Glen Elder State Park - Glen Elder, Kansas

Sunny, 80 degrees, Rain Tuesday night

July 29 & 30, 2014

We arrived at Glen Elder State Park after another good day.  Glen Elder State Park has several campgrounds.  We selected a campsite with electric and water, with a beautiful lake view.  Two nights cost $55.00 in Kanza Campground site 33.  That amount included two passes for both our vehicles at $5 each.  The park surrounds Lake Waconda.  This is a wonderful location for boaters.  I would imagine the weekends are full.  We had a gentle rain on Tuesday night and, lesson learned, we should put the chairs away even if it doesn't look like rain.

Looking out to the lake from our site.

Beautiful Lake Waconda

There were five of these in our patio.  In case of severe storms (tornadoes), these can be used to strap down an RV.  Scary.  This State Park has underground shelters that can hold 400 people.  Good to know.

On Wednesday morning this beautiful sky appeared across the lake from us.  Gorgeous.

This park is a boater's paradise.

Can't imagine how many boats would be here on a weekend.

Steaks on the grill using our Yoshi grill mat.

Native Kansas Sunflowers grow wild in and are the State Flower.  September is the best time to see these.

Lake Paradise RV Resort - Lone Jack, Missouri

Not sure why this blog post appears after the Kansas post below.  Don't know how to reverse the order of these posts.

Sunny 80 degrees

On Monday we departed Gun Creek Campground in IL and headed toward Missouri.  Another good weather and travel day.

Going through St. Louis was much better than the last time we were there.  The arch was further away.  We see so many neat bridges in our travels.

Our campground for the night was Lake Paradise Resort in Lone Jack, MO.  It was a Passport America park.  We chose a site on the lake.  We had a really nice breeze...but we also had tons of geese poop all around our site.  All four of us managed to not step in any of it, thank goodness.  The park is older and used to be only for RPI members.  Now it is privately owned.  Our cost was $19.70. To swim in "the largest pool in Missouri" would be $2, fishing, minature golf also had extra fees.  The pool had lots of kids enjoying themselves.  I opted to skip the pool.  We used the Nu Wave again...this time for hamburgers.  

Kansas - OZ Museum, Wamego, KS

Sunny and 80°

July 29, 2014

On Tuesday we left Lone Jack, Mo and headed toward KS.  We have been so lucky weather-wise.  Today was a good travel day.  We haven't had any major road construction either.

We made a stop in Wamego KS at the OZ Museum.  The Museum ($8 per person) is in a small building and houses one of the largest private collections of OZ memorabilia in the world, including books by Frank Baum who was the author of the Wizard of OZ.  The Wizard of Oz movie plays continually...and I must admit it is still one of my favorites.  In October the annual OZtoberFEST is held in Wamego.  The OZ Winery is within walking distance and sells A Witch Gone Good, Squished Witch, and Emerald City Lights.  A yellow brick road is in a nearby park.

It was on my bucket list and on our route through Kansas.  It was worth the stop, but we felt the price was a little high for such a small museum.  There were at least 20 other people there during the hour we were there.  Pets are welcome inside the museum if they are carried or in a stroller.

The Gale's house lands on a witch.

Several dresses were considered for Dorothy but this stle was the favorite.

Signatures of some of the Munchkins.

We had two soft tacos at "Toto's TacOZ" and they were really good.

We drove across Kansas and really enjoyed the beautiful farms.  Some people think Kansas is boring, but we've been across it several times and always like it.

Rend Lake - Gun Creek Campground - Whittington, Illinois

Whittington, IL - Sunny, 90 degrees.

Today started off with a dead battery in our Honda.  Roger is always prepared, so the jumper cables got the car started. Our first stop was a trip to Auto Zone in Benton, Illinois, just a few miles down the road.  They installed the battery for us.  Thank goodness they were open on Sunday.

We took a ride through Gun Creek Campground where we are staying.  We were in site 7 which is a handicap site that had a nice concrete patio.  We were told that anyone can use the handicap sites.  There were several still unoccupied.  We didn't get a lake site but that probably was a good thing.  Seemed like the local families were using them.  We were in a nice quiet section.  We had electric only and with the Access Pass it was $8 per day.  A full-time RVer told us the max number of days was 28 - he was a happy camper paying just $8 a day for 28 days.

All the sites were very nice.  Some had full hook-ups.

The area around Rend Lake is huge.  Next to the campground is a lodge, golf course, sports bar and restaurant.  There is a very large visitor center and art gallery.  Unfortunately it was closed while we were here.  There is a beach and a marina too.  I thought the golf ball water tower was pretty neat.

Just a short distance from the campground we crossed the bridge over Rend Lake.

Next we drove through Wayne Fitzgerald State Park, another great campground on the lake. What was most surprising to me was that there were two "Boatels" also - a lodge along with a terrific place to dock boats.  Pretty snazzy.

When we returned to our campsite we opened up the Nu Wave Cooktop box.  I had one stainless steel sauce pan that was magnetic and would work with the Nu Wave.  I was amazed at how quickly the water boiled.  Boiled some pasta for a pasta salad. A skillet came with the Nu Wave so my next items to try will be bacon and eggs.  Nothing smells better than bacon cooking in a campground in the early morning.  I already know that I love this new cooktop.

While cooking outside I was stung with a wasp.  A spot quickly came up on my leg.  I rubbed on some "Active On" and within minutes the stinging went away and there was never any itching.  I previously used this on a mosquito bite and it worked amazingly well.  This is really for aches and pains but I accidentally found it works great on insect bites. I buy it at Walgreens.

Whittington Illinois

Arrived at the COE campground at 1:00 p.m.  We are in site 7.  Since it is the weekend we didn't get a site on the lake.  At $8 per night with my Access Pass we aren't complaining.  It is a beautiful park.  I'll get some photos tomorrow since we are going to stay Sunday night also.

We enjoyed our microwaved dinner of teriyaki chicken.  These meals are so convenient for RV'ers.  I add a package of additional rice.  For about $6 we have a good meal in 14 minutes that feeds both of us.

On the road West

Today we left Portland, Tennessee, at 8:00 a.m.  Our plan, which has continued to change this past month, will be to spend the first two nights at a Corps of Engineers park in Illinois.  Those parks are usually very nice.

We will eventually end up spending a week in South Dakota.

Last night we said goodbye to Roger's mom and later got to see our friend Carolyn, along with Debbie and Sandra.  We'll see all of them again in Florida after we return in October.

Somewhat Boring

We are both very bored.  Guess we have been in one place too long.  Having lived here in Gallatin, there isn't much we haven't seen around here.  Roger spends his day playing games on the computer.  I spend my days playing games, working on my genealogy which has turned up some interesting (to me) information.  For instance, my 5th great uncle owned what is now the Drake House Museum in Plainfield NJ.  George Washington frequently stayed there - that's pretty cool.

http://drakehouseplainfieldnj.org/

I also have spent time visiting with my family and friends.  We tend to do lunch together.  So far I've eaten at Fazoli's, KFC, Captain D's, Cracker Barrel, Dos Margaritas, Red Robin, Sax Deli, Mamas Kitchen, and had a great dinner at my niece's home.  And I wonder why I continue to gain weight?

Our friend, Carolyn, is coming to Gallatin tomorrow to visit her friend Debbie.  We will all meet for happy hour and then go out to dinner.  Carolyn bought a park model in our park, Citrus Ridge.  She also has a park model in Crossville, TN.

My sister-in-law and I stopped at Bed, Bath, Beyond and I bought a couple of items for the motor home.

We use a small can of coffee in the motor home and I found a $2 scoop that holds 2 TBSP of coffee.  The scoop fits easily into the can and it extends for use when reaching to the bottom of the can.

 

We have a very small amount of kitchen countertop and cooking is difficult (our happy hour ingredients take up most of the countertop).  My friend Carolyn recommended the Nu Wave induction electric cook top.  It should fit easily on our outdoor table.  It will also allow us to use the campground electric instead of propane for the cooktop inside the motor home.  I'm anxious to try it out when we begin our trip.

 

Here's a photo of the Gallatin "square".  It has some very nice old buildings.  Each year beautiful petunias are hung.  They are well maintained by some trustees at the local jail.

That's all for now.  Heading out to lunch with my friend, Nancy.  We're meeting at O'Charley's.



 

Gallatin, Tennessee

Not much to do around here.  Last evening we went to visit a past neighbor of ours.  Gave us a chance to catch up on our old neighborhood.  As we sat on her porch talking, we could see both our previous homes.  Any regrets for selling out in 2009 and moving to Florida?  Absolutely not.

Today I went to Walmart and checked out two new stores in town.  Stopped by Farm Bureau to discuss a life insurance issue.

We are staying in Roger's sister's home this week.  Annie and I walked down the back yard to take a couple of photos.  The home is on Old Hickory lake.

Every day we see deer in the backyard.  I don't have my Canon camera with me, so the picture taken this morning isn't very good due to the distance,

We went to visit Roger's mom this afternoon.  Although it is very expensive, it is a very nice place.

Later we went out for a good BBQ meal at Top Hog.  Forgot to take a photo of our meals

We pass this Alpha See Ya' motor home ever day.  The front end is held up in the air by two jacks.  It seems as if someone is living in it full-time.  Crazy.

Now we are in for the day watching TV and playing computer games.