More From the Wichita Mountains

 We are here in OKC with not much going on, just catching up on Dr appts and such. Sheryl has been feeling under the weather, so we have't had a chance to go and see our newest grand baby yet. Looking forward to seeing the little guy and of course mom and dad too, just didn't want to take the chance of passing on the yucks to anyone. So in the mean time here a few more shots of the Wichita Mountains.

 Grumpy Face Rock

 Passing on a Secret

Can't have to many bison shots!!! That's it for now and we'll post more on the new baby as we get them. Take Care and see ya soon....................

Visiting the Grandbabies

 We left Lawton and Ft Sill bright early Saturday morning and made it into the DFW area a few hours later. Even then the heat penetrated the rig and we had to run the generator and A/C the whole way here, first time we have ever had to do that. It did help with setting up as the rig cooled down that much faster. We have been here in the DFW area for a few days to visit our little grand kids and of course mom and dad. Even though they are little, they are not so little for their age, man they grow them big here in Texas, must be something in the water!!! It sure was nice spending time with them playing and just getting in a good visit as it may be a while before we are able to see them again.

On another note, the new grandbaby we have been waiting for in OKC made an early arrival. He wasn't due till the 1st, but decided he had, had enough, and made his appearance Sunday evening. So we missed the birth by a few days. Oh well that will give mom and dad a day or two at home before we get there. We head out today (Tuesday) for OKC where we will hang out for a couple of weeks to see the new little one and then start making our way up to Indiana.
Ok, that's it for now, time to get ready to hit the road...................................

Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge

 The last couple of days I spent out at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is the main reason for us coming down this way and spending some time. As with most of the eastern U.S. it's hard to find large expanses of public land so you have to see it when you can.  The refuge is 59,000 acres of wild  and beautiful landscape, not what you would expect in Oklahoma. One of the refuge's main attractions (besides it's rugged beauty) is the 650 head of wild free range Bison, which can be seen most anywhere in the refuge. During my outings I was only able to spot a small group and a few loners.

 The main road through the refuge travels approx 15-20 miles east to west, through the southern third. The northern two thirds is off limits to the public, reserved for the animals.

 Small Bison herd.

 I was surprised by the number of lakes and streams within the refuge.

 Since the refuge is free range, the bison wander at will. Getting good shots of them can mean some bushwacking to get close. But remember they are wild, so don't get too close. Thank goodness for a long lens.

 Refuges rugged beauty

 Beautiful Creatures

 Across the stream lies a large designated wilderness area (no mechanical transportation of any kind allowed).

Nothing like a good back scratching in the dirt.

These were just a fractions of the shots I captured, Next time I'll post some more and some of the sights not pictured here. Hope you enjoyed them, so until next time..............................

Lake Elmer Thomas Recreation Area, Ft Sill, OK.

 We are here at the Lake Elmer Thomas Recreation Area (LETRA) on Ft Sill in SW Oklahoma. We left OKC yesterday and made the short 1 1/2 hour drive down here. Our main focus for this trip is to explore the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge just outside the base. We are here for a week, which should give us plenty of time to get out and about the Refuge and City of Lawton. We decided to just spend the day here at the RV Park and just get out and shoot some photos of the surrounding area.

Hope you enjoys those first few. I'll do a write up on the park itself in a few days, so until next time, Take Care and See Ya Soon..........................

Slide Out Second Opinion

First off, Thanks Paul and Rick for suggesting the Factory Service Center and a second opinion. I contacted Fleetwood's Service Center via their "Request a Quote" web page. Message said it would take 3-5 business days for an answer, so I was quite surprised to see an email from them in my inbox this morning. I opened the email and got ready for the sure to come bad news, well to say the least, I about fell out my chair when the est came back as a little over $500.00!!!. I figured there had to be some mistake as that's a big $4000 difference, so I gave them a call just to be sure. I talked directly with the service guy who did the estimate, explained what they told me here in OKC, explained the leak we were having, ete, etc. He said he went back and talked to the tech's that would be doing the repair and they said it's an easy 4 hour fix with no need to pull the slide from the rig. So it looks like we'll be headed to Indiana for our Sep 2nd appointment!!!
Wow, what a relief, we can get it fixed and not break the bank! Paul and Rick I own you guys a drink should we catch up sometime on the road!!!
We are taking off tomorrow for about a week and a half, just to get out of OKC for a bit, then be back here around the first for the arrival of our new grandbaby! Happy Grand Parents!!!
That's it for now and we'll see back here again...................

Slide Out Blues Get Even Bluer

Finally got the call and the official estimate, hold on to you hat!!! $4500.00 and that's if all goes well. Considerably more than we were expecting, we came to terms with spending 2-3K, but 4-5k, That's well beyond what we are comfortable spending, so it looks like we'll just be pulling in the slide during rain storms for a while. We have also begun thinking about biting the bullet and getting another rig. Just have to figure if doubling our current payment is worth it. What ever we did buy it would be our forever rig and by the time it was paid for, it would be time to start looking at an exit plan. We would still keep it as a home and look for a semi permanent site for it, hard to believe how fast age creeps up on you!!!
So long story short, not fixing it and looking at getting something else. Good thing is we're in no hurry and can take our time looking....................Take Care and see ya soon.

The Slide Out Blues

Well, Thursday came and went, we had to cancel our appointment with the repair shop as something came up. We did however reschedule for Monday and were there bright and early for them to take a look at it. A few hours later and the bad new came (half expected), the slide needs new inner seals, which consist of dismantling the inside of the slide and removing it from the motorhome. New seals could then be installed and the slide put back in, all to the tune of $2000-$3000, OUCH!!! We are still waiting for the official estimate, but that's what it's looking like and probably more on the higher side of that. Ok, well, darn and after the initial shock wore off, what has to be done has to be done and as long as they don't come back with some other outrageous figure, we'll have the work done. The parts will take around 10 days or so to come in and then we can schedule an appointment, once started we are looking at being homeless for 3-4 days, again DARN IT!!!
That is a big chunk of change, but it is our home and needs to be fixed. We could let it go and just pull the slide in each time it rains, but of course that's a pain and then pawn it off on new owner when we trade it in one day, but we couldn't do that in good conscious. So now it just a matter of waiting and getting done. We are going to try and head out for a couple of weeks at the end of this week, by that time she should be ready to go in the shop.
Just another quick update and we'll see you back here again, Take Care.

It's been a slow week since the Baby Shower, just generally hanging out and day to day life..............ahhhhh the joys of retirement!!!
We do however have an issue that we are finally (hopefully) are going to get taken care of this week. For the last couple of years we have been fighting a water leak from our bedroom slide out. We had it resealed, caulked and every other home remedy we could think of including tilting the rig during rainstorms. Well, after this final storm the other night and our bedroom carpet once again getting wet we are taking it into a different RV shop to have it looked at and hopefully fixed this time. This is probably something we should have done a long time ago, however we thought we had it fixed each time we had it repaired. Anyway, Thursday, we are off to a local RV repair and body shop to have it looked at. Wish us luck and we'll let you know how it turns out (may have to wait for another good rain storm)..............................