Leaving East Texas
Lake Murray State Park
Windmills
Visiting Oklahoma Family
Racing towards cooler weather
Monday, June 27 - Saturday, July 15, 2022
We bid a sad farewell to our dear friends in East Texas on Monday morning. We had enjoyed a wonderful 3+ week stay, and appreciated Karon and Toni's love and support with Bosun's passing. Lots of laughs, cooking, games, gin and tonics - what could be better?
As we left, Karon and Toni were heading to Florida to purchase a trimaran Windrider for fun on the lake. They told us they planned to name it BoBosun. 🥰
Thank you for everything - we will be back!!
We had our first stay at a state park in Ardmore, OK. Lake Murray State Park did not disappoint! Our site was shady and private, yet close to other campers and amenities. The lake is entirely state park - the water is crystal clear and almost the color of Caribbean water. We rode our electric bikes quite a bit...into the town of Ardmore one day, and another day we circumnavigated the lake - about 30 miles! It was a beautiful ride, made even better with a cooling swim in the lake on the way home. The hilly terrain was no match for the e-bikes. We toured the park tower, originally built in the 1930's as an OK Governor's retreat (never used for that purpose) and is now part of a nature museum. It was a wonderful 4 night stay, and we will definitely visit again.
Shortly after leaving Ardmore, traveling north towards Oklahoma City, we noticed windmills, as far on the horizon as we could see. A quick Google search told us that north-central Oklahoma is home to one of the world's largest wind farms. It was a refreshing view into the future of clean energy in this country. Kudos to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana (the other 2 states who have jumped on board with this specific venture) for doing your part to combat global warming.
Next up was a wonderful stay with Trip's Uncle LR in Clinton, OK. It was comforting to have family around us, and we were grateful for our 5 night stay. We had lots of catching up to do - great conversation over meals, so much so that we need to ride those bikes without the electricity for a while! We got in some cool morning Pickle Ball in a neighboring town’s new courts. We also were able to see Cindy (Trip's cousin) and her husband, Kevin, for a day before we left, and also Blake (sorry we missed you, Bryce, hopefully next time!).
Our time in the south/west in June/early July was wonderful, but the heat was oppressive! High temperatures in the low 100's was not ideal. Our plans were to meet family in Maine in early August, so we decided to make a beeline for cooler weather. We had nearly 2000 miles to travel and did most of it over the next few days. Fortunately, our Harvest Host membership came in handy!
Idle Wild Farm - Carthage MO (private farm) (with a stop at Will Rogers Museum)
Temps super duper hot
Der Dutchman - Bellville, OH (Amish market/restaurant)
Temps a bit better
Autumn Moon Farm Winery - Bergen, NY
Sweet relief from the heat in upstate New York
We decided to take a much needed rest from travel in the Adirondacks, a place neither of us had ever been. A 4 night stay at a campground in Lake Placid was amazing. We took a long hike the first day - very steep incline for the last 1+ mile but the view was worth it! Unfortunately the next day Trip's foot was swollen and painful. We suspected a stress fracture, so the remainder of our time at the campground was quieter and less active, but fun none-the-less.
As we traveled from New York to our current campground in Maine, we stopped at an urgent care in Burlington, VT to get Trip's foot looked at. We parked the RV in the McDonalds parking lot next door since it had easier access to get out. People in line for the drive-thru looked at us like we had just landed a space ship.
Fortunately, X-rays did not show a fracture, so the diagnosis was tendonitis. Rest and time will heal. See Trip's Deeper Dive #7 on Pain here.
Currently, we are Naples, ME. For those of you who know us well, yes, this is the next town over from our Maine cabin. We are planning to put our RV in storage, rent a car, and stay at the cabin for a month . Dates of seeing family and our stay at the cabin are such that we needed to delay several days before storing the RV and renting a car. So here we are, basically in our own back yard! But it's amazing the things we have seen that we just normally would have overlooked (we drive through this town quite often while at the cabin). Riding our bikes (much better than walking for Trip's foot) through the Sebago State Park has been beautiful. Watching the old Songo Lock open for boats - the only one still in use of more than 30 locks built in the 1830's for waterway travel to and from Portland, ME. The beautiful causeway walkway that can not be seen from the road. We are relaxing and really enjoying our time here.
We have travelled quickly over the past month, but have taken the time to see and enjoy the small things that surround us. See Trip's latest Deeper Dive #8 which talks about our wandering ways here.