Friday, May 28, 2010

Since we left Lake Greeson Arkansas.....





After bidding a fond farewell to Lake Greeson, we headed west to Oklahoma. Within an hour, I was already tired and the wind was strong, making driving tough on Chuck.  We decided to drive on to Queen Wilhelmenia State Park in Mena Arkansas, about 2+ hours north of Lake Greeson.  It is beautiful there! It is perched on top of Arkansas's second tallest mountain!  The 12 mile climb up from Mena was a bit challenging but Chuck handled it like a pro! He is really doing a great job leading the MotherShip to all these pretty campgrounds!


At the entrance to Queen W's State Park sat this train engine. I don't know why and I could find no information on the train at all, but it made for a couple of pretty pictures! :-)

At the top of the mountain sat this beautiful hotel built of rocks!  Very nice and the rooms were very modestly priced! They also have an outstanding restaurant too!  I still wasn't into cooking much as I still was recovering from my time in Hot Springs!


We didn't need to stay in a fancy hotel, after all, we had the MotherShip which is better than all the fancy hotels anywhere!  The campground at Queen W SP was great and Chuck decided to stay 2 days to give me a bit more recovery time.  I was in full agreement! Not many trails to hike here, the Reservoir Trail and Lover's Leap Trail. I didn't really feel much like hiking anyway, so Chuck and I sat around reading books for 2 days! Pete had convinced me how much he enjoyed his Kindle Reader so I got online and ordered one and had it sent to 
Emily in Kansas!

 

We finally left Queen W's State Park and headed down the mountain.  Once we arrived at the main
Highway 88, we found this neat old country store! Turns out the owners also know Larry and Betty Harmon and they serve a great breakfast besides! We ate breakfast, had great conversation with the owners (forgive me! I can't remember names now!) and I went outside to get a photo of their country store. Before I could get it in focus, the local law comes rolling in and Chuck gets in a conversation with him about the wind conditions west of us. WINDY! Well. we had several days of windy driving ahead of us!
By sticking to the back roads, you get to see all the fun things. I loved these water towers labeled Hot Warm and Cold!   I wish I could remember the name of the town! It's in Oklahoma on Route 59N ! 
The next night found us camped in Grove OK. Nice campground, called Cedar Oaks Campground.  But if you go there, take a back in site because all the pull thru sites are very narrow. So tight that when we put out our awning, it almost touched our neighbor's pull out! We were packed in like sardines there! When we left the next morning, we noticed that the area where they had back in sites had plenty of room, easily twice what we had! 
Then Sunday night May23rd, we spent at Alabaster Caverns State Park in Freedom OK. As you can see from the above shot, we had the whole campground to ourselves! Chuck got to see the bats come out of the caverns just after dusk! We were going to tour the caverns the next day, but after finding out it was a 45 minute tour up and down lots of stairs... I decided not to do this tour this year. I was still to tender and still not much energy since the surgery in Hot Springs! We will very definitely be  back to this campground. Even though we were the only ones there on this night, the campsites were huge and beautiful with trees and grass everywhere. We both enjoyed sitting outside listening to the sounds of nature there! (We love our anti-gravity recliners!)
On the advice of our friend Sherry Cavannaugh, our next stop was in Beaver OK. Chuck posed in front of the town's mascot Beaver holding of all things....
A Cow Chip! Seems like Beaver hosts the Cow Chip Throwing Championship of the world!  Every year, they get bored and go throw cow chips to see who can throw them the furtherest! Think I'm lying? Click onto the photo and read the sign! HaHa! 
We left Beaver OK and headed north into Kansas on highway 83N. I'm told that 83 goes from Canada to Brownsville TX.  It is mostly a 2 lane road we travelled but the majority of the road is very good. But it did tell the story of how flat Kansas really is and of how windy it is here!  We arrived in Oakley Kansas on Monday May 24th.  Our friend Emily Ogle workamps there at High Plains Campground.  Well, before we even got unhooked from the camper the wind showed me who was boss! I was trying to close the door against the wind when a sudden gust (weather said wind was gusting 65mph and I believe it!) grabbed the door and pulled me outside and threw me on the ground like a rag doll! I felt like I had dislocated my shoulder so off we went to visit the Oakley ER!  Turns out, no breaks, no dislocations, I was very lucky! I have a bit of whiplash and scraped up back and bruised arm and shoulder but I am fine. All of this explains why there are no photos of Emily or of High Plains Campground.  If you are ever in Oakley, it's a great campground with hot tubs, big pull thru sites and a great restaurant next door. Be sure if you go to the campground to tell Mary hi from us!  We are now in Ellis Kansas,where Emily lives. The wind has died down and the campground here is beautiful. More about that on our next post! Just wanted ya'll to know what's going on in our corner of the world!  Keep in touch!  Geri, Chuck, Scotty and Doogie-Bowser.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Just a quick note....


We went to visit Dr. Kaler in Hot Springs on Monday.  He seems ok with my progress and told us happy trails! So yesterday, Tuesday we caught up on our laundry and today we start re-packing the MotherShip. After almost a month here at Lake Greeson Arkansas, things kinda got comfey and homey!  DoogieBowser has even taken to defending our campground space like it's home! It is beautiful here and it's been a great place to be! But we are ready and anxious to be heading west again so tomorrow 5-20-2010 we head out for Ellis Kansas to visit our friend Emily Ogle.  Since I have zero energy level and a still tender tummy, we only plan to travel 4-5 hours a day. It may take us 2-3 days to get there, but we are in no hurry, however it would be nice to spend time with Em when she's not working! We will try to get there on Saturday. Just wanted ya'll to know what's up in our corner of the world. Keep in touch and know we love you! Geri, Chuck  Scotty-Boy and DoogieBowser

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Lake Greeson Days winding down!


I just want everybody to know I am ok! To those of you that don't know, I had to go to the hosp 4-30-2010 with internal bleeding. Had to have lapband removed! Feeling much better!  Go to Dr. Kaler on Monday to get checked. We are paid up here at Lake Greeson until May 20. If all is ok, we should leave the 21st headed to Kansas to see Emily Ogle! Then on to Spearfish SD to see Paul and Diane Thibodeaux! I'll keep ya'll posted!


Thanks to Glenda for this fun photo of me with Betty and Tali on the ladies boat ride!



Oscar even comes over to visit with me, leaving Pete at home!! Chuck and I got these great anti-gravity lounge chairs the other day at SAM's Club and they are great! Wow!  Comfey!



Chuck has been taking very good care of me! Here I am resting with my feet up just to prove it! Meanwhile, Chuck is in town doing laundry!


Scotty-Boy takes good care of me too! I get lots of lovin' from my guys!




Tucked away in the beautiful wooded campsite overlooking Lake Greeson is our MotherShip! We have had such a good time here!  Unexpected hospital 8 day stay for me, but I'm doing better! (Thanks to Tali and Steve who recognised there was something very wrong and urged Chuck to take me to ER asap!)
The only ones left from the JugFest 2010 are Pete and Oscar and they leave tomorrow.....  We had such a wonderful time here with everybody! It was so much fun seeing old friends and making new ones! Ya'll keep in touch, ya hear? (Grin!)  Geri, Chuck, Scotty-Boy and Doogie-Bowser, we love all of you!