Styrofoam, Bubble Wrap and Cardboard may cost plenty...

This little town, in northeastern Iowa, has the best recycling system I have ever seen. Well, actually, probably the only recycling I've seen! Our town, in southern MS doesn't recycle. 

However, we do eat Pickled Pigs Feet (well, some of us do) - isn't that using everything? Would that be considered "recycling."

When I learned that there was recycling and a Recycling Center, I put a big trash can outside the kitchen door, in the Garage, and I began sorting what I thought was recycleable objects into the can. 

We made a trip to the Recycle Center and the "fun" began, as did my knowledge of the "proper" way to recycle. 

Outside, there were three huge (I mean HUGE) trash bins. It will take a Dump Truck to pick those things up! Cardboard was supposed to go into one of them, and I'm not sure about the other two. We either didn't have what they were supposed to hold - or we put what we had in the wrong place! (That sounds more logical.)

Just outside the door to the Recycle Center room were two large wire type containers that might have been chicken coops in an earlier time and place. The sign said, "all bottles must be put in cardboard boxes." Thankfully, we hadn't already put our cardboard boxes into the HUGE container, 'cause we had lots of bottles - wine, you know!! 

The next notice read, "please double knot all bags to keep cans contained." We had no cans, but if we had they would have had to go back home with us.....who takes a trash bag to the Recycle Center?

Now, when I say that I had things "sorted" for recycling - I simply meant everything had been "dumped" into a trash can. So, we go inside said Recycle Center and the "sorting" began. (I really thought we'd take that trash can to the Recycle Center and just "dump" it all into one large container.) Well, NOT!

There were 16 - count 'em - 16 big containers with signs above them regarding what was allowed and what wasn't. 

And we began throwing the plastic into the plastic bin - but milk jugs had to go into a bin all their own. Then there was one for newspapers, one for magazines, one for books (I thought people put those in Garage Sales!), one for "other" paper (and I put nothing there 'cause I wasn't sure just what "other" paper was), and there was a can bin inside, too, (so why would I have to put my cans in a trash bag and put them outside?), and there was "other" plastic (and that's where I put the Bubble Wrap).

Well, being the photographer (amateur with phone) that I am, I took photos of everything.

Once we got home, I read the photo of the big "This may get you some time in jail" sign. And, I became concerned. I mean, if one has to go to jail because of recycling - how would that look?

We were not supposed to leave Styrofoam in any bin (and we did), and we were supposed to break our cardboard boxes down (and we didn't), we weren't supposed to put Bubble Wrap in any bin (and we did). Now, please tell me - why can't Bubble Wrap be recycled??

And one other thing that might get us a cover over our heads and three squares a day......or a fine $$$.....did we check every piece of plastic to see if there was a Recycling Symbol on it? Sorry, I'm just not going to share that. This is quite enough!

It was God that Created GPS

I don't do maps. I'm not sure if all of you know this, but I'm the reason God created GPS!!!

All those years, when I was a Software Consultant......traveled everywhere.....flew (Million Miler on Delta, I am) then rented a car and drove.....I am going to tell you a secret. I stayed lost, most of the time!!  That's a fact. It's a good thing Service Stations don't keep track of people who stop to ask directions.

And, then, I'm really bad about "second guessing."  Yes, I know he said turn left at the next stop light....but turning right seemed to make more sense to me. 

So, we (Mike and I) are on the way to Forest City, Iowa to the Winnebago Factory to take the RV for some repair work. I make a great RV rider......seat pulled up, feet on the dash, covered with a light blanket....enjoying life while he drives. 

He (Mike) has put the address of the Winnebago Factory in his phone, so all is good. Right!!

Suddenly, he says, "Get the map." What? We have a map? How did I let that happen???

My blood runs cold. I've never discussed my lack of "map reading skills" with him. I never told him .....on our very first "vacation" with my honey (years ago, when daughter Gale was two years old)....we missed Columbus, GA.....completely......because I was reading the map!!

Mike wants to know if the way GPS is sending us is the "best" way. Should we be on Hwy this or Hwy that? 

I'm just trying to find out where WE are (on said map.) I suggest ....since "Margaret" (the name I gave to the GPS voice) has us turn at a most "opportune" time that HE look at the map. 

Thank goodness, Margaret and the map agree. I can rest easy.

Then, can you believe it. We are going up Interstate 35, and I let us miss the exit we need to take!! (It's easier to take the blame that to acknowledge that one really has no Map Reading Skills!!)

We get to the last exit in Iowa (before crossing State Line into MN) and turn around and go back to the exit I MISSED.

I can tell you one thing.... now, I can get to Forest City, Iowa from Readlyn, Iowa without GPS or a Map!!

A Truck Stop "Grill"

I saw something, yesterday morning, I had never seen.

It was about 11:00 a.m. and we were at a Truck Stop. Mike was filling the RV with Diesel, as I sat there.....perusing (I just love that word) my surroundings.

Suddenly a huge tanker truck backs to the back of the lot (in front of us, but several yards away.) He parked beside this big yellow thing that (honestly) looked like a Grill. The driver got out and went over and opened said "Grill." Then he went to the passenger door, of the truck (I thought).

Running through my mind was....."how wonderful that this Truck Stop provides truckers with a Grill. They can cook some healthy food, and rest while they wait."

Mike finished filling the tank......(and mortgaging the house to do it - have you seen the price of diesel?)......and gets back in the RV.

I say to him, "Mike, look at that..........I think that's a Grill and he's going to fix himself some lunch."

He (Mike) looks at me like I've gone nuts and says......."I don't think so."

Mike's going to have to make a big circle anyway to make sure the towed car clears everything......so I beg him to drive close to the other rig. 

I get out of the RV and go over to the Truck Driver. I don't have eyes, in the back of my head, but I'm sure Mike was shaking his!!

I get over to the "Grill" and I see there's a huge hose attached to said Grill with the other end attached to the Tanker. And there are several other "openings" (on the “Grill”) where hoses can be attached.

The very nice driver turns around......sees me, and I ask as I point to the "Grill"...."what is that?"

He says....."I'm filling my tanker with fuel to take to stations."

Not wanting him to think I was a nosey woman I explained, "I'm a writer, and I thought this was a Grill, and you might be fixing yourself a steak."

He laughed and said, "I don't think I'd better light this!"

Come to think of it, a real honest-to-goodness Grill would probably be a great idea. Just think how healthy all those truckers could be! 

Leaving the Water Alone!!

Traveling provides me (and you) with many stories. You all (I'm working on not saying y'all so much, since I'm headed north) know, to me, "Life is a Story."  Well, I am traveling and yesterday wasn't much of a story.....I saw nothing exciting.....nothing momentous happened.

Well, that's not really true it just wasn't much to write about (but I'm gonna' tell you about it, anyway.) 

I'm a part of this "rig" (RV, that is) because I bragged that I "can do everything about setting up an RV except leveling the jacks and driving it" (and those two things are pretty much the most important!!)

Anyway, I'm good at directions (not when we're driving....when we get there and are getting into our spot) ....."move over this way" ..............

......"move more that way"....."you're gonna' hit that post"......."aw, you just took the bark off that tree!"  (Not really....he's a good driver!!) 

I know where everything is located.....I can hook up the water, hook up the electricity (I know what's 30 amp and what's 50 amp). I can put the slides out. You get the picture....I know what I'm doing. That's how I passed the "interview" to get the job!!

I have decided....I am no longer touching the water! Everytime I do, it leaks and last night was no exception. Thank goodness, Mike saw it when he was hooking up the 50 amp (is he trying to take my job??) or we would have been like that song, "I've got lakefront property".....or something like that!!

We had stopped, for the night, in a little "off the beaten path" RV Park  (those are really the best kind) outside Sikeston, MO. That's where Lambert's Cafe with their "throwed rolls" is located. No, we didn't go. We were tired, and we have a kitchen in this moving household!!  

Speaking of throwed rolls....have you ever been there? Did you catch the roll? There was a reason I didn't make the basketball team back at good ole LHS!! Yes, it's a great advertisement, but please PASS the rolls!!

Anyway, we went to bed LATE because we got there late....but it was still daylight and it was WAY past Cocktail Hour. Do you think that stopped us? Are you kidding? 

At about1:30 a.m. (yes, middle of the night) Mike jumps up.....like he was shot from a cannon. "I forgot to get the keys out of the Jeep!"  So, up and out, he goes. Can you say wide awake, now? 

However, as tired as we both were, we might not have heard a would be robber unhooking said Jeep and driving off. Mike wouldn't really mind losing the Jeep....it would be the loss of the bicycle that would make him cry!!

This morning was absolutely the best morning. Sitting at the table (yes, that piece of furniture gets lots of use), we raised the blinds, and there...parked a couple of spaces down was a Mercedes Class C (that's a "cab over" camper). We took our coffee cups and went over for a visit. What a wonderful young couple were Kathy and Larry Gore. They live in Indiana, but Larry's parents live in Houston, MS!!! Traveling with them was Kathy's 87 year old father. They were on their way to Kerrville, TX to his sister's 90th birthday!! 

I asked Larry if he was related to Sue Gore - who went to school with me, years ago, at SJC. (He didn't know her....and I told him she's somehow related to me!) Often, the best part of traveling is the people one meets, and today was no exception. 

Mike was excited because Larry and Kathy both ride bikes, and Larry knew all about the Tanglefoot Trail that runs from New Albany, MS to Houston, MS. He wants to ride RAGBRAI with Mike. 

Personally, I was thankful neither of them looked at me and said, "do you ride?" (Mike just gets too much joy out of telling my "she fell while she was standing still" story!)

I can't end this without mentioning "Miss Lilly"....an 8 year old Pom who was being walked by her mom. She could have been my sweet Bella's twin. Same black coloring with tan "boots", same sweet face ......but Miss Lilly isn't a "yapper" like Bella and Precious. This mama loves them and misses them, anyway!!

Miss Lilly's mama sold her house, lives in a camper.....has Miss Lilly, three cats (one belongs to Miss Lilly, she said!) and a Dove, which she raised from a baby. I wonder if I can apply for some sort of "Listener Certification" and start charging for all this stuff I hear!

I really am glad that I got this "job".......I am a "working RV Companion," but I'm leaving the water alone!!
#RVCamping #TownandCountryRVPark #runontheroad

The Middle of the Pack

I'm just sure it was my friend Sammy Ford 's fault (he was the one that told me to "watch the right foot" when I started my trek back to Mississippi from Texas. Going across Texas, the speed limit is 75.....and that means I can drive 80 (five miles above the limit). No, that means I SHOULD drive 80. Anyway, I DO set Cruise Control (for what it's worth.....I then proceed to pay no attention to it....my right foot has a mind of its own and before I know it I'm going.....well, no sense in making everyone worry about me and my heavy foot!) I have a friend who says he's "keeping up with the traffic" and that's EXACTLY what I was doing. Texas was okay....but I crossed the state line into Louisiana, and suddenly there's LHP cars everywhere. Those white cars with Louisiana Highway Patrol written on their door had cars stopped on both sides of the Interstate all the way across that state. (I figured they needed money and this was how they were getting it.) Figured that out when I stopped for one of those "necessary breaks," and in the Rest Areas half the bathrooms were closed. I am in the "middle of the pack" .....and I am just doing my part in "keeping up with traffic." Who wants to cause a wreck because they're trying to abide by the speed limit??? Topped the hill, and there he sat .....in the median. Bless his heart, when it was safe for him to give chase....he DID. (At this point, I was watching him in my rear view mirror.....and thinking....."surely he won't pick my white car out of the middle of all this traffic. Will he?") He is 3 cars behind me....blue lights flashing....and traffic is still flying....about 15 miles above the speed limit. (Where's that 5 miles I should have been going? And, if I am the one that gets stopped this ticket is going to be pretty pricey!) By now, I am beginning to formulate excuses in my head for why I'm driving so fast. (1) I didn't think he'd care, not one bit, that I was rushing home to Mississippi because we had tickets to "Evita." However, I might start singing "Don't Cry for me Argentina" and he'd certainly send me on my way (no, you DON'T want to hear me sing!) (2) Then I decided I could use the look toward the sky and say "Thank you, God".....and hopefully, he'll say...."What? Why?" and I'd say "they were scaring me to death....I was having to drive that fast....right in the middle of them. I HATE driving like that....it doesn't feel safe." And he'd say...."well, you be careful ma'am and slow down!" And away I'd go. (3) However, what I really wanted to say was....."I am SO glad you stopped me".....and he'd look amazed and say....."Excuse me....what?".....and I would say...."Louisiana is the only southern state for which I didn't have a ticket....and I collect them!" I decided my sense of humor might send me to jail....so I'd have to shelve that one. Whew!! Suddenly, I realized he had chosen his prey....and it wasn't me. The moral to this story probably should be.....slow down, abide the speed limit, use cruise control, don't let your foot slide over onto the accelerator.......yada, yada, yada. However, I am still going with "if you're gonna' drive fast....get in the middle of the pack, for goodness sake!!" (Yes, I have BEEN at the back of the line in my history of being "Sarah Andretti.")