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.

Love/Hate (11-04-11)

There are things I love about this lifestyle, and things I hate about it.
What I love about it:  2 days ago, I had my phone in my hand,  and was punching in the numbers to call an RV park in Texarkana, TX to make a reservation. As I am doing this, Paul says “Hey, there is a commercial on TV for the Louisiana State Fair- do a quick google and check it out, will you?”   So I do a quick “google” and I discover that the State Fair is in progress, and it’s in Shreveport, LA, a mere 130 miles from our current location.  After finding an RV park that has room for us, the decision was made, so, here we are in Shreveport, LA. 
   I am pretty excited about being here.   There is a Rodeo on Saturday night, and since I’ve never been to one, it’s been high on my list of Wants.  We now have box seat tickets to tonight’s rodeo. Sweet!  The other bonus is that by being stationary in a commercial park, I was able to get something shipped to me here- which leads me to what I (used to) hate about this lifestyle:
What I hate about it: Lack of internet.  This is one of the biggest issues that full time RVers have to address in some way.  There are many options, some cheap and somewhat unreliable, and some pretty expensive (satellite Internet), with several options in between.  Up to this point, Paul and I have chosen to rely mostly on campground Wi-Fi systems, and when that is unavailable, we tether to my AT&T cell phone. Lately that’s been a problem because apparently I have dropped my phone too many times and the connections are too loose to use to connect it to the PC.  Add to that the fact that AT&T coverage is not what we would like it to be, and my frustration level increases dramatically. AND, the speed of campground Wi-Fi systems slows to a painful crawl as more people try to use it.
    As I mentioned in my last post, at Devil’s Den we had neither cell coverage,nor internet.  Not that I think Verizon is perfect, but I do believe it’s much better than AT&T.  Devil’s Den was last straw for me.  I got on the phone with my personal Verizon Wireless Sales Consultant (who I have been reviewing options with for several months) and told him to ship my new IPAD II!  
The Ipad solves several frustrations for me.  Within hours of receiving it, I had activated a data plan for it through Verizon.  So, last night when the campground Wi-fi slowed to 1mbps, I switched over to my personal Verizon plan and I was back in business!  The other perk is that I will have a better internet connection to do research, as we travel down the road.  No longer will I have to rely on the small screen on my  phone.
And so begins our migration over to Verizon and Apple.

Arkansas State Parks(10-29-11)

                                                                       The last two places we stayed in were Arkansas State Parks, and I must say, they have some of the best I have seen.  Full Hookup, nice hardtop driveways that are long, and easily accessible.  The last one we were in, Crater of Diamonds State Park, even had great Wi-fi!  Devil’s Den State Park did not, however.  I didn’t even have cell signal.  We had to drive to the top of the hill to make calls and check email.  That situation was the straw that broke the camel’s back, for me, but I’ll get into that in the next post. So…..
Devil’s Den State Park:
According to the Ranger,, no one really knows why this park was named Devil’s Den.  I am guessing it has to do with some of the unique rock formations or caves, but that’s just a guess.
     There are a few reasonably short hikes in the park so our first day here we decided to do several of them.  We kind of put them all together to make one 8 mile hike.  In fact, we started at the campsite, so we didn’t even have to drive.  After hiking the Yellow Rock Trail with an elevation gain of about 400 ft, we continued on with the Devil’s Den Trail, which, we found out after we got there, is an interpretive trail, with numbered displays along the trail.  Of course, you have to buy the booklet in order to know what you are looking at, and the Visitors Center was too far away for us to bother going to buy one, so we just hiked the trail.
   
Usually there is a lake here, but it’s been drained in order to make repairs to the dam.  The pedestrian walkway over the river is also closed- and it’s clear that although the river is very low right now, it was flooded at one time, because the debris is still on the walkway that the flooding demolished.  Oh, and the caves are closed as well, due to the threat of White Nose disease- a disease that is wiping out bat populations all over the country.
     Our second day in the park was our “big hike” day.  We had to register with the Ranger in order to hike the Butterfield Trail.  They wanted all kinds of information from us, including wanting to know what we are carrying for safety equipment, (cell phone, GPS, flashlight) and they also gave us tips- like, “shut off your cell phone (since there is no service) to conserve the battery in case you get lost”.  The hike loosely connects with the route that the Butterfield Stage Coach line took back in the early days, and most of the trail is in the Ozark National Forest, not the state park.  We loved the sign at the entrance assuring hikers they will get lost if they don’t have a map.  And they really aren’t kidding.  We lost the trail 2 or 3 times and had to refer to the map and the GPS repeatedly.  By the time the day was over, we had hiked about 9 miles.  It was a really difficult trail for me because so much of the trail was loose rock which is tough on my foot, and a little slow going because it would be so easy to twist an ankle.  It’s hikes like this that make me glad I have really good high profile hiking boots! 
    There were some interesting rock formations along the way and several “unofficial” campsites, like the one in the picture.  Sorta made us wish we had a tent, but then, the temperature went down to 32 degrees that night, so maybe not.
Crater of Diamonds State Park:
    
        Since we’re already in Arkansas, we figured we’d check out this park.  It’s one of those unique experiences that you take advantage of because you happen to be there and it’s available.  Crater of Diamonds is literally a crater that is full of diamonds.  It’s the only diamond field in the U.S  where the public can dig for diamonds, and keep what they find.   They charge about $7 per person to dig for the day.  The day that we were there, there were at least 3 diamonds found, and since it became a state park  in 1972, there have been over 29,000 diamonds found by park visitors.  Did we find one? Nope, but the 10 year old girl we met did.  In fact, she found two.  We did have some fun trying, having gone there with the understanding that it was  going to be a muddy, dirty day. There are two methods of diamond sifting-the dry method and the wet method.  We chose the wet method because you can sift the dirt faster.  They plow the field once a month to stir up the dirt, and it seemed pretty clear that after the plowing, or after a rainfall, would be the best time to look for diamonds, but we’re not going to stick around that long.
       Of course, most of the diamonds found here are small, or reasonably flawed, but there have been many that were over 5 carats, and one of the diamonds here was rated as a “D” perfect diamond,  a one in a billion diamond, the likes of which most gemologists never see in their lifetime.