North Platte, Nebraska – Kohler Trailer Sales, Holiday Inn Express, Good Life on the Bricks, Scout’s Rest Ranch, Canteen Grille

So… From Ogallala, Nebraska, we headed toward North Platte. Hubby spent the morning in Ogallala trying to get the trailer fixed, but it just wasn’t going to happen. We used a chain to tie up the back axel and off to North Platte we went. We turned off I-80 onto some back roads. About that time the little asked where we were. I jokingly said I don’t know… On a road somewhere in the middle of Nebraska!?!? About all I knew. I wasn’t even sure where we were headed other than North Platte which was 50 miles East on I-80.

Now if you don’t know why it matters that we lost the wheel bearing… here’s why… Do you see that gap in the wheel? That’s where the bearing sits. Now, I’m no expert! Trust me. But basically, that’s metal on metal plus the axel can be bent if you don’t take care of it properly. I won’t go into the details because I’m no expert. From Ogallala, they sent us to North Platte to Kohler Trailer Sales.

Kohler Trailer Sales
3821 W Rodeo Rd Ave
North Platte, NE

We pulled into their parking lot before lunchtime on Tuesday. They were full that day but told us they would get us on the books the next morning and try to get us back on the road. So we dropped the trailer and our truck off and headed to the Holiday Inn Express.

Holiday Inn Express
300 Holiday Frontage Rd
North Platte, NE

This time we had a double queen room. Now, I have to say, I think I liked the bathroom set up better in Ogallala, but this was a very nice room. This hotel had a pool as well. Due to Covid-19, they had some rules in place for using the pool. You were signed up for pool time and were allowed 45 minutes. They limited it to 18 people in the room (I think it was. I do remember it was a few more than Ogallala). (more…)

Dear 2020

This is hysterical! 🤣I don’t know who wrote this, but as the end says I want this to pop up in a few years and be like WOW!
 
Dear Diary 2020 Edition,
 
In ❄️ January, 🔥 Australia caught on fire. I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran 🇮🇷 . We might actually still be almost at war with them 🤔. I don’t know, because 👩 Jen Aniston and 👨🏻 Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards 🏆 show and everyone flipped the crap out 😲, but then there was this thing happening in 🦇 🇨🇳 China, then 👑 Prince Harry and Megan ✌🏼 peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial 👩‍⚖️ , and then corona virus 🦠 showed up in the US ✔️“officially,” but then 🏀 Kobe died 😭and UK 🇬🇧 peaced out of the European Union.
In February, 🌽 Iowa crapped 💩 itself with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the 👩🏼‍💼Speaker of the House took ten. Whole. years. to rip up a speech , but then The👨‍🔬 🌎WHO decided to give this virus a name COVID-19, which confused 🤔some really important people 👔 in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty👨🏻‍⚖️, and 🇺🇸 Americans started asking if Corona beer 🍺 was safe to drink🤦🏻‍♀️, and everyone on Facebook became a doctor 👨‍⚕️ who just knew the 🤒flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

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Holiday Inn Express, Open Range Grill, Scooter’s Coffee – Ogallala Nebraska

So let me tell you about the week I spent in Ogallala, Nebraska Monday afternoon. Yes, you read that correctly :). A week one afternoon. How does that happen? Well, let me tell you…

First off, here’s the story that leads us to Ogallala.

The weekend before Memorial Day, we headed off to Greenville, Texas, to trade hubby’s truck off. Since he got the 2013 that he now drives, he’s taking better care of it. It’s a gorgeous truck by the way!! I’m happy he’s taking care of it.

But, we do farm work. During the summer we bale hay. And if you have any kind of luck as we do… you know that machinery breaks constantly. So his truck was getting overrun with tools to fix said hay machinery. He really didn’t want that. So we bought a toolbox to put in the bed of the truck. At least kept the tools off the back floorboard.

While that worked a little, he still wasn’t totally happy with that option, so we started looking for a farm truck that he could deck out with the tools necessary to fix anything as well as a fuel tank and a bale spike to move hay with, etc.

So he got on Purplewave and started just watching trucks. Low and behold, he bid on a truck, really thinking he’d get outbid… until he didn’t. Yup, we won said truck. And said truck was located in Ogallala, NE.

Off to Ogallala, NE

He told me late last week that we might be making a quick trip to Ogallala, NE. I started laughing for 2 reasons. 1) why? and 2) back in college I had to write a paper for a short story class. I took a story my uncle told me and of course embellished it a bit. I didn’t know what my uncle’s hometown was at the time I wrote the paper (just knew he was from Nebraska) so I made the story take place in Ogallala. I’d never been there or really even knew where it was. I just looked at a map, I thought it was a fun name, and chose it. (more…)

Book Review: Talking as Fast as I Can – Lauren Graham

After reading about the Mitchell Sisters, I decided to sidestep and read about Lauren Graham. Some interesting things about this book…

  • I started it years ago.
  • It was actually bought for my hubby to read. He’s a Lauren Graham fan. 
  • His favorite tv series was Gilmore Girls.
  • Hubby bought it on audiobook. 
  • He and I were going through it at the same time. Although he may have finished it just before I did…
  • I actually read this from a hardback book, not off Kindle.
  • She reads her own audiobook.

Sometimes I start books and read more than one at a time because I get tired of a particular genre. It’s just something I do. If you go read my GoodReads it shows I’m reading more than one book. Honestly, right now I’m reading just 1 book, but still. (more…)

Corpus Christi, Texas: North Beach and Fajitaville

What do you do when you are in San Antonio but want to go to the beach? You drive to the closest one. After doing a little bit of research, the Corpus Christi area seemed like the best option. It was all interstate and it was about an hour and a half to two-hour drive.

When we started planning our trip to San Antonio we asked the girls what they wanted to do while we were on vacation. The only thing the little one said was the beach. Well if you haven’t noticed, San Antonio is still kind of in the upper part of Texas. Now, I use the “upper part” loosely because Texas is huge and in comparison, it really isn’t, but what I mean is, San Antonio is more inland bound.

We planned on Friday of our trip to be our beach day. That still gave us a day to mill around San Antonio. Plus we weren’t driving 4 hours (2 hours one way) and then home 11 hours the next. We had that cushion day in there to recoup from the beach.

Hubby, being the researcher he is, really didn’t research where we were going to go once we got to Corpus Christi. We just decided to wing it. As we pulled into the area, we found North Beach. We did a slight bit of research on the road and decided that might not be a bad place to check out, so that’s where we landed. We stopped along the way to get some sand buckets and shovels and plastic cups… who doesn’t use plastic cups to play in the sand? It was all I could find honestly. And we were ready for a day at the beach. (more…)

4th of July Photo Journal – Dive Club

I saw a meme on Facebook the other day saying something to the effect, 4th of July is over, it’s now time to get your Halloween costumes, your Thanksgiving menu, Christmas Presents, and we’re basically at the New Year, Happy 2020. Truthfully I might have giggled a little too much because… the way this year has been flying by, that almost seems real! Here we are 5 days past the 4th of July. Hello, July 9. We’re quickly approaching the dawg days of summer. It is finally getting hot and humid in Missouri. Yes, we have humidity. Yes, it’s horrible. You walk out of your house and feel like you’ve just walked out of the shower. It’s nuts.

Spring has been crazy around here. Tornadoes on top of tornadoes. Rain and flooding. Cooler temperatures… you name it, we’ve probably seen it. Except for a Hurricane. If we see a hurricane in Missouri, we have real problems. Did you know I’m only just a few hours away from the dead middle point of the U.S.? It’s up on the Kansas border near Nebraska. I’ve never been there although that’s on my list of things to do someday. Why not… 

I actually live in a part of Missouri where within 30 minutes you can be further into Missouri, into Oklahoma or Kansas or Arkansas. And there is a point over near here where you can be standing on the border of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. 3 states in one swoop. Honestly, I’ve never been there either although I’ve always been within a mile or so of it. Why I never stop I have no idea.

This year because the 4th of July fell when it did, we got to celebrate twice. Once with our diver friends and again with my husband’s extended family. I overheard that some people think the 4th of July is only about bbq’s, fireworks, and spending time with family. That’s totally inaccurate. It’s about the birthday of our country. On July 4th, 1776 our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence freeing us from British control. It was only after a horrific battle called the Revolutionary War was fought and won. Just thought I’d throw that very broad, basic explanation out there for anyone who might be confused. Do they not teach that in schools anymore? Although the person who made the previous claim is closer to my age than not. I’m really confused.

4th of July

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Kansas City: Where We Stayed, Where We Ate, What We Did

Wow, it’s been quite a while since we actually went to Kansas City, but still, it’s worth mentioning.

Last month we made a weekend trip, actually just an overnight trip to Kansas City. The goal was to go to the Farmer’s Market and get Jalapeños. I know that sounds funny, but hubby makes these things called candied jalapeños and the best place to get bulk jalapeños at a decent price is the City Market in Kansas City. Gosh, I love that place. The first time we went, I wound up buying 20 pounds of jalapeños. This time we only bought 15 pounds. haha. You still get just as many weird looks buying 5 pounds fewer jalapeños.

But, because we went, we decided to make it a weekend trip. This summer’s goal has been to Have Fun!

Where We Stayed

4600 Summit St. Kansas City, MO

We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Kansas City Country Club Plaza. (more…)

Book Review: Melissa Explains It All

This is a book that took me a bit to read. In fact, I think I got it about the time it hit shelves… oh… around 2013 maybe 2014. So why did it take me so long to read… Well, if you remember, there was this thing called Grad School. If, and that is a strong if, I had free time, I had a lot of books to read for comps… so reading for pleasure was only a distant memory. Then… I moved. When I moved, I tried to put it in a place I could keep track of it, but it got misplaced a lot. I finally found it this spring, I was maybe 40 pages in if that. I found it just after I finished My Life in France about Julia Child.

Earlier this year hubby got me a Kindle and I love my Kindle. It makes it easier to read at night, that’s for sure. So when I finished Julia Child’s book, I planned on just taking my kindle to the ride we were going to. That way I didn’t have to drag any books with me, I had multiple books on my kindle… but as you know, that didn’t happen. Nope. I took this book with me. Hubby laughed at me.

While we were at the ride, one morning Jared took it from me and started reading it. That was fine, I had my Kindle and was planning on reading Royal Date by Sariah Wilson. If there’s one thing I can tell you about myself, I’m usually reading more than one book at a time. They are usually different genre’s so if I get tired of say, a memoir, I have a love story to read, or whatever. It’s the 7 Ps. Proper Prior Planning Prevents Pretty Poor Performance.

Oh and that was April and I’m just now blogging about it… That’s because I set it down at about 80% through and misplaced it again. Oy! I misplaced my Kindle this summer to. Who knows. I found it in my daughter’s ballet bag about 2 weeks after I couldn’t find it. I even looked in there once. (more…)

#BlogJuly 2018

I want to name this… “Feed me, Seymore,” I swear, that’s what they are saying to me.

I’ve said this way too much here lately… but I swear… where on earth has this summer gone? It’s like I went to sleep, June 1st and woke up to August 5th. But with that being said, let’s get on with this recap.

Top July Blog Posts 2018

  1. 2012 – Poulet Tchoupitoulas
  2. 2011 – I Like to Dip {No Double Dipping Allowed}
  3. 2017 – Aunt Sandy’s Banana Bread
  4. 2017 – Gus’s Mac and Cheeseburger
  5. 2016 – Stables Casino Restaurant {Miami, Oklahoma}

Honorable Mentions

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Strawberry Lemonade Cake and Birthday Wishes

Hey Guys! Today is my birthday. I am 29 with 6 years experience. Well, technically I won’t be that until 1:51 pm, but close enough at this point, right?

I was back and forth on if I was actually going to make my birthday cake or not. Truthfully… it wasn’t because I didn’t know if I wanted to make my own cake, there were other factors involved. In the end, I decided… make the cake… screw everything else. So I went to the store in search of strawberries and lemons.

Look at everything I came home with. Yes, I did get the strawberries. But the lemons… Earlier this year I went to the store in search of limes and they didn’t have any. Not one. All they had was the bottled juice. Shucks… but I went with it. Now… when I’m in search of lemons, they don’t have any. Grrr…. why does it seem like everyone wants what I want when I want it? Oh, and if you were wondering, the store had a crapton of limes. haha. Touché. Nicely played store, nicely played.

Anyway, do you see what else I came home with? Seriously. I also meant to get the deodorant. I was out. I don’t like stinking. Just saying. But I also got iced coffee, birthday candles, chocolate chips, a cake pan, purple food coloring, 4 cheap pillowcases, and shoes for the little one that she picked out.

So now it’s time for the reveal of my birthday cake. I decided on Strawberry Lemonade. It felt summery. I also wanted French Buttercream on it. I’m kind of in love with French Buttercream these days. Next up on my list of things to try… Swiss Meringue Buttercream. (more…)