SUNDAY 10,27 - 29.19 OKLAHOMA / NEW MEXICO

Today is very special day. We are going to see someone very special to me. And now to US. And especially to Boss!

We are headed to Norman, Ok to see LaVon. I met LaVon in 2008 when she and her husband Don were the chaplains for the park we were in near Casa Grande, AZ. We were parked side by side and LaVon and I hit it right off. Instant friends and we've never lost touch.

Last year on our way east we stopped and met Don & LaVon for breakfast. They met Boss at that time too. It was always fun during these years when I would talk on the phone with LaVon because I could always get her laughing really hard and Don would look at her and say, "You're talking to Snookie aren't you?" He knew every time. Sadly, Don passed on 11 months ago. I certainly felt his absence.

So we stayed from Sunday to Tuesday morning and we had a blast! We talked and laughed and we ate very well. She had a pot roast in the crock pot and her lovely home smelled wonderful when we first walked in.

We were able to meet two of her grandchildren. Names I've known for years and now I could finally put a face to the names. Not that I haven't watched them grow up to be young adults through pictures.

LaVon fell in love with Boss and Boss fell in love with LaVon. Simple as that. If LaVon moved to another room, Boss followed. He sat or laid by HER chair. She pet for him hours on end which made for a very happy Boss.

Walt fell in love with LaVon and LaVon fell in love with Walt. It was like they had known each other for years. This trio had a wonderful visit!

What made this visit especially nice is the fact that we had been to the Creation Museum and we had questions. LaVon can explain things in the Bible like no one I know. I've called her many times over the years with questions and she's always given me satisfactory answers in a way that I understood. I am so thankful for her.

Monday night I kicked LaVon out of the kitchen and I made dinner for all of us. Shrimp, kielbasa and green beans and Old Bay and garlic mashed potatoes. She enjoyed it very much and that made my heart happy.

Tuesday morning came much too soon. We did some picture taking because with me and LaVon, well that is just a must!  Now Lavon is pretty tall, unlike me and Walt.  We always have a laugh in the difference in height between the two of us.

When it was time for her and Walt to get their picture LaVon remarked that may she should pick Walt up....so she did!

After tearful so longs, we hit the road and there's bad weather ahead.

We drove till we got to Tucumcari, New Mexico. We stayed at the Elks Lodge there and they aren't open on Tuesday's. There was already a motor home there and the fellow came over and asked if we knew how to pay since there wasn't anyone in the Lodge and there wasn't a drop box. Another free night of camping I guess.

Before we closed the door for the final time that evening it had started raining lightly and it was COLD outside.

SATURDAY 10,25.19 ARKANSAS / OKLAHOMA

We had an easy run today. Only three hours to Checotah, OK. We stayed at another Corp of Engineer Park, again on a lake. I think COE parks have a requirement of water like KOA's have the train tracks. We'll take a COE park any day!

When I called to see if there were any openings the lady assured me there were plenty available. She asked if we wanted to make a reservation and I declined since it was such a short run for us and maybe we would decide to go further after all. She said that was fine and if the campground office wasn't open we could pay the fee to the camp host.

We got in early afternoon and had our pick of spots. We got all settled and found that the camp host wasn't there. 

Another camper stopped by to admire Boss and told us they were gone for a few hours but would be back and would stop by our site.

A site, one down and across the street will be in this park for two weeks. They are new to full timing in their RV and had lots of questions after learning I was a full timer for 10 years.

Back at home Walt was outside and took notice that the guy moved his truck. Not far, just a truck's length deeper into his site. A few minutes later we heard this loud crack and two large limbs fell off the tree and the limbs landed right where his truck was. Of course we went over and he said when he went in he heard the cracking noise and thought it would be better if moved his vehicle. He did just in the nick of time. He cut the tree limbs with a hack saw, since the camp hosts were off site and he didn't have access to their chain saw, so he made do.

We didn't have cable at this site and only a few TV channels by antenna so we played a game and called it an early night.

We never did see the camp host and the office wasn't open at 7:30 so we figured this was just a free night of camping.