2019 Summer Trip

June 11-14, Tuesday-Friday, Branson, Missouri Tuesday -Continuing on through Kansas, a corner of Oklahoma, and on to Missouri, I noticed that in several places the corn is already knee high.  Signs like "WE BUY GUNS", "Boot Repair", and "WELDING" reminded us that this is definitely a rural area. A section of our travel today was on Historic Route 66 and we came across alphabet road names "M" & "H" as our GPS skirted us through farmland on supposedly, the 'fastest route' to Branson.  A roadside, white box painted with "RWD #5, (Rural Warning Device) reminded us that we are in Tornado Country.  South of Springfield there are signs for several Civil War Sites and a couple of brochures talk about a lot of bloodshed in this area of Missouri long before the first bombardment at Fort Sumter.  When we got to Branson Landing RV park our friends Gordon and Nancy were already here.  We had met them on our Alaska Carav...

Friday-Sunday June 7-9 Dodge City Kansas Friday -Very long drive today, about 8 hours counting stops.   Flat open plains and high desert landscape.   Not much to see or do, that is why we opted to make a long drive and just spend an extra night in Dodge City instead of adding a one night stop.   When we take off really early like today, we stop for breakfast along the way after driving a bit.   Today it was Charlie's Diner and Cafe in Las Vegas, New Mexico.   Had to travel a few miles off the highway to get to town but it was obviously a local hot spot.   Lots of people coming and going and super fast service.   The displays of homemade donuts and cinnamon rolls were divine and smelled delicious too.   The $5 long john filled with custard was huge but lasted two days.   You know your are still out west when you get a choice of toast or a tortilla with your breakfast.   Back on the highway we could see snow still high in the S...

June 1-2   Saturday & Sunday Heber, Arizona Hot, sunny, 84 o , as we pulled out of our drive at 9:55 am starting with only 2996 miles on our new truck. Well, we did not get too far before our first pit stop.   After listening to last night's news of the impending tariffs on Mexican goods we decided to stop at Costco for Tequila. It is one of the things we were out of when we packed up.   Liquor is cheaper in AZ so we decided to stop sooner than later.   OK, OK since breakfast had been hours earlier we opted for pizza for lunch too.   Back on the road we noticed that the saguaro cacti are one of the few cacti still blooming along the roadways.   Also spotted in the road:   a ladder and a 50# bag of onions.   Go figure!   Diesel fuel is $3.03 per gallon up here in Heber.   It will be interesting to see how much that fluctuates over the summer journey.   The Heber RV Park is simple but nice and so is the weather.   At ...