Sometimes you find little diamonds...

 

... and sometimes you reach down for that nugget and it's a dog turd.

It was another brutally hot day, but Joan assures me that by tomorrow the temperatures will drop.  On the bright side, we were heading pretty much straight north and had a south wind... so, yeah, a tailwind.

We left our lovely site at the RV park connected with the casino.  Our stop for tonight is a place we booked on-line; the reviews were so-so, but it is about the distance we wanted to travel today.

We drove out of Oklahoma and into Kansas...

 You've heard the slogan "Oklahoma is OK"... it is; their roads, however, suck.  You've heard the saying: "That road is so bad it will shake the fillings out of your teeth"?  Well, sections of the Interstate in Oklahoma today would shake your teeth out of your head.  For full disclosure, some sections of the road were decent... it doesn't make up for the sections of road that were rougher than a cobb.  A petrified cobb with ugly sharp hooks on it.  Potholes and places where the holes were over-filled to the point that it was like driving over a curb.

It was a relief to drive into Kansas.  Well...

I kept looking for the woman flying by on her bicycle, cackling: "I'll get you - and your big cat, too!"

On to the campground.  Now, I will freely admit that what I look for in an RV park is different from what "campers" look for.  I like paved roads, a concrete pad to park the motorhome on, with a concrete patio; none of those pesky trees to get in the way of a satellite signal or drip sap on the roof of the coach; level sites; 70 or so cable TV channels.  The place we booked on-line for tonight is pretty much the opposite of all of that.  Some would describe it as "primative... maybe rustic;" I wouldn't be that kind with my description.  I would say "shit-hole," but they'd have to spruce it up a bit to get to that description.  Some of the campers in here look like they have been ridden hard and put up wet.  Others aren't that nice.  The site we're in is long enough for our length (that was one of our criteria for chosing this on-line), but it is narrow and so uneven that, even putting large blocks under our jacks, we can't get level.  The road is a sandy/gravel, with huge potholes - and you can't tell how deep they are because they are full of water from the rain.  If you step outside your RV, you will be tracking sand and dirt in with you.  On the bright side, all we need tonight is a plug-in, and a quiet place off the road.  For the price, I have to give this place one star out of ten.

When I show you photos, I'm guessing you will say, "Jim, that looks woodsy and quaint."  Perspective.  

The cost was more than the nice RV resort we were in last night.  Until you've actually been to a campground, you can't know how it will work for you.  Assuming no one kills us in the middle of the night, we'll take this one off our list.  ;-)

On the bright side, we have some over-the-air TV channels and an adequate cell data signal.  There are weather alerts for potentially severe thunderstorms through the night... hoping the dirt/sand roads don't get us stuck here.  But, as I told Steph in our daily update: It's fine, really.  Don't worry about us; we'll be fine.  Really.  I'll take the first watch after dark tonight, since I probably won't sleep anyway... the site slopes significantly to the rear, and I think all the blood will rush to my head when I get in bed.  But, it's fine.  Really.

The thunder is rumbling right now, but Rufus is sitting beside me, keeping me calm.  It's fine.  Really.  We didn't put our slides out, just in case the weather gets ugly.  But, it's fine.  Really.

To my eye, the previous model Rebel (250) looks like a small (and inaccurate) caricature of a cruiser.  They were built to a price point, but were tough.  They certainly served a purpose - trained a lot of new riders, but most people who bought one quickly outgrew it (based on Honda's sales stats).  I sat on one years ago and felt like a Weeble on it.  The new generation of Rebel 300s and 500s have carved out their own style - they have been a sales success, so it seems that Honda is aware what their market wants.  The new Honda Rebel 1100 is the one motorcycle that really turned my head in the past year.  And it a logical step up for the 300/500 Rebel owner.

Now, none of this fits the OP's desire or budget.  Let's just say that it highlights perception and taste.  Can't hardly beat the seat height of a Rebel (any version) if inseam is the determining factor.  The Rebel 250 was in production up to 2016, so there should be some relatively late model bikes in the budget range. 

;-)