Weekend Almost Over...............

Went to Bryce's football game Saturday morning and then Jace's BD party in the afternoon. Tenth BD cake, blowing germs all over the cake, Grandma and Grandpa and Bryce waiting for ice cream and cake. Nice party with a lot of people attending........I even think some stray kids wandered in and enjoyed the pizza, cake and ice cream with everyone else!

Football!!!! Bryce is #64, here he is waiting to get into the game........whoops..missed the tackle and ate some turf. Nobody can catch #24, he scored a number of touchdowns as the Wolves won another game. Here's old Bryce again about ready to "pancake" a player........or was he about to become a pancake victim???

After the party "B" and I made a speed run out to the Cache Creek casino to earn our fortune. Actually, we hoped to break even as we need the gas money! We were contributing and were actually down to our last 20 cents when the slot machine hit a bonus and we finally quit playing when we were almost even. Went home $3.00 lighter in the pocketbook then when we left.......and one of those dollars went to the valet parking attendant.

Heading back to Corning this morning after "B" treated Rhonda, Jace and I to breakfast at the bowling alley.......acceptable gravy but Don's Diner still has the best Woodland gravy. Later. B&W

Guess What???..........................

we're back in Woodland again waiting for another Bryce football game that's happening tomorrow and Jayce's BD party is also scheduled for tomorrow. I was looking for pictures of the Twerp's last game a week ago but apparently Becky has already made a CD of them and they are no longer on my computer.......I should clarify that by saying they are no longer on Becky's computer.......actually her computer went belly up and I seem to have lost complete control of mine. She doesn't share too well! Hopefully she'll have a new computer in a week or so and I can get mine back. Now you know why I haven't updated my Blog.

I did find a few pictures taken on our way back from Branson so will share them. Along I-70 through Kansas there are some really neat rest stops. We stayed in one close to the Colorado border that even had "free wifi". The rest stops have a little "round a bout" that RVers can park in away from the noisy truck areas. Very nice. We found our first, and only, Colorado cache at a rest stop....at least we can add Colorado to our list. Becky took a picture of this humongous coyote howling at the sun/moon or whatever. The silhouette of the coyote was really quite large....the pic doesn't really show how big it was. We drove up to I-80 in Wyoming to continue our way West since I really didn't want to tackle the mountain passes west of Denver. At the highest point on I-80 is a rest stop that features a bust of Ole Honest Abe. West of Salt Lake City we pulled over and found this tribute to Jedediah Smith, saw this particular object along Salt Lake.........don't know what the hell it represents; but, it was kinda neat looking and Becky can't resist taking pictures of everything and anything. Pulled over at the Bonneville Speedway but unfortunately nothing was going on when we passed through.

After arriving in Corning we haven't done too much. The following week I'm making a speed run to Vancouver to get a root canal and follow up with some Dr. appointments. Get that stuff out of the way and we should be ready to hit the road again toward Arizona about the end of October. Watch this spot for any future updates..........if we win the lottery we'll be sure and post the news. Later. W&B

Saturday...........

and we arrived at Steve and Rhonda's on Thursday afternoon. As we neared Reno we kept getting passed by hordes of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. We kinda thought that "Street Vibrations", a gathering of motorcyclists in September, was invading Reno. We were right. Things were just getting started on Thursday....stopped to try and get an overnight at Boomtown RV park and we were told that there was a three day minimum stay. Didn't even bother to ask how much an overnight was...it probably saved us our allowance by not stopping. We're still in Woodland.....stayed to watch Bryce's football game this morning. For a bunch of 6-8 year olds they did a darn good job at their game. We watched a practice on Thursday evening and they have some excellent coaches who work their little butts off. The game was quite entertaining even though it cost us $2.00 each to get into the ball game!!! We couldn't even get a senior discount!

Tomorrow we'll be heading to Corning. Later. W&B

Thursday Morning...................

and we're sitting in the parking lot of Winner's Casino in Winnemucca, NV. Had dinner here last night and "paid" for the "free" parking. It's a grubby little casino, dinner was OK and believe I'll go in and try some of their biscuits and gravy. Got a little chilly last night and now I discover that the coach batteries are not charging when we're traveling down the road..........one thing after another. Had enough juice left to start the generator and batteries charge with the generator running........but not charging when we're driving down the road????

Got tremendous gas mileage yesterday....filled up in Evanston, WY and then it was downhill all the way to Salt Lake City, then level ground nearly all the way to Elko where we filled up again......you ready for this??? 8.493 mpg! Of course the mileage dropped into the low 6's when we were climbing the mountains and fighting the wind. Getting a "freebie" from the Scottish Inn which must be nearby; anyway, picking up a great wifi signal so thought I'd give you a quick update.

We'll be leaving after breakfast....only about 3-4 hours to Reno and then we'll have to decide to stay and let Reno pay for our three month trip; or, drive on home???

Gonna be a tough decision. Later. W&B

Sunday Evening......................

and we're getting ready to get underway tomorrow. Hope to be on the road by 0900 and will try to make it to the Colorado border before it gets too dark. Kansas has a bunch of nice rest areas along I-70 so we'll probably hole up in one of them tomorrow night. Had breakfast with the troops this morning and Chuck & Wally left about 1300. Frank, Sue, "B" and myself made a run to Lawrence this afternoon to pick up some goodies and earlier Becky and I got our laundry chores out of the way. We should be good in that department until we get home. Plan to take our time and arrive at Steve and Rhonda's in Woodland early enough on Saturday to take in the twerp's football game...........think the game is about 0930........Yuk, we plan to stay in Reno on Friday night so that means we'll have to get up EARLY.

Frank and Suzannah also leaving for Ohio tomorrow morning. Enjoyed a most pleasant visit in Baldwin City and it was very special to meet some of Suzannah's kids.

Probably won't be on line again for awhile unless we find a "free" wifi hot spot somewhere on the road. Later. W&B

Boy, Have We Ever Been Feeding.............

our faces since we arrived in Baldwin City. Had pizza at Chuck and Karen's house on Thursday evening. Suz, Frank, "B" and I met Karen, Chuck and Wally for lunch in Lawrence on Friday, then out to dinner on Fridy night and today, Saturday, Chuck prepared his universally famous "beer can chicken" for all of us to enjoy. It was also Wally's BD so we topped everything off with BD cake. This evening us four oldtimers went out to dinner while the kids took in the U of K football game. Tomorrow out for breakfast in search of the best biscuits and gravy in this part of the country. Collage shows us all eagerly waiting for the beer can chicken......and last but certainly not least, the Chef getting ready to carve the tender, incredibly juicy chicken. A meal to remember. Oh yeah, Sam the pup received his fair share of attention too.

After Saturday Lunch.........

Becky and I went out to grab a couple of geocaches while the football fans watched Ohio State win a game and then Chuck, Karen and Wally got ready to take in the Kansas game at Lawrence. There's a bit of history around Baldwin City and two of the caches involved information about the slavery issues during civil war times. Gotta do some more research about the Signal Oak, seems like this old oak tree was used to place signals which warned the slave traffic when raiders were approaching. Interesting places these geocaches took us. Big wagon ruts still remain where wagons traveled the Santa Fe Trail. Battle of Black Jack marked a spot where a battle was fought also over civil war issues.

Made It To Baldwin City, KS........

yesterday afternoon. Found Frank and Suzannah's rig parked by the lake and set up camp. Suzannah's kids, Chuck & Karen live nearby and other kid Wally is visiting also so we stopped by their house, visited and had pizza last night. Going out to dinner in a few minutes so will post this collage now and get ready to go. Fo, Sue, Becky and I went caching this afternoon for a while and picked up a few to add to our list. Frank and I were all over the Polaris Missle and couldn't find the cache.......smart ass Becky walked over, stuck her hand up a hole and found the cache! Visited U of K campus and a few places in Lawrence, KS. More pictures when the "official photographer" gets her act together. W&B

Been Just Cooling Our Heels...........

that last couple of days. We stayed at my brother's condo until today.....nice. Been eating buffets, biscuits and gravy, etc. etc. and generally just messing around. We stopped at the fish hatchery one afternoon and saw some huge trout. We had talked about taking a ride on one of the Ducks.......that is until I followed one down the highway at about 60 mph. He didn't look too stable to me; but, it probably would have been fun. More Sister Soozie's BD celebration when she and Becky drove up to Nexa to visit with more of the family. We signed up to see the fabulous Tony Roi, Branson's best Elvis impersonator, arrived at the theater to find out that he was "sick" and the show was cancelled. Whatever happened to the "Show Must Go On mentality"? We got our monies back and that evening we took in a 50's Show with The Platters. It was excellent, had ice cream at the diner. Today we got the oil changed in the M/H and then drove it down to Turkey Creek Escapees Park for the night. Underway tomorrow.

Tonight We Headed Down...........

to the Landing to continue Sister Soozie's BD. Joe's Crab Shack is located near the Fire and Water show on the landing. Every hour the fountain erupts with spouts of water and fire shoots out of the towers while the Star Spangled Banner is played. Very colorful........Beligio in Las Vegas would be embarassed if they saw this display! We filled up on seafood at the Crab Shack and headed for the barn. We'll be getting up early (?) tomorrow and starting our trek back to sunny California. Baldwin, KS our next stop. Should get there late afternoon tomorrow.

Took A Trip On A Sailing Ship..........

on Saturday.....a day later then our original reservations. Long story, 10 of us showed up for the Branson Belle show/dinner on Friday evening, boarded the old tub and made our way to our table.....there were already people seated at it??? Jerry W. made reservations some time ago and after conversing with the occupants at our table they moved. (Don't mess with Texas, Jerry from Texas) While being seated Becky managed to spill a jug of wine on the table behind us (she hit it with her overnight bag). Finally the hostess showed up and after a lengthy "conversation" we managed to get kicked off the Branson Belle. We kept seeing people boarding with little name tags and thought "that's one hellava reunion!" Actually, it wasn't a reunion. A corporation has charted the entire boat for a special event so we really weren't part of the group. Jerry got a little fired up when a crew member looked at his ticket and said "that ticket was for last year", he was joking; but, Jerry bounced up to his full 68" height and 122 pounds and spouted something in a rapid fire Texas Drawl that few of us could understand.....the hostess got the picture though and the end result was she offered to reimburse Jerry for the tickets and offered us a "free dinner and show" for the Saturday afternoon cruise. Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch! That's the story of how we made a Friday evening cruise on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday we gathered at Scott and Suzie's place and drove down to the pier. Before we boarded we had our picture taken with the Branson Belle's "Belle", that's me, Jerry, "Belle", Scott and Jerry W. Took a few pictures before we boarded and at our dinner table. Another collage follows.

You'll probably see my previous attempts at getting the Saturday adventure posted....Blogger is still acting up. Just wade your way through the partial posts if they are still there as I tried to delete them. If you check and find them deleted, then just ignore the deletions.

It's now Monday, Becky and Suzie went up toward Springfield for dinner and bonding with Suzie's kids and Becky's relatives. Scott and I didn't go......gives Becky and Suzie some time together. Still at my brother's Condo for another two days and will move back to the M/H on Wednesday. The humidity is still killing us and rains continue to fall and the weather will probably take a turn for the better on Thursday when we leave here. Got about 300 miles to drive and then we'll spend a couple of days in Kansas boondocking with our Arizona friends, Suzannah and Frank, who are on their way to Ohio. Later. W&B

On Board The Branson Belle........

Naturally it was raining but we toured the boat before dinner was served. Pretty neat old boat, actually it isn't that old; believe it was launched about 1995 but like all other body parts my memory is slipping too. Trudging around on deck was a dumb move, we got wet and the A/C in the dining/show room must have been turned down to the low 60s. Becky didn't spill anything this time and the dinner was pretty good. The various shows were very good and probably most enjoyable were the ventriloquist and his talking mutts......they were quite funny. I took a picture of the photographer (#6) who was taking our picture as we came aboard and tried to sell or trade for the picture she took of our group. No deal. The picture she took of us was #3....they wanted $20.00 for it so Becky took a picture of their picture. I think Linda purchased the picture. All in all it was a very entertaining evening.

OK, Got Some Pictures.............

to post. We left off in Kansas where we visited my Sac and Fox Casino and I helped out my Red Brothers a bit. Spent overnight there and we drove a few miles to find our first Kansas caches at a rest stop. After arrival in Branson the first sight we saw was Becky's sister, Suzie. After meeting Suzie it was most difficult to tell which sis was the older.......I had some help with this dilemma. In Branson on Wednesday we went caching between down pours and found about 9 geocaches. Also visited the Veteran's Museum which was filled with all kinds of goodies ranging back to WWI. It's a privately funded museum which was well worth the price of admission. Becky's Hoosier Buddies arrived in town on Thursday evening so we went down for a quick visit. Mary Lou, Linda, Patty and Jerry arrived with a birthday cake (it was Patty's BD) and a humongous jug of vino to celebrate. Mary Lou remembered everything.........except a cork screw. Jerry worked with a nail file, leatherman and his teeth to get the wine open and finally we were able to celebrate the BD. Today we drove out to Nexa to see a house that Becky's niece, Cindy, had just purchased and will be moving into next week. Back to the homestead and now we're sweltering in the humidity until this evening. A group of us, about 10 I think, are going down to the Showboat Branson Belle for dinner, show and evening cruise. Should be fun. This will be my first show in Branson so it had better be good. My brother and sister-in-law will be arriving on Sunday for a week's stay in their time share so it should be an interesting week next week.......if the *%#@&ing rain ever stops!! Had a record rainfall yesterday in Springfield.........1.44 inches. When the rain stops the sun pops out and here comes the humidity. It makes me realize why I never moved back to the Midwest to live! Will post this and get ready for the evening's fun and games. Becky and Wayne

Arrived in Branson........................

this afternoon...........raining..........gonna be raining until at least Sunday; but, that's OK cause it has cooled things down a bit. After a bit of misdirection (Becky was navigating while I was trying to drive) we finally arrived at Becky's sister's house. Parked in their front yard, got dishes hooked up and Suzie whipped up dinner for us while Scott grilled up some steaks. Excellent dinner.......can't wait until I try Suzie's biscuits and gravy (I already put my order in). Don't know what's on the agenda........guess we'll just kick back and see what happens.

Stopped by my Sac and Fox Casino on Monday and spent the night in their RV park. My brother told the GM that we would be arriving so I asked to see him when we arrived. He comped us with an RV site, 2 dinners and $20.00 each to gamble with. Well, our "freebies" turned out to be quite spendy; but, at least I may get a teenie portion back eventually. We had fun and it was a pleasant evening.

Later. B&W

Sunday Evening...................

and we're leaving Glenwood tomorrow sometime. Gonna stop at my Sac and Fox Casino located about 100 miles away in Kansas. Spend night there and should arrive in Branson, Mo on Tuesday. I shouldn't be going to another casino 'cause these casinos in Council Bluffs have been killing us. The food is good though and actually we don't need too much more of that either! Will probably be off line until we arrive in Branson and get dishes set up.....that'll probably be on Wednesday. Later if we can find anything interesting to do in Branson. W&B