Month: April 2024

We are one of 3 families camping in this IOWA State Park – which normally holds over 75 camping rigs. I guess the predicted area temps down to 1C (33F) and winds of up to 50 kmh (50 MPH according to another source) were not much of an incentive to be out “in the wild”. Fortunately in this park the winds are much lower, and there’s even a bit of sun occasionally. Luckily, once again, we were able to get our Starlink positioned so that internet is available. 100 MB download speeds – gotta love technology.

We had booked #72, in the middle of the FHU sites (marked on the pic), but we were the ONLY RV in that whole western part of the park. Moved to #2, closer to where the other 2 sites were occupied. Just felt a bit lonely down there, and there were more trees that we didn’t like being so close to, with the winds predicted.

Speaking of in the wild, we bought an air fryer a couple of days ago, and tried it out last night. It’s smaller than our one at home, but hey, we’re sort of living rough. Still having fun, and grateful for our little electric heater and propane furnace.

Two stops since leaving Texas, with plans to get to Canada by the end of the month.

First, Keystone Lake State Park, in Sand Springs, OK (near Tulsa), Site L26. We arrived grateful for some refuge from the strong winds that blew across (of course) the highways and backroads as we headed North. The park was almost empty. We chose a site with FHU (full hook up – meaning water, electricity and sewer), all of which were without shade. We thought that would be a problem, but when the temps plunged at night, and then stayed there the next day, along with continued gusty winds, we appreciated the little sun that we saw. We took the opportunity to reorganize (again) some of our outside lockers, probably not for the last time. The pic is of the lower picnic area, where later in the season there would be crowds enjoying the excellent facilities of the park.

Our second 2 night stop was in the Cedar Grove Campground of Bloomington East Park, near Topeka, KS Site 76. It’s on Lake Clinton, one of many sprawling lakes that cover the country, at least on our routes. A CoE (Corps of Engineers) campground, it is very popular with the Topeka camping crowd, and we were there on a weekend. It was almost full, but it turned out to be very quiet, mainly because it’s not gone above 10 C, and has remained cloudy all day. Only the kids and a few crazy (IMHO) adults seemed to be able to ignore the cold. We did get out our down jackets, and are contemplating long underwear!

The pic below is of the road down to the water where one can fish, swim and launch boats. Pretty, but with it being so cold, not too much activity in that area!

Finally, we finished the bulk of the work we needed to do in Texas.

Our 3 days of travels from Ajijic to Dallas were without drama, other than a VERY long and frustrating 2 hours waiting to get through the border into the US.

“The Benz” was in fine shape when we got to her, and we were able to sleep aboard the first night without any difficulty. After some serious shopping to get stores, we set off for Willis (just north of Houston) where we had plans to work with Josh McBryde, a LTV specialist, to get some small but complex upgrades installed. Josh is very good, but the weather was not cooperative, and we spent 2 of our 4 work days being inundated with rain, thunder and lightening. However all got done eventually, and we were able to head north again.

We stopped for Sunday night at Levon Lake, a popular camping and recreation spot not too far from Dallas. Quite beautiful, and only a short hop to Denton, where we had plans to get our Borg stems and tire pressure monitoring system installed. These last two were key to our ability to keep tabs on and manage the Benz’s tires.

Then we had two days at Ray Roberts State Park, about an hour north of Dallas. Beautiful spot, and despite some fierce winds on Monday night, it was a relaxing time. Next, it’s on to Oklahoma!