Happy Thanksgiving!

   “Home is where you park it” is one of the mottos of the Escapees RV Club that we belong to.  I love that motto because it so aptly describes our lifestyle.  We usually feel like we are home wherever we happen to be, because we come home to the same trailer, same kitchen, same bedroom, same cat, etc., every night.  There are times however, that for me,  home is where my family is.  Thanksgiving is one of those days.  I miss my family and my kids.  Of course, our daughter is in Michigan and our son is in Massachusetts, and Paul’s mom is in West Texas, so its not as though we would all be together for the holiday anyway.  I think it’s partly a nostalgia thing.  I remember all the great holidays we had with the kids when they were younger. There was even one Thanksgiving  that we voted and all decided we didn’t want the traditional turkey dinner, so instead we made turkey enchiladas (with a side dish of potato puff and cranberry sauce).
    This year was completely different for us.  Not in a bad way, just different.  We had Thanksgiving with “100 of our closest friends”.
     We are parked in Livingston, Texas, at an Escapees RV Park. It is their national headquarters and in fact, its the RV Park that we call “home”.  Both of our drivers licenses now have this address listed on them.  It has been so odd to be able to walk over to the office every day and see if we have any mail.  Usually getting mail requires more effort and forethought. We’ve actually been here about  a week, and let me tell you, I have no idea where the days have gone.  Paul ordered a weather station, and a Wilson Cell Phone antenna, both of which have already arrived.  We also received a new TV antenna because ours stopped working, and he already has the new one installed. I have a new cell phone, although I hate it so I’ll probably send it back. He’s spent the last few days installing his new toys and rearranging some wiring in the trailer.  I have just been researching different things, doing laundry, and chatting with neighbors.
    We have had our friends Julie and Mike parked next to us since we got here, which is making this a fun place to be.  We went out for Mexican food one night and cooked Jambalaya another night.  Julie left a few days ago to fly  to Omaha to visit their new granddaughter, so Mike has spent the last few days washing and waxing their 5th wheel, and of course, hanging out with us. 
          So, the way they do Thanksgiving dinner here is like this.  There are sign-up sheets in the activities room for anyone who wants to attend the dinner. There are about 15 tables that can each hold 10 people. You sign up for whatever table you want to sit at, and one person at each table is the Host or Hostess (me, in this case) and that person organizes the food etc. The turkey and gravy are cooked in the commercial ovens and everyone pays $2 for that.  Then each person at the table brings a dish to share, just with the tablemates.  Since I was the hostess, it was my job to make sure we had a variety of dishes and not 5 different kinds of stuffing.  It turned out great, and we had an awesome variety of delicious food at our table, including homemade rolls. I had a great time but I had also taken the time to meet and chat with everyone who was going to be at our table, so I already knew them a little bit.  In fact, one couple is from Massachusetts, and one is from New Hampshire, so we had a lot in common.
      Now the day is almost over and we are trying to get over that “completely stuffed” feeling that comes with Thanksgiving every year. 

Run Off by Spiders (Jasper TX 11/13/11)

If yesterday had been a football game it would have been Spiders: 6, Us:0. I had done some research and found a nearby trail- I had even downloaded trail info onto my GPS. After packing up our lunch and backpacks, we headed out on a beautiful day, with temps in the high 70s, and drove 15 miles to get to the trailhead. After about 30 seconds on the trail, Paul commented that he had run into a really strong spider web. I replied that that's why I let him lead(not kidding). Another 30 seconds passed and he ran into another web, but this one had a big juicy spider hanging around in it. We started looking to the sides of the trail and could see quite a few spiders in the bushes along the side. At this point I was trying to think of a good way to let Paul know that I, for one, would be turning around. Before I could form a coherent thought in my head, he had run into yet another spider web, complete with spider resident. By this time we had discovered a secondary use for our hiking sticks, and were waving them in front of our heads while we walked. That was enough for Paul, and we turned around and headed Back the way we came.
For the last few days we've been staying at a campground on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Jasper, TX. The reservoir is down 14 feet from the level it should be at, which makes most of boat ramps high and dry, completely unusable. I have a picture, but I am posting from my Ipad and I haven't figured out how to post pictures from it.
When we got back from the abandoned hike there were some kind of flying ants all over the trailer, trying to get inside with us every time we opened the door. Eeeew. This morning, we decided to wash the trailer, since most RV parks have rules against that, but this one does not. About halfway through I started feeling something biting my ankle. Turns out I stepped on an anthill full of red ants. I am ready to leave here!
Tomorrow we head to Houston. We've been having unusual tire wear, so Lippert, the manufacturer of the axles, is sending new ones to put on. Its very frustrating, all the issues we've had with the trailer. We're hoping once we get it finally totally fixed that we won't have further issues, but at this point I am getting a little discouraged.

A State Fair and a Rodeo (11-6-11)

               The Rodeo was the main attraction of the state fair, as far as I am concerned.  I’ve never  been to one before -which literally shocked some of the people I have met here in Shreveport- until I told them I grew up in Boston.  We got to the fair several hours before the rodeo, so we’d have time to check out the exhibits and test out the food.






 Ordinarily I don’t eat much “carny” food, but this time I  found a website that listed the Top 20 food items at the fair.  Some of them were of no interest to me- crab boudin, Rocky Mountain Oysters (deep fried lamb testicle) and alligator, but others sounded different, and worth trying.   The first thing we tried was Cookie Dough on a Stick- chocolate covered, with pecans.  It was SO sweet, even Paul thought it was sweet.  After wandering the fair for a while longer  we  came across deep fried Jalapeño cheddar cheese sticks, which were delicious, and deep fried macaroni and cheese, which was good as well.  We were up for trying the Stuffed Jalapeños, but every time we walked by, they were out of them.  Just before going in to the rodeo, we forced ourselves to try the Red Velvet Funnel Cake.  We felt stuffed for 2 days!

The Rodeo started in a darkened arena with a single horse and rider carrying the American flag, as a prayer was said and the National Anthem was sung.

There were multiple roping events, which as it turns out, I didn’t enjoy at all.  I liked watching the cowboys trying to rope a calf, right up until they did.  Then I felt bad for the calf.  This picture is of team roping- they both have to get their lasso on the calf in order for it to count,

I did enjoy the bull riding, bronco riding and the bareback bronco riding.  The music that was played during each attempt was fast, loud, and upbeat, adding to the fun of watching.  There was also some great interaction between the announcer and the rodeo clown.

                                                                                                                                                               After bucking off the rider, not all of the animals calmed down quickly-some of them continued to leap around the arena until the cowboys could convince them to exit out the open gate.

The only competition that women can participate in is the barrel racing.  The contestants are timed as they race their horses around 3 barrels and back to the end of the arena.
We stuck around Shreveport this week because we have been too long without our mail and I wanted to get it shipped to us.  Everything arrived today, so we’ll take off on Saturday for our next destination, wherever that is.