Remember that when you leave this Earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given, a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. -St. Francis of Assisi

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Blogger and GPS issues and Decor for the Coach

I finally downloaded Google Chrome and it seems to have fixed my Blogger problems, as long as I set Google Chrome as my default browser. I can now comment on blogs and adding pictures to my blog is a lot faster. Next .........picture editing,


When I left Eureka Springs on Monday morning, I headed East on Hwy 62, then my GPS sent me north on some country roads and I finally hooked up with Hwy 65 North and stopped in Ozark, MO for gas, ate lunch in the coach then walked around a few shops.  I picked up some fabrics to make pillow covers for the coach. One print has cowboy boots and the other has cowboy hats, very cute. I've been searching thrift stores and flea markets for small items to decorate the coach.


When I was in another small town recently, I stopped in a store called Cowboys & Indians and remembered that I had some Cowboy(Girl) items at home already. I also have a collection of Native American things that I can use in the coach. I already have one of my dream catchers hanging in the coach.


So, I guess the coach will have a Cowgirl, Native American type of decor. The upholstery in the coach is a neutral color and will be easy to work with.  I don't want to have a lot of stuff in here, but it needs a little bit of decor to make it feel like home.


I may decorate the bathroom in a beach theme. The new shower has a door called a SHUB, it retracts into the frame, but I do not like it. I hung up a temporary plastic shower curtain. I will make a shower curtain to fit, using a clear liner and fabric. I have a small beach scene oil painting that I bought at an art show years ago - it will fit perfectly in the bathroom.  For the bathroom window I want to put some of that insulating material on the window to keep the sun out and then hang up a curtain instead of the mini blind it has now.


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Monday night I stayed at the Bennett Springs State Park near Lebanon, Missouri. My GPS sent me to the park down a backroad, instead of the instructions that I had written down.


This park is all about trout, they have a hatchery and you have to buy special permits if you are fishing. Everyone was walking around with a permit/tag hanging off their hat. They have cabins and motel rooms, a swimming pool and a dining lodge. 


This is a state park that I would camp at again. I did not make reservations, the reserved sites cost more plus they charge a fee to make a reservation. The sites available without reservation are further back, up a hill. I liked this location better, it was more wooded. The reserved sites are closer to the trout stream and had concrete pads and full hookups, but they did not have as many trees and were closer together. I only had electric at my site, but that was fine.


I woke up to a beautiful 68* on Tuesday morning. I usually just eat cereal for breakfast but decided to walk to the dining lodge, it was down two steep hills plus a walk of about 1/2 mile, and then I would, of course, have to make my way back up. I think in my mind I made it seem a lot more difficult and longer than it was. 

When I was half way down the first hill, I thought about going back and just driving to the restaurant after I unplugged the coach. But, I kept going - it only took 15 minutes to walk down both hills, not bad. I was thinking it would take 2-3 times that to go back up. After breakfast, I walked around the park for awhile, didn't want to start up the hills right after I ate. I can't believe that I made it back up both hills in 20 minutes, only 5 minutes longer than the time to get down. Of course, I would not have done this in the 100* temps of last week, but the cooler weather made it possible.


Have to remember "I CAN" instead of "I Can't"

By the way, breakfast was great, they offer fresh fruit on the menu, along with all of the usual breakfast foods.  I had fruit, scrambled eggs and sausage. I have asked for fruit at restaurants and received canned fruit, But at this place they had strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon and grapes. Since I don't eat all of the things offered with a "combo" breakfast such as the hash brown potatoes, biscuits and gravy, or toast or pancakes and the fruit plate "combo" comes with a muffin and yogurt, which I didn't want - all of the items I ordered were priced ala carte, so breakfast out is expensive for me - this is the only time I had breakfast in a restaurant on the entire trip.


I was so concerned about walking uphill that I forgot to take pictures around the dam and stream. I did get some wildflowers pics.



I have noticed, at several state parks, that the walking trails do not originate anywhere near the campground. You have to walk or drive to the trail head. I don't have a tow vehicle or a bike with me, so I have to add the extra miles to what is shown on the park maps.
Most state parks have maps online


The GPS was being a pain on Tuesday morning, also.
Hwy 5 North in Missouri has been recently repaved and the GPS showed me driving in a blank space and kept saying "recalculating", I finally turned it off. I always write out instructions to check while driving. This also happened on Hwy 50 East in Missouri, which I could tell had been recently repaved. Did they move the highway???
           Is that why the GPS didn't know it was there?


The GPS had me get off at an exit that was not what I had written down, but I went with it. Big mistake, I went out of my way because there were detours and road closings. I don't think my GPS likes Missouri, I haven't had this many problems in other states.


I may go back to using the GPS only when I get close to my destination, for the final turns, after getting off the highway. 


Do I need a new GPS? Do they wear out? It's about 4 years old.


Along the way, I did stop in a small town, Tipton. There were a few thrift store/flea market type stores. I found a few things that were on my list of things I'm looking for - so it turned out ok after all. 


After another detour, I arrived at the road for a state park I was going to stay at, and the sign said I would have to drive south for several more miles, I need to be heading north east to go home. I changed my mind about going to that park.


I saw a sign that said Quincy, IL - 57 miles and decided I may try to get into Illinois on Tuesday. I didn't make it over the Mississippi on Tuesday night, I was done driving for the day.  I stayed Tuesday night in a campground near Hannibal, MO. The campground reminds me of the place we kept our travel trailer parked, very similar setup, it felt like a nice family park, someplace I would spend more time at. I will cross over the river into IL Wednesday morning.


One more night on the road.....and then home.....but where is home......
I feel more comfortable in the coach than I do in my house.  


And I used to love my house and yard and gardens.
I haven't done any gardening in 2 years, I let the lawn guys pull the weeds and prune the perennials, I haven't added any annual plants or vegetables. I didn't fill any pots or hanging baskets.





9 comments:

  1. I love to read along with you on your journey,
    As for the GPS I had some problems with lots of road construction going on, Mine was new at the time. There were only signs that said detour and non to say which way to go. My GPS was as lost as I was. But I guess thats what its all about adventure. NOT lol
    Losing interest in the house seems to be what happened to me too. Until I get up here and can think of lots of things to do here at the tin can cabin. Maybe its where our hearts need to be. Have fun and enjoy the rest of your trip. No one says you have to stay at home. :)

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  2. I also would have picked the less expensive, private site. Check online to see if your GPS unit has download updates.

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  3. A cow girl theme sounds cute. One advantage of being on your own is to be able to choose your own decor! I just don't decorate anything. Saves on hassles.

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  4. What kind of GPS do you have? We have a Garmin and periodically Harry goes online to the Garmin website and downloads map updates which are supposed to keep it up to date with changes in roads. Even with that, it's not right 100% of the time, but it's pretty accurate, so I think it helps.

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  5. We have kept a 'Southwest' theme in our Motorhome. I don't like white walls so painted our living room area an adobe brick color. It actually loos nicer than it sounds. We have a couple dream catchers on either side of our windshield. Have had a fair few arguments with our Garmin as well. Sometimes she's right & sometimes I'm right. I prefer paper maps for route planning but find the GPS has been extremely useful in navigating through large unfamiliar cities. It has successfully taken us through Phoenix, Tucson, Las Cruces, Dallas, Little Rock, Chicago & Indianappolis etc. It once got us lost in Nogales Arizona too.

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  6. I stayed at Bennett Springs SP a few years back, and really enjoyed it also. Couldn't get over the sirens going off marking the beginning and ending of trout fishing time each day. :) I thought it was a tornado siren!

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  7. I like your idea for a cowgirl theme for the coach. I have decorated my coach with a "Hippy" theme and used colorful items to brighten up the horrible brown decor. I have a new GPS and it is not always accurate.

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  8. I think the Southwestern/Cowgirl theme is darling, and look forward to photos as you add things.

    I've added very little to The Palms. My Guide picture and a few flowers in the kitchen, and my decorative storage boxes, and that's about it. I like my palm theme on the upholstery and window valances, and I think much else will make it look too crowded. That's one good thing (or problem) about a 24 footer. If I wanted to decorate, there's not much I could do. Maybe down the road if I want a change, I'll do more.

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  9. Some times a GPS goes cookoo. Your GPS took you to places you did not want buy you took advantage of them. Ha Ha. Nice Blog.

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Hi, I welcome your thoughts and comments.

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It is the sandstorm that shape the stone statues of the Desert. It is the struggles of Life that form a person's character ~ Native American Proverb