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!

I can't remember whose idea it was, but we all had a good time :)  Things didn't start out very well for everyone!

Golf became secondary as we soon turned to matters more important, such as, what is the best way to cut off the end of a cigar.   As you can tell, instruction was necessary! 

Wendy promptly followed up with a wonderful tee shot...

But followed with a dismal result...

That 7th hole reflects a "snowman".  If you look closely you may see tears flowing from her artwork.  Alas, no course records were broken!

Since it warmed a little later that day, we felt it appropriate to take advantage of our good fortune!

I thought I'd throw this one in to show it's not all fun and games!  They call this work?  Hmmmmm.  :)

A dear friend of mine loves vintage cars, so here you go Norm :)  These were taken in Moncks Corner, SC.  Car enthusiasts get together every other Saturday morning, next to Bojangles.

                                                                                          Veston's T Bird up front :)

We will leave for Pinopolis tomorrow.  I just couldn't resist posting these pictures.  We've had to move 3 times in 5 days to stay here.  That's what we expected since we don't make many reservations ahead of time.

We are at Twin Lakes Campground COE on a Saturday night.  I was finishing up the previous "Happy Holiday" post when we were issued a tornado warning and instructed to seek immediate shelter.  We dressed up and headed down the road, walking to the bath house with flashlight in hand.  We didn't have any tornadoes, so we headed back after all had passed through.  The truck and trailer are fine.  Once again we are thankful for God's protection.  It sure pays to know where the shelters are in the campgrounds we visit!

Settling in for a cool night :)

We took off for Cherokee in hopes to find an empty spot in a park we stopped to camp, with a rented trailer, before we bought our Casita.  We were saddened to see it had closed down :(

We had to settle for "Happy Holiday" a couple of miles down the road.  It was ok and very expensive but we only stayed one night, since "Cherokee Camp Ground" was out of business.

Our guardian duck squad that spent the night next to us.

The best reason to stay, however,

We really enjoyed this stop and meeting new friends, Tony and Howard.  They teach fly-casting to veterans and especially disabled veterans through the regional Project Healing Waters program [projecthealingwaters.org]  

Here are a couple of pictures of Tony and his 1972 Argosy.

I wish I had taken a picture of Howard.  He suggested we go to the state park on the other side of the dam and climb the lookout tower to enjoy the sight from atop.  5 days later and our calves still hurt!

We finally were able to hike a couple of miles at the park.

We were faced with this decision twice, and both times...WRONG choice.  On the bright side, we enjoyed a longer hike :)

Located in Waynesboro, Tennessee, this park does a lot of canoe/kayak renting and has quite a few travel trailer hookups.  As you can see it's not the most scenic, lol, but we were only there a few nights to tour the Oliver factory.

Wendy gets the tough jobs, and still finds a way to smile!

This park is in Pocahontas, Arkansas.  Davidsonville, founded in 1815, was perhaps the most important frontier settlement in northeast Arkansas. Though abandoned by the 1830s, it was the site of several Arkansas “firsts.” While a part of Missouri Territory’s Lawrence County, it was the location of the first post office in what would become Arkansas. In 1820, Arkansas Territory’s first federal land office was also established there, and the first Arkansas courthouse was built in 1822.

Not much left of the site, but I did find something definitely worthy of taking a picture :)

Here's a comparison between our Casita and our next door neighbor in their Oliver.  We are on the way tomorrow to take another look at the Oliver now that we have been living in our Casita for 15 months.

Patricia and Mark were kind were kind enough to give us a tour of their trailer and share their bundle of joy, Ginger, with us :)

......NOT to be confused with Dam Site COE Park from our last post :)  This park is in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

But before we go there I would be extremely negligent if I didn't mention the fact that between Dam Site and Dam Site Lake we revisited an old, favorite, hangout.........

It seems that Wendy has converted to my way of doing things :)

Eureka Springs was a particularly refreshing stop for us!  It is a very peaceful and relaxing place.  Here are MANY pictures :)

This Corps Of Engineers park is in Heber Springs, Arkansas.

We had the chance to do a little hiking as well!

Our stop at Tunica was a reunion with fellings about a time we've enjoyed over the years, a time shared with Wendy's parents on several trips there.  Things have changed quite a bit since and it's somewhat sad to see once busy, and now, vacant businesses and shops.  We only took a couple of pictures over the 6 days we were there.  We had a few days of bad weather but still enjoyed our visit.

I last made a post 6 months ago.  A lot has happened since then.  Dad passed at the end of January after many struggles with his health and we miss him dearly.  Wendy and I caught the Covid and have since recovered, and  we've been staying with dear friends, Gwyn and Veston, at their 18 acre property and living a wonderful life for the past 6 months.  I can now bush-hog a field and operate a zero turn mower :)  Wendy and I are back on the road as of now, for 3 or so weeks, for a bit of traveling to remember how it is done.  Naturally, we picked a rainy day to restart our adventure. 

A few pics at Gwyn and Veston's before we get going.

As you might expect .... it's a fast paced environment out here :)

A job site picture....will the real turkey please stand up :)

First stop ... Petersburg COE, Appling, Georgia.
Not many pictures here but we did squeeze in a 7 mile hike.

Rain, rain go away!

These campsites  have absolutely no phone/internet/tv service so we left in the rain and unknowingly drove into a torrential downpour!  We hit a mud puddle at the bottom of a hill and completely covered the trailer in bright orange goo (mud).  It was raining so hard that our new, orange paint job was gone in seconds.  I was not about to get out and take pictures!

The cold front we went through yesterday made for 30 degree temps this morning with plenty of wind.  So much for our planned hike.  We'll make up for it tomorrow ;)
Here are a few pictures from nearby.

We went back to our favorite ice cream stop in Garfield, Arkansas to do a little research on the size of the "large" cone, but I chickened out.....I can't seem to keep my face clean eating ice cream from a cone because of my beard/mustache!  So I got a "medium" and had them put it in a cup to eat with a spoon!  (blush)  Wendy followed suit on the size, but not the method of consumption.  Wendy also had a bit of a problem!!!

YES, this is a "medium".  And it's a "before" picture.  Notice I am well prepared for   any catastrophic event!

And this is an "after" picture.  Luckwilly, a term coined by Cindy H., she had a cup nearby and was able to salvage the bulk of the ice cream as it lay defenseless on the table top :)  Even if I had a picture of the "event", I would have been barred from posting the proof :)

On to our night's stop at Horseshoe Bend COE at Rogers, Arkansas.

We ended up parking the truck away from the campsite as it was parked under an oak that produced these humongoloid acorns in great abundance, and we were afraid the dents would not qualify as hail damage.  We are now at Tunica, Mississippi and will stay the next 3 days.  Wendy is 100% better but we still need a followup PCM and ENT visit within a week or so.  Thank you very much for all your prayers!!

Since my last post we spent some time at Cathedral Gorge State Park in Nevada.  After several days of hikes and general sightseeing enjoyment, Wendy started having many problems with nose bleeds.  Eventually we went to an urgent care clinic, then an emergency room and then an ENT specialist in Utah.  After all that, the provided care was unsuccessful in stopping the bleeding so we started back East.  We went to another ER in Oklahoma City and had them prescribe blood pressure medicine for her.  She is doing much better these past 2 days.  And we are very thankful!  We are currently at Horseshoe Bend COE in Arkansas and will head out tomorrow morning.

Here's a glacier at Great Basin NP.  Next up, Cathedral Gorge.

A few pictures at Cathedral Gorge SP in Nevada.

This sign was at the end of a climb, it should have also been at the beginning!  I doubt it would have deterred us.

Next up, Tuba City, Arizona

A little story about this overnight stop... we parked under this tree and during sunset these HUGE crows came in to roost.  Did I mention they were BIG?  We heard some strange noises during the night and upon waking the next morning, the top of our trailer was a different color!  And Wendy's pair of shoes she left out overnight was no longer a pair.  I looked all over the campground and did not find the matching shoe.  There were several unleashed, roaming dogs about but I honestly think it was possible one of those GIGANTIC crows were guilty of the theft!  Needless to say we stopped at the nearest car wash to "lighten our load", so to speak. 

On the way to USA RV park in Gallup, New Mexico we stopped at Winslow and stood on the corner....again :)

And here is the world's smallest church, according to Winslow.

This was another interesting stop...a Cadillac graveyard.

I'm glad I'm not a bird!

Next stop, Gallup, NM

This was a very quick stop enroute to Amarillo, Texas.

Then, Oklahoma City.

Finally, for this post, we are at Horseshoe Bend COE in Arkansas.  I'll post some pictures of here, soon.
Wendy is doing very well!  Praises to God!
As you can imagine, this has been a very busy week, and we are looking forward to tomorrow's adventure!

Here are a few pictures of various hikes we took while at Great Basin NP.

Our campsite for 10 days, no power, no internet, no television...YAY!

The wildlife around our campsite was fun to watch!

We followed a rafter of turkeys down this path but they never allowed us to catch up and get a clear picture of them.

I can't resist the flowers! :)

These signs are not aligned with pathways and have destinations that don't always jive with our printed map...bummer.  After a few missteps trying to figure out where to go, we're now very skeptical that we made the right choice....another bummer.  So far we've always made it back to where we started from at the end of the day!

After our trek to the summit of the timber creek trail, it opened up to a beautiful, huge meadow.  And on the way down the backside of the meadow we came across this cage with one side broken apart.  It immediately made me think of my brother-in-law, Phillip.  You have to imagine 2 grown (old) men watching a television show called Mountain Monsters.  The show was, to put it bluntly, totally stupid!  It's about a small group of men traveling across the Appalachians looking for Bigfoot and other "legendary" creatures lurking about the hills.  They never see the creatures but rely on locals to describe them and they always end up building huge, fancy cages to capture their prey.  Every time the cage is destroyed and nothing is ever trapped.  We just couldn't help ourselves from tuning in to watch every week and having a good laugh!

On the way back down we enjoyed cool respites along Timber Creek :)

This National Park is accessible through 1 gravel road.  There are no gates but a ranger passes through every once in a while.  Wendy and I are always reading the rules and regulations that are posted, mainly for wild animal sightings and fire restrictions.  Not everyone cares about the postings so we occasionally have to approach others and  inform them about the fire bans.  Now, most of the them have California/Oregon/Washington plates on their vehicles.....go figure!  It is frustrating sometimes, but we do our best and if we have to move, we move.  It is what it is.  There really haven't been any major issues, until the night before we were going to leave anyway.  We woke up at 0230 to a strong smell of smoke.  We've been experiencing smoke in the skies for weeks, but no smells.  More and more campers were ignoring the fire bans. So I got up to confront yet another camper but could not see any fires around.  One couple was outside getting their rig ready for departure and I asked them about the strong smoke smell.  They relayed to me that a fire was around somewhere but didn't know how far away.  So.....Wendy and I decided to play it safe and leave immediately.  Not a very difficult decision!  We got out of Dodge and went to a gas station parking lot and spent the next couple of hours there after securing the ok from the station manager.  The uncontrolled fire was 50+ miles away by ELY, NV.  We were still glad we left in a hurry as it at least gave us some experience with hasty departures at 0230.  On a good note, the breakfast there was very tasty.  And so we moved on, thankful again!  It's still really hard to believe west coast residents thought it ok to build a fire with all the problems their states have.  Rules or no rules, common sense should prevail.  Here ends my rant once again.  We are safe and are thankful to God!

This stop was quite the experience!  We started out the first day driving along the scenic route.  All roads were wash-boarded gravel and dusty, I mean VERY dusty.  We stopped at the 8500 foot elevation sign to take a look around and came upon an elk.  He saw us before we saw him and as far as I could tell he must have been lying down.  We heard a thunderous sound as he came to his feet and skedaddled away, crashing his rack into an overhanging tree and busting off a limb.  Wendy and I crouched when we first heard the sound as we had no clue what was happening.  We both thought a big bear was on the rampage!  Then we saw the elk jump about 3 times and disappear over the crest of a hill, no longer to be seen.  It was only 30 to 40 yards away and his back was easily my shoulder height.  It was HUGE!  That was the largest animal either of us have encountered in the wild!  The experience took our breath away and we discussed what to do if it ever happened again.  All we came up with was to put a tree between us and it to give me time to arm our can of bear spray.  It happened amazingly fast.  Needless to say I didn't get a picture of the elk!

Over the 10 days we were here, we hiked several trails starting from 7500 feet, going up to 10800 feet.  Most were "moderate" skill levels.  But we took a wrong turn on one trail and after 1/4 mile or so we knew we were no longer on "moderate".  We struggled along for a while and came to a fork in the trail.  Now let me tell you that at this particular National Park, the maps and signs don't jive in any way.  All maps along the trail are not oriented to the direction we were traveling.  That is, if you happen along a map to begin with!  We decided to take the strenuous Timber Creek trail.  8 miles later, after sunset and numb from the 50 temps, in our t-shirts, we arrived back to our truck.  We wasted no time in turning on the seat heaters!  I was lucky, I have a steering wheel heater....yay!  The hikes we took over the next few days were challenging and exciting and we were blessed with good health and safe travels!

Don't worry dear, I'm right behind you....with the bear spray!

I took many pictures over the next several days and I've pretty much lumped them together in the interest of keeping me sane.  This "blogging" is fun but I've got to find a way to keep up :)

The hike along the glacier trail took us through many Bristlecone pines, which are dated to be thousands of years old.  When they die, their trunks last a very long time.  This one is over 3500 years old!

We also enjoyed the Aspen trees scattered  throughout the mountains.

We are now at Cathedral Gorge State Park close to Panaca, NV.  I'll catch you up with another post soon!  There is a fire evacuation story involved....

Now that we have contemporary amenities available again, I'll play catch-up once more with my posts :)  We've been without power and internet for the past week and a half.  Plenty of sun kept our battery charged so that was a big plus!  We left MacKay Reservoir for Jackpot, NV.  Then on to Valley View RV and Mobile Home park in Ely, NV.  One night only at Jackpot and Ely, then on to Great Basin National Park.

Here at Ely I think the face masks cut off a little too much oxygen :)

We've been looking for a reprieve from the heat.  We found it with a vengeance!  The cooler weather feels good to me but Wen would like it just a smidgen warmer.  We left MacKay this morning with the mountains dusted by overnight snows.  It was very beautiful but the biting winds left us a bit numb.  We found out the vault toilets, although very well designed, left one wondering if the engineer ever used one.  They are vented and the wind blows up from below, leaving one wishing for a redesign!  Talk about a wake up call!!!  I know, TMI :)

We had to say goodby to new friends,  Maria and Gene.  They were so kind to us the past 3 weeks. We are very thankful for the short time we were together.  Gene and I are the "catch phrase" champions!!!  (Lampshade-inside joke :))  Safe travels you guys!

As we left this morning I took this picture of a sprinkler left on all night.  It was a winter wonderland for sure.

On the way to our next destination we stopped in Twin Falls at the Snake River, a place we were 20 years ago with Wendy's parents.  Back then we witnessed hang gliders jumping from the bridge.  This time we saw them repacking their chutes but did not see them launch.

These shots almost make me want to carry my golf clubs around with us again.  We did that in a former life, 20 years ago.  40,000+ miles and golfed maybe 3 or 4 times.

Back in the day....our mode of transportation.

Now, the signs of things to come.  (Tesla stations)

We are now at Jackpot, Nevada.  Parking at a casino's campground no less.  Go figure, you'd think we could claim a jackpot.  But NOT!  Breaking even is still a win, even if on the penny machines :)  We were able to find a spot beneath an apple tree, which is a win in my opinion!

:)

P.S.  Wendy informed me we are $2.04 up!