Roosevelt State Park, Mississippi

     January 21 I had scheduled us to drive through Louisiana and half of Mississippi, only about 4 hours. We stayed at another state park, also older and not built for big rigs. There was hills, curves, and many trees. I had reserved the only pull-through site so set-up was a breeze and we were shocked to realize we had full hook-ups! It made the pain of paying $24 a night a little less.

     This park has a huge water slide as well as disk golf and many other things that made us wish it was warmer. But it wasn't, so we put on our jackets and went hiking. We couldn't find the trail we wanted so we ended up wandering through the woods for an hour or so then went home. The children wanted to rollerblade and scooter again since we had hills so I stayed home and cleaned the house. Eldon went on a small walk alone and saw 5! beavers and several deer. 

Lovely lake!

     We'd give this campground at least 7 stars and would certainly come back!

On the 22 we crossed the Mississippi River.

     Once we were East of the Mississippi, things slowed down a little. We had planned to drop South just before Montgomery (you know, avoid the big city!) but at a bathroom stop, Eldon noticed one of our springs was broken. I had no idea what this meant, but apparently it's pretty important since it holds the axle in place. So we detoured into Montgomery and pulled into a Airport Trailers. They proceeded to drop everything and work only on our rig. We ran to another store to pick up springs, then returned them because they didn't fit. It was a bit of a fiasco but in the end, we pulled out at closing time all ready to roll and only $360 out. We were very thankful for the timing of everything!

Most things RV are a certain size and he didn't have our size in stock but they found a set that works!

     Since we had sat there for several hours, we were all in favor of adding an hour to our plan and just pulling into a Wal-mart for the night. Eldon was able to unhook and go fuel up and he treated us all to wings from Zaxby's since the children were absolute champs through it all.

Taking pictures on my phone is one way to pass time :).

     We had 8 hours left to Florida and had planned to stop one more night but the next morning once we hit the road, everyone wanted to just keep going. So go we did! We were ever so happy to arrive at the Travaglino's shortly after dark. I was thrilled that Chris was here to help Eldon back into our spot since it was quite tight and Kimberly had pizza ready for us. And, it was warm and there was Palm Trees. What a welcome!

Martin Creek Lake State Park, Texas

     After leaving my parents on January 20th, we loved our drive through East Texas. Small towns, big fields, and changing landscape. We chose to only drive 3 hours then spend the night at a state park near the Texas/Louisiana border. With our Texas State Park Pass, we only paid $13 a night.

     Check-in was a breeze - the lady even knew our name and site as soon as we told her our last name. This is an older campground so the sites are not made for big rigs. Our 40 foot 5th wheel didn't have a problem but we could barely park our truck in our site too. We'd do it again in a heartbeat though so it obviously wasn't to bad. 

     Once we had some hot food in our bellies (thanks to my mom for sending Sunday's leftover casserole with us!) we headed out to do some hiking. This park has a small island so our first hike was around the perimeter of it. 

That blue sky!

60*'s is such good hiking weather!

     Our next hike was the Harmony Hill Loop. Part of the trail was the old road that went through Harmony Hill, a small town that died after the railroad bypassed it in the 1880's. We didn't see much wildlife besides squirrels but it was fantastic to be hiking in tall trees again.

Someone had a Pine Tree Farm many years ago. 

Emily is pretending to be lost in the "Hundred Acre Woods".

It was only a small forest but so dark in the middle of it!

     This was a perfect park to overnight at, especially if you have a few hours to spend exploring. Even though our children were sooooo tired they could barely walk, once we got back to the camper they had a blast rollerblading and scootering on the hilly road. 

Carbella Recreation Site

     All summer long we had good intentions of making it 6 hours west to explore Yellowstone National Park but the summer flew by and we never made it! However, it was "almost" on our route that we were taking south so we made a quick stop. 

     Thanks to our huge tanks and the solar we installed this summer, camping with no hook-ups is a breeze. Our favorite website, freecampsites.net, found us this great spot right on the Yellowstone River. Carbella Recreation Site is only 20 minutes from Gardiner, MT, which is where the north entrance to Yellowstone is located.

     The road down to the campsites was bumpy yet not the worst we've been on. Some of these campsites even had a picnic table and fire ring! Our Verizon phones worked great but there was no AT&T service. The one downside was the busyness of the place, however, it was worth it, considering the location. By Sunday afternoon the place had cleared out considerably and we were left to pick up trash after the weekenders 😒.

It was a very peaceful river!

The children loved waving to the rafters that floated by.

And yes, they got incredibly wet and sandy. But, just look at that smile 😊

Our very dirty rig!

Perfect way to spend a relaxing evening!

Brownville Riverside Park, NE

     Since we now have solar, our goal was to boondock as much as possible on the way to Montana. We're pleased to announce that it works very well and it's so nice to not run the generator anytime we need to do anything with electricity.

     I spend a ridiculous amount of time using freecampsites.net, campendium.com, and Google Earth to find a boondocking spot that we can easily fit into, isn't far off our route, and has clear directions. Unfortunately, we had some issues with the clear directions part the last few places we've been too. However, I'm delighted to report that freecampsites.net will update their listing and directions if you let them know it's off. Leaving reviews is critical, people! I'm on a mission to leave reviews for all places now, lol. Let's just say, turning a 40 foot rig around when everyone is hungry and grouchy is no fun. And I don't even have to drive :)!

     We spent a night at the Brownville Riverside Park in Nebraska. It was.......ok once we found it. The grass needed mowed but the fact that is was right along the Missiouri River and we were completely alone redeemed it. It was easy to get into and right off the road. Also, you will enter where it says "The South Entrance for River Resort Inn is Closed". No wonder we were confused but the directions on freecampsites should take you to the correct spot now.

It was a weird feeling to look out the window and have the river flowing so close and fast. 

This river was SO muddy.

      Within easy walking distance is a dredge ship. The Captain Meriwether Lewis National Historic Landmark is one of the few surviving examples of its type built to control flooding and improve navigation along America's rivers.They would somehow pull sediments and debris from the bottom of the river and toss it up on the banks, making it possible for large ships to continue up and down the rive while building the banks higher at the same time. Sadly, it's only opened for tours on Saturday and Sunday afternoon but looked super interesting.

This end looked like a vacuum cleaner!

How cool is this?!

This thing was huge!

Isn't that a gorgeous set-up?! :)

Amarillo, Texas

     After leaving Kansas we had no plans except to be in Page, Arizona 4 days later. Since we were going through Amarillo anyhow, we decided to spend 2 nights at Palo Duro State Park. Palo Duro is the second largest canyon in the country and worth the visit. Hackberry was the only camping area open and we fit in fine with our 40 foot 5th wheel but it wasn't overly big rig friendly. There is also a 10% grade down into the canyon so keep that in mind if your truck struggles with handling your rig. We were perfectly happy that there was no phone service at the campground but that may be a problem for people who need internet for work.

It's peaceful.......so peaceful! I snuck out early our last morning there and watched a flock of turkeys pick their way across our campsite! If it hadn't been for the airplanes roaring overhead, I may have been fooled into thinking it was 150 years ago and expected a band of Indians to come whooping over the hill!

Cadillac Ranch

     It seemed silly to not visit one of the most ridiculous tourist attractions ever so we did it and had a blast! Ten Cadillacs half buried out in the middle of a field. People come from all over to paint their name on them!

     Sadly, there was paint cans (mostly empty) laying around by the hundreds. We carried as many as we could to the dumpsters by the road. If you plan to visit please take a big trash bag and help clean it up!

Paint was several inches thick at places!

Jack Sisemore Traveland RV Museum

1937 Kozy Kamp was one of the first tent trailers ever built.

     This Museum is located in two large buildings behind an RV dealer. Admission is free so it was on our list of things to do :). I was surprised and pleased how much the children enjoyed it. Everything was perfectly to staged to fit with the date of the RV which added to the atmosphere. Over 15 antique RV's are here for the viewing.

1936 Alma was all original.

Trikes!

Numerous Harley Davidson's were also on display.

"The bike that won the War". During WWII this Harley Davidson was used by the military in huge numbers. One rolled out of the factory every 5 minutes.

1962 Airstream. This one was so cute!

     After using the children's Book-It coupons at Pizza Hut we headed back to the State Park and did a 2 mile hike along the river. This cowboy dugout made it easy to imagine the way it was when ranchers would send their cattle into the canyon during the winters.

Love the deep blue sky!

We saw quite a few Roadrunners. 

Pictures don't do justice........

Sun coming up.

Holes in the rocks near the river where Native Americans ground Mesquite beans, corn, and other grains.

Bottomless Lakes, Roswell, New Mexico

Earlier this year I came across this state park and knew it needed to be on our list of places to go soon. We had plans to spend a week here on our way to the fiesta but our places changed when I needed to fly to Virginia for my Grandpa's funeral that week. I tucked the idea away for later and when Eldon suggested we stop here for a week on our way from Colorado to Texas I was so happy! In fact, all those plans that got changed worked out so much better then I ever imagined and I'm happy to say that we didn't waste energy stressing about it!

So, Bottomless Lakes State Park got its name since the cowboys that discovered it tied 3 ropes together and still didn't hit bottom so they decided it must be bottomless! Most of the lakes here are sinkholes. They fill with water from down under somewhere and supposedly many are connected since items have been seen in one then show up in another. 

The RV park is nice but nothing exceptional. We paid $14 a night for water and electric. The park is spacious so we had no trouble getting around with our 40 foot 5th wheel. There is a dump station less then 1/2 mile from where we parked. Trash are in several locations and if you take trash out after dark it's almost a guarantee that you'll see a raccoon! There is also a swimming area and playground that we used several times. The water stays the same temperature year around!

Eldon took lots of drone pictures and they capture some of the beauty but certainly not all! Pictures also do not show the massive amount of flies and mosquitoes that live here! The hour before sunset mosquitoes came out to feast so we quickly learned to go inside during that time!

The campground

The lake near the campground

Check out all those sink holes!

The water was so clear!

 

The swimming area! I made sure to stay away from the middle because that hole completely freaked me out! I have a suspicious that a sea monster lives in there and would totally suck me in :).

Loved the red rock!

Standing up on the see-saw is obviously the most fun!

Our friend, Kimberly invited all the children to tea and poetry one afternoon. Emily was bouncing off the walls she was so excited!

      Roswell has a small zoo at the city park that is free so we spent a few hours there. Obviously the animals were bored because many came to the fence to look at us!

Baby Cecilia is only 2 weeks old and has no lack of love!

Mountain Lion!

Mountain Goat!

Michael with his friends, Lewis and DJ. I just realized they are in age order here, 5,6,and 7!

We went out for lunch since we were told we needed to try Monte Cristos, a fried ham and cheese sandwich. Delicious!

Sweet little baby that we all fought to hold :)

Makayla and her friends, Tonia and Rosalie baked bars one day. I was impressed that all three were concerned that we put so much sugar in!

We're not into horse racing but when we found out we could meet a Kentucky Derby horse we were so excited! He won back in 2009, the 135th Derby. We immediately looked him up on YouTube and it is super impressive since he was dead last for a while but ended up winning!

Checking out his trophy!

Gorgeous horse and very kind owner! Right before we left Mine That Bird did some showing off for us by running around the corral!

Thursday's visitors. He said that 2-5 groups come each week to see Mine That Bird!

Trying to keep her quiet so her mama could get some work done!

Projects..........Eldon and Chris did so many this week. Built a pantry, poop tank, wired a fuel tank, moved a closet, and probably more that I don't even know about!

Eldon did an awesome job with this pantry! I don't have an after picture but Kimberly was thrilled with it!

And one more picture of the little miss! Late night coffee and cheesecake after the children were in bed!