We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto

But we almost were thanks to another challenge this morning.  I had everything unhooked and packed up.  All that was left to do was pull in the slides and bring the levelers up.  After turning the engine on, the big slide in front went in like a charm and I locked it down.  Next was the smaller bedroom slide.  I pushed the retract button, and only one side of the slide began to move in, and I stopped it before things got all out of whack.  I hit the extend button and it went back out.  I tried it a few more times, but with the same results.  Ugh!  What next?  Okay, I took a deep breath and marched off to the office hoping someone would be there.  When I talked to the owner by phone late yesterday afternoon, he was on the road and returning from a funeral in Missouri.

After pounding on the office door, the owner opened it and I asked if he knew of any mobile RV repair people in the area.  He was very helpful and called a guy that had done some work in the park in the past.  After explaining the problem to him, the guy said he was busy today and couldn’t come out.  :(  After thinking for a moment, the owner suggested an RV place on the other side of Wichita, but said they would be more expensive…like I had any choice if I wanted to get out of here.  The RV place, whose name I can’t remember, sent out a technician, but let me know that it would be $100 to send him out, and then another $100 minimum to look at the   problem. 

While I was waiting, I called my extended warranty company for the third time in just over three weeks!  I’m thinking pretty soon they’ll recognize my voice.  :)  The repair tech got there within an hour and began looking at things.  In not too long of a time, he thought he had found the problem and began working with some wrenches underneath and inside the slide mechanism.  After a few more minutes, we tried it again, and viola! it worked!  The tech then  checked the seal around the slide both inside and out to see that it was seating properly.  He said it was perfect, and I would be fine.  I asked what caused it and he showed me where a bolt and washer had come loose and fallen off.  Luckily, they fell into one of the storage compartments.  That missing bolt meant only one side of the slide mechanism would turn to close the slide.  Thank goodness the fix was that easy.  I’m guessing that horrible washboard like dirt road I was on yesterday was the final culprit in jogging that bolt loose.  :(

To make an already long story just a little bit longer, the insurance would not cover any of the charges, and after putting out $250, I was on my way about two and a half hours later than I wanted to be.  At least I was on my way.  The owner of the RV park reassured me earlier that if I had to stay beyond the normal check out time, he would only charge me an additional $6 as long as I left by the early afternoon!  What?  It wasn’t like there were rigs just waiting to get into this place, and I wasn’t even plugged in to the electric!  So, do you think I stopped at the office as I left 30 minutes after check out time to pay up?  NOT!
After 150 miles on the road, I decided I’d had enough for today, and pulled into the Pioneer RV Park in Guthrie, OK.  I think I’m about 25 miles north of Oklahoma City which is not as far into OK as I’d originally planned, but I’m happy with at least making some progress.  :)
This appears to be an older RV park, but all the electric hook-ups are new.  How’s this for a mail box?  There are lots of old farming implements scattered around the park.
I guess this is where they got their name from.
They do have good wifi here, which is good, because I barely get a cell signal.
There’s a pleasant area with benches for relaxing, but as you can see…NO DOGS!  So Emma and I kept walking.  :)
I’m guessing this is some kind of old cultivator.  Don’t know if this was pulled by a mule or what…not having ever lived on a farm.
One of the amenities listed for this park is the panoramic view.  I’m not sure it’s exactly panoramic, but it is a view if you walk to the end of the RV rows.  :)

The forecast for the next few days is not too good, and there’s the possibility of severe storms after midnight and tomorrow morning.  I’ll have to see whether or not I’ll be moving on tomorrow morning. 

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Seeing more of Kansas than I planned on today.

My trick of setting the clocks ahead an hour last night worked out pretty well.  Emma had her first outs in the pitch dark, but I was on the road by 9:00, Central time, and passed into that time zone within 10 miles of leaving the campground.  I usually try to leave about 9:00 to avoid any early morning rush hour traffic…of which there is none in Goodland, KS.  :)

Anyway, I planned to drive about 240 miles today and end up just South of Salina, KS, on I-135.  It was a good plan, but it just didn’t work out that way.  As I got off the interstate to head for my destination campground, I began to wonder.  The last mile and a half was down an incredibly dusty and washboard like road.  Once I got to this Passport America campground, I couldn’t find any sites.  It looked crammed full of seasonal rigs, and I didn’t see any of the advertised pull through sites for any sized rig.  There also wasn’t any office to check in with.  It was also pretty seedy looking, so I turned around and made my way out via the nasty dirt road. 

I hopped back on I-135 and began to formulate plan B.  I stopped at the next rest area, and scanned through my Trailer Life Campground book.  There’s not much to choose from in this part of Kansas.  :(   By the time I finally pulled off of the road, it was after 4:00, and I’m only ten miles from Wichita.  320 miles is more than I like to do in a day when I have several more days of traveling to do, but I didn’t have much choice.  I did call ahead to be sure there was a site available, and there was, but the owners were on the road traveling back from a funeral in Missouri.  At least my call went through to their cell phone.  By the time I got set up, made dinner, and took Emma out for some exercise, the light was about gone.  No bird or other pics tonight of my location. 
I did find a bunch of these things on the ground under the trees across from my site.  I can’t remember the name of them.  They are about 3-5” in diameter, and I seem to remember that they are good for keeping spiders out of your rig.  They don’t grow up North, but I remember seeing them in Arkansas.  Can any of my Southern friends enlighten me?  Spiders give me the willies', and if they work, I could pick up a year’s supply of them before I leave in the morning.  :)  Let me know quickly if you know if this is true.

Here’s another thing that has been nagging at my mind recently… should you capitalize the directions; North, South, East or West, or is lower case acceptable?  My mind goes unusual places when driving for many miles with no one to talk to.  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Loveland to Goodland

I covered almost 250 miles of ‘land’ today, and went from Colorado to Kansas.  I took the first exit for Goodland with plans to stay at the Mid America Campground, but as I gazed at the campground from the exit ramp I decided to just hop right back on I-70.  No one was staying there and the campground looked miserable right in back of a truck stop.  I knew there was a KOA two miles down the road, so I headed there.  For only $5 more, this campground is 10 times better than the other one.
There are lots of trees here, and I think I’ve discovered where all the robins from up North have migrated to so far. 
Each of the cedar trees harbors multiple robins as they take advantage of the cedar berries that are perfectly ripe for their consumption.
With so many berries to chose from, the robins can be picky.
 It’s a matter of finding just the right berry to pick.
Aha!  That one looks perfect! 
Just like we toss our heads back to swallow pills, the robins do the same to swallow the berries.  I have often picked one of these cedar berries to roll between my thumb and finger to enjoy their pungent aroma.  It makes me think of gin.  :)  They have always been hard little rocks when I’ve done this, but today they were squishy like little blueberries.

What a bonanza for these migrating robins!  There must have been close to a thousand of them in the campground.  Mother nature knows how to take care of it’s own.  As Emma and I sat outside this early evening, we were also treated to the haunting calls of many sandhill cranes.  This was so much better than the sounds of the interstate behind a truck stop!

Tomorrow, I hope to put in about the same amount of miles and end up about 30 miles South of Salina, KS.  I’m very close to a time zone change, so I’ve decided to put my clocks ahead this evening so I won’t feel I’ve lost an hour shortly after I get on the road in the morning.  I’ll have to see if I can fool my inner clock into believing that.  :)
                                                                         THE END!! 

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park is another one of those parks where, on a good day, you have the chance to come home with some more of those calendar like pictures.  :)
I’ve never been to this park in the autumn, and really couldn’t get enough of the fall colors.  I didn’t take all of the roads in the park because as I neared the highest portion of the park, a snow storm began.  I’m a chicken when it comes to taking a chance with snow storms in mountains, so I turned around and headed back down.
If you read yesterday’s post, you know that this was a journey of remembrance for me.  Being out to see these natural wonders refreshed my soul.
Though the aspen colors were mostly past peak, there were small groves that were just brilliantly colored.
In a meadow near West Horseshoe Park, a bull elk was keeping watch over his harem of about 20 cows.
On the periphery of this herd were two much younger bulls that were hoping to maybe steal away a cow or two.  By the size of the big bull, I’d say these two probably won’t have any luck with that!  The bugling of that big bull sent chills up and down my spine.
When I arrived at this campground on Saturday, my oldest son, Daniel, met me at the office.  He lives about 90 minutes away outside of Denver.  He’ll be moving to Los Angeles in about two weeks, so I was glad we got a chance to visit before his move.  That’s his dog, Buddy, with him.  They both stayed for the night, so we had a nice campfire while we chewed the fat.  Emma was in 7th heaven with a four footed companion to bother.  I didn’t think she’d ever call down, but finally after midnight they both collapsed.

Today was spent running errands in Loveland, CO, and tomorrow my plans are to get through Denver and head for Kansas.  Life goes on…

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy