Well, that's a big step back...

 

As I was putting utility stuff away, our buddy Bill came by this morning to wish us safe travels.  Joan was out with Rufus, so Bill got to see Ruf once more, too.  Probably the main reason he stopped by.  ;-)

Another easy traveling day today.  Before we take off each day, we check lights...

That's Joan giving me hand signals.  

The RV park we were in last night is just a few miles from the Texas border...

So, "You're almost home, huh?" you ask.  Thanks for asking.  It is usually a 2 to 3 day trip to home once we get to the north or west Texas border.  We are stopping for two nights just outside Georgetown so I can get the Vespa in for a new rear tire.  Tomorrow.  Then, another overnight stop before we get back.

In the meantime, I got to stop at one of my favorite places to fuel up...

If you can't see the sign on the building behind our rig, it is Buc-ee's.  With the fueling done, we parked out at the perimeter...

Masked up, and went inside for a couple BBQ sandwiches (pulled pork for me, sliced brisket for Joan).  And some Beaver Chips.  No, they aren't made from beaver - fresh fried potato chips.  They have Beaver Nuggets... also not made from beaver.  (If you are an adolescent, insert your own beaver jokes here.)

Rufus also got lunch, then down the road again.  The park we are in is a Passport America park... calling it "a bit dated" would be generous.  Certainly not up to the standards of where we stayed last night.  But, it is about as close as we could come for a park convenient to getting to the Vespa dealer.

A couple photos make it look "quaint"...

I asked the young lady at the office about getting out of here in two days - the road to the highway is narrow, and no way can we back up if we meet oncoming traffic... she said, "It shouldn't be a problem, we don't get many overnight people."  I haven't seen the rest of the park (it goes back a ways), but looking around at the row we're in, I think our rig may be the only one that moves.  Looks like mostly live-aboards here.  No, I don't have a problem with that, but when the majority of rigs are stationary, it is no longer an "RV" park, but a trailer park.  Parks do change over time, depending on what the management does with it.  A park can get a bit run-down looking if nothing moves.

On the bright side: the site is long enough for us.  When I made the reservation, I was told they have a couple 80' pull-through sites.  The site we're in is probably 72', but that's fine for us.

A warm one today - we were back in shorts from the get-go... 88º here at 4:00pm.  Welcome back to Texas.  ;-)

A knock at the door...

 

Rolling south, still in Oklahoma.  This part of the state is quite wooded...

 Other than the typical OK crappy roads, it was mostly uneventful.  Until a stop at a rest area about an hour out from today's destination.  Only a few rigs in this rest area; I did a walk around with our rig while Joan started making us some lunch.  Back inside, I was in the process of feeding Rufus when there was a knock at the door.

I opened the door and heard, "Can Rufus come out and play?"

"Bill?"

Some explanation: years ago, at the RV parking in the city park in Chanute, Kansas (where the HitchHiker factory was located) there was a knock at the door and the guy asked, "Can Izzy come out and play?"  It was there we met Bill... he had been reading the blog and knew all about Izzy and wanted to meet her.  Bill and I became instant friends.  There is a photo of us sitting in recliners in a display HitchHiker the next day.  Bill occasionally comments here.

It has been about 7 or 8 years since we last saw each other in person, but I immediately recognized his voice... even though he has grown a beard since I last saw him.  It was fun to catch up with him, even for just a few moments.  He knew where we were staying tonight and asked if he could come by, socially distancing, of course.  "Absolutely!"

He had his rat terrier companion left the rest area before us, with plans to visit when we got settled in today.

On a different subject, they are teasing me...

Yes, a Chick-fil-A billboard.  There are no Chick-fil-As anywhere in the state of South Dakota.  I really miss those chicken sandwiches (and Joan says Rufus is very food oriented ;-)).

We are down for the night at the FunTown RV park, associated with the WinStar World Casino.  This is a really nice RV park - the grounds are immaculate, the sites as spacious, great paved pads and patios, well laid-out utilities.

I was out walking Rufus when Bill came to our site.  Rufus wasn't sure about this "stranger"... now, to be fair, I have been keeping Rufus away from everyone who we've walked by for months.  Joan took over the walking, while Bill and I sat down at the picnic table... yes, socially distanced.

This is the first time in months that I have sat down and had a conversation with anyone besides Joan in months.  It was a delight to visit with Bill.  We have a lot in common.  But, mostly catching up.  We talked about our furry companions, music, RVing... it was nice.

Back in the coach, Joan is making supper.  Rufus and I will head out for another walk around sunset, his favorite time to be outside.  This is a world-class casino, but we won't be going in... looking forward to a time when it feels right to do that again... but, for us, it isn't the time.

This is a nice, relaxing stop.  Tomorrow, we'll move on, stopping north of Austin... a plan to get a new tire on the Vespa the next day.  One step closer to home.

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After supper, Rufus was ready to go for another walk.  This is the first opportunity for a good place to walk since we left Hart Ranch.  Off we go...

Checking out the rising moon...

And the setting sun...

Checking out the smells on this tree...

Stop and smell the flowers...

As we got close to our coach on the way home, Rufus stopped to look at a couple who were watching TV outside their 5th wheel.  The woman said, "That's a cat!  Walking on a leash!"  She got out of her chair for a closer look.  As usual, Rufus looked her right in the eye... after gushing about how handsome he is (no, she didn't mention me), she said, "He has a great attitude.  I am not a cat person, but if you could guarantee one like that, I'd go for it."

"He's a pretty special boy," I said... pretty sure Ruf puffed up his chest.  I visited with the lady for a bit while she admired the furry boy.  Then, time for us to move on.  He strutted away towards home.  Not sure if I mentioned this before, but he's a good boy.  ;-)

Unrelenting...

 

The wind.  It was a crosswind as we drove east on I-70, then a tailwind when we turned south on I-135.  I like the tailwind better.  Some trees along I-135...

 The leaves are just starting to change here.  Must not be temperature related, because it was 46º in Hays, KS when we got up this morning.  Warmed up to 69º by mid-afternoon as we traveled south.  On the bright side: plenty of sunshine and blue sky today.  Nice change.

Rufus did share some time on my lap today...

He spends more time on Joan's lap while we're driving... I get that: she is more comfortable, puts a cushy blanket across her legs before he hops up, and no pesky steering wheel in the way.  He does come sit by and on me once we are down, though.

Through Kansas and into Oklahoma today...

We had tentatively planned to stop at a place Joan found on RVparky: it is a gravel parking lot with hookups, located next to the Hideway Bar.  Not a lot of reviews, but the ones that we could find said it was OK for an overnight stop and inexpensive.  We planned to gas up at that same exit, and thought we'd check out this RV parking... couldn't find it.  However, there is an Indian casino across the road and they were advertising "a new RV park"... we took a look: concrete pads with grassy areas between.  The length of the sites is a bit short, but we can kinda make it work by unhooking the CR-V and parking it and the cargo trailer at an angle...

We hang out just a little bit on both ends, but the streets in this small park are plenty wide.  Plus, it is less dusty than the gravel sites of the past two nights.

Once settled in, we did a Google search on that bar with the RV parking: not quite "right off the Interstate," but it is within a mile.  Yep, all gravel.  It would have worked, but this is better from my perspective.  No, we won't be going to the casino.  I did take Rufus out for a short walk in the grass... by "short walk," I mean: the wind howled around him and he said, "I'm going back inside."  He is a big tough boy around big dogs, loud trucks and motorcycles, but he does not like strong wind... he said, "I've seen the Wizard of Oz - I know what happens around here when the wind blows."  I explained to him that the Wizard of Oz was Kansas and we are now in Oklahoma; he said, "Like it makes a difference?"  The furry boy has a point.  ;-)

We're planning another casino stop tomorrow night, at Winstar; billed as "the largest casino in the world."  The RV park there is much larger with seriously longer sites.  Plus, it will be our shortest travel day of the return home trip.  We've been doing good with keeping the driving times shorter this trip.  Nice to not be on a schedule.

Wind and Rain...

 

Not to be confused with the James Taylor song, Fire and Rain.  It was chilly and windy when we pulled out this morning.  We had planned a fuel stop an hour or so down the road, but in checking Gas Buddy, we'd save about 20¢ per gallon by fueling up before leaving town.  I managed to fit our rig in the nearby Wally World gas station.  $1.82/gallon.

Out onto I-80...

A lot of big-truck traffic on I-80.  A surprising number of RV on the road today, too...

Certainly more than we saw on the way north.  The RV park last night was mostly full; same with RV parks that we've passed along the way.  People are traveling.

It was windy when we started out.  The local weather was calling it 12 to 15 mph... not even close - I'd say more like 25 and gusting higher.  A crosswind out of the north.  I had to run dash heat, as the temp stayed in the low 50s.  I considered turning south sooner, then taking I-70 east in Kansas, but their wind wasn't any better.  Just before our turn to the south, Mother Nature gave us some rain to go with the wind...

Driving in the rain makes a mess of things (and we were pretty clean when we left Hart Ranch yesterday), but it was nice to turn south and get that gusty north wind behind us.  We stopped at a parking lot outside a semi-vacant shopping center in a town in northern Kansas for lunch.

Apparently, Joan had idle time on her hands as we drove out of the rain, and took some photos: Rufus napping...

Me not napping...

Kansas has a reputation for being flat - no so, there are hills...

There are also trees...

The tree is the thing in the middle of the photo; that other thing towards the right side is a telephone pole.  But, the traffic was light and the wind was behind us.  I made a reservation at an RV park in Hays, KS; a new place that advertised "big rig friendly."  When I asked about our length fitting, he told me, "Our pull-throughs are 108 feel long - you'll fit."

He wasn't kidding...

 

We probably would have been fine without making a reservation...

But, several more rigs did pull in after 5:00 - part of the reason I like to get off the road early when we don't have a schedule.  Another good reason: Rufus and I got to take a short nap.

This is a new RV park, and obviously still developing; the sites are long, but the gravel in the sites is loose.  The row we are in has a bit of a "sway back" - lower in the middle than either end.  A bit dusty here with the fresh gravel and today's wind.  They seem to be looking for rallies and RV events.  I have no doubt it will be a nice park as it matures.

The wind is supposed to ease off to the low teens overnight, and then kick up again tomorrow.  We have about 100 miles of east to go before we turn south again, if we decide to stay on the Interstate.  We'll stay flexible.

And, we're rolling...

 

After cleaning up and having breakfast, we hooked up the circus train and said "Buh-bye," to Hart Ranch...

 Except for Mother Nature beating the snot out of our vehicles, it has been a good summer.  Out to Hwy 79 and pointed the coach south...

Four lane road to start our trip.  Rufus settled in right away and hopped up on Joan's lap...

When Ruf laid his head on that blanket next to Joan, his glorious mane was tucked underneath - doesn't look like the same cat...

An hour south, and we said good-bye to the Black Hills...

Checking weather along our route, it was supposed to get warmer as we headed south, and wind out of the northwest (giving us mostly a tailwind) at 10 to 15.  They lied.  Oh, it got warmer, but the wind was out of the westsouthwest and blowing like stink.  More on that.  We stopped for lunch (for all of us) at the Wally World in Chadron, NE.  I fixed Rufus his usual, Joan made lunch for us people...

Onward.  Less fall colors as we continued south...

The wind really kicked up by the time we were close to Alliance, NE - I'm guessing gusts of 35+mph.  It is more driving effort but the motorhome handles it.  With a quartering headwind, I could see our gas gauge dropping.  And, blowing dirt...

Lots of blowing dirt.  By the time we got to Ogallala (our stop for the day), the blowing dirt combined with smoke from the western fires... by 4:00 in the afternoon, it was looking like night... the lights on the electrical pedestals came on.  Good time to be off the road, plugged in with the a/c running, and not having to be outside.

 

So, not what the weather weasels said, but we are on our way.

Did you piss off someone in reservations??

 

On our last 9 days here, we had to move to a different site... because they were "too full" for us to stay in our site on the perimeter.  Doesn't matter much - Rufus like where we are and has mature trees to sniff: "Ah, this tree was pissed on by cocker spaniel in late August; this tree was last pissed on by a springer spaniel about 72 hours ago."  He is a connoisseur.

But, I digress.  For the first couple days, we had this row of sites mostly to ourselves.  Then a family with 8 or 10 kids under 10 moved in next door.  At first I thought the woman in the 5th wheel was running an unlicensed babysitting service, but it became quickly apparent that she pretty much ignored the kids.  The kids, on the other hand, rode around the resort like a pin-sized biker gang, on bicycles, skateboards, and Razor-type scooters.  One one little girl (looked to be about 4 years old) who had an electric Barbie-type Jeep that she - and I am not joking - drove down the middle of the streets here with no adult supervision.  It was a shit-show.

Fortunately, they left the night before last, and the dad (who also pretty much ignored the kids) came back yesterday morning at 6:15am and proceeded to hook up the 5th wheel and throw most of the crap they left laying around into the 5th wheel and truck, making the maximum noise possible.

Yesterday and last night was blissfully quiet and unoccupied in our row.  Then, another 5th wheel pulled in about 8 sites down from us.  Plenty far away.

We had to run into town this morning to buy a new screen door latch (only needed the spring, but no one locally sells just the spring) for our rig.  I got to have on last Hardee's breakfast and we picked up a few things at Wally World.

Not long after we got back, three teenagers showed up and sat on the picnic table at the site next to us (yes, the same site that was overrun with kids).  They waved at a couple in a truck pulling a 5th wheel who obviously went down the wrong street.  The guy finally made it to the site next to us, and he backed the 5er in.

So, with about a dozen empty sites on our side of the street, there is us, another RV 8 sites down, and now a couple with 3 teenagers in the site right next to us.  Again.  Oh well - these kids seem decent, the Dad asked me about Mt Rushmore, and their dog didn't bark.  Plus, it's only for one more night.

While Joan is cleaning the litter box and the grill, and I am dumping and refilling our fresh water tank, I hear someone in that site next to us playing a guitar.  Quietly.  And playing quite well.  No, I don't plan to take mine over and jam... we don't do that sort of thing anymore; another casualty of  the virus.

And what about the screen door latch?  Thanks for asking.  The RV dealer didn't have the Winnebago part, but they had a "Universal fit" that looked the same.  Only turned out to be about 1/16th of an inch off on the mounting holes.  Joan got out the drill so I could make "an adjustment" to the newly purchased latch.  That latch blew apart like I had used C4 on it.  It would snap back together, but the spring for that latch is the same as the Winnebago latch.  I put that spring in our old latch (the 3rd one we've replaced, BTW) and put it all back together.  When we get home, we'll order a set of 4 springs (didn't know you could buy just the springs until we found that on the internet) and have a couple as spares.  In the meantime, we once again have a functioning screen door latch (specific to RV use, because it also attaches to the main door to shut them together).

Time to take Rufus for a walk.

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On Rufus's last walk today, we saw that the storage folks moved another rig into our row... right next to us on the other side...

Looking the other direction...

Yep - all kinds of empty sites, but someone in reservations decided we needed rigs on either side of us.

Rufus had a good walk, though...

We grilled out this evening; that was the only thing left out on our site...

We are packed up and ready to roll tomorrow...

Takin' care of business...

 

If you said, "Bachman Turner Overdrive,  1973," you get 12 bonus points.

Well, it wasn't "business," but it is the business of getting down the road.  It is a bit before it is due, but convenient here - we unhooked the motorhome and took it for an oil change.  While there, we chose to replace the engine start battery... no problems with it, but the timing was convenient.  It was also a good "test run" after mostly sitting in one place for 3 months.

Back to our RV site and onto the task of getting things ready to move on down the road.  The cargo trailer is ready to go: scoots tied down, stuff packed around them.  The e-bike if folded up and strapped down in the CR-V.  Joan arranged stuff in the interior while I worked on the large exterior storage.

Through it all, Rufus was a champ - staying out from under foot and happy to get a walk in this morning (yes, he'll get another this evening.

There are tires and fluids to check (on the cargo trailer and CR-V, since the oil change place did that on the coach).  Some of the patio stuff has been packed, the rest will get stashed tomorrow.

All at an easy but steady pace.

The Fall Colors Tour...

 

Also, likely our last ride this season in the Black Hills.  The colors are at "peak" this week (according to TV reports).  I tossed the Insta360 One R in the trunk of my bike... just in case.  Really, I wasn't planning on shooting, just looking to enjoy this last ride with my Honey.

By the time we got to Iron Mountain Road, I had to get the camera out - as much to remember this last ride as to capture the colors.  A quick selfie by Joan's bike...

On with the ride...

My plan with the camera was to "just get a few still shots"... that camera is at its best doing video... I went from "maybe a short video clip" to shooting 25 video clips, from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.  It took me close to two hours just to edit the 360 views to a format that I can edit in iMovie; likely several more hours to go through all of that.  Maybe later - I'm happy to have that video as a keepsake of this last ride; I'll work on editing it down to a watchable format when I have time.

We topped off fuel tanks before heading for the coach.  At our site, I washed the scoots so they can start the ride home (in the cargo trailer) clean.  Tomorrow, we will start the picking up and packing process, including getting the bikes strapped down... it takes a while to change the cargo trailer from "portable garage" to bike hauler.  We plan to take our time - tomorrow is supposed to be in the 90s... whew!

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Today's video...