Gate Guarding

Gate Guarding

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Casino’s, BBQ, and more Casino’s

We left our Gate on Saturday, September 20th and moved to the Carthage RV Park for a few days to get some rest and cleaning on the RV done….

Sunday we decided to head over to Shreveport/Bossier City, LA

Shreveport Welcome Sign

Our next to the youngest daughter, Christie, was born in Bossier City 39 years ago, and we thought we would check out the hospital where she was born while we were there, but it is no longer there….

Bossier City Welcome Sign

then we were on to The Margaritaville Hotel & Casino to check out the area. Margaritaville hasn’t been open very long.

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It is nice. The Casino area looked pretty small to us for as large as the building is.

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It was getting kind of late so decided to have Dinner at the Casino Buffet…boy were we surprised when they rang up our dinner and it was $49.00…that was with a Senior Discount.  I never get full benefit of a buffet because I just don’t eat enough for the price. They had lots of Seafood on the Buffet, but since Mac & I are not big seafood eaters, the other selections were limited.

We didn’t do very well in the Casino either…LOL

It was still pretty early so we decided to head over to the Sam’s Town Casino to see if our luck would change….

It did change for me as I left with more than I went in with…I think Mac broke even.

On Monday, we decided to go back to Shreveport to do a little shopping at Academy Sports and Sam’s Club. It was still early when we finished, so we decided to head back over to the Sam's Town Casino.

We ate dinner there and was not impressed at all with the food there…Most of it looked like it had been sitting for quite some time, and it should have been fresh for the dinner crowd as it was only 6pm. I understand that being a Monday, they probably weren’t real busy, but they should have kept the trays full & warm.

I guess we struck out on food while we were in Shreveport, but I came away a little heavier in the wallet from the Casino’s

On Tuesday, we just stayed around the RV getting things done so that we could head up to Lake Texoma Thousand Trails on Wednesday.

I suggested we drive over to Marshall, TX to Bar B Q Express for dinner. The reviews were really good and it had been a while since we have had good BBQ. Man are we glad we did!

This restaurant is pretty small, kind of off the beaten path, but WOW…it was awesome!

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Herbert White is the Owner & Pitmaster.

Gregg and Herbert White

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He was very helpful while we were deciding what we wanted…and told us what his specialties were…

His granddaughter was also working…

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We decided on the 2 Meat Plate with Ribs & Brisket. I had homemade Potato Salad & Beans…yummy. Mac had the Baked Beans & some other Beans..not sure what they were.

Probably the best BBQ we’ve had in a long time. We were so hungry that we forgot to take any photos of the food…

So if you are ever in the Marshall, TX area make sure you stop by and have lunch or dinner at Bar B Q Express, and tell Herbert that you read about it in our blog!!

Wednesday morning we were up and on the road heading for Lake Texoma Thousand Trails for a few days. It was a very normal travel day and we were all checked in and set up by mid afternoon.

While here at Lake Texoma, we have been over to Sherman, TX  for some shopping, and yesterday, Tuesday, the 30th we went over to Gainesville to the Kitchen Outlet, and then to the Winstar for dinner at NYC Burgers & Dogs.

We decided while we were there to make a small donation in the Casino. The Winstar is listed as the Biggest Casino in the world. I can understand this because you can walk, and walk forever.

We played a few slot machines and I came away with more than I went in with…I call that a good day.   Winking smile

We have plans on Friday to meet our Son-in-Law, Dusty, his parents, Terry & Carol, and his aunt & uncle for dinner at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, OK. We haven’t seen any of them in a few months and it will be nice to catch up. Our daughter could not make the trip, so we will really miss getting to see her.

On Sunday, we will start our trip north to Enid, OK for an overnight stay. My sister Lyvonne and hopefully her husband, Carlson, are going to meet us for dinner in Enid.

Monday, we will hook up and head on up to Kingman, KS to take care of some doctor appointments, see Teri & family, and put some things in storage.

Thanks for stopping by….

Hugs!!

 

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Trying to catch up….

It has been a very long time since I updated our blog. I am going to try to catch up on what has been happening with us since the first of the year.

In January, we were working as Gate Guards in the Texas Panhandle outside of Wheeler, TX. We had been there since September 5th, 2013. During that time we traded our Heartland Landmark in for a new to us 2012 DRV Mobile Suites. Some friends of ours had one of these and we really liked them.

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At the end of our job here we were getting ready to leave the location and our bedroom slide would not come in. We tried everything, but nothing worked.

We made several calls, and ended up finding a place in Denton, TX that would work on it for us….so off we went.

We had several mishaps along the way…a blow out on the truck, and Mac found some leaking under the hood of the truck when we stopped for fuel.We limped in to Wichita Falls, TX and made it to the Ford Dealership before they closed for the day. They were great and stayed late to get the truck fixed for us, although we did have to spend the night in a Hotel.

We made it to Denton, TX and dropped the RV off at the RV Repair Shop on January 3oth and went and found a hotel.

Needless to say, we ended up staying in a hotel for a month before the repairs were completed…

After picking up the RV we headed to Lake Conroe Thousand Trails RV Park in Willis, TX for some relaxing, visiting with our friend, Arlene, and waiting to see if there was a new Gate job for us.

We ended up staying there for a couple of weeks and then headed over to Columbus, TX to the Colorado River Thousand Trails. While we were at Colorado River we finally got to meet some friends, Greg & Jan White. We had kind of met Greg a couple of years ago in AZ but hadn’t me Jan. These are great people and they also do Gate Guarding.

While there we were invited to a Potluck and met several other people that we continue to keep in contact with…Ed & Debi Hurlburt, David & Janice Evans, and Rick & Janice Binns.

After our stay there, we headed back to Lake Conroe and Arlene brought here motorhome out and camped with us for a few days.

In April, we left and headed to Amarillo, TX to see our daughter, Christie & son-in-law, Dusty for a few days.

We also attended  part of the Suites Rally that was taking place at the Oasis RV Resort and went to dinner with the group….great time.

April 13th it actually snowed for a little while…brrr. Too cold for me.

We left Amarillo heading to Ulysses, KS to see Mac’s sister and her family for a few days. We had a really good time and got to eat at our favorite Mexican Restaurants also.

I actually got to see a few of my friends on this trip. It was really nice to see Tammy, Robin, & Cindy.  Also we got to see Kenny & Kathy.

Leaving Ulysses we headed to Plains, KS to see another daughter, Dana, & her family for a few days. We attended a couple of our granddaughter’s softball games, and a couple Soccer games that our great grandkids played in. It’s such a fun time to spend with all of them.

Our next stop was Kingman, KS to our daughter, Teri & family. We spent a lot of time just hanging out, and getting some things put in and taken out of our Storage Unit there in Kingman. Our grandson Ryan would be graduating in a few weeks, but we were off to another adventure….

On to Emporia, KS to see daughter Jenni & family. Had a great time with them and the granddaughter’s.  Mostly just hanging out together and a some meals together.

Now it was time to head back to Kingman for Ryan’s graduation… He is such a great kid…and we are very proud of him.

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Our next stop was going back to Garnett, KS where we had lived for almost 20 years prior to retiring….I was scheduled to had that dreaded test to clear me of and return of Colon Cancer….ugghh. The prep is the hardest.

I had increased my time up to having the test to 3 years, but this time the doctor found a few Polyps. He removed them and said he didn’t think they were anything to worry about, but he would send them in for biopsy just in case…and he was right! Still cancer free, but now I have to start back over at 1 year intervals again and start working back up.

We spent time with our friends Gary & Rosemary, and ate a few meals together while we were there. Also, we drove by our old house and the new owner is keeping things looking great.

Soon it was time to leave there, so we headed to Waynoka, OK to see my sister, Lyvonne & her family for a few days. It always seems like our time is gone before we know it, but we did get to spend a lot of time together.

When we left Waynoka, we drove to Lake Texoma Thousand Trails, and visited the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, OK and the Casino in Durant, OK…we came out ok, but didn’t walk away as big winners….

While there, Jamie, with Gate Guard Services called and he had a Gate job for us, so we left a few days early and headed south, arriving at the job on June 15th. We are currently working a Gate just about 5 miles south of Carthage, TX.

I think that brings us up to today….I’m sure I forgot several things, but wanted to just kind of catch up. If I remember other things, I will post on a later blog.

I will only add a few photos since this blog is already so long that it will probably bore you to tears….

Have a wonderful day!! (((HUGS)))