649 Miles

I think my horse (aka driver) is heading to the barn!  Really though, it was just a matter of circumstances that we traveled so far today.  Leaving the state park in Missouri after dumping our tanks we both noticed our fresh water tank registered 1/4 full.  OK, that’s enough to get us a ways.  The dump station water was not operational and we would have had to drive back into the park, find a spigot and run a bunch of water hose to take on more water. 

This afternoon I wanted to wash my hands—oops, no water, tank dry.  YIKES!!!  This girl can do without electric but water is another matter entirely!!  Now we are in South Dakota, every rest area has a dump station—nope, not in the winter time (yes in spite of the fact the flowers were blooming and the trees were leafed out in Florida it is still winter up here).  Most RV parks are not open until April 1 and some not until May 1.   When we left home in December we stayed our first night in Murdo, SD parked in a closed museum parking lot.  That became our destination this evening—we arrived there about 5pm, perfect. 

No, not so perfect—Murdo is not a city, not even a town, just a wide spot in the road.  There was not a working outdoor water spigot anywhere.  Michael wanted to press on to Rapid City so off we went.  I drove about 2 hours today giving him a break.

As we are cruising down the interstate Michael noticed a sign “RV parking, electric only, $5/night.”  In Wasta, SD, about 50 miles from Rapid City.   We pulled in, there is a dump station, no water again.  But attached to this quasi RV park is a self service credit card only gas station and eureka, there is a spigot on the outside of the building which works.

We are tucked into our little spot with a full tank of water, electric, blazing fast aircard speeds and cellphone service—what more could we ask for??

What did we do before the internet??  We carried around those huge volumes—Woodall’s and Trailer Life.  Picking parks which received good reviews, arriving in these parks to wonder why in the world anyone would have given the place one star much less five stars!!!  We now use RVParkReviews.com almost exclusively when searching for a spot.  We recently purchased a copy of the Escapee’s Days End download and we look for Elk’s Lodges.  It helps to have the internet while traveling down the road but today in a state where it is still winter, nothing helped much except the eagle eyes of my dear (still sick) husband. 

Karen and Al, here is the granola recipe:

GRANOLA (from my Kansas City friend, Kelly) 

Makes about 10 cups

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 ½ cups sliced almonds (1/2 lb)

1 ½ cups sweetened flaked coconut

¼ tsp salt

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup honey

1 cup dried cranberries (5oz)  (we don’t like fruit in our granola so I leave out both fruits)

1 cup golden raisins (5 ½ oz)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°. Line a large shallow baking pan with foil and oil foil

Toss together oats, almonds, coconut, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together oil and honey, then stir into oat mixture until well coated. Spread mixture in baking pan and bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Stir in cranberries and raisins, then cool completely in pan on a rack.

508 Miles

Yes, that’s how far we came today, 508 miles in pouring rain every mile of the way!  Michael and I were saying we have traveled in rainstorms before but never for what seemed an endless rain storm.  Almost as soon as we parked in this Missouri state park the rain stopped—tomorrow should be better.  All of our travel today was on interstates—most in good repair—there was one bad stretch of I40 between Conway and Fort Smith, Arkansas, otherwise good roads.

Michael is struggling with a bad sore throat and congestion—I sure hope he doesn’t have the flu—no fever yet.  I’ve washed my hands a million times today—needed lots of hand lotion!

I took spaghetti sauce out of the freezer this morning, tonight I cooked some pasta, made a salad and we had a delicious dinner when we landed. 

Imagine that, a pull through in a state park!  There is one other pull through in this park and it is occupied by an older, beautiful Foretravel motorhome.  Nice we didn’t have to unhook the jeep.

On The Road Again

Saturday was another day of eating and visiting.  A very good day!  Breakfast at Danny and Ann’s then the guys took off to split and haul some firewood.  Ann eventually got in on the work, too!I started a batch of homemade bread and ferried Ann over to where the guys were cutting firewood.  Elizabeth was hanging out with me.  The wood crew including Eric, Niki and the girls gathered at the house for lunch—a good old southern, heart stopping lunch—pinto beans, cornbread, cabbage and fried potatoes.  We fed poor Michael some leftover ham as he isn’t into eating beans and cornbread nor cabbage! 

Mom and I went to visit Aunt Valeta later in the afternoon—she is Mom’s oldest living sister.  Her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and daughter were there—it was fun to see them all.

The entire gang, all 15 of us gathered at Danny and Ann’s for a farewell dinner last night—oh, my!  Brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, salads, corn on the cob and a Pioneer Woman dessert—apple cake. 

Changed our clocks before going to bed—I hate daylight savings time—and got up this morning in the dark.  We are rolling north today. 

Niki was sick, her foster baby was sick and Chuck (Mom’s husband) was sick—last night Michael went to bed not feeling the greatest, this morning he got up with a very sore throat.  I am dosing him with cough drops, fluids and Sudafed.  We will see what happens!  My nephew ClaytonMy brother Ross—about 30 minutes prior to this photo this horse bucked him off.  He says the ground is a little harder at 50 than it was at 20 years old!  Ross was moving a little slow last night!

Two sweet little girls, Elizabeth and Leah, my great nieces. 

Sad to leave but eager to get rolling again.

A Visiting Day

The shades hadn’t been up long on our windows when I received a text from my sister inviting us for breakfast.  Of course, we will be right over!  Pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs!  That set the tone for the rest of the day!

My sweet niece Niki came over today—she is a nurse and has Friday’s off—we visited from afar—she is recovering from the flu and I didn’t let her get too close!  Kerri along with her baby Tucker came over to bring Niki lunch and we got in some more visiting.  Kerri, her husband Bradley, and their daughter Harley have been to our house in Montana with Niki and Eric.

And we ate some more—snacks for lunch, a bite here and a bite there!  Tonight we all gathered at the local Mexican restaurant for dinner—very good but as always when you eat Mexican food—we ate too much!

My sister Ann is an avid bird feeder—she has several feeders scattered around their yard—one being right out in front of the motorhome.  We’ve seen lots of cardinals and a woodpecker of some sort.Spot is Danny and Ann’s dog—he is about 11 years old and wishes this little punk black dog would go home!

And this is how we ended our day—with this delicious pie and more visiting.  I love being here at home!

We May Need An Ark

Parked here in Arkansas in Danny and Ann’s driveway wondering if this soggy ground is going to support us or if we should draw up the plans for a boat!  I went to Wal Mart just after lunch, it was 72 degrees, cloudy and humid.  While in Wal Mart I heard this horrific noise and realized it was rain—pounding rain.  The wind was howling, I was starting to wonder if I should be seeking cover!  When I came out of Wal Mart the rain had let up a little but the temperature had dropped to 55 degrees! 

And the rest of the afternoon and now into the evening it has rained and rained.  Yep, better be drawing up those plans for the boat!

We had a wonderful dinner at Mom’s tonight—ham, baked beans, potato salad, fruit salad and homemade bread.  If nothing else, we eat very well here on Barnes-Hill! 

My sweet niece has the flu—a major case—and I haven’t gotten to see her yet.  My brother is an electrician with the power company here in Arkansas—they have a problem at the power plant and he’s working overtime—haven’t seen him yet, either.  Everyone else is accounted for!  Got my hugs from the great nieces and met the little boy who is living in their home as a foster child. 

This morning before the deluge started Michael and I enjoyed our coffee while watching all the cardinals on Ann’s bird feeders.  Emmi is so enjoying being loose, playing with her ball.  We also got in about a 2 mile walk before the skies opened.

I fixed chicken noodle soup for my niece today—maybe that will help her case of the flu!  And took advantage of the oven in Ann’s house to make several batches of granola.  Tomorrow I may make bread!  Michael and Danny installed Mom’s new cook stove—it has some bugs but I bet these guys can get those figured out.

No photos today.  A good day on Barnes-Hill.

Back On Our Side Of The River

The park where we stayed last night was so quiet, we both slept like logs.  Michael was up early, he and Emmi went for a walk while I enjoyed my coffee outside our RV on this deck overlooking the lake:Last night we both said, “if it’s a nice day tomorrow, let’s stay another day and put the kayak in the water.”  Not to be, it was cloudy and the wind was all ready starting to make the lake water choppy.  So, off we went.

Out of Alabama, across Mississippi, crossing back into what Michael calls the “right side of that big river.”  We crossed the river at Greenville, Mississippi on what looked to be a new bridge—beautiful structure:Emmi slept the day away on the couch giving me the dirty look when I tried to take photos of her:

Today about 4pm we rolled into a gas station to feed the hungry beast and the owner of the gas station knew me by name—now can anyone guess where we are??

These little ladies are in our yard for the next few days. 

It feels good to stop rolling for a while!

We Leave Cedar Key

A few days shy of two months and Cedar Key was in our rear view mirror this morning just after 8am.  We said our goodbyes to Matt and Freeway; Connie and Cliff had stopped by last night. 

Things we liked about Cedar Key:

1.  The warm weather—even when it was raining it was usually warm—humid but warm.  You could sit outside in the evening, it was warm. 

2.  The food—we ate clams, shrimp and scallops, fresh, right from the ocean.  Delicious.

3.  The people—so very friendly where ever we went.

4.  The scenery—the islands scattered all around Cedar Key made for some beautiful photographs.

5.  Michael says, “Cedar Key was as slow as I am—it doesn’t require I do something all the time.”

6.  Our RV park—Cedar Key RV Resort—big sites, usually quiet, wonderful managers, friendly people.  A resident chef (one of the guests) who cooked for us almost weekly.

What we didn’t like about Cedar Key:

1.  The bugs—those no-see-ums were vicious!  We are all, Emmi included, covered in bites.

2.  Fire ants—those bites hurt like the dickens!

Mike McFall , this photo is for you—do you recognize this courthouse??  We drove through Monticello today on our way to Lake Lurleen State Park outside Tuscaloosa, AL.  Took the back roads and saw a lot of little towns, ending up here at this state park on a gorgeous lake about 5:30pm—a very long day of driving.  No cell phone coverage here, very, very slow air card internet, very slow!