This is such a welcome temperature change!!!  Yesterday's 113 vs today's 85.  In the shade it's almost chilly :)   This is a first come first serve park, and it was sparsely populated when we arrived.  No so 3 hours later.  We watched as more and more rigs arrived.  So far things are quiet.  A trailer moved in next to us as we heard a persistent high pitched barking from within.  Up go 2 puppy pens for 11 puppies!  A weekend dog show was in their future.  Really, they were very well behaved and quiet overall.  A mom and daughter were were the only ones handling the trailer setup and puppy duties.  Quite a great job by those 2 :)

We had a pretty decent spot at the state recreation area.

Wen sporting her new hat acquired at an enroute gas station!

The only thing I picked up at that gas stop was a hitch hiker!  (just below the handle)

 Another beautiful sunrise on a much cooler morning :)

We were greeted with a beautiful morning as we left Big Bend.

We left for Kansas, which is r e a l l y flat!  And r e a l l y hot in mid August.  They grow a passel of sorghum in Kansas.  The countryside has really changed and has a wonderful beauty of its own.  We arrived at a city park in Ellis, Kansas.  No one regularly monitors this campground so we have to look out for each other.  Tom and Sue moved in next to us in their Airstream trailer.  An Army veteran next to you can be a good thing!  We planned to stay a couple of days but the temps are 113 degrees on the sunny side of the trailer, so the A/C is struggling a bit.

Our next destination was Big Bend COE, Oklahoma.  Mostly deserted the 2 days we were there,  we enjoyed a spot next to the lake.  A pretty long dam was off in the distance, a remark I make for future reference.  The wind never seems to stop during the day and the second day featured 105 degree temps.

Wendy was entertained by butterflies...

While I was not entertained by the flies...

Next morning revealed a beautiful sunrise!

We struggled to find notable sites to visit and after grocery shopping for mushrooms for Wendy's famous chili tonight, we encountered an opportunity to avoid cooking in the trailer on such a hot day.  Remember my mention of the nearby dam?

We ventured in, despite the warning sign at the entrance, and enjoyed burgers and fries along with the jukebox music.  At least Wendy wouldn't have to cook tonight.  She liked that idea :)

The prairie dogs seem to be applauding our departure!  They are kind of hard to see in this picture but there were quite a few of them.

We left Lake Charles for Harold and Tess' new homestead near Wetumka, Oklahoma.  They have 140+ acres and had just moved in a few days before we arrived.

Wen and Tess worked together at Charleston AFB and Harold and I flew together in the same squadron.

I don't know what the girls are thinking but they're smiling at us with sharp instruments in their hands!

Here we have a completed (and predictably successful....lol....as we only had to snap it together) project.  Now why did we need to complete the sauna in the middle of August in the heart of Oklahoma?

We left this morning on our pilgrimage to our favorite ice cream stop in Garfield Arkansas :)

It's all good though.  My appetite was not affected :)  And so we traveled on to Prairie Creek COE, Arkansas.

A 4 mile hike at the park was just what we needed.  It's been raining since we left Ohio and being cooped up for so long was a pain.  But we're now back to normal!   A few pictures along the trail.

This little fellow followed us throughout the hike :)

Thankfully, she did too!!

The Tennessee State Park flower......fungi :)  I don't think it ever dries out around here.

Back to the campsite for rib eye steak and salad...yum!

We were blessed again with more friends :)  We met the Camps who were actually musicians that are frequently in demand around the state.  They didn't have their instruments with them on this trip and we didn't get any pictures of them, unfortunately.  She plays rhythm guitar and he, the bass.  Maybe next time.........
We did get a picture of Kathy, Rusty, Dumplin' (a rescue) and Dixie.

We hope to meet again, somewhere, and spend more time together.  As you can tell from the window, they are big Alabama fans!  Even after finding out we were representing Ohio State and Clemson they still liked us :)  BTW they pull a 3/4 ton pickup truck behind that big rig!

We picked up our truck with 22 miles last February.  We were at 35825 miles yesterday and needed an oil change and tire rotation.  We figured we wanted the dealer to thoroughly check out the truck before it hit the warranty limit of 36000.  We progressively had difficulties with opening the tailgate for the past couple of weeks.  The only way to open it is to push a button to unlock and swing down the door.  No handle, no other way of opening it.  Not good!  There was a rattle now inside the door and after pushing the button 10 times or so, it would eventually open.  As expected, the dealership told us the problem needed to be duplicated for them to troubleshoot.  Of course the tailgate behaved for them and they couldn't do anything for us.  So I asked them how do we get the door down when it happens while we're in the middle of nowhere.  "We don't know".  Well that was not a good answer as far as I was concerned.  After expressing my dissatisfaction they suggested taking it to a body shop if it happened again.  You know, an "after warranty" suggestion.  We left and went back to our campsite.  Later that afternoon as I opened the tailgate again, I heard a rather distinctive "clunk".  Oh great, a nut fell off of a bolt and now I don't know if the tailgate is going to fall off going down the road...or what?  I found 10 screws I could take off the inside cover so I figured to remove it the next morning.  I couldn't be driving and wondering if the tailgate would stay attached.  This morning I took it off to discover the problem.  Red squirrels plague Mom by taking up residency, on occasion, in her attic.  I've been battling them for 2 months and finally extricated them from within her house.  Apparently 1 found a way into the tailgate and built a rather large, thick, impressive nest around the release rods for the tailgate.  Complete with one black walnut....the distinctive "clunk".  After clean-out and lubrication, all is back to normal!

Mystery solved!  On to our next adventure :)

Finally at David Crockett!  Happy to make it to this point.
Along with the Oliver plant visit, we are staying at this park in hopes of meeting someone checking out new ownership of their trailer as this is the park Oliver sends new owners to "overnight" and check for problems before traveling on.  And wouldn't you know it, we ran into an Air Force couple with their daughter, giving their trailer a "shakedown".  Paul and Jennifer, and their daughter, graciously gave us a tour of their new Oliver and showed us what we had hoped to see.  We shared some "stories" of our experiences and felt we left as friends hoping to run across each other somewhere "out there".  As a shock to my ego, I discovered Paul graduated from the Air Force Academy the year I retired from the Air Force!  And now he has his retirement date marked on the calendar....wow,,,,I'm OLD!!!!  He is a pilot on the aircraft I first worked on, a KC135!  Small world!

We started out at this site and almost no one was in sight.

The next day the park filled to capacity for the weekend.   Children were everywhere , laughing and giggling around the campsite and the creek, making life long memories.  We were also blessed with wonderful times :)  They left as quickly as they came, 2 days later.  Sigh!  We had to move on to another site today and will spend the next 3 days here before moving on.

It looks as though the rain has set in until TS Fred is gone.  The Gulf can supply a whole lot of moisture, nlol.

Here are some pictures from our Oliver plant visit.

Later we went for a hike!  With my favorite tour guide :)

Time seemed to stand still!

A 1 night's stay at Cumberland Mt. SP was uneventful.  Just a stopover before our goal of touring the Oliver plant.

Roan Mountain is really a beautiful place with its lush, green trees and mountain views.  The park was really dark, however, as we encountered cloudy, rainy weather.  It seemed too dark and depressing in the park.  We picked the brightest spot we could find and it proved out just fine.  We met a wonderful couple from Tennessee, Mike and Elizabeth.  They are still working hard in the Tennessee public school system and long for the day to travel out west.  They know volumes about the parks and views out west through the reading they do.  I was impressed by what they knew without ever having being there in person.  Prayers that they will soon be able to travel.

We met Dave and Carolyn B. at their beautiful home.  The views from their back balcony are spectacular.  I'll be scolding myself for a long time for not bringing along my camera.  We went to a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a meal together.  The plan is to come back next year and enjoy the music of local musicians.  Who knows, maybe we can get Dave to play some music with us. :)  It was so nice to be with them again!  Both Carolyn and Dave, and Elizabeth and Mike suggested we go to the top of Roan Mountain to view the countryside from atop it.  Next morning we tried but it was way too foggy to see anything.

You know how you drive along and try to take in as much as you can?  I even try to read the overpass signs.  Being pretty busy in the moment, I caught a sign out of the corner of my eye....did that sign read what I thought it did?  I chuckled and mentioned to Wendy what I thought I read.  We both craned out our necks and squinted our eyes to view the far sign at the other end of the bridge.  Pee-Pee Creek it proclaimed.  LOL.  What did it mean?  Destined to Google it later that night, we traveled on.  Here is the lowdown  -  Pee Pee Township was organized in 1798 as the first township in Pike County.  The township takes its name from Pee Pee Creek, which was so named when an early settler inscribed his initials P.P. on a tree along its banks.  Pee Pee Township has been noted for its unusual place name.  It is the only Pee Pee township statewide.  In 2020 a man biked there from Poo Poo Point, Washington, for a fundraiser because of the unusual place names.  Don't believe me?  Google it!  Wikipedia!  As a footnote, the suggestive power of that sign had us stopping at the next rest area.  Well, maybe I did make that last statement up :)

Next time through that area I'll take a picture of the sign!  Our first stopover took us to Littcarr COE in Redfox, KY. 

We were tired at this point and didn't do much of anything but occupy space :)  Only a 1 night stop.

We left Ohio a few days ago.  Mom was doing much better and we already miss her very much!  She did keep me busy with "the list" ... lol.  Wendy and I had our 37th wedding anniversary a little while back.  Here's how the conversation went..."What do you want to do for our anniversary, dear?"  "Let's go see some wooly pigs, John!"  So we loaded up the truck and went to ....... not Beverly Hills, but Wooly Pig Farm Brewery, some 70 miles away.  Well ok, here are some pictures.

Mom's neighbor was kind enough to clear the trees from around her pump house as he was clearing land to put horses and roping cattle on his lot.

Ready to go!