Kearney, Nebraska

July 5, 2014

I think the more we do, the behinder I get with the blog.  I am currently at least two entries behind.

Going back to yesterday, and even the day before.

Yesterday we decided to go into Warp’s Pioneer Village.  If you are a 19th and 20th century history buff and love memorabilia this is the place to go.  Everything, and I mean everything from the mid 1800’s to the 1960’s is on display.  I have tons of pictures but can't get them ready to post right now because by the time we got back to the RV park, had our group 4th of July picnic, talked and came inside to go to bed I was totally whipped and way too tired to resize photos and write.  I am currently passing the time on the PC while waiting for Nancy to take her second shower of the morning.  She went for a walk earlier and discovered it was no longer in the 70’s.  We will be seeing more summer-like temperatures the next few days.  At least there is a breeze (more like a steady 35 mph wind).

We have another full day of sightseeing ahead of us and I will do my best to get all the pictures sized, uploaded and text written before we leave Monday morning for our next destination.

 This was DEER CREEK CAMPGROUND back in Topeka, KS.  Note the expansive use of concrete for interior roads and parking pads.  The grass between sites was golf course quality.

Kearney RV Park is not nearly as fancy.  As you can see in the background we are (where else) in the middle of a corn field.  The sites are gravel but also very long, which is what we need for our rigs.

 Driving through Nebraska all you see are corn and wheat fields.  They go on for miles and miles!

 One of the Native American casinos that can be found on reservation lands along the highway.  I believe this one was Kickapoo.

 This is an example of how straight and flat the roads are.  They just disappear off the horizon.  Nancy made this shot while we were traveling NE-70.

Coming into Kearney, NE.  This is the Memorial Arch.  We plan on going there today for one of our stops and touring the exhibits inside.  Kearney is the Sandhill Crane capital of the world.  Every March millions of Sandhill Crane's land in Kearney while on their migration path south.  The protrusions coming out of each tower at the ends of the Arch are bronze castings of Cranes.  Maybe I can get a closer shot today.


The next 3 pics are my attempt at getting some of the fireworks last night recorded.  With the flat land around us we could see fireworks displays many, many miles in the distance.

This is our current travel troupe.  Right to left:  Nancy and me, Wayne and Margaret, Lee and Lea.  We have one more that joined us in Kearney, Chuck and Sue.

I still have photos of the stuff in Pioneer Village from yesterday along with last night's picnic.   Hopefully I can get them added latter today.

July 3, 2014

Topeka Kansas to Kearney Nebraska

I had previously completed two blog postings with pictures and was sure I published them.  But, alas, they did not appear when I opened the blog today.  I’m not sure what happened to them but luckily had written the text in Word so I could retrieve it without having to do a complete re-write.

Deer Creek RV Park in Topeka was a beautiful facility.  All concrete interior roads and site pads with patio, lush green grass between the campsites and all the expected facilities like pool, lounge, dog run, laundry, restaurant, etc.

Our first night was pretty much a do-nothing resting from all the activities in Branson.  The next day we spent some time driving around the city and drove out to a steak house suggested by a member or our group and enjoyed a great meal.

We decided to see what the Topeka Zoo looked like and planned on going to the Brown vs. Board of Education museum site but became so enhanced with thee zoo that it took all our time.  It is a medium size zoo with many different animals - elephants, giraffes, monkeys, bear,  birds, snakes, lions, tigers, rhinos, turtles and everything in-between.  The weather was a near perfect 72 degrees with a light breeze.  That was a real relief from the upper 90's and high humidity in Branson.

We all gathered for a picnic cookout dinner and prepared for our next trip to Kearney, Nebraska.

We pulled out at 8:30 a.m. and followed the highway north.  Lee was in the front, Wane in thee middle and we brought up the rear.  There was not a whole lot of traffic and the roads were in great shape.  It was still cool and a little heat in the cab actually felt good.

Our first stop was at a Native American Casino parking lot.  No, we did not go inside to gamble.  Casino's such as this one are popular on the reservations and undoubtedly bring in a lot of money.

Kansas was fairly flat and had a lot of wheat fields.  There was corn too but wheat and cattle were more prominent.  As wee crossed into Kansas it was one massive corn field after another.  There would bee maybe a mile of corn then a farm house and more corn.  Rather than car dealerships most every corner in the towns we drove through there were tractor and equipment dealers.

I noticed the elevation was around 2000 feet above sea level.  I was kind of surprised that the countryside was so flat for the elevation.

Wee arrived at our park in Kearney about 3:30 p.m.  Wee have full hook-ups and nice long campsites.  It should be no surprise that the park is smack-dab in the middle of a cornfield.  It is an “OK” park – certainly not a resort or long term destination site.  Tomorrow is thee 4th of July and we have our American Flag flying high.  I’m not sure what wee will do/see tomorrow but there are some really interesting places around here.  This is our first trip to Kansas so everything is new. 

Friday, July 4th.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

Fireworks displays and celebrations were held around Kearney last night (???)  It was really neat to watch them all since the land is so flat.  We did not need to go anywhere to watch – we just hopped up on the flat bed of the Volvo, sat down and could watch the fireworks from not only Kearney but neighboring communities miles away.  I felt like we possibly had one of the best views possible.

I was dead tired last night.  Driving takes the energy out of me.  Part of that is due to the extra driver attention needed for a large vehicle.  Unfortunately, many drivers in small 4-wheel vehicles see you as a nuisance and are determined to get in front of you.  I can’t say I blame them because I find no pleasure following a 8-1/2 foot wide and 13 foot tall solid white wall.  They don’t back off because they are afraid they won’t have room to pass and when the way is clear they will cut back right in front of you and sometimes even slow down below our speed.  You do have to be diligent as you KNOW they are going to do this.

We are trying to decide what we want to see today.   Whatever it is, we are leaving at 11:00 a.m.

June 30, 2014

Topeka Kansas

Deer Creek Valley RV Park

www.deercreekvalleyrvpark.com

We left Branson, MO this morning after 12 fun filled days with our Cedar Creek RV Owner’s Club family.

I have not written anything for the past few days simply because by the time we got back to the RV after whatever activity we were doing I was to dog-gone tired to write or upload any photos.

We went to two shows in Branson.  One was Unbelievable (that’s the name of the show).  It was a mix of on stage magic that was truly unbelievable as Cockatoos and huge Parrots appeared out of nowhere and flew over the audience, and people were made to disappear, fly, and levitate.  Sure, it was all illusion but being in one of the front rows right at the stage was a lot different that watching magic acts on TV.  The second show was The Magnificent Seven.  This was a musical event that started with songs from the 40’s and covered most every year up to the present.  The presenters did over 50 costume changes during the show – the changes were done in seconds.  Overall, we both felt like this was the better show of the two.  It sure did bring back a lot of memories!

I (Randy) learned how to ride a Segway and navigated a little over 6 miles in Table Rock State Park along the lake.  It was sort of scary but there were no crashes so I guess I did OK.

There is a little retro restaurant in Branson called Billy Bob’s Dairy Land.  It is famous for huge burgers.  I ordered a small burger and fries despite the server’s encouragement to make it a triple or more.  They would build any type of burger you wanted and stack it all the way to the ceiling if you wanted.  They had an old-time soda fountain and I ordered a real honest-to-goodness vanilla coke.  It was the first Coke I had drunk since April 2013.  It was good and reminded me of the soda fountain at Pine Valley Drug Store back in Oak Ridge where I spent much of my paper route profits on Vanilla and Cherry Cokes along with root beer sodas.

We spent one day shopping at Tangier Outlets.  Nancy bought me an early birthday present consisting of two really nice knit shirts and a pair of Gore-Tex walking shoes.  They are waterproof yet still allow your feet to breathe.  I believe they will be nice when setting up the RV in the rain.  I bought myself one of those twin counter rotating blade Alligator saws.  This was in a wholesale direct tool store that had mostly Rigid and Ryobi products.  The saw was “blemished” (small scratch on the handle) and was priced at $112 below normal retail.  I like bargains like that.  This thing is suppose to cut anything from stone to tile to steel.  I’ll find out when we bet back home in August.

Nancy spent some additional time with Sandra running around Branson and shopping.  Sandra and Charlie carry a Smart-four2 car sideways on the back of their Volvo truck.  We have talked about doing the same but I am not sure it is really worthwhile for us due to the time it takes to load and unload the little car.  We did not even bring the golf cart with us on this odyssey.  We usually have no trouble taking the Volvo where we want to go.

We spent a considerable amount of time eating.  Our dinners were community pot-luck that was anything but luck.  There was more food than anyone could eat.

Our friends, Gwen and Allan, celebrated their 53 anniversary while in Branson.  We went with them to dinner at Whippersnappers – a seafood restaurant that had all you can eat crab legs and lobster.  As much as I love lobster I could only eat three, along with the same amount of crab leg clusters.  Allan devoured seven lobsters.  I am not sure how many Nancy had but she was still eating long after I stopped.

The weather was HOT (as expected) with a few afternoon thunderstorms.  Thankfully nothing that caused any damage.

We enjoyed a community campfire most every night.  Chuck brought out some sky lanterns that we fired up with hot air and launched.  They are neat and go so high that they literally disappear from sight.  Once the burning wax in the balloon goes out, they gently fall back to earth.

The drive today from Branson to Topeka was uneventful with the exception of a huge boat being moved by a semi-truck that got stuck at our exit off of I-44.  We had to go to the next exit and then backtrack to get on our route.  Kansas is mighty flat and windy.  We had a cross wind all the way that was strong enough to push us around a little bit – nothing dangerous but we could definitely feel the wind.  The speed limit here on the Interstate is 75 mph.  We kept to the left lane and cruised between 62 and 65 mph.  Cars would blast by us as if we were sitting still.  With a 75 mph speed limit, most cars were probably running between 85 and 90 mph.

Deer Creek is a beautiful RV park.  The have concrete interior roads, RV pads & patios, lots of space between RV’s and grass that rivals a putting green on a golf course.  Oscar loves the grass and enjoyed rolling over on his back for a good grass scratching.

I’m not sure what sigh seeing event we will choose tomorrow.  We have numerous places to choose from.  Tomorrow night we have reservations at a local steak house with the friends traveling with us in their RV’s.  Currently we have four other units but the number may increase along the route as others join us.

The weather here is “safe” but some severe storms are happening to our east.  The news reported a small tornado touch down about 3 miles from our RV park last night.  I can’t say that we are sorry we missed it.  The temperature here today was 96 with a heat index of 111.  A cold front will move through tonight and the rest of the week should be in the high 70’s or low 80’s with less humidity.  That will be a nice break.

We are having fun and enjoying all the new sights.  I am especially looking forward to Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills.

 The counter at Billy Bob's is right out of the 50's

 This is a SMALL burger.  You may not be able to tell from the photo but it is bigger than a Burger King Whopper.  They will build a burger that is 4, 5, 6 or more patties and buns high!

 This was part of our group that visited Billy Bob's

 Randy has apparently gained some weight and Nancy is a "Skinny Minnie".

 Our all-you-can-eat Lobster fest.  Our lobsters are fighting.  Neither one won as we ate them!

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

One thing we can say absolutely for sure:  It is HOT, HOT, HOT - not to mention the high humidity.  It is probably just as hot back in Mechanicsville, but it just seems hotter here for some reason.

So far we have missed the thunderstorms, though the areas around us got quite a dose of rain and lightning yesterday.  We may get some storms over the next few days as the forecast is calling for a 50% chance of some boomers.

While the rally does not officially kick-off until Sunday, we now have 15 Cedar Creek units in the park.  By tomorrow, we should have most all of the park filled with club members.

We had an impromptu pot-luck dinner last night for those who were here.  Ray had a big bag of home made crab cakes, Nancy cooked a pot of country ham seasoned green beans, Windy brought a chocolate dump cake, Linda S. baked a big plate of peanut butter cookies (my favorite) and others brought delicious salads and casseroles.  One thing for sure - when we get a group of Cedar Creeker's together there is never a shortage of something to eat!

Part of our group gathered together in the Stage Coach Rally Room for last night's pot-luck dinner.  After dinner, we sat around a campfire by the pool until the bugs started having their own feast on our legs.

Our location, Stage Coach RV Park, is directly across from the Table Rock State Park which includes a huge marina and two campgrounds.  We drove through the campgrounds earlier today.  There were only a few small sites still open.  Section 2 has a good number of large concrete pad sites with patios that could accommodate our unit should we ever decide to return and visit the state park.

Stage Coach is close to Lake Taneycomo, just below the Table Rock Lake dam on route 165.  This puts us south of the key activity core of Branson's entertainment mecca along with all the traffic and hills.  The photos below look out to the south away from all of the hustle and bustle where private homes, golf courses and condos dot the landscape.  It is really a beautiful place partly situated in a valley and cut into the side of a rock mountain. 

Looking west at the Table Rock Lake Dam.  The water below comes out of the lake above and forms Lake Taneycomo.

I have a 50X optical zoom lens on my newest digital camera.  Since the dam was not really visible in the first photo I tried taking a shot with the zoom set to 40X.  The zoom and image stabilizer must have worked because this is a shot of the Table Rock Dam made from the same location.

Looking back to the east - this is the downstream part of Lake Taneycomo.  Historic Downtown Holister is on the south (right) side of the lake a few miles downstream and Historic Downtown Branson is on the opposite (northern) side of the lake.

Dave and Jill came in yesterday afternoon and Dave once again brought two of his Segway's.  Nancy had an introductory lesson and an opportunity to drive one when we were in Hutchinson, KS two years ago.  Today was my first time on a Segway.  It only took a few minutes to get the hang of how it balanced and turned.  They are so simple to operate - lean forward and you go forward.  Lean back and you stop or go back.  Left and right turns are controlled by a handle grip on the left side.  Needless to say we would love to have a pair of Segways.  I can't say that we will buy a pair, but it would be mighty tempting should a good deal come along.

Randy taking his first solo ride on a Segway.  Dave watches from behind to make sure I don't wreck or fall off.

We are having fun and (mis?) behaving.

BRANSON, MO

We left West Memphis, AR at the ungodly hour of 0600.  Actually it worked out pretty good since we got into Branson by 1300 and had plenty of time to set everything up for the next 11 nights we will be here.

After talking to a few travelers in the campground last night we decided to switch our route and stay on I-40 to Little Rock then turn north and pick up 65.  The majority of roads were better than I expected.  What was ironic is this route took us right by the road to Nancy's former Conway house and Pickles Gap Baptist Church.  The girls will know about this.  No opportunity to stop as we were on a dedicated mission to get to Branson and were traveling with two other RV units.

Ray took the lead around Little Rock.  Nancy snapped this picture just as we crossed the Missouri state line.

I-40 coming out of Little Rock has been totally rebuilt.  Beautiful highway and scenery.

Nice sites at Stage Coach RV Park in Branson.  Pads are concrete and there are enough trees to provide some shade without getting in the way of awnings or satellite dish antennas.

The week ahead will be filled with a lot of group activities that include shows, eating, shopping and swapping stories around the campfire.  Our Cedar Creek RV Owner's Club rally's are always fun!

WEST MEMPHIS, ARKANSAS

We left Lebanon a little before 8:00 a.m. and hit Nashville during the peak rush hour.  There were several accidents that brought our line of traffic to a halt - stop then start again - go 10 feet and stop again.  Thankfully we were all eventually able to get through safely and hit the open road to Memphis.  There was a lot of traffic - especially big trucks - on I-40.  The weather was great - no rain and clear.  But, it was hot outside.

Just outside of Jackson, TN I realized my CB radio was not working.  Normally I wouldn't care as I have little need for it when we are by ourselves.  But, since CB was our only communication with Ray and Charlie (other than a cell phone) we zipped into a Love's truck stop, I ran in and bought a new radio and we were back on the road in less than 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, I-40 is still the same rutted, bumpy, pot-holed road immediately across the state line into Arkansas.  It doesn't seem to be any better than it was when I first drove this route 20 years ago.

We stopped for the night at Tom Sawyer RV Park, which is right on the Mississippi River.  I do mean right on - we can spit in the river from the front steps on the RV.  The water is really moving from the recent rains.  We enjoyed watching the barge traffic up and down the river  One of the tugs was pushing 27 barges - ]7 long and 3 across, up river.  I tried to get a picture but it was too dark to do any good.

Everyone got together for "happy hour" and then dinner over at Charlie & Sandra's RV.  We had a cool breeze coming in off the water that kept it pleasant outside.

Right in front of Ray and Linda's RV there are several blue flags pushed into the ground.  The are marking a bird nest.  These birds just dig a small hole and lay their eggs on the ground.  If you come near the nest they run (not fly) away from the nest, roll over on their back and pretend they are hurt. It was one of the strangest bird behaviors I have ever seen.

OK - Crazy Ray wants to leave tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. so we can get ahead of the heat and traffic.  That is mighty early for me.  I must quit and go to bed but I do have a few photos to post.

 Our campsite at Tom Sawyer on the Mississippi River.

 Tugboat pushing a "small" barge down the Mississippi River

 This is one of the birds with the nest on the ground.  Maybe you can recognize what it is?

 The bird nest is just a clutch of four speckled eggs on the ground.

 When you get near the nest the birds roll over on their back and act like they are injured.  Both male and female do this!

 Crazy Ray.  Need I say more?  Yes, even us "Senior Citizens" still like to fool around and act silly at times.

 Nancy and Oscar walking along the river bank.

"Happy Hour" around Charlie & Sandra's RV.





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Monday, June 16

Lebanon Tennessee - just east of Nashville

We left Mechanicsville, VA at 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning.  Traffic was surprisingly heavy across I-64 to Charlottesville.  Traffic began to thin out as we crossed Afton Mountain and picked up I-81 at Stanton.  Most of the big truck traffic on I-81 was lighter than usual - probably because it being Sunday and Father's Day.  The Volvo ran great and waltzed up the mountain grades without slowing down and then automatically braked going downhill.  We were able to hold a steady 64 mph which is as fast as I like to travel.

We made our first stop after 350 miles a little after 4:00 p.m. at a nice little RV park in Blountville, TN called Rocky Top.  We had stopped here on previous trips so the hosts knew who we were and escorted us into a long pull-thru site.  I believe Oscar knew where we were and quickly found his smells and bathroom spot.  I was pretty stiff and tired from driving and hit the sack after dinner and a relaxing hot shower.

A Long Pull-Thru site at Rocky Top

We pulled out about 9:30 Monday morning and drove to just outside of Knoxville, TN and stopped at a Flying J where me met Charlie & Sandra and Ray & Linda.  Charlie is also towing with a big truck - actually bigger than ours since it has a larger sleeper and is still twin axles on the rear.  They carry a neat little Smart Car on the back of the truck that can be unloaded with a set of ramps Charlie carries.

Our pull-thru site at Country Side

Charlie & Sandra.  Note the Smart Car loaded behind the cab of the truck.

Ray & Linda's Cedar Creek at Country Side RV Park

We only had to drive 275 miles today before stopping for the night at Country Side RV park in Lebanon.  So far the weather has been great for driving with no rain or wind.  It is hot!  The outdoor thermometer on the Volvo was hovering right at 95 F most of the way.

We all got together for a dinner of fried chicken provided by Ray & Linda, squash from Charlie & Sandra and potatoes from Nancy & me.  Ray added a bottle of delicious blackberry wine brewed and bottled by Ruthie at Stage Coach RV park in Branson, MO.

We have crossed into the Central time zone and set our clocks back an hour.  Oscar doesn't understand time zone changes and couldn't understand why his dinner was an hour late.

We are leaving tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. (Central time) and will follow I-40 to West Memphis, AR.  Tomorrow's drive is only about 250 miles so it should go well.  I do get stiff and tired driving and prefer not to do over 6 hours a day behind the wheel.  Driving a 66 foot long rig weighing over 30,000 pounds is a little more stressful than a 4-wheeler.  Being rested and alert is important.

Beautiful green meadow and clear blue skies behind our RV at Country Side RV Park