Day Five on the Road - Memory Triggers

Walmart, Liberal, Kansas

It was an early 5:15 when Gibbs woke Bill on Thursday, Oct. 26^th to go out. It was wet with some early rain but not a downpour. Bill wanted to get on the road early just to beat some Columbia traffic so just stayed downstairs in his recliner to catch a few more minutes of rest. 😊 I don’t know when he came to bed last night but by 9:30, I was done and went up to bed and to sleep, which came quickly.

the start of our day - top picture
by noon - bottom picture

by mid-afternoon,
we were looking goooood!

We were washed, fed, watered and drained (as Bill says) by 7 and packed up and pulling out at 7:15. Gibbs ate his breakfast like there was no tomorrow after a big supper last night so that’s good. He’s not too upset! Yesterday, he was good but did a lot of sitting and panting throughout the day. It was hot but I also wondered if his little coat (thunder jacket or otherwise) really does help to calm him. So, I put it on him this morning.

Black Beauty turned over to
111111.1 today but we missed it by 2 miles
Still a bit of colour on our trip

It is 7:25 and he is curled up in his bed already. We’ll see how the day goes. ♥ It is looking like rain all along our route today and looking back, it seems everyone else may be getting the same. We had planned a shorter day, quite a bit shorter but only because we don’t have a sticker on our map for an overnight stay in Kansas yet. If the rain stops, we’ll go as far as possible – another long one?

Cute water towers
One puts me in mind of my friend, Rufus. 👀

We made a rest area stop around 9:30 where luckily the rain had stopped long enough for us to walk in to the washrooms without getting wet. 😊 Sometime around 10, we crossed into the state of Kansas. We were too busy watching the roads through the rain, catching the I-435 bypass around Kansas City, MO that we missed the sign. Oh well, we are in Kansas.

A beautiful Presbyterian church
Must be a Mrs. Oil Rig (it's so pretty!)

It was pretty easy driving (except for the rain) and we passed a serious accident on the northbound I-435 lanes. They were backed up for miles and of course, all traffic on our side had to bunk up to rubber-neck. LOL Once back on I-35S/W the rain finally moved off to the north and east making it nicer for Bill. We stopped for fuel at a Shell and it was $4.59 which was cheaper than any we’d seen today so far.

Memory of the Ridge with the turbines
Memory of Daddy with the sunflowers and a tune I heard on the radio today.

We didn’t realize that I-35S became a toll road but Bill’s newly updated GPS veered us off onto US-50. That’s what we asked it to do so although it confused us for a while, we trusted her. 😊 (Ps-the GPS is a female, Jim, I know you’re paying attention!) This route is quite elevated so our mileage, which is usually around 9 or 10 mpg average, is more like 8.5. Oh well, it is a different journey and we’re enjoying it.

Trains for Dad.
He'd have liked the middle pix
An engine in the middle of a long line
of cars, puffing its heart out.

One more stop for fuel, Black Beauty is thirsty and we’re pushing her farther each day than original plans. What a gorgeous day! It is 85F/29C, all clouds have disappeared by 2:30 and Bill is driving with his window down. The fresh air feels great. We’ll drop to 38F/4C so you can see how quickly things change. We might need our Blue Flame heater on tonight after not needing it since Monday.

Someone is knackered

We arrived at our destination for the night at 5:30 and even though a long drive, we are all feeling good about forging on. It was an easier day than we first thought it would be with the rain. ♥ We have the absolute perfect spot in their large lot. 😊

Coming out of the store, see how far
back we are? (top photo)
Getting closer, just two rigs so far.

We backed into the only separate cement pad
and made ourselves 'kind of' at home.
After supper, another rig joined us. It's why Bill parked
the way he did. He likes to share. 😂

I went inside for bread so we could have grilled cheese for supper and apples for a snack on the road. Well, there were bananas and peanuts in the bag as well. Our supper was quick and Bill cleaned up the dishes while I took Gibbs out. I made our sandwiches for tomorrow, mentally planning what else to put in the cooler bag. It will be another early night for this ole gal! Bill’s blog has the route we took and total day’s trip.

A change of pace for supper. I need to start
slowing down on the bread though! LOL
Good night!

(PS - Don from Oklahama. Bill has responded to you on your comment on his blog. If you can meet us there, it would be nice to meet you!)

Thank you for stopping in!

Day Five – Sweet Sorrow, Yay, HookUps!

Arrowhead Lakes Resort

On Saturday, Apr. 16^th we all woke up after a pretty good sleep. Gibbs didn’t move until we did, around 6:20, although I did hear him barking at 2:30. There are a lot of loud redneck vehicles around here! Ha ha, seems the noisier the better. 😊 I walked briefly with Gibbs around the lot and checked out the store times and when I discovered it was open, went up for bread, bananas and ice.

Nice sunrise from the Walmart parking lot

We were pulling out at 8 on a beautiful sunny day, 43F/6C, onto I-70E with John in the lead this morning. 

We won't have this view for very long
We part company soon enough

We would part company today, saying goodbye at our first fuel fill up. ☹ John found a Marathon station about an hour after pull out and we still followed each other to the next Rest Area in Indiana. Our time zone changed once more and now we are on par with home, EST.

Enjoy the day's journey with us
This is the 2nd of 3 large crosses on this return journey
We are in good hands. 👼👼

Loved this purple field, clover?
The water tower has had a porcupine incident, I think

They were making their brunch so we left them to it, heading out on our own back onto I-70E. It's a bit sad to say goodbye but we'll see them at home in a few days. 💓

We both needed a Rest Area
and it was a second hug goodbye

It was easy enough to catch I-465S/E/N and then our Exit 44B back onto I-70E. It was very smooth. This road is terrible and as much as we say that we’ll not travel it again, it is the most direct route and which other ones are any better along here? We cringe on the bumps and bounces and deal with what’s happened inside on each stop.

Some of the key directions that we followed today

Bill commented on how we went from bud, blossoms and some leaves on trees in Arkansas and Missouri to few blossoms and no trees in bud yet in Indiana and Ohio. Yep, we’re heading East back into our native surroundings and it will be even less and later bloomers back home. 😊 We are enjoying the countryside in all states, and the changes are always interesting if not beautiful.

I thought the outlet store was original
Warm Glow - what a great name!
these beautiful white blossoms were the day's bloomers

When we caught I-75N, the roads were improved and at least with travelling on a Saturday, the construction workers were invisible today. I think it’s a ploy; they put out traffic cones and signs so travellers don’t grumble too much about the roads. It makes it look as if they are actually ‘fixing’ them! Ha ha, such a negative Nancy, aren’t I? (No offense to the Nancy’s out there!)

We remember this beautiful pond, it would be lovely at the Ridge
Left: flags showing our side wind from the north for a while
Right: field of solar panels reminding us of our corner at home

Bill tried yesterday afternoon, after office hours, to call our park in Wapakoneta, Ohio to make reservations for a couple of nights. We need to slow down and Arrowhead Lakes Resort is always welcoming and a good stopover. We couldn’t get through on the weekend so took our chances and drove here anyway. There is a Walmart down the road as well as a KOA. The latter was scary because they are charging over $70/night. It would have been a last resort let me tell you!

More beautiful blossoms
Bottom picture, I love the house but again - it should be on the Ridge!

Thankfully, it wasn’t necessary. We were welcomed with open arms but it did surprise us since it was Easter weekend. The place is busier than I’ve ever seen it. We were directed to the very back section, #136, where I’ve only walked before. I’ve never seen rv’s back this far but we are quite happy snuggled in between a couple of smaller rv’s. 😊 Hookups! The lady in the office even offered us her fridges in the office/clubhouse if we need to use them. ♥

Welcomed into Ohio
Our 💓💓 are thinking of home now that we're this close

We were set up just after 3:30 and I could feel some relief to be able to relax for two days. Gibbs was quite playful when we came inside and then konked out on the kitchen floor. The sun is shining and it is a pleasant 54F/12C. The good news is that our fireplace works still, after that surge back in Yuma so we’ll keep tonight’s chill off with that and with our Blue Flame. 28F/-2C is new for us on this trip!

I'll get the park's Entrance sign tomorrow
"Um, excuse us, we're driving here!" How rude! 😂
Practice for driving up the Ridge laneway, I guess 
This is a pretty park

For supper, Rosy heated up coated chicken strips. I almost threw them out, forgetting that they were already cooked, so now I’m glad I didn’t. I had 3 pkgs. of 3 or 4 each so we had 2 packs tonight and I know if they are kept cold, the other pack will make a meal another time. We had enough leftover mixed vegetables from last night so it was a pretty easy supper.

Supper was not only colourful, but quite good!

Two crashes today
One, the over the door light bulb shook loose and crashed
Two, the little puppy dog after he ate his supper - crashed

My sister texted that they were going to Cracker Barrel tonight for supper so we’re not speaking to them. 😊 Ha ha, just kidding. We all talked about how we love C.B. but there wasn’t a close one to where we stopped any of our 4 nights. Oh well, I’m glad they’re enjoying their last night in the U.S. They cross back to Canada tomorrow at some point. ♥

Our front view, that's the laundry and a clubhouse
and our back view, a tree beginning to bud

Here we are! Feeling relaxed tonight
with no where to go tomorrow unless we want to

We loaded the dishwasher tonight, making it easy on ourselves. Hookups are wonderful, in our book. 😊 It will be a quiet evening, although I may put in one of my favourite movies up in the bedroom. Another wonderful day and now we are on EST, same as back home. 

Good night from Ohio!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope your Easter weekend is going ‘hoppingly’ well!