Texas, 1/30/12

On the Road Again Monday Jan. 30. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our son, Gene. Best wishes for more decades of good health and happiness. Before getting on the road Phil dewinterized the RV. We can use our RV's plumbing now that we are out of subfreezing weather. As we traveled through OK we noticed the red soil and more horses in the fields. In Texas we saw horse estates. Also noticed the dormant fields greening up.

Football fans that we are...we toured the stadium where our Packers won Super Bowl XLV a year ago.


Dallas Cowboy Stadium.....the biggest stadium in every way we are told.


Do you recognize this guy? A greatly respected coach of the Cowboys!!!!

The workers who greeted us had stories to tell about the cold weather they had last year the week before the Super Bowl. They liked today's weather of 60 much better. We saw photos and they talked about the setup before that Super Bowl game.


There were 12 in our tour group. One couple was from Sun Prairie, Ellie's hometown. The jumbo TV is 160 feet wide. The top of the second tier of seats is at outside ground level. It is a very impressive stadium.


The Club section.


The ceiling lights are in a football design. The white x's represent the laces on a football.


Jerry Jones "man cave." (Not his suite.)


Jerry's phone in his man cave.


View from "Standing room only area."


This is the "Ford" sponsored standing room only area. New Fords are on display. Pool in the shape of a football.


Interesting artwork throughout the stadium.


Artwork depicting what fans say.


More artwork.


Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders locker room.


In front of Tony Romo's locker. He's from WI and went to Eastern IL University, so we claim a little connection with him.


Defensive men's lockers.


Cowboy's star they go under before the players go on the field at the 50 yard line.


Hey, Phil going on the field.


We are on the STAR at the 50 yard line.


Phil jumping toward the goal posts.


Under the goal posts. Quite a tour, a very impressive stadium, but we still will take Lambeau Field over it!!!!!


Texas Rangers Stadium

We stopped to see Jay in Waxahachie, someone Phil used to work with.


We are camping at Waxahachie Creek Park on Bardwell Lake. We heard it was 53 degrees at home. Really unusual for the Midwest.

Location:Dallas and Waxahachie, Texas

On the Road Again 1/27 - 1/29

On the Road Again 1/27. It's been 130 days since we have been on a trip in our Roadtrek. We did make monthly local trips to give the engine a workout. Now we are headed to TX, NM, AZ and Seattle. Last year we traveled 129 days in our RV.

First, a reverse On the Road Again......Ellie's sisters and brother came for a w/e of visiting and food 1-21 & 1-22.


Italian spaghetti was the food highlight. We are forever thankful to Phil's Mom for the secret recipe. (And the spaghetti bibs!). Our son & daughter-in-law also came for dinner.


A great time was had by all, but we missed our brother, Pat and his wife, Susan.

On the Road Again Friday 1/27 at 12:40 pm, a little later than hoped but we ARE on the road. We made our destination of St. Louis. Stayed at the Walmart in Eureka, MO. Good driving weather.

Saturday 1/28 we got to Van City, St. Louis at 8:30 as the gates were opened. We had the generator oil changed and filled up on propane. As we traveled I-44 through Missouri the farm girl in Ellie watched the fields change from farm land to limestone to vineyards and elevation of 1374 ft. and National Forest. Crossing into Oklahoma lots of cattle and one field had a cast of green. Thought is spring coming, but maybe it was a field of winter wheat???? The other field are "winter barren."

There is a disadvantage of traveling west in the winter. The sun is in the driver's face for a while.


When we traveled in the summer we didn't have that happened because we stopped before sunset. We stayed overnight at the Walmart in Bristow, OK. They must be expecting spring because they had stacks of potting soil ready for purchase.


On the Road Again Sunday 1/29. We attended Mass at St. Joseph. What a dynamic service and people. We had coffee and donuts and visited with many of the parishioners before we got on the way to Oklahoma City.


Since we were traveling through Oklahoma we made a visit to the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum. Our grandson was born on April 19, 1995, the day of the disaster that shook that city and the U. S.


The street where the bomb went off is now a reflecting pond.


168 empty chairs, remembering those who died. 19 were children, there are shorter chairs representing the children. The chairs are on the land that was the Murrah Building. The first row represents those who were killed on the 1st floor, second row of chairs represents those killed on the second floor which was the children's day care. Really sobering.








Survivor Tree. A 90 year old elm tree damaged by the blast but is surviving, a testament to our human resilience.


Museum is very informative and moving.


Jesus wept. Memorial at Catholic Church across the street. The church's rectory was destroyed. 22 black pillars representing the 19 children and the 3 unborn children killed the disaster.

We are camping a few miles from Texas, at Red River Rv Resort, Thackerville, Ok.

Location:IL., MO. & OK.