Minooka Park

Roger here....  OK.  Five opening photos taken from our campsite.  We must be someplace special.  Where do you think we are?  Florida beach?  Pacific coast?  Lake Tahoe?  Na Pali coast of Kaui (probably not in the motor home).  Nowhere close.  We are in KANSAS!  

I intended to make fun of the flat landscape along I-70,  I intended to use a silly connection to the Turtles' song, Windy.  You know the one, "Who's bendin' down to give me a rainbow, everyone knows it's Windy."  Well, we did see a spectacular double rainbow on our last night in Colorado.

And, it was a windy drive as you can see by the slanted grass in the photo.  It was also a little scary.  

But, after looking at the pictures that we took at our campsite at the Corps of Engineers' Campground (Minooka Park) on Wilson Lake in the center of Kansas, the theme of this particular blog is dedicated to the absolute beauty of this place.

Traveling in the shoulder season when the kids are in school allows us to enjoy these amazing spots in near seclusion.  There was only one other RV in the entire park.  We had a prime spot next to the lake.

What a perfect place.

We lingered here for an extra night during our determined trek to Indiana (for motor home repairs and remodeling), because of the beauty and peacefulness.  Like the days, the evenings were also magical.   

Whether looking at the sky.....

Or looking at the lake....  

We found the perfect spot (and weather) for a relaxing campfire.

I cannot finish this post without another sunrise shot of the great blue heron that landed in our little cove.

Dianne and I have found that there is much more to Kansas than we had ever noticed before.  Much more.  

The pet picture of the day....  People often ask us how our dogs and cat get along in such a confined space.  We have all heard the expression, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Black Butte Lake – Boondocking + Friends

Hi all, Dianne here.  After we left Vacaville, we headed north through more beautiful golden hills for two nights off the grid at Black Butte Lake in Northern California.

Our good friends Mike and Brenda are in charge of two campgrounds at this Corps of Engineers lake, and we knew we’d be able to visit them and enjoy some Retama-style happy hours. 

 As we pulled up to the booth, we saw Mike’s smiling face to

welcome us.  

They helped us find a perfect site with a beautiful lake view... 

Roger especially liked the way the reflected bands in the water looked gold like the surrounding hills:

It was so peaceful and quiet that I tried to read on our patio area, but fell sound asleep,
with my pal Bandido by my side.

After a very relaxing afternoon, we brought some wine and snacks to Mike and Brenda’s site for happy hour.  Brenda had told me ahead of time that she was fixing supper for us, but wow, I sure wasn’t expecting a spread like this!
Pot roast, potatoes, perfectly-skillet-roasted vegetables, cauliflower salad, artisan bread.  Not pictured was the awesome warm dessert made with sauteed pineapple, bananas and Italian mascarpone cheese.  I knew Brenda was known for her cooking, but wow!


It gets very hot at Black Butte Lake in the summer (100s), and it was 96 the second day we were there.  With no electricity for air conditioning, that was an issue! We stayed comfortable in the shade with a breeze until late afternoon.  Roger took Bandido and Tequila swimming in the lake several times.  The dogs loved it, and it cooled them off. (Wish we had pictures...)

When we went back to Mike and Brenda’s for happy hour and dinner (yes, she cooked two meals for us, lasagna this time!), we took all three animals with us, because it was just too hot to leave them behind.  Mike and Brenda have a very shady patio area, and it was always cool and pleasant with a wonderful breeze while we were there. 

Charlie was in heaven, relaxing in the soft, Indiana-style grass.  Our dogs enjoyed seeing Lucky and Lucy, Mike and Brenda’s two little dogs.  Lucky was interested in Charlie (they both weigh about 15 pounds), but Charlie twitched his tail, flattened his ears, and Lucky got the message and steered clear!

It was great to meet up with our friends and catch up on the latest news since we all left Retama Village in Texas earlier this spring.  All too soon it was time to say good-bye, but we know we'll see them again in Texas next fall.  

There are a series of pet photos of the day this time, because we took some good photos of Bandido and Tequila playing together in the nice dog run at the Vineyard RV park before we left  Vacaville.  They LOVED it there!  Here are some photos, with captions:

Catch Me if You Can!

Can you still catch the ball with a cattle dog hanging from your neck??

Oh, Boy!  Dad threw the ball!   Here it comes!!

Caught it!!

Way to go, Bandido!   You're my hero!!

Return to Abiquiu (NM)

Hi all, Dianne here.  On our slow drive back to Texas, we decided to spend a few days just relaxing at the Corps of Engineers Riana Campground next to Abiquiu Reservoir in New Mexico.  We spent 10 days here in September of 2010 and explored the area at that time.  This visit we just wanted to relax, hike, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.  Best of all, now that Roger has his Senior National Park pass, we can finally stay at Corps of Engineers campgrounds for half price.  $7.00 per night is quite a deal!


Lots of reading and Sudoku time.  The photo on the left shows our motor home and the beautiful red cliffs in the distance.


Tequila had lots of fun stalking and chasing lizards. 



Ever present in the background is the Cerro Pedernal, a frequent subject in the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, who spent years painting the surrounding scenery in this area.



The first night we were reminded of the beautiful sunsets that we experienced on our prior visit.
There are several hiking trails that we enjoyed exploring with the “kids,” some leading down to the reservoir…
Others leading up to the dam…

Here are a few of my favorite shots:






During one of our hikes, we found the perfect picnic spot on a large rock outcropping near the reservoir.  Roger wanted to pose on the rock with unexpected results  (well, he should have expected it; check out the very short video below the photo):






We didn’t make it back there for a picnic, because yesterday it rained almost all day.  A good time to stay inside and write a blog!  Roger (the consummate planner) is busy planning our route next summer to the Pacific Northwest.  It may sound early, but some of the places we want to try to stay along the Oregon coast fill up a year in advance.  Location, location, location….



I’m sure we’ll return again to this beautiful place.  Should you want more information about things to do in this area, here are two links to our prior blogs written from here:

Beautiful Hike at Ghost Ranch to Chimney Rock

Roger's Hike at Ghost Ranch to Box Canyon

We wrote other blog posts during that visit, but most were about time spent at the campground.  Last visit, we did take our Sea Eagle kayak out on the reservoir twice: 

Kayaking on Abiquiu Reservoir

I had fun re-reading these posts, but it made me a little sad because last time we were here we still had our whippets, and they loved it here as much as Bandido and Tequila do. 

This morning we will break camp and head south through New Mexico, back to Texas.  After three travel days we plan to spend some time at Lost Maples State Park in Bandera County, Texas, then a week in Fredericksburg before the last leg to Mission and our Retama winter home.


The pet photo of the day is one of about 200 photos that my wildlife cam took of Tequila stalking lizards.  I hung the camera and didn’t realize her lead was long enough to put her in camera range.  She spent an entire afternoon on high alert, looking for lizards.  At the end of the day she was exhausted!