Senior Day at the Fair

Yesterday we made our annual trek to the State Fair of Oklahoma via Riverwind Casino for breakfast. In years past the breakfast was free for seniors on Wednesdays. This year it was $2.50 a person. Still it was very reasonable, $5.00 for the two of us.

Then we headed up to the fair. This year I don't think it was as crowded as in years past. I had one particular thing that I wanted. It's called a Miracle Kitchen Plus. I watched the demonstration and tasted the salsa that was made with it and knew I had to have one, some of the best homemade salsa I have ever tasted. The other thing that sold me was when we start to full-time it will come in handy when we don't have access to power while boondocking. Things at the fair are not always the bargins they would have you to believe. I paid $35.00 for the machine, Ginsu knife and cheese grater. I went on line and found them on sale for $17.95. So I plan to pick up two of them and give them to the girls for Christmas presents since the girls asked me if I got them one.

This year we decided not to eat at the fair....I know, tis a sacriglige...but to go to Bunny's Onion Burger stand instead. After having a totally awesome burger we went back to Norman to let the dogs out and then head over to Floyd's RV center. Yes Bobbie, we started looking at 5th wheels yesterday. So many to see, so much to absorb. No wonder it takes two years to make up your mind.

Today my tootsies are sore from all the walking we did for 6 hours. How the kids (Workampers) at Amazon.com manage for 12 hours I do not know. I don't think I could do it. Glad it's Friday tomorrow and the weekend is here. More clearing of junk to be done.

Happy Trails...

The Tale of the Traveling Vanilla...

While we were in Colorado last year we met several wonderful couples at the campground we were staying in. Jim and Bobbie were the camping hosts and Charlie and Dawna were the campers across from us. When we arrived at Big Meadows just outside of South Fork, Colorado Bobbie gave me a hug like a long lost friend. When we got our campsite in Loop A and got set up, Charlie came over and said hello and told us if we needed help with anything just to let him know. We had a great time at the campground and when we became stranded with car trouble both of these couples helped us out.

Charlie is standing on the bench with his hand on Dawna, Jim and Bobbie are in the camp host uniforms. We all had dinner with Charlie and Dawna, homemade beans and ham with cornbread. It was good!

Flash forward: Bobbie and Jim are full time RVers and wintered in Arizona this past winter. While there, Bobbie and Jim went into Old Mexico for several day trips. On one of those trips she picked up some Mexican Vanilla for me as during one of our discussions the previous summer I had mentioned that I had run out of my Mexican Vanilla and missed baking with it. You have to understand that Mexican Vanilla is much stronger than the regular vanilla that you purchase at the store so it gives a different flavor to what you are preparing. The question was, how to get it to me.

Fast forward some more: It turns out that Charlie and Dawna live not far from us and they were heading on vacation up to Yellowstone and coming back through South Fork to stay at Park Creek campground where Bobbie and Jim were camp hosts this year. So the Mexican Vanilla got handed off to Charlie and Dawna to bring back to us.

Last weekend we met up. Charlie and Dawna came down for the OU - Air Force football game and passed off the Mexican Vanilla. They parked at our house where I ran them up to the stadium so they could attend the game. Afterwards I picked them up and we all went to dinner at Goldie's Patio Grill and had a wonderful time discussing RVing.

On our way to dinner I spied a man’s wallet in the road. I gave it to Dawna and she went through it trying to find some identification and we came up with a AAA card. She called and left her number and the young man who lost it called and came to Goldie's to pick it up. As it turns out it was our next door neighbor’s wallet. He was very thankful that it was us who found it and returned it intact.

It's amazing how friendships develop and come full circle.

Happy Trails.....

A Marine's Send Off....

I have a friend at work whose Marine son who left three weeks ago to go back to Camp Pendleton, where he and his group were shipped out yesterday to Afghanistan for a years deployment. He's was home on a three week leave enjoying his time with friends and family before his deployment.Dave and I went to his deployment party at his parents house. There were lots of people there to wish the young man well. I told him to keep his head down and I would see him in a year for his homecoming party.

His mom had a beautiful cake made, too bad we did not get there before it was cut into but you can sort of see what it looked like.

There was lots of food to eat and drinks to drink, my favorite was the jumbo Oscar Mayer hot dogs that were grilled to perfection.

We need to remember to keep our brave men and women, who have volunteered their service to our country, in our prayers at night. By doing so we honor them and their families, who have given them up to us, to defend our great nation.

PSALM 23
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
Amen.

Noah's Baptism....

Last week we made the trip to Texas for the Labor Day weekend and Noah's baptism. After an uneventful drive with three dogs, we arrived and settled in. The kids place is looking good but we all pitched in Saturday to get it tidied up for the festivities on Sunday. Noah was being baptised and there was to be a cookout after church.

The dogs stayed out most of the time on the back porch or out in the yard. They had never been out that much and was enjoying their new found freedom.

You forget how much gear is needed to take a baby someplace, baby carriers, diaper bags etc....on top of it, Noah was being somewhat fussy so if we made a stop, one person would go in for something and we would have to drive around the parking lot to keep him quiet. We shopped for Hot dogs and all their fixing's and hamburgers plus all their fixing's. I decided that I would make Tabouli Salad and proceeded to purchase the ingredients for it. I managed to get everything at Kroger's except for the Tabouli Wheat, they never heard of Tabouli wheat, which is cracked Bulgar wheat. I then went to Wal-Mart, no luck, same blank expression on the sales clerks faces. At the Wal-Mart in Norman the Tabouli wheat is found in the salad area, not so in East Texas. I was begining to become frustrated and decided that you know your in East Texas where they don't know what Tabouli wheat is. Finally, finally at Albertson's I found the Tabouli wheat in the rice isle. I had to purchase two boxes of it to get the portion that I needed. Normally it comes in a plastic bag, sometimes it already has dry ingrediants in it. I do not purchase that, I only purchase the wheat itself. It's a fairly simple recipe to put together.

Tabouli Salad / Half recipe

1 box or half bag of Tabouli Wheat

1 box of Minute Maid Frozen Lemonade thawed

1/3 Cup Soy Free Canola Oil or Olive Oil

2 Lg. Ripe Tomatoes diced

2 Medium Cucumbers diced

1 Bunch Green Onions cleaned and thinly sliced

1 Bunch Parsley cleaned and stem tips trimmed and chopped finely(can be processed in food processor)

Sea Salt

In large mixing bowl soak wheat in hot water for 10 minutes, drain and squeeze dry.

Add in all the ingredients except for salt, mixing well. The salt is a personal preference. I add in 1 Tbs. You may want more salt. Be careful not to add too much. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

This is best if allowed to sit overnight so all the flavors can meld. The longer it sits the better it gets. You will want to stir it ever so ofter so as to get the juices over the wheat so it will swell up. The wheat will turn white the longer it sits.

Noah decided to become real fussy and I could just see him at church the next day. Saturday night I said a little prayer asking that Noah be a wonderful little boy on Sunday. My prayers were answered. He slept through the whole thing and most of the day and night. We were amazed. The kids said he had never slept that much at one time. Of course his daddy held him all the way through the service, and has that wonderful calming quality about him.

The little prince still asleep through all the singing, service, having water poured over his head and paraded around the church.

His baptism outfit was beautiful, his grandmother's sister handmade the whole thing, everything was crocheted, the hat the gown and the onesy for underneath. I had not seen that kind of handwork in a long time and to think it's becoming a lost art saddens me.

I stood in for my younger daughter as she was to be Noah's Godmother. The kids had to get special permission from the Bishop as she is not Catholic. It was a beautiful service and Noah was the little angel.

The cookout was a success and everyone enjoyed themselves. Dave spent Monday morning pulling weeds and trimming trees. We had lunch and bid the kids goodbye and loaded up the car with all our belongings and dogs and headed home. 5 1/2 hours later we pulled into our driveway and unloaded and had time to wind down before bed.

Our weekend was wonderful and we had a great time. While we were out shopping this week I found Noah's Halloween costume and sent it down to Texas. An OU Boomer outfit. His daddy will have to paint his face and his auntie will have to put a drawstring on the hoodie to keep it in place but it will be cute. Besides I just couldn't let him go as a Longhorn (Look for pictures in November).

Happy Trails....