Amy: After leaving St. Louis we made our way to Olathe, KS to visit with my Aunt Kathie & family. The plan was to stay for 3-4 days and then head down to Oklahoma to visit my sister. You know what they say about plans though...they only attract kinks. We decided to park the 5th-wheel in Walnut Grove RV Park (are you thinking of Little House on the Prairie yet?). I wouldn't consider it a RV park though...more like a RV horseshoe, but we weren't going to be spending any time there. We were staying at party central, baby! My Aunt Kathie is the most bitchinest person to ever walk the face of the Earth AND she has a bar in her basement. Woo-hoo! (Greg & Chelsea, you guys are pretty cool too! S'up?) We arrived in the middle of the week, so we spent the first few days lounging, watching movies and waiting for the magical 5 o'clock hour when the day truly began. The Browns may be bigger movie buffs than the Carrolls! They literally have an entire Blockbuster video store in their basement. We were in heaven.
Erik: I knew when we dropped the 5th wheel off that there was something odd with Billy Jack (our truck). On the way to KS, he started "shifting" weird and erratic ... can you say transmission? After losing all but 1st and 2nd gear, I was able to get the truck to Olathe Ford and found out that it was completely and utterly Fuuuu - BAD! To remedy said Fuuuu - bad transmission I would have to purchase another one for the low, low - heck, BARGAIN BASEMENT price of $5000.00! Needless to say I jumped on my only option like Tim Robbins
got jumped in Shawshank and was prepared to take it like ol' Timmy did. In the meantime, we rocked it like the professionals we are - every day at da Brown residence!
Amy: My heart sank when the truck started acting "abnormal". But it was what it was. The truck needed a new transmission and then it would be all better! It was a huge chunk out of the ol' bank account; but there's more money out there and I have my metal detector. It only takes 2300 soda can tabs to equal $1.00, you know? Plus, we were with family and not stranded at a random campground in the middle of nowhere under the hot Kansas sun. We decided to just go with the flow, it's really the only way to live. Of course there are going to be obstacles along this journey, but there are always ways around them...it just might not be exactly the way we planned. So we say, "No More Plans!" You're usually only left disappointed and confused when they don't work out, and that's no way to live!! :) We had a huge backyard with a hammock in the shade, a park/playground right down the street, Lucy the golden retriever, a nature/walking trail close by, awesome human beings to chat with into the wee hours of the morning (a shout out to our new friends Micheal & Rachael) and a place to do laundry for free! We had nothing to complain about.
Erik: Our daily routine went something like this: woke up whenever we woke up, Netflix catch up till 2 p.m. or so. What's in the queue you ask? Sarah Silverman Program, Arrested Development, Chappelle's Show, a mockumentary about Pauly Shore adopting a foreign kid, and a great documentary called Man on Wire (a must see) to name a few. Then... STOP! Hammock Time! ...
Why would I ever...stop doing this??? Go Hammock, go, go, go Hammock...um, pool around 4 p.m. (I personally loved the water games), yummy din-din around 7 p.m. and great conversation until whenever. We also went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO, which was amazing!
I made an extra special bond with Lucy Lu. There is a strange Ace Venturaesque connection between animals and me lately. Except cats. I have never understood them - you probably can attribute it to my childhood and our one eyed cat Squidlin'. Apparently she never forgave me for playing bowl kitty with her when she was smaller. I do believe she also harbored anger in general because she was too slow to dodge the rock that was thrown from a passing car thus resulting in her cyclopedness. I never will forget the night I came home from Giovanni's Pizza back in the day and she waited in hiding until I was halfway down the basement stairs to attach herself to my leg via claws and teeth. Nope, never liked cats much.
Amy: The art museum was a great day out. I want to be the artist who erects the world's largest shuttlecocks on a plush, green lawn! Who thinks of these things? I want to meet them. And men without heads?? My fave kind.
Very cool Egyptian galleries as well. We had dinner at Oklahoma Joe's BBQ. It's where the U.S. Prez ate while he was in town...so it's gotta be tasty, right? It was. I put away some BBQ & slaw. Then put some more away a few hours later! The second week in Kansas was much the same as the first, except we got outside more during the day. We were getting cabin fever. For 6 weeks we were used to being outdoors the majority of the day, then we were in a big, comfy house with space to roam around in, and we vegged that first week in Kansas, I will admit. But even that gets old. We went to the pool almost every afternoon the second week. The girls are fish. I'm more of a swim, cocktail, swim, cocktail type of girl. Then I just kind of float. Although Chelsea and I did manage to choreograph and execute a few "perfect 10" unsynchronized swimming routines. It's more difficult than you think. Our last day there, a huge midwestern thunderstorm came out of seemingly nowhere.
It was intense and the girls were scared. Having grown up in the southeastern US, it was unlike any storm they'd experienced. We drove home from the pool through the storm and when we arrived back to my aunt's house, found that a tree had fallen into her backyard. It was split directly down the middle, half the tree falling in one yard, half in another. There were tree branches down all over the neighborhood. I couldn't believe it. Luckily, there was no damage to either house or the fence in between. AND we learned what a microburst is. Never knew... always something cool to learn each and every day!
Erik: After days of waiting and playing phone tag, I finally got an answer from the Ford guy about our truck. Looks like we were in luck and they had their hands on a rebuilt transmission. They promised to have us "up and running in no time". The day I picked up the truck was nerve racking! I was literally shaking when I paid. I had one assurance about the truck--the transmission came with a 3 yr/75k warranty that would ease my mind of the fact that we were giving them $5k. After that ordeal, Greg and I went to Walnut Grove, scooped up the 5th wheel and headed back to their pad. We shoved everyone into 2 vehicles and proceeded to Hillsdale State Park to "park" the RV for the next week or so while we headed down to Oklahoma to see Rob and Ally. It was half the price per night compared with the Grove. While we never stayed overnight, we did have a great day swimming in the lake. It was an experience for Emily & Zoe as they had ever been in a body of water other than a pool or the ocean. Amy and I both walked gingerly into the lake. Growing up in Ohio, we've done our share of lake/river swimming (I'm sure we're mutant), and know what the bottom feels like......EEWWWWWW!!! Call me what you will but EEEEEEWWWW!!!!!! Surprisingly, this lake felt, for the most part, like the ocean floor. There were a few questionable moments. Seriously, think about how the mud used to squish between your toes!
Amy: There were multiple campgrounds at the state park - we were assigned to Crappie Cove. "Is this a bad sign?" I wondered. No pun intended. The lake took me back to my childhood. I'm not big on swimming in water I can't see through. I thoroughly convinced myself that I was swimming in a "safe" area of the lake...far, far away from the bacteria cesspool section! I especially love when something that feels like stringy vegetation brushes past my leg sending me into a state of panic. Once I got past all that, the lake was super fun! :)
We left KS and made our way to Oklahoma City. We would be returning back through KS to continue our journey north, so there was no need to drag the RV to and fro. Plus, we wanted to put some miles on the transmission before we started hauling 11,000 lbs. through the mountains.
We had a great time at my sister's. The girls love their cousin, Parker, and he loves "playing with the girlwees." Being at the Bryan's house is a lot like going to a private resort. We've already vacationed there four weeks in the past eight months. I'm just waiting to hear the words, "Carrolls, we would love for you guys to live here permanently!" Ha!-kidding guys. No need to change the locks. Yet. But it is tough to drag us away from the house while we are there. We spent time in the pool during the day (there's a diving board AND slide!) and the hot tub at night. I could sit outside all night and watch the sky. There is such little light pollution in OK that if you look close enough you can occasionally spot a satellite.
Erik: I really enjoyed the conversations that I had with Rob out at the pool after everyone had settled down. I have known Rob forever, yet I don't know him at all. Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to get to know him on a personal level. What I found is that we are completely opposite and completely the same. Through our conversations we were able to convey our feelings as well as words. It provided a deeper insight on who we both were and undoubtedly we are developing a great friendship. I can trust Rob and he can trust me. I want to thank him and look forward to assembling a kick ass squad together so we can kill some 12 year olds on Bad Company! You my boy Rob!
Amy: We took the kids to Lake Hefner one day to play. It's huge, with trails encircling the entire lake...ten miles all the way around. It's obviously very windy in OK, which I enjoyed, but I don't live there full-time either. The roof on my sister's house was being replaced the week we were there because of damage from the crazy hail storm they had in May. If you've never seen footage from the storm, youtube it! Huge hail. There were lots of roofs being replaced. My UTMOST respect to the guys working on those roofs...12 hours a day on a sloping black roof under a scorching hot sun! I probably wouldn't make it 15 minutes. Another day we all went to White Water Bay water park. It was fun for everybody, except the park doesn't provide any floats for the lazy river or wave pool. You have to rent one on top of paying their crazy admission price. I call complete bullshit on that! What a scam. You are permitted to bring in your own floats...but who knows that ahead of time?? And who's going to get back in their car, drive to get a float and return to the park? Not this girl. I'll walk the lazy river. The day before we left OK, we went to Martin Nature Park. We decided a picnic lunch would be nice and purchased some to-go meals from Qdoba. No basket required. I loved walking the trails, witnessing nature up close and personal. It had me itching to be out on the road again. I am a Sagittarius, after all, the gypsies of the zodiac. I love traveling to new places, meeting new people, experiencing new things, and then moving on. The RV is our constant...the outside scenery may change, but inside is comfort and familiarity. Oh, and the occasional mess. Even in a 32' trailer, we can't seem to manage to have everything in it's proper place at any one given time. Good thing we have feet for stepping over and hands for stacking, piling, and pushing out of the way!
It's always hard to say good-bye to my sissy. I love you, Ally. Very much. God made us sisters, Prozac made us friends :) See you in Wyoming!
