Category: Road trip from Port Townsend to Kentucky

After 3,040 miles, 10 states, and a great visit with family and friends we have officially become “Loopers.” At 4:45 pm today, October 25, 2016, we put Andiamo in at Barkley Lake, the first water on our Great Loop Adventure.

We will be at Green Turtle Bay Resort, 263 Green Turtle Bay Drive, Grand Rivers, KY for at least a week.

We have lots of projects to complete:

• Have the truck serviced, the DEF light came on today and if we don’t have it taken care of before we leave we will have to pay for the service, it will be out of warranty by the time we get back
• Decide where to leave the truck and trailer
• Clean 3,040 miles of road dirt and bugs from the boat
• Install the canvas
• Install the AIS
• Install the wind vane
• Laundry
• Restock the boat

When we checked into the marina, we learned that there have been over 300 loopers here so far this year. As we walked around the marina, we saw at least twelve boats with Great Loop burgees.

The people here move slowly, talk slowly, and are quick to offer help. If our entire trip is like this, I know we will be well looked after.

By the way, did I mention how happy we are to be back on the water? 🙂

Not much happening on I-71, I-64, and I-57 to get my attention. The most fun part of the day was arriving at Whittington Woods Campground. Andiamo was the hit of the campground and it was three hours before we could manage to get away from all the admirers.

Whittington Woods is a fun place with lots of trees, interesting people, Halloween decorations, chickens, and fresh eggs.  As a visitor to the park, we received a half dozen fresh eggs. That should make for a yummy breakfast.

Just 108 miles from putting the boat in the water.  🙂

Our time with family and friends has come to an end, far too soon. I want to thank all of you who took time out of your busy schedules to make time for Rick and me. Marilyn & Joe, Linda & Gerald, Alisha & Patrick, and Karen & Henry for hosting dinners for us. Sherry & Alisha for making sure I had the privilege of going with them and Brodie to pick up “The Wedding Grown” and selecting “The Wedding Veil.” Carole, Robert, Mary, Tera and Samantha who took that long drive to visit with us and all my nephews and nieces who joined us. It was a short visit, so for all of you that were not able to join us, I’m looking forward to “next time”, take good care until then.
Today was working on the boat, shopping, paperwork, and paying bills. Tomorrow we will head for Green Turtle Bay Marina, Grand Rivers, KY which will take two days and then Andiamo will go in the water. Soon the adventure will begin.

On I-70 today, we passed a sign that stated that the next 8 miles of I-70 was the first section of Interstate highway in the U.S. it was completed after the passage of the Federal-Aid and Highway Act of 1956.

It seems that MO has also made a claim of being first. Either way, I find it interesting that the Interstate system, was started in my backyard, and is now 46,876 miles in all.

We are now in Missouri at the KOA in Oak Grove which is close to our family and friends. Although Andiamo longs to be back in the water this is her home for the next 5-7 days.

Tonight is a work night, I’m doing laundry and working on the boat, Rick is washing Big Red and grocery shopping. But tomorrow, let the party begin.

 

 

Leaving Ft. Collins, headed south towards Denver, the scenery of flowing rivers, surrounded by trees filled with vibrant fall leaves was amazing. As we neared Denver and started our eastward journey across the plains of eastern Colorado and western Kansas the terrain changed dramatically and we realized it would be at least a year before we would once again enjoy the majestic Pacific Northwest. We passed Deer Trail, CO that arguably claims to be the birthplace of the ”The World’s Oldest Rodeo.” As we reach the CO/KS Stateline the temperature was 91 degrees, remember this is October 16. Wow, I think the average high temperature for mid-October is around 64.

We spent the night at Goodland, Kansas and took a much-needed walk around town. The main street and several side streets were paved in red brick and a mural representing the early 1900’s shows Goodland’s Grand Opera House and its tenants. It is said that Milburn Stone, “Doc” from the TV series Gunsmoke, was the most famous person that performed there.

We are spending tonight in the boyhood hometown of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Abilene, KS. The only 5-star general ever to become President.

Sunset in Abilene

Quote from President Eisenhower:

The best Internet connection we have had since Port Townsend was last night in Evanston, WY. However, after leaving Evanston we spent 300 miles across WY on I-80 and I-25 with no connection. It wasn’t until we were 20 miles into Colorado that we were once again connected.  We did see beautiful sites along the way, including a herd of pronghorn antelope at the 245-mile marker.

We had a windy day with gust up to 35 mph.  The positive was that the wind was behind us and all went well. Tonight we are at the KOA in North Fort Collins, CO and life is good. The temperature is 76 degree and the Internet connection is strong enough for Rick to stream the ASU vs University of Colorado football game.

Historical Fact: This fact should be interesting considering the current events (#repealthe19th).  Wyoming was nicknamed the “Equality State” because of its historical role in establishing equal voting rights for women. Wyoming was the first territory to grant “female suffrage” and became the first state in the Nation to allow women to vote, serve on juries and hold public office.

This portion of our trip took two days, we spent last night at Declo, Idaho snug along the Snake River with the other ghouls, spiders, and skeletons.

Can you identify Andiamo in the among the other RV’s.
Today’s portion of the trip was challenging in that winds were 30 to 45 mph with gust up to 50. Lucky for us, the worst gust was when we stopped at a rest stop just north of Brigham, Utah for lunch.  Not only were we not driving at that point, we also discovered that our boat license was hanging on by just one wire tie. Fortunately, we were able to reattach it to Andiamo before it became part of the Utah desert and we were spending days getting a replacement license plate.

Tonight we are at Evanston, WY under a near full moon and the wind has died to 5 mph. 

Serendipity:

The Oregon Trail and I were both born in Independence, Missouri and I loved traveling part of that trail yesterday.  At Glenns Ferry, Idaho I learned that the Three Island Crossing of the Snake River was one of the most famous and treacherous river crossings on the Oregon Trail. In 1869, Gus Glenn constructed a ferry about two miles upstream that cut almost twenty miles from the original route. The new Glenns Ferry not only made the trail shorter by one to two days, it also made it much safer.

Note: In the late 1800’s wagons traveled between 10 and 20 miles per day, depending on weather, terrain, and other factors.

Andiamo rolled away from her first RV park this morning, while there she gained quite the following, most other RVers had not seen a “Ranger Tug Boat RV.” Within 30 minutes we were driving by Sandy Creek RV Park in Troutdale with us saying “your loss.” We had called Sandy Creek on Tuesday for a reservation and they would not accept our rig. 🙂

For the members of my family that fell in love with Oregon the very first time they traveled west to visit Skip and Lucy.  Today was a gorgeous day to travel the Columbia River Gorge.  Mt. Hood was as majestic as ever.

Serendipity:

Driving thru Pendleton today, I learned that the end of the nineteen century hosted two Pendletons, one city above ground and a secret city below.  The underground city, built by Chinese immigrants, flourished to house many homes and business, both legal and illegal, all connected by underground tunnels. For the most part, the underground city remained a Chinese community secret until the 1980’s when mysterious potholes started appearing in the streets of Pendleton.

Dick and Betty Jean came down around noon today, October 11, to bid us farewell and safe travels. Dick and I had bemoaned the fact our eagle had not been around lately.  To our surprise, he also decided to bid us farewell. Tonight we are at Columbia River RV Park.  We are looking forward to seeing family and friends in Missouri soon.