Paint Your Wagon

Where am I goin'? I don't know Where am I headin'? I ain't certain
All I know Is I am on my way
When will I be there? I don't know
When will I get there? I ain't certain
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Peggy’s Cove
12 octobre, Canada ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
Well, yesterday when we entered Nova Scotia, we stopped at the Provincial Welcome Center. The people were very helpful. Jill explained that she was trying to find a campground near Peggy’s Cove. They got us into one in Ludenburg. Last night we were looking at the map and checked drive time to Peggy’s. Cove and it is over an hour. They also recommended a route that would avoid Halifax. This morning we decided to take the main highway towards Halifax, thinking it may be a better road. And it was except for the first 20km that was being repaved. Anyway, this brought us by Peggy’s Cove before the campground. So we drove in and started looking for a place to park. It’s Sunday and the place is packed! Finally we found several long parking places by a restaurant, so we pulled in. That’s when a guy wearing an orange vest ran over and yelled at us to move, these are for buses. We hand looked for bus only signs, but there weren’t any. So we had to disconnect the Jeep to back out. We finally parked the motorhome out by the main road. We ate lunch near by and then went out to the point and parked the Jeep. We wandered around the area taking photos. The granite rocks, lighthouse, little harbor and the houses and buildings provided awesome photo ops, but the sky was lightly overcast, so light shadows but lots of people. So we move on to the campground in Ludenburg. We pulled in, but since there was no one to check us in, we had difficulty finding our site. We finally got into the correct one.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Thansgiving
13 octobre, Canada ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
This morning we went down to the docks. Parking was limited to the $4 per hour lot. Lots of people speaking foreign languages. We were attracted to s tall sailing ship at the museum. When we got close, we could see staff had started winterizing it. Looking along the docks we found a sitghtseeing sailing experience on a schooner. We signed up for the 4:30pm sailing time. And went to have lunch at a restaurant over looking the harbor. Next we went back to the motorhome, picked up our laundry and headed to the only laundry in town. When we got there, the posted hours said they should be open, but the door was locked. Someone saw our confusion and informed us that today is a holiday, Thanksgiving! Well that was a surprise. So back to the motorhome to rest and wait for our ship to sail.
The cruise was on the two masted schooner, the Eastern Star. We were two of 10 passengers and two crew. We motored away from the docks and put up the sails to head out past the lighthouse on the jetty. Passing the jetty, the calm bay was replaced with lightly white capped waves. We got a little sea spray, but not bad. Les shot photos. As the motion of the boat increases, he changed to Auto and finally to Burst mode, shooting over 2000 images snd 25 videos(not all shown here). They asked for volunteers to help with the sails snd on the way back in they offered to let volunteers steer the boat. Jill did that! The captain pointed out various interesting sights and then told the history of the Eastern Star. It was built in Sweden for a member of the royal family. After being sold several time, a crew brought the boat across the Atlantic. Near Nova Scotia, they had steering issues and were towed into a small harbor for repairs by a Coast Guard vessel. The boat left port as soon as the Coast Guard vessel was out of sight. The local lighthouse keeper seeing the departure contacted the Coast Guard and let them know the boat left without repairs and heading into a storm. The Coast Guard found the boat again, but as they approached, the crew set the boat on fire and jumped overboard. They were retrieved from the sea and the flames extinguished. That is where The Coast Guard found the interior of the boat had been stripped out to make room for 8 tons of hash. The crew was arrested and the boat impounded, to be later auctioned off. The next owner went bankrupt and the boat was auctioned off again. Finally the boat has purchased and rebuilt to do sightseeing out of Ludenburg. Quite the storied past.
Upon returning to port, we decided to get dinner at a local BBQ place, but they were closing in 20 minutes so we hot the meat to go.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Yarmouth
14 octobre, Canada ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
We headed to the west end of Nova Scotia to camp on the outskirts of Yarmouth. The campground was a bit rundown and the laundry facilities were limited. So we went into town to do the laundry and shop at Walmart. Dinner was at A&W. Other than that, not much to say.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
A short run to Digby
15 octobre, Canada ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
We tried to get the last ferry for the season from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor today, but it was all booked up for large vehicles. So we move up to Digby. Tomorrow we are booked on the 4pm ferry from Digby to Saint John, NB. So after getting checked in to the campground on the ridge, we went to the ferry terminal to see the parking situation. Then out to Prim Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse was rather mundane, but the rock point was outstanding. These are all cell phone photos, if it is sunny tomorrow I will be back to get more photos with the DSLR camera.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Crossing the Bay of Fundy
16 octobre, Canada ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
We didn’t hook the Jeep to the motorhome this morning as it was only a few miles to the ferry terminal. We parked the motorhome and went to find a place for lunch. When we got back to the motorhome, the terminal was opening so we checked in and got lined up for boarding. Jill locked the Jeep and joined Les in the motorhome to wait for boarding. As 3pm arrived, a semi truck pulled up along side us, so close Jill could not get out and drive the Jeep. We were able to move a little and Jill left and got back to the Jeep as the cars began to board. Les was second in line for the big rigs to load. On board, Cinnamon and Indy stayed in the motorhome while we went up to the passenger deck. The 170 mile voyage across the Bay of Fundy to Saint John, NB took two hours. Arriving at Saint John, Les got off second and waited in the very spacious parking lot. When Jill got off the boat, she led the way to the campground about 30 minutes from the terminal. By now it was after 7pm and very dark. The campsite was not even close to leverish, so Les had difficulty leveling the motorhome. This is why we try very hard to make camp by 3pm.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Back in the USA
17 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
We are beginning to head south. We enter Maine and drove to Holden, just east of Bangor. We have 4 nights here waiting for supplies to arrive. We got 2 of Jill’s meds today, with more stuff to arrive later. We did notice an increase of fall color as we left the coast. There seem to be more conifers close to the coast, spreading to deciduous trees, thus reducing the fall color intensity.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Weekend of Resting up
19 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F
This was a 4 day stay in Holden, ME to get meds and deliveries. So we really didn’t much of anything. We shopped at Walmart on Saturday. On Sunday, we found a small trail system at Essex Woods. We only did 3 miles, hardly worth getting the bikes off the Jeep. But mostly we just sat around. Les tried in vain to access the server at home. Jill got her Blood testing kit Moday morning. So besides doing laundry, we made arrangements to meet the vampire (mobile phlebotomist) next day. Exciting no?En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Southbound to the Vampire
21 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
We headed to the Waterville, ME to meet up with the Phlebotomist for to 11am appointment. We met a little early and the appointment went well right up to the moment the phlebotomist was packing the two vials of blood. The cap popped off one vial spilling blood over the table. Oops, hopefully the lab can work with one vial. Afterwords, we drove on down to the KOA campground for the night, maybe? At the campground, the sun popped out from the clouds and Les went out and took photos of fall color in the campground.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
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Back to the Coast
22 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
Well, one night at the Agusta/Gardiner KOA has turned into three. Les’ brother is sending our ballots and Jill ordered more medical supplies, all to arrive tomorrow. We woke to rain on the motorhome, so we decided it would be a good day for sightseeing. As we left, the rain got heavy. Driving to Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, we stopped for lunch in Damariscotta, ME. That is when Les discovered he forgot to bring his fanny pack with his wallet. Jill did all the driving the rest of the day. The restaurant looked like it was straight out of Harry Potter. The dinning room was up a few flights of narrow,and steep stairs. As we finished eating the clouds began to part. The lighthouse was still partly shadowed, but Les got his DSLR camera out and started looking for photo ops. The sun finally lit up the area and he got a bunch of photos of the lighthouse and the very interesting rocky shore with waves crashing.
On the was back, we took a side trip to Fort William Henry, initially built in the 1600’s and destroyed a few years later. The reconstruction happened in 1908, using the original stones still on site. On the way back to the KOA, Les had his cell phone out and ready to take pictures along the road. He got a bit carried away. During the writing of this footprint, the rain has returned for another performance.En savoir plus
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Cute spot! [Angela Gatto]
23/10/2025Répondre
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
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Another Rail Trail
23 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F
We woke to a beautiful sunny sky today! So we drove up the road to Gardiner to ride the Kennebec River Rail Trail. But first, we went to the Walgreens and got our Covid Vaccinations. The trailhead was a few hundred yards away. The trail is supposed to be 6.8 miles long, leading to Agusta. As with the Ellsworth trail, this trail runs next to the railroad tracks and crosses them in several places. We enjoyed the trail all the way to Hallowell. At this point, the trail joins the very busy highway. We decided to to turn around and ride back to the Jeep. We rode a total of 7.8 miles, but it was fun to get out and see the color along the paved trail. We did a little grocery shopping and returned to camp. This afternoon UPS delivery arrived at the campground office and included our ballots, forwarded by Les’ brother and some medical supplies for Jill. We voted and will drop the ballots at the next US Post Office we find.En savoir plus
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Voyageur Such wonderful colors!
25/10/2025RépondreTraduire
Yay! You voted! [shirley]
25/10/2025RépondreTraduire
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Looking for open Campgrounds
24 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
We headed south, not sure where we would camp tonight. Amost all campground in New England have closed for the season. We parked at the Cabelas near Portland, ME and disconnected the Jeep. We drove out to the Portland Head Lighthouse. Jill had painted this lighthouse from a photo provided by a watercolor instructor. We had broken clouds, but the lighthouse got lite up as we walked out to the viewpoint we were looking for. Les took photos and Jill started a sketch. We returned to the motorhome and requested a one night stay at a Boondocker. This is part of the Harvest Host group, but it is a private residence. So south again. The place was tight to get into and the owner was very grumpy. But it was a restful night.En savoir plus
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VoyageurA grumpy host? That’s not right.
26/10/2025RépondreTraduire
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
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Boston / Cap Cod KOA
25 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F
Leaving the still grumpy Boondocker house we drove into Massachusetts to part way between Boston and Cap Cod. Most RV parks are really quiet this time of year. Not this KOA, it is nearly full of families. Plenty of action. The kids were all jumping on a big air bag mounted to the ground. We figured the air bag is a safer replacement to a trampoline. Later while we were resting in the motorhome, there was a parade of golf carts with kids in Halloween costumes through the campground ground. The kids were trick or treating, so Jill grabbed our candy box and went out to pass out candy. Meanwhile, Les was on the phone with his brother, getting logged on the our computer at home so he could pull up the landscape water plans. Robert was able to shut down the water system and open the drains. Robert will blow out all the watering zones tomorrow.En savoir plus
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That looks fun! [Angela Gatto]
26/10/2025RépondreTraduire
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Where the Revolution Began
26 octobre, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 48 °F
We took the Jeep up to Lexington, MA this morning after a breakfast out in Middleborough. We stopped by the town visitor center and bought tickets for the 1:30 tram tour of Lexington and Concord. We walked Indy around the Lexington Battle Green and through the “Ye Old Burial Ground”. During the walk, got petted by lots of strangers. He was very popular. The tram tour was very good. The tour guide gave us very detailed explanation of how the revolutionary war began in this area. She pointed out all the “Witness buildings”, those buildings that still exist from when these events happened. At Concord Bridge, we got off the tram and walked across the bridge to hear about the battle at the bridge. This where the phrase “Shot heard around the world” comes from as this was the first place where a Colonial Officer ordered his me to fire on the British troops. The tour lasted 90 minutes and was very informative and an effective way to experience this place in our history. In addition, much of the area is a national Park, which is currently closed, but the tour is not run by NPS, so it is still running.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
1620
27 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F
Today we visited Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower II and Plimoth Patuxet.
We all learned as kids that the Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower on Plymouth Rock. The rock was first identified as THE rock 120 years after the landing. It was moved twice and now sits in a pit on the shore, not likely in the original location.
Near the rock is the Mayflower II, a seaworthy replica of the original. It is pretty tiny to fit 102 passengers and the crew.
Two and half miles to the south is Plimoth Patuxet, a replica of the pilgrim village. The original site was an abandoned native american village, call Patuxet. The natives had died years before from an epidemic. The pilgrims arrived in November 1620, beginning of winter. Having to build shelters during the harsh winter, more than half died before the first Thanksgiving in 1621! This whole facility seems to be quite faithful to historic representation of 1621. In the village site, the interpreters were in costume and presenting Living History by staying in character for 1621. It was quite enjoyable, but the weather was cold. Jill was not feeling well, so we returned to the motorhome.
There is a “story” that Les’ family may be somehow related to the Allertons that arrived on the Mayflower. There was some kind of scandal and the Allertons back in England changed the name to Allert. These Allerts came to America much later. Les’ sister has been working on the family genealogy, but has not been able to validate the story.En savoir plus
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I want to read that story if ever completed and even if not, this 2nd gen girl thinks that is cool! [Angela Gatto]
29/10/2025RépondreTraduire
Yup, I want to know too [JoAnn B]
30/10/2025RépondreTraduire
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Southbound
29 octobre, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F
We are headed south, following the vanishing color. Last night we were in a KOA campground in Connecticut and tonight we are in a County Park in New Jersey. We past through the narrow part of New York State. We are about a hour from NYC by train, planning to do a couple of trips into the city. But first we need to find a doggie day care for Indy. What is it about politicians, they love to rename things, the Tappen Zee bridge now Governor Cuomo bridge…right it is still …En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Heading Home
30–31 oct., États Unis ⋅ 🌧 55 °F
So last night it rained, this morning it is still coming down. Before we left to get doggy daycare got a call from my oncologist, the chemo pills I been taking this trip are not working. In fact my blood tests showed more cancer! So they want me to comeback and get on “ infusion” chemo treatment. So we are packing up tomorrow and heading down I-81, to North Carolina and see my niece and her family, then head west on I-40 to Barstow, CA. We can only drive 2 - 3 hours safely, so it will take us a couple of weeks to get home. The travel blog will not be as exciting, ok interesting…but thanks everyone for following Paint Your Wagon…we now know where we are heading. PS Les say’s maybe we can fly to New York City later. Returning to camp, it was still raining. But then it stop and Les took Indy out. He noticed the interesting light on the remaining leaves, so he went out to take pictures.En savoir plus
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VoyageurHave a safe trip home, it’s bound to be interesting with you two at the helm! May your journey along alternate Route 66 (it’s celebrating 100 years this year! ) provide you with special Kicks as you cross mid-America! We’ll be following your travels! Love you 😘
01/11/2025RépondreTraduire
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Into Pennsylvania
31 octobre, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 54 °F
Leaving camp today, Les took a wrong turn and it took several miles to get headed west. These roads in New Jersey are poorly signed and weirdly designed, not mention that the vegetation hides turns so you don’t see them until it is too late to turn. Add to that that when Google maps says to take the next right, there are actually two rights on the off ramp, not signed. So we left New Jersey and found a very large market with room to park. Les took a nap while Jill went into shop. After lunch, we headed for the freeway, but again Google stopped talking and less made another wrong turn, ending up on a road next to the freeway, but fortunately going the right direction. Jill got him back on the freeway. The roads are better, but the heavy head wind is pushing us left and right. Then we got on US Highway 22. At this point it is a three lane highway, but the electronic sign says lane ends, traffic stops after Exit 40. Which lane? Why does traffic stop? Several miles later, we found Exit 40 and the traffic is still moving. Finally we see several trucks moving to the left lane, so Les did too. The highway narrowed to two lanes and the traffic soon slows . . . Then stops. For the next 6-7 miles, our speed was a crawl or not moving. Info online indicates this is a construction zone. About a mile from the actual construction, two lanes is squeezed into one. After the construction zone the highway got back to normal, but that construction zone added at lease 30-40 minutes and aggravation to the trip. We rolled into the next KOA camp. As we checked in, we were handed a menu and told that we could call in a dinner order snd it would be delivered to our campsite! Bonus, no cooking or going out to eat! We were tired so went to bed early.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
PA MD WV VA
2 novembre, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
Southwest bound on I-81 today. Starting in Pennsylvania, traveled through a narrow part of Maryland, a narrow part of West Virginia and stopped at the Harrisonburg / Shenandoah Valley KOA. We didn’t get any pictures. The weather at the campground was nice, so Les cooked a steak outside.
The time changed to Daylight Time over night, but Les woke at his usual time and had to reset the clocks in the motorhome. This ment we left the campground earlier than usual. Down the highway 20 miles, we got off to get gas at Costco. $2.65.9 per gallon, a new record low price for the trip. As Les started to fill the tank, he glanced back at the Jeep and found we had been “Ducked“ again!
The person that left the duck put double stick tape on the bottom so it would not fall off! We continued on I-81 to I-77 south and now camped at the Fancy Gap KOA. This KOA also has dinner in a smoker. So we are ordering a Beef Brisket Sandwich with baked beans.En savoir plus
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VoyageurYou scored again today! You lucky ducks - so how many ducks now?😘
04/11/2025RépondreTraduire
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
The Carolinas
4 novembre, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 43 °F
Leaving Virginia, we drove through North Carolina and into South Carolina to camp at Andrew Jackson State Park. The fall colors are beginning to fade as the leave fall of the trees. But we are backed up to the small lake and there are some very nice views. Jill’s niece and family is about 20 minute drive dew east into North Carolina. So after getting the motorhome set up on the site, we took a brief rest before going over to see the family. It has been several years since we have seen them. Leslie and Jason have three boys, from three to eight years old. This is our first time meeting Isaac. We took them out to dinner at an Irish Pub in the nearby town of Waxhaw, NC.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
A Rest Day in Camp
4 novembre, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 54 °F
Our only outing today was a fun filled shopping experience at Walmart. We throughly enjoyed just sitting around our side looking at the color and the lake. The weather was very pleasant. Jill’s niece and family came over about 5pm and we cooked hamburgers on our little outside propane grill.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
On to Tennessee
5 novembre, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 64 °F
Leaving camp today, we traveled northwest on a variety of rough and narrow roads through small townsp and finally onto I-26 to get onto I-40. We bypassed going back through Charlotte. But these little roads were stressful. Just after entering North Carolina, we stopped for lunch snd a nap. I-40 ran pretty smooth until going through the Smokey Mountains on the approach to Tennessee. The highway runs down a major river canyon and road construction is shoring up the riverbank, so all the west bound traffic was funneled into on lane that ran 10-35 mph for a very long way. The lane was narrow and very rough in places. We pulled into the KOA on the outskirts of Newport, TN about 4:30 after yet another shopping spree at Walmart. We also gassed up the motorhome for $2.35.9 per gallon, WOW ANOTHER RECORD LOW!En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Easy Drive
6 novembre, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
It was all I-40 today. Only one slow down for a mile at a major interchange. The road was smooth and mostly light traffic, although some locals don’t seem to understand how to merge with traffic on the interstate. We stopped for lunch and a nap about noon at a rest area east of Nashville. Afterward we found the KOA we were heading for was only 30 minutes away. We had both checked the travel time for today in the morning and it was 3 hours and 13 minutes, but it appeared we had had covered the distance in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Since we drive at 60 mph, we could not understand how we drove faster than the estimated time. Later, we realized that when we stopped for lunch we were looking at the phones. They had change one hour back because we entered Central Time Zone without realizing it. Mystery solved.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Across the Mississippi River
7 novembre, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 68 °F
Driving through or around Nashville was very slow. On the bypass highway (I-440), google maps suggested a faster route to avoid most of the stopped traffic leading to bridge replacement. So we got off the highway and turned onto the alternate road, a dirt road and then there was also potholes and washboard. A normal car can go fast and that would smooth out. But that does not work for a motorhome. You have to slow down to a crawl. We weren’t the only one taking that alternate road. Les pulled over and let a dozen others to pass. After those passed, we had a semi follow by more cars than we could see. By the time we got back on the Interstate in 10 mph traffic, we had actually passed a lot of vehicles that had passed us before we took the alternate route. Going through Memphis, there were several places where the concrete highway was all patches. Concrete highways don’t handle the freezing weather. But we got across the Mississippi River and to another KOA campsite, and a Graceland Dinner delivered to the campsite. Jill’s didn’t have to cook tonight, Yea!En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Lake Dardanelles
8 novembre, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
It was a 3 hour drive to Lake Dardanelles State Park. The website was offline last night, so we were not able to make a reservation. We went to the Visitor Center and they were great help getting us into a campsite. The weather is very nice, so we opted to get the chairs out and sit outside for a change. We will be meeting up for dinner with Les’ cousin Scott and his wife Beverly at a restaurant, Old South.En savoir plus
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Paint Your Wagon Voyageur
Entering Tornado Alley
9 novembre, États Unis ⋅ 🌬 46 °F
Les is always concerned about the weather while driving the motorhome. He has been checking Weather Nation every day or two to see what weather challenges lie ahead. So driving into Oklahoma today, the forecast looks good, but wind 10-20 mph from the NNW. Not enough to knock over the motorhome, but still a challenge to stay in the right hand lane. The replacement front sway bar is a definite improvement, but the motorhome is a big sail. Much of I-40 has mature trees that helped deflect the wind, but where the road was open, as when crossing long bridges, we have to fight to stay right. Lunch and nap was at a Loves Truck Stop and a had a Burger King, so Les got his Whopper. As day’s end we found ourselves in another KOA.En savoir plus
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