Monday October 20, 2014-Lake Conroe KOA-Montgomery TX

This post will cover the travels between Amana and Montgomery TX. and the two chapter rallies we went to.

We left Amana on Monday October 6th along with Dave and Nancy & Mike and Peg. Stella and I were tired but we made it out of the park a bit after 9 on our way to the Peculiar Park Place RV Park in Peculiar MO. You may remember that we stayed there last year and were happy with their accommodations. Since there were three of us traveling together, we were put into some other sites than we had before and there was a noticeable difference in highway noise. Other than that, everything was fine. It was a drive of about 325 miles, further than we normally go, but we're on a mission to make the North Texas rally. Dave and Nancy are the Chapter Leaders, so it would have been bad for all of us to be late to the rally.

Tuesday October 7th, we were up and on the road again about 9 and soon back on the freeway, heading to Checotah Oklahoma, our second overnight stop. We made good time and stopped at a rest area near the Missouri border for lunch. We have started to do this when we travel with others, and I like it. Normally Stella and I would have just eaten while driving but this way, it is more restful and gives us a good break to the drive. Today was another long drive, over 280 miles. We really like this KOA in Checotah. It is quiet and shaded but still gives a decent view of the sky for satellite use. We ate supper in the park restaurant and were very surprised at the quality and low price of the food. We thought about getting breakfast before we leave in the morning but decided not to spend the time, although Mike did go down and get a breakfast biscuit to eat.

Wednesday we didn't leave until about 9:30, but we have a shorter drive of less than 300 miles today. We pulled into the K E Bushman Campground about 2 o'clock and were finally able to rest and relax. A small group of Heartlanders is here, and several of them went out to eat some Chinese but Stella and I stayed home to rest.

We were very glad to see our good friends Dave and Amy, Chapter Leaders of the Wyoming chapter who came down from their home in Cody as well as Louisiana Chapter Leaders Andy and JoAnna, who drove up from southern Louisiana. During the rally we enjoyed a Cajun food meal with them, Forum Moderators Dan and Ann & Terry and Carol at Razzoo's in nearby Tyler. We all had good meals and great conversation with our friends. It was also great to see our friends Bob and Connie again. They had planned to come to the rally at Amana but Connie has been getting treatment for cancer and it interfered with their attendance. 

On Saturday we drove down to Blessing TX for the wedding of Stella's nephew Randy and his long-time girlfriend Sondra. It was a loooong drive down to the coast, and again reinforced our hatred for staying in a motel. It was just too far to bring the trailer for an overnight stay and we have made plans for visiting Aunt Janie when we leave Bullard. The wedding was huge and was held at a huge grass farm that belongs to one of Randy's good friends. He has built a small village of old houses and artifacts that he has gathered over the years. There are two huge oak trees that have been inspected by tree experts that told them that these trees are about the same age as the "Ancient Oaks" in Rockport. The wedding went very well and we all enjoyed a great fajita meal with all the trimmings. 

We made the drive back to Bullard without incident. The only notable thing that happened was when we stopped at a state rest area, I jumped out, as usual, to capture some Munzees and while getting one, I noticed a car drive up with Munzee signs on the sides. The man that got out had on a Munzee shirt and cap, and when he approached me, I remarked that he must be an avid Munzer. He said that he was in fact, the President of Munzee, Rob. He gave me some Munzees before he took off to deploy and cap some for himself. Wow, how cool is this? We continued our drive back to Bullard and enjoyed the last potluck with the remaining rally-goer's staying over. Most of them will be going to Montgomery for the south Texas rally.

We had a bad storm come through, which made us put off leaving. We called the park, the Center RV park and learned that power had been knocked out because of fallen trees. The man there recommended staying where we were because more storms were possible. We left Tuesday for the 80 mile drive to Center TX a visit with Janie. Her husband Gail has been very ill and was not up to meet us for lunch with other relatives that had been planned for noon. We did have a nice lunch visit with my cousins Barbara, Connie and Dot and her husband David. It was good to catch up with all of them and we spent a couple of hours chatting and reminiscing with them. We later went over to Janie's house for supper with her and Gail. We had a great time with them as well, so my family visit was complete.

We got up on Wednesday morning and pulled out for the 160 mile drive to Montgomery. We arrived just ahead of the group that had come from Bullard. We had called Woodlands friends Ted and Donna and went to eat "lupper" with them at the Salt Grass restaurant in Conroe. It was good to catch up with our old friends and to compare notes on our separate travels. They had just returned from a Europe trip and it was fun hearing about their travels. 

We returned to the park- which has not really improved anything since we last stayed here in February of this year- and watched as other old friends arrived. We haven't seen Jim and Sheila at a rally for a long time. Jim has been receiving treatment for cancer for several years and they haven't been able to come to several rallies due to their part-time job, so it was really good to see him (them) again. We had another great time at the rally and are looking forward to some down time in LaMarque, visiting with Kim and the boys. We have traveled almost 1200 miles, attended two rallies and a large wedding and visited with family since leaving Amana, so I hope for some rest.

Sorry for the length of this post.

So long.