were going to grill steak for dinner but about that time it started to rain - again, so we went out for a hamburger.

Can two months make a difference?

Last summer and yesterday,  what a difference two months can make!

Main street in Sturgis during Motorcycle Rally and Oct. 5

Apple orchards and Fall colors

We went to Emma Krumbees for breakfast today and looked at their store.  The store has lots of crafts and of course apples for sale.  Looks like there are still tons of apples on their trees.  Then we went for a ride near the river, we were about a week early for the nice fall colors but some trees have changed.  A nice ride on a nice day.

Dinning out

We went to Mystic Lake Casino today for lunch and promptly lost $3 each.  We hadn't been there for a long time and a lot of things have changed.  For one thing they now have bars.

In the evening we went to dinner with Brenda, Sheila and Kazia and their families.  We had a good time visiting as always.

Decorations around skylight at Mystic Lake

One of the many waterfalls outside of Mystic Lake Casino

Josh's Superman socks, note cape!!!