Galveston Island,TX visit Nov 9th, 2014-Jan. 4th, 2015

After spending time in Oklahoma visiting family and getting caught up with medical and dental visits, it was time to head south back to Galveston, TX We usually like Galveston for Nov-Dec so we can stay warm and be relatively close to Oklahoma to visit for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year didn't work out so well, the weather was most often chilly and lots of rain and fog.

www.sandpiperrvresort.com

This was site 5 at The Sandpiper RV Resort on Galveston Island, and it was our second time there in that spot. One of the perks was the City of Galveston has a free a fitness center at McGuire Dent Recreation Center. and we used it often. We also rode bikes as much as possible and enjoyed watching all the ships in the Gulf and in the shipping channels.

As long as the weather cooperates, Galveston is a great place to bike ride and enjoy the sights. Lots of entertainment, shops, and fine restaurants on Seawall Blvd to enjoy.

The main problem with going to Galveston is that Houston stands between you and the rest of the less hectic world. Driving through Houston is always interesting and a challenge., but when you go through the Houston metro area you have to visit a Buc-ee's Convenience store. They are huge and have the neatest gifts and tons of great food items. We stopped at one that had something like 52 fuel pumps and the clerk said that they were building a new one in Baytown that would have over 90 fuel pumps!

While we were in Galveston we got to enjoy a theatrical production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", which I must say was fun and quite.....different. The theater which is down on The Strand is a nice theater that even offered beer and wine for a "donation".

After our Galveston stay we decided to try this winter in Arizona since the Florida panhandle area, actually Destin, was way too cold last year.  We finally decided to give Tucson a try and booked our stay at the KOA/Lazydays RV park with the hope of maybe getting a workamper position. So on January 4th, 2015 we fired up the rolling fortress and off for a 4 day trip to Tucson. We usually drive 300 miles or 5 hours, after all...what's the hurry?

Oklahoma CIty, OK - Roadrunner RV Park - Sept. 12-19, 2014

Made it safe and sound to OKC. We usually stay at the Roadrunner RV Park since it is the closest decent park to our daughter and grand daughter in Moore.

Site 17

Roadrunner RV Park

This park continues to be a good basic, no frills park. There is still the run down motel between it and Interstate 35 but never have any problems while here. This site is a back in on the east side of the park. The concrete is all cracked and there was some plywood toward the back of the site that, I guess, someone had put down as a patio a long time ago. This site was across from the dumpster but didn't have any problems with noise from guests or the dump truck.
The park is expanding to the north and the ground work has started. It will be interesting to see how this turns out and if it effects the park to the better or worse.

Full Hookups with free wifi but it was not good since we were a ways from the tower.
$202 for a week. There was a $20 charge since we were "big rig".
We barely fit into the site as you can see from the picture. Still think it's the best value for a decent park that is close to our daughter's home.

Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum - Oklahoma City, OK - Oct. 16, 2014

Fall break so a day to OKC!

We needed to make a trip to OKC so decided to make a day of it. Our grandson came along which made it a special day! We met our daughter for lunch at a pizza place close to her office - Pizza 23. We like to go to locally owned restaurants when we can so Michele suggested Pizza 23. It is a cute little pizza joint on 23rd st. Pizza and salad were both very good! Right next door is the Orange Leaf but I was able to not give in to temptation :-)

Oklahoma City National Memorial
Owen had asked if we could go to the Bombing Memorial since he'd been last year with his class but was very rushed. Sure! It had been a few years since we'd been. I really hate to say but either my memory is very bad or they have added a lot to the museum about the bombers. My personal opinion, there should only be a very small section that is about them. This place should be a memorial to the victims and the survivors not the the horrible men that caused it. That's my 2 cents.
The outside is a wonderful memorial! A very calm and restful setting with the memorial chairs placed where the building once stood. The reflection pool is where the street once was located.

Lawton, OK - Buffalo Bob's RV Park - Sept-Oct, 2014

Home to see family and friends! Always nice to see everyone!  We decided to give Buffalo Bob's RV Park a try this time since it is closer to Bruce's parents.

Site 104

Buffalo Bob's RV Park
The park is clean and the sites are of decent size.  Monthly have to use a back in site.
Full hook up with wifi and cable.
The monthly rate with Good Sam discount is $410.
There is a bath house that also is a storm shelter! Nice to have the shelter in this part of the country.
There is a club room with great wifi. Wifi at our site isn't really stable, on and off connection.
Free laundry!
The office is not manned all day but the manager lives right next door so is only a phone call away.
The only negative is we are a country setting and have had problems with mice. This is not a problem I blame on the park though.

Thackerville, OK - Winstar World Casino RV Resort - Sept. 18, 2014

Bruce has always wanted to stay here - so here we are! The RV Resort is beautiful and the Casino is HUGE!

Site 153

Winstar Casino and RV Resort

Large RV Resort with full hookups, NO wifi or cable. I guess they want you in the casino.
Paved sites with grass in between. Most of the sites are double pull through but while we were there they assigned both to one rig. I guess in busier times they have the option to only give you only one. I hope that makes sense :-)
There is a pool but we didn't use it. We headed to the casino which is so large you will get lost!
Since this was our first time there, the first night is free! The normal rates are $40 a night, a bit high compared to other casino RV parks.
We ate at Toby Keith's which was very good and the margarita was excellent and not high priced! We played for a while in the casino and of course, walked away without winning. They have to pay for the casino somehow. Oh well, on the road again to go see our kiddos and grandkiddos!

Natchez, MS and Vidalia, LA - River View RV Park and Resort - Sept 3 - 10, 2014

We had a nice drive from Pensacola to Natchez/Vidalia. The River View RV Park was easy to find, coming from the east using Hwy 84, the first left after crossing the Mississippi bridge into Vidalia, LA and 7/10 mile turn left into the park.

www.riverviewrvpark.com

Park Information:
Office was nice and clean with the laundry located in a room just inside the front door. The office staff was friendly and helpful. We were assigned site 107 which is a pull though concrete site with a view of the river. There was a low hanging branch so I called the office to ask about another site. She gave us 105. Every other site is concrete with a grass site in between. Full hookup, cable isn't really cable but an antenna. Wifi was good most of the time. Drops every now and then. Picnic table at each site, it would be nice it the patio was concrete too. Bathhouse was family style, each room with shower and bathroom. Pool and hot tub closes at 7 pm. Would have been nice to be opened a little later as it is too hot during the day to enjoy.

Weekly rate of $210.33, 50 amp $15, taxes crazy at $32.33. TOTAL $257.66

Site 105

The Mississippi is in view from our site although this picture was taken from the bank.

Our visit to Natchez:
We stopped at the Natchez visitor center to purchase antebellum tour package - 3 for $30. It would have been $12 each without the package deal. Customer service could have been better, not much information was provided.
Stanton Hall - since this was one of the top rated tours on Trip Adviser. The tour group was only us and another couple so that was nice to have a small group. Guide was very knowledgeable and interesting. The home had been bought by the Garden Club and they have done a great job in restoration and tour information.

Stanton Hall

Photography is not allowed inside the mansion. I wish I could show how they used large mirrors at both ends of the long room to reflect light and make to room appear even larger.

A room upstairs originally was a sitting room that connected 2 bedrooms. At one time Stanton Hall was a bed and breakfast so they left the room as it was for it. I would have like to see it placed back as it would have been originally.


Day 4, Saturday. We planned on a guided tour of downtown that was supposed to start at the William Johnson house. We arrived at 1:20 pm but found the house closed with a sign that they were closed 1-1:45 daily for lunch. We took a walk down Main St waiting for them to reopen. At 2 pm they were still not open so we decided to take a drive to the 2 cemeteries in town.

Example of the beautiful ironwork gates and fences.

Natchez National Cemetery - founded in 1857.

Last stop of the day - the oldest tavern in Natchez - Under the Hill on Silver street.

Bruce and Kathy enjoying a cold one.

Grand Village of the Natchez Indians and Rosalie Mansion Tour - Natchez, MS - Sept 7, 2014

Today started out a little overcast with less humidity so we headed toward the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians. This is a federal park that is maintained by the Mississippi Dept of Archives and History that has identified 2 of the 3 known mounds used by the Natchez Indian tribe. Mound A is no longer in existence, Mound B was where the "Great Sun" or tribe chief's house was built and Mound C was the ceremonial temple site. The park provides a short video about the history of the Natchez Indians and the documentation by the French.

I found it interesting that when the Great Sun died, his relatives and servants would be sacrificed so to follow him into the next world and take care of him. The home would be burned and a fresh layer of dirt would be added to the mound on which to build the next Great Sun's home.

Mound B "Great Sun" home would have been on top of the mound.

Our next stop was for another antebellum home tour. I decided on the Rosalie since 2 other places had recommended it. Longwood was always the 1st recommendation but we had toured it about 25 years ago.

Rosalie is located just to the north of the Visitor's Center and above the area known at "Natchez Under the Hill". The house didn't have to undergo much renovation as only family had every lived in the home. Most of the furniture was original. The Rosalie was Union Headquarters and the general had the parlor furniture all moved up to the attic to preserve it. A lot of the rich here were originally from the north so the military was sympathetic to them.

The Rosalie's front faces the north which always a wonderful breeze across both the verandas. The docent also pointed out that with the doors and window open, the breeze would flow all the way through the house. Here is the link to the history: The Rosalie Mansion. It is owned and maintained by the Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution.

Again, no picture taking allowed inside so pictures courtesy of ones found on the internet.

The Rosalie

The men and ladies parlors

The children's room