Change of plans

Original plans were for us to stay here near Phyllis for 3 nights (with electric hookup) and then on the beach near Ocean City for four nights (without electric hookup).  We now are going to stay here for 5 nights and only 2 at the beach.  This will give us a bit more time with our daughter and still give us a day at the beach before beginning our trek west on US-50 hwy.

Had a very nice day today.  Helped Phyllis hang a couple of pictures on her walls, had a very nice lunch, and then I gave the ladies a lesson in how to win at cards.  With Phyllis we enjoy a card game called "hand and foot."  It plays well with three players and sometimes is a bit challenging when cards don't play as you might wish.

in Ellicott City

Now in the Patapsco Valley State Park in Ellicott City, MD.  We are only a few miles from Phyllis' house so much closer than the Ramblin Pines campground that we use to use with the trailers.  That was about a 20+ miles drive in to visit and now only a few minutes.

After getting the camper settled in the campground we went in to visit with Phyllis and Tammy (her best friend and our claimed second daughter),  In the past several years we have visited here in the month of June because of Phyllis' birthday.  In those past years, June is when Tammy would take some of her vacation time and we didn't get to visit with her.  Now since it is May we have enjoyed our time with both ladies.  This evening the ladies took us to a nice local seafood restaurant for a Mother's Day celebration.  We know that Sunday will be almost impossible to get into a restaurant because of that special day.

Another advantage in a May visit to this area is that the spring flowers are simply gorgeous, especially the azaleas and dogwood.

Day two

Through Kentucky and into West Virginia, tonight we are in Flatwoods, WV.  We stopped here last year on our trip to visit Phyllis and then to travel down the Blue Ridge Parkway.  On that trip we stayed at a COE campground on a lake near here but the road from the highway to the campground was twisty and hilly and about 15-20 minutes out of the way which then had to be retraced the next morning.  It was a nice campground but we decided that this trip we would take the much closer KOA campground which is good for a one night stop.  No picture tonight because if you have seen one commercial campground you have seen what most look like.

Today's drive was only 36 miles longer than yesterday but it seemed much, much longer.  We had a long stretch of road construction that had us stopped for a bit and then slow and easy for several miles.  For the past several years in traveling this route we had to drive through Louisville, KY which was a bit hectic, not difficult, just a few confusing lane changes.  They have built a new bridge over the Ohio River on a north-side bypass and that is now our route.  They did make it a toll bridge without toll booths.  Last November when we passed through they took a picture of our license plate and sent us a bill.  I have since purchased an ez-pass transponder which will work for us most anywhere east of the Mississippi.

We always grin when we pass through Hurricane, WV there is a billboard advertising a shop named "Quilts by Phyllis."

TV in the woods

Fortunately we have a very good internet connection in this campground.  This evening we have been able to watch our local news and Dish Network programming.  With our satellite connection at home we also have "dish on demand" and can watch any of our local programming or any programmed and recorded shows.  We also have an AT&T internet connection with unlimited data feed which only works when we are in an AT&T coverage area.  Tonight was very good.

Good night all!!!!

Day one for our May outing

One third of the way toward Baltimore sitting back into the Hoosier National Forest.

No lake view for tonight.  There are two campgrounds here in this park and the other one is along the banks of Celina Lake.  That campground doesn't have electric hookups so that is why we opted for electricity over views. 😁

What time is it?  It is totally confusing, my smart(alec) phone automatically adjusts for the time zones as we travel.  Here in the campground we must be right on the line as my phone bounces back and forth between central and eastern.  The only constant in this whole matter is the wall clock that we always leave on Missouri time.  I'm confused!!!

a correction for post dated 3/22/2018

Just found these in my cell phone gallery.  On our way out of our campsite that morning on our way back to the Manor we saw this pair of turkeys.  The tom was trying to impress his lady friend.

 She doesn't appear too impressed

In the boonies with the hoot owls

Our campground last night was without cell phone service, Internet connection, and television.  It was in Alley Spring Campground which is a federal CG within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways  in south Missouri. We did have hoot owls to keep us company.  Now a brief description of the past two days.

Saturday we moved away from Greers Ferry Lake and headed for Alley Spring campground in SE Missouri, our drive was quite something else.  As we entered into Mountain View, AR our route was to take us through the main street and as we approached it was obvious something was happening.  There was about to be a parade and the main street was blocked off.  We took a couple of blocks detour and with a police officer direction traffic thought we could get through ahead of the parade but not going to happen as he chose that time to close that intersection.  We did a multi point u-turn in the middle of the street, not an easy task with our large vehicle, and took some back streets down as far as we could and finally was able to get on our way.

Then from Mountain View to Melbourne, AR the road, about 22 miles of route 9, was marked as 55 MPH but we barely could get up to 40 mph between the 20 mph curves.  This is a sure fire, Arkansas, Ozark mountain, highway with steep grades and hairpin curves, but extremely scenic.  The dogwood through this stretch was at it's peak, show off, season so between the yoo-hoo curves it was OOHs and AAHs for the clouds of white throughout the timber.

From there our route was through Thayer, MO and Alton, MO where we had lunch.  During lunch we decided to make a small detour from our planned route and drive through Thomasville, MO where Jo went to High School and then drive by Hilltop Farm where she grew up.  She left the farm in 1956 to go to SMS in Springfield. Her folks sold the farm in 1962 so it has been 56 years since the Ledgerwoods lived there and as you can guess it was barely standing up but did have someone living in the house, however, not working the farm.  I won't post the picture we took as it is a bit depressing.

Our drive today was only 140 miles so we weren't in any hurry to get away.  We got home a little past noon time and I suggested we stop first at Pizza Hut and have a pizza for lunch before heading on to the Martin Manor.

Settled in now and the washing machine has the laundry under way.

Stay tuned, our next outing begins May 9, 2018.

Yea! we do have Cell and WiFi signals

Now checked into our campsite for the next two nights near Clinton and Choctaw, Arkansas on the banks of Greers Ferry Lake.  As we drove in my telephone didn't show any signal but at the campsite on the lake we do have 2-3 bars and the WiFi signal is also strong enough to connect to the internet, Yea!

With four days driving to get back home we decided to have a day of rest in the middle and this is it.  We are in the Choctaw Recreation Area managed by the COE.  This campground with over 170 campsites at this time of year is first come first served, none reserved.  During the peak season between Memorial day and Labor day they can be reserved and probably fill up easy.  By arriving early after lunch we were able to land a prime site down by the lake as you can see in our pictures below.

First here are a couple of pictures of our campsite last night.  The first one is looking out our camper door to the Little River.

Here are pictures from our current site.  No. 1 is the beautiful lake view from our doorway.

Back in Arkansas

Crossed back into Arkansas a little past lunch time yesterday.  Our campsite is on the banks of Little River as it feeds into Millwood Lake.  This is a different campground than the one originally reserved as that one has been flooded and our reservation there canceled.  That original campsite was below the dam and this one is above the lake.

I took a couple of pictures of this campsite yesterday afternoon but the internet connection wasn't strong enough to make a post.  It is working well this morning but my camera is in the truck so I will post those pictures this afternoon if my internet connection is strong.  It should be better than here as tonight's campsite is close to Clinton, AR and not far off US 65 so hopefully the signal will be better.

Another good thing about the COE campgrounds is the price.  Last night in this campground the cost was $7.50 with water and electric hookups, tonight's rate will be $10.  The very best $10 I ever spent was in the year 2000 when we made out first trailer trip to the Southwest.  The first National Park that we visited offered us a Golden Age Passport for $10 that was good for my lifetime and provide free entrance into all National Parks and 1/2 price for all federal campgrounds.  Today the name of that pass has changed as well as the price which is now $80 but even that is a real bargain.

ps

This afternoon I was able to capture this picture of our "pet" mockingbird who has kept us serenaded daily while here.  It is sitting on our fire ring which has been lifted for cleaning and we have not put it down for a campfire.

A great day in Texas - 2

Today has been like yesterday temperature wise but with stronger winds.  Yesterday the lake was almost like a mirror but today there are many large whitecaps.  At least the wind is from the south so nice and warm.

Tomorrow we must head back northerly and just hope these two weeks have allowed mid Missouri to be a bit more like spring instead of the winter that we left behind.

This has been a great campsite that is well kept with nice space and of course lake views.  This is a similar experience we have had at all Corps of Engineers campgrounds and why I have spent time putting the lat/long coordinates of all COE campgrounds into my route planning software.  They are our campground of choice if one is available near a stopping point on our routes.

Unfortunately they aren't everywhere but all we have been in have been super nice.

A great day in Texas

A bit cool this morning but when the sun came out with no clouds and only a gentle breeze it warmed up nicely.  The past several days with heavy winds the lake has been very choppy with lots of whitecaps but today it's been calm and when the boats run by they are riding smooth not bouncing up and down over the waves.  Not as much boat activity on the lake today as over the weekend and the campground has almost emptied out but still a few campers around us mostly with fishing boats parked along side.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a carbon copy of today, weather wise, so that will be good to enjoy for our last day before we head back in a northerly direction on Wednesday.  We try not to backtrack on our routing so tomorrow we branch off of the track made coming south and cut a path northeasterly across Arkansas.  We will visit another two lakes in Arkansas before our last night in Missouri at Alley Springs near Eminence.

Bad news last evening

Arrived at the Catfish Hut with mouth watering for catfish but wait, oh no, it has gone out of business.  The last rating on the web-site I had checked was last March 2017.  We were already an hour from camp and hungry so we trudged on toward Jasper Texas to try and find another option.  There we found a nice looking restaurant with a parking lot full of cars, the Cedar Tree.  They were having a seafood buffet that was drawing the crowd.  The price on the buffet was a bit high and we just didn't want to eat that much so ordered from the menu.  The first thing I saw was "southern fried catfish" which is just what I had planned for and just what we ordered.  It was three pieces of fish with coleslaw, hush puppies, french fries, and an onion ring.  It was all very yummy!

Overnight temperatures dropped into the low 40s so it is still cool today only expected into to the upper 50s with wind still from the NW, but at least the sun is out with clear skies which looks good.

Cool down a tad

We have had rain showers throughout the night plus off and on all morning but should be clearing out soon.  The winds have shifted, yesterday it was from the south, and now from the northwest and have brought a cooling shift in the temperatures as today's high is only to be upper 50s with mid to upper 40s on tap for in the morning. 😢

Weekend fishing is causing a lot more boat activity on the lake even in the rain showers.

Planning on going out for dinner this evening to the Catfish Hut which is highly rated in this area.  On the map a straight line would be 7 miles to the restaurant but by the road it is an hours drive.  Too bad we didn't bring our boat???

Friday the Thirteenth --- Good luck / Bad luck

Friday the 13th on Lake Rayburn.  The Good luck is that it is still warm at 82 degrees but the Bad luck is that scattered thunder storms are forecast for the remainder of the afternoon and evening.  We had a brief shower a little bit ago but right now the wind off of the lake is strong.  I tried sitting out in a lounge chair for awhile but had to come in, the wind was just too uncomfortable.

Last night was the first that any heating source was not necessary.  Our electric heater was turned on but the inside temps didn't drop below it's thermostat setting.

Beautiful day

Sitting outside just watching the white caps across the lake and an occasional fishing boat heading off to their favorite spot.

Of course when in Texas drink Texas beer.  Brewed in Shiner, Texas I do like this beer and it is my "beer of choice" even back home.

Sitting in the shade alongside JoAnn as she reads her Kindle e-book, our camper in the background.

Among the bluebonnets

Entered Texas mid morning and now on the banks of Lake Sam Rayburn in a very nice COE campground.  Yesterday evening's campground near De Queen Lake in Arkansas was without cell phone or Wi-fi connection signals so no way to post to this blog.

We are here for the next week so I will be able to post but there aren't many activities planned other than R&R.  Our goal for this trip was to find some warmer weather and this is it.  Current temperature is 78 so we have the windows open and the exhaust fan drawing some cooler air in from the shade side.  There is some rain in the forecast for the weekend but it should be a nice week to just loaf.

our front yard

across the lake and then some would be Jasper, TX - 15 miles away as the crow flies but 46 miles by roadway

 the view to the left

 and to the right

Back in Arkansas

Put our daughter on the airplane at 4:00 am this morning after her brief weekend visit.  Back to the house I had to scrape snow and frost off the windshield of the truck which is a very good reason to head much further south for some more warmer weather.  After loading the last minute items from the fridge we drove out of the driveway around 8:00 am.

We are now near Rogers, AR on the banks of Beaver Lake in a nice COE campground.  Three years ago we stayed here on this lake at a different COE campground.

A little fresh this morning

Temperature this morning was 31 degrees, however very little wind so not to bad getting ready to travel.  With the sun shining it didn't take long to rise into the 40s.

Made it back to the Martin Manor a little past 1:00 and now all necessities are unloaded from the camper but we will leave the power hooked up so some things in the fridge can stay until our next venture

That trip is planned to begin on April 9 heading down to Lake Sam Rayburn in eastern Texas.  Check back then for more adventures of fredandjo.

Gun Creek campground

Our final night on this trip on the banks of Rend Lake at the Gun Creek COE campground near Whittington, IL.

Out the windshield of our truck as we parked

 Same view outside the truck

 From across the street

Our reserved campsite is across the street and we would have had a great view out the back window of out camper but the driveway slopped so much we would have needed an elevator to get into our door.  The site we are now in is level enough that we don't need adjustments but now our only view of the lake is out our dining room window.

Current temperature is a chilly 47 with a northerly wind and low tonight predicted to be 29.  I ask again why did we move from the pleasant climate of the Gulf?  Because Jo has a doctors appointment Friday that's why.