April 23,2010 Battleship Texas

We arrived here in Livingston,Tx. on the 21st and will be here about 9 days. We're staying at Rainbow's End, the Escapees Headquarters.We haven't done much while we've been here,although we went to the famous Florida's for dinner. They are known for their BBQ Ribs and they were good. If your in the area make a stop at Florida's.

On sunday we decided to go to Houston to see the Battleship Texas and the San Jacinto Battleground Monument.Battleship Texas is the last of the big-gunned ships to be built at the beginning of the 20th century.She was commisioned in 1914 and the only surviving ship that served in both World Wars.Here are some of the photos I took. Here's looking at you.

The bunks and laundry

Sam in front of one of the big guns.

The Wheel House

Here in Houston all you see are oil refineries.

After touring the ship went over to the San Jacinto Monument.This monument is 570 feet above the battleground and was built to honor the men who fought for Texas independence. It is the tallest masonary structure in the world.This is where the battle of Santa Jacinto took place and General Sam Houston won the battle against General Santa Ana and won their independence.
After our sightseeing we were hungry and went to the Monument Inn on the water for dinner. We both had catfish and it was delicious. We went on a Sunday and the place was packed,if you go you may want to go on another day. After dinner we took the free ferry across the river and headed back to camp. A great day of livin'ez on the road.

April 13-21 ,2010 VISITING FRIENDS

We left Sherman, Texas on the 13th and arrived at our friends Neva and Jerry's in Quitman,Tx. They use to live in Calif. and we've been friends for over 40 years. Neva and I were roomates before getting married. It was so good to see them and the family. We will stay here about a week. They have a beautiful home on 4 acres of land. Here are some photos of the place.

Neva and Jerry and me in front of house.

Sam working in yard.

While we were here we went to Tyler and Neva took me to a store called Dressin' Gaudy. I loved this place. They have all these jackets with all the sparkles and bling.Also lots of jewelery. I will go back there when we come back through in Oct. We also went to one of the many Victorian homes in Tyler. This house is called the Goodman-LeGrande home also known as the Bonnie Castle.The Goodmans bought the home in 1866 and start remodeling in the 1880's. Dr. Goodman was a local Dr. and civil war surgeon. The family occupied the home for 72 years.
While at Neva's and Jerry's I think we gained a few pounds.She was always cooking and we were always eating. We had a great visit and will miss them but will be back in the fall.

April 11,2010 Grand Canyon Of Texas

Today we went to Palo Duro Canyon ,Texas’ second largest state park. Palo Duro Canyon is 120 miles long and 800 feet deep,and second largest canyon in the U.S.The canyon is full of wildlife,hiking trails,bike trails and has camping. In 1874 during the Red River Wars Col. Mackenzie was sent to remove the Native Americans and take them to Oklahoma.During this time the 4th Calvary was able to capture over 1400 horses belonging to the tribes. Later with no transportation the tribes surrendered.The canyon was nice,but we would have enjoyed it better if we had our bikes.Here are some of the pictures I took.

APRIL 6-11-2010 TRAVELING EAST

We left Lake Minden on Tuesday and along the way to Bakersfield there was a bad accident.It blocked the whole freeway and involved several vehicles,one being a 18 wheeler.We arrived in Bakersfield after driving 270 mi.and spent the night at the Elks. Not much area for parking but only $10.00 a night and includes electric and has a dump.

Wednesday we drove 284 miles to Needles,Ca. and spent the night at Northshore RV park. This is part of the Colorado River Adventures and a RPI park so it was only $10.00 a night for us. We were close to Laughlin and I told Sam I wanted to go to the River Palms for dinner and to get my gambling fix. Dinner was great and we had Prime Rib for 6.99.Gambling wasn’t so great,I lost.

Thursday we were on our way to Arizona and ended up going all the way to Gallup New Mexico. We drove longer than we usually drive but we shared the driving and went 395 miles today.We ended up staying overnight at Walmart and it cost us $50.00. It would of been cheaper in a campground.We are on our way to Texas and have seen all the sightseeing spots before so we’re not stopping to see them again. This is why we’ve driven farther than we normally do. Going through Flagstaff we saw some snow and the weather was cool.

Friday was an uneventful day. We drove 317 miles to Tucumcari, N.M. and spent the night at the Elks.Water and Electric for $7.50 and 2nd night is free.We didn’t take them up on the 2nd night.

Saturday was a short drive to Amarillo,Tx. only 128 miles. We had to get our safety inspection on our rv and car,as we haven’t been in Texas since '06. After getting that done we went to the Elks for a 2 night stay.$10.00 a night.We are going to Palo Duro Canyon on Sunday.We drove over to see Cadillac Ranch,this is where the Cadillacs are buried in the ground front end down and the rest sticking up. People go there with cans of spray paint and paint all over the cars. It’s a shame because they leave all the cans and tops all over the ground. It really is a dirty mess.I can’t believe people don’t take there garbage with them. There is even a dumpster out by the highway.

April 5,2010 Easter

After getting to Sacramento seeing Drs.and doing blood work we got a good report. We went over to Lake Minden(TTN)to spend a few days and our kids were coming for the Easter weekend.The weather was rainy on Friday and it turned out nice on Saturday.We had a nice Easter with our Daughter and Son-in-law.Here is a picture of Jill & Jim in their RV. Jill got Jim this leg lamp  at Xmas because he loves The Christmas Story and he put in their RV.We had a nice weekend and we will be heading out on Tuesday for our trip east.