Chisholm Trail

There were high wind warnings, so I stayed 2 nights in Enid, OK. On Sunday I drove through Kansas and Oklahoma, it was windy, but I could still drive through it. On Monday morning the wind was so strong that I had to hold onto the door of the coach when I went outside. The only place I went on Monday was to get gas and groceries, and to buy a DustBuster to clean the coach.

Tueday morning I left the RV park just a few minutes after 7am. I wanted to get an early start because the weather channel was saying 30% chance of thunderstorms.  Luckily, I only drove through a few minutes of light rain. Along the highway I passed through Kingfisher, OK - the birthplace of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart and Sam's Club. The town has a new Walmart Supercenter with a statue of Sam Walton in front.

The early start gave me time to stop at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Oklahoma.  This museum had a lot of interactive exhibits and an art gallery. At one of the exhibits you had to answer questions about a cattle drive to see if you could get the cattle to the train on time and without losing too many. I'm happy to report that I did pretty good. You could also make your own brand, with some big stamps they had, but they only had 4 symbols to choose from. I'm sure some of these things are geared more for kids, but I enjoyed walking around and participating in the exhibits and relearning about some things.  They had two theatres, one had moving and talking life size figures and the other was a movie with wind, rain and dust blowing onto us, very real. I really enjoyed this center and was glad I stopped.

How's this for a travel trailer?

We should all be grateful for our modern RV's.

Some art from the Gallery

I should have written down the artists names to give them credit.

Around 12:30, I crossed the Red River into Texas, the river was all dried up and was just red dirt. I still have a long way to go in Texas. I will meet up with Diane & Karl and Karl's family in San Antonio on Thursday and on Friday we will drive to South Padre Island. Then I will have 5 days of no driving, just relaxing on the beach.

The RV Park I picked for tonite has a RV mechanic on site. I needed someone to take a look at my steps to the coach. They would not retract and I had to drive with them out today. I did not like driving like that, but I had no other choice. They did not have the parts to repair it, but they were able to retract the steps and disconnect them so that they would stay under the coach. I will check with LazyDays and the warranty company and get it fixed on the way home. I had mentioned to LazyDays that they were making noise before I left Florida, I thought they fixed them.

This RV Park is very nice - lakes, cattle, horses and beautiful scenery in North Texas Hill Country. I will have pictures and more info about this park tomorrow. I walked around the park while it was still sunny and came back and took a short nap and started on this blog. I then decided to go sit outside by the lake at dusk, I couldn't get any decent evening pictures. I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off and all of the pictures were coming out very dark. I listened to a bird singing, not sure what type. And listened to the bullfrog singing and I could hear the cattle bellowing, but they were on the other side of the lake and I couldn't see them. This would be a nice park to stay for longer than one day, and you can fish in their lakes without a fishing license.

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Does she look like she is adjusting?

Kit Kat - Day 2

Last night Kit Kat kept getting in and out of bed, I never noticed this type of activity at home. This morning she kept sitting by the doors and crying, I think she wanted to go home. She is an indoor cat, she would occasionally sit on the deck with me. I always had to leave the door open so she could go inside if something scared her while outdoors.

She likes looking out the windows and she thought that sleeping under the drivers seat was a good idea.

I think the problem is that she is missing her 22 hours of daily sleep. All of the movements while driving down the road are disturbing her sleep.
She is currently hidden under blankets asleep on the bed.

When I left home on Thursday, I took an unconventional route that will add several miles to the trip. I did this to avoid the stormy weather in southern Illinois and Missouri. I drove west across Illinois into Iowa and camped last night in West Liberty, Iowa. Tonite I am in Northwest Missouri, I should be crossing into Kansas tomorrow. 

I tried to avoid driving on the Interstate today.  I almost did it, except for 10 miles on I-35, because of a detour. I enjoyed the drive through the countryside. Barns and farmland, horses and cows. I also drove through several Amish communities, sharing the road with horse and buggy.

This buggy was parked behind a gas station???

I also drove along the route of "Barn Quilts" in Washington County, Iowa. There was not a place to pull over and take pictures of the barns. You can see pictures here.

9246-9481 / 235 miles   gas prices $4.06 and $3.79

Kit Kat goes Kamping

Thursday, May 26th                 driving thru Illinois

It was drizzly when we left home, and there was some wind, but not bad enough to make the drive difficult. The sun came out around 3pm. It is warm (64) and sunny at the campground. I'm in a "pull thru" site, with a grassy area and picnic table.  I went for a walk around the campground. In this complex there is a BP station, an Econolodge and a Diner. We are near farmland, with easy access to the highway. This campground used to be a KOA, they have a pool, it's not open yet.

I had wanted to stay at a state or county park, when I called some of the county parks in this area, most of them have lake or river frontage and have a lot of flooding.



My cat "KitKat" is officially a kamping kitty.

She was not too happy at first. I put her in a carrier because I needed to stop for gas and didn't want her to escape from the coach. She kept scratching at the carrier. I let her out of the carrier when I was getting ready to leave the gas station.

She did pretty good, she cried for awhile, and actually fell asleep when I was going very slowly through a construction zone. She gets mad and cries when the road is bumpy. She likes to sit next to me, so I put a blanket on the floor next to the drivers seat. Only once did she climb down by my feet, I told her "no" and she moved. She cries when the GPS lady is talking or maybe she is talking back to it.

She is eating and sleeping and likes to look out the window. When she is on the bed - she has a good view out the window by the dinette.

She had a stressful day

9031-9246 / 215 miles    gas prices $4.19 and $3.79

Home Again

For a little while................

Arrived back in IL late Friday afternoon, last night I was sorting through mail and making lists of what I need to do.

Now I am planning my next trip in the coach. I'm leaving sometime around May 25th. I'll be driving from Chicago to San Antonio, hoping to have 7 to 9 days to get there.

Any suggestions for places to stop along the way? I prefer to stay overnite at State Parks or places with similar type settings.

I will be staying with family for about a week in San Antonio, South Padre Island and Corpus Christi and then I will have two weeks to explore on my own on the way back to Chicago.

I want to plan a different route back, so I can travel through many different areas.

I wanted to stop at Stump Lake, it is part of the Mississippi River Fish and Wildlife Area in the southwest corner of Illinois. This wildlife area consists of 24,356 acres and 75 miles along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers near Pere Marquette State Park.

I will have to check on the flooding in this area, and may have to wait for a different trip to visit Stump Lake and the surrounding area.

I'm planning on taking my cat on this month long trip.  I have taken her into the coach for a few hours. I will take her into the coach everyday for the next 10 days and even take her for an overnite trip sometime next week.