Just a few last minute pictures from the past week.  We'll be leaving tomorrow for the Natchez Trace Parkway to stay at a National Forest campground near Hohenwald, Tn.  We'll have been here for 15 days by the time we leave tomorrow.  So glad to have spent the busy, busy Memorial Day Weekend here.  It was remarkably quiet with well over 300 families each day.  No disturbances, no loud music to drown out the laughter of the children or the sounds of nature.  Very relaxing :) 

Even the gnomes were partying :)

Another rally has come and gone!  Many friends made and good times were had.  We learned much at this Oliver Trailer rally and our reservation for next year's event has already been made.  We are staying for another week at Lake Guntersville State Park, Alabama, as next weekend is Memorial Day weekend and campground spots will be hard to find.

As you can see, many were in attendance :)

The line was long and steady throughout the day to get "free" lunch at the golf course food truck.  I complained, mildly of course, that the false advertising on the front of the truck sported "soft serve ice-cream" and they had none.  I was told they tried but couldn't remove the little painted sign.  I'll carry some duck tape with me next year!

I'm getting a plumbing lesson for when things go wrong.

This was an unexpected, surprise lesson.  Someone broke a leaf spring on the way to the rally.  Oliver Travel Trailer brought over a new one and we watched as an experienced fellow traveler happily helped with the installation.  This is why I carry 100 lbs worth of tools with me everywhere we go :)  I exaggerate, of course.  It's probably only 75 lbs or so.

Everyone is crazy about playing "corn hole" these days.  Even the squirrels!  We didn't see them participate but, as you can tell, they're not very good with their aim :)

Emus at the park?  What next? lol.

This is indeed a beautiful place to behold.

One last walkaround the campground revealed we have 32 trailers, out of 150, left for at least tonight.  We came across Tina and Greg, who are leaving tomorrow. They are such a sweet couple and we dearly hope to meet up with them again!  They are a lot of fun to be around :) 

We left Oklahoma on our pilgrimage to Garfield, Arkansas, for another ice cream experience.  Wendy always keeps a close eye on the weather and pointed out that our destination was supposed to get nasty, according to the forecast.  We figured to just keep an eye on things as we had 6 hours to get there.  Long story short, 50 miles from our destination we turned around and headed back because of tornados and hail.  We headed south and then west to find a rest area out of harms way and was planning to wait there until the front passed, but another wave was supposed to hit a couple of hours later.  We scrapped our plans for Garfield and decided to make a really long day of it and press on to Tunica, Mississippi.  We saddled up and followed the severe line of storms in the general direction we wanted to go, stopping at places along the way so we wouldn't catch up to the storms.  Well, the second wave was catching up to us, an event we didn't plan for.  Wendy was not amused at this new task load!  Following along closely behind one line and watching the direction of the approaching line, to deviate as needed, was quite a challenge.  The weather apps we use are most appreciated!  Wendy did great!!  We experienced a few '"firsts" on this leg.  Thirteen+ hours of driving, our first 91+ dollar gas fill up, and purposely driving at night  all added up to "quite a day".  You cannot imagine the bug splatter on the front of the truck and trailer, from the headlights!  Arrived safely at Tunica, set up camp, and had a beer!!!

Check out time after a day of bug scrubbing :)  On to the rally in Alabama!

We worked together, in Charleston, a lifetime ago and revisiting so many years later makes this nomadic lifestyle all that more enjoyable for us!  We are so blessed :)  They have a "barndominium" that was built last year and have their work cut out for themselves with clearing trees, digging through clay and moving the large rocks.  Armed with a new collection of big boy toys, Harold seems to be enjoying the tasks ahead.

We still have to check for harmful critters every morning!  A black widow spider, complete with her egg sac attached to one of my shoes, had to be relocated to the edge of the yard.  A timid tarantula may not demand an immediate response but nevertheless necessitated a relocation as well.

Harold leaned over to me and pointed to a crease in my pants leg and suggested I remove this critter.....

Tess never stops working, dawn to dusk are her working hours.  I never hear complaints, only thankful remarks as she moves from task to task.  She's quite an inspiration! :) 

Gunner is my wakeup call each morning.  He runs around and through the property chasing invisible, unwanted enemies.  My guess is he's paying back the many whippoorwills that sing all night long! 

Harold and I get a chance to work on some projects.

This doesn't look like much now but it is to become a chicken coop with a run attached, to house 5, or so, chickens in the near future.

Our bathroom flooring project.....complete!!!

One thing does concern me.  I think Harold has aspirations of continuing his dream of becoming a dentist, and he's giving me a strange look.  Yikes!!!

And Gunner seems intent on being his assistant.  Double YIKES!!!!!

It has been a wonderful week, complete with some of the best home cooking I've experienced and blessed fellowship!

On the way to our next stop we passed a couple of notable landmarks.

We can't seem to get away from the wind, as you can tell from Wendy's hair.

One night, no water, no electricity (think air conditioning), 99 degrees inside the trailer, 98 outside, howling wind (think..no way we can shut the windows for fear of losing our cooling wind... remember it's cooler outside ), dust everywhere that Wendy has to clean up later, coyotes singing to us throughout the night, and the little guy in the picture below lost its mom and had to stand next to our trailer, outside our open window, mooing for mom!  ALL NIGHT LONG!!!  Grrrrr...but all is good!  I don't think we'll do a repeat any time soon!

Our welcoming committee

Left us a going away gift :) 

See what I mean by all is good :)

We had such a beautiful night I just had to take a few more pictures of our last sunset at Oasis.

We've been here for 10 days or so and it's time to move on to Oklahoma.  Oasis SP is near Portales.  We've been here before, 3 years ago.  It was much greener and the bunny rabbits were everywhere.  So we decided to go back and visit the rabbits.  There has been a severe drought here so the landscape is very different.  But our furry friends are surviving and the many types of birds sing to us everyday.  This is such a beautiful, peaceful place.

And now for the stars of the show :)

I couldn't figure out what this bird was!

A few of the cacti and other flora

I can't be sure, but I think this is cousin It :) 

Sunsets around here are pretty nice :) 

Wendy is supposed to be a happy camper, but something is not quite right.

​Burrs!!!!!

Tumbleweeds!!!!

Our assault on Mount Oasis!!!  First, Wendy needs to prepare, as the wind is fierce!

SUCCESS!!!

This might be the first time I am caught up with our blog post before we leave for our next destination! YAY:)  Today was quite a day.  We woke up to 39 degree temps and 9 hours later it was 93!

2 stops first, since Texas makes it a long way to get there.  A quick stopover at a Cracker Barrel, in Abilene, and a Harvest Host in Brownfield.  No pictures from Abilene since we never left the parking lot, just a quick dinner and early departure.  We did get a few at the Harvest Host.

You can never tell what to expect at a Harvest Host.  We keep hoping for lush surroundings, plentiful wildlife, and hiking trails, etc, etc etc.  The people here were very friendly, however.  This is a winery, so we at least we found a flavor to our liking :)

There are 300+ acres of vines here.

These grape pickers won't be active until mid to late August through October.