Glamping Days

  There was a beautiful full moon overnight. This morning, the moon was still visible as the sunrise moved across the sky, making for a rather cool sight.  This was the 3rd day in a row of odd weather - odd to someone from the East Coast, anyway. It was sunny & hot (mid-90s), but also quite windy, like up to 23 mph mid-day.  Mer, Isaac, & Kyle (Isaac's dad) are all playing in the Salina Symphony. While they were rehearsing there, Christi (Isaac's mom) & I noodled around Main Street in Salina. Will post those pics tomorrow.

Spent today visiting peeps. In Hutchinson, I first had lunch with Grandma & Grandpa Hopkins (Mer's grandparents-in-law), & then Mer showed me around one of her schools. Hutchinson High School has wonderful facilities, & the music wing alone includes a large stage & workshop, practice rooms & a large room each for choir, orchestra & band, along with an office for each teacher - wow! It was lovely to meet her 3 main co-workers. Mer teaches 2 orchestras there each morning, & then travels to 3 elementary schools each afternoon to teach beginning orchestra to 6th graders. Hutchinson is a big enough town to have all the services one would want, but small enough to feel like a town rather than a city.  After driving to McPherson, we stopped at Mer & Isaacs's house, & then at my trailer before having dinner at Kyle & Christi's house (Isaac's parents). With 3 music teachers & 1 college administrator, there may have been a lot of talk a

Spent today in McPherson, KS. Since all the folks I'm here to visit (Meredith, Isaac, & Isaac's parents) were working today & off to rehearsal this eve, I just pottered around the trailer, went to the grocery store, & explored a bit. Found a great state park nearby with rustic camping for a future trip. Didn't take any pics, so here are the pics I took yesterday on my morning walk; this lovely trail is on the grounds of the Bent Tree Gallery in MO where I camped the night before & the arty artifacts were especially fun.     

I should have posted pics yesterday of the inside of the gallery where I camped last night, but didn't think to take any. These were shot through the front windows of the gallery this morning, as it wasn't open yet. They don't do it justice - these folks are really talented artists.  The harvesters just started across the street last evening, but came this morning in force. There were 3 combines, 2 tractors pulling big bins (to ferry loads from the combines to the trucks), & 6 semis.  I drove about 300 miles today to McPherson, KS. It's Meredith's birthday, & her mother-in-law, Christi, made a lovely birthday dinner for the 5 of us; I'm truly blessed.

Drove about 300 miles today to Bethany, MO. Spending the night in the parking lot of a lovely gallery; all of the items there are made by the members of one family ( https://www.thebenttree.com/ ). Not only is the gallery amazing, but the farm across the street was harvesting their corn this evening. Two huge combines are harvesting the corn & processing it, then loading it into a huge blue bin, & it's then transferred into one of 3 semi-trucks - very interesting to see.     

Though the rally ended yesterday, some folks stayed around until today, so said a round of farewells this morning. Then had lunch at a local brew pub, a very cool converted church, with a couple who also stayed over till tomorrow.  I so enjoyed this spot, especially all of the larger birds moving around in the marshes. Besides the birds mentioned in an earlier post, the sandhill cranes were especially active & interesting; they really kicked up a racket from time to time, & none of us had a good guess as to why. The first pic is one of the marshes with the river in the background, & the second is my rig with the river & threatening clouds in the background.  I packed up all of my outdoor items & hitched up this afternoon as rain is predicted from this evening through mid-day tomorrow, & I'm wanting to head out in the am.

Since this was the final day of the rally, most folks left this morning. However, this was a fun day, as it was easier to visit around with the few folks left. Another solo traveler, Mary O, & I went to a local winery for a tasting & appetizers for lunch - a lovely outing.  These sunset pics seem apropos for the end of the event.

Was too tired to post last night. To open the rally, we had  coffee & breakfast treats yesterday morning & a pot luck dinner last evening. The main activities were this morning with another coffee hour & a blue tarp swap; at a blue tarp swap, you put anything from your trailer that you don't want on the tarp, & it's free for anyone who wants it. Then it was on to the dog parade, followed by trailer tours. Tonight will be movies under the stars. The dogs were a hit!       These folks aren't with out group, but I have to admire their setup for the Notre Dame game tonight - big screen & all!

Though the rally officially starts tomorrow, a few folks came in Tues & Wed, & many arrived today. This is such a pretty spot, that folks are wanting to stay here a while.  The first pic below is the morning light on the river. We're camped on an island, & the next 2 pics show the marshes between the island & the river bank. The birds are fantastic, especially the white pelicans, herons, & egrets. Hawks & eagles have also been spotted. It would seem that birds aren't the only common wildlife spotted here.

Am camping on the Mississippi River for 7 nights at a beautiful spot on the border of Illinois & Iowa. It's an Army Corps of Engineers Campground in Thomson Causeway Recreation area, on the Illinois side of the river. These pics were taken this morning right in front of my campsite. A grocery run took me across the river into Iowa. 

My drive today took me from Paw Paw, MI, to Thompson Causeway Recreation Area, near Thompson, IL, about 300 miles. The trip was uneventful, & the scenery was okay, if not particularly noteworthy. I've always loved covered bridges, & have often gone out of my way to find them, so stumbling on this one was a fun find. 

Left Niagara Falls this am, crossed into the US above Detroit early this afternoon, & arrived in Paw Paw, MI, this evening. Am spending the night at a winery here. Though located fairly near a busy road on the edge of town, the winery grounds are fairly charming. My view is of the Paw Paw River (looks like a creek to me) shown behind the wine bottles below.  

No organized activities here today.   There are six other Escape 5.0s here this weekend, which are all in the photos below. This is way more than have ever been here before - very exciting for those of us in the cult.