Tuesday, July 14, 2020 - Morning Walk, Drive and Lunch before moving to Tuttle Creek State Park in Manhattan, KS

Tuesday, July 14, 2020 - Morning Walk, Drive and Lunch before moving to Tuttle Creek State Park in Manhattan, KS

It was after 6:30 when I finally got up this morning.  Dean already had the coffee half perked by the time I made it downstairs.  What is happening to me?  It didn't take long until I was pouring our first cups of joe for the morning.  

You could feel it move as you walked across it.

After our second cup we took a walk over the Long Creek Historical Bridge and then around part of the lake area near us.  

The walking path goes around the pond area.

They have very nice facilities.

We easily walked over a mile before returning to Bentley.  It's about a two hour drive to Tuttle Creek and we cannot check in until 2:00, so after our breakfast, we hopped in the truck to check out one more campground in the park, that we missed last night.  I'm so glad we took the time to do this.  I'm not sure if our Escapees camping club would travel this far north.  If they would, we'd love to host at this site.  We found this amazing pavilion.

Grill with table

 

Large covered area with tables and seating if you want to have an event, potluck meal, etc.

Look at this area that can be used to set out your potluck dinners - with many electric outlets for crockpots, etc, and a sink for cleanup.

There are a couple of ceiling fans.  The one in the center draws air up and out vents in the roof.

Another view of the seating

Serving area

A very forward thinking man

Restrooms on site.

Nice paved path from the parking area.

The pavilion is located near campsites 62-112

We returned to Bentley to finish packing up.  Our drive today is only 84 miles, so we don't want to be in too much of a hurry.  I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, followed by an apple.  As I did the dishes, Dean was outside getting things ready to go.  We were parked under a huge hedge tree.  Here is the trunk, taken from inside Bentley.  It was a wonderful shaded site.

It was 12:20 when we left our site at Melvern Lake.  So far in our stays at Kansas State Parks this park has now moved to the top of our list in layout, facilities and upkeep.  It is a huge park with numerous campgrounds offering sites ranging from boondocking to full hookups.  

Dean wanted to take state highways rather than the Interstate so he routed us through Osage City and Council Grove.  It was a beautiful day and we didn't mind the extra time involved for this slower paced drive.

Osage City - I love the tree lined trees that create a canopy as you drive through.

We saw a number of metal sculptures along the way.

Another sculpture - click to enlarge it.

A beautiful sculpture of a Pioneer Woman, located on the Santa Fe trail in Council Grove,

Another sculpture - click on the picture to enlarge it.

Entering Manhattan, KS

As we cross the Tuttle Creek Dam

Campground Area below the dam

Tuttle Creek State Park

These are a few of the large trees in the park, and some of the biggest trees we've seen in Kansas.

It was almost 3 when we found our "Premium Site".  I guess premium is for the sewer hookup we have because while the site has the hookups we want - it is certainly not a prime site.  Basically it is at the side of the roadway, with our door facing the road.  However, I can do laundry; and since we are only here two days, it meets our needs.  

We were soon set up.  It was hot so after getting things set up we took a short time to sit and enjoy our ice water.  Soon afterwards I was ready to start doing laundry.  After the first load was done, we left to eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  We have several gift cards so we decided this evening was a good time to make use of one.  I was sure I had taken a picture of our meals - but I guess I only thought of taking a picture.  LOL!

Dean ordered a ribeye and I chose filet medallions with rice and peppercorn sauce.  We both really enjoyed our meal.  When they brought our salads, they brought me two.  My meal came with two sides besides the rice.  I only chose one, so they gave me an extra one.  I boxed the second one up to take home for lunch or dinner tomorrow.  We both had leftovers from our meal.  Maybe I won't have to cook at all while we are here!!!  Thanks to whichever one of our kids who gave us the gift cards - we sure enjoyed the meal!  

Manhattan recently passed  an ordinance requiring masks to be worn in all public places.  We walked to the door, put on our mask, and once our waiter delivered our water to the table, we took them off.  Every other booth was marked off - so we were well over the 6' distancing, and of course our server wore a mask.  We watched an employee disinfect the tables after a couple seated near us left.  She appeared to be doing a very good job of wiping the table and seats down with a disinfectant.  After out meal, we put the masks back on to leave, and then once we were outside, we could take them off.  I don't like wearing them because they fog my glasses so badly - especially coming and going to/from a cold building into/out of the heat, but we only had to wear them for a short time, so it wasn't a big deal. 

On our way home my phone rang - it was Dean's bi-weekly family call.  I answered, then turned the phone towards Dean after explaining we were on our way back to our campsite.  Dean, his brother Larry and sisters Joyce and Ruthann had a nice visit using Facetime on their phones.  I think this is such a great idea for them to keep in touch with each other.

Overall, Tuttle Creek is a nice park but it didn't meet the level of care we saw at Melvern Lake campgrounds.  We would stay here again, but not in the site we selected online.  Now that we've had a chance to actually see the park, we know there are a few other sites with sewer hookups if that was a need, that are much nicer.   Most sites have nice shade through a good part of the day and overall are nicely spaced.  Unfortunately our nieghbor chose to pull his RV further down from us - I'm not sure why, maybe to reach the sewer, but when the next RV came in on the other side of him, he had a very difficult time getting into his site.  He had the last RV site in this row - with a curb at the end of it.  There is a large gap between us and the next guy.  Too bad he didn't/or wasn't able to park a little closer to us, so his neighbor could have some space too.

As we drove through one of the campgrounds, we noticed an RV with a crushed roof.  The walls were mostly standing, so hopefully whatever hit it did not go all the way through.  It appears a tree was the culprit, but if so, it had been removed.  I'm pretty sure it was the bedroom area that was hit.  What a rude awakening that might have been!  I just hope no one was injured.   

I continued doing laundry while Dean visited with his siblings and managed to get another load done.  Before going to bed I brought a load of towels down so I could get those started first thing tomorrow morning.

Good night!