Saturday, April 18, 2015

BACK IN GOOD OLD CANTON, OHIO

Saturday, April 18 – Yes, this post is very late. So sorry. We arrived back in Canton early Tuesday. We have been busy transferring everything from the fifth wheel to the house, mowing lawn, cleaning leaves, visiting with our daughter and friends.

We will be at our “summer” home till sometime early fall, then off we go again. We probably won’t be posting all that much during the summer. We will still be reading though.

We wish y’all a wonderful, warm and safe summer.

Perry house

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

ARKANSAS TO TENNESSEE TO KENTUCKY

Monday, April 13 – We've moved steadily Northeast the last two days. Man is this country BIG! It sure is a l-o-n-g way from Houston, TX, to Canton, OH. As we reported in the previous blog, we traveled from Houston to Benton, AR, the first day. The second day we traveled from Benton, AR, to Dickson, TN. We stayed at Tanbark Campground. That place was packed! They had RV's parked everywhere. Not a great place to visit but satisfactory for an overnight stop. They accept Passport America. That was still too much to pay for this place.

Tanbark Campground

Tanbark Campground

Looking right.
Tanbark Campground

Looking left.
Tanbark Campground

Today we traveled from Dickson, TN, to Verona, KY. We are staying at Oak Creek Campground. This is a nice “family” campground. Gravel streets and sites with 50 amp electric and water. The sites are nicely spaced with a green grassy area between the sites. There is a dump available, which we'll access in the morning. Paul wants to be sure to clean the holding tanks out well, we may not use them for a couple months.

We are in a circle that seems to be reserved for over-nighters or short termers. There is another circle of sites that appear to be reserved for summer, weekenders, or longer-term residents. It also appears this campground would be full of families during the summer and on weekends.

Site #1
Oak Creek Campground

Oak Creek Campground

Looking right.
Oak Creek Campground

Looking left.
Oak Creek Campground

There is also a nice stream flowing along the back of the campground. Of course, Bella (our cat) loved exploring this area. She just loves a cool drink out of a stream or lake. Heck, she'll enjoy a puddle too!

Bella

Spring is just beginning to show its face here in Kentucky.Oak Creek Campground

Tomorrow, our forth travel day, will finally end in Canton, OH. That will be our summer home for the next several months. We've gone from summer conditions in Houston, TX with temperatures in the 90's and the sun scorching us, to late spring in Tennessee, early spring in Kentucky and if things continue, we'll be experiencing late winter in Ohio. Our daughter, Kelly, reports nice temperatures in the 60's, but the trees haven't begun to leaf out yet. That is going to be strange!

Thanks for traveling north with us the last four days. Check back and see what we find back in Canton, OH.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

Saturday, April 11, 2015

A LONG BUT EASY DRIVE

Friday, April 11 – We drove 419 miles today. That is way more than we usually do, but with the rain everywhere, we had to take advantage of the break in the action.

We are at J.B.'s RV Park and Campground in Benton, AR. We were here in 2012. This is a very nice campground. The owners are wonderful, friendly people. The area is wooded, very long gravel sites, full-hookups for $25/night.

Site 9
JB's Campground

JB's Campground

Looking right.
JB's Campground

Looking left.
JB's Campground


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There are a couple of mules across the street from us. This is the only photo we got.

The End.
JB's Campground

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

Friday, April 10, 2015

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME!

Thursday, April 9 –  Well, it wasn't a clean sweep, but two out of three is a pretty good start for our Cleveland Indians. We enjoyed a day at the ball field here in Houston, Texas with our daughter, Carrie. It was really a fun day!

Astros Stadium.
Astros/Indians game

We planned on taking the train to Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, but Carrie said no way....We're taking Uber! Well, that was another new experience for us. And a neat experience too! We were picked up in about two minutes, right outside Carrie's door and whisked away to the ballpark. In about 10 minutes we arrived at the front gate of the stadium – cost....a little over $5 for the three of us. No money is exchanged because the fee is debited to Carrie's account with Uber. And no tipping! Cool!

Before we could even get to the Stadium, Carrie said we had to have a pre-game beverage at Home Plate, a bar and grill right across from the Stadium.

Home Plate bar

This was our first time to see a ball game in a domed stadium. Pretty nice. The air conditioning was especially nice because it it already getting humid in Houston. I bet it can't be beat in July!

Astros/Indians game

This is the closest Paul will get to catching a ball.Paul fooling around

Carrie had purchased some great seats as a gift for Paul and Marsha’s birthday. They were second row by the Astor’s dugout.

No zooming in was required for the next photo of some sort of crazy race. We were practically on the field. Because we were so close to the field, we had to watch the game very closely for foul balls. Several came right at us.


Astros/Indians game

Marsha had other ideas about the seating. She wanted to go over by the Indian's dugout and see some of the team. Luckily, it wasn't a packed house, so we were able to enjoy the game from various advantage points. Marsha and Carrie just kept moving poor Paul all over the stadium.

Our starting and winning pitcher, Trevor Bauer.
Trevor Bauer

We sat right to the left of the Indian’s dugout. Astros/Indians game

Of course, Marsha and Carrie also were on TV. Two beautiful gals enjoying a day at the ball field. We didn't know about the TV appearance until after the game. Kelly, our daughter back in Ohio, texted Marsha with a video clip sent to her by one of her friends. There they were on Fox Sports Ohio! Marsha taped the game and got to watch all 30 seconds of their TV stardom. JEESH!

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Final score…Indians 5, Astros 1.Indians/Astros game

After the game, we walked a couple blocks to downtown Houston for a couple craft beers at the Flying Saucer Bar. It was then time for some dinner, so we hopped on the MetroRail and headed to Mid-town where Carrie lives and where there are about a million bars and restaurants. We enjoyed dinner and then headed back to the RV. Thanks for diner Carrie and the great ballgame. She has now covered both our birthdays, anniversary, Mother and Father’s day.

This wraps up our 3-week stay visiting Carrie in Houston. We've had a wonderful visit and will be back in the fall. We are now heading toward Ohio to spend some time with Kelly and Dave. They recently purchased a house, so we should have some fun times with them this summer.

Good-bye Houston.
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Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

WE WENT ON A CRUISE!

Saturday, April 4 – Well, sort of...... The cruise was on a small sightseeing boat to tour the Houston Ship Channel. This is a hard-to-get ticket, one we had to reserve weeks ago! We tried to sail last fall while here in Houston but were unable to get tickets....sold out! So we reserved a spot for today. What is the cost? FREE!

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Our ship.
Houston Ship Channel Tour

The Port of Houston is a 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities located just a few hours by ship from the Gulf of Mexico. The port is consistently ranked 1st in the United States in foreign waterborne tonnage; 1st in U.S. imports; 1st in U.S. export tonnage and 2nd in the U.S. in total tonnage. It is also the nation’s leading breakbulk port, handling 65 percent of all major U.S. project cargo. The Houston Ship Channel is 45 feet deep and 530 feet wide.

Houston Ship Channel Tour

As one of the world’s busiest ports, the Port of Houston is a large and vibrant component of the regional economy. A 2012 study by Martin Associates says ship channel-related businesses contribute 1,026,820 jobs throughout Texas, up from more than 785,000 jobs cited in a 2007 study. This activity helped generate more than $178.5 billion in statewide economic impact, up from nearly $118 billion. Additionally, more than $4.5 billion in state and local tax revenues are generated by business activities related to the port, up from $3.7 billion.

Houston Ship Channel Tour

Our daughter, Carrie, joined us for the trip. She's pretty familiar with this area because of where she works. Enterprise Products Partners LP is involved with oil pipelines, tank storage, and loading ships. Interestingly, she was involved with the emergency unloading of a Maersk tanker, Norwegian, that collided with another ship in the channel. Who would have guessed, those two ships were some of the first sights we saw on the cruise. How cool!

Houston Ship Channel Tour

Damage to the ship.
Houston Ship Channel Tour

The ship that did the damage. It didn’t go unscathed.
Houston Ship Channel Tour

Along the Houston Ship Channel lies the world’s second largest petrochemical complex and the nation’s busiest port in terms of foreign tonnage.

Houston Ship Channel Tour

The channel was pretty busy. We even had to cut our trip short by about a mile because of traffic. The cruise ship does not travel the entire length of the ship channel…only about half. Unfortunately, we turned around just before the Enterprise Products Partners LP yard, so we didn't get to see it. Carrie's office is in downtown Houston, but she's frequently in this area.

Houston Ship Channel Tour

Downtown Houston in the background.Houston Ship Channel Tour

Since we didn't get to see the Enterprise yard, after returning to land, Carrie drove us out to the area where they are constructing new oil holding tanks. These babies are huge! We were a little leery about driving around the area taking pictures. We kept expecting to be pulled-over by Homeland Security.

Houston Ship Channel TourHouston Ship Channel Tour

We enjoyed our cruise and recommend it to others when in the Houston area. Just be sure to visit their website and book your tour way ahead of time.

Houston Ship Channel Tour

If that wasn’t a big enough day, we went to one of Carrie’s favorite pubs to watch the NCAA Boy’s Basketball playoff games. Another full, fun day in Houston.

At the pub with Carrie.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.