AND THE WINNER IS !!!!!!

Barb spent 4 days at the Lucky Star Casino playing poker---3 tournaments plus many additional hours of live play.

She won two of the tournaments. One was called a Bounty tournament - she received extra money every time she put someone out.

She won over $350 dollars from the tournaments and has most of it left.

We are now just outside of Joplin , MO at the Downstream Casino that is actually in Oklahoma, right on the OK and MO border. She played in a tournament last night, was in it for 4 hours, and ended up 4th. That is the good news. Bad news is that they only paid 3 places.

Both casinos have RV parking, including electric, water and dump. At no charge. So the price is right.

She will play in two more tournaments today.

We leave tomorrow morning to avoid the severe thunderstorms that are forecast and will be in Stl Louis by Friday, weather be with us. We are staying at Sundermeyers RV park in St. Charles.

Guess Who Wandered into our Backyard

We looked out the window of the

motorhome,

and there,

right in front of us,

was this herd of buffalo.

If you look in the background , you can see the Oklahoma City skyline.

Chihuly at the Oklahoma City Art Museum

We have seen the Chihuly exhibits at the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis and in Phoenix. We decided to see what his exhibit would be like at an indoor setting like the Museum of Art in Oklahoma City. IT WAS A WOW !!!

Notice the front entrance. The Chihuly tree was at least 3 stories high in the front tower of the museum.

April 23-27: Camping at Lucky Star Casino in El Reno

We will spend 3-4 days here so that Barb can play poker in the daily tournaments.

April 22: Taking a Limo to Dinner

The Big Texan Steak House in Tulsa sent a limo for us.

Impressive !!!!

April 17 - 21: Bailey has Learned Patience

On Friday we went to The Rally. This rally was the big event for rv'ers in Albuquerque that included seminars, entertainment and vendors. We of course went to the vendors. And we made two very large purchases.

First off, we had purchased in advance a HD satellite to be installed on our motorhome. We had planned to have it done in Oklahoma City. Well, Camping world was offering reduced pricing on installation so we cancelled the OKC order and purchased it here.

In addition, we purchased a new braking system to connect our car to the motorhome. This system will replace the Brake Buddy that we had. And it is a real convenience as well as a better system. No more carrying this heavy box into the car and setting it up. The Unified Tow Brake is installed and ready to go all of the time.

Now, back to Bailey and patience. We sat for 5 hours in Camping World while they installed the satellite dish and we sat for 6 hours at the RV service place while they installed the braking system. And Bailey was wonderful. On Saturday, he was so exhausted from watching all of the people come and go in Camping World, that when we got home, he just curled up in his bed and fell asleep.

And yesterday, he again just sat with us while the braking system was installed.

They finished at 3:00 pm and we decided to stay in Albuquerque one more night. SO WE STAYED AT WALMART'S PARKING LOT. That was a first for us !

We are now in Tucumcari...........doing laundry and cleaning the tanks. Want to guess who did what ???

Love and hugs,
Linda, Barb and Bailey

April 12-16: Tolleson, AZ to Albuquerque, NM

We left Freightliner's parking lot on Sunday. And had a beautiful day for driving, plenty of sunshine and no wind.

It is always such a pleasant surprise, as we pass the Sedona area and head towards Flagstaff, to all of a sudden see the snow peaked mountain range.

Our first stop was at Meteorite, AZ. There is a comfortable Passport America rv park there... for you non-rv'ers, that means 50% off the regular rate. We just spent one night there. Meteorite is named for the meteor that fell in the late 1800's and landed with what I guess was a big boom. It left a hole that is approximately 2 miles wide. It is a big tourist attraction, but we have never gone to see it. Oh well, maybe some day we will and wonder why we haven't.

From there we traveled to Gallup and stayed at a most beautiful place called Red Rock Park. It was formerly a state park, but it is now owned by the city of Gallup. The campground is at the base of the red rocks and of what is called Church Rock. Of course, I took many sunset pictures.

Red Rock Park is known for this rock formation, called Church Rock with the 3 spires arising from it. It was wonderful to watch the colors of the rocks change with the light, from sunset to sunrise. This photo was taken at sunset.

After 3 days there, we headed out to Albuquerque. We stayed at the San Felipe Casino Rv park that is half way between Albuquerque and Sante Fe. That gave us the opportunity to visit with our friend Julie, who lives in Albuquerque, and to also go to Sante Fe to eat at our favorite restuarant, The Shed. Julie and her mom went with us to Sante Fe. We spent the afternoon wondering through the jewelry stores; they were trying to help me find jewelry.

Today we go to the big RV Rally for one day. We will just wonder through the area where all the vendors and hopefully not spend too much money.

The only drawback for today is that it is very, very cold. And we are not prepared. Before leaving Apache Junction, we removed all of the coats and gloves and warm scarfs from the Rv and put them in the shed in AJ. I mean, after all, we were going to St. Louis in the summer and who would need all of this!!! Okay, Flo, you were right; we should have been prepared!

You see, our plan was to lighten the load on the Rv and make room for whatever possessions we wanted to bring from the St. Louis condo to AJ. Well, the load is lightened and we are chilled.

The temps today are in the 40's and 50's during the day and Barb swears that she has seen snow. Oh well, we each do have one coat.

Hope you are all warm.

Love and hugs,

Linda and Barb and Bailey

We are going to rent the Renmore-----------Our Condo in St. Louis

As you already know, we are planning to rent the Renmore as of May or June this summer. In fact, that is one of the reasons that we are returning to St. Louis. This one bedroom condo is the first place that Barb and I lived together and it has many good memories for us.

Our friend Jean, who is also the real estate agent handling the rental, suggested that I put Renmore pictures on this blog. As she put it, networking is important. So who knows, one of you may know of someone who would like to rent a one bedroom condo in the Central West End of St. Louis.

Here are a few pictures of the living room, dining room & kitchen, bedroom and bath.

If you know of anyone who may be interested, ask them to call Jean Noll at 314-956-9522.

Hugs to all of you,

Barb and Linda

April 11: Our First Weekend

Freightliner worked on our rig most of Friday and had it completed by 1:00 pm. We spent the morning with Bailey at a local park. It felt really great to just sit and stare and read our books and totally "vege out". Our plan was to pick up the rig and drive to Sedona for the weekend. But plans do change and we are flexible.

By mid afternoon the winds started picking up and the forecast was for strong winds all afternoon and storms all day on Saturday. So we just stayed at the parking lot at Freightliner. Had a great time............. we did a few projects to further reorganize, Barb played poker on the compter and I read, went shopping at Cabelas.

Today is Sunday; forecast is sunny with temps in the 70's. Better day to drive !

Off we go. Will stop at Meteorite, AZ for the night.

Hugs,
Linda and Barb

April 9: We're on the Move Again

WE LEAVE TODAY........

[Photo by Pearl of Photography by Pearl]

We had a wonderful 5 months here at SMR in Apache Junction. Our days were filled with activities, fun, and more activities. And our nights were filled with wining and dining. And most important are the friends who are a significant part of our lives in whatever we do here. We love you all and will miss you for the summer.

And so we leave with mixed feelings. Though it is difficult to leave the friends, we are ready to head out for our summer adventures. And we know that some friends may meet up with us during the summer and others will be here when we and they return.

Our plan is to head to St. Louis and to spend 2 months there for sure. Barb's mom is there and we want to have time to visit with her and to have time to share with her. This will also give Barb time to be sure she has adjusted to her new environment.

In addition , my niece is getting married at the end of May and so we will be in town for her wedding. We are looking forward to that event.

We are also planning to rent the Renmore, the one bedroom condo we kept for Barb to stay at when she returns to St. Louis to visit her mom. The facility where her mom resides has rental apartments and small homes where Barb can stay in the future. So now we really have to get rid of all of our personal stuff. Some we will bring back with us to SMR and others, well, who knows???

We reorganized and packed all of the bays of the rig; we have put away all outdoor furniture. We are ready to go. Which, as most of you know, means we will leave about 10:00 am.

Our first stop is 50 miles to the Freightliner dealer to have the rig get its tune-up before we get on the road.

So we are off and will fill you in later . We plan to take almost 3 weeks to get to St. Louis with major stops in Albuquerque and Okahoma City. More to follow later,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Barb, Linda and Bailey