Planning...

Joan has been busy this morning - planning our time here. She booked tickets for the Showboat dinner cruise and Silver Dollar City, saving us some bucks on the combo. I want to do a little kayaking and some motorcycle riding, so I added that to the itinerary. Shopping. Wandering. Sounds like our week here is coming together for the timing. Umm... we are going to fit in Bass Pro Shop somewhere, too, right?

Down for a week or so...

Down for a week or so in Branson. Looking forward to the "Harvest Festival" at Silver Dollar City, some motorcycling through the hills, and kayaking on Taneycomo. Other than a fairly strong southerly wind, a non-eventful drive... I remember pulling away from the dealer in Ozark, MO, for our first outing with the Love Shack three years ago and thinking, "Oh my goodness - these hills are STEEP!" Took a little getting used to with using the transmission on manual for really good control on the up and down steep stuff. Big Red and the Love Shack play together really nice these days.

The Escapees Park here had one pull-through left; 64 feet long... just about perfect for our 64' 11 3/4" total length. You can't get a weekly rate on the pull-through sites, so we'll stay 'till we're ready to go. Not much of a "yard" in this site, so little Izzy may have to get used to campground traffic.

The fall colors on the way here were beautiful - a week or two prior to peak, I'd guess... so our timing is good.

Branson bound...

Some NuWa friends invited us to Chicken Creek in Oklahoma where a group is gathering... we gave it strong consideration, but decided we could use some time with just the 3 of us. Timing. So, we are staying with our plan of heading to Branson. Turkey Creek (is there a "fowl theme" being established?) had one long pull-through available as of yesterday afternoon, and we have the rig to fill it. Hoping to be able to plunk in the kayaks right at the campground there, ride the motorcycle through the hills, and take in the "Harvest Festival" at Silver Dollar City.

The weather is supposed to be good, so we'll see how it all plays out.

New NuWa friends...

We had lunch with our NuWa friends, seven of us at the Mexican restaurant. As you might expect, the conversation was lively. From there, we each went our separate ways; we headed to the factory to go through the store and check out the new display units. While there, we ran into a friend we met here a while back, Bill (the first one to come to the door and ask if Izzy could come out and play) and his wife. We visited for a while outside the display coaches, then went inside, sat down, and got comfortable... more pleasant conversation.


Joan's phone camera doesn't do the interior (or the buff physique on the two guys) justice. But, ya use what ya got. I took these with my phone camera, showing the display...


Love that silver, black, and white paint job!

This evening, a bunch of us gathered around Greg and Judy's coach for more lively conversation. Nice day, nice evening, nice folks.

Little Izzy gets company...

I was sitting in my jammies this morning when I heard a voice outside the coach... "Izzy! Izzy! Can Izzy come out and play??" I went out in my jammies and met Greg & Judy and Lyle (folks from the NuWa owners forum)... Joan was in the shower and came out as soon as she was dressed. Nice folks; we'll be having lunch with Greg and Judy and will get all the details about the Chicken Creek gathering, happening right now in Oklahoma. We weren't planning on going that way, but we'll see.

Little Izzy did come to the door when Joan came out; Joan put the leash on her, and... the nearby fire siren went off! Repeatedly!! For a long time!! Of course, Izzy thought that these people outside her coach were making all the noise and had come to kill her! Goodness knows, I've tried to convince the little furry girl that no one wants to kill her... we don't talk about what went on in the shelter before we adopted her.

So, when Greg and Judy come back from checking on their HitchHiker at the factory, we'll head up to the Mexican restaurant and get the skinny on Chicken Creek... OK, nothing "skinny" about that good Mexican food, but you get it.

Serendipity... if we hadn't hauled butt to get here, we would have missed these folks. Or, if we hadn't come here, we likely wouldn't have heard about Chicken Creek. Or, if we didn't have little Izzy, no one would come around us. Or...

More news from Chanute as it unfolds...

Beautiful scenic Kansas...

Who knew? No, really. We've driven through Kansas many times. Seems like it has generally been in the spring or late fall, and it has been either green... or brown. We did about 400 miles today, taking a different route than we've done in the past. In fact, we saw a Scenic By-Way across the middle of the state and figured, "Why not?" Turns out, it was a truly beautiful drive. Trees. Lots of trees. And they were putting on their fall outfits. The really surprising part was the ground cover: gorgeous shades of yellow, gold, red, brown, and green... driving east and south, it was backlit by the sun much of the day, and the colors glowed!

I wish I had photos to share with you, but you'll have to make do with mind images... the Scenic By-Way was a narrow road with no shoulders - no place to stop to take photos; and photos "through the windshield" just don't do it justice. But, even along I-70, the colors of the trees, fields, and countryside was ablaze with Mother Nature's autumn handiwork. We were both very impressed with the scenic splendor. No, it's not the dramatic scenery of the Tetons, but still a great display.

We rolled into Chanute late this afternoon, looking a bit scruffy... 900 miles in the past two days, driving through warm temps, left the front of the HitchHiker looking "furry" with all the bug splats. Trying to be a good campground neighbor, I cleaned off the bugs with soap and water in a bucket and a quick rinse... not perfect by any means, but a bit less embarrassing.

We plan to be down for a day or two here - a stop at the NuWa factory to check out the store and the new 5th wheel offerings. No plan to swap off the Love Shack - she is a champ!

And speaking of champs, little Izzy is easily the best feline traveler we know. She rides in her carrier, comes out for some petting, never makes a noise unless she needs a potty break (way less often than my need), and goes right back into her carrier when we stop. She is just a delight.

It took us a while to get the cargo trailer into the site this afternoon... the wheel on the front didn't want to go on (we remove it when towing). It looked like it might have dragged somewhere along the way: the edge of the post the wheel fits on was ragged. I got out my Dremel tool and ground it down to smooth, put a bit of lube on it, and it fits fine.

Down for a night or two, but enjoying wandering again.

Blew away the 2/2/2 Rule...

Left the Black Hills this morning, heading for Branson, MO. No schedule, no planned route... we'll head south, then east, and see how far we get. Two o'clock had us in the Ogallala, Nebraska, area and not ready to stop for the night. Joan pulled up Passport America parks east of us on her iPhone... the one that looked the best was another couple hundred miles east.

"Yeah, I've got that in me. Let's make some miles."

The weather was warm, the wind not howling (unusual for us with any Nebraska crossing), the sun was shining, and Big Red was purring. We ate up nearly 500 miles before rolling into the campground... right at sunset.

We are in Prairie Oasis RV Park (west of York)... when I called earlier to make sure they were open, the nice lady on the phone assured me that they could handle our 65' length with a pull-through, and... "Make it here before 8:00 and you can order a really good pizza and chicken wings."

I LOVE salemanship! Damn right we'll be there before 8:00.

A friendly gentleman checked us in and took our pizza order... timed it perfect so that he delivered the pizza to our HH just as we finished setting up. Considering all we were looking for was a convenient over-night stop-over with a plug-in, I have to give this place two enthusiastic thumbs up.

The park looks nice; well-kept. 50 amp electric at the long, level pull-through sites. Easy. When we're making miles, I really like easy.