About That Grapevine Lake (November 18 - 24)

Dear Family and Friends,

Roger and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with family and friends. It remains my favorite holiday and this year, we are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area enjoying family and friends.

We left Sulphur, Oklahoma, early Sunday morning, driving Ok 7 to I - 35 south to Grapevine Lake. We are parked at Vineyards RV park and our spot looks onto the lake.

 Driving on I-35 south from Oklahoma to Texas.

Lots of traffic!

 Crossing the Red River into Texas

 Howdy Y'all

 Our site at the Vineyards on Grapevine Lake, complete with a deck.

 The marina is across the lake from us.

On Monday morning we drove 25 miles to downtown Ft. Worth where my Mother lives in Sundance Square. Her apartment is on the 11th floor with spectacular views from her patio.

 Mother and I are in front of Sundance Square.

Two new office buildings are under construction in downtown Ft. Worth.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent doing lots of errands. We decided to find a doctor in the Ft. Worth area for yearly checkups. Hooray, we found a winner, who is very happy in his practice and does not want to retire (our last two retired) for many years. Additionally, he has a lab in his facility so no more running around for blood work.

On Turkey Day we went to my brother and sister-in-law's home in Ft. Worth. We enjoyed our visit with family so much. Thank you to Diann and Chris for including us in this wonderful American celebration.

 Chef Diann (my sister-in-law) took a quick break for me to snap this picture.

 My sister's family pose with Roger.

Betsy, Charlie, Claire, Sally and Roger

Mother and her friend, Jimmie Ruth

Brother Chris

Chris and the wonderful chef, Diann

Sister Sally and her husband, Charlie

How very thankful Roger and I were to be included in my friend Becky's Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. Becky lives in Dallas and we have been friends for many years. All three of her children, their spouses and her brother were at her delicious dinner. The guys had been to the Cowboy/ Redskin game  on Thursday, that is why we had the dinner on Friday. Thank you Becky for a magical time.

 Roger and Becky

 James, Becky's daughter Rebecca and their son, Cole.

 Son Mark and Jodi

 Cole is such a cruiser

 Cole loves to ride on Daddy's shoulders.

Son Michael and his wife Traci sit at the opposite end of the table with Grayson (Becky's first grandchild). New baby Fitz is taking a nap. Becky's brother Vic and friend Raquel sit at the other end of the table.

What an incredible week, filled with family and friends, in the beautiful Fall weather of Texas. Roger and I are thrilled to be here at this special time of the year. Thank you for checking in with us. See you next week. 

About Those Fried Pies and Turner Falls (November 10 - 17)

Dear Family and Friends,

Roger, Bear and I have enjoyed our last week in Sulphur, Oklahoma, knowing that we are moving the Tour on Sunday, to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, for that hectic, but wonderful holiday season. Since Fall is my favorite time of year, we have taken advantage of hiking and marveling at the hardwood trees as they have changed color and are getting ready for Winter.

Sunday was a rainy day (fairly unusual for us in our travels) and we enjoyed relaxing in the Tour. I am in the middle of John Grisham's, The Racketeer, and this was the perfect day for a cup of tea and a book. Oklahoma needs water, so this was a welcome rain.

 Raindrops on the window of the Tour.

Monday was our first hike at the Chickasaw National Recreation area. This is Oklahoma's first national park with all sorts of things to do. It was a cold, Fall day and the three of us enjoyed hiking in the Arbuckles.

 Roger

 Roger and Bear

Bear and I posed in our fleeces.

 A view from Bromide Point

 Sulphur, Oklahoma in the distance.

 Conglomerate rock is made by smooth rocks that fall from the tops of the Arbuckle Mountains and adhere to each other with limestone as a mortar.

(this takes eons to happen)

You learn something new everyday.

Lake Arbuckle

On Tuesday we decided to go see Turner Falls. Many of you may recall seeing the signs for Turner Falls off I - 35, between Oklahoma City and the Dallas/Ft. Worth areas. Roger and I have driven this route many times over the forty-one years that we have been married, but had never stopped to see the Falls. These are the largest falls in Oklahoma, measuring 77 feet in height. The Falls plummet into a swimming area; thus, it is supposed to be a great place in the summer. What a disappointment! The Falls are much shorter these days with Oklahoma's severe drought. We chalked this visit up with the Royal Gorge (avid blog fans will remember this rip-off in Canon City, Colorado). Lots more rain will totally take care of this popular swimming area.

Turner Falls

A beautiful view of the Fall foliage.

Turner Falls,
one more time

Davis, Oklahoma is world famous for it's fried pies. If you grew up in the South, you know the popularity of fried pies. If you are new to fried pies, they are pie filling encased in dough that is deep fat fried (not on any diet plans of which I am aware). On our way back to Sulphur from Turner Falls, we  passed the famous fried pie bakery ("fryery") that has been in existance for a long time. Of course we had to try one. 

On Wednesday, Patti and Jim (our daughter-in-law's parents and our friends) drove down from Norman, Oklahoma. We gave them a tour of the Tour, had lunch and then drove across the street, from where we are parked, to visit the Chickasaw Cultural Center. This beautifully done museum plus so much more, sits on 109 acres of rolling hillside, woodlands and streams. We learned so much about the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes. Patti told me that the Choctaw word, Oklahoma, means "home of the red man."

Sculpture of a Chickasaw warrior. The same artist who sculpted this Indian, did the one that sits on top of the Oklahoma capitol dome.

Jim, Patti, Suzanne and Roger are getting ready to see a movie about the migration of the Chickasaw tribe.

 Chickasaw Family

An overview of a Chickasaw village.

Demonstration of beading

 Jim holds the Chickasaw flag.

 Roger and I are posing in front of the water feature. In the background are outstanding members of the Chickasaw tribe (black plaques).

Patti and Jim

As movie goers, we had to see the new James Bond picture, Sky Fall, on Thursday. It did not disappoint. 

On Friday and Saturday, we prepared the Tour for travel. Thank you for checking in with us. The next blog will be from Grapevine Lake, Avid blog readers will remember that I have lots of family in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area. Grapevine Lake is in the center making it easier to visit family and friends in the area. See you next week.

About That Oklahoma (November 4 - 10)

Dear Family and Friends,

On Sunday, Roger, Bear and I drove to Winfield, Kansas (about one hour from Wichita) to see Roger's cousins. Kent And Paula are from Dexter and Linda is from Oklahoma City. We met for lunch and had such a great time catching up.

Thank you Linda, for driving all the way from Oklahoma City.

Paula, Roger, Kent and Linda

On Monday night, we met our friend, Buzz, for dinner at a restaurant near Roger's old neighborhood.  What fun we had, even though we missed Katie (Buzz's wife) who could not be there. Fortunately we got to see her last week.

Roger and Buzz

On Tuesday, November 6th, our adorable Bear turned three. We are so thrilled to have this little guy in our lives. He makes us laugh!

                                              

Happy Birthday, Bear

We left Wichita on Thursday morning for Oklahoma. Our drive to Sulphur, Oklahoma took us along I - 35 south to Oklahoma 7 to Sulphur, where we are staying in an RV park located in the Arbuckle Mountains. This is home to the Chickasaw Indians and is a beautiful area.

Lots of truck traffic along the way, especially near Oklahoma City.

Our new spot, for ten days, at Arbuckle RV Resort

On Friday we drove to Oklahoma City to visit the sight of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Murrah building in the downtown area. The area is now a national memorial and museum. It is hard to put into words the emotions I felt at seeing the 168 empty chairs at the site where the building stood and visiting the museum which tells the story of that day and the days that followed.

 This overlook shows the reflecting pool with the 156 empty chairs.

 The chairs are lit at night.

 Notice the smaller chairs amid the adult chairs. Nineteen children lost their lives.

 The reflection pool has bookends on either side. One side says 9:01 and the other says 9:03. The bomb exploded at 9:02.

We drove by the capitol building and marveled at the beauty of the building that resembles our nation's capitol building.

Our daughter-in-law's parents, Patti and Jim, live in nearby Norman, Oklahoma. They invited us for dinner and we had a great time catching up. The main topic of conversation was about our brilliant and beautiful grandchildren, Abby and Jackson. These are the only two people that never tire of hearing and sharing those grandchildren stories. Thank you Patti and Jim for a delicious dinner and evening in your lovely home.

Patti and Jim

Finally, I have to give a shout out to Roger. He has been training for a 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles) that will take place in Dallas on Sunday, December 9th. The pictures below show him getting ready for an 11 mile training run in Sulphur.

Wonder if he will look this happy when he gets back.

 Those last minute tune checks

Off for the run

It is hard to believe that another week has flown by. We will remain in Sulphur for a week before heading to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for the holidays. Thank you for your interest in our blog. See you next week.