On Sunday, we had a tough drive in heavy crosswinds (25-35 MPH). We have hauled our kayak on top of the Tahoe for well over 10K miles and never had a problem, but the crosswinds were just too much and we had to stop 3 times to re-secure it in cold temperatures (35 degrees is cold in 35MPH winds).
We migrated to TX-152 in Dumas, TX and stopped at a city RV park in Pampa, TX where you pay your $15 nightly fee on the honor system (envelope in a box). The campground had 30 Amp electrical service and water. We stopped in time to fire up the satellite dish and watch NFL football. We had the entire park to ourselves and never left the camper due to the wind and cold.
We departed from Denver two days early due to a weather forecast of snow and temperatures in the teens. It turned out to be the right decision because Aaron called us on Sunday to confirm that they had over 6″ of snow on the ground and it was still snowing.
We took the southern route down I-25 over Raton Pass into New Mexico and then across the high plains on US-87 toward the Texas panhandle. It was a sunny fall day and the scenery was beautiful.
We spent the night at the Clayton RV Park in Clayton, NM. The park was good for an overnight stop and had good Verizon cell phone and data access.
We had a great time in Denver visiting the kids and more importantly the granddaughters. On Monday, after setting up camp at Cherry Creek State Park we showered and headed over to visit the kids. The girls were a little shy at first, but we arrived with gifts (we hit the lottery at the Toys-R-Us going out of business sale). We brought the Disney Princess Magical Wand Palace that first night and it broke the ice.
Disney Princess Magical Wand Palace
We also delivered a Princess Chair/Recliner from Alysa’s parents which was also a hit.
Princess Recliner
On Tuesday, both Aaron and Alysa had to work, so we got to babysit from the time Aaron left for his 16 hour shift and Alysa arrived home from her early morning shift.
On Wednesday, we all went to lunch at Homegrown Tap & Dough between Alysa’s early morning shift and Aaron’s afternoon/evening shift (starting at 2PM). The girls got free ice cream for being so good.
Penelope Guarding Her Ice Cream
On Thursday, the kids came out to the campground to visit. Cherry Creek State Park has a shooting range and Alysa had never shot, so Aaron and I took her to the range while Beth watched the girls. Apparently, Alysa is related to Annie Oakley because she tore it up at the range and really seemed to enjoy herself.
Alysa at the Range
After a cold day at the range, we went to a nearby Hooters for nationwide wing quality assurance testing.
Dinner at Hooters
On Friday, the kids came out to the campground again. It was the first day there with nice weather so we started a campfire prior to their arrival so that we could make Pudgy Pies and S’mores.
Pudgy Pie Manufacturing Process
S’more Comsumption
The girls spent Friday night with us so that Aaron and Alysa could attend a concert. We had a great time. Beth fired up the convection oven and baked the girls Tyson Dinosaur Nuggets and Ore Ida Crinkle Cut Fries (and Grandpa was jealous). We decided to depart Saturday after Alysa picked up the girls because it was forecast to snow on Sunday along with a Sunday night/Monday morning low in the teens, so Penelope helped me pack up the Kayak and bicycle. She was a big help and quite proud of her efforts helping Grandpa. After that we all hunkered down in the camper and had a slumber party/movie night (watching Beauty and the Beast) with popcorn.
It poured hard all night last night. The pitter patter of rain on the roof all night was more like the thunder of Irish Step Dancers but it made for good sleeping. When we got up, I was certain that I would be unhooking the utilities while standing in 6″ of water, but the campground had good drainage and the only moisture was from the never ending rain.
We left by just after 7:00 AM CDT and immediately jumped on the interstate and later stopped for fuel in Wakeeney, KS (where we stayed last year in the Wakeeney KOA on the return trip from Colorado). We tried to be “thrifty” and used Gas Buddy to find the lowest diesel fuel price at that exit. It guided us a couple of miles off the interstate to a tiny station next to what appeared to be a Co-Op grain storage facility. We had to do a bit of off-roading to come in from the rear of the facility to get to the diesel fuel pumps where we were presented with more diesel fuel choices than I could handle without a serious research project regarding the different options in diesel fuel. The signs had references to tax free fuel (which I was sure I deserved) and “dyed diesel fuel”, etc. I became overwhelmed with the choices and the minimal savings and elected that we should return to the proximity of the exit where they had a 24/7 Travel Store where we could get well deserved (for our efforts) McDonald’s Sausage McMuffins.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful, with Beth taking over driving for a couple of hours so that I could demonstrate my napping prowess (I really don’t need these naps, but take them in order to keep Beth brushed up on her RV piloting skills). We arrived at Cherry Creek State Park just after 1 PM MDT. This park is roughly 30 miles from Arvada, CO (where the kids live), but worth it due to the quality of the park (huge sites withe full hookups that allow campfires, etc).
If you like cloudy, foggy, rainy Fall weather, today was your day. We departed from St. Louis at 7:30 AM CDT at 69 degrees. It was foggy most of the day, but we didn’t hit rain until we approached Kansas City. Fortunately, the rain was never heavy enough to slow us down, but once it started it was very constant.
Out of pure luck we managed to time our trip through Kansas City shortly after the Kansas City vs Jacksonville NFL game started so we were not impacted by game traffic.
We stopped for fuel in Columbia, MO at a QuickTrip station where the diesel fuel was much less expensive than at the high end travel plazas (Flying-J and Loves) and a very nice store (comparable to a Wawa station). Beth discovered their Iced Tea bar (which was massive and had every type of Iced Tea you can imagine). She loved her unsweetened tea (in Styrofoam cup).
We stopped for lunch at the first rest area on the I-70 Kansas Turnpike and enjoyed our leftover spaghetti from Beth’s retirement luncheon on Thursday (thanks Mike and Rick for the second great meal!).
We arrived at the Triple-J RV Park in Russell, KS at 4:50 PM CDT. The temperature upon arrival was 52 degrees and the rain was pretty steady, so we turned the heater on for the first time in ages and hunkered down watching host Scott Hanson on the NFL RedZone for the rest of the day.
We started the day with a wonderful breakfast at Cracker Barrel and departed by 7:15 AM EDT. Whenever we go on a road trip, we like to purchase large submarine sandwiches from PJ’s Sandwich Shop (our favorite sandwich shop discovered when we lived in Parrish). Today we polished off the second halves of our subs for lunch at the Illinois Welcome Center on I-24 (just across the Ohio River from Paducah, KY). The sandwiches were delicious.
We arrived at the Casino Queen RV Park in East St. Louis, IL (just across the Mississippi River from the Gateway Arch) at 3:40 PM CDT. We were too tired from 9 1/2 hours of travel to donate our retirement savings to the casino, so Beth did some laundry and cooked some delicious chili which we enjoyed while watching college football. Beth thoroughly enjoyed a hot, very high pressure shower at the campground public facilities.
The day started early with Beth driving into the office for her final day. She was kind enough to load the varmints into the RV last night (she also slept in the RV with them) so I wouldn’t have to fight that battle on my own. I finished packing the RV and then headed up to the office to pick her up. I stopped at the Ace Hardware on Big Bend and topped off the LP tank and then the Shell station on Bruce B. Downs to top off the fuel tank.
Once I arrived at the office I hooked up the Tahoe and by the time I was finished my former co-worker/boss Alex and her co-worker Kay stopped by the RV to wish Beth goodbye. Beth hadn’t completed her exit interview yet, but they all ran into each other on the elevator and said their goodbyes.
Beth and a group of her co-workers escorted her out to see the RV and say their goodbyes. We departed at 11:40 AM EDT. I got a bit sleepy and Beth took over driving while I napped from Gainesville to north of Valdosta. I took over and she went back to the bedroom and took her first successful retirement nap.
We thought we had strategically avoided Atlanta traffic by arriving there around 7:30PM, but we got stuck in some traffic south of I-675 for about 30 minutes. Then we were hit by construction traffic twice north of Atlanta that took about an hour to get through. We finally arrived at the Adairsville, GA Cracker Barrel at 9:30 PM EDT. We called ahead and verified that we are welcome to park here for the night. Can’t wait for Hash Brown Casserole in the morning.
We finished packing Friday after work and decided to take off and knock out a few hours of the trip. We spent Friday night in the Lake City Cracker Barrel parking lot and had a delicious breakfast (with extra orders of Hash Brown Casserole) before heading West.
Naomi Enjoying Some Sun on I-10 Westbound
We left Cracker Barrel around 9:30AM and arrived at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park Site #14 at approximately 2:30PM.
This gave us enough time to setup the campsite and get the satellite dish connected for the Purdue vs Rutgers game in the Big 10 Conference tournament. We were able to place R2D2 in a spot on the left side of our site with a Southwestern view between the gap in two trees and pickup Dish’s Western Satellites (110, 119, 129). The campground also has HD cable which can be picked up as long as you have a TV with a QAM tuner. We were able to pickup all of the local channels on antenna as well. Verizon LTE upload/download speeds measured in at 20/10 Mb/s.
Sunday
Topsail Site 14
Topsail Site 14
We took the shuttle to the beach at 10:00 AM. The beach here is very pristine and very unmolested. It was about 65 degrees with no wind. My new perfect beach climate.
Following our trip to the beach we drove into Destin and ate lunch at Buffalo Jack’s. This is a nice little Sports Bar with the best boneless wings (all white meat chicken breast) I have ever had.
Monday
Due to an unexpected issue with our RV toilet, we had to make a run to the Panama City Camping World to purchase a Floor Flange Seal Kit. On the way there, Beth used TripAdviser to find Patches Pub & Grill on Panama City Beach. What a great meal. I had Fish & Chips (Cod) which was great, but Beth had a French Dip made with Brisket smoked on their back lot with Burnt End Baked Beans (she wins!).
French Dip Brisket with Burnt End Baked Beans
Tuesday
We drove to Seaside, FL to see the perfect little beach town selected for the filming of The Truman Show in 1998. We drove by Truman’s (Jim Carrey) home and took a quick photo.
Truman’s Home
Wednesday
Following another fun morning playing with toilet seals, we drove into Destin to eat at Harry T’s. This was by far the best meal of the trip. Beth had a nice Chicken Caesar Salad, but I won again (as always) with my choice of Grouper Strips. There was enough grouper here to feed an army and it had a real light spiced breading that was to die for.
Harry T’s
Beth’s Chicken Caesar Salad and Brian’s Grouper Strips
Beth’s Dessert
Thursday & Friday
We both had to work Thursday and Friday 🙁 However, we did manage to cook some nice Sam’s Club steaks and baked potato over a fire. Unfortunately, Beth started having symptoms of a head cold after dinner and was miserable Friday and Saturday.
Phoebe – Trash Inspector
Baking the Potato
Steak & Baked Potato
Saturday
Beth was still pretty sick for the trip home, but the beauty of a motor home is that she managed to sleep on the couch for almost the entire panhandle. Traffic was pretty heavy due to Bike Week and Spring Break traffic and slowed to a crawl from Ocala to the Turnpike. We departed at 9AM and arrived home at 5:30PM.
We spent New Year’s 2018 weekend at Cypress Glen Campground in the Withlacoochee State Forest at Silver Lake in site #46. This is a nice campground, but there are not a lot of level sites big enough for a 34′ motorhome. We barely fit in our site, had to jack our front wheels 8″ – 10″ off the ground, and our front door barely cleared a large oak tree. It was difficult to enter or exit the camper without making contact with the tree.
We managed to place our portable satellite dish in a spot where we could acquire 2 of the 3 Dish Network Satellites which provided us with every channel we required for New Year’s Day college football. Satellite access from any other site would have been difficult. There was no access to broadcast television via the antenna. We did get good Verizon voice and LTE data coverage as I was “on call” all weekend and unfortunately it was a busy weekend.
All negatives aside, we camped here with friends and had a great time. We took the Weber Bullet Smoker with us and smoked ribs on Saturday. Smoking at the camp site was easy, but cleaning up the mess while camping was not nearly as convenient as at home.
