Change of plans....

Our Location:  Eureka, Missouri
(Tuesday & Wednesday, April 2 & 3)

Our last day in Natural Falls State Park near Colcord, OK was not our last day. We stayed an extra day spending some more time with our friends Ron & Sharon. I have no idea when we will see them again but we truly enjoyed our visit with these wonderful folks. We didn’t do a lot of things but the visiting was worth more than I can tell. 

Sits very close to the roadway on this short, sharp turn.

We spent around the campfires, chatting about a vast number of topics, reminiscing about many things and people we know, laughing and just enjoying the time. The weather was coolish but warming up and we took advantage by sitting outside most of the time. It’s amazing how easily you can pick up with friends you haven’t seen for a long time and it seems as if no time has passed. We are looking forward  to seeing them again in the months and years ahead. 

A Dollar General Gas bar, we've never seen one before.

We pulled out of Natural Falls State Park on Wednesday morning before 9, saying our goodbyes, see you later, and left the park after a short visit to the dump station as well. We followed AK 59 North until we made a slight turn on to I-49 North. From there we skimmed the edge of Joplin, Mo and joined on to I-44 East. We would travel along this interstate for a couple of days. We had plans to stay in Rolla, MO as I had checked and the Walmart allows overnight parking. However upon reaching this store and asking inside we were informed that they hadn’t given us all the particulars. You can only stay if you aren’t longer than two parking spaces. You cannot park in length covering a number of spots, you cannot impede traffic in any way and you cannot put the feet down ( you could then drop the trailer in the combined spots and park the truck beside). Hm…. this was not what we wanted to hear but so be it. We climbed back into the Dogsled and started onwards.

First time for Riley in this state.

It was much later in the day than we normally stop but we pulled into the Eureka, Missouri Walmart and of course we had called ahead and made certain we could park there. The lot is very uneven but we managed for the night and had a good nights rest. We were just 30 miles west of St. Louis. 

Some didn't hang over the road but others completely covered it with the overhang.

The day while uneventful was longer than we like and the road was not one I want to travel again. In places the travel is good, and in other places, not so good. AK 59 was windy, steep and the lanes were very skinny. Driving under the cliff side wasn’t enjoyable for me but it was only in a few places and we weren’t directly under the biggest overhang. The country side is much like driving in Ontario except for the rolling hills.
 

Bank to bank and fast moving. Spring is definitely here.

A good day but a sad day as we parted with our friends. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the visit.

Heading toward Springfield, Missouri.

 Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Quiet few days....

Our Location: Natural Falls State Park, Colcord, OK

 

A dreary day, a nice day and cool nights have been the weather here the last few days. Below the freezing mark over night means we disconnect the water hoses at night but it's warmed up nicely through the day except of course for the wind. 

 

It's been a very quiet few days and I'm sorry but I have no photos for you, I've been lazy and not really doing much of anything except visiting. 

 

Met some friends of Ron's & Sharon's, fellow Canadians in fact, and from Ontario too. Small world isn't it? Meeting Ontarians through some Americans. I think that is kind of funny myself. 

 

Ron, Sharon, Mark, Judy, Riley and I went out to dinner last night at a local steakhouse. I think a good time was had by all, or at least I had a good time so I assume everyone else did as well. Lots of smiles and laughs, swapping stories, and so on. How can one not enjoy that? 

 

A campfire after we returned home (except Riley), had us still chatting with no lag in the conversation. However the cold damp chill had us all heading to our homes around 9 pm. Brrrrr would have been the word of description to use for the feel of the air. 

 

Today is our last day here at the park and with our friends Ron & Sharon. We have enjoyed our time with them and hope our paths cross again many times in the months and years ahead. They are truly wonderful folks with big hearts and a ready smile. It's been a fantastic week for Riley & I. 

 

Perhaps our paths will cross again with Mark & Judy, also a nice couple whom we enjoyed meeting. Friendly, thoughtful and easy going folks that Ron & Sharon  met at Magic River in Long Beach, MS. It seems it is the year to catch up with the MR (Magic River) bunch. If you recall we met up with our friends Lisa & Paul (Buzz), along with other Magic River folks Jerry & Carol earlier this year at the tent event in Q. We haven't seen any of them for a couple of years and now we have met up again with many in just this one short season.

 

We are running short on our data this month for some reason so I'll not be posting much for a couple of days. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

Until next time... take care, be safe,

 

Deb

 

 

Storm warnings, another view of the falls.....

Our Location:  Natural Falls State Park, Colcord, OK

A nice morning that Riley and I took advantage of to get a little walk in before the predicted rain. It did rain eventually but we were inside by then. Only a couple of miles on an extended walk of the Pine Ridge Trail. This is a trail meant for wheel chairs, older folks with bad balance and young people with strollers and little kids on bicycles. It’s less than a mile long and is all hard top. No big hills, some gentle slopes and easy walking. 

The Pine Ridge Trail goes along here. This is also the bathhouse/storm shelter.

 

Riley stopped after a round but I kept going and entered the Bear Paw Trail, doing only a small portion. It’s a rough, humpy, bumpy trail, similar to Fox Den meaning the footing isn’t the greatest and if not careful one could slip. The path is not smooth and in some places is steep. I took a left turn instead of continuing along the trail to the bottom of the ravine and instead came out at the falls once again. I think if Riley is going to do this trail we will start there instead of at the sign indicating the trail beginning.
 

For any Lord of the Ring fans, I believe this would make a great party tree.

 

A dreary day but a good visit with friends in the late afternoon around a campfire. The Camp Host came by to tell us all of the impending possible bad weather. Hail, high winds, rain, and severe thunderstorms. It would of course happen over night. Riley and I packed a bag just in case we had to go to the storm shelter/bath house. We didn’t use it. The storm ended up being only rain or at least we didn’t hear anything other than rain. I see no downed branches or damage of any kind when I look out the windows. We heard no wind, thunder or hail. The rain came in waves but the storm must have gone around us or at least we didn’t hear it. I heard rain around 3 am and again around 5 am. The temperatures are cooler though. The sky is overcast so we may get more rain today.

  

First set of steps the upper falls.

 A call from SIL(sister in law) Janet at bed time had me hearing the news of Dennis’ emergency knee surgery. He developed an infection in his replacement knee. The knee is 10 years old and the infection came on pretty suddenly. They operated, cleaning all of the ‘gunk’ out of the knee, replaced all of the plastic parts and he’s up and about once  again. He’ll be on antibiotics for a long time, 6 weeks of infusion antibiotics every day, and then at least a year of oral. Ironically the infusion drugs are finished the day before they catch a plane to fly home to Buttercup Ridge in Roseneath, Ontario. He’s a tough guy though and he’ll be back playing golf before long.

 

A much longer set of steps leading down to the lower observation deck.

 

So that was our day, not terribly exciting but good for us. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Off to the left of the main falls, there are lots of little water drips.

 

Until next time….. take care, be safe,
 

The upper falls, so many little water falls.

 

Deb

A quiet day, solo hike...

Our Location:  Natural Falls State Park, Colcord, OK

A nice day, started off warm but cooled off due to winds. A walk solo along the Fox Den Trail netted me today’s photos. It’s marked as difficult in the guide and I would say it is definitely difficult. It is very steep in most places, and not well signed but very doable if you take your time and rest if need be. There are no major obstacles only the steepness of the trail. 

A lovely park, this is the tent camping area.

 

We spent the day doing our own thing until later in the evening when Riley & I popped over to spend some time with our friends. The lovely Miss Sharon bought us a Cacti Wind Chime. How very sweet of her. Thank you Miss Sharon. We were a bit later than normal getting home and so this blog post wasn’t posted yesterday. I hope you enjoy the photos. 

 

Playground equipment here in the tent section.

At the bottom of the ravine is this pretty little falls.

Water has gouged under this ravine in various places. 

The Fox Den Trail. I started at the sign, passed that interesting tree and followed along the bottom right photo. The bottom left photo is the path I followed coming back.

It is much steeper than it appears.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a fantastic day.

 

It can be reached from another path as well.

 

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Meeting more old friends again....

Our Location:  Natural Falls State Park, Colcord, OK

We slept well and woke to coolish temperatures but the sun warmed everything up. Coffee and breakfast to start the day followed by a quick visit with Ron & Sharon to set our plans for the day. 

 

That is us over there in the trees.

 

Riley and I went for a walk to see the falls and then followed the signs for the Ghost Coon Trail. It was a couple of miles around the trail, a bit up and down but scenic. It followed along the bluff for a while and we could look down into the ravine for about half the trail. 

 

The path to the Falls.

 

 Back home we rested for a bit before Ron came by to tell us that friends Billy & Sharlene were near by. We had made plans yesterday to meet today for lunch. Ron & Sharon, Riley and I climbed into Ron’ s truck heading into Siloam Springs to meet our other friends. 

The top of the falls.

 

We meet up with Billy & Sharlene at the Rib Cage. We haven’t seen them for a couple of years as well. Sharlene has been going through a very rough time as she’s finally finished her chemo for breast cancer, and will be taking radiation soon. She has suffered a stroke as well in the last number of months. Billy has had the same knee replaced about 4 times but is doing a bit better now. Although both are walking with canes, they seem able to get around pretty well.
 

The Falls.

 

After lunch we came back to the park and sat around for a couple of hours chatting and catching up, telling some stories and just doing what friends do. It was such a wonderful visit and we were both very happy to see Billy & Sharlene. 

Standing on the overlook at the Falls.

 

 Riley and I spent another half hour or so with Ron & Sharon after Billy & Sharlene left  before coming home for the rest of the day. The sunlight and fresh air seemed to play a trick on us and we’ve  been finding ourselves very tired today. So a quiet night for us at home. 

 

A log maintenance shed.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a fantastic day. 

 

Sharon (left) and Sharlene (right).

 

Billy (left) and Ron(right).

 

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

We've met up with our friends....

Our Location:  Natural Falls State Park, Colcord, OK

A nice quiet night at Wagoner Walmart and we both slept well. It was a bit on the coolish side this morning but nothing too bad. No frost just some damp windows. The sun peeked over the building in the east and stayed with us for the whole day.
 

Long rolling hills for most of our travel today.

 

I unhooked the Dogsled, moved a few hundred feet to fill up with diesel and back to hook up to the Igloo within 10 minutes. A quick saunter into Walmart to get a couple of things we’d forgotten and before long we were on the road again. 

 

Locus Grove, Oklahoma on OK412 E, Scenic Highway.

 Pulling out of Walmart we headed north on US 69 again for a few miles, before we turned right onto OK 412 E, scenic highway. It divides a bit further into the ‘Turkey Turnpike’ (a local woman called it that) and we stayed to the left taking the scenic route.
 

Some windy roads too.

 

We passed through the little towns of Locust Grove, Kansas and a couple of others that escape my mind right  now. A very nice hilly, windy country road with some interesting sights to see. We travelled it for less than 30 minutes until we found signs directing us to Natural Falls State Park. It’s a beautiful, inviting park on the right side of the road and we pulled in a bit early. 

 

Some interesting country side.

 

The lady in the office was super nice and told us it was no problem, no one was in our site anyway. So by 11 am Riley and I were parked in site #26, a very nice pull through with cement pad, water and electric hook ups, a nice cement picnic table and a bbq grill, as well as a fire pit. The empty #27 beside us was waiting for our friends Ron & Sharon.
 

A nice creek running through the country side.

 

We both had showers and I started preparing some lunch (early for us but we were ready anyway) after I chatted with my dad to let him know we had arrived safely. By the time we had finished our sausage quesadilla we could see Newmar coming our way and sure enough Ron & Sharon along with their cat Magic were pulling in beside us. 

 

Can you say spring? Daffs are out here.

 

A quick chat with hugs all around and then we moved back home to let them set up and settle in. Sharon came over to sit and chat with us while Ron did his stuff and then he came over as well. We sat around chattering and catching up for a couple of hours and before we knew it the afternoon was gone. They headed home for dinner while Riley and I sat outside for a bit doing our own thing.
 

Pretty scenic in my opinion.

 

A nice evening in store as we’ll go over for a visit and then tomorrow Ron & I will go find some firewood for a camp fire. We all enjoy those from our time at Magic River in Long Beach, MS.
 

Leaves and blossoms are coming out here.

 

So today’s drive was less than 2 hours, roads were okay but not great. However it seems Oklahoma roads are all the same. I've heard the toll roads are worse but since we didn't take them, I can't say for sure. 

I will check out more of the campground tomorrow complete with photos and a bit more about the place. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a wonderful day.

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Wagoner, Oklahoma....

Our Location:  Walmart, Wagoner, Oklahoma

We both slept well after we fell asleep and didn’t wake up until after 7 am. Rare for me but I needed the rest I guess. We did a few little chores, which included me unhooking to fuel up the Dogsled. It’s easier to do it this way sometimes and the gas bar was tight quarters so I was an extra 10 minutes hooking and unhooking before we started off. Tomorrow we’ll do the same thing. 

The green is showing, I think spring might be coming soon.

 

We headed off on I-40 East once again and enjoyed our drive today. We actually enjoyed the slightly overcast skies and then some brief sunshine which was once again swallowed up by the clouds. We had no rain and a slight wind but nothing much and it was a nice quiet uneventful travel day. We all like those kinds of travel days.

We stopped a couple of times to stretch and check things over but all was good. We found that I-40 EAST in the stretch we travelled today doesn’t have a lot of rest areas, we stopped at the only two we saw. We may have missed one but I don’t think so. 

 

We passed through Oklahoma City this morning on our travels. 

  

Today we travelled about 250 miles/ 402 KM, most of it on I-40 E. The road was okay but rough in some places, humpy, bumpy and down right ugly in a few others. The roads in Oklahoma leave a lot to be desired.

We passed through numerous Indian reservations including Creek, Kickapoo, Cherokee and a number of others. They all seem to have a small casino in their midst. None were big splashy buildings just small dark structures that one could spend a great deal of time and money in if they so desired.

 

We passed by Tinker AFB and this is one of the many planes on display. 

 

At exit 264B near the town of Checotah, OK we hung a right on to US 69 North and headed toward Muskogee. We changed our minds about stopping there for the night and headed past to Wagoner, which is where we are now. It wasn’t too much past Muskogee and we’re closer to our destination tomorrow. We are both happy about that. I will say that US 69 N is rough in some places, grooved and not the best travelling but the towns are the worst. The rest of road seems to be no worse than others we’ve travelled but not great. However we aren’t doing it for long or far, so it’s not a big deal. 

 

We pulled in at the Walmart around 2 pm local time and parked near the end of the lot. We visited The Dollar Tree, an ATM, and Walmart just to pass some time and get a bit of walking as well. A call to my dad to let him know we are safe and off the road for the night. He was happy to hear from us. 

Near Tinker AFB. Not sure what the hat is on the yellow one.

 

Tomorrow we move on to our destination and meet up with our good friends. We are excited about that and are looking forward to it. We have less than 80 miles/ 129 km to go. 

 

Blossoms along the way today.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Don't ya love the name of this road? Haha. It was Lake Eufaula.

 

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Another state today.....

Our Location:  Walmart, Elk City, Oklahoma

We woke to sunny skies in Hereford this morning, but frosty temps for certain, close to the freezing mark. A quick breakfast, we were packed up and finished dumping our tanks, saying our goodbyes to Alison & Ellie around 8:30 am. We were out of Hereford before 9 AM, motoring along on US 60 East once again. 

US 60 East in Texas.

 

It was an uneventful day, we ventured through a number of towns before we passed through Amarillo, Texas and connected to I-40 East which we will travel for the next couple of days. The sky was filled with white fluffy clouds and a bit of sun here and there but the temperatures were warming up and we managed to reach about 60F/ 15.5 C this afternoon when we stopped for the night.
 

We noticed this bird covered big Texan along the roadway.

 

We passed into Oklahoma right around the noon hour and pulled in at the Welcome Center not long afterwards. The nice lady there was helpful when I mentioned I was looking for the park in Elk City. With a map in hand and a few written directions we headed on down the interstate to the park. We found it easily enough but all the spots were taken and with no where else to park we fell back to our trusty Walmart stops. Inside to ask if it was okay to park, assured it was and so we headed back to the Dogsled. However the lot wasn’t very level and this lovely new Hobby Lobby is right beside the Walmart, it has a wonderfully flat area away from the store and not really in their main parking lot and so we pulled in here for the night and will be on our way tomorrow morning. 

 

So green as we look out over the vast flat lands in the Texas Panhandle.

 

A walk or two around Walmart and we were home for the rest of the day. Not too exciting but it worked for us. A call to my dad after we arrived just to let him know we were off the road and after that it was a reading kind of day. I know it wasn’t a long day’s drive but it was enough for me and I didn’t want to go anywhere after we arrived even through we are close to a few interesting things. We have plenty of time stop and sight see when we get to Natural Falls in a couple of days. Now I just want to be off the road and getting ready for another day’s travel.

 

Still leaning....

So there you have it folks. I think it might be a bit noisy here as we are pretty close to the interstate and Walmart is open 24 hours, but that’s okay, it’s one night and we’ll be moving on tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all had a wonderful day.
 

We will be in this state for a while now.

 

Take care, be safe, 

Out our door tonight.

 

 

 

Deb

 

 

 

 

 

A windy day here in Oklahoma....

Our Location: Walmart, Weatherford, Oklahoma

Hello again from our favourite overnight spots, a front yard belonging to Sam Walton, also known as Walmart. ~laugh~ The time change last night helped us to arrive here early than we expected since we were up and at ‘em earlier than we would normally be. I’m sure you were all in the same boat as us. Up early according to the clock.

Picnic area at the Oklahoma Welcome Center

The overnight temps in Checotah stayed in the upper 60’s all night and we slept with windows as well as the vents open. It was a bit warm to start the night but by morning it was starting to get cool enough to need a blanket. So I can tell you that it was a fantastic temp wise. I found the place a bit noisy and of course very bright with the windows open and the blinds up to let in the breeze. Yes, yes I know, we could have closed the blinds but we find they block the breeze and make the Igloo stifling in short order. We have used our AC once and don’t usually use it. We didn’t use it that much in our sticks ’n bricks either. We prefer the natural temps unless they are extremely hot and sticky. 

Vast flat lands here in mid western Oklahoma.

We were the only RV sleep overs in the Checotah lot last night. A couple of trucks but no other travellers. I found that to be a bit odd but I’m not complaining. It gave us the whole side of the lot without generators running all night, but there was the sound of a big diesel all night as the trucker in the next lane seemed to find it necessary. Lucky he was some distance ahead of us or it would have made for a very loud night.

Amazing sky!

We woke to sunny skies and warm temps. The sky is very deceiving out here, what appears to be blue sky is in fact not always blue, but  is high wispy white clouds that seem to fade into the blue of the sky. You can’t see any definition of where each one starts or stops. The sky is vast out here, or appears to be to me anyway. It’s hard to describe the ‘bigness’ of it.

No this isn't in Canada, it's just outside Oklahoma City. 

Pheobe our RV GPS did her usual cranky morning thing and took us along some back roads before letting us get back onto the Interstate. We took US Rte 266 from Checotah to Henryetta, while a nice drive the road was pretty narrow in some places with little or no shoulder, lots of bumps, humps and uneven lanes but we made it anyway. She passed right by 2 on ramps to the interstate and I didn’t see them until it was too late to get on them. I have no idea why she does that other than she’s having a bad day. ~laugh~ 

Coming into Oklahoma City.

After getting onto the interstate we hustled along looking for a rest stop but none were open. So far the only one we’ve seen open was the welcome center. Someone told me once that they are closing the rest stops in hopes the people will travel into the small towns and spend some money instead of using the rest stops where only the vending companies make money. 

Riley liked his parking job!!

We passed thru Oklahoma City around 10:30 am or so. It’s a big city, but much more spread out than our Canadian cities I think. We had light traffic and some complaints from HRH in the back seat due to rough roads, she let us know she wasn’t impressed, not even a little bit. ~laugh~  An interesting sky line with only a few tall buildings, a water park literally right beside the interstate. If you flew off the water slide you could catch a ride on a passing vehicle. ~laugh~ I would imagine it doesn’t smell very nice in the summer 

heat!!

Me and the white Buffalo. I had to hang on it was so windy!!!!

After realizing we weren’t going to find any rest areas open we stopped at the Cherokee exit. Leaving HRH in the Igloo to do some of her business (no we don’t leave her in the truck if we are going to be more than 10 minutes), Riley and I walked around for a bit finding a painted buffalo, a white buffalo and some real buffalo. Although the real ones were pretty skinny looking. A mural depicting the history of the Cherokee people was pretty impressive, a statue of a Cherokee chief, complete with headdress riding a horse, a couple of totem poles and a trading post, as well as a gas bar and restaurant, plus a KOA camp ground finished off the amenities in that one little spot. We however didn’t buy a thing, not even fuel. So the ‘spend money’ idea didn’t work on us. ~laugh~ 

North Canadian River

We debated about going on to a campground in Amarillo, TX but decided we’d stick with our original plan and stop early in Weatherford, Oklahoma. This will be our last day on the road for a few days and so we figured we’ll hit Amarillo around noon tomorrow with plenty of time to find our campground, set up and enjoy ourselves before the day gets too old. We want to have some repairs tended too while there as I’ve read some good reviews for an RV repair shop in the area. 

Somewhere Oklahoma. Along I-40.

After deciding it better to stay in Weatherford tonight we quickly found Sam’s front yard again for the night. Windy here but nice, much cooler than this morning though. The temps have dropped about 10 degrees over the course of the day. We now need a light sweater or jacket when outside. After we had a big lunch and settled in to do our own thing for a while, I managed to get all of the photo’s I wanted to use for the two posts, (yesterday and today) edited and ready to go. After I post them Riley and I are off to walk around the store and see what catches our fancy and just get some exercise.

Along US RTE 266 between Checotah and Henryetta, Oklahoma

A quick note, we travelled approx 200 miles today, took us about 41/2 hours with only one stop. A good day’s drive with lightish traffic and lots of wind. Mostly from the right front corner which when added to the drag from big trucks seemed to make us almost stand still at times. Fuel consumption was about the same as yesterday so I have no complaints. 

Some very skinny live buffalo. 

Thanks for following along, and I know you don’t believe me but this isn’t the Walmart Trail. ~laugh~ We just find it convenient for overnight stops, we feel safe in the lots, we drop a little money in each one, and leave it as we found it.

On that note, I will sign off. Have a great night. Until next time…be safe, take care….