Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Onapa Campground and  RV Park,  Checotah, OK 74426

August 31, 2019

Temperature 84

Taking Care of Business

What an unusual way to wake up.  To the sound of children playing and running up and down a hallway.  Actually, it was the kids next door and they must have been running from one end of their trailer to the other.  It wasn’t objectionable just different.

One other thing, yes, we found another campground near a railroad track!  The first few hours we were here we heard nothing.  Given the fact that the lake is wrapped around us we figured we were safe.  Oh how silly of us.  Soon enough we heard that wonderful whistle and we knew we were really home.

Hey, did you notice my link is back.  I accidentally deleted it along with a bunch of other important stuff.  Thankfully, I was able to get it all back.  So much for trying to clean up and straighten up my computer.

I realized that I’ve been rather lax lately in terms of monthly maintenance.  No more.  I started through the list today and will continue over the next couple of days.  I  started by running both the refrigerator and the hot water heater on propane for 24 hours.  I need to get back to doing this once a month without fail.

Today I decided to clean and straighten two lockers.  The first holds my cleaning supplies.  This is the before

This is the after

Next is the tool and odds and ends locker.  The before

the after

Once finished with the lockers I moved inside and did some basic cleaning.  Cleaning finished I started working on route planning for next summer and beyond.  I needed to find a way to get us back to Florida from our South West tour.  I have one route in place and I’ll work on another over the next couple of days.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Doesn’t sound like we did much, and we didn’t, but the day was over before we knew it.  We no longer feel like we’re sliding down hill and that’s good.  Thank you Lord for this wonderful life we lead and for the wonderful days and precious memories you give us.

Thanks again for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

Home Is Where We Park It:   Onapa Campground and  RV Park,  Checotah, OK 74426

August 30 2019

Temperature 75

It Just Keeps Getting Better – NOT!

This morning was moving day – from the State Park to the Private RV Park where a pull-through with 50 amp awaited us.

One problem, when we awoke it was thunder and lightening, and pouring rain.  It seemed that the pattern from yesterday was repeating.  We were still sliding down a slippery slop.  Moreover, according to the weather report there would be no break until sometime around 12 noon.  We decided to be optimistic so we got dressed and sat and waited hoping it would break sooner than that.  We got our wish around 9 am.  We quickly brought in the slides, up with the jacks, then we disconnected from the mother ship and we were rolling.

Ten minutes later we were at our new home.  But before we get to that.  Once we were on site we decided to go get some breakfast.  Per local recommendation we went to

This time the recommendation was spot on.  The food was delicious and both of us earned a place in the clean plate club.

While there I discovered some really neat pictures and other items around the diner.  Here’s a few I know will delight someone’s heart.

Finally, a couple of neat signs for you to work on.  See if you can come up with what each says.  Ready?  The first is an easy one.  Hint, look at it as a whole.

Now for the second one.  Hint, zig and zag.

Breakfast over we headed back to set up our new home.  It’s nice enough but hardly as appealing appearance wise as the State Park.  There is absolutely no site separation.  No nice green grass.  No concrete pad.  Yet, at $14 a night, pull-through, 50 amp and reasonably level we can overlook a lot.

This is the typical pull-through site.  Oh, the sites in the back do have green grass but these are the sites for the permanent residents.

There are a number of full time residents here all along the back perimeter of the park.

This is the home of the owner of the park as well as the camp office.  She, her husband and three kids run and take care of the park.

Of course the reason we moved here  was really two fold.  First, we didn’t have the site we booked.  Second, the negative attitude of the park ranger.  We felt that with the temperatures supposed to be in the 90 degree range we would need a 50 amp site for the AC/fridge/Hot water heater.  Yes, we’ve done all this on 30 amp before and probably could have this time.  I just have a problem with people who refuse to honor what one is due.  So guess what?  Now they’re saying the temperature probably will not get out of the mid 80’s.  We’re still sliding down that slope.

Time now to do the blog.  The slide continued.  The link I had created and been inserting blog after blog is gone.  I have no idea what happened but hours, and hours of work are gone.  I believe I know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow.  I do hope the slide is now over.

That was our slippery slope day on The Road of Retirement.  Hey, did you figure out the two signs?

The first one is

Here stop and spend a social hour in harmless mirth and fun let friendship reighn be just and kind and evil speak of none.

The second one is

The Boomarang Diners Say Thank You

Thanks for joining us again today.  We always enjoy your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Lake Eufaula State Park, Checotah, OK 74426

August 29, 2019

Temperature 92

Travel Day – Comedy of Errors

It all began last night in the parking lot of the museum.  As we were getting ready to go to bed I decided to flip the frig to propane.  I then walked away and came back to our game of Mexican Train.  A bit later Barbara opened the door and said Any idea why the light is not on?  Checking, I noticed the error code No Flame.  Interesting.  The generator was still running so I flipped it back to electric.  No problem.  Then I flipped it back to propane.  Same thing.  No matter how many times I tried I could not get it to work on propane.  The only solution was to let the generator run so that the frig could run on electric.  Ok, something to figure out and solve when we get to our new home tomorrow.

The rest of the night wasn’t so bad.  Between the charter planes taking off to our right and the occasional train to our left and the generator running under our bedroom I’m surprised we got any sleep.  But sleep I did.  One of the best nights ever.  You figure that one out.

We were both up early this morning and ready to roll.  By 9 am we were on the road and rolling south and then west.  We only had a couple of hours to drive and for the most part the roads were not bad.  Up hill and down as usual but not as bad as a couple of weeks ago.  One stop for gas, wow, running the generator for 12 hours really messes with your gas mileage!

Soon enough we were at our new home – or so we thought.

Before backing in I walked our site.  Checked the utilities and discovered that we only had 30 amp.  What!  Several months ago when I booked the site I paid in full for 50 amp.  Normally this would not be an issue.  However, I still couldn’t get the frig to work on propane.  Between the frig on electric and the AC we max out at around 27 to 29 amps.  No good.  We need 50 amp.

We locked up and went to the office to get the site we had paid for.  That’s when the rest of the fun began.  Sorry, holiday weekend we don’t have an empty 50 amp site.  Like I don’t care I want what I paid for months ago.  I even asked if I could run the generator for a bit to cool the rig down.  No.   Mind you there is as of now no one around us.  The ranger simply refused to work with us.  His attitude was take it or leave it.    We did find out later that he tried to switch our box to 50 amp but couldn’t.  Sorry, a day late and a dollar short.  Tomorrow we leave for a private park, a pull through with FHU and 50 amp.   Bonus, they are giving us a discount that makes it cost less than this state park.   I really would have liked to stay put, this park is beautiful.  But it is what it is.

So, I decided since I didn’t have to hook anything up I would try to fix the frig.  Took the burner box off and made sure there was nothing obstructing the burner; made sure the igniter was clean, then flipped from electric to propane.  It’s been running fine now for over 5 hours.  I guess Harvey our friendly ghost is back and determined to have some fun at my expense.

That my friends was our day on The Road of Retirement.  What’s that saying into every life a little rain must fall.  Guess it was our turn to get rained on.  Really not all that bad, though, when you consider the bucket full of positive days and experiences we have had so far this year.  I need to try and keep that in perspective.  Now that I’m cool and calm maybe I can, I know I can.

Thanks for coming along with us again today.  We always appreciate your company and comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:  Harvest Host, Arkansas Air and Military Museum, Fayetteville, Arkansas

August 28, 2019

Temperature 86

Travel Day

Goodness gracious did the temperature drop last night.  It was 61 degrees when we awoke.  I know, I know that’s what some of you are having on a regular basis.  Yet, when you’ve been used to temperatures in the mid 80’s, even the high 70’s it’s a bit cool.

Today was a travel day.  No need to rush, however, we were only driving about two to three hours to a museum in Arkansas where we would spend the night.  This was a Harvest Host location and proved to be a nice place to call home for night.

It’s amazing when you sit parked in one location for more than a few days it seems there is so much more to put away.  The more we put away this morning, the more we found that still needed to be put away!  In time we had everything packed away.   Last but not least I disconnected us from the mother ship and we were ready to roll.

This is one of the nicest stops we’ve had since we left PA and our time with my mom.  We got caught up on old times with Charles and Linda, we met Tim and Sue, we met Ron and his little dog Mandy – a spitting image of Marti, and others whose names simply escape me.  We spend time talking with so many students and a wonderful group of alumni at The College of the Ozarks.

We saw so many wonderful attractions.  The highlight will always remain our visits to The College of the Ozarks.  It’s hard to find words to describe this fantastic place.  We need more colleges like this if you ask me.  Not been here yet?  Put it on your bucket list of places to visit, you will not regret it.  Need a place to stay?  No better place in the area than Turkey Creek.

Free from the mother ship we headed out.  The first part of the trip was a breeze.  Within 30 minutes we were in Arkansas.  The road like before went up hill and down.  No big deal.  Then we made the left turn on Route 412.  How to describe this road?  A two lane truck route.  OK.  It went up hill and down.  OK.  But then think of hundreds of slinky snakes tied end to end and you’ll get some idea of the kind of road it was.  Saying it was twisty is the understatement of the year!   The second half, well it finally straightened out and it became 4 lanes.

In due time we arrived at our new, one night home.

 

 

Here we are, lot is level and there is no one here but us.  The generator is running, the AC is on and we are as comfortable as can be.  This time I got it right.  We have the sun on the drivers side, not on the refrigerator and so all is well.

We were sitting feet up and relaxing when Barbara said Well this is something new, listening to planes take off.  At least there is no train like before.  Not a minute later we head the whistle loud and clear.  That’s when we realized there was a train track right across the street from us!  So now we really feel like we’re home.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  A great day overall.  Once again we traveled along singing our song like our life is making memories with my spouse.  Slowly, ever so slowly we’re making our way to our winter home in Arizona.  We’ll get there sooner or later.

Thanks again for coming along with us.  We always enjoy your company and your comments.  Catch your tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!