Yee Haw & Other Stuff

Well, I have tried & tried, but I cain't figger out how to get my dadburned pictures transferred from camera to PC. It's probably something stupid like not plugging it in right-------hey!!!

Nope, still didn't work. So instead of looking at beautiful scenery for the moment, you'll have to listen to my ramblins' again.

TR has always said that I was the entertainment director & he was in charge of finances. So I decided to prove him right. Yesterday we took a 2-hour horseback ride up a mountain. We had a real wrangler (Casey) on his homebred mule "Sam," TR on "Elizabeth", and me on "Hollywood." We were led by Wiley Coyote & Orphan Annie, 2 trail dogs (whose purpose we found out later was to run ahead & scout out the trail & scare any bears away). (And no, we didn't see any.) (whew) The ride itself was uneventful except old Elizabeth must've had her share of beangrass the night before & pooted her way up the trail. And since my Hollywood loved to have his nose up her butt, I got the full benefit of her music. As G-Daddy always says, "well, there's more room out than in!" Anyway, when we got on top of the mtn., we had beautiful views of the Tetons & other ranges & the valley below. Stunning...........

When we got back from the ride, we headed for Jenny Lake. We took a pontoon across the lake to hike to Hidden Falls & Inspiration Point. We huffed & puffed all the way up, but the views were worth it. Only when we were looking back at where we'd hiked & the boat pilot told us it was only 400' up above the lake (& the mtn. is almost 13,000' high) did we feel our age! (But it was really rocky--that's gotta count for something). On the way home, we saw a herd of elk just grazing by the roadside. By the way, on the horseback ride, we did see 3 muledeer, so there's wildlife out there---you just gotta be at the right place at the right time. We were greeted back at the RV with a wide rainbow in the sky---& it wasn't even raining. I think God was saying "thanks" for enjoying his creation so much.

This morning we took a 10-mile float trip down the Snake River. Very relaxing, very scenic, very little rapids (whew). We saw a baby moose with Mama, several bald eagles, an osprey & several hawks, and a beaver. The river is just beautiful & so clear that you can see the bottom at all times. Swimming is not allowed because of the current, but there's fishing & rafting--no tubing. It was sunny, blue skies today with temp around 63. Almost full moon tonight & that's a sight over these spectacular mtns. Tomorrow we head for Yellowstone. Can't wait! Wish all of you could be here with us (but in your own RV or hotel) to enjoy the spectacle. Love.........

Cowboy Turry & Ellie Oakley's Out West Adventure

When I last left you, it was March , we had just returned home from Florida., and I was singin' "On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again...." Well, it took a little longer than I'd planned to get back on that road again. Somehow life (& husbands) (& grandkids) & (children) just seem to interrupt plans from time to time. Go figure.........
BUT enough rambling. We ARE on the road again and in fact we HAVE been on the road since 9/5. A synopsis of the last 5 days:

Friday: drove to Paducah, KY --highlight= guy who owned the campground taught me to play a 32 string psaltry with a bow. (Look it up- I ain't gonna tell ya) Also the riverfront in downtown Paducah is lovely.

Saturday: made it to St. Joseph's, MO--just above Kansas City. Was a long day, raining off & on. I noticed TR had forgotten his rain jacket when he came in dripping from setting up RV. "I don't need you to pack my stuff," he said confidently on 9/4.

Sunday: On to North Platte in western NE. Met 2 interesting couples, one from CA, other from IL. Evidently they meet periodically to drink & catch up. Guy from CA carried 14 cases of wine & 10 bottles of 'licker'. Guy from IL carries his dulcimer around. Guess they "get up & get down".

Monday: Traveled through NE. Had never been that far west in the state, though we lived in eastern NE years ago. Beautiful prairie, sandhills, farms. Fields of sunflowers, grains, et. On to Cheyenne & Laramie, WY. Lines of wooden snowbreaks all along sides of I-80. Windmills on hills. Decided to go on into Rawlins, WY, as that would cut 120 miles off the next day's travels.

Tuesday: So excited to leave early a.m. Excitement curtailed when we pulled into a CAR WASH to wash the RV. (Pre-vacation anal tendencies still overwhelm at times). Head towards Lander, WY, or so I thought. We marveled at the amazing scenery & the navigator (me) missed the turnoff to Lander. Good news: somewhere it hit me we were on the wrong road. Bad news: we were in Casper, WY. Ouch. Had to call into play the RV trip "No fussin'/fightin' rule. Good call. So in effect, I erased the 120 mi. we saved the day before. My punishment? After traveling over 20 miles of major dusty road construction into Grand Teton, we had to WASH THE FREAKIN RV AND JEEP AGAIN!!!! (at least THIS time it needed it)

So here we are today, Wednesday, 9/10. A wonderful day. The Grand Teton mtn. range has to be one of the most beautiful sights in this here US of A. So majestic, inspiring--I bet God had a great time creating these. And that's Who you think of when you see them. We drove all over the park roads, stopping 100 times for pictures & just to look. Saw moose, buffalo, pronghorn. Went to Jackson Hole & to the famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar (has silver dollars embedded in the bar. You sit on saddles, complete with stirrups--yeehaw!) Got back just in time to hear it's supposed to SNOW 2" tonight. It has been chilly. 30's at night. 50-60's daytime. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Will post pictures if I can figure out my camera again. Promise I'll be shorter in the story-tellin' dept. next time!

Culture?

Visiting the Ringling home

Under the Banyon tree

I Don't Wanna Go Home..............

Well, as I write this, I am sitting on my couch--kleenexes in hand---not in the RV--but back home in Weaver-Vegas. Our trip ended on Sat., March 1--a mighty sad day indeed. I've not blogged since we left Sarasota/Bradenton. Depression is just around the corner. As we made our way north, I could feel the "strings" of WV pulling my attention away from the warm sunshine state & tightening around my neck as we got closer & closer to home. Please don't misunderstand. I love Weaverville & the life we have here. But you have to understand that this RV adventure was in the making for the last 5 years--as we went from one RV dealership to another & researched & researched & researched everything single freakin' thing that could be researched about RV's. So when we finally bit the bullet & bought the rig, it was a relief (to me,--though TR immediately began the "did we do the right thing?" thing. Well, I can tell you truthfully------------we DID THE RIGHT THING!! We've had so much fun. Time flew. Wind blew. No words of hate. Sex was great, blah, blah, blah. Ya'll are probably sick of my rhymes & musings by now, so I'll get on with it.........
While we were in Sarasota, we had dinner with Doug D. & that was a treat. We went to the John & Mabel Ringling Circus & Modern Art Museum. Wow, what a complex. That was probably the most "cultural" thing we did---even rednecks need a little taste every now & then. Was well worth the time, even though it cut in on my "beach" time. Then we puttered up to Crystal River & saw Connie & Mike. Was great to see them & after traveling around FL for a month, I understand why they choose to live part-time there. Weaverville in the summer & warm winters in Fl=a great combo.
We left there & drove 400 mi. to Stone Mtn., Ga & stayed in the campground on the lake. Was very nice & I'd recommend it for a long weekend. Then we drove on home via the Dillard House in GA where we added some gross weight (literally) to the RV scales. Luckily we didn't pass a weigh station. We've have had to pay a huge fine.
So that's it. It's over----------for now. It was everything we'd hoped it would be--& probably a lot more! I hope I've given you a "taste" of life on the road-------Try it--you'll like it!! I'll just leave singing: "On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again..................................

Gator Country

This is a shot of the mangrove thicket while we were cruising through the Everglades on the airboat. As you can see, even the alligators in the area take traffic safety seriously!

Gator Tales

We left the Keys & drove across southern Florida on 2-lane Hwy. 41. Didn't see any alligators, even though there was water all the way. I'm sure they were there--they were probably just aggravated with all the traffic--just like me--and probably sick of posing for everyone to take their picture--just like Terry. We got set up on Chokoloskee Island in the Everglades & about 45 mi. south of Naples. We went on a cool airboat ride & did some massive power slides on the water through the mangrove thickets (no, I wasn't driving). Thumbs up on that one. Then later we drove down a gravel road that ran along a shallow river-creek-cattails-marsh body of water(recommended by the airboat capt.) & counted 62 alligators within a 7 mi. stretch. And those were just the ones we could easily see. The 1st pic is of one just lying on the side of the road. I was only about 6' away from him when I took the picture. I thought it would've been fun to come back at night & just shine a light in the water & see how many eyes we could see, but Terry has way different ideas about what's fun (party pooper). Next day I thought I saw a shark caught in the shallows in the bay. All I could see was a fin & writhing tail. As it turned out, it was 3 dolphins rounding up their breakfast. Two of them would "herd" the fish & the other one would come in & chow down. Scads of people were watching & one man said it happens often. Another really cool thing to see. Between the gators, birds, fish, dolphins & crazy human wildlife, this was another interesting leg of our trip. As Sarasota looms before us, I'm afraid we're heading toward way too much civilization. Hope we can re-adjust............

I told you there was Funky Art!!