Odds and Ends From Our Trip

1 This is what my camper bed looked like after a night staying in a motel - I had things in so many plastic bags, that my friend asked if I would like to borrow a suitcase! Some things are still in plastic bags!



2. Part of my trip was on the Trail of Tears. I wish I had spent more time learning the history of that highway.
3. It's great to be able to get breakfast at any time at Jack in the Box. I was often off to such a late start that breakfast was all ready over in most places.
4. I think there are more Waffles Houses in the east than even dollar stores. How many people eat there?
5. Motel 6 and La Quinta are the only motels I know of that allow pets at no extra charge. La Quinta was a little more expensive but did serve a hot breakfast. Motel 6 only had coffee.
6. I went through Traveler's Rest in South Carolina. Some marketing person must have named that city.
7. I also drove right through Hollywood, Arkansas - almost missed seeing it.
8. I forgot to put this picture on my blog. It is the Gateway Clipper and the Mt Washington Incline in Pittsburgh.




9. This is the famous restaurant in Pittsburgh that puts french fries directly on sandwiches and on salads. I didn't stop there this time.




10. When I make a wrong turn, my GPS no longer says "Make the first legal U turn"; now it just guides me in a new direction. This time it took me past a beautiful Arabian Horse farm just outside of Monongahela, PA. It was about 20 times larger and more beautiful than this picture. What a pleasant surprise!



11. This was the statue outside of the Pittsburgh Penguin's stadium.



12. There is a cute little children's amusement park in Noonday, Texas.

13.. Back to the Asylum - this is one part of the building. It is symmetrical so you could fold it in half and everything would match. This section is the center and the watch tower.



14. This is one of the children's rooms in the Asylum that has been restored. I am obsessed with this place. Maybe in a past life I was here - hopefully as a doctor or nurse and not as a patient! If you ever do visit Weston, W Va, do tour this and ask for Michael. Tell him the lady with the dogs sent you.



16. I wish I could be in 2 places at once - I already miss my family and friends in the Pittsburgh area, but missed my family and friends here when I was traveling.

16. I am already missing a little adventure. I loved traveling mostly without a plan and discovering things I never expected. I now have to save up for our next trip to ???

The End


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Home Again

I continued my vacation eating today. First Mary made coffee and bacon. Then we went out for donuts - found cream filled maple and couldn't resist. Less than 2 hours later, Mary suggested trying a good restaurant in her town that had good catfish. I wasn't hungry but was still on vacation eating time, so we went for an early lunch sharing (thankfully) a catfish platter.

Just after we got back to the house, the dogs were staring intently at something -




Rick's lunch! He was good and didn't give the dogs any table food, but they still waited, just in case.

When we finally left for home, I stopped at a little grocery store that makes great sliced beef sandwiches. I wasn't in the least bit hungry, but one has to plan ahead! It was nice to get home but I dread unloading the camper. I will do that one of these days.

When I let the dogs out in the backyard for their last pre-bedtime pee, I was greeted by a familiar site.




We think it is a little owl that has taken to hanging out on my screened porch.
Yep, everything is back to "our" normal.

I have a few more tidbits of info I forgot to include in my blog. I will gather them and write one final note from our trip - later.

It was a great adventure!


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Wimberley, Texas

Almost Home

When I got up yesterday, I decided to head for home. I called Mary, whom I stayed with my first night on the road, to see if I could stay there again either last night or tonight, depending on how far I drove. She agreed that either night would be fine. So we headed out.

I saw a little Farmer's Market outside of Hope, Arkansas and we stopped.



There were only about 4 tables of products there, and none were fruits or vegetables. They were all home made items. I talked to people in each booth and they were very friendly. I don't think they were used to out of town visitors stopping in. I bought a couple of things and they admired Seymour and Zooey, so we were all happy.



I saw that I was 422 miles from Mary and Rick's and texted her that we would be there last night. I liked that my GPS took me through the small towns of East Texas instead of through Dallas or Houston. We passed Lake Palestine which was so big, it looked like the Gulf and not a lake. I would like to go back and stay there one day. It had a few RV Parks on the lake. We finally got to our destination and all the dogs were happy to socialize while the grown ups headed to Taco Cabana for some Mexican food and margaritas. This morning, I will leave for home.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Bastrop, Texas

Showering at a Canpground

Although it's fine to shower at the campground, getting dressed in the bathroom is a chore. No matter how you try to dry off, you're still wet and it's not easy to put clothes on a damp body.
Just a thought - it would be great to have a mumu with a bra insert. Just throw it on and walk back to your camper to get dressed. If anyone is thinking about buying me a gift sometime, this might be something to look for.
Okay, off to the shower.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Heading Out Today

We will be packing up later and heading out. I haven't decided where we are going yet. No diamond hunting for me today. One main reason for leaving is that I am down to tuna and crackers for lunch and dinner. After almost 3 days, I am in need of fast food or at least something hot. But Seymour and Zooey are happy with the tuna, so I saved them a couple packages.
I would definitely love to come back here again.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Crater of Diamonds - One More Day

I again tried my hand at diamond searching - first using the dig-rinse-sift method. I didn't find any diamonds but I think my hands look younger after playing in the mud for 2 days. I guess it wouldn't be proper to stick my face in the mud! But while I was sifting, a young man found a 1/2 carat yellow diamond out in the field. So, this afternoon, I walked the fields, sweating profusely, looking for sparkles. No luck. I am not sure I have the energy to try again in the morning. But I do finally know what a diamond looks like in the ground.

I am thinking twice about going to Hot Springs. It is further away than I realized. I probably should have gone there first but I was afraid that I wouldn't get a campsite here for the weekend. It is already getting crowded in the diamond fields so I imagine that the weekends are crazy.

They do have a playground and pool here so in the summer, it would be fun for kids. But I can't imagine looking for diamonds in weather hotter than this - and it is hot here in the afternoon.



This is being sent from the bench in front of the laundry - no more wifi access in my camper now that I had to move one space away from perfection.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Murfreesboro, Arkansas

Crater of Diamonds - Most Dog Friendly Park Ever!

What a great park for people with pets!



I have not seen one sign saying "No Dogs". We walked through the Welcome Center, into the bathrooms, into the laundry and into the diamond fields - no problem. I've never seen a park this friendly. And, I haven't seen any pet owner abuse the privilege. I could easy stay here another week, if I had the time and money! I plan to come back and hopefully stay in site 10.
Today I will do more diamond hunting in the morning and then move our camper to site 11 for one more night.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad