Oklahoma Bombing Memorial

Don and I spent a very emotional day at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Prior to going to the memorial we rode the "water taxi" that is about 1 mile long! Not very long, but our guide was very informative on the history of downtown Oklahoma City. One comment that Don and I both have is that the city is one of the cleanest places we've ever seen. Truly, there is no trash, even in the industrial section of town! From the water taxi, we jumped on the trolley which took us to the northern section of town and the memorial.

The first thing that you see is the fence where people leave tributes and memorials for those that lost their lives on the day of the bombing. Families of some of the victims have also left mementos along with pictures of thier loved ones. Lots of key chains, license plates and many other trinkets along the fence.



Next are two walls, one representing the moments before and the other the moment after the 9:02 bombing.









Finally are the "chairs". Although we were there in the day, I've also seen them at night. The chairs lit is a very eerie site. The rows represent the floors the victims were on with each chair represeting someone who died. The small chairs represent the chidren who died while in the building. They were in the day care center on the second floor. There are also chairs on the sides that represent those that were in other buildings and also died as a result of the bombing.

The memorial is a wonderful tribute to those that lost their lives that day. It was very emotional to see, read and be a part of this memorial. I would highly suggest a visit to it.

The "Wow" House!

This is a house that Don and I looked at in Greer's Ferry. In fact, we even made an offer on it. We didn't make a full price offer on it because there were several things that we would need to change to make it work for us. Plus, we thought it was over priced. The owner countered at almost full price and we said "no thank you". In fact, after we declined the offer, the price was raised! The house has already been on the market for a year...doesn't sound like they really want to sell, does it?


We called it the "wow" house. When you walked into the great room (or inside the door...you said "wow"! It had an awesome view!

Oh well, guess it just wasn't meant to be!

Cabot, AR - Third Post

Posing for Grandma's camera! :-)








Here she is again in another outfit! It was too cold to wear her Easter dress. Later she modeled some of her clothes for me! Ashleigh's favorite store is Gymboree! She tried to get me to take her there but I resisted! It can get very expensive when you take her in there! She wants matching everything!





We stayed a few days longer than we had originally planned. Ashleigh had a music program the night before we left. The kids were supposed to dress up as something they wanted to be when they grew up. Ashleigh wants to be a dancer (for now) and wore a dress from one of her dance recitals!

Cabot, AR - Second Post

Here's Ashleigh with her eggs!
Can you see her first loose tooth? It would come out in just a few hours! :-)
Waiting for the Tooth Fairy while spending the night at Grandma & Grandpa's! Did you know it is VERY special when you loose your first tooth at Grandma's? The Tooth Fairy thought so too and left her $20.00! :-) Grandpa thought the Tooth Fairy was too extravagant but hey, what are Grandparents are for?


Here we are dying Easter Eggs! It went VERY fast! Eggs in, eggs out! Whoops, Grandma broke one! That's the same egg that their dog, Bandit ate the next morning after the Easter Bunny hid them!

Cabot, AR - First Post

Ashleigh and Grandpa!
Having lunch at school with the kindergartners.
Ashleigh and I made a hat for the Easter/Spring Bonnet parade!
Can you find the eggs? We just put out hundreds of eggs for the kids to pick up! Each child got to "keep" 12 eggs! :-) There were just a few that didn't know how to "stop" at 12!

Graceland, Memphis, TN

Took a trip to Graceland since we had never been there before. Even though it is now "dated" it's still a very impressive place! It's amazing to think that someone who has been dead for so long is still so popular! One disappointment for the day...there were no Elvis impersonators there that day! There were several different parts of the tour...Elvis' car museum, Costumes, Elvis at Night (did you know he had insomnia?), his airplanes and then of course, Graceland itself.

The gameroom at Graceland is covered in material. I can't remember how many yards any more, but it was a LOT! The ceiling and all the walls are covered...my pictures don't do the room justice! It actually looked pretty good!

Even when he was alive, Elvis wanted to maintain some privacy so you didn't see the upstairs of Graceland. That was the families private area. There was even a curtain at the top of the staircase so you really didn't see anything!

We didn't realize how much money that Elvis gave away. He was constantly donating to various causes and it was also very common for him to give to complete strangers! There was an entire wall covered with cancelled checks that he had sent to different organizations, etc.!

My last picture is only a very small area of awards that Elvis received over the years. It's amazing to think that a man who had earned so much, not only monetarily but in recognition and awards would die the way that he did. Of course, drugs were never mentioned...it said that he died from a heart problem.

Along the Mighty Mississippi!

Left Gadsden, AL this morning heading west. Once again, took smaller highways through some beautiful country! We traveled through Alabama, Mississippi and just a small part of Tennessee before stopping here, West Memphis, AR. The "draw" here wasn't because it's in Arkansas but rather the campground is situated right on the Mississippi River! Their ad says that they are so close - sometimes they're in the river! You have to drive through some pretty depressed neighborhoods and then an industrial area, and then you see the trees! Not to worry though...Lots of clear sky where the RV's are parked!

Took a walk along the Mississippi to watch the tug boats and barges travel along the river. One tug was pushing a whole lot of barges (not this picture), you could "feel" the power behind those engines! They might have even been Detroits! (That's an "inside" joke...so many of our friends tease Don about our engine!)

Lots of benches so you can sit and enjoy the river as you're watching. Tess put her paws in the water a time or two, but Don never let her get all the way in. He really wasn't in a very good area and din't have secure footing! Not to mention that I don't think he would have wanted to go in and get her, if she had a problem! :-)

Although we don't have a "waterfront" spot, we have a great view of the river! Tomorrow morning we will meet Kim, Tim and Ashleigh for a quick visit before Ashleigh goes to her dad's for her Spring Break. She'll be back next week though and we'll be in Cabot then! After that it will be a visit to Memphis. Might visit Graceland, but we haven't made our plans yet! :-) We won't worry about leaving the motorhome for the day...the river is at 22' and it crests at 31'! The lady in the office said that it shouldn't reach that level until NEXT Friday but then it was supposed to go back down.

An interesting note...we put in 130 gallons of fuel today, we only have a 150 gallon tank! Let's see...20 gallons at 5.5 - 6 miles per gallon! Yikes! This fill cost $326.71! Flying J was $2.519!

Noccalula Falls - Gadsden, AL

Left Warner Robins, Georgia on Wednesday morning and heading west! It's been a wonderful trip to the east coast and Florida but everyone has finally headed in their own direction! We all have had so many memorable memories! Lots of fun times, people and places!

I left plenty of time to get to Little Rock (our next "real" stopping point) so Don and I took off from the highways and meandered through areas of "real" America! It's a slower pace and lots of traffic lights but we consider it an adventure! It was incredible to see some of the houses - from very elaborate to very dismal! Lots of land in between and since it's the beginning of Spring, we saw lots of blooms and buds! Incredible color all around! It was just beautiful! It was made into an even "more" adventure when Don first missed a turn...he decided to turn on a street and when we got to the end of this VERY tight road, I had to get out and hold a bush out of the way so that the tow car would make it around the corner without hitting the pole at the corner!! So we go around again (it was this circular road) and he turned on the wrong street! I wouldn't let him make anymore turns that we weren't sure about so while I quickly scanned the map, we decided to just follow this road and see where it took us! Our GPS recalculates so we knew that ultimately we would end up at our chosen destination!

Even with the little distractions, we made it to our campground within the time we expected. Lots and lots of trees which we were concerned about! Lots of trees = no satellite. No satellite = no t.v. and no internet. No t.v. = grumpy husband, no internet = grumpy wife AND husband! The campground parked us at the end of the campground and we actually DID get satellite! We were amazed, thank goodness there weren't more leaves and/or branches! It's actually a beautiful campground in the mountains. Quiet and peaceful with full 50-amp hook-ups, water and sewer!

The park is actually owned and managed by the City of Gadsden and has recently undergone about $3 million of renovations! Today we went to the Falls...a park separate from the campground. The area was originally known as the Black Creek Falls but legend has it that an Indian Chief's daughter who was known for her beauty and loveliness of character was filled with grief after her father refused to allow her to marry the love of her heart and instead promised her to another rich neighboring Indian Chief. Overcome with sorrow, she wandered off on her wedding day where the soft call of the water beckoned her. One leap and her troubles were over.

There is a walking trail down to the waterfalls and the pool below. It was an easy walk and beautful to see. After seeing the bottom of the falls we wandered through the many pioneer cabins and buildings that have been restored throughout the park. If any repairs and/or restorations had to be made they have been made using primitive tools or methods! After that is was through the petting zoo and walking by the animal exhibits that are here. We saw a tiger, lynx, llama, deer, and many others. They have all been disabled in some way and wouldn't survive in their natural environments. There is also a train that wanders around the park but it was out of service today for repairs. There is a separate miniature golf course, but we didn't pay the extra to use it!

Tomorrow we head to West Memphis, AR to the Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park. It's ad says to "call ahead, sometimes we are on the river and sometimes we're in it"!

Another New Adventure!

Since we weren't going to the FMCA rally but wanted to go in on a day pass we needed to find a spot in the area for a couple of nights. Not having much success with anything "close" we decided to join Lew & Dottie Anderson along with a few others who were going to the old fairgrounds in Warner Robins, GA. We had to stay in Macon until after the caravan of coaches left from the rally going to Perry. They began to depart around 9:00 and it was some time before they all got out! It was actually kind of fun to see the 200 coaches being staged and moved out in some orderly fashion! Glad that I wasn't out there "directing" since it was darn cold and you had to bundle up to stay warm! Quite a difference from the first few days in Macon when we turned on the AC! We only had to drive about 10 miles so we didn't even have time to get the engine warmed up! :-)

It's hard to believe that at one time a Monaco rally was held here with over 700 coaches! Now some of the land has been sold off and there's not much left! I think there are about 10 electric plug-ins, water and a dump site. It's close to Perry (where the FMCA rally is being held) and the price is right! Close to the dump is an area that has horses. Around the horses is an electrical wire about waist high. I took Tess over to see the horses and she barked, and barked and barked at them. The horses looked at Tess wondering "what the heck is this little black and white thing and why is it making so much noise"! Tess being the BRAVE dog that she is jumped everytime either I or one of the three horses moved or made a noise! At one point Tess jumped up and touched the electrical wire. She jumped, yelped and oh my gosh...it was so funny! I'm sure she thought that one of the horses had done it (zapped her)! No more barking and she was as docile as anything! You just had to be there but it was hilarious!

After we got all settled, Dottie and I headed to the local Super Wal-Mart to stock up on groceries! After four nights of no cooking, it was back to "normal"! Besides making dinner it was pretty much a relaxing evening and recuperating from the hectic days of the rally! Sunday was a day to sleep in late and catch up! Today we did some chores around the motorhomes and decided to have pizza for dinner. A trip "into" town to a local pizzeria. Don had a shirt on from Humphrey's in Gillette, WY. The young girl at the counter read his shirt and was so excited! Her dad lived in Gillette and she would be going there this summer. We made quite a stir at the counter as we told them briefly of our motorhome lifestyle! It's amazing the reactions we get when people find out we're just traveling all over the U.S. in our motorhomes! Yummy pizza and great friends made for another enjoyable evening! Tomorrow we head into the FMCA rally for the day!

Monaco Pre-Rally, Macon, GA

After spending the weekend in Miami, we finally got on the road late Monday afternoon. After a stop for fuel (lots of it as a matter of fact) we headed north! When we stopped for fuel I found a credit card on the ground. Not wanting to leave it with the attendant at the station, I called the credit card company and they cancelled the card. I had no way to "find" the card holder at that time, but at least it wasn't in the hands of someone that might use/abuse it!

We drove later than normal...in fact it was very dark and very late when we finally stopped for the evening. I had called the campground in Lake City, FL (the same campground we had stayed in at the beginning of our Florida) and made arrangements to come in later than their office was opened. Once we pulled into the campground and got hooked-up, I did laundry...until the wee hours of the morning! We had been "dry" camping (no hook-ups) and would be "dry" camping once we reached the Monaco rally! At this point I had internet service and tried to find the card holder from the found credit card. I figured that if *I* had lost my card, I would at least want to know that someone had found it! I found about 8 phone numbers, tried calling two and then decided it was getting too late to be calling. Found an internet address, but my e-mail was returned. It was up early the next morning and on the road again. I tried calling the rest of the numbers I had found but had no luck. Oh well...I tried!

We finally pulled into Macon, GA about 1:30 pm where one of the first people we saw was our friend, Lew Anderson. Lew was on the parking committee for the rally and was able to save us a spot that was in a pretty good location. We got parked, leveled and went right in to get our registration packet and "begin" the rally! We basically had missed the wine and heavy hors devours the previous evening when they preview the new coaches and breakfast this morning. We made it just in time for the ice cream social! At a Monaco rally they fix two items on your coach for the price of the parts (no labor). We turned in our list and talked to them about our break down in Florida. Don brought the piece of hose that had the "hole" in it...in fact, we had lots and lots of people ask us why he was carrying the hose! Monaco asked us to bring them the copy of the bill so it looks like they will pick up the cost (almost $500)! Yeah...this is why we are so loyal to Monaco and are on our second coach! It was great to see most of our "West Coast" gang and others that we knew! It wasn't too long before it was time for dinner and then entertainment followed! I ended up going straight to bed once we returned home! I must have been tired!

Up early for breakfast, seminars, crafts, and looking at all the coaches! I wouldn't get to the vendors until the next day! I took a class with Jean Bahnson and Marlene Rae where we made a crystal bracelet. It was a fun class and I was able to help the person sitting to the left of me and really needed my help! :-) It wasn't long after our class before it was time for the evening fun to begin. Each evening Monaco sponsors something like wine, margaritas, beer, etc. At 5:00 the bar opens and at 6:00 it's time for dinner, announcements and entertainment follows. Lots of alcohol flowing at these events and they serve pretty much top stuff but darn, they don't serve Kahlua. If they allow it, I usually bring my own! (Some venues won't let you bring in your own alcohol). We had great food all four nights of the rally...and lots of it! Our entertainment was several bands and a comedian. The last night the band was really fun and we danced quite a few times. I even managed to get Don to stay until the band stopped playing! Now that's unusual!

One of the other things that normally happens at a Monaco rally is a "Red Hat Luncheon" for the ladies. Most of the times it is held where the rally is but this time it was in a historic building in downtown Macon. The building was exquisite and breathtaking. They arranged to have us picked up by local trolleys to take us to the event (I don't know the "name" of the bulding). We had a wonderful lunch and yummy dessert followed by a true fashion show. It was lots of fun and I'm glad that I went.

I almost forgot to mention that there were 440 coaches at this rally! Almost all of them were Monacos! The rallies are lots of fun and we meet new people and old friends along the way! As with everything else, everything comes to an end at some time. It was sad to see the ending of this one since it really marked the "end" of our "West Coast" gang since almost everyone was going in separate directions! A few of our friends went on to the FMCA rally in Perry, a few miles from Macon! We chose not to...Monaco rally about 400 coaches, FMCA about 4,000 or more. We will go in on a "day pass" to see the vendors and possibly check out some of the coaches!