Nov. 11 week

Nov. 11 - our grandsons turned 4 today.  They had their party Saturday night, we were not present of course, but my folks and sister, Heidi, were there to help celebrate.  Katie and Jordan did their professional cake decorating again, "A Bugs Life" and "Sully" cakes.  We Face-timed with them Sunday and caught up on all the fun they had and presents they received.

Sully - "Monsters"

"A Bugs Life"

We worked overtime today (Monday) - it was a good day, we had steady work and the day went really fast.

Tuesday we drove to Owasso, OK for shopping errands.  A new Sam's Club opened there in October, it is now the closest one to us.  This was a good trip, all our familiar stores were there too, right at the same exit.  We went to Lowe's first to get more hot water heater plugs and other supplies Gary needed.  Then he dropped me off at the shoe store and went to get the oil changed in the Ford.  I had time to go through the shoe store, a "Ross" store and a Penneys.  Looking for black shoes or boots, nothing struck my fancy.  Then we stopped at the Walmart, I ran in and picked up other things I needed.  This Walmart is a little bigger and better than the one in Coffeyville.   (The captain took a nap in the car.)   Then to Sam's Club, picking up strawberries and a few staples.  Now to eat out! Pizza at Andolini's - a good choice, it was yummy. We really are missing Papa Murphy's, we will have to catch up on that when we are home in Sioux Falls.  Also, we filled up with gas in the car - Oklahoma gas is about 15 cents cheaper than Kansas prices.  We had a nice drive home.  The fall colors are pretty well gone now after the winds and the rains.
Back home, Gary plugged a heater in the water bay to prepare for the cold temps for the next couple nights - 27 and then 21 degrees at night.  We brought the water softner inside and stored it in the shower those nights - there really is no way to heat it so we can leave it outside and it is too big to fit in any of the outside bays and still be connected.

Wednesday - Saturday, back to work.  A little chilly the first couple mornings, Gary started the car early and scraped the windshield.  Luckily the roads were not slick at all.
Friday morning at beginning of the day at the standup gathering, the shift manager told me he was going to have me train on a new position, Cubiscan.  The cubiscan process is done on any new product that comes in to the warehouse, measuring and weighing it so the computer knows what box to pack it in and what postage to use when it is sent out. (Makes sense - that's how they know what box to use!)   So I stand at a station at the end of the receiver's conveyors with a computer, scanner and cubiscan machine and process each item that is sent down the conveyor.  The machine is will measure and weigh the product, I am supposed to watch the measurements to make sure they are all taken correctly and then retained.  The vendor has assigned measurements to the product, but they are not always quite correct for sending it to the buyer.
It is nice to do another job here, it's a little different than stowing every day.

Another sunset in Kansas, looking over the fishing pond at the campground.

Nov. 6 already

Our day off, Tuesday,  was rainy, we stayed inside and rested.  Wednesday back to work for the 4 days.  On Thursday after lunch, they announced we would be working 11 hour days on Friday and Saturday.  Start at 5:30 am, finish at 5:00 pm. (Camperforce workers could end their day at 4:00 if they wanted to.)  So we were up at 4:00 am and in to work for the earlier start.  The day seemed to go quickly and then at noon they announced we would end the day at 4:30 after all and we would not work the extra hour on Saturday.  All good news!
Saturday night on the way home we stopped and picked up BBQ baby back ribs at Ross's BBQ Shack.  Yum!  We bought a slab of ribs to go so we could go home and watch football.  The waitress there tempted us to stay, showing us the full plates she was serving others with ribs, corn on the cob, potatoes and then told us about the fresh peach and apple cobblers they have for desserts.  She kept laughing while she was teasing us, we promised to come back again and eat there.

Sunday we were up early and so we went to 8:00 Mass.  Had a young lady cantoring this morning with a pianist, a nice change.  Afterward we went to the grocery store to buy a treat of cinnamon rolls for brunch.  When we got home, we could see we had water leaking from the motorhome. Once again, the plug on the hot water heater had cracked, creating a leak.  But, the captain was prepared, had a supply of extra plugs and got it changed in short order.

Then we changed into our hiking clothes and headed northwest of Independence to Elk City State Park.  They have a reservoir with a large lake, campgrounds and 4 hiking trails.  It was a gorgeous sunny day.  We started with the Green Thumb Nature Trail, going through the woods with educational signs along the way.  The trail is covered with the common white gravel we see here in Kansas, but was totally covered by leaves, so we had to watch for the trees along the way that were marked with white paint.  We saw many colors of leaves and crossed the same brook three times.
Then we drove up the hills to the lookout point and hiked on the Post Oak Nature Trail.  From here we saw the dam road below, the lake and the colors across the lake.  Again, the trail was covered by leaves.  There were orange paint marks on the trees, but because the beginning was not marked clearly, we actually walked the trail backwards and only saw the orange marks when we stopped and looked backward.  We could not have got lost on this trail though, it was all on one level and the lake was on one side, the road on the other.  When done, we drove down across the dam road and found the campground below the dam.  There were half a dozen people fishing there, looked like they were catching the catfish the information described.  We took pictures of the colorful trees from down below, the sun was hitting them from the right angle.

On the Green Thumb trail

A beautiful blue color

The Elk City Reservoir road

Post Oak Trail

From the Reservoir road, looking up at the park
Nov. 10, 2013

November 2013 Begins

Back to work for our regular shift Wednesday-Saturday.  Still mostly stowing product each day, but Gary and I were both assigned to the dock area for half days.  I was unloading boxes from the semi trailer for a few hours and putting them on the conveyor they had pulled into the trailer.  Someone else would then cut the boxes open, then they were scanned to determine which carts they would be assigned to for transporting in the warehouse.  Gary was moving the carts full of product cases to the receiving area to be sorted for stowing.  On another half day this week, I was sticking identification labels on the cases loaded on pallets and then we opened the cases before they went on the conveyor belt.  The dock work is a different kind of physical labor for us, good but using new muscles again.  We do sleep well at night and find we need to go to bed earlier than we did at home.

Halloween day - workers at Amazon could wear costumes, if they conformed to the dress code - which is mostly directed to staying safe on the job.  No loose clothing that might get caught on bins, carts and conveyors.  A few did dress up, we saw a Richard Simmons, a pirate, and a couple of the CamperForce workers were dressed up as well, one as a clown and 4 of the girls wore black t-shirts with a big pink "P" on it and black makeup around one eye.   They were the "Black Eyed Peas".  

Saturday night after work we decided to get showered up and go out for supper, so that we would stay awake later - since we were going to get an extra hour of sleep with daylight savings time changing.  We went downtown to go to Lanning's again, but they were closed for a wedding reception.  So we walked around the corner to "Tavern on the Plaza".  They have live music there, this night it was a saxophone player, playing with recorded background music.  He was pretty good, but we were glad we were in the other room, he tried to play softly but that was difficult with a saxophone.

Sunday, Mass at 10:00 and then the annual church dinner and bazaar afterward. We went over to the school gym and had chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, a dinner roll and a piece of dessert, our choice from the homemade selections.  There were also booths with crafts and raffles. Quite an event for the parish.

Back home to watch the Chiefs game, another win, now 9-0!  I did some mending while watching the game. Gary worked on book work and watched the other games. Afterward I went for a walk over to nearby Leclere Park and got some pictures of the fall colors.  Back home, I finished the laundry loads and packed Gary's lunch for tomorrow.  We were offered an overtime day again tomorrow,  Monday will be our overtime days now.  Gary will work all day, I will work just a half day because I had a dentist appointment already scheduled at 2:00.  Gary will ride home with one of our fellow Camperforce friends that lives at Buckeye also.
This week all day shift work times change to report a half hour earlier, so now we will be 6:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

Along the street to the park

Leclere Park with walking trails

Looking across the park to the golf course on the hill

Above the park, colors on the hills on Nov. 3rd.
Some of the trees are already done.

A tree with just 2 branches of red color

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Days Off - Sunday, Monday

10:00 church and then home for brunch.  We took a picture of this colorful tree on the way home. Worked on laundry again, dirty jeans and sweaty shirts from working.  We are appreciating our washer/dryer so much!  I can only do small loads, but I can do them without going somewhere else. The campground has a nice laundry room with 3 washers and dryers, but it is busy constantly and I cannot see if anyone is using it from where we are parked.  Many go to the laundromats, everything could be done quicker - I love being home and knowing the cleanliness of my own washer.  (There is a sign in our campground wash room that says - "washers are not to be used for dog bedding!")
We put together a shopping list, we are going to Bartlesville, OK tomorrow for sightseeing and errands.  Watched the KC Chiefs win, 8-0 now and watched part of the Packers/Vikings game before bed.

On Buckeye Street

Monday, we woke up to heavy fog, it hung around until after 10:00.  I woke up with a crink in my neck and a headache, had to stretch and ice to get rid of it.  Also woke to noise from the icemaker and discovered that a defrosting was in order, glad we were off today!  We worked on that and some other projects and then left for Bartlesville.  There were more fall colors in the trees, but they just did not show well with the overcast skies, we kept waiting for the sun to come out as the weatherman promised.  We drove to Caney, KS and then turned south for Oklahoma.  Drove south past Copan Lake, to Dewey then Bartlesville.  Our first stop was Lowe's, mission to buy a 5 gallon water cooler for drinking water.  Next stop, historic downtown Bartlesville.  The Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center is located in the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe RR Depot.  One of the only 910 Engines is on display here, check out the Engineer!  (Astronaut and Engineer, who knew!!)

910 Engine

Engineer for a Day

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RR Depot

After a nice leisurely lunch downtown at the Indian Coffee Company, we toured the Phillips 66 Museum.  Lots of interesting history regarding the Phillips Petroleum Company that was founded in Bartlesville. Did you know Phillips 66 engineers developed plastics and invented the Hoola-hoop?? The Company originated and owned many patents, for a time period they averaged one or more new patents a day.  Now the Company is known as Conoco-Phillips.
The Phillips mansion is available to tour in town, unfortunately only open on Wednesday-Saturdays, the days we are working.  Frank Phillips also had a ranch/museum, Woolaroc, outside of town we can tour, we need to check on those hours.
Bartlesville is a much bigger town than the others nearby, so we bought groceries and other needed items before we headed home.  It was a nice drive back, the sun peaked out more so we did see some fall colors, including more Osage Orange trees.

A tree downtown Bartlesville

                    

An older Phillips building                      

In the Phillips 66 museum

Bartlesville has 25 buffalo statues all over town, each decorated differently.
One here is decorated with OSU with boots on and the other, Amadeus, has musical notes for the Symphony Center.

Home to put away groceries, make lunches and get ready for work tomorrow.  They offered voluntary overtime, VOT, so we will be going in for an extra day this week.










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Back to Work - Amazon

Oct. 22 -  home again, spent this day doing laundry and getting ready for going back to work. Emptied suitcases, putting the summer clothing in them before stowing them away.  We got out of the house for a little while to walk on the trails at the nearby park.  We also drove up the hill by the stadium to find spider balls.

In driving around in this area when we arrived, we saw trees that had grapefruit looking balls on them.  A couple of weeks ago we found a tree by the stadium full of the balls, but only a few had dropped.  We were surprised to find out that spider balls, as we know them from buying them in the stores at home, grew on these trees.  The tree is called an Osage Orange tree. You may know the bumpy fruit of the Osage Orange tree by one of its many nicknames including "Hedge Apple", "Horse Apple", "Mock Orange" or "Spider Ball".  The wrinkled skin of its softball-sized fruit is light green in color and gives off an aroma that smells like an orange.  Because of their long sharp thorns, Osage Orange trees were planted and used as fences to keep livestock from straying.  The early settlers would plant rows of these trees which grew so thick a cow or pig could not get through.  We picked up 1/2 dozen of the balls to put in the lower bays of the motorhome to keep spiders away.

Osage Orange tree - most of the leaves had dropped

Still a few balls hanging up high 

Spider balls 

Wed - Sat.  - back to work.  We are still stowing product.  Gary and I were in different areas a couple days, he was opening cartons and stowing cases of product.  I was working with carts and totes of product, seems like I was on my knees a lot putting items on lower shelves.  My body handled it pretty well, I could tell more by the dirt stains on my jeans.  A lot of the guys and gals are wearing shorts and capris with t-shirts, it does get warm in many areas during the day, but we don't want to bend down on the cement floor with bare knees.
Friday night we ordered a pizza and cheese bread from Casey's, the first pizza we have had in over a month.  It was great, enough for leftovers to enjoy.  There is a Pizza Hut in town too, but we were told Casey's was the best.

Saturday, the owners of Buckeye RV Park where we are staying had their annual picnic for the residents.  They have a chili and dessert competition we could enter and then they provide hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone.  We were to each bring a dish to share.  The time frame was 11:00 AM to 6:30 PM, this allowed us to attend after we got off work at 5:00.  I made a box brownie mix, I've realized it is cheaper and easier this way then trying to make something from scratch.
We had some of the winning chili, but the winning dessert was gone and we never did find out what it was.  The weather was cool but sunny, we had a nice visit with with owner and his wife while we ate. There were not a lot of people there by that time, so we were home by 6:30.  It really cools down quickly after 5:00 this week.   Showers and relaxing before heading to bed.  A long 40 hours, but we are feeling better each day after the 10 hour days.

Oct. 16 - 21 Travel & Wedding Days

Wednesday - we are up early, just as if we are going to work.  We left the motorhome at 6:30 AM to drive to Wichita to catch our Southwest flight to Tucson.  A nice drive, we got there easily in two and a half hours.  Parked in the Park & Ride lot, the shuttle was right there to take us to the airport. After checking in and getting through security, we had a breakfast bagel and settled in the passenger lounge to wait for our flight.  Free wi-fi, so we each worked on our I-Pads and made calls.
This is our first time flying on Southwest, so we learned how to line up for the seating order and ended up sitting with a window and center seat with a gentleman.  He said he was glad to have us sit there, in comparison to the linebacker size guy that he had sat by on his last flight.  Time to rest, I usually fall asleep on some part of the journey.
Arrived in Las Vegas, we had a one hour layover.  Just enough time for me to quickly lose my $5 in the slot machines.  There are even penny machines there, but they don't take pennies, just dollar bills and then the minimum bid is 30 cents.  Boarded our plane there about 30 minutes late and arrived in Tucson about 15 minutes late.  Dan was there waiting for us, our luggage came quickly and we were out in the sun.  We stopped to pick up Gary's vest and tie for the wedding, then went to Dan's house to get Gary's tux.  Another stop to see Gary's sisters and husbands who had arrived and then to Deb & Joe's where we stay for the week.
Wednesday night was a girls' surprise party for Connie at Deb's house.  We settled in, changed and helped Deb get ready for the guests.  Dan picked up Gary and they went over to another house for a guys' gathering.  A fun night, Connie and Dan both had surprises.

Thursday - the morning schedule is for the ladies to have massages and nails done, the guys were golfing.  A beautiful day in the desert!  After my appointments, I ran a couple errands for last minute items, then visited with Deb (and took a nap) in the afternoon.  Rehearsal was at 4:00 and then everyone boarded a shuttle bus to go to The Cadillac Chapparal restaurant for supper.  It was about a half hour drive there, it was fun having everyone together on the bus, our kids and their cousins kept us entertained with their stories.  A great meal and good time to visit with Connie's family members and catch up with our family too.  A fun ride home again.  The "cousins" group came over to be with us at Deb & Joe's house for awhile, we enjoyed all being together.

Friday - slept in!  We all needed it, with travel and two nights of parties, we were tired.  Our bodies had to adjust to the two hour time difference too, we were up two hours later each night.  Out for a walk and a lot of visiting.  We saw a roadrunner in Deb & Joe's yard this morning and deer out on the golf course.  The "cousins" girl group went for their nail appointments and then everyone was back to get ready for the wedding and the 2:30 PM picture schedule.

A perfect weather day again for the wedding.  Pictures were done easily and the guests began to arrive.  The Santa Catalina Church was built with a beautiful view of the mountains through the windows behind the altar, a perfect setting.  Ben & Kelsey were the singers, it was a treat to hear them sing again.  Gary did an extraordinary job as Best Man and Harriet was shining as Matron of Honor.  The bride looked so beautiful and elegant in her dress and the groom very dashing.

The Bride & Groom

Santa Catalina Church

Following the wedding, we all went to the Saddlebrooke Club for the reception.
We were in a room there with a wall of windows looking out over the golf club and the mountains.  As the evening progressed, the full moon came up over the mountain. Connie and Dan had a steel drum player providing the music for the evening that was quite unique and did a great job. We enjoyed visiting with family and with the Saddlebrooke friends that attended.  Many pictures were taken, I will have a few here and there will be many on Facebook from the others.  The "cousins" group came over again to be with us at Deb & Joe's house for awhile, we had a lot of conversation and celebration.

The Cousins

Moon coming over the mountain at the reception

With the bride and groom

The Sieverding "kids" in order

Saturday - we enjoyed the morning together and relaxing.  Katie's sister-in-law, Jolie and family, came from Mesa and picked her up to spend some time together.  Ben & Kelsey came over for awhile and then went to the Desert Museum.  Gary took Dale to the airport for his return flight. Gary and I drove to Oracle Junction RV Estates, just up the road a bit from Saddlebrooke and reserved a place for us to park our motorhome when we return to Arizona in January. (Yay!)

We helped Deb & Joe get their house ready for the supper gathering Dan & Connie were providing for family members and friends that had traveled for the wedding.  Also invited the Saddlebrooke friends that were so generous to house the many out of town guests.  As we were waiting for the grill to heat, we got to see Deb's "kitties" (bobcats) hop over the wall and walk around the yard. There was a small cub and two adult cats.  Gary and Joe pregrilled the brats and burgers, we served them from crockpots on the buffet line.  It was a fun evening with much food and fun.  The bride and groom joined us, their chance to say goodbye to everyone before leaving on their honeymoon.

One of the big kitties in the neighbor's yard

Sunday - the exodus begins for the travelers returning home.  Many of Connie's family, the "cousins" group and friends from Wisconsin had to fly out early Sunday morning, so they were up early and on their way.  We met Ben & Kelsey at Mass before they drove to Phoenix to catch their early afternoon flight.  We were back at Deb & Joe's, cleaning up from the night before, cleaning the neighbor's casita where guests had stayed and taking the extra items back to Dan & Connie's house.  Then some of us cheered the Chiefs to a victory!!  7-0!!  That night, we were invited over to the Smith's for supper and games for those who were still in town.  And then it was time for goodbyes.  Gary's sisters and husbands, Connie's son and family, our friend Jan B and we, all have to leave on Monday.  We said goodbye to the Saddlebrooke friends and wished everyone well until the next time.
Thank you to everyone in Saddlebrooke that were so generous with their homes and time helping host all of us.  Thank you to Deb & Joe for hosting several events at their home and transporting guests when needed.  Hope you can rest and relax now.

Oct. 13 - 15

Sunday again.  10:00 Mass and then home.  We are getting caught up on laundry and book work and starting to think about packing for Arizona.  I watched my Chiefs win AGAIN! and started gathering the items we wanted to take to Katie, Ben and Deb & Joe and for the wedding needs. Gary pulled out our suitcases from the outside bay storage.  After the game, I went to Walmart and picked up groceries and needed items.  Gary is making Peppers and Shells tonight!  Yummy!  Back home to watch the chef in action, he does a great job in our little kitchen.  Turns out our saute pan and pasta pan crowd pretty tight on the stove top, but he made it work.  A relaxing evening with nice weather again!

Monday - we wake up to rain and it rained all day.  We packed our cooler weather clothing in the suitcases, so I took all that out and started packing for the wedding trip.  Gary's white dress shirt has been rolled up in a drawer, so we will wash and iron that at Deb & Joe's after we arrive.  I had to try my dress on and figure out what jewelry to wear with it and other accessories.  The weather there will be highs in the 80's, lows in the 50's - Dan and Connie have ordered perfect weather for the wedding week.
Gary drove over to the propane dealer to make sure we could get propane tomorrow.  I spent the entire day inside, it was just too wet, cold and windy out.  Days like this we are enjoying our cable television options.  Tonight we had salmon patties for supper, I'm trying to use up things out of our pantry.  Monday night football and resting.

Tuesday - today is propane day.  Sounds easy, just drive over and have them fill up our tank, BUT this also means putting everything away inside, securing everything again for travel mode, unhooking everything outside and pulling the slides in.  It always takes longer than we think, so it was noon before we were ready.  I went over and told the office we would be gone for awhile, they were looking for a window of time that they could mow our site and the adjoining ones.  It was a nice sunny day again, just a little cooler.

Off to the propane store, their parking lot was muddy and full of puddles, but we got backed in and filled up.  We stopped and filled up the gas tank too, Gary will put some stabilizer in it since we (hopefully) will be sitting again until just before Christmas when we winterize it to come home.
When we got back to the campground, they were just mowing, so a delay there, but they did a thorough job.  We changed our parking on the site to be on firmer ground, then it was time to set up again.  While backing in, we turned into some softer ground from the rain across the road! (Yikes!!) but the captain got it out without getting stuck.  Gary worked outside hooking everything up and I put almost everything out again inside.  A couple more hours work, but now we will have enough propane to run the furnace when we need it.

Finished packing, showers, leftover Peppers & Shells supper, we are ready for travel tomorrow! We will miss our entire Amazon shift this week, but we had arranged that with them before we signed on.  It will be great to see everyone - all Gary's siblings will be there and our kids, Connie's family and the many friends we have made in Saddlebrooke where Dan & Connie and Deb & Joe live.  It will be a wonderful celebration.