Entry #68 – KANSAS – May 28 – June 1, 2021

We had extended our stay at the campground in Oklahoma for an extra day because the wind was too much for safe travels in the plains. It ended up not being a rainy day at the Oklahoma spot but, with a 13 ft tall motor coach, that wind could cause a disaster if we had hit the road. Better safe than sorry.

The drive to Kansas was one that will haunt me for a lifetime, even though the wind was not the culprit. Our GPS was directing us to go through Oklahoma City which on the beginning day of a National Holiday weekend would have made traffic even crazier than what we had witnessed on our car excursion a couple days prior. So we choose to go west & then north & then cut across to the interstate north of the big city. Well, maybe making up our own travel route was NOT a smart idea!

We ended up on a road that, as it crossed into Kansas, was a freshly paved (no lines painted yet) road that became a soft dirt road almost 4 miles in. Perry stopped the coach while I went ahead in the car to check the road conditions further up. About a mile ahead was a bridge that would not sustain the weight of the RV. We were essentially in the middle of NOWHERE with no phone reception to get directions on the GPS! I returned to the RV & had a serious meltdown, snotty tears & all. And I could NOT figure out in which direction to go from there – no roads were showing on my GPS! And turning a 38 ft long motorhome around on a dirt road … Lawdy!

We finally made it back to a small town & a road that took us to I-35. I certainly did not mind paying a toll as long as it got us to our next stop safely.

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Entry #67 – OKLAHOMA – May 24 – 28, 2021

Heading north out of Texas we went through Mineral Wells, Texas. I wish I had planned the travel day better so I could have called on Casey & Gretchen Hilley who live there now. Casey was a friend of our son Robby’s from back in their pre-school days. His mom Lynn Hilley & I shared the duty of driving our youngin’s to & from pre-school at Winder Methodist Church. Robby invited another student, Conner Devine, to come spend the afternoon with us one day. When we dropped Casey off at his uncle’s house before going to ours, his uncle came out to the car all excited. He said he had something for the boys to see & lead the three into the backyard. He had killed two deer that morning & had them strung up on the dressing pole, one was skinned & was ready to be butchered. I’m not implying there is a single thing wrong with hunting (it was hunting season), but Robby & Conner had never seen such a sight. They were bug eyed with their mouths agape. Robby turned to Conner & exclaimed, “Let’s get out of here!” I laughed so hard! I guess they thought they were next? Anyway, I had a long discussion with the city boys later in the day & explained legal hunting & how it helps the species survival. At the ripe age of 5, Casey had already been acclimated to hunting – he was far more advanced in the country ways. Robby is now in his mid-thirties & has learned how to hunt. His first time out, he got a young buck & was so proud. I imagine he recalled the deer skinning episode, a life lesson for sure.

As we traveled into Oklahoma we experienced our first toll road. $2 for the car & the motorhome was $2, too. Thought it would be more than that but I guess it is determined by how many axels? We also experienced some sudden gusts of wind. I was driving the car ahead of the motorhome & felt it. Perry said he felt it tilted the motorhome so much the wheels on one side came up. We slowed WAY down for a bit. We also used our new 2 way radios & they were awesome! We HAVE to be able to talk to one another about turns, needs of a stop, etc. We found the campground easy & got set up with no issues.

Our campsite was the first in the very small park, actually on Ft Sill Army Base. It was clean & neat & had full hook-ups which we appreciated. There was a stream nearby which attracted a good many fishermen & picnickers through the day. And the base had LOTS of amenities – a small city within it’s borders. Ft Sill is a training base for artillery so we had to adapt to the onslaught of cannon fire & such throughout the day. A bit disconcerting for us as we have been away from anything military for several years.

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Entry #66 – TEXAS – May 13 – 24, 2021

We FINALLY left Louisiana after the mess with the drive shaft breaking & the Ragin Cajun calling the police on us. Bless his heart. We decided I’d be much happier driving the car separately – I was entirely too freaked out over the bridges & the height over the road. And the pups were equally unhappy in the RV. I lead the way & kept my job as the navigator.

Our travels took us north to Baton Rouge to pick up I-10 West. The shorter route would have been to Lafayette but our RV is TALL & the GPS indicated a low clearance was going to be an issue. No way did we want to chance scraping the a/c units off the top of the rig. Once we crossed the border into Texas the road was a mess! LOTS of construction & broken pavement & bouncing around was going on. That mess only lasted for a short while & then the roads were okay.

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Entry #65 – LOUISIANA – May 3 – 13, 2021

We left Mississippi on I-10 heading west into Louisiana. And I found out I absolutely freak out when going over bridges in the motor home. Most bridges don’t have a shoulder area so it appears one small inch to the right would dump us right into the brink! Sitting 10 ft up in the air over the road made it even worse! My stomach was turning & I kept my head buried between my knees the majority of the LONG drive.

Also, Louisiana roads are horrible! And … alligators! People! There were alligators on the blasted interstate! Some were just laying on the grass by the road, others were either dead & torn up from being run over, while still others were withering from injuries & would soon die. It was carnage – blood & guts everywhere! I would never have dreamed of gators on the road but knew I’d soon be having nightmares about it!

We made it around New Orleans & the CONTINUOUS bridges that are the interstate system in the southern part of the state. Our destination was about an hour past that but, because the land is low & swampy, the bridges continued until just a couple miles before our campground.

Our campsite was backed up to a lake with the beach nearby. During our stay that beach was used a LOT – constant happy squeals of children filled the air. But some folks continued to swim during the evenings when the water was inky black. I asked the camper next to us who was from the area if there were gators in the water. He said there sure were! And people were swimming in it?!? Lordy! Cajun folks are fearless!

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Entry #64 – MISSISSIPPI – April 26 – May 3, 2021

Good-bye Alabama!

I wish I had taken a picture … but maybe not. As we drove across bridges into Mississippi, I told Perry the bouncing was so severe my dentures would bounce out. And I don’t even have dentures! The scenery was wonderful but the roads were seriously lacking. Taking that into mind, I should have realized my fridge would have been in the “shake, rattle & roll” mode. When we got set up & I opened the door the entire tray of 14 eggs leapt to the floor in a chickadee malay! Biggest damn mess ever! One even jumped on me! I guess I got too comfortable & trusting of the fridge stuff not moving. Congrats to the stellar Mississippi roads!

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Entry #63 – ALABAMA – April 15 – 26, 2021

On April 15 we got up to hit the road, heading toward Alabama. The second COVID shot I received the day before had me feeling really achy & a bit nauseous. Happy Birthday to me! No matter, we had things to do, places to go & things to see so I pulled up my big girl panties & got on with it. Perry was a saint in getting any lifting & heavy stuff done but I’m still the organizer & had to stay focused on the details & making sure everything was secure. We managed to pull out by 10am which was right on schedule. We stopped at the front office at Fort Yargo to connect the car to the back of the RV & put Waldo in the driver’s seat. Then it was “on the road again …”

We had purchased a Garmon GPS – specifically for RVs – but we hadn’t spent the time to figure out all the nuances so we reverted to using my cell phone GPS as usual. Somehow, I had managed to kill the sound so, once we got on a long straight-away, I had to change my phone back to factory settings to get the sound back on. So frustrating!

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Entry #62 – GEORGIA – March 31 – April 15, 2021

Today we left our beloved Barrow County Georgia on our first leg of what will be a 5 year (or more) camping trip across the big, beautiful USA! 

Rain was pouring as we hooked up the car to the back of the motorhome (first time doing it on our own so it took more time than expected & we were drenched). We put Waldo, our mascot mannequin, in the driver’s seat of the towed car for giggles. And when we arrived at our first destination some 5 or 6 hours later, rain started coming down yet again. But we made it without incident. Waldo had lost his hair & glasses with the bumpy ride so I made note to add a little museum putty to his head before our next move. 

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Entry #26

Another Day – Another Adventure – Weeks 13 & 14

Monday, July 31, 2017

The new hosts for Camper Cabins arrived early in the day. They quickly got their beautiful, new 5th wheel all set up & comfortable & then set out to “discover” all the wonderful things the park had to offer. This was Ed & Judy’s first time as Camp Hosts although they had traveled far & wide in previous RVs. Ed was from Georgia originally & Judy was from California. They had lived in their current home in mid-Florida for many years. This 2 month camp hosting tour would be a wonderful adventure for them.

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Entry #22

Another Day – Another Adventure – Weeks 5 & 6

Monday, June 5, 2017

Since we were off at an event for three days over the weekend, the bathhouse suffered in cleanliness. So, we deep cleaned all the rooms & sprayed Peppermint essential oil to clean up the stench left from the malfunctioning urinal in the men’s room. Dustin, the maintenance guy, came right away to replace the waterless urinal filter that had malfunctioned over the weekend. YUCK! He also fixed the auto-closer on the men’s room door that stopped working while we were gone. Sometimes you wonder if cleaning so completely is warranted. But a comment from a woman exiting the ladies room proved it so. She said it was the cleanest public bathroom she had visited in quite awhile. Awesome!

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Entry #21

Another Day – Another Adventure – Week 3 & 4

We haven’t written the blog in a while but we have taken notes each day. We’ll try to tell the story of our adventure from those notes, & our memory, for our granddaughter Lily. We want her to know what kind of people her Pops & Honey were when we are gone from this earthly life one day. This is a journal for Lily …

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Entry #20

Another Day … Another Adventure – Weeks 1 & 2

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Perry & Beth took a drive through Ft Yargo Campground with the intent of visiting the new hosts at Campground #1. Jimmy & Fran visited us when we were hosts there back in February & we wanted to do the same since they just arrived on May 1st. We didn’t see them in our first pass by so we drove through the rest of the park. Low & behold, Campground #2 Host Site was vacant. The new host was to arrive on May 1st also but apparently didn’t arrive! We returned to Campground #1 to get the skinny on the situation. This time, Jimmy & Fran were outside. Apparently, the other scheduled hosts had a sudden serious illness & couldn’t fill the spot. Oh my! This could potentially put a lot of work on the other hosts. Hummmm

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Entry #19

Watson Mill Bridge State Park

Thursday, April 20, 2017

We are changing it up – exploring another awesome Georgia State Park this weekend! Watson Mill Bridge State Park is just outside Comer, GA. Basically, in the boonies. It’s pretty small as the campground goes – just a handful of sites. But it is beautiful … & QUIET! It’s just Perry, Beth, Sugar & Spice this time. AND there is no cable or TV reception & just a very scant internet connection. That’s all good – we just wanted a peaceful weekend with no agenda.

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Entry #18

Spring has Sprung!

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Perry’s brother Paul & his wife Cyndi ventured up to Ft Yargo from Jacksonville for a week’s vacation. They arrived on Saturday & we joined them today. Our campsites are next to one another, which was a trick as the park is scheduled to be full during local school’s Spring Break. They have one of the few waterfront sites at the moment – once the lake gets full again after the much needed repairs forced it to be drained, it will look fabulous again. We are just a step closer to the wooded lots in Campground #1, where we hosted a few months back. Both sites are wonderful & we are “Happy Campers.”

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