Traveling to New Hampshire

May 1 thru 31

Saturday, May 1st, we started the trek North to New Hampshire. I’m always a little apprehensive when we hit the road after being parked for an extended period of time. In this case we were parked for three months in Galveston. You hope the slides are going to close on our tiny home, the hitching goes ok, the tires don’t go flat, etc. Can you tell who the worrier is in our family???? I imagine the wear and tear on our tiny home as it’s barreling down the road at 60mph over this country’s appalling highways. Where’s that infrastructure bill when you need it??? 

We were on the road by 10AM and not going very far. Just 122 miles up the road to Willis, TX, which is about an hour North of Houston. It was an off-and-on rainy day. We had built in time to get a state inspection for the RV. Ours expired the last day in April. There was an auto place in Galveston where we would fit and it was near the highway. The inspection costs $7 and entails a check of the Texas Tag (license plate) and recording the VIN #. Apparently the thinking is that if you were able to drive there then you are road worthy. That painless experience behind us we land at Majestic Pines RV Resort, which wasn’t terribly majestic but perfectly adequate. Lots of worker bees there. I assume in the oil industry. The other advantage to a short first day’s drive is to take care of some of the issues that you discover after being parked for three months. For example, our tire pressure monitor system wasn’t reading one RV tire. We headed to Walgreens for a new battery. The air lift bags on the rear springs of the truck weren’t working either. Or, at least the control mechanism for it wasn’t working. Gary found a loose wire and fixed that. And the sound bar for the TV was wonky. I’m not saying that was critical, but still… he found another loose connection. 

It poured during the night and cleared up the next day. Good timing on that. 

Sunday, May 2nd, we traveled 160 miles on rural I-45 through scenic ranch land to a Corp. of Engineer Park called Liberty Hill in Dawson, TX on Navarro Mills Lake. The campground was half empty and we were the only ones in our particular loop. Lovely spot! Nice view of the lake. We wouldn’t fit in many loops here. They’d be too tight, but we (Gary) chose wisely and this loop is perfect for us. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather and our lovely view! It was the first time that I’d seen four turkey vultures up close. Big suckers. We were also treated to a bevy of other birds… a pair of Cardinals, several Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers (pretty birds!), and a Northern Mockingbird. We also saw a HUGE armadillo at dusk, and we were treated to a FABULOUS sunset! 

The advantage of Corp of Engineer parks is that they are usually close to a body of water, sites are usually spacious (not always), and they are cheap. This one was $10 a night for Water and Electric. It’s half price when you’re over 62. The regular price is $20 a night. You also have to typically do a little driving to get to them. They are not located near the highway. But we’re retired and rec-reating. I’ve had to change my mindset on this and embrace the fact that we’re not in a hurry. Also it’s an opportunity to drive down some country roads, enjoy the scenery and see some small towns. Corp Parks are typically frequented by locals, not tourists. When we arrived at this Corp. Park, signage inside the campground was abysmal. The volunteer was trying to explain to me where we should drive to and saw my quizzical look and said “would you like me to escort you?” That would be great if you can spare the time! She said “It’s slow. It’ll get me out of here for a few minutes.” We’ve been at other Corp. Parks where there is no one at the gate and you have to find your own way to your site. I’ve learned to snap a photo of a map from the website to have with us! 

Monday, May 3rd, we traveled 221 miles North passing around Fort Worth on 35W and onto I-81 through ranch land and farm land. We saw some beautiful Texas bluebonnets on the sides of the road. The new battery that Gary put in the RV tire sensor monitor had stopped working at some point during the ride, and was giving out a low chirp. That was fun. We got to a point where we ignored it. We knew it wasn’t a tire leak because it simply stopped working, rather than a slow withdrawal of tire pressure. We landed at Chisholm Trail Ridge Park in Waurika, OK on Waurika Lake. A great COE park. After almost seven months we’ve left the state of Texas but boy did we have a fun in Texas! Another pretty lake view with a beautiful sunset for $10 a night. We would definitely return to this campground. There were storms in the area but they were mostly east of us although we did get rain and lots of wind during the night, which kept one of us awake for awhile…

Tuesday, May 4, we traveled northeast 244 miles and enjoyed another scenic ride on I-81 and I-44. Lots of bluebonnets and other wildflowers on the sides of the roads. Just gorgeous! The speed limit got up to 80mph outside of Tulsa. Way faster than we want to go towing 40 ft. behind us… so we don’t. A bit stressful driving outside Tulsa (ok maybe more than a bit) due to construction and trying not to make a wrong turn with all the temporary signage that you’re staring at. But after we got through Tulsa, we had another pretty ride through country roads to get to Tall Chief Cove Campground on Skiatook Lake in Skiatook, OK. Another COE park ($10 a night). There was no one at the entrance so we found our way to our site. Thankfully their campground signage was quite good. Our site was a back-in site and narrow… just steps from the water. Not a lot of room for error. We did well getting our tiny home backed in, but will not repeat this campground as the interior roads are tight and more than we want to deal with…. particularly if it was during the height of the season. Shoot me. Being off season, it was half empty. We did have a fabulous water view, and saw three families of Canadian Geese with 12 babies among them who kept us entertained for the afternoon. Plus we saw a dozen turkey vultures all lined up and a few deer. I did a walkabout the campground and enjoyed sitting outside in the afternoon and admiring the view. 

Wed., May 5, was our fifth travel day in a row. We don’t usually do that many travel days in a row but several had been short mileage so it wasn’t that bad. Still, we were looking forward to staying put for two nights. Once again the speed limit was 80mph as we made our way from Skiatook, OK 136 miles East on I-412 to Creeks RV Resort in Cave Springs, AR (outside Bentonville which is home to Walmart). The “resort” had a golf course attached to it. That’s about the only “resorty” thing there was. They were located off AR-112. Talk about a narrow winding road. I expect this type of road to get to a COE park. Not necessarily a resort. Then when we get there, the entrance flag is half on the ground and the entrance sign that’s supposed to be on their brick wall is so faded as to be unreadable. It’s a wonder we didn’t drive past the entrance. The sweet little 15-year-old who checked us in said “did you have a nice drive?” I stopped myself from saying why yes we did until we arrived here and couldn’t find your entrance. We had an easy pull thru site which was near their laundry facility. Handy since my plan was to do laundry that afternoon. A few hours later we watched as a couple with a 5th wheel, similar size to ours, attempted to pull into a site a few down from us. The problem was that they had rigid obstacles to avoid on either side of their pull thru site. The husband tried a few times. He then gave up and pulled all the way through the site next to ours to then back into their pull thru site. Wow. 45 minutes later they were finally in. I would have given up and asked the office for a different site. That’s a whole lot of work for a Pull Thru site. In any event, they did it. And I got my laundry done.

Thursday, May 6, we visited the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR. Two friends had told us about this amazing museum so we made sure we built a stop into our schedule. The museum was founded by Alice Walton (from the Walmart family) who donated a ton of money to see this project through… including hiring a world renowned architect, Marlon Blackwell, to build the remarkable buildings. There are also 5 miles of walking/hiking trails and outdoor sculptures. 

There’s even a Frank Lloyd Wright house on the property known as the “Bachman-Wilson House.” It’s one of his Usonian homes, which were simpler and lower-cost than his custom residences and meant to be affordable by an average American middle-class family. “Usonian” was an acronym for “United States of North America.” Approx. 60 Usonian homes were built. This home was built in NJ in 1954. However, it was located near a river and was constantly under threat of flooding so the home was eventually sold and relocated to this property in 2013 where it could be restored. Unfortunately, due to Covid we couldn’t get an inside tour but I was able to peak in the windows. It seemed typical of Wright homes with low ceilings, very attractive interior, but furnished with furniture that looks incredibly uncomfortable. 

The name “Crystal Bridges” comes from the unique “bridge” construction used in the museum’s design and that there is a spring on the property called “Crystal” Spring. Structurally it’s one of the most beautiful museum buildings we’ve ever been in. We were fortunate to be able to walk through the museum on our own and then get a one hour architectural tour from a docent covering the interior and exterior of the property. There’s a huge expansion project that they are going to be starting soon so this museum is still evolving. Just a great visit to this amazing museum! There is no cost to visit. Free admission is provided by Walmart. 

We finished out the day with some grocery shopping, filling up with fuel, and sitting outside and enjoying the sun back at our tiny home.

Friday, May 7, we traveled 160 miles north on I-71 and East on I-44 to Marshfield, MO. An easy ride. We were outside Springfield MO and staying at a campground very close to the highway. Not sure we’ll repeat this one because of the noise factor. But they had the coolest vintage artwork inside their office/shower/laundry facility. The watercolors were created by the same artist many years ago, while the murals appeared to be more recent creations. Did I mention we were near Route 66? A theme for some of the art. We never cease to be amazed by what we find across this still great country.

Saturday, May 8, we traveled 264 miles northeast on I-44 to camp at a Corp. of Engineer park on Carlyle Lake, which is the largest man-made lake in Illinois. We had no idea! Located about 1 1/2 hours east of St. Louis, we drove through miles of farmland to arrive at a lake. You don’t even see the lake until you’re practically on top of it. We spent two nights at a campground in the Boulder Rec Area with views of the lake. Great site! Very spacious. The only thing that was wigging Gary out were the “river bugs” that were attaching themselves to the outside of the RV. I didn’t think they were that bad. They weren’t biting us like mosquitoes or black flies. They were just mating on our RV. 

Carlyle Lake is 15 miles long by 3.5 miles wide with 83 miles of shoreline. There are four Corp. of Engineer campgrounds around the lake. Also a 10 mile bike path that goes across the Main Dam and along Kaskaskia River with 50+ miles of extended bike paths throughout the area. We walked across the dam, which was built in 1958 and took 9 years to complete. But it was a little too cold for bike riding at 50 degrees with a cold 15 mph wind. We also visited the General Dean Suspension Bridge, which spans the river. The suspension bridge was built in 1859 at a cost of $40,000 and was used for nearly 70 years. Abraham Lincoln crossed it along with other notables like Stephen A. Douglas and William Jennings Bryan. The bridge was restored in the 1950s. Loved this day of exploration in an area we knew so little about set in acres and acres of farmland. We will definitely be back! Did I mention camping was $8 a night??

Monday, May 10th, we traveled 285 miles north on I-57 through lots of farmland. We had two issues crop up while driving. Issue #1: The auxiliary fuel tank decided it needed to have its filter changed so fuel wasn’t flowing from the auxiliary tank to the main tank as it should. Luckily we had enough fuel in the main tank to get to our next location. We hate stopping for fuel when we’re hitched up. Issue #2: All of a sudden the truck dinged (ever-so-briefly) that the trailer was disconnected. Oh-kay. That’s a tad disconcerting. We see our tiny home behind us and it looks like it’s attached. We pulled over as soon as it was safe to do so. We got out and looked. Nope everything is fine. False alarm. That was a first. Some of these “firsts” I could do without. 

We arrive at Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton, IN along Lake Michigan. At the front gate we’re asked by the young woman “You’re here for Indiana Dunes State Park and not Indiana Dunes National Park right?” Uh… yes… we think so. That’s what our confirmation says. Apparently they get a lot of people coming to the SP who have reservations for the NP. We clear that hurtle and get to our back-in site, which is spacious and private. Great campground! It’s a beautiful afternoon so we sit outside and relax. After dinner I told Gary I was going for a walk. My original plan was to just walk around the campground… but after heading out I encountered a sign showing a path to the beach. Sounds good to me. I start walking down this lovely boardwalk with a stream on one side. I encounter an adorable group of young college kids trying to get a picture of themselves. I volunteer to take it. I keep walking and BAM come to the end of the path and to my right is Lake Michigan in all it’s glory. Absolutely gorgeous with the setting sun behind it and the city of Chicago in the background. Just Wow! Lake Michigan is gy-normous and the lake water is a strikingly brilliant blue. There is a beach with real sand and lapping waves. Looks like the ocean to me. I was treated to an amazing sunset. I stayed for awhile and then decided I should get back before it got dark. On the walk back a deer scampered across my path. Does it get any better? 

This is what I love about travel. These gems. This is what makes my heart sing. I go out for an evening walk around the campground and stumble upon this piece of heaven. You expect the National Parks to be spectacular but to find State Parks and Corp of Engineer parks scattered around the U.S. with wonderful trails in these picturesque small towns on amazing bodies of water with their own claims to fame is truly a special experience. 

Tuesday, May 11th, our morning started with camping neighbors alerting us to the fact that two little raccoons had gotten stuck in the nearby dumpster. The raccoons were adorable but nobody wanted to take a chance on losing a finger in the rescue. A park groundskeeper was nearby. We explained the problem to him. Apparently this is a common occurrence. He came over and stuck a big stick down the dumpster and the raccoons climbed out using the stick. That crisis behind us, we enjoyed a wonderful day at this amazing state park. Indiana Dunes SP has 3 miles of beaches along Lake Michigan, 16 miles of hiking trails, a 9 mile bike trail and a 1500 acre nature preserve. There were 3 tall dunes. We climbed one called Mt Tom then returned via a Beach Trail. We visited Beach House Blowout… another climb. A “Blowout” is where the sand from the dunes becomes accessible to the wind because of natural occurrences or human interference and blows out the dune. We visited a nature center. And I climbed Devil’s Slide. Gary chose to pass on that one. Such an awesome state park! We walked over 5 miles. 

Wednesday, May 12th, was our last day in this area. Today we opted to visit the Indiana Dunes National Park and National Lakeshore. The State Park lies within the boundaries of the NP. We even visited the Century of Progress District, built during the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair to showcase new home styles. Now these one-of-a-kind homes are private residences. We visited Kemil Beach but couldn’t figure out how to get to the actual beach as we were on a dune high up. Wild! Then walked the Great Marsh Trail. We saw 2 elusive sandhill cranes but not much else in the way of birds, although the trail was very nice nonetheless. And lastly visited Mt. Baldy, the tallest moving sand dune in the National Park. It moves 5-10 feet a year and is 126 ft above the water level of Lake Michigan. We found a trail to take us down to the beach. So cool to see the dunes jut so high up against the beach. About then we called it a day with Gary muttering something about me wanting to climb every dune I encountered. Once again, we walked over 5 miles throughout the day. Fun fact: Lake Michigan’s shore is home to the largest fresh water sand dunes in the world, although the tallest ones are not located at this state park. 

Thursday, May 13th, it was time to leave Indiana Dunes. We traveled 223 miles east on I-90 to land at Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, OH along Lake Erie. We entered back into the Eastern Time Zone after being in Central Time for over seven months. Maumee Bay SP is a 1,336-acre public rec area, five miles east of Toledo. Absolutely beautiful state park and campground. Definitely more resort-like than any other state park we’ve visited. There was a golf course, impressive nature preserve, lodge, bike paths, fishing, and a beach all accessed from the campground. During our two night stay, we biked over 8 miles, walked part of the nature preserve, checked out the lodge, and sat outside and relaxed. We are totally enchanted with the Great Lakes, and look forward to an opportunity to explore more of them in the future. 

Saturday, May 15th, we left Maumee Bay and traveled for awhile along OH-2 passing numerous wildlife refuges along Lake Erie. Another reason to come back to this area. We eventually linked up with I-90 East and continued on to the Erie KOA in Mckean, PA traveling a total of 200 miles for the day. Perfectly fine KOA for an overnight stay. They were very busy, but it was a weekend. 

Sunday, the 16th, it emptied out… us included. We continued traveling east for 220 miles along mostly I-86 through gorgeous farmland to arrive at our next destination, a Corp. of Engineers Park called Ives Run in Tioga, PA. Oh my. Let’s just say we won’t be doing that again. In our infinite wisdom we thought it would be interesting to try a night of dry camping (no hookups). I didn’t realize that would mean primitive conditions. I knew we were in trouble when the pavement ended in the campground and we had another mile to go over a rutted narrow dirt hilly road to get to our site. It only felt like it took an hour to go that mile. We finally get there and are faced with a pull thru site (not very long) that is located on a curved embankment and is completely unlevel. Not just a little unlevel but A LOT, and there are trees. Of course there are. Gary handles it masterfully, while I’m trying not to have a panic attack. We get parked and level without bottoming out. No easy feat, and are rewarded with great lake views. Still not worth it! We did enjoy sitting outside and were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Monday, the 17th, we had to reverse this whole process… get hitched, attempt to not bottom out getting out of our curvy hilly site and avoid numerous tree branches that want to hit us and damage the roof or the siding. What a cluster! And the navigation system didn’t know where we were. It’s not the only one! Win some, lose some but it’s always an adventure…. the lake views were beautiful. More importantly, we managed to get away unscathed the next morning. The campground would work well for a smaller RV. We were too big for it. We included that on our review on recreation.gov. 

We traveled 255 miles northeast along I-86, I-88, and I-90 and arrived at Schodack Island State Park in Schodack, NY. It’s located along the Hudson River about an hour outside of Albany. It’s a  lovely small state park with beautiful views of the Hudson. We’re here for 2 nights. We’re setting up and one of the slides wouldn’t open all the way. Opens all the way at the bottom but the top is short by about 2.” Gary got in problem solving mode splayed out under the RV and checked out the mechanism and had me open & close the slide numerous times while he lubed it a bit. But no change. He thinks it’s the slide topper that’s too taut and holding the slide back from opening all the way. Sh$t happens when you’re going over bumpy highways that make your teeth chatter. He thinks he can fix this at Old Stage, our summer location and our next stop! Around sunset I took a walk down to the river and along some of the paths and enjoyed a pretty sunset. 

Tuesday, May 18th, a second problem arose. We headed out to the truck and the tire pressure system is beeping like crazy. One of the RV tires is down to 20psi. Not good. G puts air in the tire. We wait awhile and yep it’s still losing air. Great. He takes the tire off the RV and we take it to a tire place. They can’t find any leak except around where the tire pressure sensor is. That’s what they think it is. I’m not getting warm fuzzies over this diagnosis. We come back. G puts the tire back on the RV. Puts air in again. We test it awhile later. Still leaking air. Fun. Off comes the tire… again. Did I mention this tire weighs a ton? G wrestles the spare tire down from under the RV and puts that on. Thankfully that is holding air and looks in good shape. Oh and he diagnosed the problem with the original tire… he did the soapy water test and discovered a fracture in the aluminum rim. But not easily fixed at any tire place where we’re currently at in this part of NY. Hubby is a problem solver! Or, as he likes to say frequently “I’m more than just eye candy.” Yes, honey, you are indeed more than eye candy.

After the tire issues were resolved, we sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather and I did a walkabout the campground, which was quite empty this early in the season and mid-week. I also started putting together a life bird life list on my Merlin App. This should be fun to compile! 

Wednesday, May 19th, we packed up and headed 226 miles northeast on I-90 to our summer residence of Old Stage Campground in Madbury, NH. We will be here until mid September. Happily our spare tire worked just fine and our last leg of the journey was uneventful. Arnie, Master-of-All-Things-Old-Stage, helped us get up and around the curve to our site on the Safari Loop. We have the same site as last year. It’s a spacious wooded site and a perfect spot to spend 4 months among our Safari family and our local family and friends! We got backed into our site with Arnie’s help. This campground is your typical older New England one and not overly friendly for Big Rigs but do-able. Very excited to be back!

Thursday, May 20th thru the 31st, we settled into our summer home and started re-connecting with our Safari family with gatherings around the campfire, friendly cornhole competitions at Troy Stadium, and a Sunday breakfast buffet, the first of many food events. 

Gary had some immediate repairs to handle. Our toilet decided to stop filling with water or, more alarming, to keep filling until the water was turned off at the outside spigot. Luckily nothing overflowed but we ended up having to turn off the water to the toilet and fill a container at the bathroom sink to flush. That lasted for two weeks until the (back-ordered) new toilet arrived and Gary was able to install it. That was an exciting day! 

Our kitchen faucet started giving us trouble on the trip back to NH. Water was coming out at a slow trickle. That made washing dishes a lot of fun. We now have a new one that works by putting your hand under it and the water turns on and off. Now every time I go to ANY faucet I stick my hand under it and expect it to go on and off. Power of suggestion. Gary’s also done some other repairs and improvements around here. It’s our home, so there’s always something to be done. 

Still working on getting a replacement for the tire rim that has a hole in it. We have a whole new set of rims on back-order. Due to ship in a month. We’ll be replacing all of them.

We’ve been fortunate to see some friends and family already and are making plans to see others as the summer unfolds! 

We’ll also look forward to doing some local sightseeing. We’ve done a walk in College Woods already and are looking forward to other walking, hiking and biking opportunities. 

This will be the last post for awhile. You’ll get a break! I’ll resume writing in September, when we’ll be hitting the road again, and let you know how we spent our summer vacation. May you all have a wonderful summer catching up with all the things you missed out on last summer. We’d love to hear from you. Keep us posted on what you’re up to, and we hope to see many of our local friends while we’re here!  Be safe, be happy, and be well. xoxo