Good-bye Kansas, Hello Chattanooga!

It was not difficult to say good-bye to the Kansas heat but very hard to leave folks who feel like family after 6 days of hobnobbing, telling tall tales and exchanging travel stories.

One of the nights at the rally the sunset is so magnificent I can not stop taking pictures.

Going to work them all in…..as this is the official end of our once- in-a-lifetime Alaska trip.

Deciding that one more day of 101 temperatures would be one day too many, we are hitting the road early before the pancake breakfast send-off.   Picking a couple of destinations ranging from  300 miles to 400 miles down the road works best for us.  Nixing the idea of traveling off the interstate, deciding that we rely on the constant Wal-Marts and McDonalds for sustenance and shelter.  It’s an easy travel day until we try to cross the river in St Louis.  Traffic should be light as it is Sunday PM but the lane that we are in is not moving, taking us an hour or so to go a few miles.

Using the handy All Stays Camp app, we find a Cracker Barrel on exit 16.  Looks like we are not going to make it to Rend Lake….a COE where our friends are staying.  During the meal we ask permission to spend the night.  The manager says we are most welcome and very glad that we are asking permission as they do not like unauthorized visitors behind the store after closing.  He suggests that we might want to enjoy one of their breakfasts before we leave.

The interstate is close and it’s melody of traffic soothes us to sleep.  At 1:30 AM a noisy monster goes through the parking lot, eating the trash from the dumpster….loudest waste disposal truck ever!  Why 1:30?

At 6:10 we are eating breakfast and, after another easy 400 plus miles, we are entering Chattanooga!  Feels so strange to be returning after 102 days.  Our house is swallowed by vegetation!

But we are relieved that everything looks like it should….no one had carried off our TV’s.  Only glitch is the Sienna, parked in the middle of the driveway, will not start. 

Astonished at the weeds everywhere!   But it did rain most of July and we were gone a long time!

Overgrown flower beds.

Obedient plant, a TN native, apparently needs no care for 3 months.

May need to dig the whole bed up, use round-up, and start all over!

The path to the patio has disappeared!

My cleome is 4 feet tall!

Hubby trying to tame the wilderness!

The hardy begonia.

Wild ageratum and morning glory.

We are unpacked, clothes washed, cats retrieved, A/C repaired and settling back in to the boring humdrum of life at home.

No regrets!  And enough memories to last the rest of our lives!

Want to thank everyone for coming along with us.  You helped us get through some difficult times.  Love y’all!

Kansas Eggstravaganza 2013

 

The Sixth Annual Kansas Eggstravaganza officially started today with a pot luck breakfast.  Tantalizing dishes come out of the little eggs when it’s pot luck time and the socializing begins! 

It’s been a little too hot to do anything but visit.  The temperature dipped into the 80’s for a day or so and now it’s back into the mid 90’s with 99 degrees predicted for the weekend.

The heat has not stopped the fun….maybe just slowed some of us down a bit.

We are camped right across from some of our old friends from east TN who are right on the water. Our site has evening shade but is brutally unprotected during the middle of the day.  The A/C is staying on until the sun sets. 

The campground is laid out in a loop where everyone can easily visit.  At last count 30 trailers have arrived with more expected tomorrow.  Amazing how many come from Texas!

Larry and Debbie Gamble of Little House Customs have been hard at work since last Monday with the early arrivals.  Larry performed a valvectomy on our shower drain…..the Alaskan trip had knocked off the drain pipe.  No longer must I get on my knees to pull the shower drain lever!

Larry and customers!

Debbie minding the store!

A few unusual fiberglass campers……

a 1970 Western Campster!  (can’t remember the entire name!)

This 1983 model is being lovingly restored by new owners.  They patiently explained that it  really is a Casita!

All of the other trailers, so far, are Casitas and Scamps except for the one 19’ Escape owned by a St Louis couple.  The Escape campsite appears to be the favorite hangout place.

We are spending our time talking and eating.  When it gets too hot to do anything else….napping inside the A/C cooled interior.

Beautiful sunsets are gracing the sky every evening.  Wonder how many can I post before humdrum sets in?

Random shots from the rally………

Our TN friends……

Kansas neighbor!

Our partially shaded site.

Lovely host, Joyce.

Pretty blue truck with white bookends.

Patriotic neighbor.

Ms. Pickles, displeased with the camera. 

Larry and Curly…or is it Curly and Larry?  Mother Moe is close by.

Friendly faces.

Not too much more to say…..afraid I’ll start whining about the heat. 

Thinking more and more of home and what will life be like…. not waking up in the Casita?  Feeling sad just thinking about it……

Hotter than h…. in Kansas!

 

(Caution…this post may jump in time and space!)

We are feeling fortunate to be sitting in the cool of the Dorothy Bramlage Public Library in Junction City, KS as the temperature climbs toward 102 degrees outside!  Very fortunate!

Yesterday at this time we were baking on the shore of the beautiful Wilson Lake, about one hundred miles west of here where we landed last Monday.   But let me back up even more!

One week ago today, after leaving Glenda and Jeff, we are relocating to ….

Where we find the unknown berries that are a welcome addition to our morning oatmeal.

After one night and a little rain we are heading to Englewood, CO (really it’s Denver) to visit with our former neighbor, good friend, Chris who moved away 4 years ago.

Enjoying her company in her back yard oasis, we meet one of the neighbors’ cats. 

Chris,a hiker, backpacker and bicyclist, is recently started her own business.   You can learn more about being healthy here.

Our time in Denver is short.  Slept comfortably in the Casita on the street in front of her house.  (Never ceases to amaze me….all the spots we can find to sleep!)  The next morning we attended a farmers’ market  where I purchased a clay cooking pot from Columbia.  These amazing little pots can be used in the oven, on the grill or in the microwave.  My oatmeal is being cooked, for a change, inside the Casita on the propane grill!

 

Due to the morning at the market, we are heading toward Kansas in the heat of the day.  Barely made it across the state line before stopping at the High Plains RV Park.   The winds are howling, gusting around 30 miles per hour!  David’s frustrated as everything he lays down is instantly blown away.  Arriving just before dark, we see our first Kansas sunset.

 

The problem of camping on Labor Day had been bothering me.  While in Poudre Canyon there was no phone and the Reserve website wasn’t working on my computer.  While at Chris’ house, we were just too busy to look!  Finally scored one of the two last electric sites at a COE on Lake Wilson…right on our path to the Farnum Creek rally!  I prayed for a shaded site with a good solid cell phone connection.

Arriving on Monday afternoon before the holiday, we are almost alone as it’s mostly empty.  Searching the huge 7 loops of Minooka Park campground, four or five sites had afternoon shade.  We picked D-9 as it had two trees and a beautiful view of the lake.  And a solid 4G with 4 bars!

The first night is spent exploring and taking sunset pictures.

We are on the eastern side of the peninsula so it was no problem to get a few sunrise pictures.

 

It’s hot, we need ice and decide to explore the closest little town of Wilson.  After eight miles of rolling hills we find the town’s only store/ gas station closed.  Five PM closing time!  Well, surely there’s something else?  Sure, we were told, if we want to head back west on the interstate 26 miles!

Already I am wondering if this pretty spot with the perfect internet connection is doable for 7 nights.  The heat is getting more intense.  Then a water main breaks, the shower house closes and we are advised to disconnect our water as maintenance is turning it off and on.  The second day of no water begins and I am holing up inside the Casita.  The reflectix is back on the windows in attempts to keep the A/C inside.  I am dreading the weekend when we must move to our previously reserved site with no shade on the western side of the hill.

Full of indecision and drained from the heat, I email Tom, one of the hosts of the Farnum Creek rally, telling him of my misery mentioning that if our A/C quits, we would be heading home if we were not in the hospital!  And, bless him, he immediately jumps into action and finds us a site on Milford Lake.  We call back and forth, my calls constantly getting dropped, until we can make the 90 mile trip to the West Rolling Hills camp.  Drove much faster than normal due to concern over him sitting in the heat saving our site.

So last night was great! Ate hamburgers at the marina and had a shower.  All good except when my laptop electric cord shorted and threw the Casita into darkness.  After momentarily sitting in shock, we got everything unplugged and explored the converter.

I found a switched that had been thrown and we were back into the light.  This morning discovered the cord no longer worked, had one of the wires burnt.  Found a great little repair shop and he put me back into the blogging world in a few short minutes.  Wizard Electronics performed magic!

If you are wondering why I am writing so much, it’s 4 Pm and 101.  Think we will stay here until closing time!

Few more thoughts…..This coming week will be our last on the road.  The rally starts (officially) midweek and then we will be heading to Chattanooga.  It will be great to be home after 3 1/2 months …….but what will I write about?

More of Wilson Lake