BOA Week Nine & Final

To end our vacation we decided to have another massage and restful few days.

Belterra Casino & Resort in Florence, Indiana It’s been years since we stopped here and the price was right so we decided to stay again. Spacious room with comfy bed but no microwave. Customer service was outstanding.

We knew our luck had to run out eventually and it did…the weather took a huge turn for the worse…temperatures dropping to extreme lows and the wicked “S”…SNOW! Thank goodness we had a very short drive planned for arrival to our event hotel because the roads were a nightmare, no longer snowing but any moisture on the ground was freezing solid. We had 120 miles which usually took about 2 hours, this day it took us double that time, but we arrived safely.

Comfort Suites in Southport, Indiana – Spacious room with a very comfy bed, a couch with a table I used for a foot rest. There was a microwave and fridge and the shower head was fantastic, and the water was hot throughout our long showers for us to help our weary bones. Customer service was outstanding, always met with a smile and conversation. Parking was a little cramped because besides are 25’ trailer there were other big vehicles our entire stay.

Our final event was interesting this year with many ups and downs but we made it through without too much damage to our bodies or minds. The weather was frigid, we don’t usually wears pants or all this other gear but we didn’t want to get sick either…I wore my flip flops for the most part, but there were times that my boots came on…ugh! 

So now we take our time heading back to Cedar Hill, Texas to drop off the truck and trailer and pick up Maggie. This year we have no plans, we are winging it and for now we plan to hang out in Texas for awhile. How long? We have no idea…we are trying once again to go with the flow…follow our hearts and not get all panicked…we used to be so good at living our lives that way, but now it ain’t easy, but we are going to do it. GO WITH THE FLOW!

Temperatures are still pretty cold, but there is no moisture on the ground as we head south, meandering and taking our time, with a few stops for massages, relaxation and and a little bit of playtime. Our first day, we only wanted a few hours drive since we had final errands and do not want to over extend our days. Our bodies, mind and souls need lots of rest and relaxation and that’s exactly what we plan to give them.

LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Effingham, Illinois – No carpeting in the rooms which gives it a much cleaner appeal. The bed was so comfortable, had a couch but no foot rest, bathroom was spacious with a high toilet but the shower curtain had an odor, almost like BO, but the shower head was heavenly divine. They also have a small fridge and microwave. Customer service was great, we were extremely early due to time zone change, but there was a room ready for us.

Even less miles today, so we slept in and just hung out, it’s time to rejuvenate our bodies, minds and souls…enjoying every moment to the fullest.

Hollywood Casino Hotel in Maryland Heights, Missouri – We have stayed here several times but this time we stayed in the Rodeo Tower, much prefer the Sunset Tower rooms. Great customer service as usual but they mixed up our payment but was great about resolving it. The shower was clogged and there was what we thought could only be a loogie on the wall.

Our next driving day was on the interstate with cloudy, damp and very windy conditions, but we made it safely to our destination. We love staying at casinos, and as long as we don’t have a gambling problem we will continue staying at them. We enjoy the parking, the rooms are usually at a higher standard, having some playtime, the eateries they offer and customer service is usually outstanding.

River Bend Casino & Hotel in Wyandotte, Oklahoma – By far one of the nicest hotels we have stayed in, and we have stayed at many. Soft, comfortable bed in a spacious room with a fantastic walk-in shower, but our room did not have a fridge or microwave. Customer service was excellent at the hotel and the casino. We ordered burgers at the Deli and they were so thick, juicy and very tasty, it tasted like prime Angus Beef. Prices for everything was phenomenal, just like it used to be so many years ago, our room was under $70 and we ate for under $20, can’t beat those weekly prices.

A very short driving day, but they were predicting lots of rain and we’ve been wanting to check out this place for a few years now, so we drove 75 miles to our next destination.

Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Catoosa, Oklahoma – Outstanding customer service, we were extremely early and they didn’t hesitate to just look to see if they had any clean rooms…and they did, so we were in before noon. We were in the Cherokee Tower and the room was spacious with a fridge, but we anticipated a walk-in shower and was disappointed when there wasn’t one. Absolutely loved the memorabilia throughout and the music they played, we enjoyed ourselves and even hit a few jackpots!

Only 4 hours of travel today and we are getting close to this BOA season coming to an end, and we are very sad. We have learned how to enjoy life and everything we do, including the rough parts and being in the moment so much that we actually had a great time this year. We spoke our mind about the issues without anger, we lived our truth and we are happy. What more can anyone ask for?

Life takes us through many highs, and many lows, but we have learned to take each one and live it…learn from it and move onward and upward…never look back or regret a thing…be all we can be in this moment!

Choctaw Casino & Hotel in Durant, Oklahoma  - This was not our first time here but it will be our last. We got checked in quickly, but found out our reservation was for the Inn, where we had specifically wanted the luxurious tower for our last night and why we chose to pay $200 for the room. They would not move us, so we came to the Inn and WHAT A DUMP…it is like a Motel 6, only safer. It was clean but this is definitely NOT a $200 per night room. We called the front desk but now they were saying they would only move us if we paid more money…we were so disappointed in their customer service that we said we would just stay where we were, but then I called Hotels.com explained the situation, and they totally refunded our entire amount…NOW THAT’S OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE as usual from them…CHOCTOW…NOT SO MUCH!

Not too many miles today, but it was an extremely rough and bumpy drive.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Mansfield, Texas – Our room was not a suite this time but it was spacious and the bed was marvelous and comfy. TV connection was intermittent and we tightened the connections the best we could, so it might be something else. We tried to do laundry but could only complete one load because the dryer took 3 full cycles to dry our one load, the guy before us took 4 cycles. The customer service was excellent and breakfast was just okay.

This is the end of 2019 BOA Season and as usual we have changed our plans several times, but it looks like we will be heading west to Arizona after all.

There Comes a Time in Life…

When you have to just be yourself and stop trying to be what you think you should be or what others might want you to be. You reach a certain age and you know that you have so much left to do and not enough time to do it. There comes a time when it all comes together and you realize that your life is almost over and you haven’t been the person you want to be, you haven’t done the things you want to do and you just know that you can do it and you can do it now because there is time left and that time is now. No more pretending…no more NOT saying what I feel and what I want…no more holding back.

Reflecting back and realizing that no matter what happened throughout my life, I made it through, it may not have been pretty, it may not have been the way I wanted it to go, but I made it through. Through to the other side of the pain, through to tasting the sweetness of life because after all the alternative was to give up and I never could. There were plenty of times that I wanted to just give up, but then what? If I ever were to have given up, my life would have been over and I would have missed out on all these wonderful years of my life, and that would have been a tragedy.

Even though my life does not even closely resemble what I had pictured, it has been an outstanding life. I have done it all…maybe not in the ways I would have chosen to do it, but in the ways it was to be lived. I have loved deeply…I have lost tremendously…I have felt enormous joy…I have ached with so much pain…I have given so much…I have taken a lot…I have seen things that nobody should see…I have witnessed miracles…I have spoken words that I wish I could take back…I have not said things that I wish I did…I have enjoyed the finer things in life…I have lived in poverty…

Now is the time where there is no more excuses. I have reached retirement age and my time is limited. To be truthful, I never thought I would have made it this far, but I have and now is the time to do and be all that I have ever dreamed I could or wanted to do. There are not many tomorrows left, there is only today and I will begin living each day, each moment as if it might be my last. I will love deeper…say what I need to say…do what I want to do…and live my life to the fullest with each breath I take.

No more sugar coating…no more pretending…no more pity parties…life is definitely too short to waste another minute. It’s time to be all that I have ever imagined my life could be and it begins now.

BOA Week Eight

Wow…we made it to vacation week, and then the grueling Grands, but this year we will be well rested. Slowly meandering our way to Indianapolis from San Antonio with stops along the way for fun.

Our first day we put under 100 miles so we could put some miles on but we had errands and we were tired.

Hampton Inn In Marble Falls, Texas Located right on the Colorado River is exactly what we needed with great customer service that were able to check us in early. The room was spacious but the bed was springy, feeling as if they were in our bodies while we slept, but the location was awesome.

River City Grille located next to the hotel did not disappoint…we started with some yummy drinks on the terrace overlooking the Colorado River, Jalapeño Margarita and a Tropical Margarita, both were awesome but the Jalapeño one had the peppers blended into the margarita and it was amazing, so good we are going to get a blender and start doing this with our margaritas we make at home…

Our appetizer was Lake Cakes, they were interesting, not sure if we would order them again but they were delicious, the chipotle aioli was excellent…

For our main course, Jerry had Pecan Crusted Fresh Tilapia rolled in pecans and corn flakes then pan fried with an orange rosemary sauce that was moist and tender and the sauce was scrumptious…

I had Paul’s Chicken which is chicken breast rolled in crushed potato chips, fried and topped with green chile sauce and jack cheese that was amazing with just the perfect amount of spice to have me keep going back for more until I was stuffed.

We decided to take the back roads once again and avoid the interstates so we could have a more relaxing drive. So we try to plan less miles since those roads are somewhat slower. We chose our next stop to be a two nighter so we could get our massages.

WinStar Casino Resort In Thackerville, Oklahoma We have stayed here before but waiting until the last minute to book our hotels were having us make other choices, this was one of them. The rate was good and they had availability for a couples massage at the time we wanted so we chose this spot and we were not disappointed. The room was spacious but no refrigerator and it’s beginning to show aging, old shower curtains but it was clean and comfortable.

Our massages were the best we ever had and we wondered why we don’t do it more often, then it was time to pay and we understood clearly why we can’t do it more often, so we savored the moment…

We are still taking backroads and not so many miles in a day and today was the perfect drive once the rain let up. Through Oklahoma and just a few miles over 100, so we slept in got a late start and enjoyed the ride, arriving early afternoon, but they were accommodating and we checked in early.

Grand Casino Hotel In Shawnee, Oklahoma – Nice, spacious room with a fantastic walk-in shower and customer service is excellent.

This days drive had a little bit of backroads but a lot of interstate but it was a perfect driving day, calm and happy. 

Courtyard of Marriott in Springfield, Missouri – Totally different setup of the furniture, has all the amenities, which is nice, but it was cramped. Shower head felt like needles poking into our skin. TV screen was huge, but they didn’t have Fox Sports so we had to stream NASCAR Trucks from our laptop. Parking was outstanding with several different areas where we could park our truck with trailer and customer service was excellent.

Our drive was all interstate but there was no traffic, accidents, construction or weather for us to deal with, so it was a great day. Stopped and had the truck and trailer washed and it was nice to see the white truck and blue trailer once again. It’s amazing how much road dirt and grime gets onto the vehicles in just a few weeks and it was great getting it done instead of us doing it ourselves.

Doubletree Hilton in Mt Vernon, Illinois – Another hotel brand we hardly stay at but the area and price were perfect. The room was spacious but no microwave or fridge, the walk-in shower was fabulous and parking was outstanding. 

Vacation is almost over but we do have a few more days before it ends and we have some special plans to relax and be ready for the huge Grands next week. 

BOA Week Seven

Monday’s drive began with a trailer issue, the assist brake on the truck locked up the trailer and we were dragging it until we had to turn off the brake assist and slowly reset it…probably due to all the rain and dampness that morning with the dense fog. The truck is starting to shake between 58 and 61, our sweet spot, so now we keep checking things that might be causing it. We checked all tires and they were a bit off, but the roads were so bad we couldn’t tell if it fixed it.

We have been bopping back and forth from time zones that we have no frigging idea anymore what time it is anymore, and our natural time clocks are all messed up, and now daylight savings time.

Drury Inn in Meridian, Mississippi  This was our first time at this chain and is was awesome. Great parking, comfortable bed, clean spacious room. Unfortunately their cable went out all night, but luckily we had our backup for watching our weekly programming. Breakfast was divine, served on real plates and a good variety.

Logan’s Steakhouse was located right next to the hotel, so we walked over and had a marvelous meal.

We began with Margaritas, after all it’s my birthday week...mine was fruity with sugar on the rim and oh so yummy...

Our appetizer was deep fried bacon with brown sugar and was amazing...

Our main course had steaks, shrimp, and all the great fixings...

Tuesday’s drive took us on a detour through this terrible terrible neighborhood off of Interstate 20 in Jackson, Mississippi and some terribly rough roads.

Margaritaville Casino Resort In Bossier City, Louisiana Not our first time here and they really made us feel special on my birthday. Fun times, great customer service, last time we tried to get an early check in, but they were not willing to cooperate, but this time they went out of their way to make it happen. The bed was comfy, the walk in shower was great except the shower caddy needed some attention. 

Wednesday drive was not much better it actually was worse the weather was torrential rainfall, I don’t think we’ve ever seen that kind of rain coming from the skies so heavily at one time luckily we were not on an interstate but instead chose to take the back roads this trip and never regretted it.      

Comfort Inn in San Antonio, Texas  This was our event hotel so we were there for a few days. The room was very spacious, the bed was comfortable, and we had all the amenities we needed, fridge, microwave, couch, an additional chair and a great shower head. Check in was not great, the one thing I do not agree with is answering the phone while a guest is at the desk and then spending more than 20 minutes on that call while I wait, customer service was great otherwise.

The event was challenging, as we knew it would be…not only because it’s a Super which makes it super busy, but because this is one of those events that the helpers all think they run the show and nothing is ever done about it. Our booth was calmer because I always let my helpers know that we are in charge and if they don’t like it they can go on the chaos side, they all chose to stay at the “Zen” booth. The other team had a health scare the second day towards the end and went to the hospital, which put more responsibility on us, so we are definitely ready for our vacation.