Tuesday, November 09, 2010

LAMONI IOWA TO LINDSBORG KANSAS WITH A PARK WARNING IN SALINA!!

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It was a reasonably warm night so we didn’t have to fire up our blue flame heater.  Can’t even remember the last time we used the furnace in the rig to keep warm.  The Legacy blue flame heater does a fine job….& dancing flames look nice.
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THIS 8 MILE STRETCH OF INTERSTATE WEST OF TOPEKA KANSAS WAS THE FIRST PIECE OF ROAD LAID IN THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
We were hooked up by 6:50 a.m & rolled on out of Split Buff County Park with a beautiful Iowa sunrise casting it’s early morning rays across an old Amish farmland.  Buggies in the yards, clothes on clotheslines & we saw one small Amish girl leading a horse from the barn while a second smaller girl filled a water trough.  Chores before school. 
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KELLY WORKS ON A DEER PARK RESERVATION, TAKES A WORK RELATED CALL, PROGRAMS GARMIN GERTIE FOR TOPEKA TRAFFIC & TYPES AN EMAIL RESPONSE TO RETIRED ROD IN KANSAS CITY.  ME?  I JUST DRIVE THE RIG & GRUMBLE A LOT!!
Four miles back to the town of Lamoni & we were southbound aboard I-35 on a direct collision course with Kansas City.   As readers know, I will go miles out of my way to avoid the traffic chaos & madness of large cities & I had already poured over my maps Tuesday night for an alternate route.  Plus, I much prefer the quieter pace & rural scenery of secondary roads any day.
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HAVING A GAME OF ‘STICKS’ WITH MAX, CHECKERS & THE MOTORMOUSE AT A REST AREA……ME & THE LITTLE MOUSE
Just north of Kansas City we hung a right at Cameron & picked up highway 36 west to St. Joseph.  We underestimated St. Joseph & failed to employ the help of Garmin Gertie.  We missed our southbound turn for I-29 & blew through town on 36 west.  Weather has been good so we just stayed on 36 to Fairview & hung a left on 75 down to Topeka Kansas.  Picked up I-70 & pointed the nose west for Salina.
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THIS IS THE PARK IN SALINA KANSAS WE DID NOT STAY AT!!
Saw a lot of billboards for the ‘Oz Museum’ so we knew we were probably in Dorothy & Toto’s neighborhood.  That old Wizard & I have some things in common you know:}  Easy to see how that big Kansas wind twisted itself up into a blustering Tornado years ago & blew Dorothy & her whole house off to the land of Oz.  The heavy wind gusts coming out of the south all day were trying to blow us somewhere as well, & it wasn’t straight ahead.
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TONIGHT’S OVERNIGHTER SPOT IN LINDSBORG KANSAS
The Escapee Club ‘Days End’ book we use to find places for overnighter’s is 5 years old & that may have caught up with us today.  Kelly had found a County Park in the city of Salina so about 2:30 this afternoon, after a short Wal-Mart grocery stop, we headed for the Thomas County Park.  It’s near the interstate & what a great find it was with all it’s trees in a nice peaceful park setting.   Well, that is until we talked to a young local couple sitting on the tailgate of their pick up truck.  They warned us about the park being a night time magnate for homeless people & Gays.  They said the Park gets ‘Bad’ at night & didn’t recommend staying there!!  So, we heeded their warning & left the Park poste haste.  I think it’s about time we got an updated ‘Days End’ book & we may have to pick up our Escapee’s membership again to do that.  We dropped the membership about 5 years ago for no particular reason that I can remember.  I think they frown upon Cursmudgeons!!
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Didn’t take Kelly long to find us another park via our outdated Day’s End book of course & before long we had moved a short 10 miles south down 135 to the small Swedish flavored town of Lindsborg.  A quick stop for directions soon led us to the McPherson Co. Old Mill Picnic/Campground about 4:30.  Small park with a gravel ring road, washroom, water nearby & electric.  We didn’t bother with the electric.  Verizon signal is great & we’ve pulled in 6 clear channels with the rig’s antennae.  Nice little Park but it wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea.   Good enough for us gol darned bunch of Bayfield Bums though.
Haven’t looked at my maps yet to see where we’ll end up tomorrow but for sure it will be somewhere southwest of where we are now.  It has been really nice using a different route this year seeing things we have never seen before.  Love the rolling hills across the Great Plains.  Not as flat as coming across Texas.
Finally made contact with my Doctor today regarding some tests before we left & his office said, have a good trip & call us in the Spring:]  Also, the winds of change are blowing in Arizona & our travel plans may be shifting gears shortly.  Stay tuned……………
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SORRY ABOUT ALL THE PICS OF THE RIG & JEEP BUT IT’S ABOUT ALL I HAVE SOME DAYS RIGHT NOW
GROANER’S CORNER:{  From the following list of 25 items, count all the ones that you remember -- not the ones you were told about! How to score yourself is at the end.
  1. Blackjack chewing gum
  2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar-water
  3. Candy cigarettes
  4. Soda-pop machines that dispensed bottles Cell phone for seniors
  5. Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes
  6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
  7. Party lines
  8. Newsreels before the movie
  9. P. F. Flyers
  10. Butch wax
  11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (e.g., Olive - 6933)
  12. Peashooters
  13. Howdy Doody
  14. 45-RPM records ... and 78-RPM records
  15. S&H Green Stamps
  16. Hi-fi systems
  17. Metal ice trays with lever
  18. Mimeograph paper
  19. Blue flashbulb
  20. Packards
  21. Rollerskate keys
  22. Cork popguns
  23. Drive-in theaters
  24. Studebakers
  25. Washtub wringers
If you remembered!
         0 - 5 = You're still young
         6 - 10 = You are getting older
       11 - 15 = Don't tell your age
       16 - 25 = You're older than you think!
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15 comments:

  1. Congratulations on solving the rig's leveler and other problems, that's a relief. Keep traveling safe, we have snow here at home in Montana.

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  2. looks like perfect day in your world..even if you are the driver or the passenger!..glad you are hunkered down for the night some where away from the wild residents of Kansas!

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  3. Gosh, you're right in our neck of the woods! Down the road you will probably be getting on the Kansas Turnpike for a short bit into Oklahoma? When you pass the last Kansas exit if you'd go 16 miles east ~ there we are!! And YES, it was windy in Kansas today! Not supposed to be so bad tomorrow.

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  4. Travel safe folks, we are heading into SW Kansas and will be watching for the Bayfield Bunch as we travel. We are heading for Arizona later in the winter and will be tracking your movements.

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  5. I enjoy reading your daily blog, now I have a dumb question for you: When you look on the back up monitor, does it look like they do in a mirror, or would they appear the same as you would see if you turned your head? You're my expert on things RV. ( They say it will be 49 here (Phoenix) tomorrow morning.) I had to turn on my heat tonight.

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  6. GOSH!..warm weather..quiet overnight parks..hassle free routes...what a great way for the Bayfield Bunch to be "going down the road"! Glad for all of you!

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  7. It does sound like you need a new Day's End book, I bet there are alot more parks to choose from in the updated version.

    Looks like you had a good day of traveling, be safe the rest of the way.

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  8. We Escapees don't have anything against Cursmudgeons. I have a feeling that Cursmudgeons don't like any membership program, except for a single year so they can take advantage of the benefits of the club for just one year's dues! However, that's OK -- we can use your $65!

    Meantime, we are anxiously awaiting news of changes to your Arizona plan!

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  9. Love seeing Kelly doing all her "stuff" in the passenger seat. Makes me really want a Verizon card! Although I can do a lot with Garmin Girl, and the iPhone, and LiveWriter off line.

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  10. Your camping spot between the trees looks about perfect for you! Lots of room for the 'furry kids' to run around too!

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  11. You made much better progress than the Title of todays post indicated. When I saw the Title I thought you had some trouble and didn't get out of Iowa.
    Glad everything is moving along fine and it was only some confusion about what state you were in when typing the Title.

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  12. I enjoyed seeing your photos since I live just outside Kansas City, Missouri. We've been on many of the same roads & in the towns that you visited. Since we can't get far from home without going across Kansas, I'm glad to hear you say traveling thru Kansas is more interesting that going thru Texas. Since we live so close to Kansas, we really like boondocking at the FREE Kansas State Fishing Lakes (in practically every Kansas county). Some are very remote (as in no cell fon service at Atchison Co State Fishing Lake) while others are located very near cell towers (like Chase Co State Fishing Lake). My camping blog at www.CasitaEscapes.blogspot.com includes photos of all the various Kansas Fishing Lakes where we've stayed. So, the next time you drive thru Kansas, think about staying at the water's edge at a free night (or three) at a Kansas County Fishing Lake.

    ~~ Glenda ~~

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  13. Save travels you guys sounds like everything is going well.We've have some beautifull weather here at home Manny and I went for a nice long walk on tyhe Beach yesterday and getting ready for another one this afternoon!!

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  14. Sounds like all is going well in "Bayfield Bayou"....We are enjoying 75 degrees in MS...and the Civil War history...Ya gotta watch them Kansas wild people...You'd think they had been through a tornado!!!

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