Western Adventure #61, #62, & #63: Mississippi and Home...Until Next Time

Day 61–10/2/2024

It's time to travel to Starkville. We ate breakfast and got on the road by 8:30. We were back on I40 toward Memphis. 

We got through Memphis. Ugh! Construction was terrible. We got on the I55 south to Winona. We stopped in the second rest area to eat lunch. Then we were back on the road again. We got to Nathan's campground where he lives at about 2:30. I jumped out and put in the code. Then Vince was able to get in. We unhooked the Jeep and backed the RV into our site. 

We had a good relaxing time in the nice afternoon breeze. Nathan got home about 3:30 and sat with us. For dinner, we went to CFA. We all got some version of the Honey Pimento Chicken Sandwich meals. 😋

We came back to the camper. The mosquitoes started getting bad. So we had to go in. We just relaxed together, then Nathan had to go back to his camper to get ready for bed.

Day 62–10/3/2024

Here we were in Starkville MS. This morning when I woke up, I could hear people leaving for work. Their tires were crunching on the gravel. Car doors and RV doors were slamming. I could hear the “beep-beep” of people unlocking their doors to get in their cars to leave for their jobs. All this I heard in the periphery of my dreams. Eventually, at 6:30 am, my alarm went off, and I dozed until Vince’s alarm went off. Then I did my devotional and prayed for my unreached people group and checked weather and IG. After that I got up and promptly forgot to drink my water and take my supplements. 🤷‍♀️

After breakfast, I got my grocery list together and went to Walmart. It always amazes me that people will stock up on toilet paper first thing when there is a perceived crisis. The port strike has already begun to affect the shelves in this Walmart Supercenter. It also has affected the prices of food and goods apparently, because I paid more for groceries—$165 for 27 items! I saw people in there masked up and buying multiple packs of toilet paper and paper towels. I think I started having flashbacks of 2020! I was hoping we had learned from the last time. 

That afternoon, we drove onto campus and parked at Barnes & Noble. Our objective? Cheese. Specifically, Mississippi State Cheese. And a magnet. Well, they don’t have cheese there any more. One has to go over to MAFES to get it. So on to the magnet. I was about to despair of finding any. But suddenly, ahh. There they were. Happy dance. We picked out the one we wanted. Then went over to the clearance racks to see what we could see. Vince was trying on hats, but he couldn’t find one that he liked. After I checked out, we walked over to MAFES to get our cheese and a little cup of ice cream. We both got muscadine ripple. Yummy! Then we went back to the Jeep and drove home a different way.

Nathan arrived at about 3:30. We had hamburgers and sweet potato fries for dinner. I baked two loaves of sourdough bread. Then we went to Bop’s for a treat. After we came home, I baked the third loaf of sourdough bread. We hung out together for a bit. Then Nathan went back to his camper to get ready for bed. And we did, too.

Day 63–10/4/2024

We’ve officially been on the road for two whole months. We are going home today. We’re a little sad to be finished with our trip. There’s so much more that we want to see. However, we do want to be home for Crosspoint’s 20th birthday since we were one of the first families that helped plant Crosspoint. I also had responsibilities, and Vince has to take care of some things at his part-time job. So we’re obligated to go home this time. 

Well, I must go. It is time to get ready to roll for the last time this trip. See you on the next trip.

Western Adventure #58, #59, & #60: Oklahoma & Arkansas

Day 58–9/29/2024

Another travel day. Today’s objective? Lake Eufaula State Park east of Oklahoma City. We are going to stay in a water/electric site at Deep Fork Campground. It was a long travel day as we were avoiding I35 in Kansas which is a toll road. 

We also made it through Oklahoma City without too much trouble. Just rough and construction. We got to our campground and pulled into our site and settled by 5:30.  It’s a nice site with a lake view. 

We took a walk around the campground after dinner and met a new friend.

Day 59–9/30/2024

Vince has a signal so he is able to work all day. I worked on finishing my hat. I cleaned the camper and changed the linens. We took a couple of walks to get Vince out and about for fresh air. 

We had a nice walk down to the marina in the evening for a lovely sunset. We saw a great blue heron while we were there. Of course, other wildlife included squirrels and armadillos.

Day 60–10/1/2024

It’s another travel day, so we got up and got ready after breakfast. Our objective is Arkansas. 

The H & G RV Park is our campground for tonight. We were in Arkansas and through Little Rock on the I40. We got to Hazen, AR and called Gary, the owner of the RV park. We are pulling into a boondocking spot for $10. We will meet up with Gary to settle up later. 

After we pulled in, we unhooked the Jeep and went exploring. We went to Hazen. We went to the interstate. We went to De Valls Bluff. Then we went to eat Mexican food at the interstate. We got fuel at the Love’s station. Then we went home to sit outside and wait for Gary. 

Gary arrived right about sundown. We paid him, and he got to talking, telling stories about some of his camping customers. We were being eaten by mosquitoes, though. So we had to go in.

Western Adventure #56 & #57: I Like Ike

Day 56–9/27/2024

It’s a travel day. We are making our way to Abilene KS. We are also avoiding Denver like the plague. Our GPS keeps trying to route us through Denver, though. So we are having a fight.

We got on some goat paths but finally made it to I-70 toward Abilene without going through Denver. The welcome center was really great. We got lots of good information about Kansas and decided that we wanted to visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene. 

                                                Me hanging out with Ike and Mamie

But we have to stop for the night. Fortunately, in Kansas, one can stay overnight in the rest areas. We found a good one in Ogallah KS to stop for the night.

Day 57–9/28/2024

We made it to Abilene KS and found a place to camp at Covered Bridge RV Park. After we got settled, Vince and I had lunch and headed over to the Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum. 

First we went in the Visitor Center. I got a magnet, and Vince got a hiking medallion. We found out the movie started in about 20 minutes. We purchased our tickets, and went over to the Place of Meditation to look at the Eisenhower graves and see this memoriam. 

We got back to the visitor center to watch the movie. Then we went to the statue and read the plaques on it. 

It was about time for the boyhood home tour. Short and sweet. We learned a lot about his childhood, growing up the 5th of 7 boys, 6 that lived into adulthood.

After that tour, we went into the museum. It was about 2:30 when we went into the museum. At 4:15, we still had not seen it all. But we wanted to see the Presidential Library. So we headed over there. It was beautiful with marble walls, floors, and ceilings. It had a beautiful crystal chandelier. A movie was playing on the first floor. The second floor had an exhibit about women’s suffrage. No books. They were locked away and only for the researchers.

Everything closed down at 4:30 pm. We went back to the camper for laundry and dinner and prepping for another travel day in the morning.

Western Adventure #55: Poudre Trail

Day 55-9/26/2024

This day was Linette’s birthday. She's my cousin, and the one person who is as close as a sister to me. We almost share the same birthday just as we shared the same grandparents. I love her bunches.

This morning the geese were hanging around our shoreline as I got ready for my walk. I walked along the path to the cabins and up to the visitor center. I read some interpretive signs about the reservoir. I walked back by way of the full-hookup sites. When I got back, I had to walk around the camper a few times to get in my 30 minutes.

I made tuna salad and peanut butter Rice Krispie treats. But then I had a pile of dirty dishes to wash. Worth it.

We went to the Poudre Trail to ride bikes. We enjoyed that bike trail so much. We never get to ride on anything like this on the Coast. There’s just so little green space to ride safely like that. It’s impressive. We rode probably about 10 or so miles, all told. 

I took this picture when we stopped to rest on our bike ride. I was hoping to get the bee on the flower, but he flew right as I took the picture.

I took this picture back at our campsite. These campers brought their sailboat and enjoyed sailing on the reservoir. 

We loaded up, and I showed Vince where Anna Marie first lived when she moved to Fort Collins. We rewarded ourselves with Chick-fil-A shakes.  

Tomorrow, we bid farewell to Fort Collins and Horsetooth Reservoir. We're starting our trek homeward by way of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.