Four Days and 1115 Miles

April 26, 2018

We are now stopped at the Apple Creek Campground in DePere, WI until Friday morning. We will then point the Stinger "B" North and travel the last 123 miles to our driveway in Escanaba, MI. Tom's sister  and husband live in DePere and his brother and wife live in Green Bay so the plan is dinner this evening. It has been a while since we have gotten together and it will be nice to catch up.

I am having trouble uploading pictures to the blog that I have taken with my camera. I am seeing the message, Upload failed...Server rejected, instead of pictures. Yet any pictures I take with the camera on my phone no problem. I have googled the problem and there are a couple of suggestions which I will be looking into once we are back at the house. (If anyone has had this problem and found a solution I would  really appreciate the input.) Part of the reason I blog, which is why I know we all do, is to remember the journey and pictures are a big part of it. So I am hoping I can solve this and add the pictures soon.

The journey we have made the last four days is below.

Sunday, April 22, 2018 (324 miles)

We pulled out of the City Park in Sayre, OK Sunday morning after mass onto I-40 and continued the trek East. The day started under blue skies with lovely white fluffy clouds. The crosswind was still with us and as the day developed the sky turned grey. 

After Oklahoma City we connected to I-44 and continued on our eastward quest. By Tulsa Tom was driving in the rain. It continued for several miles and then we could see blue sky on the horizon ahead. 

The day ended at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, OK. We had stayed here once before, October 31, 2015, and back then it was free to hook up to water and electricity; this time they charged us $15.00. Tom called earlier to see if they still had RV parking and they did not mention this fact or this stop may have been skipped as we were prepared to dry camp with water on-board. We did end up going into the casino were we had a nice dinner. After signing up for their players club and playing on their "dollar" we left with enough to cover the parking price.  

I took these two pictures just after we finished checking
lights and the jeep's roll.

 We use our phones to talk to each other when we do this.

Monday, April 23, 2018 (198 miles)

Up and moving Monday to continue the journey the sky was grey. In the short time it took to get back on to I-44 the sky ahead was blue and the sun was shining down on us. About 20 miles down the road and we were looking at Oklahoma in the rear view mirror and crossed into Missouri. Another 10 miles or so and we were passing by Joplin. Then we took the exit for I-49 and officially turned north.

As we got closer to Kansas City I made two phone calls; one to the Walmart in Raymore before and  one to the one in Liberty just after Kansas City both of which said they allowed overnight parking. Now the decision was Tom's to make as we were going to be driving through during the evening traffic rush. As we got closer to the exit for the Walmart in Raymore he decided to keep going. We were parked in the Walmart in Liberty and walking over to 54th Street Grill and Bar for dinner by 6 o'clock.  

Side note: we were now on I-35 North.

Leaving the Casino under grey skies and
then turning onto I-44  under blue skies.
Some yellow dandelions near where we were parked
and one ready for wishes.

Welcome center in Missouri. Starting from the top the wall left to right.
The arrow points to the Michigan Plate which was pretty much in the center.

We are officially heading north under blue skies.
I cannot help it, I do love dandelions. A bee was enjoying this one.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018 (330 miles)

We were up and out of the Walmart parking lot by 7:15 AM. The "plan" to get out of the traffic early and then stop at a rest area, I could see on the map just down the road, to make coffee and enjoy a quick breakfast. What I did not realize when I saw the rest area on the map was that it was the only one on I-35 between Kansas City and the border of Iowa. That information was on the rest stop sign.  (Side note: we only remember seeing two rest stops and two parking only areas from the time we joined I-35 in Kansas City until Des Moines.) As you can imagine there was no place to park; we barely made it through and around all the semis parked in every available space not only in the truck area but the car side, also. Several miles down the road we did come to a parking only area which is where we parked, finally had coffee, and a muffin. The nice part about being in the motorhome is we can stop, as long as we fit, and not have to worry if there are no facilities.

We stayed on I-35 until reaching Des Moines at which time with a couple of turns and changes we made it to I-80 going east. (Side note: there are plenty of rest areas on I-80 between Des Moines and Iowa City.) Deciding to avoid Cedar Rapids evening rush hour we stayed on I-80 to Iowa City were we exited onto Iowa State Highway 1 heading north towards US-151 and the Walmart in Anamosa, Iowa. 

Arriving at the Walmart we found that though we had cellphone service our 4G was not available so no internet. Surprisingly, for the first time we were the only RV spending the night in a Walmart parking lot. There were a couple of semis and for the first time they did run all night. It was a quiet night.

Yes, more dandelions.

We have now left Missouri in the rear view mirror and rolled into Iowa.

We may have left a few dollars here.

Next to the flag poles.
Top next to American Flag. Bottom next to Iowa Flag.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (263 miles)

Up early we had our first cup of coffee before heading out this morning. Tom fixed our second cups to go. We are now on US-151 which will take us all the way to I-41/US-41 just south of Fon du Lac, WI. (Side note: there are no rest areas between Cedar Rapids and the Wisconsin Border. There is one just past the Wisconsin Border but you have to pay close attention or you will miss it. We did. There is not another in Wisconsin.) Looking at the map as we left Anamosa I could see there were no rest areas ahead. As we drove along Tom did spot a truck stop ahead with a large parking area which is were we had an early lunch. In Dubuque we crossed the Mississippi River into Wisconsin and continued on US-151 through Madison. Before reaching I-41 we turned north on WI-26, a small shortcut to just south of Oshkosh. A "detour" in Oshkosh found us stopped at the Outlet Shops. Time for a short break and walk that may have included a little shopping. 

Continuing north past Appleton we are now parked in the Apple Creek Campground about 14 miles south of Green Bay. It is a fairly nice park and when our kids were younger this is the type of place we would have taken them camping. This is a family campground and we noticed they have several RV's parked for what looks like the season. There is a catch and release fishing pond, heated pool in season, kids activities, play ground, and recreation hall. All the stuff a family with kids is looking for when they are out for the weekend. We are up the hill from all this and being two retirees it is the best place to be parked. At this point in our life I would not want to be parked here in the summer unless we had grandchildren with us. 

Passing through Dubuque we can see the Mississippi River ahead.

Crossing over the Mississippi River.
Looking down the color reminded me of a song my mom use to listen
to called, "Mississippi Mud" when I was little.
 I wonder, if I still have that 78 at home.

We have crossed into Wisconsin.
 Last state before the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

When we turned north on WI-26 we started seeing patches of snow.
At this point I mentioned to Tom my choice of footwear
this morning, sandals, may not have been the best choice.
Though it was 55 degrees when we stopped this evening. 

The sun going down behind the trees across the road from where we are parked.

"The World is a book,

and those who do not travel 

read only a page."

                                                ~St. Augustine

The last four days have been long yet we enjoyed the journey. 

We are stopped for two nights to catch our breath and spend time with family.

Hope you have been enjoying days you will look back on with a smile. 

If you would like to leave a comment, we would enjoy hearing from you.

If not, we are still glad you stopped by to visit.

A Short Drive and We Are In Sayre, Oklahoma

(Clicking on the pictures will open them larger in a new window.)

April 20 & 21, 2018 (and Sunday morning)

When we pulled into this rest area last evening the wind was blowing, gusts were over 30 mph, but the sun was shining. The parking spaces luckily were angled the right way for a change and the back of the Stinger "B" was into the wind. Which means we did not rock and roll all night.

This morning, Friday, we got up to the wind still blowing and grey skies. When I checked the weather it said wind gusts of 37 mph. We secured the motorhome and Tom drove out into a crosswind on I-40. When we were talking last night we remembered a park we stayed at a couple of years ago just past the border going east into Oklahoma. Doing some research on our blog I found that on April 4, 2016 we stayed at a City Park in Sayre, OK for $12 a night. Feeling the pull of today's winds and after the long drive yesterday, doing the same, Tom agreed it might be good to stop in Sayre. Seventy miles later we pulled into the Sayre RV & City Park. We are now parked in the same spot we did last time and the price still $12 a night for water and electricity and there is a dump station.

The wind blew all afternoon and the way the sites are situated it was hitting us on the side. The Stinger "B" was rocking and rolling into the evening. It was a little later that the wind died down and the rain started. We have decided to relax and spend two days.

Leaving the rest area the sky is a little dull but it is scenery I love.

The wind is kicking up a lot of dust ahead.

I am pretty sure, like these trees, most are permanently bent towards
the north from the wind. 

The vehicles passing us are disappearing into the dust.

Is is just us? We have never seen a sign saying "Welcome to Oklahoma".
We are at mile marked 2 so I know we have left Texas.

Then we see the  Oklahoma Information Center, confirming we are in Oklahoma.

Spotting my first dandelion of this spring.
Some people get excited about the first robin, and they are wonderful to see,
but to me this little yellow flower makes me smile.
In it I see the promise of another wonderful summer to come and,
in my minds eye, all the wonderful memories of summers gone by.

Route 66

Sayre City Hall.
Is it not wonderful that it is in an old building that is part of this
little town's history.
The date on top is 1905 and it was The First National Bank.

There short main street with the Beckham County Courthouse in the distance.

This building is across from the City Hall.
There is an optometrist office here and if you enlarge the picture you
should be able to see the door just to the right of the pillar.
The door handle is pair of glasses.

Not sure what goes on in this county but this is the a
County Sheriff Vehicle.

The Beckham County Courthouse.

It had a cameo role in the 1940's movie, "Grapes of Wrath".

In front of the courthouse a memorial honoring all Veterans.

We found two of these buffaloes in Sayre. I did some checking, I was wondering if there were more, and all I could find was information about the ones that are in Oklahoma City. I thought of checking with the museum but when I went online to check when it was open it said it was permanently closed. No help there.

In front of courthouse.

In front of closed museum.

The closed museum is an old railroad depot.

Sign post next to the welcome to the city park sign.
Just though it was cute.

Driving into the parking area by the ponds

these guys were honking and heading towards us.
I will not be getting out of the Jeep.

Looking at this sign we were like, 105 miles of trails, where????
Then looking very closely we could see the decimal. 1.05 miles.

Saturday we awoke to rain and it rained down on us on and off until the evening. It is a cold wet day and we are glad we made the decision to stay here and just relax . I have taken the time to read our friend's blogs and Tom is cleaning the front area of the Stinger "B" the dials where looking pretty dusty. Plus, he took a ride into "town" and has informed me they have a very nice and good size ACE Home Center. I feel bad but I will not be visiting it; I am just going to take his word for it. I think instead I will cook up a batch of muffins. There is a recipe in the Keto cookbook I have for Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins. They are not bad just not my favorite.  I tweak the recipe to make Maple Pecan Cream Cheese Muffins and the Stinger "B" is going to smell delicious.

I ventured out for a couple of minutes to take the pictures below. It is cold and wet and I have no intentions of leaving the warmth of the Stinger "B" today for any length of time.

The rain stopped and Tom decided to exchange the shoelaces for wire.
The reason for his shopping spree this morning.

One other RV decided to stay today.
Two 5th wheels pulled out in the rain this morning.

Most of the sites are long level pull thrus.
We could have left the Jeep hooked up. When we stayed here 
last time we did not unhook the truck from our 5th wheel.

Looking out over the golf course the clouds are dark.

Another view of the Golf Course.

Our view out the front windshield.

More of the RV Park behind us.

Under Amenities it lists bathrooms and showers. I believe this is the building.
We are self-contained and so did not check them out either time we were here.

The Stinger "B" parked in site 75. The electric at this site is 50 amps.

Hope you all had a good Saturday. I know we did.

It is Sunday Morning and we have just returned from attending 8:00AM Sunday Mass at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church here in Sayre, OK. We just each had one of those maple muffins I made yesterday and we are about to finish the process of buttoning up to be on the road.

A small but welcoming parish.

The sun is out, it is a little cooler, 50 degrees, and we are experiencing a breeze. Never the less we will be on our way shortly. Today's destination will be wherever we decide to stop.  We have approximately 1200 miles, give or take a few depending on the exact route, between us and our driveway. Plus, I have found a RV Park about 123 miles south of our driveway that is open and after talking with a woman at the Park we should be able to dump our grey and black tanks there. So the goal/plan is to get ourselves into the Apple Creek Campground in DePere, WI sometime in the early afternoon on Thursday spend the night and then after breakfast head home and pull in early Friday afternoon. Now, I am anxious to see how it all works out...wish us luck. 

If you would like to leave a comment, we would enjoy hearing from you.

If not, we are still glad you stopped by to visit.