Visiting friends today.....

Our Location: Oakdale Campground, Quincy, Ohio

A warm night for sleeping and we enjoyed the quiet once more. This is a great place to rest and catch up on our sleep. 

Winding our way down the country roads today.

With the morning skies overcast and a chance of rain in the offing we didn’t really know what we wanted to do today. So after a quick walk I contacted George & Suzie (Our Awesome Travels) to see about getting together today. 

Some of the fields waiting to be worked up.

After a quiet morning Riley and I climbed into the Dogsled to head north to Wapakoneta for a happy hour with George & Suzie. The windy road lead us across the country side and within a short time we were pulling up to the campground security gate. Before long we were parked and chatting with George & Suzie. Thanks folks for the movies and the books. We appreciate them very much. Riley & I enjoyed the afternoon a great deal and before we knew it the clock was reading 5 pm and time for us to go home. 

The skies were overcast today.

 Back at home we slipped into the campground and settled down for the evening of watching a movie or two. The perfect end to a nice day.
 

Suzie, George & Riley.

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

 

Suzie, George & Deb

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Errand day....

Our Location: Oakdale Campground, Quincy, Ohio

 

A very nice night, warm and quiet with the frogs making the usual night time noises. Always nice to hear them, it means spring is here and summer can't be far behind. In our summer spot we can hear them as well as the tree frogs that seem to be growing in number. 

 

The little hamlet of DeGraff, Ohio.

 

 After our  normal morning routines and some breakfast we headed off to Bellefontaine. A few errands to do today. The country roads were pretty empty and before long we found our way into the edges of town. 

 

We have indeed reached Bellefontaine.

 

 Our first stop was the Jiffy Lube for an oil change on the Big Dog. We will be taking him back to the Chevy Dealership in Cobourg on our return to Ontario as he's still having an oil issue. Not a big one, just an annoying one. 

 

These fellas changed the oil, cleaned the outside of the windows and ran a vacuum over the inside mats.

 

From the Jiffy Lube we headed off to Walmart for some groceries. We managed to get everything on the list without any issue even though many of the shelves were looking a bit like Mother Hubbard's cupboards, BARE. The rain held off until we were in the Dogsled heading home but then stopped as we pulled up to the Igloo. Yeah, a dry time of carrying groceries. 

 

I wonder what kind of story this place would tell if it could talk.

 

The rest of the day was on and off rain, but warm temperatures, so we have no complaints. We spent the remainder of the day just enjoying the quiet. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

I love this house, not crazy about the colour but it's eye catching.

 

 Until next time.. take care, be safe, 

 

Deb

All caught up now.....

Our Location: Oakdale Campground, Quincy, Ohio

A quiet night here in the campground, we both slept well with the sound of frogs as our night time music. 

 

Our spot this year at Oakdale Campground.

 

This morning found us with our hoodies off and enjoying the warmth of the spring air. The park is pretty busy today as it’s the first open day of the season in the park. Numerous folks coming to open up, park, set up and air out the summer spot.
 

The road we'll take to leave the campground next week.

 

We spent some time exercising our walking shoes this morning by putting a couple of miles under them. The warmth of the sun soon faded though as the clouds came in and covered the sun off and on for most of the day. We spent the rest of the day just enjoying the peace and quiet and relaxing. Tomorrow we have some errands to accomplish. 

 

The Miami River.

 

It’s going to be a very quiet week for us here in Ohio but I’m sure we’ll manage to enjoy the time. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

A different view of our spot.

 

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb



 

Back in our own time zone.....

Our Location: Oakdale Campground, Quincy, Ohio

(April 5)

A quiet night in Richmond, or at least for me it was a quiet night. Riley didn’t sleep well but those things happen. We were in no hurry to leave the little spot in Richmond and we did a number of things all pertaining to the nail punctured tire back in Hereford. It appears the plug is not holding well or perhaps there is another issue but the tire continues to loose air, not a lot but some and so I thought since we’ve a short day why not have it looked at. Do you know that is more difficult than one would think. 

Left over from Thursday travel day. I thought of St. Elmo's Fire, Riley thought of Elmo from Sesame Street.

Walmart had nothing to lift us to remove the tire and had no desire to help us. A police officer mentioned Camping World a number of exits behind us and also a couple of tire shops but wasn’t certain if they could help us either. With that in mind we pulled up to the air machine at Murphy’s Gas Bar in the Walmart lot and tried to top it with air. I’m never sure if those things are worth the price as they seem to be hit and miss as to which ones work and which ones don’t. Gave it a shot anyway.

No we didn't leave the USA. Fuel prices are rising.(Another left over photo)

We pulled out about 9:30 am Central Time heading back toward I-70 East. Noting a Mike’s Tires we pulled into the medium sized lot. They didn’t have anything to help us either but offered to check and air the tire. Even though I was sure it was good I took them up on their offer. A bit of wiggling around had us close enough to the door for the hose to reach. The nice young fella that aired the tires in fact checked all of the tires, truck and trailer. They all hovered around the 75 lb mark he added air to a couple to make them all consistent. No charge and have a good day. Nice place, and we appreciated their help.
 

Riley laughed at the second name in the list. (left over photo)

  

Back on I-70 East we past in to the state of Ohio within about a mile and finally reached our own time zone. Yeah. We are now back with Ontario time. We made our way to I-75 North just at the top edge of Dayton, Ohio and motored on for about 45 minutes to reach the small quaint town of Sidney, taking exit 92 we headed toward Quincy. We stayed in this same park last year on our way and enjoy it except for the poor cell signal. We are in a different spot than last year but still right on the Miami River banks. The park is listed as opening April 1 but due to flooding, rain and a death in the family it was closed until today April 6. However a nice fella that we met last  year met us at the closed gate and allowed us entry. We followed him to the spot which I was a bit skeptical of at first but we fit quite well and I had no issues backing us in.
 

Eye catching welcoming.

A call to dad to tell him of our safe arrival and we the rest of the day just resting from our days of driving. Today we’ll scoot down to the office to pay and get out for a walk as well. We’ve been neglecting that for a few days. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the visit. 

Sidney, Ohio.

 

Until next time…. take care, be safe

Deb

Rain and rough roads.....

Our Location: Richmond, Indiana 

(April 4's post)

We woke this morning to rain in Eureka, MO, not a hard rain but hard enough to make it necessary to use the wipers, not on full but enough to ensure you knew you couldn’t go without them. Our morning started a bit late due to our close proximity to St. Louis, only 30 miles to the East. We didn’t want to get caught up in rush hour and so dawdled until around 9 am.

We headed that way.

 We pulled out of the Walmart right around 9 am and headed east on I-44 once again. Not long of course but until we hooked up with I-70 East in St. Louis, Illinois after crossing the mighty Mississippi River. Still under rainy conditions until we drove out of the city limits when the drops lessened and soon stopped. The day wasn’t sunny but it was brighter and drier than we expected after looking out the window this morning. 

Originally Rolla was our destination.

 

We motored along pretty much all day as our previous plans were out the window due to the Walmart change. Before noon we reached our ‘previous planned destination’ but continued along the road. Our goal changed to getting us through Indianapolis today instead of tomorrow and with that thought in mind we hustled along. Our stops were longer than normal but we aren’t used to travelling longer distances again and so the breaks were very welcome. 

 

Construction and rain in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

We passed through Indianapolis without any issues before 3 pm and made our way to Richmond, IN and of course another Walmart. Interstate 70 leaves a lot to be desired and needs some serious work before much longer. Huge holes where it appears the plows may have gouged deeper and pulled out chunks of the road and of course the joining of the bridge approaches and surfaces to the rest of the roadway is horrifically rough. This of course is in both Illinois and Indiana. I believe our eggs will be scrambled before they are out of the shells. We both decided we are not interested in taking this route again. 

 

The Arch in the rain.

 

As we headed down the highway the Bella (USA GPS) was telling us we were going to be an hour later than I figured. Even though there was no way it could be possible but we discovered that we are extremely close to the time change at the Ohio/IN border. So soon we will once again be back on Ontario time. Yeah. 

 

We weren't the only people approaching Indianapolis.

 

The headwinds today were strong and steady, not good for the fuel mileage but we pressed on and tomorrow will move to a park in Ohio for the next 7 days. We will then cross into Ontario and soon be in Brantford at daughter Bradey’s house for a few days. I called dad upon our arrival here, while not extremely warm it was better than their snowy day. I hope that stuff stops falling soon. 

 

Of course this was earlier in the day.

 

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

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

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