"My Brother's Campground" - Houlton, Maine

So, just when you think your plans are all set something happens to turn everything upside down! We spent the night in Houlton, Maine before heading into Canada Saturday morning.  The campsite was really pretty and perfect weather.  Nearly every camper there was from New Brunswick, Canada.  We spoke to our "neighbors" and he said they come across the border periodically to stock up on provisions because the prices are so much cheaper here than in Canada.  He loaded his RV fridge with 2 cases of beer and had one more case on the counter - the essentials - lol!

Saturday morning I even got up and went for a run before we headed across the border.  As we are driving into the border crossing station I'm explaining to the girls where we are headed in Nova Scotia and am looking at the KOA campground magazine and realize with horror that I have booked the wrong KOA!  I booked the one in Newfoundland!!!  Good lord, it takes "planes, trains, and automobiles", not to mention ferries, to get there.  It's on the edge of nowhere! So I frantically call the Halifax KOA just to find out that they have no space - UGH!

Unbeknownst to me, all this time Jeff is having a conversation with the Canadian Border Guard about the shotgun we have on board.  Last year we took it with us through Canada up into Alaska with no problems whatsoever.  Jeff filled out the proper form, paid $25, all was well.  But this time the guy was not very pleasant (to put it nicely).  Jeff said he had the form and that last year it was okay.  They guy said "I know the law!"  He said it was because our destination was in Canada - we weren't just passing through - like last year. So our options were to possibly leave the gun with the police in Houlton, Maine but that would have meant coming back through there to pick it up, which we hadn't planned on doing. Or forget the whole thing. And since we had no where to stay in Halifax we just decided to skip Canada.  Jeff was so mad he didn't want to go to Canada anyway - the heck with them!!!

So I spent the next hour canceling or changing our reservations that I'd made for the following week or so.  Thank goodness the guy in Newfoundland was understanding and he even refunded our deposit.  I called Sunset Point where we were supposed to stay on 7/3 and asked if we could come in that night and stay two nights, then had to call the KOA in Bar Harbor to see if I could scoot up those reservations by three days.  Did all that.  All is good.

Sunset Point Campground, Lubec, Maine

NOT!  We arrive at Sunset Point RV Trailer Campground - the place Jeff wanted to stay - only to find out they have never heard of us.  We were in Lubec, Maine.  The campground I made reservations for is Sunset Point Campground in Harrington, Maine about an hours drive further down the road!!!  Jeff never told me what town - just the name of the campground. I was beside myself.  Fortunately, this place had space and the other guy was understanding of the confusion. Apparently it happens frequently because they are so close together and the names are nearly identical.

The Croaking Toads - couldn't sleep with
 the windows open they
made so much noise.

West Quoddy Lighthouse
Eastern-most lighthouse in the US

What a day!  It was a mess.  Fortunately, it all worked out well in the end. Lubec, Maine is a beautiful coastal town right across from Campobello Island, New Brunswick. Jeff debated whether to drive across because he was so mad and said he wasn't going to spend his money in Canada.  But we wanted to see President FDR's summer home and the lighthouse on the other side.

So we grab our passports and away we go - only to be searched by the Canada Border Guards!!  They made us park and all get out of the car and they went over the dang car with a fine-toothed comb!  He even rummaged through my backpack and our cooler!  Jeff said they are either bored or he wanted to check out my car - the Jeep Trailhawk they just started making again - lol!  So weird.  Anyway - I think we are done with Canada for awhile.

President FDR's summer home on Campobello Island,
New Brunswick, Canada

Classroom for the children at FDR's summer home

The tour of the summer home was marvelous.  Most of the items in the house were truly owned by the Roosevelt family.  So awesome for the girls to see this first hand.  They both were fascinated by the house and furnishings.  They were challenged in trying to understand the tour guides with their accents.  It was funny!

Kitchen at FDR's Summer Home

Artwork in downtown Lubec - that's Canada on the opposite shore

Lubec Maine from across the bay and
Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada

At Mulholland Lighthouse on Campobello Island.
That's Lubec, Maine in the background.

 It was also interesting to see Lubec, Maine from across the water.  It looks just like all those postcards you see of little coastal fishing communities.  We had lunch at one of the local diners, out on the patio overlooking the bay (Johnson Bay I think) Magnificent! Of all the places we've stayed, I think this is one of our favorite.  So picturesque.  The weather has been perfect but apparently they have had quite a bit of rain in the area and their is rain forecast for 4th of July.  Hopefully, no hurricane's along the east coast.

So today we headed to Bar Harbor and have decided to stay here through the 4th of July weekend.  We didn't want to chance not finding a place to stay over the holiday weekend.  Acadia National Park is actually on an island called Mt. Desert Island.  I thought the whole island was the park but it's not.  There are a bunch of little island communities around the park.  We have a lot of exploring to do over the next few days and we are looking forward to it!

Just sayin'

Momma in her jeans - ha!

And this is what I'm going to look like in my jeans by the time we get back from this trip.  Just sayin' - lol!

Stowhagen, Maine

Leaving Vermont

It's a beautiful morning!!  Finally, the rain has stopped.  There's a reason it's so green here. Actually, we've been traveling right along with a storm and we've finally out-waited it.

Not THE Santa House - Just a fake in New Hampshire

Took us about an hour to cross through New Hampshire up in the northern part.  We even stopped and had lunch - across from Santa's house!  Now if you are from Alaska you know the REAL Santa's House is at the North Pole (North Pole, Alaska - yes, a REAL place).  This one was like a mini-amusement park.

Downtown Skowhegan - Kennebec River

So we are at a beautiful RV park on the banks of the Kennebec River in central Maine.  It started raining hard just about the time we arrived and kept at it all night.  The water in the rivers is already high around here because they've had more than the normal rainfall in the last few weeks.  Jeff and I kept waking up expecting a knock on the door to tell us to move to higher ground!!  Yesterday was a perfect day to stay put and do nothing - and I got my wish.
Unfortunately, it was because Jeff took the car to go get some plumbing part and the "check transmission" light came on in the car- ACK!  He ended up driving it to the local Jeep dealer to talk to them.  Long story short, we think it had something to do with putting it into "tow" mode and then switching it out.  He did that a couple of times and then drove it all over the place to make sure the lights stayed out.  But by then it was almost 11.  So since we were in a nice spot we decided to stay put for another night - HOORAY!

After our Thai dinner - touring downtown

I vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom, did some laundry (yes, you still have chores when you live in an RV) and then we watched The Desolation of Smaug.  We were so mad - the girls and I didn't realize it was only part I. There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth when the credits started rolling.  Jeff knew - he just laughed at us!

Got in a nap and then went out for Thai food.  Strolled around the town a bit.  All in all a most pleasant day.  Just what was needed before hitting the road again.

Today we head north and will spend the night just this side of the US border.  There is a big gas station, Walmart, and RV park there.  We want to load up on "provisions" because Canada is super expensive.  We have reservations at an RV park about half way to Halifax and then the following night we will get to Halifax and stay for 3 nights so we can go exploring and go to Lunenberg - the ultimate goal!  We have reservations at both places so Jeff can't change his mind now:-)

I don't know what the wi-fi situation is going to be like in Canada so this may be the last post for a week or so.  We'll have to see what we encounter along the way.

Teleported to Seward Alaska

Whoa!  We woke up this morning and it's like we are in Seward, Alaska. (Our Alaska friends can appreciate this!)  It's pouring rain and has been since the middle of the night.

And as has been happening lately, we are not going where I thought we were today.  There is a pattern developing here.  Jeff and I talk about where we are going the following day.  I think we've decided on a route and destination.  THEN . . .

Jeff ALWAYS wakes up before me, makes his coffee, eats breakfast, and starts looking at the maps and RV park listings.  NEXT thing you know, we are going somewhere else - go figure! Now this makes it sound like I sleep till noon or something which is NOT the case.  But he gets up at 5:30 or 6 most mornings.  Not this girl - it's not time to go to work.  So around 7 or 8 I get up but this has given him enough time to investigate and mull over the options that we talked about the night before a bit more.  So apparently today we are NOT heading into Canada but across New Hampshire into Maine THEN up into Canada!

Can't we just stay here and doze and read??

As I type this I'm laughing because last year was Jeff's first long distance adventure and he hadn't really figured out the planning  part of the travel - he just let me decide and tell him where to drive. But THIS time, he's doing most of the planning (because I'm sleeping - lol!).  It's okay, but as navigator, it leaves me a bit lost.  That and he tries to explain his NEW route to me and I haven't even taken my vitamins and drunk my tea yet - so of course, I agree to whatever he says.  Hey, I'm not even AWAKE!  This minute, I've eaten my vitamins and the water has boiled for my tea but my brain is still in a fog.  That, and all I really want to do today is lay in bed in my pajamas and listen to the rain and MAYBE expend enough energy to read a book.

Look out SOMEWHERE here we come:-)

Amish Country and Vermont

(Writing this on the road) Driving through a little town in the northernmost area of New York State called Malone. Thank goodness for Walmart parking lots – it’s the only space big enough for us to park and have lunch!  Not a lot (like none!)  of rest areas on some of these smaller highways.  We decided to take Highway 11 which I think is also referred to as the “Rooftop” highway because it goes over the top of the Adirondack Mountains.  Didn’t want to try to drive up and over those to get to Vermont although we could have stopped by the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid.

We could have headed straight up to Canada but I didn’t come all this way to miss Vermont – which we’ve always wanted to see.  The problem is there are very few east/west roads in Vermont – mostly North/South. And we won’t go through here on our way back so it was now or never.

(We are now settled in our campground).  I can type while we drive but then I’m not navigating and we tend to get into trouble just listening to the GPS.  She isn’t always correct – go figure.

Capt. Jeff on Lake Ontario

Seagull Invasion

We spent the night last night in a little RV park right on the shores of Lake Ontario.  We finally got to stick our feet into one of the great lakes!  The area reminds us a lot of the Kenai Peninsula.  There are even birch trees which we haven’t seen anywhere except Alaska.  Lots of seagulls.  There was an “invasion” of them this morning on the lawn at the campsite. They were all walking in the same direction like a little trained army. It rained last night so we are thinking they were hunting for juicy worms.

Crummy pic of Horse and Carriage

Highway 11 winds through a bunch of small towns through farmland.  The area around Dekalb, NY must be Amish country.  We saw many horse and buggies and men, women, and children in Amish dress.  There was a man selling strawberries at a roadside stand, two little Amish girls selling strawberries at a little stand in another community – we waved to them and they smiled and waved back.  One little  darling brother and sister in Amish dress looked like they were carrying a sack of groceries home from the grocery store.  I didn’t take any pictures because I read that they consider it very rude to take their photos – plus driving down the road isn’t great for picture taking. I tried to get a picture of an empty horse and buggy but not so successful. So many beautiful old churches in the area.  Most built around the early 1800s.  It’s rather a picture postcard type of place.

I’m such a geek that I’m listening to a book (you can only talk to your spouse for so many miles – lol!)  entitled “The Global Achievement Gap” about education in America.  One of the things he talks about is encouraging students to ask good questions – to encourage them to use their natural curiosity.  Well, it seems our girls are not curious about anything:-(  So we gave them three questions they had to answer that WE were curious about.  (1. What bodies of water feed into Lake Ontario; 2. Where does the water from Lake Ontario go; and 3. How much fish can you eat from Lake Ontario and still be healthy - because of pollutants like mercury is what we were thinking. - Okay- now if you don't know the answers, go look it up - lol!)  They said "mom, this sounds like school!!"  But they did find out the first one at least. We'll have to limit it to one question a night:-)  Apparently, the only thing they are curious about is how much the soft ice cream costs at the RV parks that have it - geesh! (Jeff's question is "why does Jade always get her knickers in a twist when we speak to her?" - lol!)

Sailboats on the NY side of Lake Champlain

Crossed into Vermont around 2:00 pm on a bridge over Lake Champlain.  The GPS took us on the scenic route which took us across three islands in the middle of the lake.  It just makes me nervous because we are so tall.  I always end up ducking when we go under those railroad bridges.  We went under a couple in NY holding our breath because there were no signs saying how high the bridges were.  Jade’s response to that was “YOLO” (which I’ve learned on this trip means – You Only Live Once) so apparently we are supposed to go for it and just see what happens – that’s helpful!! 

Tomorrow our plan is to head south to Montpelier and then north up toward Canada.  Tonight's question - "How did Lake Champlain get it's name?"  See if you can find out:-)

Niagara Falls

Vineyard Country in Northern New York - thought
we were going to get stuck behind this guy!

Vineyards in Northern NY

We left Indian Creek RV resort on Saturday morning and made our way across the northern part of Ohio along Lake Erie.  We were bummed because we thought we could stick our toes in Lake Erie at the beach access point but we could only go to the end of the boardwalk.  The beach appears to be owned by the hotels along there.  That's okay - at least we got to see it.  So huge - like the ocean. Ohio is lovely - lots of rolling farmland and red brick houses.  We are alternating between slower scenic routes and the freeways depending on how we feel, either making mileage or enjoying the scenery.  We were surprised by the number of vineyards in Northern Pennsylvania and New York.  I guess I only think of California as "wine country" but there were acres and acres of vineyards up here. Seems like it would be too short a growing season but I guess not. It only took us about an hour to drive from the border of Ohio through this part of Pennsylvania into New York.

Jade and Mya on the Banana Bikes

We decided to stay in a KOA on Grand Island just outside Niagara Falls. It was perfect for the girls.  A pool with double water slides and these banana bikes. They look easy to ride but I tried it and it's weird.  You steer by leaning your body.  The girls got the hang of it eventually and had a blast!

Bridge to Canada - where's the fence???

So we headed to the Falls this morning.  It's actually a State Park.  I was thinking it would be a pristine spot out in nature.  I was really disappointed.  Most of the park is under construction and it's really a tourist trap.  They charge for every little thing - even to go to the observation tower.  It's located in the middle of the city of Niagara Falls and it's crowded. People just throw trash on the ground - sad. Lots of tacky souvenir shops - yuk!  Tourists from everywhere flock here. We were laughing because for once, the girls looked like the crowd and their caucasian parents looked like the "minority".  The girls thought that was funny!!
But the Falls are amazing.  We could look across and see Canada.  We could have driven across but really no point in doing that. Jeff and I were talking about why there's no "fence" here keeping the "illegals" out.  Seems strange that we are so worried about our southern border but not our northern border (but I digress). We'll head there eventually to get to Nova Scotia.

The Falls

Rainbow over the Falls

We are headed due east tomorrow.  The Adirondack mountains are east of here and you either have to go the northern route or the southern route.  I think we are going to go north. We want to hit Vermont and New Hampshire before we head up into Canada to Nova Scotia.  Then we'll come through Maine on our way back south.  At least that's the plan for today:-)  Talked to some folks from Georgia who have just come this way from Maine headed south. They said they really enjoyed Bar Harbor which is where we are headed.  It's fun meeting people on the road just like us. We all have tales to share.

More Falls - Noisy here

We had take-out pizza for dinner tonight.  Got the laundry done.  I told Jeff if we ever move, we really don't need a washer and dryer.  Going to the laundromat is so easy.  You do three loads all at the same time, toss them in the dryer and in about an hour - voila!  You're done:-)  Instead of taking all dang day long!

Tomorrow's a traveling day.  Up early and "on the road again"!

Dada and the girls - Canada in the background

Mammoth Cave National Park - Cave City, Kentucky

Waiting for our Tour

Spent the morning at Mammoth Cave National Park.  I cannot get over how magnificent our National Park System is.  Every one we’ve been to has been just stellar.  Great interpretive displays, everything always in immaculate condition, efficiently run, and such knowledgeable people that work there.  We went on the Drips and Domes guided Tour.  Ranger Steve was our guide – what a hoot he was!  Great sense of humor but also knew so much about the history and geology of the cave.  Ranger John was awesome too!  One travels in front and one in back of the group so they make sure they don’t lose anyone!!  The tour we chose began at a site that was first “discovered” by a man name George Morrison in the early 1900s who wanted to cash in on the cave tour business.  He found a sinkhole and thought it might lead into the caves so he blasted it and gained entrance into a portion of Mammoth Cave.  We went in that entrance.  It was kind of creepy entering the metal door and descending down the steps.  I looked at the picture Jeff took of us all heading in there and it made me think of the gas chambers during the holocaust – ack!  It was 280 steps down to the cave.  Thank goodness we didn’t have to walk that many up. 

George Morrison's Entrance into the Caves

One of the best parts of the tour is when they turned out all of the lights.  Totally blackness – couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces.  Made me think how brave those early explorers were.  I always feel so wimpy when I think what our ancestors went through to explore America.  We saw a couple of cave crickets – really long legs, kind of a pale brown.  Everything that lives down there is blind – no need for sight in the pitch black.  They just feel their way around.  The caves were all carved by water wearing down the limestone rock.  The caves are a constant 60 degrees.  A welcome respite from the 90s above ground.

After we finished the tour, we walked down to the historic entrance.  You immediately know you are there because a cold rush of wind greets you.  It was so refreshing we wanted to stay down there out of the heat!  Such a beautiful place.  Even saw wild turkeys on the side of the road as we came and went from the park.  A deer, too!

Ranger Steve telling us about cave history

Stopped by a little house on the way out of the park.  The man was selling all these darling little birdhouses he made.  So cute.  We bought two.  Need to replace the plastic watering can the little wrens are using on our back porch.  I think it’s seen its last set of baby wrens before it completely falls apart.  The birds should like their new digsJ

"Frozen Niagra" part of the cave

Had dinner at Cracker Barrel – first time (and last!) eating there.  Too much grease but good grilled trout and catfish. Last night was magical – the fireflies were everywhere.  The whole field across from the rv park was glittering like diamonds!  The girls even caught some – gently – and then let them go.  Jeff said they used to have them in Texas when he was younger but I’ve never seen any.  I think the heat (climate change?) has driven them away. 

I’m typing this as we head north to Ohio.  The plan is to stop in a place called Circleville for the night.  Then head north toward the Great Lakes.  There is another National Park up there called Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  The other goal for the day is to find cheap gas.  We went from 3.55 a gal to 3.95 a gallon in the space of a few miles. What’s up with that!!!

Stalactites

Stalactites

Historic Entrance - Nice and cool!

Cooling off at the Historic Entrance 

Later today - We made it into Ohio today.  Jeff drove 313 miles - longer than we had expected because of a detour.  But at least it's cooler here.  Jeff said it reminds him of Iowa - lots of cornfields.  We are headed up to the Great Lakes tomorrow.

Time for a snack and a beverage!

Three States in One Day!

Baby Soybean plants

Three states in one day!  We headed due east from Poplar Bluff, Missouri and around noon today ended up spending about 1 minute in Illinois before we made it to Kentucky. We saw some Amish folk as we drove down the highway in Missouri.  We saw them in their carriages right along the road.  I found it rather ironic that at the local McDonald's there was an actual hitching post for the horse drawn wagon.  They eschew modern conveniences like phones and cars but they don't mind fast food.  Kind of weird!

We crossed over into Kentucky right where the Mississippi River and the Ohio River meet.  Amazing to see the "mighty Mississippi" and all the barges. Made me think of Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer.  We also saw the birthplace of Jefferson Davis, the "president" of the confederacy. According to Google, he was a "reluctant recessionist". They have a 351 foot obelisk - think miniature Washington Monument" - to honor him. Robert Penn Warren, author of All the President's Men and other works, was also born in this area. We are crossing mostly farmland - lot's of corn and soybean crops.

Barges on the Mighty Mississippi

Barges on the Mississippi

We made it to Cave City just outside Mammoth Cave National Park.  We drove by the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green that was in the news not too long ago because part of the showroom floor fell into a sinkhole. They retrieved 8 Corvettes from the hole.   Apparently, they have shored up the spot and you can still visit.  It makes me rather nervous knowing that's what's below us in this area!  It's stinking hot at the moment.  Got up to high 90s today.  Thank goodness for air conditioning.  We've got reservations for a cave tour tomorrow at 10:00am and will spend the day exploring the park and surrounding area.  It will be nice and cool in there.

After we leave here I think we are heading due North into Ohio.  We want to get out of the heat. We've been making about 250 miles a day.  I think we will skirt the Great Lakes and head into Canada from Vermont or New Hampshire. On with the adventure!!

Peaceful Sunday Morning

A peaceful rainy morning at Table Rock Lake

Just sitting here listening to the mockingbirds and doves singing, watching the chipmunk nibbling away at the burnt popcorn Mya tossed on the grass last night.  We are still here at Table Rock Lake in NW Arkansas.  Decided last night to stay for one more day.  Woke up to wild wind and pouring rain and figured this was a great day to sit around and do nothing. We were planning to head north up through Branson and Springfield, Missouri but Springfield was under a high wind warning so not a good travel day anyway.  And besides, the Spurs play tonight and we get great reception here with our satellite TV. Go Spurs Go!

Even the snails are getting washed out this morning.

(Last night I read back through the blog and realized I said we were headed through Hot Springs, AR.  That didn't happen!  But that's how it goes when you don't have any real timetable or destination.  We decided to take the more direct route to this place and so went up the eastern side of Oklahoma and then through Ft. Smith and Fayettville.)

Yesterday we had a blast trying out the resort's tennis and pickleball courts.  (We had to Google the rules for pickleball but it seems to be just like ping-pong.)  We stink at both - lol! The girls found out that tennis isn't as easy as it looks and I discovered just how lazy they are when it comes to chasing the ball down.  That
task fell to me -  what's up with that?!? I love
pickleball though. Brought back memories of playing ping pong at our house  in Anchorage when we were little. I seem to remember my
dad trying to teach us how to play tennis too.  I was about as successful with the girls as he was with us!

Happy Father's Day!

We also get to stay put and celebrate Father's Day. The Walmart bag gift wrap was so elegant.  He got a mosquito repellent lantern so we will all be huddled up with him when we get to Canada.  So far we've been lucky with no mosquitos - some little flies - they don't bite but they are annoying.

So relaxing sitting here in the rain and listening to the thunder.  Jeff's got his TV, the girls have got their tablets and phones, and I have an 800 page book called Natchez Burning (signed by the author when I was as at the Texas Library Association conference.)  I was saving it for this trip. Life is GOOD!

Tomorrow we will get back on the road again. The plan is to head due east to Kentucky and visit Mammoth Cave National Park.

Table Rock Lake

Historic District - Eureka Springs

We ended up not eating Italian - 1 hour wait changed our appetite.  We went to the Bavarian Village and had German food.  Real homemade dumplings!  They were yummy but not exactly on the weight-watchers plan! It just happened to be what would have been my dad's 81st birthday so in his honor we treated ourselves to homemade German Chocolate cake.  OMG!  Delicious.  We may have to head back for another piece - no sharing this time.  We went for a window-shopping stroll after dinner.  The town is so quaint, all built into the rolling hills.  The entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places.  We did see this weird Humpty Dumpty - have no idea what that's all about - kinda creepy!

Thronecrown Chapel

 
The girls and Jeff humored me and we went to see the Thorncrown Chapel - also known as the Crystal Chapel.  It was build in 1980, designed in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright.  It is a beautiful little chapel tucked away in the woods.  It has 254 panes of glass - over 6000 sq. ft of glass walls. I could have spent hours there. 

Yesterday we made it to the one place we had reservations. We were hoping the place was "as advertised" especially after the skinny road we drove down.  This whole area (NW Arkansas is "Tyson" and "Butterball" country.  Chicken and Turkey farms - stinky!  But after making our way through all of that, we have arrived in Paradise.  Table Rock Lake, located in the middle of the Ozarks, has 745 miles of shoreline (43,100 acres of surface area).  It's green and wooded and warm. Just today I've seen Bald Eagles, Great Herons, Red-winged blackbirds, fireflies, a family of gophers, tiny lizards, and robins galore.  There is a par-3 golf course, tennis courts, pickle ball courts (we had Google it - we are going to try playing tomorrow, 2 pools, 2 jacuzzis, a sauna, and sunshine! Today I went out for a kayak ride, swam in the lake, ran/walked two miles with Jade, and then cooled off in the lake - all before noon.  It's fabulous.  

Waterfall from one of the pools down toward the lake.
No water shortage here.

The girls were thrilled when one of the owners here gave them a golf-cart driving lesson.  What a hoot!  But as with all things, there is a down-side.  We are so far in the sticks that the wi-fi stinks.  So Jeff signed up to make his phone a wi-fi hotspot.  So no matter where we go, we have wi-fi.  We are now calling Dada a "hotty" and the girls want to go wherever he is so they can get wi-fi!!!  We are here until Sunday and then we have to figure out where we are going. We have heard Mammoth Cave National Park is well worth the visit so we may head due east to Kentucky.  We'll see.

Eureka!!

6/10 - Near Palestine, Texas

Dang!  No wi-fi last night.  Here are pics from traveling on Tuesday.  People who have never been to Texas would get such a shock to discover how truly lush and beautiful some parts are.  This is in NE Texas coming into the "Piney Woods" area.  Even the girls can't refrain from saying "It's SO GREEN" everywhere.  When you see this, you realize just how bad the drought in San Antonio and south Texas really is.  Lake Palestine is gorgeous - Jeff said probably the "playground" for the Dallas/Ft. Worth Area. 

We crossed the Red River into Oklahoma around 2 yesterday afternoon.  The area has seen plenty of rain.  We just barely missed running over some poor turtle that had made it half way across the road - he heard us coming and sucked in his head and legs really fast!  Jeff just missed him.  Then a bit farther down the road there was a pine tree leaning 3/4 of the way across the road and Jeff had to skirt that half way into the ditch.  It felt like we were in one of those Nissan Pathfinder commercials where the guy is driving through the torrential rain rescuing animals and avoiding downed trees!!

6/10 - Jade folded herself into the lawn chair!

We attempted to find a spot for the night at Beaver's Bend State Park - which advertised that it could handle "big rigs".  Note to self: State Parks don't have a clue what "big rigs" are.  Even without the car behind us, we'd have been hard pressed to get into one of those spots.  As it was, we managed to get through the RV loop without whacking out any trees on the way - barely.  Jeff is an excellent driver - I don't think I'm going to do much driving on this trip.  Maybe I can be the chauffeur for the car:-)  We ended up at a lovely, quite RV park called Beaver's Bend. It was just 70 degrees when we arrived.  Could sleep with the windows open - it even got a bit chilly (low 60s) last night - Perfect!

6/10 - Yahtzee Competition - Summer 2014

Mya talked me into buying a Yahtzee game before we left - what a great idea!  I can't believe I've never played Yahtzee before. She has even convinced Jade to play.  I took this picture last night around dinner time.  I told Jeff "This is why we take these trips".  The girls play and talk together - and they talk to us.  We aren't all in our own spaces doing our own thing - it really is family time.

Today we made it to Eureka Springs, Arkansas to a beautiful "big rig" (really!) RV park called Wanderlust.  The road here is narrow, winding, and hilly.  The RV park host said he'll give Jeff the sticker that says "I drove US 62 from Rogers, AR to Eureka Springs, AR in my RV."  It was quite the ride.  It's one of the most popular rides in the US for motorcycles - but not RVs!!  Mya rode up front and said "all this green is making me dizzy".  I think that might have been the road.  Apparently, they have had a lot of rain in the last 3 weeks and the already lush vegetation is more lusher (I'm pretty sure that's bad English but it describes it perfectly!)  We are going out to dinner tonight to some Italian place with "homemade" food.  We may stay here a day longer.  As always, we are deciding as we go.  Oh, the gypsy life is for us!!!