Bill's RC Expo, Quiet Day in the Park

Stony Ridge KOA, Toledo East

On Friday, Apr. 4th when I woke up, it was after 6:30. I hadn't heard a peep before that which was no surprise. I was in bed at 10 and dropped off really quickly. I woke at 11:30 when I heard Bill coming to bed and listened to him as he found sleep. Huh! I was awake then until after 1, tossing and turning. Geesh, I hate that! As I moved, Gibbs moved as well and made sure he was touching me after each turn. 💘

Good morning.
Top picture was from last night out our
back window.

Bill had a date this morning, our reason for coming here, and was busy getting ready. He left the Suite and the park around 7:30. Today and tomorrow is the RC Expo in Toledo and he was keen to go this morning for a couple of hours and see what he could, and pick up anything he needed. Gibbs and I enjoyed our time home. 

Gibbs and I went for our walk
this morning.
Starting out nice and sunny.
That's us with the arrow.

I showered and then we walked around the park. It was chilly enough, 44F/6C, but I was prepared and wore the outer layers that I started out wearing in Quartzsite in the fall. 🙄

Here is today's Spring picture

Back at home, I decided to pull out my paper quilling materials and pass the time in that manner. I had a plan of what I wanted to make and set about doing that. No divulging though, it's a secret. 

Top: I like the raised tent sites
Some pretty wet spots with more
rain on the way.

A lot of campers have left today
but more came in this afternoon.

Bill was home for lunch and after pancakes, we put together our claim lists for border crossing and discussed what we're going to do. Go home early or stay until the cold snap has passed? We'll figure it out and you'll know when we know! 

Yummy, I didn't bother making the
keto pancakes for me but we did
finish a bottle of maple syrup.

We missed Survivor latest episode on Wednesday so we sat and caught up on that. Darn! Not our choice of person was sent home but maybe next time. Our hearts are always in our throats, nervous as if we were there! Good grief, that is hilarious! 

You may not know what this is
but Gibbs knew it needed to be chased.
It's a stray kitty cat, it seems.
Friendly little fluff ball.

For supper, I cooked 2 pork chops, the last of our potatoes which are turning, and a vegetable for each of us. It was a good meal, didn't take long and we were cleaned up by 6:30. 

Bill called me outside while supper
was cooking.
Of course, it was plane related! 😁

Today reached 51F/11C and was overcast from mid morning to day's end. Rain was/is in the forecast but other than a few spits at 5:30, it hasn't reached us yet. Overnight and tomorrow will be wet, methinks. 😏 Tomorrow we will pull up stakes here and move on. It has been a pretty good day and we are ready. 

Prayers go out to those back home who are still experiencing power outages, this is day 6, and as well to our American friends (even those we haven't met yet) with what they are enduring with tornado and storm damages. We all have weather troubles at different times in different forms. Be safe!

supper was good.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by today. 

Calmer and Closer to Home

Stony Ridge KOA, Perrysburg, OH

On Thursday, April 4th we woke up after 7. Not surprising after our late night or early morning.  😁We felt gratitude this morning, blessed that we were safe and thankful for the prayers. 

This was last night

Because yesterday was such a long day, we were able to take it slow this morning.  We only have a 2 hour drive today and it isn't an early check in at our next park. It is a sunny morning and 54F/11C. 

Good morning!
what a lovely change!
This is a nice Walmart to stay at,
there were only 3 of us and no semis.

We had our breakfast and Bill walked out to check out our departure lanes. Walmarts can be tricky to get in and out of. This one was easy and after I finished posting yesterday's blog, we pulled out. I knew some friends, not on Facebook where Bill posted an update, would be concerned. It was a few minutes before 9.

Lots of water laying in the fields
and ditches were full.

We got back on I-69E to I-469 taking us to US24E. Now this is a nice highway! I didn't bother giving Gibbs his pills or putting his thunder coat on and he settled down pretty well, early. Still a tongue hanging out but happy. 🐶❤️

Some of our route

We crossed into Ohio at 10:30 and joined I-475S/US73. Exit 1B into I-75N towards Toledo. Another exit 193 at Perrysburg onto 20E.  Because we were a bit early, we stopped at a mall lot to wait.

We stopped at Hobby Lobby passing 
30 minutes until we could check in at noon.

I popped into Hobby Lobby for a nature call and poke around. I found some paper background sheets for shadow boxes and we headed down to Luckey Rd. Stony Ridge KOA had us booked for 3 nights but plans changed and we canceled one night upon arrival at 12:15.

Someone is happy for the short day,
I think.
Oh and new smells again!

Many sites are water covered because of last nights rains and with more expected tomorrow, we asked for a different spot. The manager and host were very obliging and moved us to a pull-through site and even though there was an additional fee for this spot, we were happy to pay it. It was completely dry and very long. 😊

Supper was good.
I forgot I had squash in the fridge.

Once set up on Site #603, we proceeded to crash. Well, not exactly. Bill and Gibbs snoozed, noises ensued, and I read my next Stephanie Plum mystery. Then, I tried to snooze myself upstairs but I wasn't as tired as I thought. I did get a nice rest though, with Gibbs stretched out beside me. We watched a movie just for the enjoyment of it, one we've seen before but like. It's called Letters to Juliet and was a cute little love story with Amanda Seyfried.

A couple of park signs.
Love the "Whoa!"
but it needs punctuation. 😉

For supper, we had fish with fries for Bill and a vegetable for me. Strawberries for dessert and then we loaded the dishwasher.  It was very good and then Gibbs and I took a walk around the park. It is a lovely evening with barely any wind. There are a lot of puddles in the whole area but Gibbs managed to avoid them (almost!) like a pro. 💕 

Our site is a nice big one.

Back home, I finished my blog while watching 9-1-1, Elspeth and Matlock all at their normal times. We reached a pleasant high of 65F/18C.

It's a nice little KOA park.

This has been a good day. A wonderful day, with nothing to worry about for the moment. 😁

Spring in Ohio
Good night!

Thank you for your visit.

Blew into a Wal-Mart

 Walmart, Ft Wayne, IN

On Wednesday, April 2nd we were up and hitting the highway at 7:30. It was a pretty quiet night but I'm glad our bed was away from the trucks. A couple ran loud and long. We slept well regardless. 

Cloudy skies as we started out.

We were soon on I-44E under cloudy skies.  It is quite windy but the fact that they are coming from the southwest is our morning blessing. We love tail winds!🤗 There are warnings around us but, for now, they are in the Missouri area that we are vacating. Hence our early start. Maybe we can outrun the storms?

There is usually one thing per day that
makes me chuckle.
We all live in a circus, right?

Approaching St. Louis, we watched for and got on the I-270S bypass around the city.  We commented on how easy it was with no construction and how little traffic and as we joined onto I-255N we swallowed our words. The whole interstate was closed off! 

The Mighty Mississippi never looks so grand
from a traveller's stand point but
the bridge is huge!

With poor, if any, direction from signs we just followed the traffic, semis, onto some questionable streets to eventually get back on I-255 beyond the closure. It seemed like a bit of a crap shoot as we had no idea where it would take us. 😒Not fun trying to figure it out at first. From there we excited at 25A and caught I-55N/I-70E.

A couple of new states in today's travels

We found another fuel station that honored the Mudflap and got another. 40¢ off the TA retail price. It was certainly going up in price.  We heard that back home, our friend, Casey, paid $1.16/litre for regular gas now with the carbon tax removed so at least they are getting a break. It is still more expensive than the fuel here but better.

We followed the semis & traffic
through back streets when the I-255 was closed.
They need more signage for passersby.

We got back on I-70E. Roads were not the best after we got into Indiana. In between all of this, we have been watching weather reports of possible tornadoes. It's scary but it is that time of year and we are going through some of the locations that they pop up, so not surprising. We've changed today's destination, otherwise it would have made for a short day, because of the radars weather patterns.

Such a cutie, tongue hanging out.

Heading for tomorrow nights stop may be impossible but if we can get further north we may be more out of reach of the storms. 🤔🙏  We passed Terre Haute, IN and aimed for Fort Wayne instead. We are both concerned about where will be safest but who knows? Tornadoes have a mind of their own and without getting too paranoid, we just want to be settled and make the best choices.

Our little Tuxedo man in his
thunder coat.

We've been trucking along as I write so have crossed into Illinois and Indiana, making our way around Indianapolis through construction on I-465N. Once through, we eventually picked up I-69N. Here we go again with rough patches in the highway. We thought it would have been improved by now. Ha! It was still very warm, 84F/27C, and still very windy. 

Traffic around Indianapolis, but it was
rush hour.
Construction, as always. It has to be quite
the challenge with so much traffic.

We pulled off for fuel at a Speedy in Chesterfield, IN and got yet another deal, -32¢, on Mudflap.  Yay! Prices are now around the $3.65 to $3.95/gal range so these savings help. Across the road was a McDonald's so that was supper. Two Big Mac combos please, we knew our meal would be late if we waited. $20 later and we're outta there, filled and pleased.

Catching I-69N
It wasn't better in the roads department

We decided on another hours drive, it was 6:15, and that would get us to our destination before dark and maybe before rain. We weren't wrong on either count although there were some spatters here and there before stopping. We pulled into a Wal-Mart on Coldwell Rd. and parked easily along the curb.

Sitting at McDonald's for a quick bite.

Approval was given to stay, graciously, but we decided to sit in Black Beauty for a bit to wait the storm out. No point opening slides until we were sure it was calm enough to do so. I walked in to use the facilities and check out their keto bread and yogourt offerings. I came out with 2 tubs of yogourt so was pleased. Our 'bit' of a stay in BB turned into 5 hours but believe it or not, with Elvis on our Sirius radio, we were warm and able to doze on and off throughout. 

It's blurry, I was hurrying back
from Walmart before the rain.
Heavy looking sky. 😒

Gibbs couldn't figure out this sitting in the truck 'thing', poor little gapher, he has been drinking up a storm all day. 🥰 We've had an incredibly long day, by choice, but it was still a good one. At 12:30 am, the rain had dwindled enough for Bill to get out, put jacks down and open up our home. Just the bed/kitchen side for now. We were in bed immediately and I know I had dropped off by 1 am. Quite the day! Temperatures started out at 82F/17C today and ended up at 59F/15C.

Spending some family time in Black Beauty!
Good night!

Thank you for you visit and all prayers and concerns today. 

Wild Winds! East to Missouri

Conway Rest Area Eastbound 

On Tuesday, April 1st if there was any joke played at all, it was the high winds.  As we got about our morning routine for a moving day, we weren't laughing.  31 mph winds with up to 50 mph gusts, it could be a challenging day on the highway. 🥺

Good morning!

One last picture of the stray dogs.
I've come to think they are 'resident' guardians.
I watched them play this morning and here 
'she' sits politely while he checks out the culvert for water.
They were quite friendly, i believe, and just sat and
watched from a distance when I took Gibbs out. 💕

We signed out at the casino and pulled out of the lot at 8:50. It was a mild. 52F/10C under mostly cloudy skies. Due to miscommunication on Google maps we went a few miles out of our way until we got back on track to I-40E. 

Some pictures of our travel day.
The 'Scissortail' Bridge aka Skydance Bridge
inspired by OK's state bird.
The red earth of OK and AR.
Old Glory blowing from South,
directly into our side.

Going through OK City was busy but Bill did just fine. I hate the speeds through the cities, I usually have my hand grasping the hand rest. 🤣 I don't know how that helps but it does. Once through that mess of traffic and construction it was pretty clear sailing. There are always slowdowns but it was pretty smooth. 

A pretty drive.
The Eufala Lake
and another one that didn't have signage
for the name.

We touched in 3 states today.
One sign captured but lots of
scenic views. 

We started looking for fuel stations with 160 miles before empty and at noon pulled into a Sinclair. They are usually priced well but this was higher than we expected, but at the same time, not unusual to see prices rise as we travel eastward. No matter, we fueled up and pulled over to eat our sandwiches. When we were all fueled and filled, we set out again. The day was warm, despite the winds, making it pleasant enough for a travel day. The winds only affected our fuel and only when we were traveling east. The Suite wasn't affected at all. 

The Bobby Hopper Tunnel in Arkansas.
It swallows vehicles, we were no exception.
I love the purple blossoms in the bottom left.
You can zoom through at 75 mph.

Back on I-40E, there were rough, bouncy, patches of highway so things inside will be shook up. With traffic, we can't always switch lanes, instead staying in the right hand 'slower traffic ' lane. The rest of our journey today was quite pretty, especially when we got onto I-49 (AR49) N. Lots of hills, taking us from 400' to 1600' in elevation. Black Beauty handled them like a champ, she was happy to have her power back. 😊 Inside, yes, it looked a bit like the Royal Rumble but actually only a recliner and the coffee table had shifted. 

This time Old Glory is actually blowing from
behind us, thank you!
At the TA station, I saw this stone compass
with various cities and their distance.
The other side had the southern cities where we've spent
the winter. Kinda cool!

Our destination tonight is the Conway Rest Area. It is a duplicate of the westbound one with the same name. We have stopped there before on our route south but we can't remember if we actually stayed overnight. Memories!! It's why I write a blog. We made one more fuel stop for good measure, so we didn't have to do it first thing in the morning. This time at a TA Travel Centre in Mt. Vernon and Bill was able to use his Mudflap fuel app and get .40¢ off the $3.43 sticker price. Yay!

Another Spring picture.

Just 9 miles past Marshfield, we pulled into our rest area and pulled into one of the 9 or 10 rv lanes for the night. We opened our slides, with no worries of a semi hitting them upon their arrival or departure in the truck lanes. It happens! This was great. We arrived at 5:30 and while Gibbs and I walked around, Bill took care of offloading Black Beauty into the Suite. It is windy, but mild. Here it reached 65F/18C with a low of 60F/16C. We'll be praying for a safe night's sleep.

Here we are for the night.
A great spot and if the trucks are noisy,
our heads are on the quiet side of the Suite.
They won't keep us awake after the long day!

This was another long day, one I didn't think we'd repeat but it went smoothly with no worries or concerns. 😁For supper, I had thawed ground beef so made hamburger helper with mixed vegetables. It was tasty, easy and required no appliances = no generator. For dessert, of course, we treated ourselves to the 'long day' reward of a drumstick. 

Supper was quick and good.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping around. I appreciate each of your comments. Have a good night!