North Platte, NE

We finished up with our service center visit on Tuesday.  Paid our bill and purchased the cute table we had our eyes on.  The table fits nicely between our chairs.  Tuesday afternoon we took the factory tour and saw some of the new changes to the new models which are a good thing in our opinion.  Tuesday night, all four couples having work done met at Pizza Hut for dinner which was a lovely way to spend the evening. 

Wednesday morning we were still undecided as to whether to head towards Lincoln to stay at a campground  for a few days or just head towards North Platte.  After saying our goodbyes, we decided to go with the wind and headed towards North Platte.  We decided to hang out in North Platte for a week as the Custer area is having snow and rain showers.  Not too anxious to get in to that.  Our decision actually proved to be a good choice as the Lincoln area is having severe weather this evening along with tornado watches.

Smith Center, KS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!!!

We made it to the Excel Service Center late Friday afternoon and spent the weekend  backed up to one of the service bays.  Come Sunday afternoon, three other rigs rolled in to join us.  Another case of water intrusion due to lack of maintenance, a broken frame at the pin box, and several other issues with slides.  We almost feel guilty because we really don't have any "issues" but are here for a few small warranty items, preventative maintenance and to have a couple of items we want installed.    

We were up at 5 a.m. to shower and have breakfast before having to be out of the rig by 6:30 a.m.  Good heaven's . . . it was still dark outside.  Our list of items isn't very long so we may only be here a day or two.  We met with our technician and went over the items that were on our list.  Once that was done, we discussed some concerns of ours regarding maintenance.  We doing as much as possible to avoid experiencing the results of water intrusion ($$$) so John discussed what we've done and what we are planning on doing.  Our technician told John that we were on the right track and that we were ahead of the curve regarding the maintenance of our rig when compared to most RV owners.  Steve said that it was always amazing at how people who once owned homes and did regular maintenance on them, spend all this money on a  RV and then do nothing and then are surprised when they have problems.  I guess it pays to be anal . . .  err detail oriented.  

If our bill doesn't break the bank, we have our eye on a cute cherry colored folding table that could sit nicely between our two chairs and fit nicely with our decor.   Oh, oh.  The deal is if something comes in, something must go.  We'll have to give that some thought.   

Still hanging out at Wilson Lake

We've had a few decent days with which to enjoy the sun but the wind does blow daily.  Yesterday was the first day where we just had a slight breeze until late afternoon.  The Park Attendants have arrived for their summer shifts.  We spoke with one, Gary, who has his fifth wheel all tethered down to lag bolts in his site.  He confirmed that the wind really blows here.  He said that us visitors get to leave but they have to stay through all the bad weather.  Doesn't sound like my kind of job for the summer.  I get incredibly tired of the wind pretty quickly.

One nice morning, we got our inflatable pontoon boat out to put on the South Dakota tags so that we are legal when we want to use it.  Here's a picture of our SeaEagle Foldcat - looking at the stern to the bow.

The taller seat will be in the back for John to steer the electric motor and the short seat is well for the short one (me). 

While we had the boat out, John couldn't resist taking it out for a row as we had a nice little beach area where we could easily reach the water.

 John hadn't rowed anything since he was a kid so it was a bit of a challenge.  When he was coordinated, the boat went smoothly along.  It won't take him long to get the hang of it.  The oars are for backup should our battery die before we are done fishing or get back to shore.  Good thing we don't have neighbors because John and I sat on the seats out in the sunshine and talked for a while . . .  our neighbors would surely have thought we had a few screws loose.  Then again, maybe they'd be right!  We are looking forward to getting the boat out to do some fishing once we get to Custer and the weather improves.

Last night the thunder and lightning started around 2 a.m.  When I heard the first rumblings, I jumped up and got with deploying our satellite dish - don't want to encourage a lightning strike.  John slept through all of this until the big claps of thunder started in.  The thunderstorms kept on until almost 9 a.m. with more to come tonight.  Oh, goody.

John called me to our kitchen window to see that the pair of Canada Geese that hang out here were behind our rig along with a Cattle Egret.  First time we've seen anything other than the geese in the area.  He was rather pretty with all of his plumage blowing in the wind.

There haven't been many people camping here while we have been here.  A few rigs did come in for the weekend just past.  One of the rigs belonged to a couple with a Aliner Sportliner.  This unit is a bit smaller than the Aliner LXE we owned.  We had a total of 72 square feet of living space so I know they have even less.  Since A frame RV's are near and dear to our hearts, you would have to know that John would have a conversation with one of the owners.  Now get this, they are full-time RVers in this:

We did great on two-week vacations in the summer or weekend trips in the winter but to live full-time in one - crazy.  The couple were avid geocachers and were gone all day every day.  Now, I have no idea what they were doing, (laundry, grocery shopping, geocaching) but being gone every day all day seems like work to me. Also, these units have only a porta-potty and no shower.  The showers here won't open until May 1 so I guess military showers were the order of the day.  They were parked near the vault toilets.  I did comment to John that I know how small their refrigerator is and wonder how in the world they do it.  I complain about our 8 cu foot refrigerator not being big enough sometimes and theirs is only a 3 cu foot. Clothing and food storage?  Mercy.   My hat goes off to them because I know I couldn't live full-time in one.  They give a new meaning to the world minimalist.

Russell, KS

Thunderstorms rolled through yesterday and brought a good amount of rain late afternoon/evening.  Whereas we had a southerly wind yesterday, today it is out of the north.  The temperature is a good 10 to 15 degrees colder than yesterday.  The weather people are saying the temperature is suppose to get down into the high 30's tonight.  John said he would feel better if our empty propane tank got filled.  With the help of the internet, we were able to locate a place in Russell (16 miles west) to fill our tank, stop at the Post Office, and a quick stop at Alco for a couple of dishpans for conserving water while doing dishes.  That was pretty much our day.  Hoping for better weather so we can enjoy ourselves outside.

Sylvan Grove, Lucas, and Salina Kansas

We took the drive to Sylvan Grove to the Post Office to pick up our water regulator (the one left behind in Deming, NM) that Barbara so graciously mailed to us.  We got to the Post Office at 11:15 a.m.  They close for lunch between 11 and 12:30 p.m.  Great.  There is not much of anything in Sylvan Grove.  With the help of the GPS we located a restaurant in the small town of Lucas and headed off to kill some time and fill out tummies.  John had a Chocolate Malt for $2.90 that was served in a chilled glass and by the smile on his face, I think it passed his taste test.  Lunch for two, a cone for me, a malt for John, and a tip all for less than $18, you can't really complain about the cost. 

When we got back to Sylvan Grove, the Post Office was just reopening and our package was there.  Thank you again Barbara!

After looking at some of the local grocery stores, we decided to take the drive into Salina to shop at a Dillons.  A good call on our part and worth the drive.  The area along I-70 heading west has a lot more rolling hills than we would have thought for Kansas.  The drive to Salina was also our most eastern venture to date.  

We passed a number of wind farms because as I've said before Kansas blows!  Good use of all that wind.  Some of the windmills are right along the highway . . . seems like you could reach out and touch them.

We thought this was an interesting picture.  Old technology in the front and new technology behind.

Minooka Park at Wilson Lake

We left Kinsley with a southern wind that was more of a nice breeze than what we had yesterday.  The drive up to Wilson Lake was nice but as we turned and headed east on I-70, the wind was also increasing so we were happy to be almost at the end of our travels.  

Our friends, Rick and Y, recommended Wilson Lake to us.  They had stayed at the Lucas Park campground but with road construction going on, the Corp of Engineers office recommended that we try Minooka Park.  We pulled up to the fee booth and confirmed that the site was going to cost us $8 a night for electric as the park has not officially opened.  Normally, the site would cost $18 a night but the bathrooms don't open until May 1st so we are only paying for the electric part of the site (we have water at our site also).  So we will have to conserve to make our tanks last or plan to make a trip to the dump station once during our nine-night stay (not desirable).  

We drove the loops and picked us out the perfect site - we have lake front property at least for a while.

This location definitely has the "it" factor for us.  Now if we could only get the wind to temper down a bit.  Thunderstorms are on the way but once they blow past, maybe we can have some nice days to enjoy our view.

Here is a shot of sunrise over the lake.  I haven't seen the view with my own eyes, I prefer to have them closed at that time of the morning!  John took this shot out of our kitchen window.

Kansas blows

The wind blew like made today - 50 mph wind gusts out of the south.  Not thinking the wind was that bad, we set out to go to Dodge City.  After going seven miles, we changed our minds.  We didn't need to drive 40 miles in this kind of wind.  We did stop to get fuel and John got pelted with small rocks with every gust of wind.  Heading home, John saw a truck and fifth wheel heading west that was pushed against the shoulder with the trailer leaning badly.  Why the driver just kept on driving in such conditions is beyond us.  We sure wouldn't.

Before returning home, we did get a picture of Kinsley's claim to fame:

Who knew that we were truly in the heartland of the US. 

Onward to Kansas

John and I both had a lack of sleep last night.  I guess we were worrying about Melissa's car situation.  A little after 5 a.m. we just got up.  We are now in Central time which means it stays light later (nice) and  the sun comes up later.  In Arizona, it was light at 5:30 a.m., this morning it didn't get light until almost 7:30 a.m.  Since we had been up for hours, we decided to just get going once it got light.  The wind was suppose to be strong but it was out of the south so it wouldn't be an issue.  Other than lots of big trucks, traffic was light and it was another good mpg day.  

Yesterday, I called a RV Park in Dodge City, KS and was told that the nightly rate was $31, they offered no discounts, and they were "the nicest RV Park in Kansas".  Really?  Guess you won't be seeing us.  Dodge City is marketed as "the crossroads of America's western history where millions of Texas longhorns met the railroads."  We are most familiar with Dodge City as being the town where Marshall Dillon, Miss Kitty, and Doc lived (Gunsmoke).   Oh, oh, I guess I'm showing our age.

We opted to head to the town of Kinsley that is 40 miles east of Dodge City on Highway 50.  Ah, a touch of home, as Highway 50 begins/ends (your choice) in Sacramento and is also known as the loneliest highway in America.   Any whoo, back to Kinsley, after reading some good reviews and the RV Park is a Passport America park (half-price), we headed for the 4 Aces RV Park.  For $12.50 a night, we have a paved site, full-hookups, and WIFI.  What a nice gem we found.  No cow manure smell but the requisite trains are nearby but is not too disturbing.   Here is a picture of our site.

Behind us is a green belt and a creek which provides us with a lot of bird activity.  We were setting up when I told John that I heard a Cardinal.  He agreed that it sounded similar to the Pyrruloxia (Gray Cardinal) but wasn't sure.  Later, we were sitting outside and you could hear the Cardinal's song.  Soon enough, we both spotted him.  

Here is a picture of the creek that runs behind the RV park.

Melissa update - her car is toast.  The car simply is not worth putting a few thousand dollars into it to take the chance on a catastrophic failure.  She is feeling a little sucker punched right now especially with her parents so far away.   It is times like these when I'm sorry we didn't have a sibling for her or we were still living locally.  She will get through this unexpected curve that life threw at her.  We've all been there and it seems to be a right of passage.

Yee, haw we are in Dalhart, TX

Was waken before 6 a.m. by our Ontario, Canada neighbors who decided to get an early start by slamming truck and hatch doors.  It is one thing to want to get an early start but try to do it as quietly as possible.  Sheesh.

We were on the road a little before 9 a.m.  The intent was to drive to Tucumcari, NM and spend the night.  We had virtually no wind (another good mpg day) and were feeling fine so after stopping at the Flying J in Tucumcari for some cold drinks, we decided to keep going on to Dalhart, TX.  The Flying J in Tucumcari was relatively new and nice.  They had good access to the pumps for cars and RV's so one wouldn't have to use the truckers' pumps. Also, they had designated RV parking so you could go into the restaurant or store easily which was very nice for a change.

Arrived in Dalhart around 3:30 p.m.  A longer day than we normally like but it got us farther north as Monday and Tuesday are suppose to be very windy days.  Unless the winds aren't as bad as expected or from the south, we may just hunker down here until the front passes.  We will see what the morning brings.  The RV park here is called Corral RV Park and it is a nice Mom and Pop operation.  We were pleasantly surprised and for $20, you can have 30 or 50 amps and cable TV.  WIFI is also available at no charge.  Truly is a big rig friendly park.  We would stay here again.  Warning:  Cargill feed lots are south of here.  If the wind is blowing up from the south, like it was last night, it is a very stinky situation if sleeping with the windows open.  Also, WIFI was available on Sunday for no charge.  This morning, Tengo wanted to charge us for internet access.  Just confirmed website says "Free WIFI" so I don't understand what happened.  We left before the office was open so I couldn't inquire with the owners.

We got a call from Melissa this evening telling us she was having car troubles.  She was out running errands this afternoon and her car overheated.  Apparently, she had no coolant in the radiator.  Yikes!  She was ticked as she just had her oil changed not too long ago at Midas and part of the service was they were suppose to check coolant levels.  She is having her car towed to the dealer to have it checked out as it is due for service anyway so she'll kill two birds with one stone.  She is stressed over what it is wrong and what it is going to cost to get it fixed.  Being away from her is hard in situations like this but at the same time, she is very capable of handling whatever comes her way.  She may not like it but she'll manage.  Who doesn't understand the stresses of unexpected vehicles expenses.  Don't  they always seem to happen just when you are getting a bit of a nest egg as a cushion?  We will keep our fingers crossed that no major damage was done and the repair costs won't be too much.  Vehicles . . . at best a love/hate relationship.

Albuquerque, NM

We left Deming yesterday and had one of those you got love it travel days.  We had a tail wind and averaged 10 mpg all the way to Albuquerque and the highway is not flat.

When we got to Enchanted Trails RV Park, John discovered that he had left his water pressure regulator in Deming.  We figured it had walked off by now but I placed a call to Dream Catcher RV Park anyway.  It seems that our neighbor noticed the water pressure regulator on the hose bib and turned it in to the office.  They knew the regulator was expensive and could quickly walk off so they took care of us - thank you neighbors.  Whew!  I had been in the area and never checked the hose bib (you can bet I will now) as John always told me that he put the regulator away first and then the hose but he did things out of sequence and it bit him.   Oh well, live and learn.  Anyway, Barbara in the office offered to mail us our regulator on Monday.  We so greatly appreciate her offer and effort.  We are going to make sure that not only is she reimbursed the amount of postage but a little something extra to say THANK YOU.

Enchanted Trails accepts all discount club cards so our site was half price which is nice.  The sites are mostly side by side hook-ups (which we don't care for unless we are with friends) and close together.  The sites seems awfully close together after all the room we had at Blackrock, Justin's and even Dream Catcher.   I-40 is just across the Frontage Road so freeway access is easy.   One word of warning, if you do want to stay here, don't listen to your GPS!  It gets all screwy and will have you headed in the wrong direction.  The noise of the freeway last night didn't bother either of us so we wouldn't have a problem staying here again for the price.  The frontage road is part of historic Route 66.  The owners have a couple of Hudsons and vintage travel trailers on display.  From what I read, the Hudson's and vintage travel trailers were featured in a Route 66 video.  Here are some shots John took:

 Entrance to Enchanted Trail R.V. Park

After getting set up, we had a late lunch/early dinner (linner) at El Pinto, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque.  Well, worth going out of our way for and we weren't disappointed.  El Pinto also sells very good salsa (Kroger, WalMart, Raley's/Bel Air and other stores).  You might want to give them a try if you like jar salsa.

Today, we did a bit of shopping.  The Whole Foods store in Albuquerque puts the two store locations in Tucson to shame.  We also stopped at Trader Joe's to get some of the items we like that we know we won't have access to once we get back on the road.  We also stopped at Smith's and since they are a Kroger store, we were able to use our Fry's card and get a 10 cent per gallon credit on our fuel purchase.  Score!

Weather has been great here and we do enjoy the area.  We need to plan on spending more time here as there is a lot to see and do.  However, tomorrow is move on down the road day.  Hopefully, the weather will continue to cooperate with us.

Bye Tucson, hello Deming, NM

We received our mail on Tuesday so our plan to leave today was kicked into high gear.  After being static for over a month, the thrill of getting back out on the road starts to pull. 

As we leave Tucson, I would like to share a couple of pictures with you.  Here is one of a beautiful Arizona sunset.

Another is a male Gila Woodpecker at my hummingbird feeder (males have a red dot on the top of their head while the female does not).  We had both the male and female Gila Woodpecker and a male Northern Flicker frequent the feeder to satisfy their sweet tooth.  We only saw one Hummingbird once use the feeder while we were there.  At least it was being put to good use.

We left Tucson around 9 a.m. We had some wind but it seemed to be somewhat behind us.  All in all our fuel mileage wasn't too bad considering.  There were sections in New Mexico where the wild flowers were in bloom.  Made for a very nice sight.

We gained an hour after crossing the state line.  We made a fuel and lunch stop in Lordsburg, NM.  It was a nice break as I was able to get us some cold beverages to go with our lunch.  Warm water gets rather boring after several hours.  Pulled in to the Escapee RV Park - Dream Catcher around 2:30 p.m.  This is the first time we've stayed here.  Nice park with long pull-thrus and the sight was level all for $12.50 a night plus electric - can't beat that.  

Change of plans

Well, our mail never arrived on Saturday so we had to change our plans.  We extended our stay here until Thursday.  We will forgo our stay in Huachuca City as we want to begin meandering our way to Kansas. Our friends, Rick and Y, told us about a nice lake in Kansas that we would like to spend some time at before heading to the Excel Service Center where we have an appointment for 4/26.   Back to our mail - we found out this morning that our mail service dropped the ball and our mail was never sent out Wednesday as requested.  Not to happy with that bit of information but what can one do?  Anyway, our mail is suppose to be here on Wednesday by 3 p.m.  If our mail arrives as planned, we will then head out Thursday.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  Doc and Christine hosted a very nice luncheon here at the RV park.  We had a good group of people at our table with a lot of good conversation and laughs.  Later in the evening we were able to chat with Melissa and get caught up on her week.  Life is good.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday my love.  Nothing special was on the agenda for today other than lunch out.  John received birthday calls from Melissa and Bonnie - that put a big smile on his face. 

Did a bit of shopping to stock up on supplies after lunch as we will be heading out on Sunday; that is, if our mail arrives tomorrow (had hoped it would get here today).  Hard to believe that we have been in Tucson for almost a month - were has the time gone?  We actually saw our first rattlesnake (a large one) . . . John almost stepped on him!  Yikes, that got us out in the roadway - thank goodness no cars were coming at the time.  We aren't sure but it could have been dead; we didn't stick around to look closely .  We really haven't done that much while here but have had a very good time anyway and look forward to returning.  

Wowza , we had a hot day on Tuesday (92 degrees) where we actually had to run the air conditioners - it was HOT.   Good heavens what does it feel like in the summer when they are in triple digits?  Then on Wednesday it was cooler and the wind blew hard all day.  Thursday was chilly, very windy, and looked like it was going to rain all day but did not.  This morning was a bit cool but the day was beautiful.  Crazy weather this week.