Pulling up stakes!

   
     Look out World, we're on the loose again!!!

    Yes, I remember how to post a blog entry!!! It has obviously been a while since the last post, but not a lot of things happened over the summer. This blog will try to sum up our activities and get everyone caught up with what's going on. So, here goes...

     This summer was one of the hottest and driest on record for our part of the world! Amazingly, with 100+ temps and no rain I still had to mow grass in the parks?!?That prairie grass is some tough stuff. Anyway, as followers of this blog may recall, we needed to be in the Manhattan, KS area this summer in order for Barb to help her brother deal with and sell her Dad's property. (Her dad passed away in January.) Having no good place to park the motorhome, we decided to work as camp hosts for the Tuttle Creek State Park. The good thing, this gave us our site and we got paid a little for our efforts. The bad thing is that we were hosts at Randolph and Fancy Creek campgrounds at the far north end of the reservoir some 30 miles from town. Needless to say, we have racked up the miles on the new car.

     One of the events early in the summer is the Country Stampede. This is a "country Woodstock" where several big name country entertainers come for three days and nights of music. The event is held at the River Pond campground area at the south end of the reservoir. We drove by and were kind of glad that we didn't have to contend with the crowds!

     We met some really nice folks during the summer and one group of them turned us on to a little restaurant in Barnes, KS. This place, called Our Daily Bread is a great place to eat. Not only is the food good but the bakery makes some of the best pies and cakes I've ever eaten. You would never know this place is there, it is tucked away along main street but the storefront is small and unassuming. Check out their website: Our Daily Bread

     Believe it or not, even with next to no water we had a bit of a washout at the end of the boat ramp. One of my tasks was to take some of the fill gravel that the park dropped off and repair the ramp. It was a little challenging to do with only the tractor and bucket and they delivered wayyyy more gravel than was needed. I made a good access way but had the backhoe come up later and improve the approach. 

 
    Later in the summer, after Labor Day, we had a cool snap and woke up to an interesting atmospheric phenomenon. A fog bank had formed but only just above the river and stopped along the hills in Fancy Creek campground. On the Randolph side we were bight and sunny but Fancy Creek was socked in.

     A new addition in Manhattan is the Flint Hills Discovery Center. This is a very interesting hands on exhibit spotlighting the Flint Hills area of Northeast Kansas. It is very informative and I learned things that I never knew about the area. We took the grandkids there when they visited us this summer and they had a great time with all of the hands on exhibits and the fantastic multi media, multi sensory presentation that talks about the Flint Hills throughout history. Click on the link if you want to see more about this place!!  Flint Hills Discovery center

     While in the area, Barb and I took the time to drive over to Fort Riley, the home of the 1st Infantry Division and the former temporary home of the 430th PSC and its commander, MAJ Cunningham. We visited some of my old haunts and tripped down memory lane. We got Barb's ID card updated and made sure that all of our paperwork and information with the Army was in order. We spent quite a bit of time at the US Army's Cavalry museum. Ft. Riley was originally a cavalry outpost in Indian territory and up until WW II still trained all of the Army's horse cavalry troopers. In fact, LTC Custer left from here with the 7th Cavalry on their trip to Little Bighorn. The Custer house on post is now a tourist destination. In talking with the lady in the gift shop, we found out that the Army's National Cavalry Competition was taking place that very day! Seems that most every major post in the country has a mounted color guard and that they are outfitted to a specific timeframe in the cavalry's history. Ft. Riley for instance is outfitted in the style and uniforms of the army in the 1870-1880 time period. Well, these groups come together annually to compete in individual and group events... kind of a Cavalry Olympics. Well, I was branched Armor/Cavalry when I first was commissioned and served with a few  Cav troops in my time so how could I resist. It was very interesting.

     We wrapped up out stint with the State of Kansas on October 1st. In the meantime, we worked very hard to leave the parks in a better condition than when we found them. We mowed, trimmed, and painted. We cleaned, picked up, and repaired. All in all, I think that we were successful.

   We have to say that we really enjoyed all of the people we met and especially the folks that we worked with at Tuttle Creek. They made our time as fun as it could be and really helped me out when I needed something at the Park. We have made some new friends and our lives are better for it! Towards the end of our stay, we sat out around a campfire and nature blessed us with a spectacular sunset. We thought that we'd share.

     So now we're sitting back where it all started. Back in the Wichita area at the farmstead we used to own but sold to our son. We will be here for a month and a half and will take the time to relax and visit with friends and family prior to hitting the road in late November.

    There you have it, the summer in a "Readers Digest" format. I know that I left a lot out but we didn't do a lot of touring and many of the days were a routine of mow, clean, or repair, then hide in the motorhome the rest of the day to escape the heat. It feels good to be out and about again and soon we will be back on the road.

Getting Into a Routine

     Just a quick post. There is an unbelievable amount of grassy area in this park!! I have spent a lot of time on the mower and just recently finished both of the parks. Now it's time to do it again to get ready for Memorial Day weekend. I finally got some transportation. A former Army vehicle that pre-dates the Hummer. It has been modified with a large flat bed so I can carry around the stuff that I need to do tasks to keep things looking "spiffy" Its diesel engine is quite noisy, which means that campers know well in advance when I'm making my rounds.

     So far, I've made a few small repairs on things but have had to call out help with a break in our main water line to this campground. It broke the other day and we had to shut off the water until it could be fixed the next day. Made things a bit tough for folks, as it is the only water between both parks and many use our shower facilities. But it is up and going now and ready for the summer. I asked for, and got, a flagpole for the park. It was put up last week and now we proudly fly the flags! We have to take them down every evening because we don't have a light installed yet, but that is in the plans.

     Speaking of summer, the forecast for this coming weekend is 99-100 degrees all weekend!!! It's far too early for it to be this hot. Can't wait to see what it will be like in July...NOT!  Misty even got a haircut today to help her cope with the heat... (but she still likes to lay in the sun, go figure???)

     The rest of the coming week will be spent on sprucing up the parks and making them their best for the camping public for the holiday weekend. After that, we will settle into more of a routine and spread out the chores into something more manageable and less hectic. With little to no rain and temps near the century mark, mowing should not be much of an issue.

Kansas for the Summer

     Well, we departed LazyDays in Tampa on Saturday, April 28th and headed back to our friends at Bella Terra in Foley for a couple of days. While there, we got to say proper "good bye's" to our new friends and took some much needed time to get the motorhome ready for travel once again.
     We left Foley on Monday, April 30 and started our 3 day marathon drive back to Wichita. We traveled mostly on interstate and overnighted in Rest Areas. The first day we trekked through 4 states (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas) spending the night in Orange, TX!! The next day we went straight up through Texas to a rest stop just outside of Thackerville, OK. Day 3 saw us pulling in to my son's place (formerly our old homestead) and parking for a couple of days. We visited with friends and family and also got several errands out of the way that we had been needing to do (things like Doctors, Dentists, and Vet visits).
     Then on Monday, May 7th, I drove the motorhome up to Manhattan's Tuttle Creek State Park and camped in River Pond campground. Here I met with the Park manager and began a quick orientation on my new duties. We took a 25 mile drive around the reservoir to see our new summer home. (25 road miles to cover 14 miles as the crow flies from Manhattan to Randolph, KS). Our new home is in the South Randolph campground. We are Camp Hosts responsible for both North and South Randolph CG's and Fancy Creek CG that lies 1.5 miles east of us (across the Randolph bridge).

     That's the bridge in the photo above. We sit on a hill surrounded by prairie grass and Cottonwood trees (along with many Cedar and Pine trees). The campgrounds are at the far north end of Tuttle Creek Reservoir whereas the Park Office and two other campgrounds are located south of the Reservoir's Dam in Manhattan.

     Our site is brand new to the Park, having just been built over the winter. We have a fairly level gravel pad with all of the needed hook-ups. Since it is new, the grass has not had time to get established so it can be a little muddy when it rains. The Park has given us a large bag of grass seed which we have liberally sowed. We water daily and are anxiously watching for small blades of fescue to rise up out of the Kansas Prairie!
     So far it is still early in the season. Up until last night in fact, we have been the only occupant of South Randolph. I'm sure that will change for Memorial Day weekend but I have been told that it stays pretty quiet during the week out here.

     Misty is getting used to the large areas to roam and explore. When nobody is around we let her off the leash and let her go. During the day, she sits on the back of the couch and watches things out the window. We can always tell when someone comes into the park, as she sits up and intently watches them as they drive by.

     Part of my duties includes mowing all of the grass in the parks (N. and S. Randolph and Fancy Creek). To do this, I have my choice of a large tractor and bush hog (for the wide expanses) and a zero turn radius riding mower. I also have access to some college students in the AmeriCorps program who help out throughout all of Tuttle Creek's Parks. Last week, four of them came up and we all mowed and trimmed. Working all day we were able to do all of Fancy Creek and most of S. Randolph. Gives you an idea of how much mowing I will be doing this summer!! We also make sure that the bathrooms are clean and well stocked and that the shower house located in S. Randolph is kept in good working order. We make daily runs through the campgrounds to make sure that campers have paid their fees and to answer any questions that they might have. New this year is an online reservation system for reserving campsites. Administration of this program is still in the learning phase, so we are trying to find the best way to make sure that sites are properly marked as "Reserved" or "Available". The rest of the time, we enjoy the wide open spaces and beautiful night skies filled with more stars than you think possible. If you're up this way, or plan on coming, let us know... We'd be glad to see you!

In For Some Service

     Well, we left our "winter home" of Bella Terra last Monday, April 16th, and headed east towards Tampa, FL. After a quick overnight in Lake City, FL, we arrived at LazyDays RV (where we originally purchased our coach). We have scheduled some repair work to be done while the warranty is still in effect. We had considered going to Red Bay, AL where the coach was manufactured, but the wait for service was too uncertain and we need to get things repaired and get on to our summer camp host position. On the upside, LazyDays has a fantastic service area for Crown Club members (which we qualified for when we purchased our coach)!

     Above is the Crown Club clubhouse. It is here where you can spend your time while your coach is being serviced. They have a pool, lounge areas with big screen TV's, and they offer breakfast, lunch, and "Happy Hour" with drinks and snacks. All the meals are prepared by the onsite chef, Archie, and his staff  who make sure that your stay with LazyDays is as comfortable as it can be. 

     When you are waiting for a service bay to open up, or be assigned to you, you are put up in some lovely campsites. Nestled between the trees on level asphalt pads with full hook-ups, you wait for your services to be completed. Your technician comes out around 9:00 am (after you have had time to partake of the complementary aforementioned breakfast prepared by Archie) and takes your coach to its assigned location for the day. In the evening, your coach is returned to a site (but not necessarily the same one that you left that morning). 

     The Crown Club has its own set of technicians and repair bays separate from the other LazyDays service facilities. Here the work is performed on mechanical aspects of the coaches. There are other bays specifically for woodwork/cabinetry and paint/body shop. There are even several bays where a 45' coach can be completely repainted! Our coach is the second one from the right in the photo above. Sometimes, due to the nature of the repairs, your coach has to stay in these bays overnight. When that is the case, there is a full set of hook-ups in the bay for your convenience. Water, electric, and sewer are all available to you. Obviously, satellite TV is not effective, but you can get a good set of digital, over the air TV signals from the local Tampa broadcast stations. As I compose this blog entry, we are sitting in the above pictured bay and have been here the last couple of nights. 

     The LazyDays complex is huge! There is a Cracker Barrel restaurant, Flying-J fuel station, Holiday Inn Express hotel, and a campground with all the amenities and well over 100 sites all on the property! In addition, there is the largest selection of RVs, from small pop up trailers, to towable or fifth-wheel trailers, to gas powered coaches, to the big diesel "beasts" all displayed in tree covered lots. Above is a glimpse of some of the gas powered coaches that you can feel free to look at and walk through. 

     Some of the more compact units on display. Notice the huge live Oak tree "dripping" with Spanish Moss. It's a nifty place just to sit under and enjoy the day. (There is even a park bench strategically placed underneath it.) If you are in the market for an RV of any size or type, this is the place to come. Beats driving around town looking at a bunch of units crammed together in a parking lot! 

     There are pedestrian walkways all through the area and in the evening, after dinner, we usually take Misty on a long walk. She loves to "hunt" the squirrels and lizards, we enjoy a nice stroll. 

     So, I'm not sure how long we will be here. I hope to be on the road by this time next week but we'll see. In the meantime, I will kick back, enjoy, and probably gain 5 pounds. Oh well, I'll work that off when we get back to Kansas!!

Wrapping Up March

     Our last couple of weeks in March have been spent touring the surrounding countryside and attending some events that have sprung up. 

     We jumped over to the community of Fairhope for the annual Arts & Crafts festival. This thing was massive!! Vendors in booths lined both sides of Main street and branched off for a couple blocks each side street. The variety was amazing. Fairhope itself is a quaint little town sporting several "Artsy" or eclectic coffee shops and restaurants. It is full of Southern charm and class. 

     This was looking down just one side of one of the many side streets. Vendor booths as far as you could see. Spent a good part of a morning and afternoon just walking past all of them. Surprisingly, we didn't buy anything but a big ol' Lemonade. 

     Had to include this photo. This guy makes the most unique birdhouse I've ever seen!

     As you might already know, or remember from previous blog entries, Pensacola is the home of the Navy's Blue Angels precision flying team. Starting the end of March, the "Angels" have a practice session every Tuesday and Wednesday morning. It is free and open to the public. It is 45 minutes of the heart stopping aerial acrobatics and precision flying that the Blue Angels are know for. On this day about 4,100 folks liked the viewing area and watched the show. I can remember waiting 1 or 2 years to get a chance to see these guys perform and now I can see them twice a week! We had a great time. 

     Hard to see in the photo, but as they taxied by to start the practice session, the pilots waved to the crowd. 

     Unbelievable! One up, one inverted, and both with the tail hooks and landing gear extended! Add to that flying within a foot or so of the other guy. 

     Something trivial I just discovered.  Back last year when we accepted the position here at Bella Terra, I went on Google Earth to see what the place looked like and how it related to the surrounding area. (I do this with many of the place we plan to stop at.) Well, imagine my surprise when Google earth showed me a dirt road, cultivated farm fields, and a small forest of trees where Bella Terra should have been!! Seems that the imagery was kind of out of date. As of January 13th this year, that has been rectified. Now, if you go to coordinates: N 30 deg. 20.879 mins, W 87 deg. 39.687 mins; you will see our coach with the jeep out front! Oh yeah, you can see the resort as it was January 13th. 

Spring Break with the Fam

     After the aforementioned wedding, Shawn followed us down to Bella Terra and spent his Spring Break  with us. He started off the visit by being the "Guest Mix-ologist" at a social on Sunday. He reached back into his Bartender roots and served up drinks along with a couple of his "signature" drinks to the residents and guests. Everyone enjoyed the afternoon and Shawn even got some spending money in tips.

     Monday dawned with clouds and a steady rain. We had to adjust our "Clipboard Of Fun" and decided to run over to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. I have blogged about the Museum before but it was fun taking Shawn around and showing him the artifacts and aircraft. He has developed an appreciation for museums and he enjoyed himself.

     The next day still threatened rain but we had scheduled a Dolphin watching cruise for the Resort, so we brought Shawn along. It started with a fine lunch at a restaurant called Flippers. Then we met the boat for our cruise. (The photo above is Shawn's self-titled "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay".)

    The cruise goes out into the bay area and looks for dolphins to surface. The dolphins look for the boat to come out. When found, the boat captain kicks the engine in and creates a good sized wake behind us. The dolphins then get in the wake and "body surf" through the waves. They jump out of the water and ride the waves, having a ball! I was told that the wake of the boat creates a type of draft such that it makes it easier for the dolphins to gather speed and swim (kind of like driving your car and following behind a truck on the interstate). Everyone on board had a great time and got some fantastic views of the dolphins having fun. 

     Another place of interest, to Shawn especially, was the Holmes Medical Museum in downtown Foley. The Holmes family provided several generations of doctors to the Baldwin county area during the 20th century. The medical museum is located in what was once the first Hospital in Baldwin County. It is a self-guided walking tour through rooms left much the way they were when the hospital closed in the 1960's. Since Shawn is studying to be a Chiropractic Doctor, he was fascinated with the instruments and textbooks on display. 

     Shawn practices his skill in reading X-rays. 

     Here I get an anatomy lesson on the spinal column and surrounding bones.

     Just a sampling of some of the instruments that were commonplace in the 1940-1960's.

     We found a Groupon that got us a good deal on a one hour horseback ride, so we all trooped out to nearby Fairhope to Oak Hollow Farm.  Here we mounted up and had a great little trail ride through the Oaks and pastures on the property. They have a neat barn venue set up for parties and group get togethers complete with a stage for entertaining and a kitchen for cooking. Here Shawn is waiting outside the barn for our ride to the stables. 

     We hopped aboard a tractor-pulled hay wagon and rode out to the stables. 

     We saddle up and had an easy ride around the property. 

     On his last full day here, we went out to Ft. Morgan. This Fort, one of two at the mouth of Mobile Bay, is where Admiral Farragut purportedly uttered those famous words "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" during the Civil War. Unfortunately, the fog was pretty heavy and visibility of the Bay drastically reduced for our visit, but we had a good time nonetheless. The Fort was originally built in the 1830's and is built in the star shape common to many shore forts that we have visited in the US. 

     Believe it or not, there is the Gulf of Mexico just beyond the walls. You just can't see it due to the fog. 

     Even though the fog was dense just 20 miles down the beach, we stopped at one of the beaches at Gulf Shores State Park and it was bright and beautiful. Here many families and "Spring Breakers" were enjoying the 80 degree temps and warm sunshine. We spent the afternoon relaxing on the sugar fine white sand beach.

     Unfortunately, time flew by way too fast, and this morning Shawn had to pack up and head back to Kansas City. We wished him safe travels and sent him on his way with plenty of snacks and good memories.