March 7, Robson Ranch Denton TX, Day 7, Friday

Today we started late. We took off for the restaurant at the Ranch, yes it was closed because of the weather?? We stood there and a couple of women also had wanted to eat there. They said we eat at Mom’s Café in Justin, a little south of here do you want to go with us? We wanted to look at the area and said we would follow them. What a nice local place to eat, Lou and Adrian, first from Texas and the other from Long Island New York. The food was fabulous; Shirleen had a grilled cheese sandwich with tater tots and I a fresh chicken fried steak with fried okra, coleslaw and pea salad. The two gals ate a special fresh catfish fried in corn meal thin batter, wish I had ordered that, mine was delicious but there’s looked really good. We talked about why they liked Robson’s, it was the people and activities. Bridge, duplicate bridge and dog group. It was fun to talk with them, the first had a husband who worked for a company in Joliet IL and the other from New York and a teacher of high school adults. Had a great meal and conversation. The town can’t be more than 2,000 people and is the home of Justin cowboy boots.

We went back to the home, really nice pictures to follow. We drove around the complex and looked at different homes. We then went back to the home and went out walking. We walked for an hour or so and in that time the sunshine went to cloudy and cool; again the clothing I forgot was needed. The housing was nice to look at; the plantings were what made the house. We picked up many brochures for sale homes. They were more costly than the new ones bit they had plantings and some furnished.

After relaxing we got ready for the evening outing. We were to meet with a group of people who lived at the Ranch for awhile. We meet the hosts Darla and Fran who were really fun and had a lot of what we were. The host couple was from Montana and she from

She was employed as a high school counselor and he a math and IBM background. The other two were from Omaha; a couple Janel and Tom R. It was a fun evening talking about our lives, pretty open, daughters sons grandkids and life in general. The meals were a special menu; Shirleen and the ret had the Citrus Glazed Atlantic Salmon with Pomegranate Chutney, I the Surf (two grilled shrimp) and Turf (two beef medallions) with a Port Wine (Demi glace) over done or their medium. Food was well served and the accompanied cabernets were fine. The fun of the activity was to find out what people wanted for life’s end and how we wanted to accomplish by our retirements.

Before the host couple we met a couple from Kenosha, the lady had relatives from St. Peter small world. We also ran into a couple who came from Rochester and Albert Lea and for their 60th wedding anniversary they were headed for Hawaii Tuesday. They again seemed to be a great couple at 80.

Tomorrow we spend time with saleslady Pattie T.. Jerr

March 8th

Happy XX Birthday Mary!!

Of all the moments I remember in life, I remember exactly were I was when I heard you were born!!
Love Big Bro, Jerr

Happy 12th Birthday A b b y !

You are as colorful as these vases. Love Grandma and Grandpa

Shirleen's e-mail does not work from here. Jerr

March 6, Robson Ranch Denton TX, Day 6, Thursday

Up and at it, off to Gene Autry OK. This meant we went north for ten miles then east for eight miles, past a massive Dollar Store distribution center. We then followed a well marked trail, we soon found out why. There are some rundown homes and you think you are off course. We climbed a hill and there it was. An old school converted in 1978 to a Post Office and free museum. The place was an accumulation of old cowboy posters and memorabilia. Nothing really new, some of the enclosed materials, like a couple books laying flat had refuse from the shelf above layered on it. Looked outside and you guessed it it was snowing. As we pulled out of the parking lot I noticed that the other couple going through the museum was from Iowa. Sucked us northerners in. Unless you want to look at an area which needs help, pass this by.

Heading south, now we run into a strong snow squalls. Some of the largest flakes I have ever seen. Slow moving traffic except in my outer lane with the accumulating slop. The Ranch was out of town to the west, looked all white, hard to say how it normally looks. We found the check-in center and met Patti. We exchanged some small talk and she filled us in on the happenings. Now that we have 3 to 5 inches of heavy snow on the ground and the restaurant shutdown because of it we were escorted to our home for the three days. Turns out they don’t even have a snow shovel or snow scraper for the windows. We have been here for two hours and it is still snowing. Watching the travel channel and we have more snow in Texas than the Musk Ox’s have in the Artic circle, that we are watching.

Because of the snow the restaurant in the complex was closed. We went downtown and picked up gas, still 3.09 per gallon. As I was filling I struck up a conversation with the guy next to me turned out to be, Kellen Winslow Jr number 81 of the Cleveland Browns play ball he said he played ball with Adrian Jackson of the Vikes. Onward for food.

We went to Burgundy Steakhouse, close because of weather, went to Gillespie Italian again closed for weather. Well Hooligans downtown was open had a couple glasses of wine, onion rings, Shirleen’s deep fried cod and my two beef taco’s. Picked up a bottle of wine for later, in case we get snowed in for the weekend. Tomorrow here to look around and rest. Jerr

Happy Birthday Dan!! Click on pictures for bigger displays.

March 5, Ardmore OK, Comfort Inn Day 5, Wednesday

Off this morning from the Sleep Inn, one of the best we have slept in and throw in some of the big chains, few surpassed this one. We headed to Oklahoma City with the help of OnStar, got right downtown to the OKC Art Museum for the Dale Chihuly exhibit, over 1,500 glass pieces and other art work. http://www.okcmoa.com/exhibitions/dalechihuly-theexhibition and we sat for an hour watching a movie of him and his work. This is one of the biggest exhibits due to the fact that his wife came from a small town up the line on I35. The administrator of the museum has known Dale for 20 years, this explains why so much. We ate at the museum – Museum Cafe, it sits right in the center of town and has many city and Federal buildings in the area. We had a good glass of cabernet, hamburgers with caramelized onions and mine with swiss cheese and mushrooms. The fries were presented neatly, in a cloth funnel in a metal frame, neat. I would recommend this place anytime.

We hoofed it over to the Myriad Botanical Gardens. It had a different layout, leading you around the exhibit with its many orchids and greenery. Don’t go out of the way for this one. We then hopped on a Trolley and took a 20 minute drive around downtown, not much to see.

We then went back to the car and drove to the Murrah Federal Building that had been destroyed in 1995. http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/ These are always depressing exibits for me, we walked the reflecting pools and looked at the empty seat markers. There were a goodly group of people attending. Some looked like high school seniors on a field trip, they acted pretty decent.

Off and out of town, down I35. we saw a sign for a falls ahead. We went off to investigate it. It is handled by the city? Not sure where the town was but it was Turner Falls, a small falls with a meandering creek that flows over the bridges you cross to get to the falls. I then did not listen to either Shirleen or OnStar and turned back toward the highway and when I got there it did not have a south ramp, turn around and listen to both my advisors. Yesterday it gave us a new message, “a complicated intersection ahead”.

We saw a sign that mentioned Gene Autry and will go back in the morning. So we stopped at the next town for the evening, two doors down was dinner, at The Two Frogs, a rib place with a big menu. Shirleen saw her shrimp scampi with green beans and a baked potato. I grabbed a glass of Bud, Small order of catfish with red beans and fresh cut fried potatoes. Good all the way around. Off for Denton, tomorrow. We are staying until Sunday morning at Robsons Ranch, a place to look at houses to retire to and the three nights $93 for all three nights not each. Actually not looking either, we know a lot of people who have stopped there. Not sure if they have web connect? jerr

March 4, Guthrie OK, Day 4, Tuesday

As we had decided yesterday, we stopped in Abilene KS to go to President Dwight David Eisenhower’s Home, Meditation Hall with tomb for Ike, Mamie, and young son Dodd, Library, Museum and visitor center. We rolled in about 10:00 am. I had remembered that an old friend of mine ran a feed plant there. I called Keith B. and he was able to meet with us after his dentist appointment.

We then watched a 24 minute movie on Ike’s accomplishments. He was quite the soldier, statesman and president. His Museum was based towards his military accomplishments, other Presidents, many of those whom would never have one themselves. I really appreciated that recognition. There where many items, statues from many countries, plate settings for guests, Presidential gifts to many to number. I did take a pix of the menu for PM Charles De Gaulle. Wish I could get it off the stick with the new camera but that’s in the trunk right now. Mamie had a good display of jewelry, hats – over 105 of them and a note from Elizabeth Arden that was accompanied by 6 or 7 drawings of how she should style her hair for ease of day to day styling. If you can picture her that is the style she wore. There was also two shoulder capes that she wore as she had breakfast and wrote correspondences in bed in the morning. It said she then dressed for her afternoon guests and activities. The military displays were pointed, this was a war we did not start but one that we finished. Doesn’t sound familiar today by George.

We then went through their little two story house that accompanied 6 young boys of which Dwight was one. It was a modest house set right where it was built in the middle of 22 acres dedicated to him. The library had some busts and an exhibit of schools for many of the recent presidents.

We then met Keith, it had been many years but the same old good boy Keith. We went to M & R Restaurant and had a burger and BBQ for Shirleen. Keith and Jane have 3 boys, all quite scholarly. He asked how Roy S. and Cathy R. were doing. Saddened to hear Joe M. had passed on but happy Nancy M. was doing well. He works with old Doug at ADM buying midds and says he the same guy he was at Hubbard purchasing. Sure glad we stopped to see Keith and catch-up. After a couple hours we left for Oklahoma City and made it to Guthrie, OK 22 miles from downtown Oklahoma City tomorrow to view Chihuly glass at the Art Museum. Heading toward Denton TX at Robson resort. Jerr woops we ate at Pizza Hut – Italian Bistro, neat menu items but we split a medium thin crust half pepperoni and sausage. Jerr

March 3, Junction City KS, Day 3 Monday

Today we drove back through KC and went along Ward Parkway to see some of the old mansions. An old friend from Mankato has a daughter living in that area. They are both physicians and are redoing an old mansion. Not sure if we saw it but we did see the Dobb’s, lawyers, $20 mil house. Theirs was right by that one and they were all bigggg.

As we drove towards Topeka we gave Mike and Connie B. a call. Spent many campouts with him while I was working in scouts. He was home and available that eve. When we arrived we headed straight to the state capitol dome. What an enjoyable tour by Larry Wills the singing tour guide. Along the way he sang ditties he had researched of the times in Kansas. We ended up singing Home, Home On The Range, the state song. We did this as a threesome in one of the corridors. The capitol is undergoing renovations since 2000 and will be done 2012. Sounds like government work to me. The murals were plentiful and showed the state highlights. Along with there part in the civil war, which was new to us. The granite, marble, and gold leaf. Being downtown we drove around and found no place to eat but fast food and stopped for the last time at McDonalds. The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting the Brown V Board of Education, Monroe elementary black school. This was interesting as we found that the suit was picked for here because the state was sympathetic toward the blacks. It is a National Park site, well done. It like President Harry Truman’s legacy said, he integrated the blacks into the service and that is when it all began, 80 years after the civil war. With Presidents JFK and Johnson carried on the law.

Now to dinner with Mike and Connie. We OnStarred their house or close. As we got close we could meander by GPS screen to where they lived. We heard about the Topeka Steakhouse and off we head. Gave the address to OnStar and they had trouble finding it and so did we. We laughed as it told us to do things we didn’t do and gave use ‘make a legal U-turn. We finally stopped for directions and seeing it was a tough area, one Mike had worked around when in the Salvation Army in Topeka. Well it was with two blocks from where we turned around and came back to the gas station. It was in Tecumseh, name of the submarine I was on. We had ribeye’s and KC Cuts, baked potatoes came with ¾ stick butter sticking out of them, the hash browns crispy with fried onions. Great time was spent together. We dropped them at home and off we are headed west on 70 to Eisenhower’s Presidential library in Abilene. We went another 70 miles out and stayed at the Comfort Inn, poor internet, hope I can post tomorrow.

You know where we are headed today but not sure tonight. jerr

March 2, Sunday, Independence Missouri Day 2

Friday

We had Danielle stay overnight after eating with her mom and dad, her sister was at another overnight. When we got home, no TV, we put the account on inactive supposedly Monday. Another Hickory Tech thing. The DSL was still active, good for us. I asked her if she wanted me to call and see if I could have them put it on for the eve, she said no and grabbed some books and started reading. After an hour of that she played the webkidz thing with Grandma. By 9 we were all tired and off to sleepy land we went.

The next morn Saturday we got a call that Abbigale was throwing-up all night and to sneak Danielle into the house as we left. So at 8:30 we were off on our spring adventure.

By the time we got to Ankeny it was time to eat at Chip’s restaurant off exit 90. This is one of our favorites, fresh potato chips as a beginning course. Shirleen had a quarter dark meat roasted chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy, and I a bowl of white chili. They also give us a nice basket of fresh French bread. Wonder how long they’ll do that with $20 bushel wheat. Back in the 70’s Hubbard paid a buck a bushel and were given 75 cents by the government, what a change.

Well it was getting close to a tank fill and we are 10 miles from Missouri boarder with Iowa, which has the higher gas price?? Well we stopped in Iowa for 2.99, the first exit in Missouri, you didn’t guess it it was the same and got higher as we approached KC. We checked into The Savoy hotel, the oldest one in Kansas City. We went to the room ditched our bag and went to the Country Club Plaza on 47th street. We found a parking spot on the street and people all over. Grabbed a couple glasses of wine while sitting in the sun, why not, it is 71 degrees. I still was not feeling good so we decided to eat at Buca’s, we split a lasagna, really tasty. We stopped in a ladies shop and they asked where we were staying, I was reluctant to tell them because we were embarrassed to tell them after checking in and seeing the hovel. But I did, I said I am sure that through the eye of the owner it looks nice and that the description is fine. They were just talking about the good food at the restaurant and were surprised about the accommodations. I said all we could get were a base room, didn’t want one for another $50. The gals said you ought to just tell them and cancel or ask for an upgrade. As we drove back I said that I would try that, Shirleen agreed with the idea. So the guy that checked us in checked us out when I told him I was disappointed. So as we pull out of the parking lot we find we have no token and need a $5 bill to get out. I noticed when I walked back to the car that the gate was weak plastic. So I asked Shirleen to see if she could pull the gate up and to the side, magically out we went, as did the guy next to us. Now we don’t have a place to stay at 7:30. So we had intended to visit Truman’s house and library the next day we headed in that direction. Not knowing where we were headed but going. We got out to Independence MO and noticed a bunch of hotels on the GPS. Well the overpass of Hiway 70 was torn up and we had to go around through the neighborhoods to find them. The GPS got us to that side and we ended up at a Red Roof Inn, don’t stay there unless like us we had to. Bed was nice need a lot of upkeep.

Ate at a Denny’s, and believe it or not that was the only restaurant we found. Went to President Truman’s house, small modest, old fixtures and furnishings. It was hard to believe that a person of his stature would end up living here in Independence in this modest house. We visited the library the rest of the afternoon and had a delightful time. Where Oh Where did the good men go.

We are at a Comfort Suites in Independence, out the back window looking up the hill are 8 deer grazing. We then decided to eat at The Herford House Steakhouse. A spin off of the one in Kansas City that we had eaten at many years ago. A great filet Mignon which we split, accompanied with a fresh spring salad, a hearty beef soup with enough meat to fill me up. The fries and baked beans filled us up. Shirleen had the Steak house red wine and I had to have another glass of one I had on our Med cruise, St. Francis from Sonoma.
Starting to feel better, hope tomorrow is normal. jerr