I know this blog is coming a little bit late for Valentine's Day, but we were doing some relaxing. I am adjusting to some new medications from the doc the week before. Blogging just wasn't on the top priority of my list for a few days.
But that's okay, you'll still be able to read these in order and I might be able to catch up by next week. It's not easy to blog and post YouTube videos all within the same day or two while we are camping. So please excuse me if there's a little lag in timing.
I woke up first, and left Steve sleeping in a little bit. I mixed up some blueberry muffins and got the coffee ready. Usually Steve makes the coffee. So this was my little Valentine treat to him. The smell in the camper was amazing.
Our little Canadian neighbors were back again. They were clustered out in front of the motorhome and we could watch them through the windshield. They were very busy scrounging around on the ground for who knows what that was there on the surface of the grass.
I whipped out my bigger camera to take better photos of them than the ones I posted the other day. Now I could pick up more details amongst their feathers and their beaks and their feet as they waddled around in front of our motorhome.
Some of them chose to stay out in the water and paddle around in groups. I'm not sure exactly what they were looking for, I would imagine there were some little fish here and there or maybe some frogs.
Pretty soon there was a whole flotilla out there, bobbing along in the water. It wasn't very windy so they found nice refuge in the bay right near the camping area. This is such a wonderful park with diverse areas to occupy. We really enjoyed the camping loop because nobody else really drives down here. It's pretty peaceful.
It was fun to watch the geese while we sipped our coffee and ate our muffins. Now, if only they didn't leave their little slimy packages behind on the grass, it wouldn't be so bad. We hated stepping in it and heaven forbid if Nick ever decided to stop, drop and roll! So far, so good.
But they were rather pretty, with their striking contrast of colors on their cheeks and their head compared to the rest of their body. We noticed that this one had been tagged on his leg. Probably part of some sort of migratory bird record-keeping. Either that, or he's part of the witness protection program?
It was turning into a beautiful day. We thought perhaps the weathermen would be wrong. They had forecast rain. So far we saw a blue sky and we thought maybe we got lucky. We really enjoyed the views from all three angles of the motorhome from our campsite.
While we are looking at these views in these photos, I'll mention that our whole goal of this entire trip is not to go see a bunch of "tourist things". Really, our intended purpose is to just get somewhere warm, relax in our lawn chairs with a beautiful view, and maybe take some walks or bike rides. We aren't asking for a lot.
So maybe if it seems like we're not really doing anything this week at this beautiful park in jonesboro, it's because we aren't! Our biggest endeavor was to leave the park on the bikes and go pick up our Amazon package and a few things at Aldi. Yep, that's about it.
Otherwise, we are spending time relaxing, reading, or I have sewing and some knitting along. Steve is looking at things on Marketplace or reading various articles online about things of interest. We have our Starlink so we can connect to watch our favorite YouTube channels. There's not a lot on network TV that we are interested in. We do tune into local stations to check the weather. But we also check the weather on apps on our cell phones too.
Speaking of weather, the weathermen were right. By later afternoon the clouds started rolling in. It was getting drizzly and rainy and I think it was time to curl up inside.
We did manage to do two loads of laundry up at the shower house. It was pretty easy to buzz back and forth each time a load was done. There are two washers and two dryers here. The washers are $1.50 each. The dryers are a dollar each. We do have a small portable washing machine that we carry in the shower stall. It was too rainy to hang anything out on a wash line to dry. Using the park laundry facility was more convenient, only a few campsites away. By early afternoon, everything was done and folded and put away.
Before we knew it, (and after a nap), it was time to start supper. I got out my ULU knife from Alaska and my concave cutting board. It's just perfect for chopping up vegetables. I cut up the celery and then I cut up some onions. I got out the chopped garlic and thawed a hunk of hamburger from our favorite meat market back home. It was time to make some chili!
I brought along a precious jar of my homegrown canned tomatoes. Nothing can beat a jar of my wonderfully canned fresh tomatoes from the garden to put into a pot of chili. I pop open the top and breathe in the wonderful smell. Then I take the first fork full out to eat before the rest of it is dumped into the pot. That is my reward for standing in a steaming hot kitchen in August and September to process all of those tomatoes! Ahhhhhh the little things in life that can make me very happy.
I simmered up the onions and the garlic with the celery until they were softened. Steve took care of chopping up the meat and browning it. That's something I've never liked to do. So Steve takes care of that part for me. See? As Valentine Sweetheart's, we cooked together. Perfect!
(Yes we like to put noodles with our chili. That's the German side of us)
The motorhome smelled so good with our meal. We were satisfied to sit back and enjoy the evening with full bellies and watching some of our favorite shows on youtube. We didn't need to go to a fancy restaurant anywhere, or exchange luxurious gifts. It's just a gift to be together and to be cozy and warm in our little motorhome.
It continued to rain throughout the evening, and I snapped this one photo before dark. The sun was trying to set underneath the edge of the clouds. Did you ever get that little shaft of sunlight right before sunset that sneaks in under the clouds and shines across the ground?
Oh my, it's another one of those most wonderful weather days! We are very appreciative of each and every day that includes sunshine and warm temperatures. When you come from the North, this is so strange to have this type of weather in February. We are very much enjoying it.
It was still a little crisp and cool in the morning, but we sat inside and sipped our coffee and looked out the windows.
We do have some moisture this morning, so we are going to get out the dehumidifier and plug it in to take care of any dampness. What is funny is that we bought this dehumidifier 2 years ago, while we were camped right here at Craighead Forest. We picked it up at the Ace Hardware store in town. It's a small perfectly sized one to take with us as we travel. Steve dug it out of the storage compartment and we plugged it in to take care of the humidity.
Little Nick woke up and decided that today should be a good day to play with toys. He holds this silly little reindeer in his mouth. He hauls it around like a baby. He has chewed off the tips of its antlers and it's paws. But it's one of his most favorite toys.
We told him that today was not going to be a playtime day. Today instead, he was going to stay in the camper all by himself. We were going to be leaving to go on a special errand on our bicycles and he could not go along.
He told us exactly what he thinks of that!
Steve took out both of our e-bikes and we got ready for a journey.
We are definitely not Urban Bike Riders. We are uncomfortable moving amongst the traffic, or even pedaling alongside on the shoulder. We much prefer riding out on bike trails or on quiet rural roads.
So today was going to be a challenge to our skills...
Steve mounted my pannier bags on my bike. I really like these bags. They are heavy rubbery plastic coated fabric and attach on the frames of the bike on each side. They are from the Lectric company and are made for my exact bike frame. I also have a couple bungee straps in case I need to strap something to the top of the back rack with my gloves.
Now, I didn't film anything of our journey, nor did I take any pictures. I was way too busy concentrating on the safety of our bike trip into town. It may not look like much on this little map below but it was over 3 miles one way of driving along the very edge of traffic. There was not even really a shoulder. Most of it was driving with cars at 30 to 40 mph whizzing past us as we pedaled our bikes.
We tried to keep our tires on the edge of the pavement as close as we could. Constantly watching in our mirrors for cars coming up behind us. Every now and then one would swing wider around us if they could. Most of the traffic was four lanes, two in each direction.
At one point we even had to cross up and over the interstate on an overpass. That was nice, because the overpass had a wide shoulder. It kind of gave us a little break before the last half mile down to the phone store.
We were able to weave in and out of a couple parking lots to alleviate our need to be alongside of the road itself.
We made it to Triple S Phone store, where we retrieved our Amazon package from the gal at the counter. We carefully put it in one of my pannier bags and then headed across the street to the Aldi store. Steve waited outside with the bikes while I ran in and picked up some fresh veggies, half gallon of milk, and another dozen of eggs. We were set now for another week.
I know other people ride their bikes in the city like this all of the time. We just aren't used to it. Here are a couple Google Earth photos that I took of the street view to show that there were no sidewalks nor any shoulder to ride on...
I was pretty proud of both of us, to say the least! We made it there and back without any mishaps. We had our stash of groceries as well as the little lever to replace on our screen door.
The whole round trip took about 8 miles total. When we got back, Steve plugged in our bikes so they will be fully charged for another ride that evening around the campground. I guess we are supposed to get between 20 and 30 miles per battery charge. But we've never pushed them that far so we don't know for sure.
Steve said he doesn't know if our butts could handle 20 to 30 miles. LOL
Now Steve opened up the package and he has another project to work on. He has to reconfigure this door latch to fit, because it's not an exact replacement for what we had. But nicely enough, it is made of metal!
It kept him busy for a while, and he got it mounted on and it works beautifully. He still has to attach the other part to the door to make them work in unison when you open the outside door. Then the screen door opens with it. He has to adjust the old latch a little bit to make it work with the new lever.
But for now, at least it's working and we don't have the screen door popping open. Thank you Steve!
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Nick was quite indignant that we left him home and rode away on the bikes without him. So before dinner, Steve took out his little cart and put it together. Now that is one happy little dog...
He hops right in and says let's go go go!
We did a sweet gentle relaxed tour of three and a half miles around Craighead Forest park. Beautiful paved paths and gorgeous scenery as we pedaled along at our leisure. What a contrast to the morning's treacherous bike ride in all of that traffic.
This day had sure been adventurous for us old folks. Being in our late 60s and traveling around town on bikes is entirely new to us. We've only had them 2 years, and we really hadn't ridden many bicycles in any of our adult years previously. As kids, both of us had been glued to our bikes and took them everywhere. But now that we are grown up, this is quite a change for us. A change for the better because it gets us out and about. They may be electric bikes, but we pedal, and we only use the pedal assist at the low numbers, increasing on hills when we really need it. It's worth all the extra effort to haul them along in this little cargo trailer behind the motorhome...
Time to get dinner going...
Here's the YouTube that goes along with today's blog post:
We must say, the sunshine streaming in just about every day is so delightful. We open up the windshield pleated shades and are greeted by this gorgeous sight.
Getting up and starting some coffee, looking out the sunny windows and thinking about what we are going to do for the day?
It warmed up, so Steve took out the lawn chairs and we enjoyed some beautiful vitamin D soaking into our skin. We have been waiting for this warmth for a long time. Just setting out in a lawn chair is a delightful pleasure in the sunshine. It doesn't take a lot to make us happy.
Little Nickydoodle has been looking forward to his walks around the campground. He also enjoys being on his rope and hanging out under our lawn chairs.
Steve said the best part about being outside this time of year is that there are NO BUGS!!
We spent most of the morning outside in the lawn chairs. Even though it was still in the '60s, it was going to reach 71 today. No complaints about that. Nick of course had various ideas of needing to play with toys or go for another walk... He gets quite persistent.
We did have a little mishap the other day. The wind had grabbed the door out of Steve's hand. This is the little plastic lever for the screen door. It serves two purposes: the first is that it allows you to open the screen door and secure it when the main door is wide open. It latches tight to the door frame. The second purpose is that it snaps tight backwards to the main door --- so when you do it open the main door the screen door comes with it at the same time. So it's a pretty important piece of equipment, but the dang thing is made out of cheap plastic! Snapped right in half.
In the meantime we have this little barrel catch on the screen door that can hold it closed. We use this if we are napping and want to keep the door securely locked from the inside but still get fresh air. It also prevents the dog from accidentally jumping up against it and popping it open. That's never happened with Nick, but with some of our other dogs in the past it has on our other motorhomes. We always install a little barrel catch just inside the screen door to keep out anybody we don't want in either... But it's not enough to keep Steve out!
Actually, we can just push the slider over and reach into unhook the barrel catch if need be. It's pretty handy.
So with the barrel catch in place, Steve removed the broken screen door latch. He took his tiniest drill bit and carefully drilled two coordinating holes. One on the lever, and one on the latch. He lined them up perfectly with a strong piece of heavy duty paper clip that snipped off with his pliers.
The next step WOULD BE to securely glue both pieces together with the metal bar. That would be IF we had our Gorilla Super Glue along! But when I removed everything that could possibly freeze last fall, I removed the glue. And that was one thing I really didn't think about when I made my list to pack back into the rig before we left. My mistake.
We also decided to hedge our bets, and look for a replacement door latch. This is a really odd one and there are no exact matches available other than going directly through the Lichtstein dealer back in Iowa. But to replace it with the plastic one again is just asking for it to break again. It's a pretty common problem. And it's quite pricey from them, including shipping. In the $50 range.
We took careful measurements and decided to try to order this one from Amazon. The added feature is that it is all metal construction! This is the first time we have ever ordered from Amazon and have it shipped to either a box or a counter of a local business. We decided to try it. We selected an address in Jonesboro that was a counter of a phone store. Triple S Phone was only about 3 miles away, we could drive there on our bicycles when the order came in!
The order came the very next day. I will write on our next blog about our bicycle ride to go and get it. Oh boy!
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In the meantime, we will finish up this day with the beautiful scenic view while gazing upon from our lawn chairs.
We ended up the evening with a tasty dinner of baked pork tenderloin, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes.
We snuggled up to watch a YouTube channel that we enjoy called:
It is about 2 artists in a converted school bus, traveling from Alaska to Argentina. They are amazingly talented and very informational about the areas they explore. From geology to history, from great photography to cinematic video displays. We really enjoy their channel.
We decided that since we were camping with electricity, we picked up this handy little popcorn popping bowl for in the microwave. Steve loves Orville Redenbacher's White Popcorn in the jar. What a great combination to cozy up and watch TV for the evening.
Nordic Ware 14 Cup Plastic Microwave Quick Pop Popcorn Popper, Red
Sometimes we just have to curl up and do normal things rather than rush rush rush from one place to another. I'm really glad we are staying here for a whole week.
Here is the You Tube that goes along with today's blog:
It would have been nice to stay at Hawn State Park in Missouri, but they had cold weather scheduled for the next 3 or 4 days. We decided it was best to pull up stakes and head on further south. This time we took back roads and enjoyed some more of the scenery. We are really not "interstate type" people. We needed to work our way down into the next state of Arkansas. It took a little longer with the back roads, but we really enjoyed ourselves.
We crossed into Arkansas at 1:15 p.m.
We fueled up at $3.49 a gallon for diesel and our fuel mileage was much better this day at 12.5 miles per gallon then the previous day dealing with all the headwinds.
The terrain suddenly changed from the hilly pine studded Ozarks into some flat flat land again. We were crossing agriculture areas with many viaducts for drainage as well as probably irrigation water in the summer. Some of the fields appeared to have grown cotton because there was some around the edges. Some of it was snow, but there were actual cotton bolls clinging to the spindly stick plants.
Either they just had a lot of rain, or this is from the melting snow from the week before. Many of the fields were flooded and not ready for spring planting, for sure.
We didn't bother to make a breakfast this morning, instead we have learned that we like drinking these protein drinks. The vanilla is my favorite flavor. To me the chocolate tastes like fake malted milk balls, and the strawberry reminds me of the Nestle Quik mix when we were kids. We would heap spoonfuls of that into milk. Ugh.
We worked our way along back roads and rural country highways. We zigged and zagged a bit but that was okay. We didn't need to do a direct straight line. We kind of knew where we were going and where we wanted to end up for the night.
We called ahead to Craighead Forest County Park in Jonesboro, Arkansas. We left a message on the voicemail that we would be pulling in and we were hoping to get one of our favorite sites, either 39 or 41. We had stayed here 2 years ago and enjoyed it so much that we even stayed an extra week!
Here's the deal. You can get a site with electric and water for only $25 a night. But... If you are a senior citizen, you get it for only $15 a night! Then the icing on the cake is if you pay for 6 nights, you get the 7th night free!!!!
This is a lovely park on the south end of town. It's huge! It has all different areas of various activities each situated on a different peninsula that juts out into the large pond / lake in the middle of the park. One Peninsula has camping, one Peninsula has picnicking, one Peninsula has sports like baseball diamond and soccer fields, one has children's playground equipment etc. --- you get the idea. Here is an overview map:
There's even a section for dogs to do dock diving into the water! And then a fenced off area around there so your dog doesn't keep swimming out into the lake. LOL
Around the edges of the park are other activities such as horseback riding, ATV riding, and mountain bike trails that crisscross all throughout the park.
There are paved bicycle paths that are along a fitness trail that rings the entire lake. At various stops there is gym equipment to use to gauge your cardio workout as you go along the trails. There are walking paths that twist along the shoreline as well as deep into the woods.
Now that we are past all that information, we will get back to us in real time.
We pulled in and spoke to the wonderful hosts Carron and Martin. They put us up on our favorite site number 39. We can pull into the site nose first and still leave our trailer attached. It is our "garage" with all of our gear and our bicycles. Of course, we took up the deal for only $15 a night for seniors, and paid for six nights to get the seventh night free. That comes out to $12.85 a night. Pretty good deal for electric and water (dump station nearby).
Yay!!! Seven nights to relax in one spot, and not be packing up and heading down the road each day. We pulled in nose first to take advantage of the beautiful views from all three sides of our motorhome.
There were a few crusty spots of snow here and there, but the temperature was reaching up to 70°. Yep you heard me, 70°!!!
We opened up the windows and let all of the fresh air in. In no time at all we were set up on our campsite and relaxing for the rest of the afternoon.
Steve said it was time for a little reward, and he grabbed his adult beverage to imbibe a bit. He deserves it after all of his driving. I just do the navigating. This sure looks like a guy who is relaxing, doesn't it?
I opted to pull off my socks and go barefoot. Yep! Barefoot in February. You sure can tell we are from Wisconsin. People around us are bundled up with heavy jackets and hats and sweaters. But not us...
Nick joined me on the bed to stretch out a little bit and relax, while he looked out the windows at the ducks and the geese and the swans out on the lake.
We had one little mishap with the windy conditions the day before with our screen door. There's this crazy little plastic latch handle that cracked. It's a handle that not only can release the screen door to get in and out, it also holds the screen door tightly fastened to the main door as you open or shut it. That way both doors stay together...
Well, at one point the wind grabbed the door out of Steve's hand and this little plastic handle snapped right off. Bummer!
With Steve being Steve, you should know he's going to attempt to fix it. So he took out his drill and his tiniest drill bit. He very carefully drilled the hole in one side and then very carefully drilled one on the corresponding other side. Now he cut a piece of heavy duty paper clip to snip off a 1-inch section to go in between the two.
All we needed was some super glue... But guess what? When I removed anything last Fall that could freeze, I happened to take our Gorilla super glue out of our bin of supplies. That was one thing that I really didn't think of to put back in before this trip. Oh bummer! Now we will have to wait until we can get some glue to finish his repair project. Sorry Steve, I goofed up.
But it's okay, we also have this barrel catch we had installed on the inside of our screen door last year. It can hold the screen door closed when we have the main door open. It will do for now, it just does not bind the screen door to the main door to be swung in unison.
The barrel catch is there for a very good reason. We put it there because it can keep the dog from ever accidentally pushing on the screen door and popping it open. Also we can leave the screen door shut and latched if we lay down to take a nap and we want fresh air blowing through the motorhome.
It is easily accessible from the outside by sliding the little black slider access door and reaching in to latch or unlatch the barrel catch. See? It doesn't even keep Steve out.
The more I thought of it, I'm thinking his glue idea will probably work. But let's hedge the bet and go ahead and look about ordering a new latching handle. I looked around online and there are plenty of plastic ones of all various models and styles. None of them were the exact same match. But I did happen to find one that was made out of metal! Can you believe it? It may not be exactly the right fit, although the measurements look pretty close. I'm sure we can kind of adapt what we have and what comes along with this new one.
This is the first time I've ever attempted to order from Amazon and have it delivered to either a box or a counter store. When the item arrives, they hold it for you until you get there in 7 days at the counter store. If I was able to have it shipped to a box you only have 3 days to pick it up. (Remember, we are here for 7 days).
It shipped quickly overnight and was already in Jonesboro at the counter at a phone store for pickup the very next day. We may attempt to ride our bicycles there to pick it up today. It's only 3 miles away but there are a lot of busy roads to cross or ride along the edge. We are more of the "quiet side road type" bicycle people. We're looking at Google maps to see what we can find and maybe we'll work out an alternate route to get there. Otherwise, we can pick it up in 7 days when we leave the park.
In the meantime, we will enjoy this beautiful view from the windows and the sunshine and the warm temperatures. We might get some rain tomorrow. But that's okay, it will melt the rest of the snow and it will be perfectly fine to curl up inside and catch up on a couple videos and blogs.
Even though we are here for 7 days,
I will try to write a blog each day
and make it as interesting as I can.
Here's the YouTube that goes along with today's blog:
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