Tuesday, May 26 – Lake McConaughy SRA, Ogalalla, NE

Tuesday, May 26 – Lake McConaughy SRA, Ogalalla, NE

 

We left Lake Johnson at 10:30 this morning headed west about 150 miles to Lake McConaughy SRA near Ogalalla, NE.  We arrived at 2:10 (CST) or 1:10 (MT).  SURPRISE!  We didn’t realize we would change time zones during this trip.

Lake McConaughy SRA Visitor Center

 

WOW!  What a great place this was.  We had a great spot overlooking the lake.  On our way to the campground we discovered the north side of the lake is all natural white sand beaches.  It was really beautiful.  We were in the Lone Eagle Campground in Site #56.  Once we filled the water tank, and set up, we headed down the road to the beach.  Tucker, Logan and Papa had to walk in the shallow waters.  Tucker had a great time building a sandcastle.   We spent about an hour and a half walking around the area and letting the boys have a good time just messing around.  There were a number of RV’s set up right at the edge of the beach in various places.  Their doors faced the water and I’m sure it was just a matter of a few steps to be in the water.  It was a beautiful day, near 72, with a nice breeze.  We wished we had thought to bring along a couple of lawn chairs and a cooler.  We would probably have stayed a little longer.

 

 The view out our front door.

 On the way to the beach.

 

 Logan and Tucker wading in the water.  The sand was very soft, but the water was cold!

 

 If you enlarge this picture you can see some of the RV's on the sand.

 Here are some more RV's on the sand across the way.

 Does this look like Tucker is going to push his Papa over in the water?

 Isn't this a beautiful site?  We walked through these trees to get to the lake.

 Group selfie!!

Tucker and his sandcastle.

 

On the way here it was apparent Nebraska has received a great amount of rain as all of the lakes, ponds and various waterways were running well past their banks.  It appears the entire central part of the country has had a deluge of rain recently. 

 

My friend Carolyn has asked her family and friends to write her name in the sand when at beaches and forward them to her via Facebook.  I was glad to oblige her and promptly did just that.  Even though it was not an ocean it was such a beautiful sand beach.

 

Once we returned we set outside for a while.  A couple walked up the bank near our campsite with two dogs.  I greeted them with a hello and the husband said he noticed we were members of the Heartland Owners Club (by the plaque on our RV ladder), and wanted to know what state we were from.  We told them we were from Kansas, but belong to the Oklahoma group since Kansas does not currently have a state group.  They were in a similar situation, as they were originally from Nebraska but joined the Colorado HOC since Nebraska does not have a group.  They have since moved to Colorado.  We visited about the Heartland group awhile.  They told us that the lake is considerably higher than normal with the recent rains, and that last year the water had been about 200 yards further out that it is now.  It was hard to imagine that.  So glad we happened to camp here at this time.

 

After dinner of taco salad, we watched a little TV and headed to bed.  Traveling, water and sun sure do make you tired.

Monday, May 25, 2015 - Johnson Lake State Recreation Area, Elwood, NE

Monday, May 25, 2015 – Johnson Lake State Recreation Area, Elwood, NE

 

Brett and Renae dropped Tucker by a few minutes before 8:00 this morning.  We visited for a few minutes, got Tucker’s duffle bag and things stored in Bentley and the backseat of the truck.  We quickly finished unhooking and pulled out at 8:25 a.m.  We are picking Logan up in Galva at his dad’s.  We made pretty good time but just before McPherson, the exit to take us to Galva was closed and we had to detour.  We went around McPherson to the west and then north, across Kiowa Road over the interstate to find out the road going north to Galva was also closed.  Beyond that was a dirt road – with all of the rains, that wasn’t going to work.  Dean turned Bentley around at the intersection, and we headed back to McPherson, took Centennial Road north to reach Highway 56 and was able to cross the overpass of I-135 right on over to Galva.  That put us back about 30 minutes.  We loaded Logan and his stuff up and took out toward Salina.  Here are a couple of photos of us getting started.

 

 If you enlarge this photo, you can just see Tucker between me and Dean.

Our first selfie! 

 

This would be a pretty long travel day for us – longer than we like to do, but we want to spend as much time as possible in South Dakota so we need to cover a lot of ground and be back by June 4.

We crossed into Nebraska north of Phillipsburg, KS.  Here’s the sign to prove it.

 

 

We arrived at Johnson Lake at about 4:00 p.m.  The attendant sent us to site #55.  The roads were pretty muddy – they have had a lot of rain.  Dean tried to back in, but between the trees and the mud it was not working.  I called the Lake Office and explained the situation.  They advised we could pick out a site and then let the attendant know.  We chose Site #77.  It has a wider entrance, was closer to the water (which means a nicer view) and barely any mud.  We really enjoyed this site.  The boys played Frisbee while Papa grilled hot dogs and I made macaroni & cheese. 

 

 

 

Here the guys are chilling .... it felt really nice!

 

 

 

We walked down to the lake after dinner and were able to get some nice shots of our first Nebraska sunset and man was it great!

We were all pretty tired.  After getting dishes done, and watching a little TV we were soon ready for bed. 

May 22, 2015 to May 24, 2015 - Air Capital RV Park, Wichita, KS

 

May 22 – Air Capital RV Park, Wichita, KS

I’ll start out by updating you on a few things.  I entirely completed details of May 22 yesterday and then my computer shut down to configure an update that was made over a week ago.  Of course I had not saved what I had done to that point and it did not show up in unsaved documents.  So frustrating!!

Also I have not been able to post on my blog.  Yesterday or day before I did manage to post a blog I had saved in Word from our trip in April, so I am hoping whatever that problem was has been fixed.  We’ll see when I try to post again later.  I am now writing the blog posts in Word, and then copying them to Blogger.

Today I am in the laundry at Broken Arrow Horse Campground in Custer, SD.  Dean and the boys went to eat breakfast (it is Friday, Dean’s day to eat breakfast out, and he’s not willing to change that just because we are on a trip.) and hopefully to tour the County Courthouse Museum here.  I thought this would be a good time to get the blog updated while also taking care of the laundry.  Well, the clothes are washed and the dryers are about 10 minutes into their time and I am just now writing the first portion.  First of all the computer had to complete updates when I shut down last time and then I had problems connecting to the Wi-fi.  Ugh!

Kamron, my granddaughter spent the night on Thursday, May 21 to help me cook and get ready for our trip.  On Friday morning she helped me get Bentley packed up.  We left Oswego about 11:15.  I drove the van to Wichita and Dean took Bentley.  Matt and Megan will be flying into Wichita tonight and we will leave the van with them while they are in town so they will have their own transportation.  We’ll pick it up on our way home when we return in June.

I dropped Kamron off and visited a few minutes with Jen and Jaxson before heading down the road.  I never did catch up with Dean – must have been that potty break at Fredonia where I had to wait for almost 20 minutes to have my turn.  You could tell it was Memorial Day weekend.  Speaking of that, you could also tell by the traffic on the highway.  Wow I’m not sure I have ever seen 400 Highway so busy.  Fortunately we both made it into Wichita with no problems and I arrived to find Dean getting us checked into our spot for the next 3 nights.

I was so upset over the next event I am going to tell you about that I vowed I would not put it in the blog but I decided to go ahead and do so.  After we got set up I went in to put out the slides.  As usual I did the bedroom first.  I flipped on the lights, checking to be sure nothing was in the way of the slides before starting to slide them out.  No problems.  Smooth going as usual.  Next the living area slides.  It was really dark inside as a storm was moving in.  I looked on both sides of the island and could see no obstructions so I began putting the slides out.  The kitchen side came out fine and then the living side started creaking horribly.  I immediately stopped.  I wasn’t sure what had happened so I ran outside.  Dean was looking underneath and whatever occurred had bent the screw on the front portion.  I went back in to look again.  As I walked to the living side to see if something was wrong inside I realized what had happened.  When I first went in I used the restroom, then washed my hands, but I had not put out a hand towel yet. Since it was raining and my feet were muddy I did not want to crawl over the bed for a towel and since the slides were in I could not yet get to the kitchen for one.  I opened the pantry door to grab paper towels and failed to shut the pantry door before walking outside.  It was very dreary and dark outside due to the rain and I just didn’t notice the door was still open in that dark corner.  I was on the verge of tears when I realized it was my fault this had occurred.  Here we were the first day of our trip and I was wondering if I had ruined it for us.  Would we be able to go if I had damaged the slide too badly?  I can’t even begin to tell you how upset I was.

Well, with the holiday weekend we were both wondering would we be able to repair the damage ourselves or would we need to have someone else look at it?  Dean called our trusty RV dealer, Deryl Bentley (yes our RV is named after him) and explained what happened.  Fortunately, it was a very easy fix.  It had bent the large bolt holding the slide to the framing.  He suggested that we buy a slightly larger bolt and replace both of the ones holding the slide in place.  The slide was working, but we were afraid if we didn’t repair it we might have more problems down the road.  Fortunately, Dean found the bolt we needed and got it repaired Saturday morning and all has worked fine since (today is May 29).  What a relief!!  You can only imagine how extra careful I have been in checking things before putting out the slides since then.

So, to finish the rest of May 22^nd’s events.  Jarred called shortly after we got set up to see if we had plans for the evening and if not would we like to have dinner with him and Andrea (and Emerson), Andrea’s parents and her sister and husband.  They suggested Dempsey’s Burger Bar.  We ate at a pizza place near Dempsey’s last time we were here and I mentioned I would like to try it, so I was definitely game.  Emerson has grown so much since we saw her last, just a couple of weeks ago.  She is really smiling more and is cuter than ever!

After dinner, Jarred and Andrea came by and we all decided maybe some Braum’s ice cream would be good before we settled in to visit.  Since there was a Braum’s right across the street it was sure easy to do.  Afterwards, we came back to Bentley and visited for a while.  Papa and Nana both got an Emerson fix.  What a way to end the evening!

Matt and Megan are due in a little before midnight.  We left the RV Park about 11:30 and headed to the airport which was not too far away.  We took both vehicles, parked one nearby and took the van to the baggage claim section of the airport.  We were surprised to see little Josh wide awake when they arrived.  He has grown so much since Christmas.  He wasn’t sure what to think about us though so we’ll wait until tomorrow to hug and squeeze him after he’s HOPEFULLY had a good night’s sleep.  (Fortunately for Matt and Megan he did!)

 

Saturday, May 23, 2015 – Air Capital RV Park, Wichita, KS

It rained most of the night and was only spitting a bit of rain the next morning.  Abram’s (Heath’s oldest son) flag football game was scheduled to play at 11:15.  We had a little bit of shopping to do this morning so we got it out of the way.  Heath called just as we were planning to leave for Abram’s game to let us know it had been cancelled.  We went ahead and ate lunch at McAlistor’s Deli and then headed over to join the rest of the Peine crew at his house.  Jarred and Andrea showed up and about an hour or so later Brett and his family arrived.  It was great having all of the boys and their families there together.  Since Matt is in New York now we get to do this only once or twice a year.  Christmas we are fortunate to have all six of our kids home, to include my daughter Misti, her children and Marc, Jennifer and their two children.  Believe me it is a houseful but very special times!

We spent most of the day just visiting.  Since Josh was not home for his birthday (April 25) they thought it would be fun to have a party for him.  To get the kids out to use up a little energy they decided to try out a place that has indoor trampolines.  Renae (Brett’s wife) and I went to a Flea Market while the others did that.  She is looking for a bench for her front porch.  We returned to the house at 6:00 and the others showed up about 15 -20 minutes later. 

Heath grilled hot dogs, brats and burgers for us and Casey made pasta salad, baked beans and a fruit salad.  It was all very good.

I’m not sure who had more fun at the birthday party following the meal – his cousins or Josh.  He sure liked his cake though and had it all over him – in his hair, on his face and down the front of him.  Sure was cute and he had a good time with the different gifts he received. 

We spent the next hour or two visiting before heading back to Bentley for the evening. We are thinking of visiting the zoo tomorrow. 

 

Sunday, May 24, 2015 – Air Capital RV Park, Wichita, KS

We had a little more shopping to do this morning before we take out on our trip with Logan and Tucker tomorrow.  I wanted to get some more groceries for those two hungry boys.  After we had lunch of sandwiches we headed back to Heath’s for the day. 

We had lots of time to spend with the grandkids and visiting with the boys and their wives.  Our plans to visit the zoo were squashed as it rained almost all day.  That evening we ordered pizza.  We really didn’t do anything else but just visit and enjoy our time with everyone.  I did manage to get a picture of the boys and their families.  Back – Heath, Brett, Matt, Jarred; Middle – Casey, Renae, Megan and Josh, Andrea and Emerson; and Front – Abram, Roman, Dacy, Tucker and Gideon. 

 

Since it’s hard to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time, there are two!

May 2-4, 2015 – Saturday, Treasure Lake Resort, Branson, MO

May 2, 2015 – Saturday, Treasure Lake Resort, Branson, MO

 

Dean and I recently purchased a membership to Treasure Lake Resort.  We think this will be a great place to visit during the times we are not traveling in the Bentley and hope the kids and grandkids will enjoy coming here with us.  The great thing about Treasure Lake is they also have cabins to rent at very affordable rates so everyone can have their own space.  There is so much to do here from both indoor and outdoor swimming; miniature golf; tennis; basketball; walking trails; games; kid’s activities; movie theater; music groups; dance lessons; etc.  And of course, it is right in the heart of Branson, MO.  There is so much to see and do here.  We have always enjoyed visiting and with our membership our overnight stay is $7.  Compared to the cost of a regular campground in Branson we are saving $25-30 or more each night we stay.  This will allow us to visit more often.

So we pulled out of Cedar Oaks RV Park in Grove about 10:00 a.m. and arrived in Branson at Treasure Lake a little after 1:00 p.m.  It was a nice drive and Bentley did very well on the ride.

We got set up and had a little lunch.  I wanted to visit one of the shops up the road that used to carry a variety of what I remember as home sewn purses.  I am looking for a small purse or carrier to take my RV log, my notebook, Kindle and various cords, pens, earphones along with me when we are traveling.  Unfortunately there wasn’t anything like I expected there to be.  We made a quick Wal-mart run to gather up some groceries to use during our stay.  We decided to stop at McFarland’s at the entrance to Treasure Lake Resort and have dinner.  We enjoy this restaurant and as usual the food did not disappoint us. 

 

May 3, 2015 – Sunday, Treasure Lake Resort, Branson, MO

 

Not sure if it was yesterday evening or today that we met and visited with our neighbors next to us who happened to be from Fort Scott, KS.  We enjoyed talking with them.  The great thing about RVer’s is we all have a commonality and there is never a lack of things to talk about. 

While at the Escapees rally they announced there would be casual campouts near the Branson area, either 2 or 3 yet this year.  While we will not be able to attend due to other commitments, we thought we’d just take a drive and see where they were and what it would be like to get the RV in for future reference.  We discovered one of the parks was actually an Escapee park.  It was a nice little park along Tuttle Creek on the east side of Lake Taneycomo and then south.  We also visited two Corps of Engineer parks on the southwest side of Branson.  Old 86 and Mill Creek.  These parks were very, very nice, as all of the COE parks we have visited have been.  The entrances to them are a little more interesting to think about bringing an RV into but many do it so we can too!

This took the best part of our day and we headed back to the RV to spend a quiet evening.  We actually had thought about going up to the Clubhouse for the dance lessons they were having but I think we were both pretty drained with all of the activities of this past week and our drive today that we decided to just take it easy.  The dance lessons will be here for next time.

 

May 4, 2015 – Monday, Treasure Lake Resort, Branson, MO

We got up and took our time getting ready to leave.  We visited with our neighbors as they too were packing up.  We left Treasure Lake a little before 11:00 and arrived back home at 2:00 p.m.   The next few weeks are going to be busy, busy, busy so we have lots to do before our next RV trip the end of May.  See you then.

 

 

May 1, 2015 - Friday, Day 4 of Escapees Rally, Grove, OK

Today was the last official day of the rally.  Instead of an evening meal, the wagonmasters for today, served a wonderful breakfast.  It consisted of a really great breakfast casserole that Dean and I both loved.  So much so I asked for this recipe as it will be a great fix ahead meal for our big family when we get together.  They also had fruit cups.  What a great way to start the morning.

They held their business meeting following the breakfast and we were accepted into the Escapees Ozark Region 17 as official members.  Alvin and Linda Baker adopted us and will be our mentors when we have questions about the Escapees group.  They are a very nice couple and the first ones we set and visited with after we arrived. 

Shortly after the meeting we ran by our friend’s house.  Paula, my sister's best friend, was gracious enough to put a cover on a pillow for me to be used as decoration on our bed in the 5^th Wheel.  They were getting ready for a garage sale so we didn’t stay for just a bit.  After that we stopped at Dairy Queen to get a burger and fries and then made our way to Harbor Village in Grove.  This is such a neat reminder of our past and worth it to walk through if you have not already been.  It’s located along the shore of Grand Lake on some rolling hills.  It is very beautiful and there is much to see.  Be sure and wear sturdy walking shoes if you visit.

Once we returned to Bentley we pretty much stayed inside until it was time for dinner.  Dinner consisted of all of the leftovers from the past few days.  Following the last meal, they auctioned off the leftover food.  This was a great idea and the money collected goes back to the club. 

We plan to pull out tomorrow and head to Branson for two nights.  Looking forward to it since we have not been in quite a while. 

April 30, 2015 - Thursday – Day 3 of Escapees Rally, Grove, OK

 

We decided to head for a walk an hour or so after we got up this morning and walked 2.7 miles.  We walked to the sidewalk outside of the RV park that parallels US Highway 59 and then walked from the RV Park to Sailboat Bridge and back.  We decided walking on the sidewalk was much easier on our bodies than across the graveled parking lots and somewhat bumpy trail we have taken here in the park.  It was a beautiful day and was beginning to get a little warm by the time we got back.  I think tomorrow shorts and t-shirts will be much more comfortable!

After getting things put away here, showers, etc. Dean headed out to visit with the group just a few RV’s down from us.  I finished getting ready and then joined him so we would be ready when they headed out for lunch.  Today the Region 17 Escapees Club (KS, OK, MO & AR) is paying for our lunch at the Rib Crib.  They began lining up at 10:45 so we could be there by 11:00.  The waiters at Rib Crib were waiting for us when we arrived and ushered us right to an area where we set together.  The food was great. The food has always been great and they have always taken good care of us as patrons.  It was no different this time.

Once we returned from lunch, I decided I’d catch up on the blog and Dean is reading material we received from Treasure Lake Resort in Branson, MO.  We are headed there next to spend Sat and Sun night.  We’ll head home Monday morning. 

 Our agenda for this month is getting pretty full.  I guess we don’t mind doing that because it seems we are always packing in lots of stuff in a short amount of time.  I’ve come to believe that is how I manage to get anything done because if I am not busy I let things slide too easily.  If I know I have to do it I always manage to get it done. 

 We are having friends over for dinner Wed. night.  On Saturday morning we will get up to leave early to be in Wichita for our grandson, Gideon’s birthday party.  He will be 6 years old and he wants a surprise birthday party.  We will get there early enough to help get things setup so when mom and dad return with him and his brothers we can “SURPRISE” him!  Looking forward to seeing his excitement! 

On Friday, May 15, Cindy and I will leave very, very early in the morning to be at the Joplin airport to catch a flight to Tampa, FL where we will spend the weekend with our step-brother Mike Carrell.    We are so excited and looking forward to this time with him.  Our flight home will leave the afternoon of May 18.  

On May 22 we will repack Bentley and head back to Wichita.  We will be picking up son Matt and family at the airport in Wichita at midnight for their visit with family for a few days.  We expect to enjoy some family time with the Peine boys and their families that weekend in Wichita.  On Monday, May 25 Dean, our two grandsons – Logan and Tucker and I, will take out for a 10 day trip to South Dakota, spending 5 of those days in the Mount Rushmore area.  All of us are excited about the trip.  I’ve been researching and talking to everyone I run into about ideas, and places not be missed, so I hope we have a great time planned for them.

Tonight our meal consisted of baked potatoes with ALL KINDS of fixings.  Since I am writing this over a month after, I cannot remember all of the toppings – but it did include all kinds of regular items, butter, sour cream, bacon, cheese and also all kinds of other things.  Wow it was so good.  I had never added BBQ meat to a baked potato but it was very, very good.

Following the baked potato buffet we had two desserts made by one of the host’s sisters.  One was bread pudding and that is what I wanted.  I cannot even remember what the other dessert was now but the bread pudding was absolutely wonderful - with caramel sauce.  Yummmm!

We ended the evening with another game of hand and foot.  What another great evening with new friends.

 

 

April 29, 2015 - Day 2 of Escapees Rally - Grove, OK

April 29, 2015 – Wednesday - Day 2 of Escapees Rally - Grove, OK

After we got up this morning I wrote the first two days blogs posts (April 27 & 28) while here in Grove OK and stayed in the RV most of the morning.  Dean headed to the activity room or clubhouse to have coffee with the guys.  We took a short walk for about 1/2 mile around a trail just south of the RV. Dean's knee was bothering him a little so we took it easy today.  We had a quick lunch and then decided we would go visit my step-dad Larry and wife Verna.

We forgot a section of the road was out on the route we took and had to backtrack through several county gravel roads but we made it.  We had a nice almost 2 hour visit.  Larry is doing pretty good after his recent surgery where they input a device that will stimulate the nerves in his back to alleviate the pain he has been in for quite some time.  He said he is feeling better and we hope this will continue to do the trick for him.

We planned to be back in time for dinner and we barely made it.  Seems the beans were done so they called us to come up early.  They were excellent as well as the cornbread – both plain and with jalapeño with butter.  There was also apple and cherry crisp one without and one with pecans for each kind.  We were just stuffed.

Afterwards we played another game of hand and foot.  Dean opted out of the game tonight so he could finish watching “The Road to the Horse 2015”.  The team I was on (3 ladies) won tonight.  It was another great day and evening. 

Here are a couple of pictures I took from our RV here at Cedar Oaks campground.  We have a water view when we are not watching TV.

Here is the activity building – right behind Bentley so we have easy access.  Pretty nice!

Not much else to report.