A walk, a visit, and nearly exploding...

 

All that on a day off.  "A day off?" you ask, "You aren't working again, are you?"  Thanks for asking, and no, we aren't working.  Although, the way the stock market has been, I may have to get a job.  But, I digress.  It's a day off from driving.

I took Rufus for a walk this morning...

That is a long cat when he stretches out (above).  We haven't stayed in this part of the park before; there is a nice walking path along the west side of the park...

Rufus enjoyed his walk about.  Not long after we got back to the coach, I heard a voice at the door: "Can Rufus come out and play?"  The voice belongs to our friend, Bill, and it is the same question he asked about Izzy years ago when we were in the RV park in Chanute, Kansas.  Bill has been a long time reader here, and our paths have crossed numerous times.  We visited for a couple hours, catching up.  Joan and I were both impressed with Bill's choice of ride...

That is a bit sportier than his diesel truck and HitchHiker 5th wheel.  Seems that we all enjoy staying at casinos... although Bill must "invest" more than we do, because the casinos keep giving him free stays.

Speaking of investing in casinos: after Bill left, I gave Rufus his lunch, and Joan and I headed for Winstar.  First stop: the lunch buffet.  We went there hungry and I feel we got more than our money's worth.  Of course, that might be part of the casino's plan: put you into a food coma so you are numbed a bit when it comes time for some gaming.  Joan found a machine she liked, I came across a blackjack machine that would let me play $2 hands... so I could lose my money slower than at a live table, plus I didn't have to be around people...

The end result was the same - I made a donation.  Or, as I call it: entertainment.  Cheaper than buying gas for the motorhome.  ;-)

The casino wasn't packed when we first got there, but the crowd had increased considerably by the time we left a few hours later.  I expect it will be more of that during the rest of our stay here.

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An evening walk...

As the sun dipped behind the horizon, Rufus and I took an evening stroll...

We walked along that same path...

Rufus did take a moment to appreciate that pretty sky to the west...

'Cause he's a good boy.

Drum solo and "More cowbell!"

 

If you said, "The 'More cowbell' quote came from a Saturday Night Live routine featuring guest host Christopher Walken, 2000, a parody of Blue Oyster Cult recording Don't Fear the Reaper," you get 25 bonus points.  If you asked, "You bought a cowbell, Jim?" you would be incorrect.

Heading south in Kansas today, we were up and rolling at Oh-Dark:30...

 In order to make it to where we wanted to stop next, we knew it would be a long driving day.  To add to the fun, the roads in Oklahoma (especially just after the KS/OK border) suck.  After a particularly rough stretch, I switched to the left lane... yes, I know that is the passing lane; there was no other traffic, and that road surface was a bit better than the right lane.

How bad was it?  Thanks for asking - something in the forward overhead cabinets started banging against the cabinet.  It sounded like a never-ending bad drum solo.  Like a crappy garage band playing In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.  Yeah, that bad.

When we stopped to give Rufus some lunch, I moved some stuff around in that cabinet.  At the next stop, Joan moved stuff, 'cause what I did made no difference.  Next stop, I took the stuff out of the cabinet and put it in a bag.  The road laughed and got rougher.  Something started squeeking - sounding like a kid with ADD and no sense of rhythm playing a cowbell.  Another stop - Joan checked the dinette table and determined the mechanism that keeps it upright was not aligned.  She fussed with it, it clicked into place, and she wiggled it... no squeek.

Until we got back on the road, then the squeek had changed pitch.  Leads me to believe the table getting the snot beat out of it by the road is the culprit.  It is tough to diagnose when we are driving separate, and Rufus only has a Learner's Permit, so I can't let him drive while I go back to check the table.  And, by that time, we had covered 400+ miles.

When I went into the office to check in (I had booked for two nights), Joan said, "See if we can get a third night and we can go through Fort Worth and Austin on a Sunday."  Seeing that the RV park isn't even half full, I knew it wouldn't be a problem.

On these long driving days, we need a day or two off to recover.  "So, why don't you just travel fewer miles in a day, Jim?" you ask.  You are just full of questions today, aren't ya?  The answer: there isn't anyplace along the way we want to stop.  This place is connected to a large, nice casino... so, there are eating options.  And Joan can try to win enough to cover our stay.  And the grounds in the RV park are very nice, so Rufus and I will get some walking in (already took a short walk after getting set up and before I started writing this."

Wish us luck.

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Continuing the music theme: a "patio concert" before supper...

It's been a while since I've played.  After the drive today, it was good to just kick back for a while.  Rufus and Joan are a good audience.

Making Miles...

 

When traveling, some days it is about what we get to see and do, and other days it is just about making miles.  Today, we were in making miles mode.

Joan had seen a place to spend a night in Kansas that sounded "interesting."  It isn't a commercial venture, but connected with the city airport.  There's a "disc golf course" (Frisbee).  Instead of a nightly fee, it is by donation, unless you are staying more than a week.  We've run across places like that in our travels, and we like to have a "back up," in case it looks sketchy.  It is along our route.

Rolling west...

 Still some rolling hills an broad-leaf trees.  And look at this...

Windmills on the left side of that image, and you can see that we have a tailwind.  Heading west.  That rarely happens for us.

Rufus laid across my lap much of the drive...

It was 37º when we left this morning, so he made a nice lap warmer.  ;-)

A stop for fuel, a couple of potty stops, and a lunch stop for Rufus.  We made the turn into the airport/campground and looked around.  It is decent: paved sites (a big plus from my perspective) and electric hook-ups.  It will be chilly again tonight, so it will be good to run some electric heat.  Yep, we're calling this "down for the night."  A look around...

Rufus is in the lower right on that photo above.  He was very anxious to get out and walk around.  The grass isn't as nice as the RV park near Des Moines or Hart Ranch, but... it is grass.  And he was ready to get out and stretch his legs.

I saw another cat sitting back aways, but keeping his eye on us...

Back in our flying days, every small airport had a cat.  That may be the case here.  I steered Rufus away from that cat intentionally... he is friendly with people and dogs, but the only time we came across another cat on one of our walks, Rufus was less than cordial.  I know - hard to imaging because he is such a good boy.  When I got back to the coach and told Joan about that other cat, she asked, "Did it look hungry?"  It mostly seemed to be content sitting back, not drawing attention to himself.

I was on the phone making reservations for tomorrow night, when a face appeared at our door.  No, not that other cat.  It was a young man who wanted to know if we had any spare food.  Joan visited with him for a bit while I was on the phone, then came in and got him some food.  No one should have to go hungry.

Settling in, we have no over-the-air TV signal, but an adequate data signal, so we were able to pull up The Weather Channel to see what is happening in Florida with Hurricane Ian.  It is pretty ugly.  This is going to be a major destructive whirly-girl.

A new bag...

 

If you said, "James Brown, 1965, Papa's Got A Brand New Bag," you get 20 bonus points and may rightfully consider yourself soulful.  If you said, "This probably has something to do with Rufus," you are right, but no bonus points.

A photo of the remnants of some shopping...

 Rufus got a brand new bag.  The furry boy is soulful... and a good boy.  ;-)

Somebody took my motorhome!

 

A quote this morning from Rufus.  It was an early morning; Joan set an alarm for 6:00, but I was up way before that.  We had an 8:00 a.m. appointment at HWH to get our leveling jacks serviced.   As usual, we were early.  Prior to that, Rufus and I got in a chilly walk before we left the campground (9 miles from HWH).

 

Once at HWH, we moved some of Rufus's stuff from the motorhome into the Equinox... litter box, food dishes, his over-sized man cave ('cause he is an over-sized boy).  We were told it might take up to 4 hours for the work we had scheduled.  I turned over the keys to the motorhome and we drove to a nearby convenience store for some fine breakfast dining.

Rufus sat up big and proud on the center console of the Equinox while we went inside... he was looking large and in charge.  We topped off the fuel tank on the Equinox (non-ethanol premium - whoohoo!) and drove back to HWH.

Joan took Rufus for a walk while I went into the service office to see what their procedure is to let us know when they're done with it.  When I came out, Joan and Rufus were at the far side of the gravel parking lot, where he found some nice grass to walk in.  I went over to them, Joan turned the leash over to me, and Rufus and I continued his walk.  He marched back to where we first parked in that huge lot... and couldn't find his motorhome... "Somebody took my motorhome!"  The boy was not happy.  (He does not hide his emotions).

As I was walking him back to the car, the large bay door where I drove the motorhome in opened - the service guy backed our coach out.  I walked that way and asked, "A problem?"

He said, "Nope - it's done.  I replaced a valve in the pump - that was your problem.  Tested it - it auto levels just fine and retracts fine."

Less than an hour.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I put Ruf back in the car with Joan and went inside to pay.  The lady at the service desk had my bill ready, I swiped my credit card, done.

I pulled the motorhome to the far side of the parking lot to back it up to the cargo trailer.  Rufus saw his motorhome and was delighted!

Honestly, I was pretty delighted, as well.  We made reservations for an RV park east of Des Moines.  The big wind from yesterday hadn't let up any, and now it was a quartering headwind.  Even figuring a lunch stop and a stop for propane, we were off the road around 12:30.

This RV park is our kinda place: paved sites, wide grassy areas between them, enforced rules about pets on a leash, picking up after your pet, and picking up your cigarette butts.  It seems to be a lot of long-term folks in here, but it is very nice, obviously well kept-up.

After this early morning, it is nice to take a "day off" in a nice park.  Joan is going to get some laundry done, we'll find a grocery store, and maybe get a nap in.  As I am writing this, Rufus is laying next to me, happy to have his "rolling home" back.

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A Walk-about...

This park is a real find.  It's off the Interstate a few miles, so not the "easy on and off" of the campgrounds you see right by the road.  The price is an amazing $30/night... especially surprising considering the paved interior roads, the concrete pads and the generous grassy areas between the sites.

You can see on the map that the sites on the left side are shorter and closer together, all back-in sites.  The sites around those circles are significantly longer and more spacious, with nice landscaping.  The sites just right of center are the pull-through sites, and they are the longest.  We were fortunate to get one of those pull-through sites.  The pads are a single width, but the grassy areas between the sites is even bigger than Hart Ranch.

After supper, Rufus and I took a walk; he enjoyed the grassy areas...

 

We made our way to that path in the middle of the map; it is a pretty walk...

We walked down that path, where it opens onto a pond with a bridge over it...

There were two ladies walking 3 big dogs near that bridge.  I held Rufus back to see which way they were going to go.  When they saw us, the turned and went over the bridge.  Yes, Rufus likes dogs, but when there are three of them (and one pulling hard against the leash), there is the chance for that "pack mentality," and I steer my big furry boy away from that.  He often wants to go up to dogs while we're walking, but he was OK hanging back this time.  Smart boy.  And when I told him it was "time to go home," he led the way.  I probably haven't mentioned this before, but he is a good, good boy.  ;-)

Blowing like stink...

 

We are heading south, then east today.  The wind is out of the northwest.  Feels like about 80 mph, but the Weather Channel is calling it 18 to 20 mph with gusts to 35.  That gave us a quartering tailwind all day, first one direction, then another.  Certainly better than a quartering headwind, but it was strong enough that I felt it in the coach while driving.  Rufus slept through most of it.  But, we are now down for the evening, with an early morning tomorrow to get our leveling jacks serviced.

John came to the county park to tell us good-bye this morning...

It was really good to see John again.  I've said it before, but he is like my brother and was a strong male influence for me while growing up.

Rolling out of Denison, it was a left turn onto Highway 59, then only one other turn, a left onto Interstate 80.  We couldn't get lost.  Well, we didn't try.  A stop for fuel, another for lunch, and a couple potty stops.  Otherwise... rollin', rollin', rollin'.

Coming into the RV park, the sign said "Open," but the door was locked.  I tried calling the number on their door, but couldn't get it to ring through.  Eventually, the couple who run the place came and unlocked the door... they were watching a football game.  Priorities.

Besides the regular hookups, we have a decent selection of over-the-air TV channels and a reasonable internet signal... what more could you ask for?  Maybe a little less wind?

;-)

A Dam Good Time...

 

We spent most of the day at John's today; not getting there too early since he got his latest Covid booster yesterday and was feeling some of the effects of it today.  Rufus did his part to help John feel better...

 Of course, Ruf spent some time on Joan's lap, too...

John is very proud of the dam out on his family's farmland - we walked all around the area...

It gave me the opportunity to tell a couple dam jokes, as well as some cows and bulls humor.  Well, I thought it was humorous, but I may have been a party of one.

Back to John's place, Joan made us a great spaghetti dinner; meatballs, two kinds of sauces, salad, corn, and strawberry ice cream to top it off.

Rufus did not do any work today beyond looking quite handsome...

We'll hit the road again tomorrow.

Cleaning Chickens...

 

"You took jobs on a farm while you're in Iowa?" you ask.  Thanks for asking, but... no.

We are visiting my brother-in-law, John, currently.  He was a good male influence on my in my younger years... he taught me to drive (including with a manual transmission); he gave me my first flying lessons when I was 16.  He is a good man, and that, more than anything else, gave me good direction in my formative years.  He and my sister got married when I was 9 years old.  When my sister passed away, Joan and I stayed with John for a couple weeks to get him through the worst of it.

They had a big beautiful home along the Missouri River, and my sister decorated it.  One of the things she enjoyed was collecting blue glassware, including a lot of porcelain chickens and roosters.  When John moved away from that house by the river, he put a good much of that collection above his kitchen cabinets.  A while back, John asked me, "Joan likes to clean, doesn't she?  Do you think she'd like to clean all those glass things."

"Well, first of all, no one likes to clean... but Joan is a voracious cleaner.  But, you can ask her if she'd do that for you, 'cause I'm not going to!"  I think he thought he may have upset me by asking.  I was laughing when I told Joan about it.  Joan doesn't forget.  She brought it up before we got here.

We didn't do it because she likes to clean, we did it as a favor to this special man.  Well, Joan organized the project, she climbed on the ladder (because she is the youngest of us 3) and handed each piece down, John and I washed each piece with soap and hot water, dried them, and handed them back up to Joan.  With each section of cabinet top that she cleared of stuff, she scrubbed the wood up there.  This whole project took several hours.

Should be good for another 12 to 14 years.  ;-)

Getting down...

 

What does getting down mean in slang?

Slang To lose one's inhibitions; enjoy oneself wholeheartedly: Let's just get down and enjoy the party.

 

Or, we are getting down the road, and now we will be getting down (off the road) for a few nights.  After today's drive, we are in Iowa farm country, visiting my brother-in-law, John.

 

We left the casino RV park at our proposed time, 10:00.  Some Interstate, some back roads, and through the Loess Hills area in Iowa.  Through the farm lands...

 

 Rufus sat on my lap most of the day...

A bit of Interstate in South Dakota and Iowa...

A stop at a Rest Area, where Rufus got in a morning walk (yes, he walked this morning at the RV park, where it was 41º)...

The roads got significantly less civilized once we left the Interstate...

Broadleaf trees and rolling hills...

Mid afternoon, we rolled into the county park, after taking a tour of the town thanks to 3 different GPSes... none of which could find the park.  Going from memory (we were hear 5 years ago with the motorhome), we managed to find our way.  And, got settled in...

We went to John's house to visit for a while before going out for supper.  Then back to his house for discussions of world events, politicians, flying (something John and I shared), and some tech stuff.  Yes, old people discuss tech stuff.

Back to the motorhome, where Rufus got in another long walk before we closed things up for the evening.  Things are different in a county park - it is more about "the camping experience" than RVing.  We are in a site with water and electric, no sewer.  Some of the sites don't have either.  There is a fire ring at every site, and from the smokey smell in the air, they like to use 'em.  (Fires aren't allowed at Hart Ranch, which is typical for an RV resort compared to a campground.)  We have some over-the-air TV and a decent Verizon data signal.  It's as close to roughing it as we get.  ;-)