July 14 - 16, 2016 - Walnut Creek Lake & Recreation Area, Papillion, NE (Omaha area)

Walnut Creek Lake & Recreation Area, Papillion, NE (Omaha area)

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Dean and I are trying to get back into a regular routine of exercising each day - walking is what we prefer but I am hoping to do a bit more with a resistance band and some exercises to target areas that will make my clothes fit a bit more like I think they are supposed to!  So this morning we got up and walked the entire double loop of the campground at Longview Campground in Lee's Summit before we packed up to leave.  Despite the humid weather it wasn't too bad and it felt good to do some walking again. Even though we are together most of the time, and really enjoy one another's company, it still amazes me how much we seem to really talk to each other during those morning walks.  Good for the soul, not just the exercise!

We pulled out of Longview Campground about 9:30 and headed north toward Omaha, NB.  The campground I selected is actually in Papillion, southwest of Omaha and I learned about it from a blog I follow - On the Road of Retirement.   It is a first come, first serve park so when we are close I'll call to see if they have a site for us.  We enjoyed the drive and as we moved in to northern Missouri we began to see field after field of corn, with a few bean fields thrown in to mix it up.  This continued for the rest of the trip.

Close to noon, I pulled out the sandwiches I made before we left this morning.  Once we were done eating I called Walnut Creek Lake & Recreation Area to see if they had any spots open.  The camp attendant told me they had 4 spots left.  I told her we were a little over an hour out and I would check back once we were closer to see if we could still get in.  Fortunately when I made the call she said they had a spot for us and to come on in.  Little did we know the few minutes we thought we had to go, would turn into a little more than that.  GPS' are wonderful aren't they?; except when they fail to let you know a section of road is closed and you end up in the middle of a residential area with tight turns and our GPS (we have named her "Bobbie") just wants us to go in circles.  We finally saw a young lady out in her front yard.  I asked her if she could tell us how to reach Walnut Creek.  She seemed to know exactly where it was and after we drove around the block one more time, we soon got our directions straight and were back on track again.

We pulled into the park about 2pm and were told we had three sites to choose from.  The wife of the couple who are camp hosts here had me fill out the paperwork while Dean went with her husband to check out the sites.  He selected site 3, next to the camp hosts.  It worked well since our refrigerator was not in the direct sun at this location.  The temperature when we arrived was a very warm 85.  Not too bad but with only 30 amp service we could only run one air conditioner, so the refrigerator would have been working very hard to keep things cool.  Soon we were set up, and while the air conditioner cooled things down we took a ride into town.

We headed downtown.  To our right in the picture below is the Durham Museum.  It is housed what was formerly Union Station.

We really wanted to visit Freedom Park this afternoon, where the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge is located.  Near the center of the bridge over the Missouri River you can stand in both Nebraska and Iowa at the same time.  Of course we had to do that.  Omaha has done it right - this town was a delight and we were amazed at what it had to offer.  We could not begin to do everything in the 2.5 days we were here and I hope we can return again someday and spend more time checking things out.

Here are some pictures we took in the Freedom Park area:

The Missouri River

John Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge from afar.

The bridge from the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center

Sidewalk Art

Looking down from the Pedestrian Bridge

Dean 

Me, standing in both Nebraska and Iowa, while taking a picture of a couple who were also standing in both states!

Walking underneath the bridge

This 30' tall steel, sculpture weighs 271 tons and is a salute to labor.

I'm not sure where we were when I took this picture of the American Flag, except it was somewhere downtown and probably near the waterfront.  When I get the opportunity to get a good flag picture I can't pass it up.

We were beginning to tire out after a day of driving and a few hours of sightseeing, so we headed back to the RV park.  Dean grilled hot dogs for us, but they weren't just any hot dogs - these were extra delicious and from our hometown locker.  Matt George I now know what everyone is talking about and this will be my choice of dogs from now on!  I also enjoyed the tomatoes from my son Marc's garden and the cucumbers from my brother-in-law Elmer's garden.  Thanks to you both! They were delicious!!

Here's a shot of our site here in Walnut Creek Lake & Recreation Area.

Friday, July 15, 2016

There is a 3 mile concrete walking/biking trail around the lake, located east of the campground.  The lake itself is beautiful and is utilized by small boats (only trolling motors), kayaks and canoes.  There was fishing going on everywhere along the banks and in boats.  We were amazed at the number of walkers/runners/bicyclists on this trail.  We walked about 1 mile of the trail and back this morning before we had breakfast and got ready for our day in Omaha.  Here are a few shots from our walk.

A Master Gardner's Club in the area planted this beautiful garden area.

A nice pier to fish from or just enjoy the view.

These pictures were taken with my cell phone.  I was surprised they came out as well as they did.  It was a beautiful morning with the sun coming up on the east side, as clouds were starting to move in.  It made a very nice setting.

After breakfast we headed into Omaha.  It started to sprinkle some and the temperatures were only in the 60's.  We are going to visit the Durham Museum this morning.  We had to park and walk over a block.  It was very cool outside but after these higher temps we've had back home, I'm thankful for the cooler weather today.  Fortunately the rain remained very very light.

Once inside I was truly amazed at what a wonderful collection of the history of Omaha and the surrounding area was displayed in this beautiful building that was formerly Union Station.  The first thing I noticed was these beautiful bronze sculptures depicting a time when train travel was a common occurrence.

Traveling Businessman

Who do you suppose the gift is for?

Mom and children waiting to board the train, porter with their luggage.

Whoops, not a statute, but my wonderful husband!

Checking the arrivals and departure times.

Purchasing a ticket.

Servicemen visiting while waiting to ship out.

What a tough time it must have been as couples were split during times of war.

From here we descended to the lower level.  The first thing we saw as we reached the bottom was a passenger car on display.   Here's a shot of the inside.  It isn't the best picture, but wouldn't it be nice to have this kind of room when you fly today.

There was a large display of model trains.  When children (or adults) pressed the buttons, the trains would begin traveling through the display.  I've always been fascinated by model trains and we enjoyed seeing the full-size village that was displayed as well.  However, I could not find City Hall.  A village or town isn't complete without City Hall.

I found this interesting since we had just visited the Truman Library and learned about his Whistlestop Tour when he ran for a second term as President.

The two pictures above caught my attention due to my former position as City Clerk in Oswego.  City infrastructure was something I enjoyed being involved in and I always find it interesting, especially how it came about so many years ago.

I remember my Grandma Stapleton and my mom using a wringer washing machine.  My Grandma had one for several years, and I was about five when my mom had one.  I'm so thankful for more modern conveniences today.

Dean enjoyed the information regarding telephones since that is the field he worked in for 44 years. 

Odyssey and Shipwrecks!  It was amazing the number of shipwrecks this machine was able to salvage materials from.  There were way too much on display to try and include it all here.

This museum was amazing and I it is wonderful they have kept all of this information for future generations.  I loved the way they displayed the information with bright colors.  

I had to include these pictures.  First of all because the manufacturer was Geo. A. Barnard.  One of our former Mayor's, a very dear friend had the last name of Barnard.  I want to share this with his daughter to see if there could be any family connection. It appears the ballots were deposited here when voting occurred.

Of all of the things I found the following to be one of the most interesting displays in the museum.  I guess I should not be surprised I have never heard of this, since it was long before my time, but the things that were on display were way beyond what anyone ever imagined would happen in their lifetimes.  I wish I could have seen this myself and been a part of it.  The construction of this expo itself is almost unbelieveable for the time period it occurred.  It appears that Omaha was on the cutting edge early in the game.

This was built in Omaha just for the Expo.

Trans-Mississippi & International Exposition - Omaha, 1898

Click on these to enlarge and read the information shown.

We really loved our time here in Omaha and we would enjoy coming back again.  There is much more to do.

We wanted to try something local for lunch.  Omaha has an area known as Little Italy.  Orsi's Italian Bakery and Pizzeria is located here and has been in business for many years.  We ordered a half pepperoni and half sausage pizza, and they gave us garlic cheese bread on the house.  The pizza was wonderful.  The bread was good but was really thick and just too much for me along with the pizza.  I might have enjoyed it more if we had been eating some type of pasta.   I loved the pizza sauce and there was a really nice amount of cheese topping.  The crust was crunchy on bottom but easy to chew. He asked where we were from and I noticed he did this with other customers as well, which I thought was a nice touch.  The business was not really a restaurant per se.  There are church pews inside on either side of the front door. If you want to eat in, they will set up folding tables for you.  We chose to take ours with us.  We drove to Freedom park and ate it in the truck.  Unfortunately it was raining too hard to sit outside along the water's edge.

Orsi's Italian Bakery & Pizzeria

Forgot to take a picture before we dug in!

Cheese bread.

Here's a picture of the navigational system in the truck at 2:24 today.  The temperature was only 68. Wish it would stay in this range for a few weeks.

After our lunch we headed back to Bentley.  We rested for awhile and then we decided to drive to Ashland, NE.  Dean was reading some literature where it indicated they had several shops in their downtown area.  While there were a few shops we did not find anything we wanted to stop and visit,, except this one.


We talked about going in, but we were just too full from the pizza and garlic bread to even have ice cream.



Once we returned to the RV, we walked the three mile walking trail around the lake.  It was a bit warmer than we thought, especially once we were on the west end where there was no shade.  We were glad to make it back to Bentley where we settled in, had a little dinner and rested until it was time to go to bed.


Saturday, July 16, 2016


This morning we got up and walked three and a half miles, from our campsite and around the lake. It was a great walk, nice and cool and lots of shade.

So today, we decided we should take the time to visit Council Bluffs, IA to check out the other side of the Missouri River.  As we crossed the river, we noticed a Bass Pro complex so we headed in that direction.  We walked through the store and Dean found a tent pole he wanted.  We have a sunshade that fits in our awning to provide extra shade when we are parked somewhere.   He plans to use the tent pole along with another one we already had to raise the shade a bit higher which will provide some additional sitting area outside the RV.

As we passed over the Missouri River we noticed these very interesting sculptures on the bridge.

I wasn't sure what they were supposed to depict however I found this on Goggle:
Project overview

Albert Paley's iconic gateway into Iowa and the City of Council Bluffs stands at 100 feet above Interstate 80/29. Located on the 24th Street Bridge spanning I-80/I-29, this site is a prioritized site within the City's Public Art Master Plan. 

While other single works of Paley's are larger in scale, Paley's Odyssey is comprehensively his largest composition, with each of the four individual sculptures ranging from 46 to 61 feet high and weighing in at 46,000 to 70,000 pounds. Public Art & Practice assisted with the selection process of the artist, submittal of maquettes, contract negotiations, and coordination of planning efforts for this project. Communication from the beginning between all parties allowed the Iowa Department of Transportation to properly engineer Paley's plinths (located at the four corners of the bridge) based on Paley's estimated weight, wind loads, and dimensions during initial 2009 bridge construction.

Paley's design for the site includes four works of art constructed of bronze (which has a green patina), Cor-Ten steel (which develops a rust color) and brushed stainless steel (which reflects sunlight). Each material was chosen to represent the dialogue between the land and air and sky and light, as well as minimize future maintenance expenses.

Some of the comments on Google were not very positive.  They are interesting but my first thought was how much they looked like some type of spears, which made we want to find out why they chose these particular sculptures.  They were interesting at best.

While we didn't spend much time on the Iowa side, we were disappointed we could not find any nice walking area along the Missouri River like they had in Omaha.  Maybe there was more but what we found was untended with very high weeds and not any really nice views of the river.

We headed back to Bentley and rested for awhile and then I made our dinner, orange chicken.  This has become one of our favorite quick meals.  I found it on Pinterest.  The first time I made it I followed the recipe to a T - which included breading the chicken and frying it before adding it to the sauce. However, I decided we should try using grilled chicken and bypass the frying portion.  It was very good this way, and in fact we preferred it, and that is how we've made it ever since.

Dean will grill an entire package of chicken tenderloins and then I use them for two or three different meals.  I add five or six tenderloins to 3/4 c Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and 3/4 c. orange marmalade with 2 T. soy sauce.  Cook these until warmed well.  Prepare your rice the way you prefer it.  Add the orange chicken to the rice when it is ready.  Great meal with little time involved.

Tonight we are going to Werner Park, home of the Omaha Stormchasers to watch them play baseball. The Stormchasers are the farm team for the Kansas City Royals, our favorite baseball team.

After dinner we headed to the ballpark.  We enjoyed the nice breeze that was present the entire game.

The tickets were very reasonable and we enjoyed a great ballgame especially since the Stormchasers won. There were many activities in between each team's at bat where events were held, t-shirts were thrown, etc. that kept the crowd involved.  The game was over by 9:30.  The ballfield was less than 2 miles from the campground which made it very nice for us.

Tomorrow we will lift our jacks, hook up and move about 250 miles down the road to the Amana Colonies.  We will be staying at the Amana Colonies RV Park.

July 11-13, 2016 - Lakeview Campground, Lee's Summit, MO

Lakeview Campground, Lee's Summit, MO

Monday, July 11, 2016

The arrival date for our summer/fall trip in Bentley is here!  I woke up at 3:30 this morning unable to go back to sleep and finally about 4 I gave up and got out of bed.  I still had several things to do before we left so I figured I may as well get busy.  I started a load of clothes and made coffee.  While the coffee was making I read my morning devotionals and some emails.  I puttered around doing this or that and drinking coffee until Dean got up.  I do not like leaving home without having everything put away.  We do not plan to leave Oswego until between 11:30-12:00 and I have a whole list of things to do this morning and we still have to load the food and clothes in Bentley but most of it is ready.

About 8:30 this morning we received a text message from Matt and Megan.  Our 12th grandchild arrived this morning at 8:40 EST (they are in New York) weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces.  They named this sweet little girl Sarah Ruth.  Sarah is named after her grandma Ruth Miner (Megan's mom). Everyone is doing well and that is where our travels will lead us by mid-August. We look forward to meeting this sweet little girl - our 5th granddaughter.

Finally, at about 11:45 we pulled out of our driveway

I guess I need a selfie stick.  The problem is - I'd probably never have it when I needed it!

and headed east.  Not too far out of town we ate the sandwiches I made for lunch and before long we were nearing I-49 and heading north to the Kansas City area.  We only had to make one potty stop (a nice perk to leaving later in the morning rather than first thing) and we enjoyed a nice drive.  As we neared the city, traffic began to pick up but it wasn't too bad.  We hit I-470 East but turned off of it after just a few miles to head south to Longview Campground.  The campground is part of the Jackson County Park system.  It is a beautiful area with lots of trees and open areas.  There are two loops, with paved roads encircling the entire campground, bathrooms and laundry in each loop, and a playground area near the entrance.  Each loop has about 50-60 campsites.  The campsites are gravel. Some are fairly level but not all, and ours was one of the unlevel ones.  We just added a few extra blocks in the back and on one side and were soon good to go.  Our loop has electric, and although there are no water hookups, there are several water hydrants throughout the park that can be used to fill your water tanks.  There are dump stations on site.  We have 50 amp electric at our site.  It's nice that is has trees on both sides of us that provides decent shade for most of the day and no one is really near us.  The price was a little more than I prefer to pay at $23 per night with electric only but there are not alot of options in the KC area.

Dean finished getting things finished up outside while I set up on the inside, turned the refrigerator on, put out the slides, etc. and then we hopped in the truck for our first stop on this 3 day adventure in the KC area.  We were invited to dinner at our friends Donnie & Janie's.  Their son Jeff, wife Leigh and their 3 children, daughter Lilly and new twin sons Liam and Landry will also be there.  We have not had the pleasure of meeting the twins yet so we are excited to do that.

Janie gave us great directions and we were so glad we were headed west on I-470 and not east.  The traffic was very congested heading east.  We soon exited and seemed like it was no time and we were arriving at our friends new home in Prarie Village.  No sooner than we parked and started getting out than Donnie pulled in the driveway from work.  Janie and Lilly were watching us from the front door. It was good to see them all and we enjoyed visiting with them.  Soon after Jeff, Leigh and the twins arrived.  I had a great time with the twins.  They were the happiest little guys, and I promptly put Liam to sleep - not sure if I was soothing to him or just plain boring!  Lillie was glad to see mom and her brothers, but she sure loves her Ninny and Papa.

I fully intended to take some pictures....and totally forgot!

Janie made an excellent dinner, pork loin roast with a pineapple sauce/marinade, roasted potatoes, asparagus, salad and hot rolls.  As if that was not enough, she also had cobbler with ice cream.  It was excellent.

We visited for awhile longer, took a tour of their new home and headed to Bentley about 8:30 or so. What a lovely evening we had.  Thanks so much to Donnie & Janie for entertaining and feeding us this evening.  We had a great time.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

I woke up this morning when I heard and felt the wind blowing against Bentley.  I decided to go ahead and get up and make coffee and I listed to the rain and a little hail before it settled into a steady rain for an hour or so.  After coffee we decided we would try breakfast at a restaurant I found on Trip Advsior - Neighbor's Cafe, in downtown Lee's Summit, just a short drive away.  It was still lightly raining as we drove over and then walked a short distance from where we parked to the restaurant. Their downtown area was very nice and quaint.  It seemed to be pretty active with several shops.

As soon as we were seated the waitress took our drink order, and she soon returned with two cinnamon rolls.  I forgot it was mentioned in the TA review that the cinnamon rolls come with each meal. They were very good.  Dean ordered a sausage skillet that was HUGE!  He couldn't eat it all - now, that's a big breakfast!  I tried to be good and ate yogurt, berries, fresh fruit and an english muffin and it too was very good.  It was still sprinkling a bit when we left but I think the rain is pretty much over for the day now.

I recently lost my sunglasses (the kind that fit over your regular glasses), in fact, it's the second pair I've lost this year.  One pair was broken so it wasn't a big loss but losing the last pair really hurt because I hate being out in the sun without sunglasses.  So, we went in search of a Sam's Club.  I like their fit-over glasses.  The one nearest us that we found on Google Maps was no longer open so we just found a nearby grocery store because we wanted some bottled water.  I told Dean we could wait until tomorrow to find the sunglasses.

Our campsite here at Lakeview Campground.

We are expecting company later this morning and I had a few things I wanted to get done at Bentley before they arrive.  On our drive to breakfast we rode around the north and east side of the lake.  It's not real big but is a very nice area.  Once we returned I put things away, helped Dean put out our outdoor rug and chairs and then took care of a few inside chores.  Recently while reading "On the Road to Retirement", one of the RV blogs I follow, the writer John and his wife Sharon had stopped in the Kansas City area.  While there they were contacted by a reader that lives in the area that wanted to meet with them.  The couple are planning to go full-time in a few years and they had several questions.  John and Sharon mentioned the name of the blog of the couple who had contacted them in their post, so I clicked on the link "Our Future in an RV" and found myself reading the entire blog as they discuss their decision to go full-time and their review of RV's to determine what will be the right one for them.  I was intrigued and since I knew we would be passing through KC on this trip I decided to reach out to Mark and his wife to see if they would like to meet with us.  They recently toured some Big Country 5th wheels and they still wanted to look at some Big Horns.  Since Bentley is a Big Horn I thought they might be interested in taking a look at him as well.  They agreed and they will be coming to our campsite around lunchtime today.  We set outside for awhile after that but it was pretty warm, so we retreated to the air conditioning.  I know, we are wimps!

Mark and Karen arrived around noon.  We visited awhile and then had lunch of chicken, potatoes, rolls and then some cinnamon roll cheesecake I brought with us.  We really enjoyed our visit with Mark and Karen.  They are a wonderful couple and we soon discovered we had many things in common, and not just RVing.  Mark has studied the RV life in depth and had lots of good questions for us.  While we still love Bentley there are a few things we have found we might have enjoyed more had we known about them a head of time that they might want to think about before making their final decision.  None are deal breakers for us, however several we could choose to alter over time if we decide they are that important.  Time passed so quickly and in no time it seemed they were leaving - and I could not believe that several hours had passed. We will continue to follow each other's blogs and keep in touch.  I'm sure we will meet up either here in KC or on the road in the future.

Mark & Karen

After it cooled off a bit, Dean and I took a walk around the campground and then had a bite to eat. Dean ate the leftovers from lunch and I just ate a sandwich and a tomato my son gave us before we left. Marc, it was delicious!  I love fresh tomatoes.

Some shots of the campground areas.

It wasn't too long after, we turned in for the evening, and it was not long before I heard it raining again, but this time no storms.


Wednesday, July 13, 2013

After coffee and then breakfast, we got around and headed to Independence, MO.  There is a Sam's Club there and I am still wanting those sunglasses - although I'm not sure I'll need them today since the sky is pretty dark in the northwest. We both received alarms on our phones this morning that Jackson County is under a severe storm watch.

As we neared Sam's we could see the clouds getting even darker and it looked like it might be raining in the distance.  Dean also wanted to get his glasses adjusted while there and we needed a few other things as well.  When we came out the sky was much darker.  We started toward our next destination, the "The Presidential Library of Harry Truman".  Several blocks before we arrived the wind started to pick up and the rain came.  We set in the parking lot for at least 15 minutes or more before it let up enough to get inside.

I really enjoy learning about the history of our country and especially that of our country's Presidents. I thoroughly enjoyed our time here and could not believe that it was 2:45 when we left after arriving at 11:00.  It seemed like the time just flew by, but Dean's stomach was telling him it was time to go long before that - although he never said a word!

Here are several pictures I took as we followed the docent.  He explained each section of the library to us.  It was fascinating.  I enjoyed the tour but could have easily walked through it again just so I could have read all of the other information provided.

Painting by Thomas Hart Benton.  It depicts the 3 trails that originated in this area - the Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail and the California Trail.  

Presidential Portrait of President Harry S. Truman

The famous "The Buck Stops Here" plaque that Truman kept on his desk at the White House.

The back side of the sign above.

This is the ceiling of the exact replica of the Oval Office - showing the Presidential Seal.

A letter from a young black woman asking Truman to continue working to improve the civil rights for blacks in America. 

An exact replica of the Oval Office during Truman's Presidency.

Grave marker of President Harry S. Truman

Grave of Bess Truman, Harry's wife.

President Truman's office in the Truman Library.  This is where he worked after his Presidency until his death.  At that time, they added on to the west part of the building.  The open book on his desk is the Bible.  

Truman was faced with many heavy decisions within the first 4 months of his Presidency.  Up to that time Roosevelt had not involved him in the happenings of the world issues, so he walked into the Presidency unprepared for what he was facing.

Truman being sworn in as the President of the United States.

This flag was made from silk parachutes that belonged to Korean war prisoners and was presented to Truman after the end of the war.  They had to hid this flag in prison.  The docent mentioned how difficult this must have been for them to do considering the size of it.

Enlarge this picture and those below to read the information shown.

This statue of Truman is life size.  He was a fairly short man.

As we were leaving, I asked Dean if he was hungry and he just looked at me like - "Are you crazy?" That's when I realized how late it was.  I suggested we try BBQ since we are in the KC area - and home to some of the best BBQ in the country.  He was all for that but had no desire to drive far to find a place.  We searched our phones for the best BBQ close to us and found "A Little BBQ Joint" just a short distance away.  It was good, but I don't think it was good enough we would add it to a list of favorites.  He chose the mild sausage dinner that came with 2 sides.  He chose potato salad and cheesy corn.  The corn was delicious and the sausage was very good.  I know because he let me taste them!!  I chose the brisket sandwich with fries.  The fries were very good (a battered type) and the brisket was just okay. It was tender but I wasn't that crazy about the rub they used and I also wasn't that fond of their BBQ sauces.  Dean tried the brisket as well and he didn't care for it either.

All of the seats are reupholstered car seats and they were VERY comfortable.  

Notice the bar made with the front of the car shown.

Afterwards, we made a quick stop at Wal-mart to pick up apples, grapes and hot dog buns.  Before we left Oswego, we got some of the famous hot dogs we keep hearing about from the Oswego Locker. We are anxious to give them a try.  So either tonight or tomorrow night they are on the menu!

My thought on this trip is to blog at the end of each stay.  We plan to stop at 14 different locations before arriving in New York.  We will move on tomorrow morning, heading to Omaha, NB.  We plan to spend 3 nights.  John and Sharon of the blog "On the Road to Retirement", that I noted earlier, basically took almost this same route just a few weeks ago and mentioned a campground near Omaha that we hope to stay in.  It is a first come, first serve campground so we won't know until shortly before we arrive if we will get a site or not, but I have a couple of backup places in case this one does not work out.

My dad was born in Omaha and lived there until he was about 5.  I wish I knew where they lived so we could try to find it; but there is no one to ask about it now.  While I do have one great-aunt that is alive and she might have known at one time, I doubt she still remembers the address since it's been over 75 years ago.

Check back in a few days if you haven't already signed up to receive new posts to your email account.  If you haven't signed up to receive new posts by email I would encourage you to do so.  I appreciate your comments as well. Thanks for following along!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - Colorado Springs KOA, Fountain, CO - Shopping, Swimming & A Movie

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - Colorado Springs KOA, Fountain, CO - Shopping, Swimming & Movie

This morning we are having breakfast out.  I've done some research and found a place downtown Colorado Springs called "Over Easy".  It had wonderful reviews so we decided to try it out.  I really like finding places with a good selection of breakfast meals, not just the regular stuff.  They are known for their famous biscuits & gravy and Dean ordered those and they come with hashbrowns, Haleigh had french toast, Dacy had blueberry pancakes and I had Huevos Rancheros.  Everyone loved their meal.  Dean said the gravy and hashbrowns were wonderful and the biscuits were okay.  I loved my breakfast.  It was the best Rancheros I've ever had and the hashbrowns were as close to Tina's (our local diner) as we've ever found.  I wish we could eat there one more time before we leave, but we are leaving about 9 in the morning.  With a five hour drive facing us, I think we'll get on the road early so we can have a little downtime tomorrow.

Caught the girls off guard - these are pictures of "Over Easy"

In the entryway

Booths in the upper area

Bar area behind Dacy

After breakfast we drove to Citadel Mall.

Neat statute on the way.

Beautiful park.

We walked around the mall, visiting several stores, and we saw our first "marijuana store".  Seems so weird to have it right out in the open and in a mall, no less.

We came back to Bentley and had some lunch of leftovers and almost got those cleared out of the refrigerator.

Dean took the girls up to swim for an hour or so while I worked on the blog some more.  We are taking them to see a movie this afternoon.  "Alice Through the Looking Glass"  I wasn't too excited but they both mentioned they really wanted to see it on the way out, so we thought it would be a treat for today.  It was actually better than I expected and actually held my attention - which doesn't happen a lot with movies.

Afterwards we stopped by Culver's for ice cream, since we refused to pay almost $40 for popcorn and drinks at the theater.  Can you believe that?  We went to the matinee and even at that the tickets were over $30.  I can't believe it costs so much to attend a movie.

Once we returned we all did some things to make our moving day tomorrow go a little smoother.  I hope we can pull out by 9:00 or so.  We have at least a five hour drive tomorrow.  We prefer getting set up early enough we can check out the community we are staying in.  We are actually staying in a State Park north of Scott City, but we'll still drive down and check out their community.

Here's a picture I took of Pike's Peak today.  We have not seen the top of it all day.  Lots of weather going on up there.  Tonight I got a picture of the sunset - what little sun there was peeking through those clouds.

This is how Pike's Peak has looked all day - hidden behind these dark clouds.

The sun set peeking through this small window.

This campground has really worked well for us.  It was a good location for us for our travel days.  It was clean, with several amenities, and nice sized lots.  Here are a few shots of our site.

Across the road behind us.  It was very full until Monday.  When we returned from our day trip we were amazed at how many of the rigs had left.

These pictures show the nice spacing between sites.

One negative for the park was the water pressure.  We were barely getting water out of the bathroom sink and into the toilet.  It was just okay at the kitchen sink.  Yesterday we drove down the road to Camping World to see what we could find.  We found a water regulator that we can adjust ourselves.  Dean put it on yesterday and it has improved drastically.  It's still not like we would have at home but more like what we are used to having in other campgrounds.

We also made a stop at Wal-Mart and they happened to have a Sam's next door.  Dean has been looking for a new camp chair.  He saw one he really liked at one of our rallies and they told him they bought it at Sam's.  Well, we were lucky today and found it.  It was very reasonable too, so we marked two "wishes" off our RV wish list.