End of Summer trip

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Got up and hit the road to Crazy Horse Memorial. We stopped in Hill City for lunch (breakfast was a slice of whole grain bread w/2 TBS of peanut butter at 7 am) at a place called Linda’s. It’s a deli and their food was excellent! I had a corned beef w/swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing, David had a Chicago Dog & fries…they provided free ice water and hot tea, so for less than $14 we were stuffed!

We went to the memorial, and since they are NOT a National Park would not take David’s National Access Pass – we were just going to turn around and not go in ($10 per person is a bit steep) when David asked about a Veteran’s discount – the girl smiled and handed us a ‘FREE’ pass – so if you go, take something to prove you are military or vet…and save yourself some dough!

It was the first time we did Crazy Horse – we watched the movie, then David sat and chatted with people while I went through the museum and gift shop. As usual didn’t find anything I wanted to buy!

On the way over we went 385 – NOT RECOMMENDED at this time as there were miles and miles of construction – and we were stopped quite a bit waiting on a pilot car – took us about 2 hours to go 50 miles :( Coming home we went 88 miles through Rapid City and it took us 45 mins…sheesh!

We had leftovers for dinner – and it was an early night. There were no thunderstorms today and the temp was 93…too hot! The AC worked it’s little heart out!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Today was get ready to go day, and since there was a cancellation we moved over to a full hook up site so we could go into Gillette with clean tanks…

While David was moving the MH to the new site, I was doing laundry. I HATE laundry, but it has to be done about every 10 days – sometimes I can stretch it to 15 days, depending on the weather! The ‘warmer’ clothing takes up much more room in the hamper than the hot weather clothing!

Had a msg from Bev McDowell that they were coming up from Rapid City to Sundance – sounds like we will be going out for dinner! Lovin’ that!

Friday, June 28, 2013

Arrived at Escapade in Gillette, WY in good time – in and parked by 11 am. Bev and Denny right down the road, Robin and Florence almost directly across from us! It was a great day weather wise, a little hot at about 82, but mornings and evenings are ‘just right’.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Up and at ‘em early for registration at 9 am. Got our packets and information on everything, talk about a small world, as I was standing in line for registration, David was chatting with a lovely couple on a bench. Believe it or not, the lady of the two is actually from Berlin, PA and comes back every year for the Blue Grass Festival over Labor Day! How strange to meet someone from Berlin in WY…The man needed medicine from the VA, so David got on the ‘net’ and got them the phone and address in Gillette so he could get it…such a nice guy! We went to Applebee’s with Denny and Bev for a nice ‘cool’ dinner!

We got our table all set up for the ‘ROW’ that we would be sitting at for the next 4 days! Happy to be beside the Pahrump Pair O’Dice folks, Jim and Linda Sullivan that we met in Pahrump, and Sierra Hills where we visited with Walker and Evelyn Lane! We stopped at Wally world and picked up two HUGE bags of candy, kisses and tootsie roll mini’s, for our booth. They were very popular with our fellow ROW participants!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

First official day of Escapades! We were to be at Spirit Hall at 8:30 for a ‘run through’ of the Parade of Banners. It went off without a hitch, and we went to our booth at 10. We met lots of new folks and chatted with a lot of them about what a great place SW TX is, and in particular our LSC!

At 3pm we were again at Spirit Hall for the ‘Parade of Banners’ which once again went off without a hitch! There was a great opening ceremony followed by an Ice Cream Social…yum!

We went home and had dinner, then were back at Spirit Hall at 7 pm for Door prizes and a terrific musical show, the Rivoli Revue. Lots of emotion during the ‘patriot’ portion, as they played each branch of the military and asked the members to stand. Thought of Jack Lefevre when they called for ‘Merchant Marines’ and only 1 man stood! Of course I cried like a baby during the Marines, Navy and Air Force songs…love my military family!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Once again we manned our table, but David attended the Rand McNally GPS Seminar. Unfortunately, the acoustics were so bad he left half way through. It didn’t help that the man giving the talk had a very heavy British accent – he did get to talk to him later 1 on 1 and was able to get his questions answered!

We had a couple people that were very interested in getting on our waiting list, so we have our fingers crossed! Lunch was Brats from the concession booth – very good and reasonable at $3 each.

Paul Evarts RV Show and Sale have a Happy Hour every day at 3 – music, wine, beer and munchies. Now you KNOW I’m all over that!!! Pretty nice little chardonnay box wine :)

Evening program – Patty Davidson, ventriloquist did an amazing job! She is quite talented, and her brother as well!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Pretty much the same as Monday – except we had burgers for lunch, and evening entertainment was BINGO. David had volunteered to man a security gate for a volunteer pin and an extra chance to win a Catalytic Heater from Solar World.

Wednesday July 3, 2013

The ROW party was today from noon to 3, and we were very busy! We gave out all but 3 of our packets (had 100) and went through pounds and pounds of kisses and tootsie minis…gave out all the pens too! All we had to pack back out was the pipes for the banner, the banner, and the log book! The slide show that David did on the computer was a huge hit – many folks stopped and asked questions about what they were seeing, and said it looks like we have lots of fun at LSC – yeppers, we do!

We went to dinner with Pam Mcmickin and her husband ??? boy I hate it when that happens! We went to Humphries (in Cheyenne it is Sanford’s) and had a great time! They have a lot at The Ranch in NM, and we look forward to spending more time with these friends.

We made the decision to do an ‘extend stay’ here and leave on Sunday. With it being 4^th of July we were afraid that we might not be able to get a camp site in Wheatland. I’m sure we will if we leave here on Sunday morning. Lots of folks are planning on staying until Monday! Since we have been in this area for almost a month, we are ready to go on down the road.

Tonight was Ham-O-Rama, Escapades answer to amateur night – what fun! There was singing, dancing, storytelling, jokes, and even audience participation! A great time was had by all!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Once again we woke up to clear sunny blue skies, and I headed on down to pay for our ‘extended’ stay. I looked into some very nice motorhomes, but none as well suited to us as ours! BUT, a gal has got to look! Came home and fixed oatmeal, and before I knew it was time to head down for the chili cook off! We tasted 9 different chili’s, and put our $5 in the one we liked best. All proceeds from the cookoff and the music went 100% to CARE. If you don’t know about CARE, I’d suggest that you go to the Escapee website and look it up!

Naps were the order for the afternoon!

Here are the happy campers at the banquet – menu was bbq grilled chicken, brisket, scalloped potatoes, corn, rolls, birthday cake. A bottle of champagne was brought to each table after dinner and we all shared in several toasts during the closing ceremonies, followed by dancing.

We came back to the motorhome and the skies started to get very dark, the wind picked up and pretty soon the rain started. I felt very sorry for all the families that were sitting in the Cam-Plex area awaiting fireworks!

We sat inside the MH facing the fireworks, and what a show! The Gillette fire department put out some fantastic fireworks, as did Mother Nature! My oh my, lightening all around! It was marvelous!

The show was over and our eyelids were closing by 10 pm – and a nice nights sleep was in store for both of us!

Friday, July 5, 2013

We slept in for a change, and did some much needed cleaning up – vacuuming, dusting, putting away, etc. Everything has a place and must be put back into it, or you have total CHAOS in this small a space! Since we have been here housekeeping has been pretty low on the list!

Beverly and Dennis McDowell had won a buffet dinner at China King and asked if we wanted to go along – of course the answer was yes :) Mike and Carrie followed us over and we all had a great dinner – regular Chinese as well as a Hibachi grill. Food was yummy and company was even better!

Saturday, July 06, 2013

There was supposed to be a Farmer’s Market at the Tech Center here in Gillette – First Saturday of July to start at 8 am…Beverly and I went over at 9 and there was no one there! Terry Russell and Jan White were there because I had told them about it – I was pretty embarrassed, but that is what the web site said! Beverly and I went to Albertson’s to pick up some groceries anyway, so I have the ingredients for vegetable soup (zero point and so yummy).

This evening we had ‘social’ hour at our house – Denny & Beverly, Mike and Carrie, Jim and Ellie, Robin and Flo, David and I enjoyed each other’s company immensely! I made polish sausage w/kraut, everyone brought a munchies and we yammered and yammered until around 7 pm J

Sunday, July 7, 2013

We pulled out of Gillette and moseyed down the road to Wheatland, WY where we planned on eating at El Gringo’s. Naturally, they were closed both Sunday and Monday, so after yet another Taco John’s meal we went back to the mh and found that Oressa (a young lady who used to work at Wyoming Student Loan Corp was in Wheatland. She came over to visit with her two little ones. Thanks for visiting Oressa!

Monday, July 8, 2013

We headed out of Wheatland at 8:30 – got about 15 miles when suddenly we started getting a white steam in the coach and then the smell…of antifreeze. Looking ahead there was a parking area to pull off in, which is what we did. I put in a call to Good Sam’s emergency road service – after ascertaining that we were in a ‘safe’ place he asked what the trouble was.

I stated that we were pretty certain it was a radiator hose, and that we have a chevy 454 engine. He repeated it back to me – put me on hold and then came back and said he would call back. He called back in about 5 minutes, saying that there was a ‘mobile mechanic’ coming to our aid, but it would be about 2 hours until he could get there.

OK, not a problem. Once again I said we had a Chevy 454 gas engine. He made sure to tell me that we would be responsible for parts and labor. We did NOT get a call from the mechanic.

After about an hour and forty-five minutes, the man showed up from Bosselman, Inc. He spent about 5 minutes looking at the engine, and removed the hose. He then said he did not have one of those with him. He went into Wheatland and got a new hose and about 45 minutes later he came back. He spent 15 minutes installing the new hose and putting antifreeze in our radiator.

He then presented us with a bill for $442.73. Now to me, that is just plain price gouging. He charged us $332.00 for LABOR that was no more than 30 mins tops. He charged us $79.32 for a radiator hose that you can buy at NAPA for $21.00…$6.35 for antifreeze, and $25.06 for tax. So far I have emailed Good Sam ERS twice telling them what happened and asking for an explanation. I believe I was over charged by at least $200.00, and who knows what they were billed!

We finally got to the Moose Club in Cheyenne around 3, very hot, tired and discouraged. We set up and went to get some Parkway Pizza – man that is just the best pizza on the planet as far as we’re concerned! We loved it when we lived in Cheyenne, and now that is one of the first places we go!

We had just gotten home and here came our first visitors, Janet Tilton and her daughter Gena. Was so good to see them and Janet and I made a plan – I’m picking her up in the morning!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

I picked Janet up and we went to R & B Breakfast Club for the best breakfast burrito’s in the world. They have the most amazing green chili – first bite takes your breath away and the rest is pure joy! Thanks Janet for treating J

We spent the rest of the day just ‘chillin’ – drove around a little bit, then just came home!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

It was take Cinder to the groomer – so I dropped her off at 8, then picked up doughnuts and took them to Western States Learning Corporation and/or Align, where I worked for 15 years. It was wonderful to see the folks there that I still knew – many of my friends no longer are employed there…que sera sera.

I drove over and surprised my friend Lynn Conrad who was my neighbor when I lived there! We spent 3 hours catching up!

Went home and David and I got naps, then we went into the Moose Club where Ray and Sandy Abe bought our dinner :) We also saw friends Alex and Lou, Joe and Donna Dereemer, and Ron and Beth Hartz. It was a great evening!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Laundry day – gathered it all up and went to Dirty Duds…just got home when Pam and Gary Wisecup stopped by. He just had surgery and is doing well – best wishes for a speedy recovery!

I have no idea how we spent the rest of the day…just chillin’ I guess.

Friday, July 12, 2013

I took off at 8:30 for R & B breakfast burrito – last one on this stop. Then I went to Sam’s Club, got all the stuff I needed, then stopped at Brown & Gold and bought David a WY hat he just had to have. Went back home and we took off to dump the motorhome.

Got back to the Moose and I started cooking – made a big bowl of macaroni salad and 7 lbs of sloppy joes, put out tablecloths and paper stuff and would you believe it rained! First time in 6 weeks everyone said…grrrr. A good time was had by all who came! Gloria, Janet, Gena, Justy, Cindy, Stephanie and 2 grands, Lynn, Brittany, Matt, Alana, Aubrey, Dwight, Sonia, Wanna (I know I spelled that wrong) – so glad you all could come!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

We hit the road bright and early (OK, 9:30) and drove to Chappell, NE to a PA park. We were glad to get off the road – apparently when that idiot from Bosselman did our hose, he disconnected something, because our AC and Vent were not working – very very HOT!

We got a nice pull through site so we didn’t even unhook the car – I fixed tamales (from the Tortilla Factory in Cheyenne, a gift from Dwight & Sonia), and pork green chili that Gloria brought us! David topped his with Habanero Salsa, also from Gloria, while I just had regular salsa. Dinner was excellent!

Met a lovely woman who had her 8 year old grandson with them for their summer trip to Yellowstone. They have 11 grandchildren, and he is #10 – they have taken 1 at a time for the past 10 years! They have 1 more to go. She said that this one is the toughest so far, as he is autistic. We chatted for about 45 minutes.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

We got back on the road and headed towards North Platte, NE where we caught Rt 83, which we’ll be on until we get to Kerrville, TX. We planned on stopping at McCook, NE at a city park for the night, but we couldn’t find it. There was all kinds of construction there, we drove around for 15 mins then said OK, down the road.

We traveled another 29 miles to Oberlin, KS, where we found a shady spot at Creekside RV Park. The park itself is shabby, the roads are horrendous, but the shade was so welcome!

We set up and while waiting for the house to cool down, we went to find an air conditioned place to have a bite to eat. We stopped at Pizza Hut and had salad and pasta – it was terrific!

Monday, July 15, 2013

We slept in this morning until 8:30 – boy, that felt good! We spent the day just vegging out, staying cool.

Tuesday, July 16, 17, 2013

Liberal, KS home of Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz…where we stayed 2 days at once again a pretty shabby PA park – at least it was only $14 a night WITH cable TV J

Nothing exciting was done here, just trying to get the AC working on the chassis of the MH – still no progress on that.

Thursday & Friday, July 18 & 19

Perryton TX where we stayed at a very nice city park for free – BUT the voltage was pretty low for our AC – ended up having no AC for Fri night – TOO HOT! Did eat at a very nice Mexican Buffet while there!

Sat & Sunday, July 20 & 21

After extensive reading, searching the internet, and experiments, David was finally able to get our dash air working on the MH – apparently the a**hole who came out and overcharged us from Bosselman, Inc in Laramie WY unhooked two vacuum wires, causing us to have NO AC in the dash. The whole experience with him was BAD news!