Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Pups Across America! - A new pup joins the family
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

(Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Sunday: Parked in Paducah
Nice in the morning, but whew, it turned into a hot one! Mid 90s by midday. We headed north out of Clanton on I-6 stopping to fuel up at Birmingham. Back on I-65 North to Nashville picking up 24 West to Paducah. Nice, uneventful trip. After taking five minutes to set up camp at Fern Lake Campground, we took a drive down to “old” Paducah. Lots of old store fronts and homes (at least by American standards), and a drive right along the river, where we viewed an old yellow Lab walking in the water, folks strolling along enjoying the view, and a tugboat pushing along some commerce up to the dock. Worth spending some time there in the future.



Monday: Best-Laid Plans
After thinking through our travel options, I decided to get a little off the beaten bath and take a leisurely ride across beautiful south Missouri—driving through the Ozarks, passing through Mark Twain National Forest, and setting up camp at Branson for a couple of days in this popular resort area. I had work to do and phone calls to make on Tuesday, and although doable on the road, it is easier sitting at my desk inside of BERT. I scoped out potential camping spots and went on both the AT&T and Verizon websites to confirm good mobile signals. We set this plan in motion by heading on 60 West, a flat, straight, four-lane road that soon turned into a still flat, more-curvy, two-lane road. Jan had to slow BERT down a tad and pay a little more attention to the terrain, but it was worthwhile, as we drove through some interesting and colorful farmland. However, within an hour from our start, Jan was confronted with passing over a very tall, very old, very narrow, and very scary two-lane bridge over the very high, very wide, and very muddy Mississippi River. As expected, Jan did a fine job of sharing the bridge with oncoming 18-wheelers and we crossed safely. This was a dramatic view of the results of the heavy rains that had inundated much of the country.

Immediately after crossing the bridge we came to a stop sign. The arrow for 60 West pointed to our left, but luckily we looked ahead on our intended route and about a quarter mile ahead was a sign stating “road closed.” Bummer. With no other option available, we turned right instead, heading to Cairo on route 62, and as the GPS voices like to say, we started “recalculating.” From there we took bumpy I-57 North into Illinois and at Mt. Vernon, we picked up I-64 West. At St. Louis we finally made our entry into Missouri and traveled all the way to Columbia on I-70. Here we set up camp at Cottonwoods RV Park in the hot late afternoon.



Tuesday: Option Two is a No-Go
As I mentioned, I wanted to stay at a campground for a couple days since I had five phone calls scheduled, and it looked like this park in Columbia would work fine…I could work in peace while Jan could take the car and check out this college town of 100,000 people.

Alas, the Verizon signal was poor (I need Verizon so that my MiFi provides Internet access) and AT&T for my phone was spotty as well. Reluctantly, we got back in the bus, Jan driving and me in the navigator chair. My first business call was a no show, so no problem. My second went well as the AT&T signal was strong and consistent. However, as we started heading west on I-70, further and further away from Kansas City, the AT&T signal waned in and out—not at all what their signal map showed! My third call with long-time (and tolerant) friend Bruce was a little embarrassing, as the connection was dropped twice and there were several missed phrases that had to be repeated. With that I decided to reschedule my next call. Bummer.

Most of the drive all day was with 20 to 30 mile-per-hour winds with the occasional gust of 40, and the day was hot, but the traffic was light and the road was good for the most part. Mid-afternoon I started looking for places to camp, and after many studious minutes I decided to hunt for a state park. At I-70 marker 135 (Ogallah) we turned south on 147 for the 20 miles to Cedar Bluff State Park at Ellis, Kansas, adjoining the Cedar Bluff Reservoir. After checking in at park headquarters, we were told to go to the Wagon Rut Campground and select the spot of our desires. The place looked about 15 percent full and had several gorgeous pull-through lots to choose from, all with water and 50-amp service. After setting up and taking the Pups for a short walk in the windy, 95-degree weather, we spent the rest of the time inside.







Wednesday: Out on the Prairie
About 5:45 a.m. we all headed out for a pre-dawn hike. I had my camera and bear spray (didn’t anticipate any bears, but coyotes and other critters were around), and Jan had the two Little Ones on leashes. We saw deer, rabbits, lots of birds, and a cute toad as we walked along the prairie grasses and down by the shore of the water. The weather was a perfect 70 degrees with no wind. The Pups had a blast running in the sand among the foliage and chasing a rabbit or two along the way. As we ended our trek we met a man and his twin sons who had recently moved to the area from Texas. After our hour-and-a-half walk, we came back in for breakfast. Jan cleaned up while I had a business call. Late morning we back-tracked, heading north on 147 then back west on I-70. It was still windy, but partly pushing instead of pulling us, and it was warm, not simmering hot. Pleasant drive with light traffic.





Sticking to our “off the beaten path” routine, we decided to try another state park, this time in Colorado. Hence, we took I-70 all the way through Kansas and turned right in Colorado onto 385 for 22 miles. We turned right at the Papa’s Bait and Tackle store and drove for four miles on a washboard dirt road until checking in and setting up camp at Bonny Lake State Park. Interestingly, this state park will cease to exist in October. Based upon some old Colorado/Kansas water agreement, they will “pull the plug” on the reservoir and that will end the state park. Kind of sad. However, I bought the last T-shirt.



Mid-afternoon we took a walk around the campground and the park and down to the reservoir. We sat outside in the warm but pleasant weather and I took a few shots of some nesting swallows. Great day.





Thursday: Birds Galore
For the first time on this trip, we had the luxury of staying in the same place more than one night. My morning started with a 6 a.m. business call, but by 7:30 all of us were out in the chilly (can you believe it?) 55-degree weather. We took a long walk across the park spotting a variety of birds from wild turkeys, cedar waxwings, finches, robins, swallows, bluebirds, blackbirds, crows, doves, yellow-headed blackbirds, red-headed woodpeckers, and so on. As we walked and the Pups prowled, we were serenaded by a stereoscopic cacophony of bird songs of all varieties. Jan started a fire and we sat around it drinking coffee and enjoying nature’s music.





I got my work done during the middle of the day, and by late afternoon we were ready to explore again taking a slow drive throughout the park. With both Pups on my lap sticking their heads out the window, it was a little difficult to photograph, but one must make personal concessions when on a family outing.



The good news is that we brought along our bird field guide; the bad news is that it is for the Eastern U.S. Anyone know the name of this mystery bird? If so, please let us know.



Friday: The New “Car House”
I got up early in the noiseless campground (except for the endless melody of our avian friends) to prepare for a morning coaching call with a client. Later after coffee at 5:30 a.m., the whole family went for our morning stroll down to the water and across the prairie. After my 7 a.m. call, we broke camp and were back on the road, this time turning right at Papa’s joint, north on 385, then east on 36 through farm and ranch country for about 150 miles until merging onto I-70 West, then south on I-225 to our campground at Cherry Creek State Park right in Denver.





Soon after setting up camp and preparing for the evening festivities, our grandson, Austin, and his mom and dad, Kelly and AJ, pulled into our campsite. We had a camping birthday party for Austie (he turned four in May), complete with campfire hot dogs and s’mores. Now that is living large. I was quite pleased that Austin said he liked our new “car house.” He has his own man cave (or bat cave depending on what is his latest wardrobe attire) complete with DVD player and headphones.







Saturday
Another busy day. After doing walks and work, we took Austie for his T-ball practice. What a hoot! The Little Man hits the ball well, but doesn’t have much interest in the field! Sorry to have to miss his first game next Saturday.









Back at camp, Jan, the Pups, Batman, and I drove around the park, getting out here and there and checking things out. More walks, a campfire, and all went to bed early after a busy day.

Pups Across America

Check out Austie’s new pug, Hanna, and take a look at a pic of Jerry and Mitzy.

Headlights

June 12: Cherry Creek State Park, Denver
June 13-August 7: We will be camp hosts at Highline Lake State Park near Loma, CO
September 4-10: Camp with Scott and Deb in Northern Michigan?
September 23-25: Visit Kalamazoo, Michigan friends and participate in Ribarama
October 16-31: Visit Kentucky friends
November 1: Head back to Pine Island

Have questions or comments? Send them in.

See ya next week!

Tags: Bird photography