Pre-Launch Inspection...

Norm told me Leo was looking for the valve cap off our trailer spare tire that I was on the ground filling. I said "He won't find it in my ear!"
As we started our preparations to leave Oklahoma for Arizona, Leo was a big help. We have been squatting (my name for being in one spot too long) here at the Council Road RV park for almost a year. Norm would stay longer, but I am not going to spend another winter here in Oklahoma. Although we are planning to return here for the Thanksgiving holiday. There are so many little things that need to get checked and changed from the truck to the fifth wheel. Our 2006 Chevy has given me two flat tires due to faulty valve stems, so I had the other two changed and the tires rotated and balanced. I have a thru the bed fifth wheel hitch that I put back in the bed of the truck, much to Leo's dislike as now he has less room to play back there. We are going to weigh our fifth wheel for the first time. When we first started out we had space everywhere, now a lot of that is gone and I want to make sure we are under the max gross weight. The truck stop across the street will hook us up on Monday. Norm and I have a side bet as to who will be right. I think we might be a little over gross, she says under. I removed our auxiliary fan from the fridge compartment, charged our walkie-talkies (Norm will be driving the model T) and I'll sweep all three slides and roof Monday morning just prior to launch.

The Mall...

Most people will not believe it, but the weather was cold, wet and windy here in Oklahoma and we had our grandson with us. What to do? We did something that was not available to us when our children were his age, we went to the mall, specifically we went to the play area inside the mall. I don't know what the real or proper name is for this little play or exercise area, we just call it the mall play ground. We arrived and Leo walked in like he owned the place and than took a quick survey of all the other kids. He looked at the big turtle, the row boat, the sunflowers and the big bug. The structures and the floor are made out of rubber or something similar. A strange thing happens to all adults once they enter the area. People that would not speak or look at you outside of the play area suddenly become very friendly and out going. They talk about the age of theirs and your child, they help any child climb and rush to catch any child that looks like they may fall. My guess is most of the parents aged in the mid twenties to mid forties with a few grandparents mixed in. All the kids seemed to play well together, no one fought or tried to hard to occupy the same space. This whole exercise/play area is a new concept for us. We've seen them before and thought what a great idea, but at that time we did not have a kid to take there and try one out. After a while, I noticed three older people had arrived with out kids. They sat and laughed having a good time watching our grandson and the other children running amok. I complained to Norm, the drive to the mall is too far, the weather was crummy, I know there is something else I should be doing, but in the end, it was well worth it.

Road trip...

No, that is not a can of beer in Norm's hand. She would never drink a beer when she could have a V8!

Leo wanted to go with us on our road trip to Pennsylvania, but he couldn't find his riding boots or his helmet.
We kept forgetting to get a balloon, so Norm made one. She is so creative!
Left to right is Norm, my Mom, her cousin Dodie, her husband Ken and my step-Dad Bob, the reason we made a fast trip to the keystone state. The doctors are still not sure what happened, but Bob seems to be recovering well, thanks to many prayers and good doctors. As usual, the weather to and from Pennsylvania was fine, our two weeks there contained just two nice days. The rest of the days were raining, drizzling, fogging and just for good measure, one day we woke to twenty-nine degrees. On the two nice days we managed to replace air conditioners with storm windows, do yard work and a number of odd tasks. Just some random thoughts about driving across the country. So far this year we have driven from Oklahoma to Arizona twice and Oklahoma to Pennsylvania twice. By far, Oklahoma has the worse roads, even the ones you have to pay to drive on are in a sorry state. Driving from Pennsylvania west on I70, the speed limit is 65 mph. Enter West Virginia where the road is just as filled with turns and hills, the limit goes up to 70 mph. Ohio comes next where the road starts to straighten out, speed returns to 65. The two "I" states, Indiana and Illinois, I can't remember which have the exact same type of roads, straight and flat, not Kansas straight and flat, but close. One "I" state is 70 mph and the other is 65 mph. Huh! I really did not make notes for accurate facts, but I think Missouri has the most variety of fast food chicken places. Of course, we could tell we were back in Oklahoma by the 25 mph wind blowing to welcome us.