John Martin day 2

The storm yesterday was somewhat alarming. So much so, that we abandoned the MP and drove the car to the bathroom parking lot and we were prepared to dive in there if needed. It turned into a tent apocalypse. Every tent was blown over. There were a few gusts that were probably 50 or so MPH. I did a ride this morning and then we drove toward Lamar to visit "Bents New Fort". Bents Old Fort is a National Monument. It's a reproduction of the original fort built by William Bent in the late 1800s on the Arkansas River. He traded with the Indians and got along with them. Then the Army showed up. They ran him out of his own fort. He moved. Hence, Bents New fort. The Army followed him to his new location and staged "The Spring Creek Masacre" from his new fort. 200 Indians were killed while waving a white flag. That was the end of the friendly relationship with the natives. So many heart warming stories about our early dealings with the Native Americans. I took the pic of the dam a few minutes before sunrise with calm winds. We are in Mountain Time now and my body wants to get up too early. We move tomorrow. 

John Martin Reservoir State Park

We are not too far from Lamar Colorado. It's the nearest town that has a Wal-Mart. You're not really a city unless you have one. I got extreme Deja vu when we drove in here. I'm sure we've been here before. I don't know when or in which MP but I recognize a bunch of stuff. The MP 3 is backed up to Hasty lake. That's not the lake behind that Dam, it's a little lake below the dam. We are on the downstream side of the dam. If the dam is breached don't even bother looking for us because we will be riding the flood into oblivion. Eastern Colorado is still flat plains. There is a pretty big thunderstorm forming West of here that were hoping won't pay us a visit. The plains states are known for a particular weather phenomenon. I can't think of what it is. Humm! Maybe we'll find out a little later when that storm gets here. We are here for 2 nights. Just added the storm pic and Jenny looking down from the top of the dam.

Dodge City Kansas

Today was our drive across Kansas. It was actually pretty interesting. We left the Interstate and drove here on a rural highway. Today is supposed to be one of the biggest travel days of the year and I passed not one car for 280 miles. In fact the driver assist feature on the Sprinter, that would keep safe spacing between us and the car ahead, quit working. After 30 minutes of not seeing anything ahead it thinks it's broken and shuts off. Damn Germans. Dodge City has Boot Hill, Bat Masterson, and Wyatt Earp. We visited a museum and learned about the city's sordid history followed by a gun fight conducted behind the building. We did what we could with the time we had. Colorado tomorrow. That pic was in the window of a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Emporia Kansas

Today was our longest drive so far, 380 miles. This park is feet from interstate 35 and apparently close to a RR track. We pulled into a Wal-Mart before we got to the park and noticed an Aldi across the street. Jenny likes their version on Champagne. We forgot we are in Kansas and it is Sunday. Not only do they not sell it on Sunday, they didn't sell any beer or wine anytime. So, Jenny was disappointed. This commercial campground has a 9 hole disc golf course. That fact Is weird, but probably not as weird as this basket.

Pere Marquette day 2

This is day 2 of the Memorial Day weekend. I started with another (wait for it!) Bike ride. I rode 45 minutes on trails uphill and got on a paved road and it took 5 minutes to get down. We drove 4 miles into Grafton to experience it's ambience. About a million people on Harleys were doing the same thing. We visited an indoor flea market that had more people in it than the total population of Grafton (650). We had some time to kill so we took a ferry across the Illinois River to visit a wildlife refuge and the tiny town of Brussels (pop 116). This morning I was thinking today would be a chill day. That didn't work out. Tomorrow we begin a series of 2, one nighters staying in commercial campgrounds, both in Kansas.

Pere Marquette State Park Grafton Ill

Today was pretty much a slog. No real blog worthy happenings. We are very near the Mississippi River. We drove through Alton Illinois and then by Lock and dam 27 on the river. There are 29 locks on the river and I remember being ecstatic I only had 2 left. This is the first weekend of summer and things are getting busy. We are here for 2 nights. 

Brown Co. day 3

I had a great bike ride early. It was 52° this morning so it was a chilly bike ride. Jenny needed to mail a hard copy of the document she sent via email yesterday so we drove into Nashville (yes, Indiana has a Nashville) and found their post office. The town is really cool. It's an artsy town with a lot of quirky shops. Jenny hadn't gotten out into the wild so we climbed the smoke tower which is considered "a must do" and then did a couple of hiking trails. It's now 6:30. It's amazing how we can eat up a day. We head further West tomorrow. Should be in Illinois. 

Brown Co. day 2

I got out on my bike this morning. There are hiking, horse and bike trails in abundance in the park. One of the problems with these really big parks is you have to drive for 20 minutes to get anywhere. None of the trail heads are near the campground. I stayed on the easier trails because I still have a ways to go. Jenny got an email yesterday that required some attention today. She had to print out a form (we don't have a printer). Sign it and have it notarized, scan the signed and notarized document and then send it to the Attorney in S.A. She found a UPS store not too far away and we got that done this afternoon. I didn't take any pictures in the UPS store. In fact, I only took one picture today. This one. 

Brown County SP Indiana

You shouldn't have to devote too much thought into the location of this park. At least the County where it is. This place is another one of those State Parks that could be confused for a National Park. It's 15000+ acres and is very well maintained. The park is an island of hills in a sea of flat farm land. All the trees in this area had been cut down and removed by the mid 1920s. The park was established in 1929 and the CCC got to work trying to restore the land. There are abundant trees now. We did a short hike and saw a whole bunch of PawPaw trees. They supposedly fruit later in the summer. We are here for 3 nights. That Flower is from a Tulip tree.

A visit with Mike & Linda

A beautiful piece of property, a fantastic steak dinner, enlightening conversation and a full hook-up campsite. 

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Wow! That was a walk down memory lane. The Rock Hall is sort of a museum with music. There is a lot of music. Every room we walked in, around every corner, everywhere. The place was rock'n. There is a wall with all of the inductees through the years inscribed on plaques. We walked along that wall and were pretty amazed that we knew 90% of the artists and could come up with a song title or lyric associated with the band or individual. We grew up with that music. It's amazing how the music gets imprinted in your brain. Anyway, it was a good experience, sometimes sad because some of these acts when they get inducted are not doing too good. Artificial knees and hips, that sort of thing. Tomorrow we turn West. Our first stop is to visit with Mike and Linda Everett 4 hours West of here. We are coming guys. Be there around 2:00ish.

Punderson State Park Ohio

Geez Louise!!! A cold front blew through Ohio yesterday and it's frigging cold. Neither one of us thought about or packed for cold weather. I have one long sleeve shirt. We were both thinking 'desert', disregarding that we are headed due North and are separated from Canada by a lake. Tomorrow we will drive into Cleveland and visit "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Hopefully it's heated. This park has a lot of winter stuff. That picture is of what they call the sledding hill. There is a sign on a post that reminds people to call 911 if needed. We visited a local grocery store and noticed quite a few Amish shoppers. They apparently drove to the store behind a horse. That other pic was taken in front of the Lodge. 

Salt Fork day 2

Today was primarily devoted to admin. Jenny had to get the sun up this morning, then we did some laundry. After lunch at the Lodge we visited "The Stone House" built in 1840 at a cost of $600. That also included 80 acres. We did a loop hike through what would have to be considered a extremely lush, dense hardwood forest. I'm currently (5:00) trying to decide what to drink. Bourbon, Gin, Vodka, or Tequila. So many choices. We move further north towards Cleveland tomorrow. 

Salt Fork State Park Ohio

I'll start off by acknowledging that today (May 18th) Jenny and I have been married for 49 years. May has Mothers day, Jenny's birthday and our anniversary. I'm exhausted. This month I have to stay focused. This park is Ohio's largest. It's over 17000 acres. It's kind of like a national park. The lodge has over 200 rooms and is 4 stories of wood beams and stone. We drove over there and toasted the day. We are here for 2 nights. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow. 

Pipestem day 3

The weather was much improved today. We stayed in the park and did some exploring. The most vigorous bike ride I've had since I got my new hip was in Tega Cay. The Twins were on their electric scooters and I was struggling to keep up. That ride got me ready for the ride I took this morning. Those floaty looking things were in the lake I rode around. Things get cooking here after Memorial day. Jenny and I hiked a trail and played disc golf. There was a damn bear that followed us for a couple of holes that I had to swat away a couple of times because he was interfering with my back swing. We should be in Southern Ohio tomorrow. 

Pipestem day 2

Today is Jenny's birthday. For 3 months she will be older than me. This morning we drove an hour to briefly visit 'New River Gorge National Park'. Most of the land adjacent to the river has been administered by the Park Service for many years but it only recently rolled over into the National Park system. The park follows the river for many miles and it ain't easy getting in and out of the gorge in a car. We drove to the famous New River Gorge Bridge and did some touristy stuff. You might recognize the bridge as the sight of "Bridge Day". One day every October they close 2 lanes of the road and BASE jumpers from all over the world come here to jump off the bridge. I don't get it but it is apparently appealing to some people. Here are some bridge stats: 1. Longest single arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere 2. 4th Longest arch bridge in the world 3. highest vehicle carrying bridge in the U.S. 4. 3rd highest bridge in the U S. 5. 13th highest bridge in the world.  The bridge is stamped onto the WV quarter and there is postage stamp with a picture of it. WOW! I'm impressed. We are here one more full day. More tomorrow. 

Pipestem Resort State Park WV

There is a plant around here that has a hollow stem. The Indians used it as a pipestem whenever they were smoking whatever it was they were smoking. Back then it was probably legal. Anyway, that is the source of the name of this park. We headed North on I-77, drove through Virginia and ended up here in Southern West Virginia. What makes this place a resort is the following: 2 golf courses. 1 disc golf course, 1 putt-putt golf course, an equestrian center, a tram that takes you down to a river, a Zip Line course, and finally, a lodge and conference center with a very nice restaurant. The drive was rainy and it is wet and almost cold now. It's supposed to be the same tomorrow. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, however we aren't too far from our newest National Park (New River National Park). We might go there just to add that to our list. We are here for 3 nights. 

Mother's Day 2023

We have begun our early summer trip. Our itinerary will keep us out for 6 weeks. The first stop was Tega Cay. Seth and Courtney have several profusely blooming rose bushes in the back yard. We leave here tomorrow for a state park in West Virginia. 

Greyfield Inn day 2

Here is the deal as best as I understand it: The Carnegies were rich. Like, Bill Gates rich. The picture of the ruins is the original family house. Back when it was built they had 250 servants to keep it running. They had to generate there own electricity for crying out loud and it was direct current. This was late 1800's. As the kids grew older the Matriarch bribed her kids into building there own Mansions on the island. The Greyfield Inn is one of those. We did a tour of Plume Orchard (see pic) which is another one. Eventually the mother died and none of the kids wanted the responsibility or expense of maintaining the old original house. They removed all the furnishings and it sat empty for over 30 years. It was supposedly burned down by a disgruntled employee from the mainland in the 1930s. The Greyfield Inn is run by decendents of the Carnegie family. It's been a fantastic 2 days but we must leave tomorrow. Our summer trips departure date is fast approaching. 

Greyfield Inn Cumberland Is. Ga.

We are here to celebrate our 49th anniversary. We are a couple of weeks early but we are going to be in the MP3 when the actual day arrives. The island was once owned by the Carnegie family. A big chunk of it still is, but most of it is National Seashore. This Inn is owned by some sort of Carnegie relative and it's the only place to overnight on the island without camping. This is a beautiful piece of property. There are wild horses, vacant beaches and enormous oak trees. It's kinda formal in that the guys have to wear a coat for dinner. I found one in the back of our closet so I'm good. We are here for 2 nights.