Better Day Ahead? Jello Jiggled, Route Changes

Lucky Star Casino

On Friday, Apr. 5^th when I first woke up, it was 7:17. What??? I’ve not slept that late for a long time. I saw only Gibbs beside me on his Daddy’s side and I realized that it was actually only 6:17MT and that made sense. I saw Bill was downstairs with blinds still closed so I remained where I was until 7:30. It was a cool morning, only 47F/7C. Quite a change from yesterday’s 82F/25C!

Good morning from Texas

First and foremost, we wanted
to get another new spare tire.
Lubbock, TX helped us out.

We had breakfast and were on the road at 8:50, already warmed up to 56F/12C, which is more like it. We had a full tank of fuel so got on US62 right out of Brownfield. We kept our eyes open for a tire shop to get a replacement spare, no point in taking any chances. I Googled and found Bigham’s Automotive and McWhorter’s Tire Service in Lubbock about 14miles in our future. 😉

Light clouds and a town called Happy
Their motto was: "The town that doesn't frown"

Some interesting views
We fueled up at a Valero, in the truck lane, with
a pump on both sides. This made me laugh.
Water towers always make me smile.
Flat lands of green remind me of home

It was a bit of a run around in the city with usual construction but we were taken care of at McWhorter’s and within an hour, we were back on the road with a new spare and the newly installed one topped up. We easily got out of the city and onto I-27N. It was 74F/21C. The drive on this interstate was quite good and the traffic was very light. We were seeing clouds today but light wispy cirrus clouds only.

Little windmills and big windmills

The leaning tower and the huge cross
Things we all look for on our I-40 journey.

The Texas Star rest stop
and we see these old silos every trip this way

We weren’t hungry enough at noon to find a spot so drove as far as Amarillo and on the eastern outskirts, pulled into a Valero at 1:00. Diesel was $3.49/gal and we couldn’t complain about that! We made our sandwiches inside and took a bit of a rest. The 82F/25C was feeling pretty good and there was a stiff wind here to keep us awake. 😊

This transport passed us.
Bill pointed out the dump truck on the back.
I noticed he was from Alberta, Canadians.
I had to send the picture to my Albertan brother. 
Made us chuckle.

Back on the road and it was uneventful all the way to Oklahoma. We crossed the state line at 3:17. I-40E is great and although the traffic had increased, it was still minimal. Just before we left Texas, we saw a small herd of Texas longhorn cattle. Not quick enough to get a photo though. We drove for another 125 miles to our destination at El Reno. We decided not to rush for home so will fill in time by staying longer at a couple of places. You’ll see.

Oklahoma state and some American spirit flies on the back
of this semi

We left Quartzsite, presumably toward cooler weather
(not by choice)
This was the difference today. I think we got the better deal. 

We arrived at Lucky Star Casino around 5:45 and there were 2 empty full service sites available. We grabbed the first one and down the row, a big rv pulled out. We are level, in a good spot and have everything we need. The decision at this stage is to stay here, free, for 3 nights and then move east. Taking the South Carolina plans out of the picture, it frees up about a week with travel time included. We set up and went in to register and get a meal.

Starting to look more like home landscapes

With $20 burning a hole in my wallet, I thought I’d try my luck over the next 3 days. Bill will be changing the spare tire out for the new one since we’ve been carrying that one for almost 10 years. 

Here we are, settled for 3 nights.

We’re going to just relax here and enjoy the warm temperatures while they last. We hit 89F/32C while driving and it is now a lovely 82F/28C dropping to 58F/15C overnight. This won’t last, the next few days are in the 70’s.

Supper in the casino restaurant
is always delicious and reasonably priced.
Bill got shrimp, fries and the above salad.
I had spaghetti and meatballs with garlic toast.
Yes, I have over half as leftovers. 
Good night!

What a great day! Thank you for the visit!

Quiet Day, Jello Plans Jiggled

Park Place RV Park

On Saturday, Dec. 16^th we were up by 7. What a beautiful sky I saw when I first got up! The day read a bit warmer on the thermometer but with clouds that never really disappeared all day, it felt cool to me. Bill left for the field by 7:30 and Gibbs and I went for our walk. I didn’t have anything going on today so walked over to work on the puzzle for a bit. Adele and Susan came in later but played some pool while I worked away.

Sometimes you just wake up to this

And you can'tget enough

It is a fun puzzle, fairly easy, and I’m enjoying it. At 10 or so, Bill popped over to the clubhouse and asked if I wanted to go to walk around Tyson Wells with him. For those that don’t know, it is an area in Quartzsite, on Kuehn St., that is all ‘tent’-type vendors. Kind of like a flea market but permanent for the winter. There aren’t too many here yet but it was a good time of the day to check it out. Bill found a few bungie cords for back home and I found some things in the big food tent. 😊

By late morning, it was like this

We were back home just after 11 so I walked back to put a few more pieces in before covering the puzzle. At 2 today is the Music Jam and there isn’t a lot of thought put into ‘being careful around a puzzle’ by the musicians. Sheila had already covered up our table so I turned around for home. Bill had a doze with Gibbs and I prepared lunch.

A walk through Tyson Wells

You never know what you'll see out here
that people live in.

Vendors on both sides of the streets
but not too busy yet

I had Madame IP boil 5 eggs from the fridge and we had our last 2 with bacon for a change. Adele and Robert offered some eggs from the farm he works at so I accepted 6. I debated taking the 2 chair quilts over to wash but with no sun to dry them on the line, ixnayed that plan. The Jello jiggled. 😊 Bill went back over the flying field, they had the runway sprayed yesterday and they are waiting for it to dry.

Gibbs and I sat outside for a bit.
He slept and then guarded Daddy's new delivery.

It felt chilly in the Suite, or at least I felt chilly, so Gibbs and I sat in the little patch of sun on the patio for about an hour – or less. We came in around 3:30 and Bill wasn’t far behind. For supper, he will barbecue steak and we’ll have a potato and vegetables. There we go again with the Sunday meal on a Saturday! Ha ha!

Top picture - the afternoon sky
Bottom picture - the sun prepares to say goodbye

Our meals today.
Lunch and supper.

Last night, I watched the last 3 episodes of Justified, just couldn’t tear myself away, and it was soooo good. I’m sad it is over but I thoroughly enjoyed the series. I’m sure Bill will be watching movies tonight so I’ll see what I can find downstairs. This was a quiet but good day. Can’t complain about that!

Present earrings for the 4th day of Christmas.
Good night!

Thank you for the visit.

A Dark Beginning, One of My Favourite States, Jell-o

Fire Rock Casino, Church Rock/Gallup, New Mexico

On Thursday, Oct. 27^th we were up and moving even earlier. It was 6:45 when we hit the I-40W😊It was 45F/7C when we pulled out of the very full parking lot at the Info Centre so, as always, we are grateful for arriving before the supper hour.

It was an early start in the dark today

Clouds and turbines

When the first turns are out of the way, Gibbs can settle down and it isn’t long before he is asleep in his bed. Like Clemson used to, he has to get up at slow downs to help his Daddy with directions, don’tcha know. ♥  The point of our early departure was so we could zip through Amarillo before the commuters clog up the highway. It worked, even though it was dark, it was easy and quick.

There was quite the cloud cover over us
but behind us the sky was gorgeous
(through the doggy-licked window)

Looks like a sci-fi movie
but it's just our shadow this morning

The drive along I-40W was really good. We encountered no construction zones that slowed us down and within the hour, we crossed into New Mexico. 

We were almost back at our starting time, gaining another hour. We had a slow down after a few miles and the sun rose nicely behind us. Moving into one lane, this time it all happened quickly.

Mostly, the pictures are of the lovely views

It seemed to change so quickly as soon as we 
entered New Mexico

We needed a Rest Area and the first one we came upon had just closed minutes before we arrived. There was a bad accident and the vehicle was right in the entrance lane. Oh, my goodness, I hope the driver survived, it was horrible! Fuel prices were not pleasing here, but we also needed to fill up as well as take a nature break. We pulled into a Pilot, since they were all the same price, and paid $5.43/gal. ☹

Bill can't get over what they must spend on these
billboard signs
In stretches, there are 10 or more trying to draw
tourists in

It was only 9:00 so we were making good time. We’ve been talking though and may now change our destination for today. We’ll find a good place to pull over soon and run through the scenarios. We passed through Tijeras, NM, where one of our regular campgrounds lives. Not staying today and not even sure if it is on our C to C spots so may never again.

I will never grow tired of this
hills and mountains dotted like pincushions

A suberb of residential homes span across
the bottom of this rocky mountain

We were going to catch I-25S and head south sooner but the Jell-o jiggled and we bypassed that. It meant staying on I-40W which meant we got delayed 10 minutes in the city because of an accident. We didn’t see any evidence and the two left lanes didn’t close after all but it was quite jumbled for a while. We realized that it was actually 12:45 for us so I handed out our lunch at 11:45. We were starved! Even Gibbs got a milk bone chewy.

Interesting overpasses in N M

We drove under clouds, sun, hit some rain, some hail and more construction which slowed us down for another 15 minutes. It was a pretty good drive, regardless. I felt a headache, probably from the late lunch, so put my seat back and tried to doze. It didn’t work but I rested at least. We made one more stop for fuel so we didn’t have to do it in the morning. It was a Marathon Navaho station with a lot of very nice things for sale in the store.

a favourite picture from today

Unfortunately, we paid the hefty price of $5.43/gal again. None along the way were any cheaper. Our NEW and IMPROVED (?) plan was to drive to Gallup, NM and stay at the Walmart there for the night. That’s where we were headed when about 10 miles out of Gallup, Bill said, I wonder if that Fire Rock Casino allows overnighters?

More views - first mountain sighting

A downgrade of 4 %

The hail was weird
Bill said, Is that snow or hail?
It was 50F so we agreed on hail. 😁

So, I called the casino, received a very warm ‘yes, we do’, and we turned onto Route 66 and parked, as directed, in the‘near’ empty lot on the west side.  😊 This casino is actually in Church Rock, just on the outskirts of Gallup. It was very cold at the fuel station, only 36F/3C, because of the winds, and not much better here at 39F/4C. We would be warmer if we’d followed the original plan to Elephant Butte Lake State Park, we have a new plan.

More favourites

They almost look like quilt colours!

We got settled, turned some heat on and I made us each a cup of tea. My next and near last job of the day is to get rid of my purse. It was second hand a year ago and it slowly falling apart. Time to go! That’s the 3^rd one this year! I found one in the cupboard and moved things over. That just might mean a new purchase this winter. 😊

Beautiful large sculpted rocks behind the lot
but also a very busy set of train tracks - woops!

We are a fair walk from the Casino but if you time
it right, there is a shuttle bus that comes around

When we stay at casinos, of course we like to support them so we go in to their restaurants for meals. No, we aren’t gamblers, really at all. Supper was at their Navaho restaurant and we filled our faces. I neglected to take something out for tonight even though I thought we were going to have hookups, so this worked out in the long run. A meal out again. 😉 This has been a good day and it will be a quiet evening reading our books. Since we pulled in, 2 other rv’s have pulled in so I’m glad of our time management today again.

Crispy fried chicken breasts, mashed potatoes,
broccoli and a cup of tea

Bill's meal
Steak, shrimp, corn and fries with a cup of tea
Both meals could have been hotter but they were still quite good
and for $25 who can complain?

Walking back to our site,
I caught the sun as it dipped below the mountain
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by. Also, thank you to all of you who helped me with my query yesterday regarding the field of ‘maize/sorghum/milo’ that we passed. I’ve learned something today! ♥

The Jell-o Jiggled, Jamie Visits, Sun Returns

The Ridge

On Tuesday, Aug. 9^th, we had made plans with the group here to go to Keady Market. It was closed for two years ‘during’ the Covid craziness so this was our first opportunity in 3 years. However, we woke to a drizzly cool 12C/57F day. ☹ Well, the radar showed NO rain, hahaha, but it obviously couldn’t pick up the mist. We hoped it would pass by 10 o’clock, since the market was only open until 2, but no such luck.

Can Gigi come out to play?
Gibbs sat on her door mat waiting.

Grilled cheese and onion
Yum

There wouldn’t be many vendors, if any, setting up their wares on a morning like this so we ixnayed those plans. Jiggle, jiggle. We all basically stuck to ourselves; Bill in his Hangar/cargo trailer, me in the Bunky, Rose and George as well as Kim and Ken remained indoors too. Rose joined me a bit later and we worked on the puzzle together. It’s quite nice working with someone else who enjoys them as much as I do. 😊

At least they took breaks from their playtime
I know Gibbs is going to miss someone when she leaves

This is sure a nice change from this morning

Little sexy pants

I visited Kim and Ken for a while with my coffee and we shared some memories of past travels and our ‘first’ trips to the warm winters. It actually made me anxious for the trip this fall. Among us, we just can’t understand those who have been and don’t care for it. It makes us shrug but to each his own. Jamie called while I was there and he was at the end of the lane, wondering were we home? 😊

When we came in for supper, Gigi came up to the door
They just sat and looked at each other, no barking

He came up and paid me with a couple of lovely bonuses for Bill and I as well. Such a sweet guy, he is. We visited for about half an hour before he said goodbye. Bill and I came inside for our lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches.  Rose and I puzzled away for a couple of hours before I heard the Journey door open. Happy Hour! Time does fly when you’re having fun! By this time, the drizzle was done and the sun was out so we gathered around the fire pit. Today, we sat in the sun.

Such a change of temperatures. I guess we live in Canada! Around 6:30, Bill grilled our bacon cheese burgers and they were great, as usual. He decided he should cut some grass tonight so when he went out, so did I. I went into the Bunky to work some more on the puzzle. Rose and George had gone visiting so I was alone. I had to pull myself away so I didn’t finish it! Mostly the sky is left so it will be challenging when we get back at it.

One of my bonuses from Jamie
The rest were monetary. 💓

This was a good day with our friends even though the weather in the morning was the pits. I peeked at my garden yesterday and I was thrilled to see my egg plants are growing! The tomatoes are plentiful, both kinds. I hope your Tuesday brought only good things, sunnier days ahead. 😊

A peaceful pink sky, nice day tomorrow
Almost a full moon
Good night!

Thanks for stopping in.