HDT Rally

We are in Kansas for 4 weeks. I got 2 jobs of 2-weeks each. I bid on these jobs because they are close to the HDT Rally that we wanted to attend. HDT means heavy duty truck. Many people tow their trailers with semis, or HDT's. We arrived in Halstead, KS on 10/9. Unfortunately it was raining, and the sites are mostly grass/mud. They tried to put us in one section that was pretty sloppy. I had to 4-wheel out of there before we got stuck. We found another section that had some gravel, but by then the rig was muddy from our 4-wheeling. Nan told me she had enough of this life and wanted to buy a house so I agreed we could start looking. A few days later after the sun came out, she met all the friendly people in Kansas, and we hadn't been taken away by a tornado, she asked me if I would ever come back here? I said "I don't know how to answer that". She said "I like it here. I could see coming back". I think I dodged a bullet.

They have the national HDT rally in Kansas each year because it is central U.S. We had people from Alaska, Washington, Texas, N. Dakota, Michigan, and several other states. About 40 trucks showed up this year. There were about 5 Smart Cars, and about 4 jeeps that people put on their trucks.

During the week of the rally I had to work Tuesday through Thursday. They had some seminars during the week. Unfortunately I had to miss some because of work. Luckily I was available for the cooking seminar - always a favorite. The rally ended on Saturday, 10/22, so we are now back in Halstead, KS for 2 more weeks.

I'm driving Nan to Wichita next Saturday so she can fly to Cleveland for a few days. Then she flys to Houston from Cleveland for a quilting show. She'll fly back to Cleveland and I'll meet her there to spend Thanksgiving. I'll drive the rig to Cleveland by myself. I may have to swing by a few casinos on the way.

Branson, MO

Nan and I are heading to Kansas from Little Rock, Arkansas, so we stopped in Branson, MO for 3 nights. Last night we saw Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede show. It’s similar to the Midevil Times show, except it is North against the South instead of knights fighting. When I made the reservation they asked if I wanted to sit with the North or South. Of course I said the North since (contrary to what they teach in the Southern schools) we won the war. GET OVER IT. They had several contests such as barrel racing with horses. The North was winning, so they had pig races with North and South colors on pigs. They put the North colors on the slow pigs so the South could win one. Then they brought some people out from the audience for stick horse races. They picked real beef eaters to represent the North, and flew in some Nigerian marathon runners to represent the South. By the end of this fiasco the South ended up winning the whole thing.

Tonight we saw the Andy Williams/Ann Margret show. Andy Williams was sick tonight so the Lennon Sisters flew in to cover for him. They were very entertaining. Ann Margret was also good (for being 70 years old). Half way during her show they showed her movie clips while she was back-stage for a costume change, and to suck on some oxygen. One thing about these Branson shows. You can see a two act show and still be back home in time to meet your 9:00 bedtime.

Little Rock, Arkansas

We spent some time in Florida where I had a 3-week job. It gave Nan and I a chance to visit my mother over the weekends. I have a couple of jobs in Kansas, so we are now working our way there.

We stopped in Little Rock, Arkansas for 3 nights. We are staying at a Corps of Engineers (COE) campground. COE is a federal agency that is in charge of lakes and rivers. Most COE campgrounds are too small for us, but this one has large sites. The back of our RV faces the Arkansas River, so it's a nice view. Friends we met in Alaska are also here, so we celebrated by going out to PF Changs restaurant. Yesterday we went to the Clinton Presidential Library. There we learned how he passed NAFTA while in office. NAFTA offers free trade to countries like China, thus increasing the workforce in the U.S. since we will be exporting our goods over there. It's a Win Win for everyone.