Back at the ol' Martin Manor RV park

Got home today around 2:00 and now its time to put the trailer in winter mode and start planning for our 2013 outings.  At this time we only have a couple of trip ideas and those will get Jo her last State Logo t-shirts to complete her collection of 50.  After she completed her collection of 50 coffee mugs she started the t-shirt collection and only needs 5 or 6 more.  Then she is planning to make a quilt out of them.

The weather today has been chilly starting out in the mid 30s and with cloud cover most of the morning it was slow to rise to mid 40s by lunch time.  From Chanute it is only around 25 miles to Route 54 and then we stay on 54 until the Center Street exit in Holts Summit, hard to get lost.  We did stop in Camdenton for a bite of lunch.

serviced and ready to take it home

We were finished at the service department around 1:00 this afternoon.  The work was completed long before that but they did some sealing on the roof and the material needed to cure out before we could take it outside the shop especially since it was raining this morning.

Today has been one of those late fall type days that start our warm and the temperature drops all day.  It was a little above 70° this morning and mid 40s right now with a forecast of low 30s tonight.  The park folks just knocked on our door to say that they were turning off the water because of the freeze possibility.  That will not be a problem for us as we can use our on-board tank for tonight and then drain all pipes when we get home.  This city campground is a great asset to the HitchHiker factory and service department and most campers are here because of that connection.

back to the factory

We had a nice drive today back to Chanute.  I made Ms Navi work hard as I took some routes that she didn't pick and caused her to try and "save me" and then didn't listen to her.  We did enjoy the drive through the Konsa tall grass prairie and flint hills area of Kansas.  The wind was strong from the south and we didn't get very good fuel economy but it was more scenic than the shortest route.

Tomorrow we take the trailer to the shop for some maintenance items and then will return to this campground and then head for the old Martin Manor on Friday.

a nice birthday

Okay, I'll admit that its been 3/4 century and we're still having fun.

Jo took me into Manhattan for a nice lunch today and then we drove around the lake to see the area.

Our lunch was downtown right by the K-State campus and all the store windows were being painted for what must be homecoming next weekend with lots of purple and white and kids that looked to be to young to be collegians.  The restaurant was the So Long Saloon and we both opted for the bison burgers which were great.

This first picture is our trailer from across the lake and the second one is the boat launching area in our campground.  These tree trunks were here when the lake first filled and I'm sure that some fishing would be good around those trunks.  We have seen a sailboat on the lake a couple of days and it is anchored in this second picture but It isn't easy to find.

nice and relaxing

These past couple of days have been nice.  Even though we are not alone in this campground it has been quiet.  I was a bit concerned that we were this close to Fort Riley and might have some helicopter flyovers but not so far.  Yesterday afternoon we drove into Manhattan for a few things at the grocery store plus a nice dinner.  This afternoon I did get out and wash off the road dust on the back of our trailer.  The mandolin has had some exercise both days plus this afternoon I tuned up my Yamaha guitar and got back in the feeling for my first instrument.  The Martin stays at home but the Yamaha is a very nice instrument also and stays in the trailer.

It was a bit foggy this morning and has been mostly cloudy all day.  Current temperature is at 66° so very comfortable with a forecast that includes a 20% chance of showers.  We have used heat every evening for this whole trip.

purple cat territory

Here we are just outside of Manhattan, Kansas which is home to the K-State Wildcats.  I'll have to keep my Miz-Zou flag in hiding even though we are no longer in their conference.  The good news is that we are back in civilization with an excellent internet connection and nothing between our dish and the satellites but blue skies.  It was a short drive today of only 175 miles so we were setup and rested before lunch.

The drive today was very interesting.  Ms Navi plotted our course for the quickest route and it started out with a long stretch (13 miles) of gravel county roads which were interesting.  Our trailer is covered in dust and the inside had a good dusting also.  A real question point came when at one time our gravel road had a low water crossing which had us doing a 90 degree turn in the creek bed and then up the far bank back to the rest of the road.  The bottom of the creek was solid rock that wasn't smooth but it was solid.  I think I'll get out the hose and wash off the back of our trailer sometime these next few days.

Here are a few pictures taken at our current site this afternoon.  The first one is from our back living room window and number two is of the dam the other direction.

Camping?

For the past 13 years we have been RVing which is my definition of using our RV for a mobile motel room in our travels to enjoy this great country.  In the past when we camped with the kids we always had a campfire which was mostly used to dry wet shoes and to cook hotdogs and smores.  Today I went out and collected some twigs and firewood so we could have a campfire to enjoy.  It was nice to just sit and watch the flames dance in the fire ring and try to stay away from the downwind smoke.  Yesterday the wind  was too strong but today it subsided and it was cool enough to enjoy the heat from the fire.

Tomorrow we head north to the Tuttle Creek Lake for a few days of visiting that area of KS.  It;s just too bad that is K-State country and I'll just have to stay quiet and not wave a MU tiger flag, especially since we no longer are in the same conference.

AAAH from the land of OZ

A bright, cool, and windy day at Fall River Lake, Whitehall Bay COE campground.  We definitely were by ourselves last night and probably will be until possibly this weekend.  There are whitecaps on the lake with the WNW wind and the temps are supposed to only reach upper 60s this afternoon, NICE.

I have used Webshots.com for our photo album sharing for some time.  Because we have a ton of pictures from our travels I have been a premium member to get enough storage space.  They have decided to change their site and not for the better for our use.  I will have to download all 220+ albums and thousands of photos so I can save them and find a new posting site for the future ability to share with all.  That is why Tuesday's pictures are posted on Picasa and that may be where all new albums are posted.  Our current wifi connection isn't good enough for such large file transfers so I will wait until we get home to download all of these files.

From the land of OZ

solitude

We thought that we had this whole campground by ourselves last night but saw another motor home at a distant corner this morning.  They left mid morning so we are now all by ourselves in this COE campground with over 40 camp sites.  We are around 10 miles from the nearest major highway on gravel county roads and there isn't any RR tracks or truck traffic noises, only squirrels and hoot owls with fish jumping in the lake only a stones throw from our site.  This will be a nice restful few days.  I was able to find an opening through the trees for our satellite TV connection.

There were a few groceries items that we needed before too many days into this trip so we drove to Eureka, KS which is about 25 miles and the nearest grocery store.  It was a very nice market with good selections and we picked up more than was on our list.

I took these pictures on this morning's walk around.  My internet connection comes and goes and when it is on it is slow so I will wait for a better connection to upload any large bunch of pictures.

This first picture is right out our front door.

PS I have added a few pictures to yesterday's post.

Kansas fun

Today we headed to our brief Kansas vacation on two lake campgrounds before our appointment at the factory for some annual maintenance service and then its park the trailer in our backyard for the winter.  Today was quite windy from the south but no problems in our trip except for a low fuel mileage due to pushing the wind.  In our campsite we have a very nice view out our front window of this lake and at this time we are the only campers in this campground so it should be quiet for our stay.  There are many trees around but I was able to fine a window to the satellites and we do have TV plus a good cellphone signal and wifi connection so all is good.

My on-line photo service is changing and I need to learn what capabilities I still have before posting today's pictures from the co-pilot seat.  The color was nice until we got past the Lake of the Ozarks area so that is where most of Jo's pictures are from.  I will add them when I learn how to manage the new photo connection.

Here are a few from Jo's windshield shots.

 

Here is a link to the full set of windshield shots

2012-10-16