Route 66 to Santa Fe

Sunday morning left the gambling bunch behind (we didn't bet one penny) and headed out Route 40 and old Route 66 with old gas stations and boarded up restaurants of another era.  Camped at a high desert campground with big lake that was brown with all the flooding from Colorado and local rain.  We hiked on rocky trail and saw beautiful desert flowers that bloomed with the rain.  We also saw a jack rabbit and it was huge!  We completed Bailey's flea treatment with a bath in Dawn soap--see the picture and no more critters!  Can you even believe she got fleas!  On to Santa Fe and spent the afternoon in old part of city and in several beautiful churches.  Lots of local artists in the plaza.  Tomorrow we leave for Durango, Colorado and switch from camping to luxury Wyndham resort.  I'm trying to figure out how to carry the laundry and food in surreptitiously so we don't look like country bumpkins!

The weather has been beautiful around 70 to 80 degrees most days and cool at night.  My hair is not frizzy in the low humidity!  We are taking showers, using deodorant and looking presentable in our classy jeans.  You would all be proud.  Gas prices are low--today $3.09 so we're keeping the Bailey Buggy up and running.  Froze about 10 dinners and they taste great warmed in our microwave.  We've only eaten out three times but we are not wasting away---plenty of snacks and that $29 worth of candy we bought the first day!  We are having a blast--this is so much fun and we wish you could all do this some day!

From Branson to Shawnee, OK

Our first day in Branson (Wed) was spent orienting and relaxing. Second day we hiked, biked, ate at Mel's Diner where the waiters and waitresses provided the entertainment. They are aspiring performers at the local theaters and have great voices. They intersperse waiting on tables with grabbing a mic and entertaining the guests. One of their previous waiters went a long way on American Idol. Went to a show after dinner. Last day in Branson went to Dogwood Canyon, started by the owner of Bass Pro Shops. took a tram tour and was great ... beautiful scenery, great trout stream and fishing, and wild animal park where the elk and bison came up to within a foot of the tram.  Friday night we saw the show "Six"--6 brothers who had only their voices and it sounded like a band back-up.  It was amazing and fantastic show.

Left Branson for a long day drive to Oklahoma.  We decided to stay at a casino in Shawnee, OK. Watched the OSU vs. Wisconsin game in the sports bar and stayed the night in their parking lot with lots of other RV's.  We have had some slight misadventures--some how Bailey picked up fleas--now that was a joy!  Got that taken care of and discovered Pete's email was hacked. While trying to straighten that out,  realized the turn signal on RV was out so trip slightly delayed getting new circuit board for that!  That was all in the last 24 hours but we are all fixed up and happily pressing onward to Santa Fe!

Branson

Up the next morning and hiked 3 mi. to the lake and restored cabin of a tanner in the 1800's. Nice 1 mile interpretive hike in the woods surrounding the cabin.  Planned to stay at Ozark National Scenic River in Van Buren, MO but campground closed. Walked around the beautiful grounds with Bailey, drove a few miles down the road and stayed at a truck stop for the night. Next day was an easy drive to Branson. Stopped at the Wyndham welcome center for discounted tickets to a couple shows. Learned that Wyndham at the Meadows is the nicest Wyndham in the Branson area ... just redone, sales office, and tickets all on site. Drove to Table Rock State Park and loved the campground and decided to stay there for three days. Bike ride along a lakeside trail just behind our campsite    that ended at the visitor center. Got our itinerary for the entire stay  figured out and enjoyed the rest of the day at campsite.

Remember the red pushpin on the map is our current (or last known) location.

Pete is doing great job organizing this trip--all I have to do wear my tight biking outfit, look adorable and heat my pre-done frozen dinners in the microwave!  I have already managed to throw out all the info he had copied ahead for Branson and cut up his chamois into wash rag for me--didn't realize he planned to use as towel!  He is still smiling and found another chamois cloth---all is wonderful in our world.

Louisville, the candy factory, and Celina

. Carrie, Anna, and Willow sent us off Monday morning when we drove to Louisville and rode the Louisville Riverwalk after parking in Lannan Park near downtown. Then drove across the Ohio River to Jeffersonville, IN and Schimpff's candy factory where we enjoyed a great tour and demonstration of how they make their world famous red hots ... of course with warm samples at the end. We had a sandwich and chocolate soda from their old fashion soda fountain. $29 worth of candy later we hit the road for our campsite in Celina National Recreation Area.... wonderful campground with nice sites and few campers on a Monday night. Nice hike in the woods, dinner, campfire .... and the end of a successful first full day on the road.

 Pete forgot to mention my hot pink and black biking getup---I got a lot of smiles from on-lookers!

View Louisville Riverwalk 201309 in a larger map

And Away we Go

The time has arrived. The RT is loaded, farm chores are finished, bikes are secured,  Bailey is psyched, and we are leaving to see Carrie and Nate for the night where they will send us on our way Monday morning.

The trip to Cincy was uneventful. Picked up Chipotle on the way with apple pie for dessert.... a fitting send off. Stay tuned.

If you are following our route on the map, Points ahead of our current location represent the projected trip. Points at or behind us are the actual dates, locations, and events.

The beginning

We are busily preparing for the upcoming trip, readying the farm and Buckeye Lake for our absence and tidying up the Roadtrek. Changed the sump pump at home to reduce the chances of failure while we are away and in the process discovered a sewer leak just outside the house and now am digging that out and fixing it.

Learned of a couple full timers who are very computer savvy as it applies to campers ... called Geeks On Tour ... and their tutorials on using computers, blogs, Google Maps, smartphones, etc while on the road are really helpful. They are making things a lot easier for us to plan, enjoy, and record our travels .... and they are inspiring me to put a lot more info into these blogs as well as making them more fun for us and maybe more interesting to you.

One of my newly found treasures is how to insert  a map or our itinerary or where we have been into the blog. since Google owns the blog and the maps, the two interface in unbelievable ways. The map below shows the trip as planned but will undoubtedly change as we modify it on the fly. Our route is colored and placemarks show places of interest and where we stay. Now it is our projected itinerary but I will modify it as we go so when we get to each destination it will show the places and route we actually took. You can click on the map and zoom in or out, maybe even to street level,  to see as much detail as you wish. If you click on a placemark there may be more information that I have included... maybe a pic or a link with more info. Or you could go to Google Earth and actually see the views we are enjoying. Not that you will do any of this but the capabilities of Google are almost scary.



View Fall Trip 2013 Overview in a larger map

Michigan Dunes 8/4/13

Sunday, this is our 35th wedding anniversary RV trip.  Tonight we celebrated our rehearsal dinner of 35 years ago at McDonald's and then to Dairy Queen!

Monday is our 35th wedding anniversary.  This year's wedding breakfast was at Bob Evans--shared the "farmer's breakfast special"--we went all out!  Off to hike the sand dunes and see Lake Michigan with Bailey.  Met a couple who were doing "geo-caching"--they had done 1600 of them and were going to "convention" party in Wisconsin and doing 60 in 2 days!  Really fun talking to them.  Lots of sand in our shoes!  You have to pay a fee to get your car into State Parks in Indiana and Michigan.  We are east of Chicago now and traveling up the west coast of Michigan.  Lots of National forests here--very scenic!

Tuesday we drove to St Joseph, Michigan and stopped at park there.  Went on bike trail, picnic on the beach--great place.  Drove on to Silver Lake State Park but stopped on the way to pick blackberries and red raspberries and bought peaches, cherries, and blueberries--$25 worth so we are eating a lot of berries!  Silver Lake Park is on Silver Lake and Lake Michigan with huge dunes.  Camping was $27 plus $8 car pass. Went to talk tonight about the dunes and the history of the MacWood dune ride--great talk!  Going on a "dunes ride" tomorrow. Temperature has been in 70's (60's at night), very nice, some rain today but overall a great day.

Wednesday---Went to Mac Woods Dune buggy ride--it was terrific.  The dunes were fantastic and right along Lake Michigan.  Well worth the $17 trip--see pictures.  Picnic in the woods, to wine tasting store, then to buy some great cherry strudel--cherries right off the tree.  Then drove to Nordhouse Dunes National Forest campground.  It was THE BEST--only a few sites left by 6 pm--$9 for seniors--gorgeous sites, large and far apart.  Walked to the dunes which were beautiful and watched the sunset and then campfire.

Thursday--Bike ride in the morning, to beach with Bailey--perfect day with kites flying.  Not crowded--only beach around that allows dogs.   This beach was like great Florida sand.  Onto Ludington Pier which had 1/2 mile pier that we walked and lovely large deep beach.  Skate board park right there was great fun to watch--all free.  On to another National Forest--Benton Lake--not much to do here.  We are stopping overnight on way home.  Nice campfire, great dinner, sweet dog and two retirees--how lucky we are to be able to do this.  Home tomorrow and planning the next trip.

Would go straight to Sliver Lake and Nordhouse Dunes National Forest campground next time--can make reservations.