Semper Gumby

Today is Thursday, June 5, 2008....it has been a little bit since I have had a chance to catch up on the blog. Tuesday when the horses went home it seemed to take the wind out of our sails a little, but we have so much to look forward to that we just continued on the adventure. So after having the "best chicken strips in the world" at the Terrier Express in Thomas, Chisholm, Matthew, Donna, and I headed toward Crowder Lake...we made a couple of stops in Weatherford. One was at the produce stand, where I had a hard time parking....I missed being on the horse, where you could just go where you wanted to go...they said that I couldn't just make a U turn in the middle of the street and park anywhere I wanted....I think the horse would have been better....and when I went to the ballgame later that night I DID jump the curb so I could find a parking spot.... LOL... After arriving at Crowder Lake Matt and Chisholm went down to fish and Donna and I set up the tent...it is a good thing that Donna knows what she is doing! I know the wind always blows in Western Oklahoma, but it has been blowing fiercely the last few days. In the mid afternoon after having no luck, the fishermen decided to stop. We had a peanut butter and Doritos sandwich....all the other people seemed to think this was a normal combination except me....but they assured me that it was great....Finally, we headed back to Thomas so Chisholm could get ready for his game. I assured Donna we would come back to get her!!! And it was only $6 dollars a night to camp! What a bargain.....
The game was great even though Thomas got beat....Chisholm is the 3rd baseman and he stretched way out to catch a ball that was hit toward 3rd base making the 3rd out....man on man you should have seen the grin....Matt was able to get a super picture.... As we were sitting there in the stands, I kept looking around for someone to give a copy of the book to. I asked Matt if he saw anyone who looked like a teacher in the stands....he looked and looked and finally he said I think that lady sitting on the top row in pink is a teacher....well, I agreed...so away I went.....She had been a teacher in her younger years, and she wondered if it was a compliment that she looked like a teacher....I assured her it was! She told me the lady (Gina Kardokus) in front of her was currently a Kindergarten teacher in Weatherford....So I explained our story and Gina whole heartedly agreed with me that it would be hard to find a kindergartner alive today that would have been capable of what Temple did.
After the game Matt and I picked up stuff for hot dogs and we had a nice little snack before hitting the tent for a good nights sleep.
What a great surprise that Crowder Lake had showers!!! Whoohoo....
Wednesday morning we had a nice breakfast of bacon and toast roasted over the fire... We went through Cordell, Hobart (to pick up video discs--long story) and then we finally arrived in Roosevelt...We were hoping to talk to someone at the senior citizen center, but in was closed for harvest season we were to soon learn. At the welding shop in town we saw a little activity, and so we stopped, hoping someone could point us in the right direction. Well, we definitely stopped at the right place! Larry Phillips pointed us toward Roosevelt's "official" historian....retired teacher Wanda Jackson..she was hanging out at her "research" place....the convenience store. When we walked in, she waved and said come on in....I know who you are.....Well, we were a little surprised and donna even thought that maybe Larry had called ahead to warn her....BUT SHE KNEW ALL ABOUT US.... she had visited our blog already and had even written an article for the Kiowas Democrat and the Roosevelt: A to Z....WOW unsolicited press! She was a wonderful source of information...I think if she were a couple of "weeks" younger, she would want to go with us. Matt says that if we would have asked she would have jumped in the car..... I think our spirits were lifted so much after meeting with Wanda. I could have talked to her for a very long time. I feel we have a new friend. I look forward to reading her internet newspaper in the weeks to come!
Then, we headed to one of my favorite spots in the whole world....The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge! It was new to Donna and I was able to show her all of my favorite spots....Thanks dad for meeting us at Meers and treating us to dinner. It was nice to see Billy Iams again....Donna and Matt each had a Meersburger... The rest of us were "dainty" eaters and just had regular burgers.....
I think the highlight of the day was when we were sitting on top of Mt. Scott and after we had climbed around and Matt took some awesome pictures, we checked and we had cell service! All three of us were busy checking voice mail when Sharon Bennett for the Frederick Chamber called to see if we could do an interview for the radio....So we put the phone on speaker and had a great interview while we had this spectacular view of Lawton and Ft. Sill from atop Mt. Scott....But the funniest part was since the phone was on speaker I thought the air-conditioner made to much noise so I turned the car off..............I think we sweated off 5 pounds. We spent the night at the "Swandarosa" which is east of Apache....We didn't have to drag the tent out since they have a picturesque little cabin that had beds! We pulled in when it was almost dark, but Matt was able to find the dominoes--so we had a little gave before bed.... All in all, it was a very good day.....
Thanks Brother Mich for the reminder to always be flexible!
Hey Gordon and Mike....Love you and see you soon.
Melody