Oasis of the Plains?

     Colby Kansas, Oasis of the Plains, or that's what they call it.  Okay, I'll admit, there actually are some trees here.  Not a lot but, they do exist. 😏  I have vivid memories of trips out west as a kid hearing my father state his loathing for Kansas, "Too flat and empty."  I shall partially but respectfully disagree with my father on this matter.  We drove across Nebraska in June of 2023 on what seemed like an endless unwavering road to the horizon.  Compared to that, Kansas is great with its meandering highways traversing waves of hills and valleys and hundreds of massive wind power generators that go on for miles.

    We pulled out of the Cottonwood Point campground by 9:30 and, since there's almost nothing in Kansas,  (yes daddy) we arrived in Colby Kansas before 3:00.  Nothing to really slow us down along the way other than a few road repairs and 3 rest areas.  Flat it isn't.  Cottonwood Point campground was just under 1400 Ft above sea level.  Watching the elevation display on the Garmin as we drove today was my entertainment on this leg and I'd call out the readings to Lynn as we'd pass 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000.  Colby sits at 3,159 Ft.

    This is just another overnight stop on our way to Western Colorado. There aren't a lot of choices for campgrounds and our priorities are aimed more toward campsites that fall within the 250 to 300 miles per day travel we plan for.  Hill Street RV park is nothing more than 5 or 6 parking spots (with full hook-ups) on a grass & gravel lot beside a metal building in an industrial park on the edge of town.  The owner had contacted us a week ago just to confirm our scheduled arrival and requested we call him before we arrive.  He's a kind and helpful gentleman and guided me into our pull-thru site to make sure we got a level start.  He made sure we got the utilities hooked up, I thanked him and paid him for the spot.  

    Interstate 70 is just over a half mile away and there's a Walmart within a mile so it'll be easy getting out again tomorrow morning.  We plan these trips out months in advance, and up to a year in advance when our destinations are more of a tourist hot-spot.  I guess one of the advantages of being retired is going to some of the best places after the kids go back to school.  I hate crowded parks with campsites packed in like town houses and will go out of the way to find a quaint, quiet, mom & pop camp site rather than some Resort style place with activity directors and $$$$ listings.  

    Tomorrow morning we continue west into Colorado and we'll be stopping again just west of Denver.  Please feel free to leave comments, or just let us know you dropped in.  Until tomorrow, Cheers! 

Northwest across Kansas

     I spent considerable time making preparations for this trip.  We took a complete inventory of  the RV and were able to lose about 50 pounds of "stuff" but gained a lot of space and a much better sense of organization.  I brought the RV up to the front drive for loading yesterday but encountered another problem with the slide-out after getting it parked.  Fortunately, it enabled me to finally determine the root cause and make successful repairs.  We had planned to be on the road early but with our exit plan delayed, we got finished loading up by 10:00 and had the car and dolly secured by 10:30.  By the time we pumped 60 gallons of gasoline and 80 pounds of propane it was 11:15 but traffic was light and there was nothing left to  do but drive.

    The trip into Kansas was familiar.  It was the same route we had taken 4 years earlier when we welcomed Bilbo to our family.  We had stopped on our way home to take a picture with Toto as we were leaving Kansas.  That was a whirlwind trip in the car, This trip is a bit more of an excursion with just over 5 weeks planned.  Our first Destination is a visit with my Aunt in Western Colorado.  We were last there in Late May of 2023.  We're planning to visit for 4 days with her before proceeding to the NEXT Destination.

    The trip was smooth and uneventful, we made much better time than we had planned for and arrived at Cottonwood Point C.O.E. Campground near Marion, KS.  There was a sign at the gatehouse as we entered the park noting it was unoccupied so we made our way through the park trying to find our campsite.  It took us another 15 minutes but we finally located campsite 129.  It was only one of very few Pull-thru sites but was nicely outfitted with a covered picnic table and BBQ grill, Full Hookups and a decent view overlooking the Marion Reservoir.

    Today was a Good travel day,  and that's not something I'm prone to saying often.  For now, I'l just say Good Night.  Check back again tomorrow, I'm Planning on keeping the blog going throughout this trip.  Cheers!

Return to Petit Jean

 It has been a rainy drizzly month with a few dry days in between storm systems.  June started off dry and warmer and a few days ago we started preparing for this trip.  We still had a late start Tuesday but thankfully the trip is only a few hours.  We brought the car with us this trip so we could get out and about and explore the area.

When we were here last month, it was only an overnight stay in the "high-end" campground.  This trip we reserved the less expensive area.  This campground area is more wooded and natural with lesser quality paved spots for the RV.  The site itself is good sized with a table on a concrete pad, BBQ grill, Fire pit, a lantern pole, water, and 30 Amp electrical service.  

More specific to our campsite than most of the others, the water spigot was placed a considerable distance from the electrical utilities.  I would need at least, a 50 foot water line to get connected, maybe more.  Thankfully I had filled the fresh water tank before we set out.  

We arrived after 5 pm Tuesday so drove the car down to the Visitors station this morning to formally get checked-in.  After that we drove over to the Cedar falls trailhead.  The "trail" was a well constructed boardwalk with a gentle slope leading down a quarter mile to the Cedar falls overlook.  Lynn commented she had made the trek all the way down to the bottom of the falls many years ago.  The boys were happy to take the trail down but enjoyed a ride with Lynn on the way back up to the parking area.

Afterwards, we drove down off the mountain to Morrilton, AR and stopped at Walmart for a few supplies and headed back to camp.  We had a bite to eat and relaxed into a couple hour nap as a rain band made its way across the mountain passing East of us by 5:30.

We'll be here a few days and head back home Friday.  I'll probably follow up with another post before then but it will likely be brief.  Thanks for dropping in and please, feel free to leave a comment.  Cheers!

Petit Jean Mountain

 We pulled out of Winnsboro around 10am after stopping for gas.  The trip was nice and easy as we stayed on US-425 most of the way.  Not a lot of traffic and 65mph speed limits most of the way.  Not exactly the best of roads being a little bumpy but still so much less stressful and missing the bigger towns.  We were on the lookout for a nice spot to pull over and let the boys out when we came upon Portland, Arkansas and pulled over at their little community park.  A nice little respite for a short break to stretch your legs, and quite well kept considering the size of the town.

Back on the road and back onto Interstate once we reached Pine Bluff and grabbed some lunch.  From there traffic was still pretty nice being a Saturday and early afternoon.  We got off of I-40 at Morrilton, AR and made our way up Petit Jean Mountain.  Lynn and I had been to Petit Jean about twenty years ago but I think we came in from the west side back then.

Wow, What a Beautiful State Park we have here.  I can definitely say I am impressed.  Petit Jean State Park is very well maintained and appointed.  It's a shame this is just an overnight stay. 

There's lots of room, lots of trees and grass, full hook-ups for the RV and a great rate at that.  That was all we needed to see and so we've already booked a week for next month.  We had just finished dinner before I started getting this post entered in. It's getting dark now and we'll be heading home in the morning.  I was just getting to really enjoy this little outing.  Oh well, I'm sure looking forward to the next trip.  Until then, Cheers!

The Scenic route

 We started our way back about 9:30 Thursday morning heading north back up to I-10 then west for a Starbucks stop in Slidell, LA.  Lynn was reminiscent being in southern Louisiana and wanted to take a more scenic route up US-61.  This would mean traveling west all the way to Baton Rouge before veering north on the Scenic Highway then onto the Old Scenic Highway past an area of fond childhood memories for Lynn.  This would lead us back up into Mississippi for a time before finally crossing the Mississippi River at Natchez.

From there we would follow US-425 from Vidalia to Winnsboro Louisiana and stay a couple nights at her brothers place outside of town.  

We all went out for a delicious dinner at a locally very popular restaurant called "Honey's" in Mangham, LA which just happens to be operated by Lynn's nephew.  It's always quite active and they are currently expanding to handle the traffic.  Afterwards, we went back and settled in for a quiet evening.  Toto and Bilbo really like the open area to roam around in after being stuck in the RV most of the day.  We'll be staying here another night before heading north again Saturday morning for our next overnight stay at Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas.  Hopefully I'll get another chance to post again before we get home, till then, Cheers! 

Gulf of America

 My apologies, I let my depression get the best of me when I should have used this to get me through it.  We spent two days at the Landry Vineyards near West Monroe, Louisiana.  While it was a beautiful setting, it was hot, humid, and without any breeze. We drove through a major thunderstorm on our way in with crosswinds buffeting the RV on I-20 just before we arrived.  It was still raining as we pulled in but cleared by the time we got set up.  Lynn had a wine tasting board and I had a glass of wine that afternoon.  Next day Lynn's niece came by to visit with a handful of kids and the vineyard had live music that afternoon.  I didn't get any pictures but there are plenty available online.

Next morning we were off again and headed for the gulf coast.  We booked four days at Fontainebleau state park just outside of Slidell, Louisiana.  The idea was to spend some time on or by the water.  Unfortunately the water was in the day use area and not near the RV campground.  We kept it simple and broke camp a few times to cruise around the area but it wasn't enough.

This morning we broke camp and drove to a beachfront RV campsite at the Silver Slipper Casino in Waveland, Mississippi.  We had scheduled this as a stop on our little winter escape back in January this year but had to bypass it due to weather conditions.  Now that we are here, Lynn has decided to make this spot a destination of its own.  We spent a little time on the beach with the boys, then came back to the RV for a bite of lunch and an afternoon nap.  Some part of this was enough to break through my funk and get this post up.  

We're heading back homeward tomorrow, spending a couple days in Winnsboro with family and hopefully home by Sunday afternoon.  I'll write some more soon. Till then, Cheers!

Downtown Riverside

 We're off again. Just a 10 day trip down south. Fist night out this time at the Downtown Riverside RV Park in Little Rock.  I have to admit I was a little reluctant before reading the reviews.  Turns out its pretty nice.  We got a riverside spot with full hookup. There's a nice grassy area with trees and benches along the riverbank.  

Rather than ramble on about nothing, I'll cut this short here.  I just wanted to let ya'll know we were out and about again. We'll be staying at Landry's Vineyard in West Monroe Friday and Saturday.  Hopefully I'll have a bit more to reflect on after that.  Right now, its just good to be out again.  Cheers!