The Cats

BE has four cats. They are barn cats and are mostly afraid of humans. With the exception of Bob.

This is Bob, so named because he doesn't have a tail. Bob likes attention. His favorite pastime was taunting Gus.

I don't remember this cat's name. She was afraid of us, so rarely came out of hiding.

Ditto on this one. The only time I saw this cat was at feeding time.

This is Zero. I don't have a good pic of it, but she has a marking on one side that looks like a large Zero. 

That does it for the cats. To be continued...

The Pups

Those who know me, know how much I love dogs. So, it is only natural that I befriend every dog I can. 

The first dog we saw was RE's pup, Smoke. Smoke and I have spent time together before. He seemed happy enough to see his friend, The Ear Scratching Lady. Smoke is a Blue Heeler.

BE has two pups. Scout is an Anatolian Shepard. If you are not familiar with the breed, they are large dogs. Scout is well known for keeping the coyotes away from the ranch. 

And Bella. She is a beauty. Those eyes! She is a mix with husky and an unknown breed. She is as sweet as she is beautiful. Bella helps Scout keep the coyotes away.

Then there is Gus, our pup. He is a red heeler. The lady we got him from said his father was a blue heeler and his mom a red heeler, but we believe we were told this to hide the fact that he has some pit in him. Whatever he is, we love him dearly.

Those are the pups. To be continued....

The Cows

I love taking pictures of critters and the first critters I saw, other than pups, were cows. Where we live in Illinois we have lots of grain farms, but very few cattle and/or horse ranches. Whereas most may not enjoy taking pictures of cows, it was a treat for me.

Black Angus seemed to be a popular choice.

My previous visits to Oklahoma were in the northern part. I was happy to see the rolling  hills in the southern part. 

Curious calf.

Being so close to Texas, I expected to see more Longhorn cattle and we did see some. This guy is the wrong color for what I know as Texas Longhorns, but he is quite handsome. Sadly, I couldn't get him/her to turn around and pose.

This is more what I think of as a Longhorn, but she wouldn't turn around either. The story of my critter picture life. 

To be continued...

Our Home Away From Home

After visiting RE in Stonewall, we moved on to our final destination and our home away from home for the next few weeks.
First we drove down this road...

...then turned down this road.

Finally turning in at the gate with the Double Es to meet up with BE and CE.

Loved their welcome sign.

Parked and all set up. We were between the well house and the horse barn. 

To be continued....

Stonewall

Monday 4/3/17, we left the KOA in Springfield, MO for Stonewall, OK.

Stonewall is a town in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. The population was 465 as of the 2000 census. There are not many businesses left in this small town. The business area consists of a couple of blocks on main street. The ones I can remember are City Hall, a hardware store, Abbott's Grocery and Feed Store, a beauty shop, a tire shop, and a gas station. As has become the norm in small towns, there is a Dollar General off the highway. The rest of the buildings are empty.

According to one of the residents, this was once a booming mecca of entertainment. There are a few buildings left to tell the story.

There are a few buildings left to tell the story. We arrived at our friend's ranch in the early afternoon. This trip was for DA to help our friend, RE, as he prepared to relocate from Texas to Oklahoma.

To be continued....

The Trip Begins

It's been a while since I posted. That's because immediately after DA's cardiologist appointment on March 28th, we hooked up the RV and took off for Oklahoma. We didn't stay at an RV park, but rather set up out by a friend's horse barn, where we had access to electricity, water, and sewer. However, there was no WiFi and only the TV channels we could pick up with our antenna. It was actually very refreshing. We found other things to do rather than stare at the TV and computer. Nice!

We came home last week, but have been busy catching up on the chores we missed out on for the 6 weeks we were gone. So now, I'm going to start from the beginning...

March 29th - Wednesday
Our first day consisted of driving about 5 hours from Illinois to the KOA in Springfield, MO where we planned to spend the night. It's a very nice location. The people are friendly and the RV park is well maintained. It is near Route 66, hence the theme.

Route 66 was prominently displayed throughout the park. 

I enjoyed sitting on this bench outside the laundry room. Nice place to people watch while waiting on the clothes to dry.

The shelves inside the laundry room were filled with antiques. I particularly liked this old hair dryer...

...and the roller skates.

Our plan was to only stay one night, but we had an issue with hot water and a leak around the toilet, so we had to call a repairman. When that was fixed, the weather turned ugly, so we decided to stay a few days and leave for Oklahoma the following Monday.

It was still winter-like outside. Some trees were beginning to bud and there were a few early spring flowers. I enjoyed taking pictures of Mr. Robin.

When the robins arrive, spring will soon follow.

To be continued....