6/22/2016 - Houston, TX

After taking important papers and valuables to my son to store in his safe while we were gone and picking up the Casita on Monday we were finally able to begin packing.  On Tuesday we had the wheel bearings on the Casita replaced and also had a brake job done.  Then today I put the groceries in and we took off.  We are staying at Jim's sister's house in Troup near Tyler for a few days to visit her.  He also has a couple of nephews and a niece and their families close by.








6/23/2016 - Troup, TX

Judy worked in her yard most of the day while Jim and I went into Tyler and walked along the Rose Rudman trails.  This is a very nice cemented walkway that has a lot of trees supplying shade to the trail. There are exercise stations along the way and a playground for children.  It follows a creek through town and the trail goes under a couple of roads.  Sort of reminds us of the trail system along Buffalo Bayou but shorter.  Along the way we took a picture of some Trump graffiti on a couple of rocks.  We also walked on the Bridge of Locks.   This bridge has a lot of locks attached to the iron railing.  They were put there by couples who threw the keys into the creek below so their love can never be broken.  Some people used combination locks, totally not understanding the premise.  After walking over 11,000 steps we went for a cold beer at Rose City Tap Room that has over 50 taps of really good beer.  We also stopped by to see Jim's nephew Rush and his wife Penni at their home before returning back to Judy's house.  Jim had purchased a couple of hats for Penni and I at Costco and we took one to her.









6/24/2016 - Troup, TX

This morning I went to Family Dollar and Brookshire's to purchase a few items.  After noon, Jim and I went to Tyler and Judy worked in her yard again.  We stopped at two Goodwill stores.  The Brookshire's grocery store headquarters is in Tyler.  Next to the warehouse where they load all of the semi trucks is the Brookshire's World of Wildlife Museum and Country Store.  This is a free museum and it contains hundreds of stuffed animals, many of which were shot by the owner of Brookshires.  We walked through the museum and a replica grocery store from the 1920s.  Then we went to the Tyler Mall and walked around in the air conditioning.  Jim looked for some sandals but didn't find any to fit him.  Next we went to True Vine Brewing and had a couple of beers.  On the way back to Judy's we got a pizza from Pizza Hut.  At the Tyler Goodwill store Jim bought some music CDs and I bought a movie, "Lil' Abner",  made in 1959.  I remember this movie playing on TV once a year --  I haven't seen it in many years








6/25/2015 - 6/26/16 - Troup, TX

6/25/16

We went to Walmart, Dollar Tree and a thrift store.  Then at night we grilled burgers.  Today was a day to do nothing.

6/26/15

We drove to Athens, TX to check out Athens Brewing Company.  Then we went to Penni and Rush's house and had grilled hamburgers and poppers.  A couple of Jim's great nieces and their families were there as was Judy and Penni's daughter.  The kids had a great time playing in the pool.

 
 










6/27/16 - Broken Bow, OK

We left Judy's at noon and drove to Beaver's Bend State Park, north of Broken Bow, OK.  After unhooking the trailer we went to Beaver's Bend Brewing in Hochatown, OK.  At night we watched our DVD of Lil Abner (1959).


6/28/16 - Krebs, OK

We left fairly early this morning and got 10 miles down the road when the Casita's passenger side tire blew out.  We called our Good Sam Roadside Assistance service and an hour later a wrecker showed up to change the tire.  We were on a very busy highway with no shoulders and logging trucks speeding by in both directions.  We got parked as close to the edge of the pavement as we could and then got out our chairs and sat in the shade on a hill away from the truck and trailer.  After the tire was changed we drove back into Broken Bow and bought a new tire.  Then three hours after we started out we drove on to an Army Corps of Engineers campground on Lake Eufaula.  After setting up the trailer we drove to Krebs, OK and had some beers at Pete's Place, a restaurant which is the home of Choc Brewing and Prairie Artisan Ales.  We had a few beers there and then had dinner at Roseann's Italian Restaurant.




6/29/16 - Tulsa, OK

We drove from Krebs to Sand Point near Tulsa.  There is a really nice little Corps of Engineers park on Keystone Lake just below the dam.  We got a full hookup site for $10.00 per night.  After unhooking, we drove to the home of Jim’s friend Gale and his wife Kathy.  Gale’s brother Fred was there also.  He has known Fred and Gale since grade school and they were Jim's college roommates in Austin.  Gale and Kathy had a great late lunch for us: salmon, baked potatoes, asparagus and garlic toast!  After eating, we went to see Fred’s apartment just down the road.   Then we went to Walmart Neighborhood Grocery and then back to camp.

6/30/16 - Tulsa, OK

We slept in this morning and then Jim made breakfast sandwiches.  After noon we met Gale at Marshall Brewing in Tulsa.  After that we went to McNellies Pub to have lunch.  We met Gale and Kathy there with their lovely granddaughter.  We only had 3,000 steps today so we went back to camp to do some walking.  The thunder and showers ran us inside the Casita a couple of times but we finally got our 10,000.

7/1/16 - Tulsa, OK

Today the temperature was rather nice due to the rain showers yesterday.  It was only 90 degrees and cloudy, a nice break from 97.  Today we went to the Gilcrease Museum.  This museum has a large collection of art of the American West.  Nearby was a memorial to Washington Irving that we stopped to see.  Washington Irving wrote “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.  He came through this area in 1832.  We drove by to visit Fred today and afterwards we went to Dead Armadillo Brewing.  After getting back to camp, we walked again and found a geocache.










7/2/16 - Tulsa, OK

Jim made waffles for breakfast this morning and we sat outside in the screen shelter to eat.  Then we went to the Philbrook Museum.  This museum is in a 1920s villa built by the founder of Phillips Petroleum Company.  On the 1st full weekend of a month if you have a Bank of America credit card you can get in free.  I got in free and Jim paid senior price.  Your admission also gets you into another museum in Tulsa for free the same day or the next day.  Tomorrow we will go to it.  After looking at the art and walking through the grounds we drove to Prairie Artisan Ales tap room and then to the Prairie Artisan Ales brew pub.  At both places we talked to Joseph and Russell, two beer aficionados from Colorado.  We went back to camp and I fixed supper and caught up the blog.  At 9:45 some fireworks started by the dam and we stood outside and watched them from our camp site.








7/3/16 - Tulsa, OK

Kathy and Gale invited us for brunch this morning, so we made coffee at the Casita and then went to their house.  Fred wasn’t feeling well so he didn’t come over, but their daughter, Shelly and her husband Mike came.  They fixed pecan waffles, eggs, bacon and fresh fruit.  After noon, we went to visit Fred for a while.  Then Jim and I went to the Philbrook Museum downtown.  This museum was mainly modern art and Indian art.  Mike’s parents invited us to their house for dinner.  Their house was not far from our campground at the dam.  He has a really nice smoker and smoked some chicken and pork. Mike and Shelly’s daughter, Heidi, had spent the night with them and we got to visit with her again.  The neighbors started shooting fireworks and we sat in the backyard and watched them.

 
 
 

7/4/16 - Tulsa, OK

Jim and I went for a long walk this morning around the Corps park and the neighborhood next to it.  On the way back a really long, loud siren started up.  Then the gates to the dam were opened and started releasing water.  There had been a lot of rain upstream a few days before.  We went into Tulsa for lunch at Pei Wei and in the afternoon Kathy and Gale came out to camp and we grilled steaks.  It was really hot today.  After dark the neighborhood next to us started their fireworks and we could see them from camp.