Last Full Day at Texoma Shores RV Resort

Tomorrow we will be leaving here and driving to Belle Starr Corps of Engineers Park on Lake Eufaula.  Today was a good day. First there was church.

We worshipped this morning at Little City Baptist Church.  

We've been there before when we've stayed here.

This is where we stay, right on the shore of Lake Texoma.  Everything is so pretty and green right now, and the lake is pretty clear.  If only it hadn't rained most of the weekend, it would be perfect.

The rest of the day was spent at our campsite, eating, reading and napping.  

Tim didn't even go fishing.  Sometimes we just need to hang out and play with Charlie Chihuahua.

And, this is the cemetery we went to yesterday in Hugo.  It's Mount Olivet Cemetery, but one huge section is called Showmen's Rest.  It's where the circus people are buried.

Here's a few of the headstones we found:

(Don't forget, you can click on the photo to make it larger)

See the tigers at the top?

There were several Millers here.  

Guess this circus got the whole family involved.

They must have been big cat trainers.

 A circus wagon wheel?

"A TRIBUTE TO ALL SHOWMEN UNDER GOD'S BIGTOP"

 This one says "CONCESSIONS" 

"Circus, Fairs, Carnivals, Rodeos, Ice Shows, Street Corners" 

 "We have had the good life but the season ended"

 PLUNKETT FAMILY SHOW

AL G. KELLY MILLER BROS. CIRCUS

CARSON AND BARNES CIRCUS

 SWAIN'S COMEDIANS

PLUNKETT SHOWS

AL G. KELLEY-MILLER BROS. CIRCUS

CARSON AND BARNES CIRCUS

"GIVE LIFE THE BEST THAT'S IN YOU 

FOR IT'S ONLY A ONE NIGHT STAND

THERE ARE NO REPEAT PERFORMANCES

BROUGHT BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND"

ELEPHANT TRAINER

FOUNDER OF THE JOHN CARROLL'S 

SHOWMEN'S REST TRUST FUND

front

back

QUEEN OF THE BAREBACK RIDERS

(The lovely bareback riders in their beautiful costumes were always my favorites at the circus.  

What was your favorite?)

Click to enlarge - It's a sweet poem.

 "We actually live the life that most people only dream of"

SHOWMAN

CIRCUS*ELEPHANTS*SIDESHOW

Evidently, Herbert Weber became "The Great Huberto" under the big top.  

And when performing with his wife, they were "LOS LATINOS"

CIRCUS ANIMAL TRAINER

"OKIE"

 This one is so shiny.  I didn't notice that you can see my reflection in it until we had left the cemetery, and I was scrolling through the pictures!  Oops.

There was more information engraved on the top of this unusual bench headstone, 

but my picture was too blurred to read.

This was in the Circus section.  It's pretty, but kind of plain.

But look at the backside.

"I WOULD RATHER BE IN CALIFORNIA"

Well.  I've never been to California.  But I am very sure that Heaven is a much better place.  

I sincerely hope that she is there.  

(Am I weird because my first reaction to this was to laugh out loud?)

 There were also a lot of rodeo performers, ranchers and cowboys buried in other parts of the cemetery.

I don't keep up with rodeos much, despite being married to a man who used to ride bulls.  But I remember when World Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost was killed.  He was only 26 years old.

MY FRIEND AND YOUR FRIEND

FRECKLES BROWN

HE WAS A SMALL MAN

BUT HE HAD A LARGE HAND

HE NEVER WALKED

BUT ALWAYS RAN

WHEN TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD

HE ALWAYS CARRIED THE BIGGEST LOAD...

Click on the photo to enlarge and read the rest

But that's not all, folks!  Showmen and Cowboys weren't the only ones with cool headstones.  Here are some more interesting ones that I found:

A truck driver

"God Called Home His Ramblin' Man"

A railroad man

Even a golfer

There was one that I couldn't get close enough to for a good picture, but I really liked it.  It was a picture of a sewing machine, with the epitaph MOM WAS "SEW" SPECIAL.  Sweet remembrance.

Okay, enough of cemeteries for a day or two, anyway.

Good night, dear friends.  God bless.

"Oklahoma is the cultural center of the Universe." - Hoyt Axton

I saw the above quote on Pinterest, and I had to see what ole Hoyt was talking about. So Cowboy and I experienced a little Oklahoma culture today.  Hugo, Oklahoma culture, that is.  (If you don't know who Hoyt Axton was, look him up on YouTube.  He sang some good country songs, and wrote some great ones).

Hugo is known as Circus City, because for a long time it was winter quarters for several circus performers.  According to Wikipedia, it is located in a cultural area of Oklahoma called Little Dixie, because it was settled by Native Americans, African Americans and European Americans from the Southeastern U.S.

We spent a very busy day in Hugo, and I have more pictures than I've ever put in a blog post before, so here we go.

As you can see, this is Angie's Circus City Diner.  This was our first stop, because after the 90 minute drive from our RV camp, we were hungry.  Besides, I had read that they had a great exhibit of circus memorablia there.  We weren't disappointed with the food or the exhibits.

But, honestly, one of the things I loved best about this diner was that I saw several people bow their heads and pray before their meals.  Made me feel right at home!

Once we were full from our early lunch, we felt fortified enough for our second stop, the Frisco Depot Museum.  This one was special to us because our son-in-law, and his daddy, and one of our good friends work for a railroad.

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

So here's several shots of the entrance.  I like the sculptures in front of the building, of the elephant and the buffalo, representing both the circus influence as well as the western heritage of the area.  Can you tell what a gray and gloomy day it's been?  It rained all morning and well into the afternoon.

The exhibits were varied.  Here's an old post office window and post boxes.

Cowboy Tim said this shoeshine chair looked awfully flimsy.  But I guess it's light weight made it easier to move around when business got slow in one area.

This is just a small portion of a huge miniature circus display.

And these are just a small portion of the model trains that we saw.

I'm always fascinated with old telephone switchboards, because my mom went to work for Bell Telephone in 1946, just after she graduated high school.  She had to lie about her age, because she was only 16 at the time.

This is for my youngest grandgirl, because she loves old typewriters and old telephones and such.

And here's an old moonshine still that was confiscated from somewhere in the nearby hills.  

See, I told you Hugo was full of culture!

An old schoolroom exhibit.

There were a lot of things that were in cases behind glass, and the glare was so bad that I didn't even try to photograph most of those things.  But Tim thought this old high school football helmet was pretty cool.

And I liked this white buffalo.  The high school team is known as the Hugo Buffaloes.

This was kind of interesting.  

This entire exhibit of barber shop furnishings came from Glen Rose, Texas.

Tim took this one...an ancient set of golf clubs.  These days he doesn't ride his horses as much as he used to, so he spends a lot of time playing golf.  He loves golf.  He volunteered as a Marshall at the Colonial Golf Tournament last month, fulfilling a long time dream of his.  Should I start calling him "GolfBoy Tim"?? Maybe not.

I know this is really fuzzy, but I had to include it.  It is a railroad employee's paycheck for $0.14.  Fourteen cents.  Think about that next time you complain about high prices.

The glare is awful on this one.  The sign says "Choctaw Prayer Drum."  Made me so thankful that I can pray to my Heavenly Father anytime, anywhere.  And I don't need to bang a drum to get His attention.  In fact, I don't even need to speak out loud.  He hears my every word, spoken, whispered, or simply thought in my head.  We worship such an awesome God!

Do you know about the Harvey House Restaurants? Fred Harvey opened restaurants in railroad depots all across the country, and the waitresses who worked in his restaurants lived on property and were chaperoned like the proper young ladies they were.  There's an old Judy Garland movie called The Harvey Girls.  Watch it sometime if you ever get the chance.

A picture of a picture.  This is the Harvey House back in the day.

This is the way it looks today.

I did not realize that Fred Harvey had a "much sough-after" Cole Slaw recipe, but I figured I'd better have it if it's that famous.  And now, I'm sharing it with YOU!  Just because I love you all!

 I love that it doesn't include mayonnaise.

This was not the end of our day.  After a quick stop at Wal-Mart, we went to the Mount Olivet Cemetery, which has a section called Showmen's Rest.  But that's going to have to wait until tomorrow.  So, you've been forewarned.  If you don't like cemeteries, you can skip tomorrow's post.  But it really is fascinating.  Or are we just weird?

Don't answer that.

It's been a very long day, and I am more than ready for my bed.

More tomorrow.

Whitney-Waco-Glen Rose

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 

Proverbs 133:1

A couple of the Cowboy's brothers had plans to go camping and fishing at Lake Whitney during Spring Break, so, being the gadabouts that we are, we figured we'd better go too!  Actually, I didn't see hide nor hair of any of them the whole week.  I barely saw my own husband, 'cause they were always on the lake fishing, and I do not fish.  I really don't think they even saw much of each other, but went their separate ways on the lake most of the time.  But the Cowboy had a great time fishing, and I had a great time reading and resting.  The truth is, I slept a lot that week.  Lazy is one thing I'm good at!

Our son came to visit on the way home from visiting with friends in central Texas.  Isn't he handsome?

After we left Whitney, we went on to Waco.  While there we went to Cameron Park Zoo.  I love this zoo.  It's just the right size for me.  Not too little, not too big, with a nice variety of animals in natural looking habitats.

The monkeys are always fun to watch.

When this humongous turtle finished eating, we watched him start walking across to the shady area.  I swear it took him 5 minutes to take 3 steps.  He had stop and rest between each step.  Really.  Between each and every single step.

The meerkats were my favorites.  They were so fun to watch, and so curious about everything. 

 I think this little guy wanted to come home with me!

Also in Waco, we went to the James Avery store.  Our sweet daughter knew I've been wanting a charm bracelet since about forever, so she gave me these two wonderful charms for Christmas.  One is a travel trailer, the other a Texas with the word "HOME" engraved on it.  So then all I needed was the bracelet.  We found just exactly what I wanted at James Avery.  I probably never would have gotten around to actually getting a bracelet if she hadn't given me the charms.  

My plan is to add to the bracelet as we travel. (Please just ignore my ugly hand, ok?)  

So here's my Cowboy, setting up the 5th wheel.  Can you tell he's a wee bit aggravated with me for interrupting him to take a picture?

When we left Waco, we went on to Glen Rose.  Sorry, no photos from there, we got so busy I never even thought about it.  Bad blogger.  We drove into Fort Worth one day to take care of some business and do some shopping.  We drove into Weatherford one day to do some more business and so I could go with a friend to get a pedicure.  Bonus on that day was that we ran into some more friends at El Fenix and got to eat lunch with them!

Tim played so much golf while we were in Glen Rose that, once again, I barely saw him.  He did take me to get pie at the Pie Peddlers on the courthouse square.  Yum!  

But the big excitement of the week was when the huge storm came through.  The emergency alert sounded on our phones around 1:00 a.m.  Tornadoes in the area!  Then the electricity went off all over the RV Park (we found out later that the whole town of Glen Rose was without electricity)  We got out of the 5er and went looking for a sturdier shelter.  Decided on the the Ladies Shower House. We were in great company.  There were about a dozen people already in there!  What a bizarre night!  It was actually kind of fun.  Great way to meet the other campers!  Lol!😊  (BTW, there was no damage to anything in the park.  But the electricity didn't come back on until late afternoon)

So here we are back at home.  I spent the entire afternoon doing laundry, and swapping some winter clothes out for warm weather clothes.  It's always so great to see the kids and grandgirls after a trip.  And I'm looking forward to worshipping in our home church on Sunday, and seeing all our friends.  

It's good to go, but it's great to be home.

What Do I Do All Day? (For Renda)

Last week a dear friend came to visit us in our fifth wheel.  While our husbands were outside hiking through the park, we sat and visited a while.  Sitting on the edge of her seat (she does not have the "do nothing" talent that I have), she looked around our tiny living/dining/kitchen room, and asked, "So, what do you do while Tim is out playing golf or fishing?"  And I promptly asnwered, "Well, uuuuhhhh...."  

I couldn't think of a thing.  We finally came up with a few things between us.  She reminded me that I like to make jewelry, and I have adult coloring books to color.  I remembered that I like to read, and I actually enjoy cooking in my wee little kitchen.

I don't know why my mind goes blank so often when someone asks me a direct question.  Honestly, if you asked me my name, I'd have to think a few seconds before answering.

But, now that I've had some time to think, and to actually do some of the things that I do, I've made a list.

This is for you, Renda...

* I write my blog.  

* I write in my private journal.

* Before I can write in my blog, I have to sort through and label the photos I've taken, to see which ones I want to use.  This can take hours.

* I pay bills.

*  I call or text my family and friends.

* I clean house.  Actual cleaning doesn't take long, but making everything fit sometimes takes a while.  A place for everything and everything in its place is the rule in such a small space.

* I sketch or paint.

* I play computer games.

* I walk Charlie.

* I embroider or crochet or sew buttons back on Tim's clothes.

* I look online a lot, planning our activities for the trip, making reservations for our next stop, etc.

* I look at Facebook, our church website, e-mails, texts, and news channels.

* I sometimes go shopping, but usually Tim wants me to wait so he can go with me.

* I watch old movies, especially the old musicals that Tim just doesn't appreciate.

* I plan meals and make grocery lists.

* I sometimes take naps.  😌

* And, as I said, I read (I usually have 2 or 3 books going at the same time), cook, color, and sometimes make or repair jewelry.

I'm never bored.  

So, what do Tim and I do together?  All kinds of things!  

There's always museums, zoos, and gardens to visit.  

Some days we will drive an hour or two to visit a small town we've never been to before.  

In the summer we might swim in the RV park's pool.  

We go do laundry at the washateria once a week.  

We buy groceries every two or three days.  

We eat out  3 or 4 times a week.  

We go to church.  

We take walks.  (Until this past year, I loved to go hiking with him, but my knees and hips have slowed me down lately). 

Sometimes we go see a movie.  

We both enjoy live theater, so if there is a local drama group performing in the area, we may go see a play.  

We visit with our neighbors in the RV park (Tim's better at that than I am, my shyness kicks in and I go mute).  

Sometimes we just drive around to see the scenery.

I love my little home on wheels, and I feel so blessed to be able to travel around and see the country with my Cowboy.  

As I've often said, the only thing that could make it better would be if I could convince all my family and friends to buy RV's and come with us!

A Life

Our little church lost one of our dearest members early this morning.  I don't often mention complete names in this little blog, but I just want to tell the world (all five of you that read this!) how much we all loved Mrs. Ruby Haynes.  Ruby would have been 98 next month.  She had been a member of our church for 67 years.  She never met a stranger in all that time.  When visitors came to our church, she was the first to greet them and make them feel welcome.  Half of the church called her Aunt Ruby.

She loved Jesus even more than she loved people, and she was never shy about singing His praises.  If the pastor asked for testimonies from the congregation, she was the first to stand and tell everyone how much she loved her Saviour.  If she met someone at the grocery store, she never failed to ask if they had a home church, and, if not, invite them to ours.

Up until just a few years ago, she was still volunteering for everything that went on at church, and she could work rings around us younger ones.  She still taught her Ladies' Sunday School class up until just a few months ago.

She was especially dear to me, because she was one of the remaining few in our church who remembered my parents, and she often shared her memories of them with me.

And she always told me she loved me.  Well, okay, she loved everybody.  And I'm pretty sure that each of us thought we were her favorite person in the world.

She smiled.  A lot.  And that made the rest of us smile.

She wasn't completely perfect, though.  She was a real human being, and she could sometimes sound a little sharper than she intended.  But, whenever she felt that she had hurt someone, it broke her heart.


I have often said that I want to be just like Ruby when I grow up.

I think it's past time for me to start.

Do you have a home church?  Let me tell you about my Saviour...

Ruby Haynes February 19, 1919 - January 19, 2017

from our church's facebook page:

          Our sweet Miss Ruby Haynes went home to Jesus early this morning. She was an active member of Harmony Baptist Church for 67 years. Miss Ruby taught Sunday School, VBS, volunteered at the Center of Hope, was a devoted prayer warrior and always told people about Jesus.

She "always told people about Jesus."  Yes, Lord, I want to  be like her.

(We Interrupt this Blog, to Bring You) My Own Little Rant

We've been on the road for about two months now.  For the most part, it's been great.  Fun, relaxing and interesting.  Even thrilling at times.  Like when we had to flee Disney World in the middle of the night because of the hurricane that was headed in our direction - that was some excitement we could have lived without!

I've kept telling myself I would update the blog "tomorrow", but every time I sat down to do it, it was like a dark cloud was hanging over me, so I just stopped thinking about it.  The dark cloud, of course, was the presidential election.  Honestly the trip hasn't been nearly as memorable as the election.  Unfortunately, the election is memorable for all the wrong reasons.

I thought when it was over, I could concentrate on writing about the fun stuff.  But it seems that the chaos from the campaigns will never end.  So, maybe, if I put a few of my thoughts and fears in writing, I can let it go.  Or maybe that will just make the scary stuff more real.  Who knows.

For decades I've thought the USA might be headed towards civil war.  I thought it would be between the "haves" and the "have-nots".  Now I don't see anything as simple as a two sided civil war in our future.  It looks more like a melee, a free-for-all, a bar fight.  Black vs. white vs. Hispanic vs. Asian vs. whatever, male vs. female, young vs. older, rich vs. poor vs. middle class, Christian vs. Muslim vs. atheist/agnostic, Democrat vs. Republican vs. Independent, management vs. labor, gay vs. straight, state's rights vs. centralized government.

According to the above labels, I am a older white female Christian, lower middle class, conservative on most issues, liberal when it comes to caring for those who can't take care of themselves.

I have nothing against anyone who is anything else.  Even if they have a different point of view, I wish them no harm, I would even do anything in my power to help them out.  I do have friends and family from all walks of life, and I love them all, even though we don't always agree.  But at some point, I am afraid that I will be pushed into a position where I am on one side or another.  Not that I would choose to be at war against anyone, but that we will all be at war whether we want it or not.

And then there's the actual criminal element...drug dealers, sex traffickers, organized crime.  And the future can look truly scary.

And that's why I am so thankful that I am a Christian.  Because I know Who holds the future.  Praise Him!

We Christians will vote our values.  We will campaign for our values.  We will discuss our values with others.  For instance, I would try to talk a friend out of having an abortion. To be clear, I would not help her get an abortion.  But I would nurse her back to health after her abortion, and help in any other way I could.  Without preaching.  And I'm not the only one.

Because I am a follower of Christ, I think it is important to reach out to people who think differently than me.  We are commanded to love our enemies, not just the people who think like us.  That's why I am so horrified to see all the hateful things being said by the media.  And not just the media, but by my own friends in their blogs and on Facebook.

Why do the liberals keep being so negative?  If they keep rioting because the government is not to their liking, the government will eventually be forced to come down on them.  It's like a self fulfilling prophecy.  "The government is against us, so we're going to riot"  - then the government steps in to stop them, and they say, "See, the government is against us."

Why are so many conservatives gloating because their candidate won?  No one knows what kind of president he will be.  He has four years to prove himself.  Wait a while before you get too excited.  Gloating just reinforces the notion that you are heartless and a hater.  The fear mongering media is partially too blame, but you have to admit that some of things that your candidate has said sounded pretty bad.  And it's a shame that so many hate groups have supported him, like the KKK.  Yes, he has denounced them, but that still doesn't look too good.

As Christians, we need to spread peace as much as we possibly can.  Hate has no place in our faith, other than to hate the evil one, Satan, who is the root cause of all this strife.  He has deceived so many to believe his lies.  But, Christian, he is deceiving you, too, if you are believing the lie that you must hate your fellow man, whom God created, just as He created you.

Okay, have I made everyone mad now?  That certainly is not my intention.

Rant over.  Back to my regularly scheduled travel blog.

We are staying in Georgetown this week.  Today is the first day of the Southern Baptist Covention of Texas Bible Conference and Annual Meeting.  It's being held in Austin this year, and we are going to commute the 30 miles to attend.  It starts at 6:00 tonight and I can't wait!  I am ready to hear a good word from the Lord!!

The conference lasts 3 days, then Cowboy wants to spend a couple of days fishing, then we should be home in time for church next Sunday.

I really will try to post more pictures of our trip before the week is over.

Pray for our country.
Pray for our elected officials.
Pray for each other.
Praise God.

Disney World

Well, I told myself I would catch up on the blog tonight, but here it is nearly 9:00 at night, and I haven't even finished transferring all of our pictures to the computer tonight.  So this is going to be very short and sweet.  Short, anyway.

We've been planning this trip for months, and we finally left home mid-September.  First night was spent in Henderson, Texas.  We got to meet our son for supper that night.

The next two nights we were in Marksville, Louisiana, where Tim played golf, and I just played house.  That's what it feels like to me to live in the 5th wheel, just like playing house.  Meals are simple, and I enjoy fixing them.  Takes about 5 minutes to wash the dishes, maybe 2 minutes to sweep the floor.  Most of my day is spent reading, sleeping, or watching t.v.  Evenings, we have a quick and easy dinner, then watch whatever dvd's we've brought along.  This time, it's the last two seasons of Star Trek Enterprise.  My Cowboy is going to owe me a month's worth of musical comedy when that's over.

We spent 4 or 5 nights in Abita Springs, Louisiana.  Golfing and fishing for Tim, more laziness for me and Charlie Chihuahua.  We had a problem with the pickups air conditioning, and we were thankful that the GM dealership there could fix it.

Then we spent one night somewhere in the panhandle of Florida (I'll have to look up the name of the resort and the town it was nearest to), then spent a long day driving to Clermont, Florida, where we spent four nights.  Tim, of course, played more golf.  I went shopping.  We also got all our laundry done, so we wouldn't have to worry about it while we are at Disney.  That's the only thing I don't really like about living in the trailer - doing laundry at the laundromat.  But at least I can get it all done in the time it would take to do one load at home.  I do wish we had a washer/dryer in the trailer.  Although, the ones made for RV's are so small, it would take even longer to wash clothes than it does at home.

We arrived at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground on Saturday.  So far we've spent one day at Magic Kingdom and one day at Animal Kingdom.  We have so much planned for the next few days that I may not  write any more until next week.  But here's a few pictures I took at Animal Kingdom today.  I love the animals at AK, but I think I love the plants and flowers even more.  I think it's the most gorgeous park I've ever seen.

This was our dining room for lunch.  The weather was perfect for eating outside.

My Cowboy.