Glamping Days

A drive of about 450 miles took me across Texas & into new Mexico - too long for one day, but the warm Tucson sun is calling. West of Wichita Falls are rolling low hills with some green fields sprinkled in. Then toward Lubbock, the road quickly climbs about 1500' to a flat brown plateau with more cows, horses, & windmills than people.  In a tiny town in west Texas was this strange gas station. There's no building here, just tanks & equipment behind the wall on the left, & 3 more gas pumps out of frame on the right. Under the yellow sign is the payment machine for all 4 gas pumps.   Around Lubbock are a few apple orchards & grape vines, & west of town are many oil wells. Near the Texas/New Mexico border, I saw some pronghorns in a field & then a heard of elk in a fenced pasture. Once in NM, there were pecan & pistachio orchards at the lower elevations. The Sacramento Mts east of Alamogordo were higher than I'd imagined with th...

On Christmas Day, we went "caroling" at Isaac's grandparent's house; this is Isaac, his brother Ben, & his dad Kyle playing carols for them & some neighbors. Inside, Meredith played a couple of tunes on her violin.  This pic was taken from my campsite near Tulsa, OK, this morning. I enjoyed the view while trying to line up someone to get the electrical system & heater in my trailer working. Though I called folks in Tulsa & Fort Smith, nobody could look at it until next week. This is understandable given the holiday, but very cold weather is due to move into the area Sun night. So, I'm heading to Tucson ASAP for warm weather while waiting on repairs & hopefully more RV techs too. Today's drive took me around Tulsa & Oklahoma City, then into Texas around Wichita Falls to the little town of Seymour. The areas around Tulsa & Oklahoma City are fairly hilly, & then the landscape flattens out. Near Lawton in southwestern OK, the Wichit...

Hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas. I spent nearly a week with daughter Meredith, her husband Isaac, & his family - it was grand! Due to having electrical issues with my trailer, I stayed 2 extra days in McPherson. The issues aren't yet fixed, but I moved on today to Tulsa; hoping to have some work done on the trailer here tomorrow. The drive here was a bit more interesting than anticipated.  From McPherson through Wichita & due south into to Oklahoma, it was pretty flat with few trees. When my route turned east toward Tulsa, it became gradually more hilly & treed, & one area near Tulsa had significant hills. There were cows all along the route, & a few of the fields were green with cover crops. It was sunny & got into the low 60s - lovely.    

Yesterday's drive was planned to be on I-70 west all day. However, the lovely folks at the farm store reported terrible pot holes on the section from the Ohio/Indiana line to Indianapolis & recommended I take US-40 instead. This route passes through a half dozen small tows with some beautiful old Victorian homes along their Main Streets, & the steadily falling snow set them off beautifully. Around mid-day, the snow gave way to thick clouds, & these gave way to broken clouds later in the afternoon; these made for the subtle sunset in yesterday's post. This morning, the clouds were high & thin, which makes for great driving weather - easy on the eyes. The pic below, taken this morning, is of the old blue bus on the alpaca farm. The afternoon was sunny, & I arrived at the RV park here in McPherson, KS, around 3:30.  I'll spend the next 5 days with Meredith, Isaac, & his family here in McPherson, & won't post on the blog again until I hit the roa...

This is my 3rd stay with Ann & her alpacas about an hour west-north-west of St. Louis. She raises the alpacas, has them sheared, cleans the wool, cards the wool, spins the wool, dyes the wool, & then knits it into lovely items such as hats & scarves.  Like the farm market last night, I found this spot through Harvest Hosts; their properties include wineries, breweries, all types of farms & ranches, museums, churches, etc. Generally, it is free to stay 1 night, no utilities are provided, & the expectation is that you will purchase some of their merchandise (or make a donation to a church). These stays are great to break up a long drive between locations where I'll camp for a while. The last pic shows my rig parked on the alpaca farm in front of an old blue bus. Ann's son outfitted the bus & lived in it for a time. Now it adds some character to her farm. 

Got the house shut down, the trailer loaded & organized, & got underway just before noon. Arrived about 5:30 at this farm market just off I-70 on the border of Ohio & Indiana after an uneventful drive. I've stayed here before as it's a good distance to go on launch day. They allow campers to stay overnight in their parking lot through an organization called Harvest Hosts.