Category: Mrs. OkieRover

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Christmas Snow, No Pudding For You (Post #309) 12/27/2012

Merry Christmas everyone.

I had thoughts of posting another series of posts on the 12 days of OkieRover Christmas and the Festivus holiday tradition of the Airing of Grievances but was just not motivated to do so this year. School was hard on me this semester and my writing energy was hammered by the class.

Also, one of our four-legged children has been down all week and her injuries have me mostly depressed. We are treating her with drugs and hope she can heal. I hate it when we have an injured pet.

After a lovely Christmas dinner at the children’s aunt and uncles house. We took my Father-in-law home (that’s him in the A-Driver position). The roads were no where near as bad as previous years. The most trouble we had was getting the doors on the Range Rover to open with the handles. UGGGH! That is not going to be a fun job to fix. I also heard some suspension noise from the left front. I’m guessing springs will be coming sooner rather than later. And that shock mount I found that was busted will need some welding.

My wife’s sister Aunt SuSu (Susan) and brother-in-law John cook a mean turkey and SuSu’s dressing rivals only that of my wife. SuSu’s banana pudding was pretty good too. My oldest daughter Fireball still has the market cornered on banana pudding. But with the weather such as it was and her with a bun in the oven with only 5 minutes left on the timer, J-man with a wonky back and single digit wind chills they wisely stayed home with my favorite holiday banana pudding. Insert unhappy face here.

The Ford Exploder they drive is 4×4 but has the wrong tires on it for any prayer of staying un-stuck. If you remember the infamous Snowpocalypse of 2009 I had to extracted them from a snow drift in our neighborhood with the then front-wheel drive Range Rover. If you recall, I had a then unknown broken rear axle shaft. The Best 4x4xfar even when limping on a single axle.

It has been a long time since the four of us were in the Range Rover together. I asked RovErica to take some action pictures. The three of them then began mocking me with every turn, exaggerating the effect of the minimal G-forces being exerted on us at 15-20 mph. Good times, good times.

RovErica then got everyone in the back to ham it up for some snaps. It seems like we see the kids only when they need something these days. I guess I was the same way when I was their age. Now I understand the looks on my father’s face and the tone of his voice when I called home “just to say hi” and to let them know “I was still alive”. His tone to me when I hadn’t called home in three weeks pushed all the Catholic guilt buttons on the console. I’d be a basket case if we didn’t have cell phones.

Thanks for reading, Merry Christmas, and Happy Rovering to you all.

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Batteries? We don’t need no stinking batteries (Post #299) 8/22/2012

This weekend was mostly unpleasant in the Honda side of the stable. We had not one, but two batteries fail in our Honda cars.

I mentioned to my wife while we were on our 3800 mile trek of a vacation, that the battery in the 2007 Honda CRV would need to be replaced. I had a morning in Montana when I started the engine that it gave that, slow rev sound when starting. We were lucky to make it home without swapping it out.

But that was not to be this past Saturday morning. I was making breakfast, and as it turned out we were out of eggs. My son, Diet Mountain Drew called and told us the Driver’s Education place doesn’t take checks, cash or money order only. So Mrs. OkieRover jumped in the CRV and drove cross-town to pay for the defensive drivers course.

On her way home she stopped at Braum’s to pick up eggs. About the time I had decided, Mrs. OkieRover wasn’t going to come home…ever. She called and told me the CRV would not start. So I ate my plate of hashbrowns, no eggs, and went to get her.

We jumped the CRV and drove home. I grabbed an 8mm deep socket and headed to O’Reily’s to get a new battery. I bought the last one, they had. (This is important for the second half of the story so try to keep up.) I installed it right there in the parking lot. This saved me having a core charge and the hassle of having it reversed on my ATM card.

So a few hours later I have a call from Diet Mountain Drew, and as you may have guessed, the Civic would not start. My eldest daughter was en-route to him, but instead he got a jump from his friend Justin.

So I now had another battery dead. I had to go to the grocery to buy sandwich fixin’s for my newly found biologically related OLDER brother (more on this later) and family to come over for a visit. When I came home I jumped the Civic and drove it to O’Reilly’s. As it turned out…they didn’t have any more batteries for that model. Someone had bought the last one. (rolls eyes, heavy sigh)

I was told there was one on the south side of Norman so I drove down there to buy it. I didn’t bring any tools. If HAD remembered, the 8mm deep socket would have been WRONG! They started using 10mm sockets on the 2008 models.

The kid at O’Reily’s opened a drawer full of sockets and said that’s what we got. What they didn’t have in the drawer was a 10mm deep well socket or a 10mm wrench. They had an 11mm wrench but no 10mm. I wound up buying a set of pliers. I swapped it out and was done.

The two batteries were OEM original equipment delivered with the cars. That puts the CRV at 5-6 years old considering the manufacturer date and the Civic’s at 4-5 years. For a battery in Oklahoma with 120 degree summers and 8 degree winters, not too bad.

I didn’t need the 100$(US) each hickey for the budget but what else are you going to do? Ever push started an automatic? Yeah, me neither.

PS. We swapped a third battery in my eldest daughter’s Ford Explorer. It died on Monday while she was in line to pick up my grand daughter from school. We had a time of it swapping it out. The negative battery connector was too stretched out. We had to cut off the bolt for it had rusted and corroded. Nothing more exciting than generating a lot of sparks with a cutting wheel over a battery. It says expressly to avoid sparks near the battery. So a nice volume of sparks is always entertaining.

Batteries? We don’t need no stinking batteries. 

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Branson, Missouri (Post #294) 6/6/2012

I had never been to Branson, Missouri before this last weekend. I have never had any interest in going to Branson before this last weekend. And sadly, after visiting, I still don’t.

My wife and I needed some alone time. We’ve been through a lot in the last 8 months and decided to treat ourselves to a trip. My wife has been trying to get me to “stay in a cabin by the lake” for 15 years. I’ve told her a dozen times I stay in cabins by lakes all the time and that she should come with me some time. But my kind of cabin is not her kind.

We didn’t do any shows, or theme parks or even any restaurants. So maybe if I had I may have a totally different opinion.

The Inn.

So Mrs. OkieRover found a place called Crystal Cove Bed and Breakfast. I will now tell you about it. I didn’t like the bed, way too soft for me. Another couple mentioned the bed softness at breakfast on Saturday.

This was our first Bed and Breakfast, so we didn’t know “how it worked”. We showed up to breakfast 5 minutes late on Saturday. I was embarrassed. The innkeeper was serving when we managed to walk the 25 feet to the dining area from our room.

We are lazy travelers. We usually don’t even have a schedule when we travel. The fact we had to be somewhere “promptly” was going to be an issue.

We chatted politely with the other guests. My wife is painfully shy so this is not in her wheel-house. I can talk to a mailbox for two hours so I carried us. We ate and it was wonderful. Thick cut bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuit, juice, hash browns. We were the last to sit and the first to git. We had a loose plan to visit my brother in Springfield which was an hour drive one way. We were expected for lunch, so we got up.

We went down to the lake and took a few snaps and then got on the road to Springfield. We were almost immediately halted by the ridiculous traffic heading to Silver Dollar City. I won’t bore you with how there weren’t enough lanes to carry the traffic or the 15 minutes we sat in traffic waiting for people to turn left. We should have gotten more intel about this. I blame myself.

We visited with my brother and nephew and after a little forgetfulness on my wife’s part we headed back to our room. We were both pretty wiped so we just napped. Then we watched the Oklahoma City Thunder put it on the San Antonio Spurs. So much for your sweep Spurs. As of this writing the Thunder is one win away from playing in the NBA Championship.

That was a HUGE “Keep Right” sign
Our “cabin”
Sunlight through the prism of a lamp.
Koi pond. Not big enough to eat  yet.

Water fall on the koi pond near the dining area.
Scenic Overlook

Sunday came and I rolled Janie out and told her we needed to be early for breakfast. We got down there at 8:45am. Unfortunately for us…breakfast on Sunday was at 8am. UGGGGH! So we tried to excuse ourselves as the innkeeper was telling us he was just getting ready for church. He insisted we eat. French toast. Again, delicious, but maybe too rich for us. Once again we were totally embarrassed. I mailed a letter of apology today. (I know, old school, but I felt it was necessary. We are not “those people”.)

The route.

We took 412 out of Tulsa and wandered through Arkansas to Southern Missouri. The trip home we took all secondary highways. It was a nice drive home.

On the way home we ran across this interesting gem.

He had just pulled in to the gas station ahead of us and I had to stop and talk to him. It was a Series 2 but with a twist. The frame was totally roached out. They had a Ford that had rolled and was a solid frame but no body. So he and his father married the two. It even still had the Ford steering column. The frame was a bit longer so they added the stretch in front of the windscreen just behind the bonnet.

He was really enthusiastic and said they had a great time working on it. That’s the spirit. He had Mastercraft tires on it and I asked him how he liked them. He said they weren’t all that loud and had a nice narrow look which is signature to these vehicles. I hope he reads this and contacts me. I’d love to know more about this unique rig.

I took this last picture of the Series and we were back on the road. I did not see even one Range Rover Classic the entire weekend. We saw a few Discovery’s and a two Range Rover second editions.

All in all a good trip. I’m not sure I have any more interest in going back. But for a 5 hour drive, it was very scenic and a nice change of pace from our normal routine.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Its all about the miles, no…it is not (Post #291) 5/20/2011

When you have deer running in front of the truck you’ve probably left what most people call “a road”. I’ve been thinking and planning some upgrades for the Range Rover. Springs and shocks are among the things I’ve been putting on a list. But, I was reading a blog post on The Last Great Road Trip. I got me thinking that perhaps one of these needs to be some cameras. 


I’ve seen so many things I wished I had taken a picture of. The deer galloping up the trail when Jack and I were on our so called “adventure“. The antelope on the side of I-40 on our trip through New Mexico. A random cat perched on a fence post. Lots of different wild life, perhaps too many examples to mention. I need a camera that is ready in an instant. 


I think I’d like a GoPro camera, or something similar. You know the ones for extreme action! I’m pretty boring but if it took good pics and could capture my adventures why not? I imagine a camera that was running all the time, sorta like a dash cam in a police car. If I wanted to save the last few minutes I could hit a button and store the video. So the next time a moose crosses the road in front of me, I’ll have a digital short to share with you. This is going to take some investigation.

I need to slow down on my trips as well. The trip is more than the destination. The trip is the adventure getting there. It has always been so. I need to plan less time driving and more time for stops to see stuff. The  overwhelming desire to get where I’m going has to take a back seat to the drive. (see what I did there? back seat…we are driving…yeah I know, why don’t I have a Pulitzer already?)


We are going on a road trip this summer for our vacation. It is mostly about the destinations and not the trip. The destinations are epic so the trip will be full of stuff to see. We are traveling with another family so the convoy rules will apply.


I’ve got to think about the math of the drive more. Take this in. If you are traveling at 60mph you are traveling one mile a minute. Historically that is an impressive distance and rate. Have you ever thought about why towns in the central plains are all generally about 15 to 20 miles apart? Imagine trying to travel from one to the next with a wagon or horse. With a decent road you are talking about an entire day to go from Purcell to Norman Oklahoma. You stay the night and go home the next day. We do a very similar thing today except we cover hundreds of miles. It is a highly debatable theory that the automobile has done more to destroy towns than an interstate highway system.

Now consider if I see a historical marker on the side of the road, like this one captured by Oklahoman Joy Franklin….



when I pull over and read it, it might take me three to five minutes. If I take a picture, first compared to Joy’s it will look like I gave the camera to a over active twelve year old, secondly I will easily add a few more minutes to the stop. So if it is five minutes…I’ve decided to take five miles (minimum) off my distance for the day. Add up three or four stops and you’ve seriously adjusted your arrival time or distance covered for the day.


I’m a history NERD (and proud) so you can imagine every time I see [insert historical figure’s name] stopped here for a tinkle and a piece of hard tack on [insert date and time] during the [insert historical event or period] and five of their family members perished. Dammit! I’ve got to have a picture.


Joy’s pictures are a lot more than just the place. Her pictures talk to you. She has a great eye and captures America’s road side beautifully. My pictures are just fun for me. My kids couldn’t care less about them and some day they will get to delete them off a hard drive like I’ve had to toss a hundred items my parents collected that meant a lot at the time that today are not valuable to anyone.

Driving less, seeing more. Yes, I think that will be my new motto for Mrs. OkieRover and I’s road trips. All I need now is a camera that doesn’t shut down and takes pretty good pictures. Should I take a class…probably. No, I meant a class on photography…I KNOW how to drive. Don’t say you didn’t think it!


Browse ExpeditionOklahoma’s website to see what pictures are supposed to look like when you are photographically documenting your trips. Thanks too Joy for letting me use the Carrie Nation pic. 
I think I’ll go get a beer now…on SUNDAY….yeah, that’s how I roll…
That’s a joke only if you know who Carrie Nation was, here I’ll make it easy for you.


Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Tornado, Danger Close, Family Now Even Closer (Post #289) 4/17/2012

Many of you may have seen the news about a recent Tornado outbreak in Oklahoma. We had some tornadoes that’s for sure. We even had one in Norman. Yes, the town that NEVER has tornadoes had a small one on Friday evening. I was driving home when it went through town. I arrived home only minutes after it went through the First Courthouse neighborhood south of my house. 2500 feet is about what we figured the distance at. RovErica and Mrs. OkieRover watched it track past the back of the house. Stupid as it sounds, its what most Okies do.

I think it will be considered and EF1, if even that. We did not get the houses flattened and widespread damage you are accustomed to seeing when our state is portrayed on the news after a twister. Woodward, Oklahoma on the other hand got it bad, again. My adopted mother lost five (5) cousins (it might have been seven I can’t remember) in the 1947 Woodward tornado that killed one hundred and seven (107) people. As of this morning six (6) people have died in this recent storm. Many more are in critical condition in local hospitals.

It was an exciting evening with lots of wall clouds forming, rotation of clouds on the bottom and that eery feeling something was about to happen. Once the power came back on we watched on and off coverage of the weather until late. A second line of very menacing looking storms was scheduled to blow through at 4:00 am. They turned out to be lots of lightning and a little rain. Generally nothing to write home about.

On Sunday it cleared up and we took my mother’s ashes to the Glenwood Cemetery in Perkins, Oklahoma. We made contact with the family that I never knew. They were all so excited to meet us. It was a bit overwhelming. I got to meet a high school friend of her’s and so many 2nd and 3rd cousins that I lost track of who was who.

After the ceremony, if you could call it that, we went back to a cousin of my mother’s to have fellowship and a meal. It was fun to watch the grand kids knock about on the farm. We chatted until it started getting on into evening. My sister-in-law came along and we all had a good time.

There is a Courtwright family reunion coming in June and I was enthusiastically invited several times. The Gates family reunion isn’t until next year. I don’t think it will be that long before I hear from that family again.

Thanks for reading, say a prayer for those affected, keep your head down and your eyes on the sky, and Happy Rovering.

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CAN IT GET ANY LOUDER IN HERE? (Post #284) 2/17/2012

I’ve reported a rattle coming from beneath the Range Rover before. This rattle seemed to get worse every time I drove her the past couple of weeks. We had what will qualify for “potential bad weather” early this week. Depending on the weather channel you watched we were either going to “all die from ice, freezing rain, and snow” OR “we would get a possible couple of inches of snow”. I chose to believe the latter and that’s exactly what we got.

To make sure I made it to AND from work that day I filled up the Range Rover with petrol on Sunday. Monday morning I drove her to work on the snow day that wasn’t. It started snowing before midnight on Sunday and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for a snow day on Monday. The University of Oklahoma announced they were opening at 10:00am so there was a slight chance of work interruption.

The weather was no challenge until Tuesday gave us some lovely freezing fog for the morning drive in.

I couldn’t find video for this image of the freezing fog. This is basically a picture of downtown OKC. It is of the top 15 floors or so of the 50 story Devon Tower extending above frozen fog bank engulfing the city.

Back to the muffler…I planned to drive the Range Rover in on Monday. If the weather hit us unexpectedly as it is known to do here in the central plains, I was confident I could get home. By Monday at lunch the rattling had become mostly unbearable. And by the time I got the Range Rover headed back to the office after lunch it was down right critically bad. So when I got back to the office, I knelt down on the wet pavement and snapped this picture of the failed muffler.

She was cracked nearly completely in half. The outer skin was very thin and the inner skin was also failing. The flaps of light steel were vibrating constantly and was making at least 110 decibels in the cab. Mrs. OkieRover was not happy at having to ride in her on the Sunday when it was just loud at certain RPMs.

This had to be fixed. When work ended Monday I turned north to N.E. 50th and Lincoln Boulevard and stopped at Discount Muffler. They have been in this neighborhood for as long as I can remember. I told them the problem they had me pull her in and quoted me 157$(US) for a new muffler and to fix the broken hanger in the rear. I said, “Do it.”

Driving her home after that was like driving a different vehicle. Unbelievable how much quieter she was with a new muffler. I could even hear the ABS pump running.

I drove her on Tuesday as well for good measure. I even snapped this picture from the inside of Neptune’s Submarine Sandwiches on North Classen Boulevard (this is the only location left of the once proud chain).

Their bread is to die for. The ladies behind the counter were kidding me during my visit. Before I arrived one of them must have exclaimed, “He always gets the special.” And when I ordered, she turned to the other and said, “See, I told you.” They then asked if I always get the special. I said, “No, I don’t get the tuna fish, I can’t afford the calories from the mayonnaise.” The owner then stopped and said, “So do you want the mayo on your turkey sandwich?” Their mayo is actually salad dressing. Like the salad dressing you would get in an old style school cafeteria. It really works with their bread. I told him, “Oh yeah, I love that stuff.” They laughed. I added, “My double standards go both ways.”

The number of wrecks Tuesday morning was ridiculous. My morning commute was doubled to 55 minutes. Tuesday night I found myself sitting in the Grand Reading Room in the Bizzel Memorial Library at the University of Oklahoma, studying for my Leadership class. It is still my favorite room in the entire university.

Next up for the Range Rover is getting the windshield seal sorted out. I’d like to get floor mats and sound deaden-er installed. After that I can start sorting out a new sound system. I love the sound of the Range Rover humming down the highway…but I’d love to have some tunes too. Perhaps a Bluetooth unit so I can have some Reverend Horton Heat Radio from Pandora blasting as I roll down the lonesome highway.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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