Summer ‘22 Trip Part 1

The Summer ‘22 Trip was suppose to happen Summer of ‘21 but if you have read the blog you’ll know why it didn’t happen.  Anyway, we left home on June 20 headed north towards Winterset, Iowa

First stop, Crowder State Park, Trenton, MO.  We spent the night there to add a stop to you Missouri Parks patch goal.  This was a wonderful stop and one I wish we had planned to stay a little longer.  This place has fishing, tennis courts, playground, hiking, and more that I did not check into.  It appears that they are also  renovating the campsites with new concrete pads.

On to Winterset, IA and the John Wayne Museum.  We stayed at the city park for 2-days this time and enjoyed our stay.

John Wayne had a coffee mug made for every movie and gave them to the people who were in and worked on the movie.

Stay at Neligh Park in West Point, NE.  This was a very nice stop.  We had the whole 17-site park to ourselves.  All sites have electric and water with a dump station available.  It is location in a city park with  a new trail, ballfield, fairgrounds and other attractions.  There was a swimming pool as well but we did not use so I can not give any additional information.

We traveled to Ainsworth, NE and stayed overnight at the city park.  It seems like every small town in Nebraska has a city park with a campground with at a minimum electric hookup.  We found it quite nice traveling across Nebraska as these are first come first serve sites.  We were surprised the next morning when numerous cars started showing up.  They put out a banner that read “Class of 72 Reunion”!  We obliged them and got out if their way and onto our next destination….Fort Robinson State Park!  Come wander with us on the next part later.

Trip to Arrow Rock

May 2022

It was a birthday trip for me and number two on our way to five stays in Missouri State Parks to get our patch.  When we arrived at our reserved site 28, it had rained hard the days before and site 28 was flooded and a mess.  We got with the campground host and he said he figure we might want a different site.  He said he had a site that was perfect and had a cancellation and to go look at site 40.  It was perfect and level and DRY!

We walked around the town in near perfect weather on my birthday.  Kristin found this old mailbox at the post office still in use.

We love sitting around camp and enjoying each other’s company

Arrow Rock is a big part of the westward expansion in American history.  It has two historic trails, the Lewis & Clark as well as the Santa Fe Trail which both runs through Arrow Rock.

Arrow Rock is also known for the Lyceum Theater.  They have live plays during the summer months.

Thanks for wandering with us!

Trip to Austin

April 2022

I had planned a trip last year to visit my son in Austin once I retired in January.  One thing happened and then another and before I knew it, it was April.  Kristin and I finally went on a trip to Austin, TX to see my son. It was our first extended trip since I retired in January.  We traveled in our 2022 Winnebago Travato which we purchased to travel in during our retirement last July.

Our first stop was the Stage Stop Campground in Neosho, MO.  I forgot to take any pictures for the trip.  I’m still getting use to this documentation thing.

Our second stop was the Burns Run East Campground on Lake Texoma near Cartwright, TX.  It was a windy day and night.  So windy in fact it kept us up most of the night worrying about if it was a serve storm blowing in!  

           

Next stop was a two night stay at Copperas Creek Campground at Proctor Lake near Comanche, TX.  It was a wonderful place to stay as the RV sites were spacious and well kept. 

We finally made it to Austin to see my son.  The traffic in Austin is some of the worst I’ve seen.  We came in from the northwest side because we were staying at Sun Outdoors at Lake Travis (previously LaHacienda RV Park) for 3 nights.  We visited McKinney State Park in Austin and walked the trails while in Austin.  When I return for the next visit, I will definitely try to stay in this state park as it was very nice.

We left Austin and headed west toward Fredricksburg.  We stopped at a pull off in Johnson City and while eating a sandwich notice a National Park Sign saying next right.  Talk about dumb luck, it was LBJ boyhood home National Park in Johnson City.  We decided to explore the place since we collect NPS passport stamps.  At the visitor’s center they explained the LBJ Ranch was just down the road as well.

So we stopped at NPS LBJ Ranch and the Texas LBJ Ranch State Park as well.  We had a wonderful experience at both places.

It was getting late that day so we stopped for the day at Vineyards of Fredericksburg RV Park on the north side of Fredericksburg, TX. (No pictures of RV park).  I hate it when I forget to take a picture!

Next day we headed up to near Wichita Falls, TX at Arrowhead Lake State Park and spent the night.  This oil well is in the middle of the park and makes considerable noise so I would not get a site next to it.  It was a very nice park and would go back if I’m in the area.

We had a long day of driving to get to Coon Creek Campground at Kaw Lake.  The roads leading up to the  lake were awful but the campground area was well maintained and we had a site right on the lake.  It was an enjoyable evening after a long day traveling the Chisholm Trail across Oklahoma.

The reason for the long drive across Oklahoma was for my wife to visit the Pioneer Woman Mercantile in Pawhuska, OK.  She enjoyed it very much and even ordered some items once we got back home.  We got there around 9:00 and she went inside and got us some coffee and a cinnamon roll.  Yummy!

Last stop on this trip before we got back home was Big Red Barn RV Park in Carthage, MO.  Very nice park and we made an early start to get back home by noon.

We enjoyed the first trip out of state with our new travel vehicle and it was a pleasant trip.  Except for the cinnamon roll, we never ate out.  We both loved the fact we could just fix a meal in the middle of no where and never felt rushed.  

Thanks for wandering with us.