spring trip 2017

Spring trip 2017
Monday, march 20, 2017
We delayed leaving because UPS was delivering the remote control for the radio/DVD player in the Airstream, and got on the road at 1 P. M. We stayed at Buffalo springs outside of Lubbock $35 lakefront site 1. It is surprising to find trees and a lake, after dropping off the endless prairie. It is a nice camp, maybe because we were the only campers in the lakefront area. There was a lot of trash in the park, but otherwise a nice stopover. It was 94 degrees on our way here, but it cooled down to the upper 60's by evening. We sat by a fire, enjoying the pine firewood the previous campers left.
 Tuesday, march 21
After a relaxing morning, and hiking, we got on the road about 10:30, and made it to Hyde State park about 5 mountain time. We got site 44 on the end, and set up camp. There were only 3 electric sites to choose from, and an hour later, only one site left. Most of the primitive sites were closed off for the winter. The sites are $10 camping fee plus $4 for electricity. I drove to Black canyon camp, and hiked to the top of the trail. It was different to see the camp completely empty, and a few of the sites were still covered in snow. It opens in May. Back at camp, we played cards until bedtime.
 Wednesday, March 22
37 degree clear morning. Drove to the ski area to see snow, and check on rentals and tickets. They are calling for cloudy, windy, and possible snow conditions, tomorrow and Friday. Saturday and Sunday are the last days the area is open, and they said it will be crowded with locals in costumes. Decisions to make! It's a rough life, but someone has to make these tough choices. We drove into Santa Fe and donated some money to the Indian charities. Back at camp, I hiked to the waterfall about two miles. There is actually water falling this time of year! We played Yahtzee and cards until bedtime.
 Thursday, March 23f
35 degree clear morning. Shelly dropped me off at the ski area, with plans to pick me up about 4:30. I rented the skis, boots, and poles for $32, and the lift ticket was $75. There were not many people out today, and no lift lines. The skies were sunny, and it warmed to probably mid forties during the day. About 1:30, it got cloudy, and the winds gusted to 40, and brought a lot of dust. My legs told me to quit about 3, so I decided to turn in my skis, and wait at the lodge for Shelly, but she was waiting for me when I got there. She had bought groceries in town while I skied. We both think we each got the better deal. Back at camp, it started snowing about 4, and by the time it quit about 6:30, we had about two inches on everything. I had kept telling Shelly that I wanted to see it snow. She says I got my wish. This is the first time we have ever camped in the snow. We watched " The Aviator" until about 10:30. Strange movie about Howard Hughes.
 Friday, March 24
Woke up to about 8" of snow on the ground, and still snowing, and 29 degrees. We watched the traffic going uphill toward the ski area. They were moving very slow in front of Hyde Park, even though the roads had been snow plowed. It was still slippery, but it stopped snowing about 11, and the sun came out. I hiked in the snow around the camp, and drove down to black canyon to hike in the snow there. It is still strange to see the difference between March and August. We drove to Buffalo Thunder again, but instead of our usual donations, they gave us money! Shelly first hit a jackpot of $125 on a 45 cent bet, and I won $58 soon afterward. Playing with their money, I got a little crazy and hit max bet more than I would normally. I won a $168 jackpot! I lost a few rounds, but kept mostly breaking even. We decided to try Cities of gold casino, and kept up the good luck. I won $100 on a quick hit machine, and was trying a new one. Shelly didn't want to try it, but did anyway. She lost at first, and was about to quit, when I won free games and won $50. She tried again, and won free games several times. She was up about $40, when she won another $58 jackpot. At the end of the day, we were up about $300, which is much better than our usual $40 loss. And a lot more fun. Back at camp, the roads were all clear, and most of the snow had melted off of the Airstream. We paid for two more nights $28. We played cards again.
 Saturday, March 25
Cool, clear, 31 degrees. After a relaxing morning, we drove into town to check emails, and look for a water filter. We stopped at a junk store across from the Tune Up cafe, and drove to Lowe's. That's  when we realized we forgot the iPads to check emails, so I used the phone to check them. I am spoiled to the iPad. We gave some of the money back to the casinos. I guess we were feeling guilty after yesterday, and didn't want them to go broke. Ha! We stopped at the tune up cafe about 3 P. M, and ate a late lunch. Shelly got the quesadillas and I got the chicken enchiladas again. I ordered them last year, and forgot they come with mole sauce on the edge. Everything was good, especially the tortilla soup with Shelly's meal. Another relaxing evening, and we plan on going south from here tomorrow.
 Sunday, March 26
It rained just a little during the night, turning to light snow, and partly cloudy in the morning, 31 degrees. Packed up and heading to Santa Rosa State park. Arrived at the park about 3P. M. There were only about ten sites left, and most of those were short ones. We found site 15, which was long enough for us. The prices are the same as Hyde state park, $14 a night for electric sites. The park overlooks Santa Rosa lake, and  is a nice park, especially for the price. I hiked down to the lake with Sadie, about a quarter mile both ways. We visited with Sharon and her husband from Wisconsin near the Apostle Islands. She sold real estate, and he was a forester. They sold their bed and breakfast and are traveling now. We played cards, and talked.
 Monday, March 27
Wow, a week has gone by already. I took Sadie for a hike toward the lake, but carried her for about a half a mile through some rough snake country. Shelly would hate me if I let Sadie become snake chow. We hit the road south, and stopped at Brantley Lake state park about 3. $14/ night electric sites. It is desert country, and about 15 minutes off hwy 285. There were three other Airstreams in the park, one being a classic motor home. We visited with Shannon, his wife, and two sons, from Maryland. She was cutting his hair, which is funny, because I asked Shelly to cut my hair as we were driving into the park. Shelly said it was too windy, but cut it the next morning before we left. We sat outside until dark.
 Tuesday, March 28
I hiked down to the lake, and over to the boat ramp, for about two miles. Shelly cut my hair before we headed south again. We made it to Balmorhea State park about 2 P. M. , and ate lunch in the park. We drove to Davis mountain State park, and set up camp, just in time to go visit with the other Airstreamers. It was cloudy,  but warm, so we walked about a quarter mile to where they were gathering. Within 5 minutes a gusty storm blew in, and I took off running back to get the truck. I didn't realize how out of shape I was in, but got back to pick up Shelly before she got too wet. Janie came over and played cards, until we left for McDonald observatory. We didn't have tickets, but were hoping to get in anyway. We were in luck, and got to see the star party. Shelly wasn't crazy about sitting in the gusty wind freezing, but I found it fascinating. Shelly and Janie went back to the observatory, and drank hot cocoa, while I finished the constellation tour. We got to look through several telescopes aimed at different galaxies and stars. We get clear skies at our house, but on the mountain, the skies were unbelievably clear.
 Wednesday, March 29
Cool, clear, windy 45 degrees. I hiked the trail up to the office and paid for a second night. After breakfast, I hiked the montezuma quail trail, and got several good pictures. We drove into Fort Davis, and did laundry. Erica called and said they had bad storms last night about 2 in the morning, with tornado sirens going off. Erica said Makayla tried comforting her, saying it was going to be all right. We ate at the Cueva Mexican restaurant, with Shelly getting quesadillas, and me getting fajitas. Both were great, and we had more left over than we ate. We drove down to Marfa, to see what was there. Marfa was there, in all its glory. Slightly strange to see modern art in West Texas. We played cards, and watched the movie " Fathers and Daughters".
Thursday, March 30
We left Davis mountain park about 10, and started toward Big Bend. About 5 miles south of Fort Davis, the low fuel alert went off. I had forgot to fuel up yesterday, and didn't check this morning. Back to Fort Davis to get gas. We arrived at Big Bend Adventure rv park about 2, set up, and had leftover Mexican food from yesterday. The rest of the Airstream group was gone, so we drove to the Chisos basin, and hiked about a half mile up the hill on the trail. My parents, sisters and I stayed in a cabin here in 1970 or 1971, and I remember the hike. The temperature was in The 70's, compared to the mid 80's at the rv park. We visited with the Airstream group, until dark, when they went in. Janie sat with us outside until about ten.
Friday, March 31
 The rest of the Airstreamers went on a driving tour, while we packed up and moved to Cottonwood campground. It is within 50 yards of the Rio Grande, but is a Boondocking camp. We set up in site 1 ($14/ night) under a sweet acacia tree. We had a lazy afternoon reading books. It got up in the mid 90's in the afternoon, but I was counting on the dry air cooling down quickly after dark. That didn't happen until about 2 in the morning, so there goes that theory. About 7:30, I drove to Santa Elena canyon to see it at sunset. I hiked up the trail into the canyon, and took pictures at sunset. Back at camp, we sat looking at the stars until about ten, waiting on the nonexistent cooldown.
 Saturday, April 1
It finally cooled down in the night, and was about 60 in the morning. It was gusty winds yesterday, and there is a fine coating of dust on everything this morning. We decided the heat wasn't much fun yesterday, and even though it will be nearly 10 degrees cooler today, we are going East. We paid $2.88 a gallon for gas in the park, which is almost 90 cents a gallon higher than in Cleburne. Ouch. We stopped in Seminole Canyon State park, and got a primitive site for $8 a night. The temperature cooled in the afternoon, with a rain shower coming in. I hiked along the rim of the canyon about a mile and a half, and found a shed antler. We played cards, and checked the weather several times. They were saying possible severe storms tonight, and wow! They were right. It started hailing about 10, and it sounded like being inside a drum, but it was only pea sized hail. 20 minutes later, it got louder, and harder. Still it was only nickel size. After an hour, we heard loud thumps, and it was quarter size hail. We knew the camper was going to look like a golf ball, but it only had minor dings, and two busted marker lights. The hailstorm lasted over two long sleepless hours.
 Sunday, April 2
We decided to head home, and stopped in Fredericksburg by the square for lunch. We made it home about 7, just in time for a light shower, and topped off with a rainbow over the Airstream.

Summer in Wyoming

The Thursday, August 11

We drove from Boyd lake State park in Loveland up I 25 and stopped at the Wyoming welcome center.  The center is very nice, with exhibits of mammoths, Indian artifacts, and others. Shelly got a poster of an Airstream with a reflection of an old stagecoach in the Airstream. We also got a Wyoming map, and Sadie got to roam free in the dog area. We stopped at Vedauwoo camp,15 miles from Laramie, and paid $20 for 2 nights.

It is at 8500 feet elevation, and scenic with massive rocks to play on! 

Shelly posing for the rocks

I hiked several miles over to a rock mountain, and scrambled up to the top. 

The mountain in the middle is where I hiked up to the top. The rocks on the top are house sized. 

We are camped to the right of the the rock hill in the background. 

We planned on a campfire, but a thunderstorm blew in. It didn't rain much, but it was very windy until dark.

Another shot of our camp

Shelly decided to drive into Laramie to buy groceries and wash clothes, while I got to hike on the rocks.

I woke up at 2 in the morning to watch the meteor shower. I got to see over 30 in about 20 minutes, and it was a beautiful clear night. And cold. 

Friday, August 12

We checked out the dispersed campsites in the Medicine Bow forest. Forest road 700 goes from Vedauwoo camp over to Happy Jack road about 7 miles. There are a lot of nice sites to camp, but the road is washboard just about the whole way. There are several other roads that take off from Happy Jack that would be good camping, and probably less washboard. We drove into Laramie, and stopped at the laundromat Shelly used yesterday. We borrowed their wifi, and checked emails.

Me chilling

We grilled chicken and veggies, and baked potatoes in the coals. 

Saturday, August 13

Much to Shelly's distress, we woke up early again, and got ready to leave. She keeps reminding me that we are camping, and she should be able to sleep in. Even though she keeps getting up about 6:30 when we don't plan on going anywhere. We drove the few miles to Laramie, and met with the group. We have ten Airstreams, and one Airstream owner traveling with his truck camper, and plan on meeting Brent at Double cabin camp. 

Ray and Nancy Eklund from Castle Rock, and Dingo and Blue

Maggie from Normal, Illinois, and Lilly

Fred from Denver

Tom and Vicky from Santa Fe

Gerard and Laura From Ontario

Jennifer full time traveling from Illinois, and Q

Richard and Karen from Ocalla, Florida

Lucius and Danielle from Atlanta

Dave and Susan from Oregon, and miss Figg

Jan and Ed from California, and sir Guiness

We took the tour of the territorial prison where we are staying.

The prison once held Butch Cassidy, and had a big exhibit on him, as well as prison life in the 1800's.

The prison cells

The tour was interesting, and we spent several hours going through it. We met a local couple who are just beginning to restore a 1953 Flying Cloud. They visited, and looked at several of our Airstreams, and took us to look at theirs. We got to visit with everyone in the evening.

The group with the thunderstorm in the background

Our Airstream in the sunset

Sunday, August 14

Everyone packed up to leave by 9, and drove west on 287, through Rock River, and Medicine Bow. We stopped at the bone cabin, which is built out of fossil dinosaur bones. The cabin is abandoned, but we looked around and got pictures.

We stopped in Medicine Bow and saw the Virginian Hotel, also built in the 1800's. We drove west, almost to Lander before going north on 135 for 7 miles. We turned on a dirt road, which was an old stagecoach road, for two miles before topping out on a ridge overlooking a huge valley. We set up camp, with about half of the Airstreams right on the ridge. Ray, Richard, and I walked down the valley to explore the area below our camp. We found several flakes of flint, and Richard found a scraper. 

I found a nest of what looked like doves, on the ground, but the mother bird faked an injured wing, like a killdeer, to lure me away from the nest.
The temperature was in the mid 80's, but by evening it cooled down enough to enjoy Lucius' propane fire. It was nice to have the campfire without the smoke.

Jan was walking back to their motor home, when she started screaming and high stepping. When she calmed down enough to talk, she said there was a rattlesnake by the trail. I had to see, and went back to take a picture. About half of the group wanted to see it, and Ray said it was a prairie rattler. That is the first prairie rattler I have seen. 

He wasn't happy with us bothering him

Monday, August 15

It was calm when we went to bed, but about 5 in the morning, the wind started howling up the canyon. Even with the stabilizing jacks down, the Airstream was rocking in the gale force winds. We had planned on staying two nights here, but after the windstorm, we decided to move to Sawmill creek south of Lander. Everyone stopped at the Oxbow restaurant for lunch, which was a great place to eat. Just past the Sinks State park, the road starts climbing. And climbing. And winding. And climbing and winding some more. The scenery keeps getting better, and the temperature dropped from 85 down to the low 70's when we got to the campsite. Everyone had stopped at the top of a hill deciding where to set up camp, when we caught up to them. We saw a great spot at the base of a rocky outcrop, and set up the Airstream, including the stabilizing jacks.

After setting up, several people drove a few hundred yards to a beautiful campsite in a meadow, and everyone else set up camp down there. We debated on being insocial, and staying put, but noticed the wind was much stronger on top of the hill. After last night's wind, we decided to move down the hill with the rest of the group. We managed to still get a great site backed up in the trees.

Jan and Ed had their new electric bicycles with them, and let me try them at our camp. The bicycle took off up the hill with no effort on my part, and was really fun. They are Sonders ebikes. Shelly made 7 layer dip for everyone, and we visited until dark. 

Tuesday, August 16

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Shelly, happy birthday to you. Wow, 50! We woke up to 50 degrees in the camper, and 40 outside, with clear blue skies. We hiked up the hill across the road, and got to do some rock scrambling up the steep rocks. Ray found a nice arrowhead on the way up, and had the rest of us looking for more.

The only other signs we found were a few flakes of flint at the base of the rocky top of the mountain.

Ray on top of the mountain we climbed, with the camp on the far right. Shelly, Nancy, Richard, and Karen are on the clearing just to the right of Ray, but are tiny in the picture. 

We drove to Lander to get propane, and groceries, passing The Sinks state park on the way. We stopped at the sinks, where the Popo Agie River disappears into a cave opening.

They say it takes several hours to reappear about a quarter mile down the canyon. Interesting stuff. As usual on Shelly's birthday, we were going downhill toward civilization, when we get cell phone service. Her phone starts dinging with everyone telling her to have a great day.  We bought propane at Ace hardware for $2.19 a gallon.  We met Karen and Richard for lunch at the Gannet grill downtown. The grill is in an old bar and has plenty of western character. We ate a specialty pizza with paprika sauce, and provalone and mozzarella cheese, ham and bacon. I would order it again, but Shelly said it wasn't her favorite. Back at camp, everyone had signed a card for Shelly, and Susan had baked a brownie cake with caramel chocolate icing. I told Shelly everyone wanted a group picture, and she was surprised to find everyone waiting to sing happy birthday to her. 

Lighting the candles. 

Her wish came true. We got to camp in a beautiful forest. No, wait, that was my wish. She probably wished we were home. 

Wednesday, August 17

We woke up to 40 degree temps again, and hit the road by 8. We stopped to help some stranded motorists, and took 5 Arapaho Indian Americans down to Lander. They said they hit a glass bottle in the road, flattening their tire and ended in the ditch. One kept saying we had a funny accent, and wanted to know how we talk like that. We couldn't convince them that they were the ones with an accent. One laid in the back of the truck bed, and four got in the back of the truck. Cozy! We took them to the northwest part of Lander,,before going to eat at the Oxbow again. We both ate an Oxbow omelet, and agreed it was delicious. We met the group in Dubois, and drove north on a forest road for 28 miles. It got narrower and curvier as we went, and took about an hour and a half to get to the campground on the river. It is just past the Double cabin national forest campground, and has several horse corrals set up. Brent from Buffalo, Wyoming joined us here. We had met him on the Quemado adventure last year.  After setting up, we celebrated Danielle's birthday with cupcakes and brownies. 

The group at sunset. It is a gorgeous valley surrounded by jagged peaks. 

Thursday, August 18

We hiked up to the cabin in the woods, and up the trail about another mile.

The group at the cabin

Richard, Dave, Karen, Shelly, and Susan in the far background. 

We got back in time to hear the thunder getting closer. The rain starting in the mountains moved in on us, and turned to pea sized hail for a short time. We ate lunch, and took a nap listening to the thunder. The temperature dropped during the rain, but we still managed a few hours of socializing. Shelly made a cherry dump cake, Maggie made homemade bread, and Susan made a pecan cake. Everyone was planning on where to go from here. We planned on going north through Yellowstone to get to North Dakota, and Minnesota. That will be the last of the 50 states we have visited. 

Friday, August 19

Woke up to a cold, cloudy,40 degree morning. We planned on staying here tonight, but everyone decided to somewhere warmer. We moved to Horse creek camp, about 11 miles north of Dubois, and set up next to Richard and Karen. It is a nice national forest camp, and we both got a great site next to the creek. $15 a night. We drove to Dubois to wash clothes, and the truck. We used the wifi to catch up on the world, and found out it is still spinning around. We had a scare when leaving the laundromat. Shelly couldn't find her purse, and was almost panicking, until we got back to camp and found it still in the camper. Whew! We whiled away the cold afternoon reading, and playing cards. 

Saturday, August 20

Cold 32, and clear skies!

Camp on Horse creek

Moon setting over our camp

Shelly and I drove to Riverton, with the plan of meeting Richard and Karen in Thermopolis. Driving into Riverton, we passed a car with a blown out tire. He was weaving, but we thought it was because he was driving on a rim, and couldn't control it. We stopped at a red light in Riverton, with him behind us, joking we hoped he could stop. He did stop, but after about ten seconds, he decided to go again, right into us. He was staggering drunk, and several bystanders had already called 911. The police were on the scene in less than 2 minutes, and quickly put him in their cruiser. They said the car was stolen the night before, which was why he didn't care about the ruined rim. Our Airstream bumper was dented, but no major damage. 

We drove to Thermopolis, and set up in town at Wyoming Gardens RV park. $32 / night for full hookups, and fast wifi. We soaked in the hot pool at the hot springs state park, and walked on the boardwalk to the swinging bridge over the river.

Back in camp, we ordered pizza from Pizza Hut, and I walked the few blocks to pick it up. We had a picnic lunch at our camper. We caught up on all the news, and face timed with Erica, Damon, and Makayla.

Sunday, August, 21

Shelly bought groceries in town. We met Richard and Karen at the hot springs, and walked on the boardwalk again. We drove to the Bighorn mountains, and up highway 16 to the pass. Up highway 16 sounds easy, but the Dodge struggled all the way up the steep road. Once at the top, we made it to Lakeview campground on Meadowlark lake. It is a forest campground, and $17 a night. Richard kept letting me know they only paid $8.50 a night. We set up in sites 3 and 4, and both have a nice view overlooking the lake. We decided site 10 is the premium site if we get back here, and reservations are accepted.

Richard and I hiked by the lake before supper. We grilled steaks, to go with a Caesar salad, and fresh corn on the cob. It was all delicious. We sat by a fire, and relaxed with perfect weather. 

Monday, August 22

Sunny, cool morning again. A dog was barking in a distant camp, and when we looked to see the problem, we saw a moose wandering in the camp. 

It walked behind Richard and Karen's Airstream, and up the hill.

Other campers, later, said there were 2 cow and one bull moose that frequent the camp. 

We hiked the jeep road going up the hill from the camp, and found several nice Boondocking sites. The road is rough, but should be doable even in a two wheel drive.

There is room for lots of Trailers, and an amazing view from this camp. 

We hiked about a mile up the hill, and relaxed in the afternoon. 

Lake meadowlark in the background. It was built by the CCC in the thirties. 

Shelly and Karen goofing off!

Shelly made hobo stew for supper, with brownies for dessert. We sat by the campfire and had perfect weather once again. Our new neighbor drove up in a truck camper just as we started the fire, and cranked up his generator almost immediately. It was about twenty yards away, and he left it on the whole time we were sitting by the fire. The only consolation, was that it was a Honda, and relatively quiet. Especially compared to the noisy one from Cloudcroft. Still a great way to spend the evening. 

Tuesday, August 23

Karen suggested stopping at Devil's tower, instead of driving 7 hours, and we all agreed it was a much better option. We set up camp at the park. $10 entry fee, and $12 camp fee, with no hookups, but a nice campground.

We drove to the visitor center, and learned about the geology, and Native American connections to the Devil's tower.

We hiked around the base, and watched several climbers on the face. 

The start of the hike.

The trail is 1.3 miles, and we spent about an hour and a half hiking. Back at camp, we walked to a sculpture a Japanese sculptor created in view of the tower.

Shelly by the marble sculpture

Karen and Richard by the sculpture.

Richard and Karen cooked Black fin tuna, with rice, and stir fry vegetables for supper. They were delicious of course. Richard said his brother caught the tuna off the Florida coast. 

Wednesday, August 24

The day started beautiful, and remained sunny all afternoon, but turned windy. We were driving through South Dakota to get to North Dakota. The roads were good, but the winds made the drive nerve wracking. There were trucks hauling windmill bases, and would slow to 25 mph on the hills. They were wide loads, and not worth passing. We stopped for a light lunch at a city park, but we caught up to the trucks again shortly.

North Dakota is my 50th state! We made it to Roosevelt national park about 4, and were told there were only a few spots left, and the ones left may be too short for our campers. After making a loop through the park, and not finding a spot, a ranger said he would open the group camp for us. The group site #25 is more secluded than most sites, and we felt lucky to get them this late in the day.

$14 per night with no hookups, and a $20 entry fee. We walked around the camp, and by the river, before having supper. Shelly made Mexican chicken, and Karen made a pineapple upside down cake. We visited and said goodbye, with the plan of leaving early in the morning. 

Thursday, August 25 

Another day of driving! Today was better weather for driving, with clouds and lower winds. We made it across North Dakota, and into Minnesota to Buffalo State park. We chose the loop with no hookups to save $8 a night, but the sites were still $23 plus $5 entry fee.

We had to use the cell phone to reserve the site before setting up camp. The park is nice, with lots of woods around, but the mosquitos had us retreating inside the camper for the evening.

The Buffalo River in the park

Getting into Minnesota, Shelly has now been to all 50 states also! 50 states at 50! Wow! I still beat her, getting 50 states yesterday. We checked on Gooseberry falls state park for tomorrow night, but found they were all reserved for both Friday and Saturday. I had wanted to drive the north shore drive, but the last minute decision to go there was a poor choice on a Friday. We decided we'll go there another time when we can plan better. 

Friday, August 26

 We started toward home, and drove back into North Dakota to take I29 south. After paying $28 last night for no hookups, we found a casino with electric hookups for only $10 a night in Flandreau, South Dakota.

We decided if we were going to give away money, we'll have fun giving it away. We ended up getting lucky and breaking even after several hours of fun. 

Saturday, August 27

We drove south again, and into Iowa. In Council Bluffs, we turned west on I80 into Nebraska. There are a lot of corn fields up here! We took US 81 south to Riverside city park in Hebron, Nebraska. It is a beautiful small park, and we were the only camper here.

There was several families celebrating a kids' birthday in the park, and it made Shelly want to get home to see our grandkids. We walked into town from the park, and noticed a sign pointing us to the world's largest porch swing. 32' long!

Can you find Shelly?

Brick relief on the Hebron fire station

Later, I was sitting and relaxing outside, and noticed the sun reflecting on something shiny behind some trees. I kept thinking that looked like the corner of an Airstream, so I had to investigate. It was, and I walked through several yards to introduce myself to the owner, Ray. It was a 1964 Overlander, and they had had it for several years. 

Sunday, August 28

We made it to Wichita, Kansas about noon, and met Via at The Good Egg, where she works. Shelly got the club sandwich, and I got a Santa Fe Stack sandwich, both of which were great. After 3, when Via got off work, we visited, and she led us to Home Depot. We had lost the front vent cover on the Airstream, and were concerned about the heavy rain south of Wichita. I bought a lexan sheet, and cut it down to size to fit over the vent. I had to disassemble the light fixture, vent fan assembly, and the lift arms to put it together. I'll need to put a vent cover over the lexan when we get home, but this will keep most of the rain out. These roads have been rough on the camper this trip. The bath cabinet has come loose from the wall, and will need to be riveted when we get home. Onward southward! We had decided to make it to a city park in Perry, Oklahoma to spend the night. We made it to Perry about 6, and were driving East to where Allstays showed the park to be, and we started having Deja vu. We had tried this park two years ago, drove around the ccc lake, and found there were no camping spots. We asked a police officer about camping, and he said there was another Perry lake on the west side of I35, and gave us directions. This year we found it! It is on a hill overlooking a small lake, and full hookups are $25.

The sites are side by side, and not quite as nice as the Hebron city park, but still a decent place to spend a night. 

Monday, August 29

Homeward bound today!