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...

Phoenix to Temecula CA --- good times

Roger here...  I have to say that a lot has happened since our last post.  We intend to post daily for the next four days to get up to date.  The striking sunset above was taken during our last night at the Cave Creek Recreation Area, just north of Phoenix.  I could not stop with just one picture...

Dianne took these pictures, not me.  She usually criticizes me for taking the sunset pictures that I love.  She got carried away, don't ya think?

This one is not what you think it is!  What minds you must have!















Enough of the sunsets.  We had a short drive the next morning, so we decided to take a longer hike with the dogs through the desert hills at the park.

 Please forgive my fascination with the saguaro, the ocotillo and the cholla.  As a small-town midwestern boy, these are still intriguing to me. 

 The vistas along the trail were amazing.  We were counting on our dogs to find us a rattlesnake or two so we could jump away and run --- none on this day.





Howdy!  We encountered a couple of groups enjoying a morning trail ride.  Our dogs politely stood at the side of the trail while they passed by. Good dogs.

Time to hit the road!  Since we did not want to have a super-long driving day, we opted to drive a couple of hours to Quartzsite, AZ for the night.  Quartzsite is famous for boondocking (camping off the grid).  During the winter it is overloaded with campers, but at this time of the year it is virtually abandoned.  We found a BLM spot near I-10 where we spent the night for the astounding price of $0.  Not a scenic place, but the price was right and the relative isolation was welcome.

 We bought firewood at the grocery in Phoenix so that we could have a campfire that evening.

California here we come...  When we crossed the border into California, the inspection station was closed (Sunday).  Typically, you are required to report if you have any fresh fruits or veggies, many of which are confiscated.  But, not that day.  Our destination was Aguanga, CA, which is near Temecula, which is near San Diego.  We had hoped to take a route through the mountains, but opted to avoid possible steep grades and drove further to stay on the interstate highways for most of the trip.  I am not sure if that was the best decision, because as we got closer to L.A. the interstate traffic was somewhat harrowing.  I guess we will never know if it was the best choice.  The bottom line is that we made it safely.

We planned to stay at an Escapee park, Jojoba Hills.  We knew that the office would be closed and we would need to boondock for a second night in the park's dry-camp (another term for boondock) area.  We spent a second pleasant night away from our computers (except for our iPhones) and looked forward to moving to a regular site early the next morning.

 This is the view from our boondocking site. Not bad.  Trees provided shade on both sides of our motor home.  They had the most interesting red berries.  Anybody know what they are?

The next day we moved up the hill to our full hookup site.  AND, what a site it was.  More to come in the next post, so check back soon!

Texas Sunset, Texas Snow

Roger here....    We have been experiencing several unusually chilly and rainy days (highs in the fifties and low sixties).  The weather forecast a couple of evenings ago indicated that the rains were over and the temperatures were to rise.   Dianne was cooking dinner while I was lugging the outdoor cushions back outdoors.  Then I looked up.  Wow.  The sky was ablaze.  I ran inside the motor home to get the camera.  I was too late to get a shot of an amazing rainbow, but look at the outrageous shots I did get.  

Even the more subtle colors were awe-inspiring in these vast western skies.

Our friends, Mike and Brenda, and their fluffy white dogs, Lucy and Lucky, wandered down the street while I was taking the sunset pictures.

The next few days were wonderful with sunny temperatures in the mid-seventies and low eighties.  AND THEN IT SNOWED.  It snowed on an eighty degree day --- South Texas style ---- BLACK.  Check out the black snow drift in front of the coach house.  

South Texas snow is a phenomenon that occurs when one of the local farmers burns his sugar cane fields.  It typically occurs at least one time a year, without warning.  The weather app on our cell phone gave us no warning, whatsoever.

The black snow is kind of messy.  However, it is easy to get rid of with a leaf blower.  Thankfully, we kept our leaf blower when we dispensed with most of our other "stuff" after my retirement.

The pet picture of the day was taken a couple of nights ago on Dianne's action-motivated wildlife cam from our back yard.  Say hi to one of our local coyotes.

LBJ Texas Ranch, 2 Million Bats, and Choke Canyon SP

Hi all, Dianne here.  Imagine yourself as a world leader back in the 1960s, in one of the chairs in the photo above, having serious discussions under the huge, shady tree overlooking the Pedernales River in the hill country of Texas.  After visiting the LBJ Ranch, I understand now why President Lyndon Johnson spent every minute possible conducting business there rather than in Washington, D.C.   Roger and I were able to stand under that same tree on our recent visit and tour of the ranch, and it was so inviting and beautiful I could have stayed there all day.  The photo above was scanned from a document given to us during the tour, because I wasn't able to get a good outside photo of the ranch with my little camera.

As we walked up to the visitor's center (a building where LBJ used to conduct press conferences), our first view was of his private plane which he jokingly referred to as "Air Force 1/2".

Inside, LBJ's presidential podium is still there, just as it was during the 1960s press conferences.  Roger posed behind it, showing just how much taller LBJ was than Roger!!  

We could also see his car collection.  There was his 1934 red Ford hunting car, which he had personalized with rifle racks and a full wet bar.

Then there was his 1962 German amphicar, which he would amaze and/or terrorize his guests by driving into the Pedernales River (see photo placard below).

The original gateway to the ranch actually required fording the river to get to the ranch house.  

Roger and I have noticed that Texas doesn't bother with bridges on its rural roads; they simply give flood gauge measurements so you'll know how deep the water is before you drive through it.  No wonder there are so many high-clearance pickup trucks here!

No photography was allowed inside the home, but now that Lady Bird is no longer alive, they are returning it to its 1960s decor.  That was a trip down memory lane for Roger and I; it reminded him a lot of his parents' home back in the day.  LBJ's and Lady Bird's personal belongings are still in the home, including all of their clothing and shoes displayed in "his" and "hers" expansive closets.  Speaking of Him and Her, there are original oil paintings of his two beagles (named Him and Her) on a wall.  LBJ loved his dogs.

In several of the rooms we saw sets of three identical TVs mounted together so that LBJ could
watch all three networks at once.   There were multiple telephones in every room, one even mounted on the table leg next to his dining room chair.  

One poignant display showed a pecan pie warming on the kitchen stove.  Jackie Kennedy had never tasted pecan pie before, so Lady Bird had prepared one for her impending first visit to the ranch.  They never made it there; President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on that Texas trip before they arrived at the LBJ ranch.  

We toured LBJ's show barn where they still tend the descendants of his registered Hereford cattle.  There we met this little guy.  

For my cousin Charles, here's the cattle diet.

We drove through herds of cattle as we made our way up to the house.  

Before we toured the inside of the ranch, we also took an audio tour via a CD loaned to visitors at the national historical park.  

Here are some highlights of that tour, with captions:

One-Room School where LBJ learned to read

LBJ's & Lady Bird's Graves

Johnson Family Cemetery

We also visited the reconstructed "dog-trot" style house where LBJ was born, just down the road from the Texas White House.  (He had purchased the LBJ ranch from a widowed aunt because of fond memories of visiting it as a child for holidays and family gatherings at "the big house up the road."  

I photographed a few of the furnishings, because they are very similar to ones I used to have in my home in Indiana:

Corner Cupboard (Molly - check it out!)

Secretary - Mine was prettier, huh, Leslie?
Oh, I guess it's yours, now!

Small washstand - Nancy R., check it out!

I once had beautiful antiques, but am glad to be free of them.  I can always visit them in my family and friends' homes where they now reside.

Here's one more stop on our Johnson state park and historical site tour:

This section of Texas was settled by German immigrants.  One of the displays at the visitor's center was the Behrens dog-trot style cabin.  

The above photo was taken through the glass of one side of the dog-trot cabin.  It makes our motor home and our little 288-square-foot coach house look roomy by comparison, and there are only two of us!  And, if you think about it, we have our own little "dog-trot" setup at Retama:  

The tiny coach house (dining and kitchen/laundry/shower), the open area, then the adjoining motor home (TV and bedroom).  The display placard explained that a lot of the family work and living was done outdoors, which also is how we live at Retama.  

On our last evening in the Hill Country, we decided to visit the Old Tunnel State Park 10 miles outside of town to see the bats emerge at dusk.  We visited the old tunnel on a previous visit, but it was the wrong time of year to witness the bats.  This time we were at the right place at the right time.  We had an early supper and drove over to the viewing area.  Right at 7:20 the bats emerged, and we watched for 15 minutes as millions of them swarmed out of the tunnel below us.

The lighting was not good for photography (it was getting dark, after all), but you can kind of make out the swirling tornado of Mexican free-tail bats as they emerged from the tunnel below our seating area. 

We could hear their wings fluttering and smell the guano when they were at their peak.  Amazing!

 The movie I took with my camera came out better than the photo, and as a bonus, in the background you can hear the park ranger giving a brief narrative explanation of the bats.

I'll end with a few more animal photos.  Our site at the Fredericksburg KOA was right next to a pasture with a horse and three pygmy donkeys.  I finally was able to get a good photo of the donkeys. 

 This little guy was not shy at all.

Roger said good-bye to the horse.

I'll even miss being serenaded by the guinea hen!  
This is one KOA that we plan to revisit, and hopefully we'll get site L-5 again.

We packed up and headed south, making a two-night stop at Choke Canyon State Park.  We have a lovely view of the reservoir from our site (site 131).  

So far, we've seen deer, wild turkeys, and, on my wildlife cam, raccoons.

We took the dogs down the mowed path to a little beach on the reservoir and let them run loose and chase balls in the lake.  Unfortunately, we discovered Bandido's favorite blue whistle ball doesn't float, so one of my first errands when we get back to Mission will be to get a replacement.  He had a lot of fun swimming and chasing a tennis ball in the water.  Tequila ran along the sandy shore, trying to grab it from him.  We had the great idea to spend today swimming and floating in the reservoir with the dogs -- that is, until this morning when I googled this reservoir and discovered there are 18-foot ALLIGATORS here!   Sorry, doggies, it's just not worth the risk.   (Too bad, though, the water temp. was perfect).

After spending much of late summer in the Colorado mountains, Roger and I are trying to re-acclimate to 90-degree heat (without much success).  

Last night the sky showed evidence of a rainstorm in the distance, and a stunning sunset:

The pet photo of the day shows Bandido in one of his quieter moments, taking an afternoon snooze on the cover sheet on our bed:

Sweet Dreams, Cuddly Boy!

It's been a great spring/summer trip, but after five months on the road, tomorrow it's time to go home.  We'll update again from Retama, but not as often, unless there's something novel to report on!