A New Adventure Begins In Mission, Texas

Sunday
November 1, 2009

Gina and I woke up bright and early this morning with the anticipation of our departure from Smith Center, Kansas. Our home was already packed up and we were ready to hit the road. The only thing this morning was to hook up the truck and dump our tanks. So, while I was dumping our tanks I took out our pressure tank and aired up all the tires. I love our pressure tank and I know that it’s a luxury item. However, I would never be without it. We were finally saying our goodbyes to Smith Center, Kansas. Gina said, “Praise the Lord I have never been so ready to leave a location”. She followed that up with “Don’t get me wrong, I love the people here and I had a great time while we visited this quaint little town. However, there was only so much you could do here”. We were on the road by 8:30 heading south. As I was driving, we both reflected on our stay in Smith Center. Gina and I learned so much about farming. Thanks to Curtis we both knew what we were looking at as we traveled through Kansas.

We stopped at Petco in Salina, Kansas to buy some dog food for Angel & Zoey since they ran out yesterday. We then arrived at North Star RV park located in Valley Center, Kansas. I picked this park strictly on the fact that it was only four miles away from where we needed to be at tomorrow morning to get our air conditioner replaced. After we got our home parked we jumped back into our truck and drove to McConnell Air Force Base. We try to stop by a base commissary once a month to either restock our pantry and or freezer with meat. We thought about camping on the base. However, that would have meant a 22 mile trip north through morning rush hour traffic in Wichita. That wasn’t going to happen. We finished our restocking trip and made it back home around six o’clock. We have both been missing home cooked food. So we decided that we would have veal cutlets, fresh steamed broccoli topped with cheese, and rice a roni. Let me tell you, it tasted great!!! With our stomachs full we just chilled out for the night. Ok, our stomachs had a little more room since we split the last piece of pie topped with ice cream. We enjoyed another wonderful day.


Monday
November 2, 2009

I woke up early and then woke Gina up. I wanted to make sure we arrived just as they were opening. We arrived there right at eight o’clock and they had me back into their shop so I could unhook. We then headed over to a small country store to see what all they had. While we were there Gina found a pair of blue jeans that were on clearance so she tried them on. I told her that they looked good but they would look better with cowboy boots. So she went and picked out a pair and put them on. Then I said you need a western looking shirt which she found as well as a cute tee shirt.

Check Out That New Look


Now That's A Cowgirl


Ok, Maybe That's The Cowgirl Look


She's Definitely Having Too Much Fun!!

While she was trying all of this on I ran out to the truck and grabbed our camera so ya'll could see Gina’s new look. She said, “I don’t think so”. She did buy the jeans and I bought a new adjustable propane regulator for my big propane burner. We both had fun and a good laugh. This is proof that Kathy Going down hill at full speed was right last week when she commented that no matter where Gina and I are we're gonna have fun. You can click on the link if you want to check out her and Chuck's blog.

From there we headed back over to see how our air conditioner install was going. They were installing the new one on the roof when we got there and they said they would be done a little after twelve o’clock. That was great news. We got on the road around 12:30 heading south. We were going to stop by Hickory Creek COE park located just north of Dallas. However, I was feeling great and decided that it would be better to be south of Fort Worth so we wouldn’t have to deal with any traffic. Once we got south of Fort Worth I was still feeling great so I continued driving. Around ten o’clock Gina started asking me when I was going to stop. I said I don’t know. I was just excited to be in a little warmer climate. Finally around midnight Gina quit asking me when I was stopping but started telling me she was tired of riding. I said, “Ok”. I pulled into a rest area just north of Austin. Gina didn’t want to sleep in our truck so we both jumped into our bed inside our home.


Tuesday
November 3, 2009

I woke up at a little before six and jumped into the shower. I then woke Gina up and we got back into our truck so we could make coffee before heading down the road. This was a first for us. We have never slept in a rest area before. It wasn’t too loud. However, you could still just barely hear all the truck’s diesel engines running. We both slept good and felt refreshed. We hit Austin just as rush hour traffic was beginning. It wasn’t too bad until Gina had me get off the highway so we could stop at an HEB. This wouldn’t have been bad but I had to get onto the service road for two miles then make a u-turn to go back two miles. It wasn’t too bad and it allowed the traffic to thin out a little. Once we got back on the highway it was smooth sailing through the rest of Austin and San Antonia. We arrived at Retama Village located in Mission, Texas right at two o’clock. We were greeted by Dale who gave us a big hug.

Our Site at Retama Village

(Thanks Jack & Danielle)

We got our home setup and then we walked over to Mark & Dale’s home where Mike & Pat were along with Rocky & Sheri. These are some great friends and we highly recommend that you all check out their websites. We had a great evening talking with everyone. We then headed back home where I fried some eggs and sausage for dinner. Gina wanted me to install our satellite dish but it was dark and I convinced her that I would do it tomorrow. We did watch a little local TV before I told her that I was tired and headed off to bed. I had just drove 1,200 miles in three days and 1,000 of those miles in just two days. Both Gina and I were ready to settle down for a little while and I just didn’t feel like stretching out our drive another two days.


Wednesday
November 4, 2009

We both woke up this morning at our normal time of 7:30. I got the coffee brewing and just kind of relaxed waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. I fixed Gina a cup and brought it to her in bed so she could wake up her more normal way. Once she finished her coffee she joined me in the living room where we discussed our plans for the day. I went outside and turned the air conditioner on in the truck so it wouldn’t get too warm inside. We still had all of our food inside of it. I went and got Mark so he could hear how quiet it was while it’s running.

Mark & I Talking

We then sat down outside and visited for awhile. While we visited outside Gina grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of butterflies. She took over 150 pictures but only about 30 were worth keeping. Here are a few of them and the remaining are on our online photo album. I'm not into butterflies so I cannot tell you the name of any of them.

I thought this was the best shot she took










There are so many butterflies, There are five in this picture




I thought this was a nice shade of blue

After Gina took all the butterfly pictures Mark’s wife, Dale joined us outside.

Here we are visiting with Mark & Dale

Around two o’clock Mark & Dale headed back home and we were going to head into town. However, I suggested to Gina that we don’t go into town today since it was already early afternoon and there was no way we would get everything done today. Instead I said let’s just head to town tomorrow. She agreed with me. I then pulled our bikes out while Gina put some pork ribs into a crock pot. We then went for a bike ride over to see Rocky & Sheri. We visited with them for a couple of hours and then headed back over to our home. Gina stopped at Mike & Pat’s where Mark & Dale were visiting. I continued on to our home to check on Gina’s ribs. I then went over to Mike & Pat’s to visit with everyone. The girls decided to head over to the pool around six which only left an hour for us to eat. Gina made some macaroni & cheese and heated up some green beans to go with our pork ribs. While Gina was doing that I set up our satellite dish and then ate dinner with Gina. Pat and Dale showed up right at six and Gina hopped on her bike and they all headed over to relax in the pool. They must have had a great time since Gina didn’t make it back home until after eight o’clock. Now that Gina had her DirecTV she kicked back in the recliner while I slept in mine. Around 11:30 she woke me up and said she was going to bed. I joined her in bed which I was sound asleep in a matter of minutes. We might not have done what we wanted to do today. However, we had a great day relaxing and visiting with our friends.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Saying Our Goodbyes To A Prairie Town

Wednesday
October 28, 2009

We woke up and got the coffee brewing. We didn’t have anything planned since it was raining and cold. After we finished our late morning coffee we both jumped into the shower and got cleaned up. I then sat down and wrote an entry for our blog while Gina was on Facebook. We then went over to Excel’s shop to see how they were coming out on our home. They made a little more progress but Curtis said he is trying to get everything completed tomorrow. By this time it was five o’clock and we had arranged with Ralph and his wife Theresa to meet up at Duffy’s Steakhouse for some prime rib. They only serve it on Wednesday and Friday. We met them there at six o’clock and enjoyed a wonderful meal.

Ralph & Theresa

That was by far the best prime rib we have ever had. We sat and talked until the restaurant was closing. We really enjoyed their company and wish them the very best in their transition to living in a small town. We then headed back to our truck. When we got back Curtis had dropped off some milo that Gina had asked for. We then got settled in the truck and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Thursday
October 29, 2009

We woke up this morning late again. We have done just about everything there is to do around here and our truck is getting really small. It wouldn’t be so bad if the weather was nicer. However, the cold temperatures and rain has not allowed us to get outside. I sure am glad that we both love being with each other. We are hoping that our home will be completed today. However, we’re not holding our breath. We keep seeing all these flocks of birds flying south that it’s making us jealous. We are more than ready to head south with them. In order for us to leave tomorrow I did a quick inspection on the truck, replaced the windshield wipers and took the truck to fill it up with diesel. Ouch, that hurt. What’s up with these diesel prices?? I’m glad that we shouldn’t have to fill up again until mid December when we start heading back toward our house in Louisiana. After all of that was done we decided to drive west to the town of Kensington and buy some more pies and smoked pork chops before we leave. Then we drove over to the town of Lebanon to buy some fresh KC Strip steaks. We then headed back to Smith Center to pick up Gina’s engraved rock then back to our truck.

The Finished Product

Having five pies in our freezer doesn’t leave much space for other items. We still have 20 pounds of shrimp in there too. In order to free up some space in our freezer we decided to boil a few pounds of shrimp this evening for dinner. Around five o’clock I called Curtis to see if they were finished. He said that they still had a few more items to finish and we discussed the issue about our bedroom air conditioner. They do not have another one to install and he asked us if we were going to be driving through Wichita. I said, “Yes” so he asked us if we could stop by the manufacturer on Monday so they could install a new one. Since we will not be getting our home back today and now we need to stop in Wichita Monday morning we just decided to stay here until Sunday. It has rained all day today and I do not have an awning on the truck so I got our propane burner and boiled shrimp under Excel’s service department building awning so we could stay dry. After the shrimp was done we ate them inside the customer service lounge while we chatted with Ashley & Parker down in Grenada. Around nine o’clock we got back into our truck and settled in for the night.


Friday
October 30, 2009

This is another one of our normal mornings of waking up late. Ok, it might have been a little later than normal like 10:15. We enjoyed our coffee together and since it was still raining outside we were not in a hurry to do anything. We really just want our home back. We walked over to see Curtis to make sure everything was setup for Monday morning in Wichita to get our air conditioner replaced. Curtis assured us that our home will be finished today. We then just hung out in the truck since it was cold outside and it was now trying to snow. I was getting restless inside of the truck so I went inside and visited with Ralph for awhile. The afternoon was passing very slowly but finally Curtis delivered our home to us around 5:30. Once I got the slides out Gina commenced cleaning up our home. It had spent almost two weeks inside Excel’s manufacturing plant and it just had a lot of dust inside of it. I moved the truck next to our home so we could start moving some of our stuff back into our home. However, we first had to have dinner. We were both starving. I pulled the grill out and grilled two of the KC Strips we bought yesterday along with two baked potatoes. The steaks tasted great. I have to admit that the beef here in Kansas and Nebraska is some of the best we’ve ever eaten. We then put a pie in the oven and relaxed back in our recliners watching a little TV enjoying the smell of a fresh pie baking. We let the pie cool off a little and then we each enjoyed a slice topped with vanilla ice cream. We definitely need to get to some warmer weather so we can get back to riding our bicycles and walking. I believe our waistlines could use it. Neither one of us was tired but finally around 12:30 we decided to head to bed.

Saturday
October 31, 2009

Well, can I say it was so nice to sleep in our home last night? I slept so good and felt so refreshed when I woke up this morning. I got the coffee brewing and started writing our blog entry for the past three days. Gina was still sleeping when our phone rang and it was Nicole calling to say hey. While Gina was on the phone I brought her a cup of coffee so she could drink it while she talked to Nicole. I went back to writing until she got off the phone. I was writing and watching the news at the same time. I almost got the entry wrote. However, I still wanted to write more. After Gina took a shower and got dressed we headed over to Bryan’s house to tell him thank you for all the great hospitality he and Peterson Industries showed us during our stay here and for letting us use their van so we wouldn’t have to disconnect our truck.

Thank You Bryan


Bryan with his Bulldog "Lilly"


This picture is for Ashley & Parker

When we left there we stopped by JS Limestone to see Joe and to pick up our two small rock pedestals which will display Gina’s new engraved rock. We then stopped by Ralph & Theresa’s to tell them goodbye and to let them know we really enjoyed meeting them. They followed us back to our home so Ralph could get me a screw to put in our awning. While they were there Theresa clipped Angel & Zoey’s toenails.

Theresa with Angel & Zoey

We again thanked them and said goodbye. We then drove over to Curtis’s house to tell him thank you and to let him know that he had a big part of making our stay here very enjoyable.

Curtis Standing next to His Engraved Rock

He then asked us if we would like a personal tour of Smith County. We told him that we would love to. We loaded up in his truck and off we went. He first took us to his land that he farms. He has already planted winter wheat and he said it’s looking great.

Curtis's Winter Wheat Crop

From there we just started driving down all these dirt roads which actually was mud from all the rain.

Curtis Juggling Hedge Balls


Gina convinced Curtis to stop and get her a few pieces of this Sumac Bush
(She's going to try and plant this in her garden)

There are so many old abandoned houses and barns. They have just outlived their usefulness. There use to be so many little towns spread throughout Smith County. However, most of them have just died and all that remains are abandoned buildings. He did point out two separate one room schools.

Lone Star School


Cedar Hill School

He took us by his ancestor’s original homestead and the cemetery where most of them are buried.

He then took us by what is planned to be the World Capital of Peace which is part of a movement called Transcendental Meditation and was created by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The buildings were started back in 2006 but after the leader died the work slowed up and most of the work that was done thus far is deteriorating. Currently there is only one building almost complete and thirteen others at various stages of construction. I was going to provide a link so you could read about it. However, I couldn’t really find a good link other than their official website.

There are four incomplete buildings in this photo


Another building a little further along


This is the most complete building

As we were driving we came up on a herd of Mule deer. We stopped to take some pictures of them.

I could only get five of them at one time


The best I can tell that's an Eight Point Buck

We made it back to Curtis’s house and we said our goodbye’s and thanked him for giving us such a detailed tour of Smith County, Kansas. We then headed home to eat dinner and relax a little before calling it a night. Tomorrow will be a short travel day to Wichita. I thought this was going to be just a day where we said goodbye to everyone. However, it turned out to be one of our best days here.


To end this entry I would like to give you my opinion about the residents of Smith Center, Kansas.

Smith Center is a community of approximately 1800 people. For the most part everyone here has something to do with farming or they work for Peterson Industries. The values that everyone here lives by are the same values that mainstream America left by the wayside during the 70’s & 80’s. Everyone here has so much love in their heart for their neighbor that it’s hard to believe it still exists in America. This same love was demonstrated to us every day by everyone we met during our three week stay here. The people of Smith Center have something very special. We will forever cherish our time spent here. However, more importantly we’ll forever hold the memories of everyone we met and the kindness they showed toward us. Never, not even once, did we ever feel like strangers here but actually felt like we were part of their community.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Sightseeing in Grand Island, Nebraska and Gina Gets her Engraved Rock

Saturday
October 24, 2009

Woke up late this morning and we decided that we would just hang out today. The weather is cold and we just didn’t feel like doing anything. It would just be one of those do nothing days. We both just watched some movies along with a little TV. At 6:30 we watched the LSU vs Auburn football game. Once the game ended we just called it a night and went to bed.

Sunday
October 25, 2009

We woke up this morning just chilling out (temperature 35 degrees with a 25 mph north wind). We were trying to decide how we would spend today. There were two choices go to see the geographic center of the contiguous 48 states or go see where the song “Home on the Range” was written. We decided on seeing the center of the US. We then took our showers and got dressed and headed off toward Lebanon, Kansas.

Monument at the Center of the 48 states


US Center Chapel


Inside of Chapel


Looking Down the Road Toward the Center of the US

Ok, it’s not a destination stop but it’s worth a stop if you are ever in the area. There is a small chapel located there and it’s a stop that Gina and I can say that we have been to.

From there we headed to the grocery store to pick up some broccoli. Gina was in the mood for some homemade broccoli & cheese soup. Once back at home Gina commenced to cooking. It seems like we are eating a lot of soup type foods but the weather here is just cold and you just want some warm liquid to eat so you can stay warm. The broccoli & cheese soup tasted great. After we ate Gina chatted with Ashley & Parker on IChat for over an hour. They’re both doing great in school and we look forward to seeing them at Christmas. We said goodnight and went to bed. We had another not too exciting day but very relaxing for us.

Monday
October 26, 2009

The alarm clock went off at 5:45 this morning so I could be ready at 6:30 just in case they wanted to get started on our fifth wheel. Gina woke up right after me when she heard the coffee pot finish brewing. We both had our showers and were dressed by 6:30. I talked to Curtis and he said that he would be over and get our fifth wheel around ten o’clock. Well, we got up early for nothing. However, if we wouldn’t have got up early they would have been knocking on our door at 6:30. Now that we were all dressed up we discussed what we would do today. We decided very quickly that Grand Island, Nebraska would be our destination. It’s the closest big city to Smith Center, Kansas. We got on the road around nine o’clock headed north. We stopped at Wal-mart in Hastings so we could pick up a few items we needed and to use the restroom. Back on the road toward Grand Island we were not sure what we wanted to do first. Gina had read that they had a nice downtown so that is where we stopped and parked around noon. We quickly realized that it was like most old downtown areas just a lot of antique shops. However, the shops were very nicely laid out with good lighting not like a lot of antique shops that just have everything thrown together. We went through most of the shops enjoying the old antiques. From there we had to go back to Wal-mart since we forgot a bowl to heat up our leftover soup with. It was a quick stop and while Gina was inside buying a glass bowl I was looking and calling campgrounds to see where we would be parking tonight. I found Mormon Island State Recreation Area. I did call them and they said that they had shut down all the water except for one toilet. We said that was alright with us. We were only about seven miles away. We arrived there at 5:30 and quickly realized that we were the only ones there except for the four deer that greeted us as we got set up. It’s a nice setting but it is right next to the interstate. Here are a few pictures of the park.

Mormon Island Recreation Area


Our Campsite


A View of the Beach


A View of the Lake

Gina quickly got the soup heated up while I hooked up the satellite. We had some good timing since I got the satellite connected at the same time she was putting soup in our bowls for dinner. After dinner we just relaxed watching “Law & Order”.

Tuesday
October 27, 2009

We woke up this morning with the temperature inside the truck a very cold 48 degrees. We do not run our heater at night. At least it was warmer inside the truck than outside. The outside temperature was reading 32 degrees and there was a 15 mph wind blowing. I turned the heater on and got the coffee brewing. We both enjoyed our coffee and then decided that we needed to get moving out of the campground. We first stopped at a truck stop right up the road to get cleaned up. I’m not sure I like the truck stop thing to get cleaned up but it fit the bill this morning. We then went up the road a little further and stopped at the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer.

Front View of Stuhr Musuem

This is another museum about pioneers heading west and how times progressed to what they have today. They have a full size old town circa 1880’s. Here are a few pictures.

Two Log Cabins
One was built in 1857 and the other was built in 1859


Milisen House Built in 1879


Lesher House, Built in 1883


Fonda House, Built in 1884
House where Henry Fonda was Born


A One-Room Rural Schoolhouse, Built in 1893


Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Built in 1888


Gina, Angel and Zoey Playing in the Tee Pee

Around three o’clock we were hungry and I was in the mood for a nacho bell grande from Taco Bell. While we were eating we talked about whether we wanted to stay another day here in Nebraska or head back to Kansas. We finally decided to head back south to Smith Center. We got back at 5:15 and since Joe from JS Limestone called yesterday to let us know that Gina’s rock was finished we headed over there to see it. It came out beautiful.

Our Rock


Joe, the Artist


A Very Unique Eagle Design

Joe has only been carving these rocks since last year. He started doing them part time just as a side job until he got laid off from his job and then started doing them as his full time job. He has become such artist the only difference is his canvas is limestone. I highly recommend looking at his website http://www.jslimestone.com/ to see all the different designs that he has done. Joe is a very gifted and talented young man.

Curtis called us to ask us if we wanted our home brought out of the shop and we said that he could keep it inside and that we would just stay in our truck tonight. We parked our truck back behind Excel’s service center and got the electrical connected to the truck around six o’clock. We heated up our leftover gumbo for dinner and decided to take it inside the customer lounge to eat at the table instead of in our truck. Gina was finally able to get a good internet connection so she spent the next two hours on facebook trying to catch up with what everyone has been doing. Around ten o’clock we walked back to the truck and settled in for the night.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.