Sequoyah Bay State Park, Oklahoma--August 17 & 18, 2009

From Lake Eufaula we drove about 50 miles north to Sequoyah Bay State Park in Oklahoma. We planned to spend 3 nights before completing the trip to Siloam Springs to see Bob's parents. The park was nice, but on a scale of 1-10, the playgrounds ranked a dismal 3. There were several playgrounds, but they either needed repair or there wasn't enough equipment to keep us happy. The area where we were camped only had 2 swings and 2 tire swings.


We stayed 2 nights, so our second day was spent exploring the portion of the park across the lake. There was a nice nature center--closed---but we were still able to see the animals behind the building. Chris and DeAnna like counting the turtles.

Our final count was 5 turtles in the pit area.

One of our favorite activities was walking to the lake to feed the geese. There was a mound we had to cross to get there.
The geese were normal, pushy geese. DeAnna found out that if you hold onto the bread too long, a goose will take it right out of your hand. There were also carp to feed by the floating store. Of course, we forgot the camera on these expeditions!

After packing up our belongings, we headed to Siloam Springs, Arkansas for a visit with Bob's parents--Chris and DeAnna's great grandparents.

Adventures at Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma--August 14-16, 2009

Lake Ray Roberts was a great park with playgrounds, swimming, fishing, boating, hiking trails, horse trails and nature center. We enjoyed our stay, but it was time to move to a new park. We headed toward Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma. First stop, the Oklahoma Welcome Center.

We ate a picnic lunch. The kids 'rode' the stage coach.

Then it was off to find Lake Eufaula and our campsite. Bob made reservations so we would be sure to have a site, but this reservation didn't work out! Online, the information for site 8 said it would accommodate a 50 foot rig when is actuality, the max length was 24 feet! We had to change sites and ended up with one closer to the playground! Even though it was a weekend, the campground didn't fill!
During rest time, Christopher liked putting the bug puzzle together. The beetles fit in many different ways!DeAnna kept beat on her drum.
Outside, they played on the playground and threw rocks in the water. Chris learned how to skim rocks. When they look for rocks, Chris looks for skimmers and DeAnna looks for splashers.We enjoyed our time at Lake Eufaula. It is the largest lake in Oklahoma.

From Lake Eufaula we planned to stop at another lake in Oklahoma, but this time we would stay at a state park instead of an Army Corps of Engineers Park.

Texas and the Grandkids! August 11-14, 2009

From Barksdale we drove to Lake Ray Roberts State Park north of Denton, Texas. We had a great tri-level site. The upper level was for the rv and the car. Mid-level was our picnic table and fire ring.The lower level was lakefront with plenty of rocks for Christopher and DeAnna to throw in the water.Bob and I set up camp and explored the area. We found three playgrounds for later use.


Wednesday morning we found directions to Cathy's parents and set off for a cookout. When we arrived, there was no one in sight so I called Cathy's cell phone and asked for a welcoming committee in the driveway. It was only a matter of seconds before Christopher and DeAnna came running through the garage with Cathy not far behind.
There were hugs all around! We enjoyed our visit and the cookout. When it was time to leave we said goodbye to Valerie, Chuck, Cathy and Zack. Christopher and DeAnna were traveling with us!

The state park was about an hour from the house. After swimming and playing hard all day it didn't take long for the kids to fall asleep. They slept until we got to Sanger where we stopped for milk and eggs. From Sanger to the park all we heard were questions about where the big car was parked and why weren't we driving it.

The first item of business when we reached the rv was to throw rocks in the lake.

Thursday we spent the day at the park and played on two of the three playgrounds.

One playground was next to the beach area. Grandpa showed Christopher and DeAnna the finer art of making sand castles.

Since it was very hot, we went back to the rv for lunch and a break until the weather cooled. Christopher and DeAnna blew bubbles, went for a short hike with me to the playground and took the long way back by the lake to throw a few rocks.

Once it cooled off, we went to check out the children's fish pond and to grab some treasures from geocaches.

We only found one geocache, but it had good treasures so we left some swag to replace what we took. We parked at the equestrian parking lot and as we were leaving, 7 horses came view. One of the riders was nice enough to let the kids pet her horse.

There is a short nature trail at the park entrance so we decided to look for animals. While we were hiking, DeAnna found a "Y" shaped flower stem and told me it was a dowsing rod! She knew what to do with it. Now where did she learn that, I wonder.

Christopher read the map for us and let us know when we were close to the end of the trail. There were 19 markers along the trail.

One of the stops on the trail was a chimney where a log cabin once stood. Rumor has it that the owners left for a walk one day in the late 1800s and never returned.

Since we were looking for animals on the trail, we weren't disappointed. About halfway around we saw a doe with her fawn close behind her. If you look closely, she is in the center of this picture.Friday was a travel day. Time to leave Texas and head for Arkansas to visit Great Grandpa Bob and Great Grandma Dot. We plan to stop at two campgrounds in Oklahoma. The first is an Army Corps of Engineer Camp on Lake Eufaula--South Dam Site. We'll let you know about it in a later post!

The Other Side of Louisiana--August 4-10, 2009

The title of this blog is the saying we see on the signs in this area. Bossier City is across the Red River from Shreveport. We don't know if it means the difference between the two cities or the difference between this area and the bayous of southern Louisiana.

We are staying at the FamCamp on Barksdale AFB in Bossier City. It is a nice area, but due to the nearness of a water, the mosquitoes are terrible! And did I mention that it is hotter than hot? Well, if not, let me say it one more time--it is hotter than hot. Bob connected our cord to the generator so we can fool it into thinking it is running so our second air conditioner will work. And to think on our year-long trip we hardly ran the AC at all!

We explored the area doing geocaches and of course, we visited some casinos. The casinos are built on 'river boats' like they were in Biloxi before the hurricanes washed them away. We had good luck at Diamond Jack's and not so good luck at Sam's. I sure did like the sound made when the machine totalled up 900 quarters! Hmmm.... I think that I am done with gambling for a while. I like the feel of being a winner--even if it was only $220!

Some of our geocaches took us along the trail on the north side of Red River. The trails were excellent for walking and biking. (We left our bikes home to have more room when Cathy, Christopher and DeAnna join us.) From this spot near a geocache, you can see the city of Shreveport in the background. The tall buildings to the right are casino hotels. The buildings to the left are office buildings.

Here is a different view with us in the picture. You can't really see it, but sweat was rolling off both of us. It was hotter than hot!

We are enjoying our stay at Barksdale AFB. We took an afternoon and did our laundry. We visited Louisiana Boardwalk (outlet stores, restaurants, clubs, movies).

Sunday we stocked the rv with food for the grandkids!

Monday we visited the Eighth Air Force Museum. There is also a museum with a similar name near Savannah, GA. The active 8th Air Force is at Barksdale.

We enjoyed the indoor exhibits and then went out into the heat to see the outdoor exhibits--planes and more planes. Several units donated benches throughout the area.

Every museum seems to have a C-47.

This plaque commemorates the Berlin Airlift.

There were quite a few planes on display in the outdoor area.

We leave Barksdale AFB Tuesday, August 11. Our next stop is Lake Ray Roberts State Park north of Denton, Texas.

On the Road Again! July 28-August 3, 2009

Once again we are on the road. We left home July 28 and headed to Grassy Pond FamCamp south of Valdosta, GA. The camp is run by Moody AFB. When we head north or west, this is a good place to stop before heading on to great adventures. It gets us out of Florida and close to roads leading everywhere. Our site was a pull-through with full hook-ups. As we were only staying the night, we didn't unhook the car.

From Grassy Pond we headed west on US 84. We made a few stops along the way to find geocaches. We had a travel bug (Figaro from Pinocchio) who wanted his picture taken in Whigam, GA. After finding a geocache near Figaro's photo op spot, we had a picnic lunch--no snakes invited!We continued on to Bainbridge, Georgia. There we turned south on a local road toward Chattahoochee, FL. Our next stop was East Bank Campground on Lake Seminole. It is an Army Corps of Engineer area and even though we accessed it from Chattahoochee, it is in Georgia!

We spent two nights at East Bank. Just after we set up camp, the bottom dropped out of the sky and it rained for several hours. The rain washed the ants away, even though Bob had already sprayed to tame them.

On awakening Thursday morning, we could see shadows of bugs on the windows of the rv. Even though it was July, the mayflies were abundant and we were parked next to their breeding area. Try as we might to get rid of them, they kept returning. Finally, we decided to wait and wash them off right before leaving. This picture shows only a portion of the mayflies who loved the white of our rv!

Our site was on near the water and we had a good view of Woodruff Dam. We found geocaches in Chattahoochee and Sneads. We left Figaro in an ammo box at a local picnic area. We hope someone finds him and moves him soon.

From Chattahoochee we traveled west on US 90 to Bonifay, Florida where we turned north heading to Miller's Ferry East Bank Campground in Alabama.

It was another Army Corps of Engineer area. Once again, our camp site was near the water. We thought that we might have trouble getting a site since it was Friday, but the campground is in a remote area and it stayed relatively empty the entire time we were there.

Bob found a circular route with several geocaches, so off we went to improve our numbers. We started at Camden Courthouse, then rode the circuit with our last cache hidden at a roadside farm museum in Gastonburg, Alabama.

We stayed 2 nights at Miller's Ferry and then drove into Mississippi to Roosevelt State Park where we spent the next 2 nights. The weather was hotter than hot so we didn't do much other than take a five mile hike along the Civil War Trail to find four geocaches. Besides the heat, the ticks were out looking for new homes. We were lucky enough to discover all the critters before we got in the car to go back to the rv.

After driving and spending 2 nights at each place, we decided we needed to take a break and spend a week at our next destination--Barksdale AFB, Bossier City, Louisiana. The Louisiana Welcome Center provided many brochures with ideas of things to do once we reached Bossier City. We'll let you know what we decided to do as the weatherman was calling for more intense heat!

Home Again, Home Again

Once we got home, we started catching up on work around the house. The pool was the first order of business as we had drained it before our big trip! It took about 2 weeks to get it refinished due to rain--can't redo a pool in the rain. After the new finished cured for a month (with water in the pool) we had a salt chlorinator installed. It should cut down on chemicals, but we have since found out it will need more acid! Oh, well, it is probably a wash.

Here are a couple of pictures of the spa and pool with the new finish--before water has been added.

And of course, here are the after pictures. The pool and spa have cured, the salt chlorinator is installed and the barracuda is running. We have been in a few times, but the afternoon thunderstorms have kept us out many days.

While the pool was curing, we couldn't resist a trip to Patrick AFB. We wanted to see the shuttle lift-off May 11. Our friends Ira and Mary also visited Patrick for the same reason. As always, we enjoyed our time together.

Their site overlooked the Banana River. As we were talking, the sun began its descent.

A blue heron was fishing near their site.

I had never seen a blue heron bend its head in quite this way, but it must have given it a better view of its dinner!

Here is a good view of our dinner--shish-ka-bobs made by Ira!Bob and I watched the shuttle launch from the beach at Patrick.

Bob and I spent two weeks at Patrick. Jennifer and Andy came down for a weekend and we all enjoyed Sunday brunch at the club.

When we returned home, the pool was ready and so was yard work. After being gone for so long, our yard needs lots of attention. Our neighbors told us that an owl has taken up residence in our back yard. Last night as we were returning from our evening walk, Bob and I spotted a gopher tortoise in the side yard and about 10 feet away was the owl! I went inside and got the camera. I wasn't surprised that the owl was gone when I returned, so I snapped a picture of the tortoise.

I had an eery feeling that I was being watched. I looked around and saw not one, but two owls watching me from the wall behind our bedroom! They kept a close eye on me as I snapped their picture.

We plan on being home until we go get Cathy and the kids in August. We will make some trips to Jacksonville, but we really do need to get our yard work done!