Aug 7, 2012 - Visiting Aunt Mary

We traveled 190 miles today to the Big Red Barn Campground. We are here to visit my 91 year old aunt. She was surprised to see us but seem to be very happy. We took her to a buffet for lunch. She is so small but she ate real well. She said she had lost another pound so now she weights 99. We were at this campground last year for Mary's 90 birthday. It is a nice passport America campground. $17.50 a night that is our price range. Also Diesel is cheaper here than anywhere we have been. $3.59 a gallon which is 10cents cheaper than we got it...

Jul 3, 2012 - Learning Civil War History Of Carthage

From Big Red Barn RV Park – Carthage, MO Our second stop in Carthage, MO had us wondering what else the city and area held to be discovered and explored. The most well known attraction for visitors to this city is the Precious Moments Chapel and Gardens which we visited and thoroughly enjoyed when here in August 2008. In fact for those who were not following our travels four years ago or if you just want to revisit our enjoyable time at the Precious Moments complex by looking at the collection of photos, I would direct you to the 98th entry...

Jul 2, 2012 - Once Again Traveling

From Big Red Barn RV Park - Carthage, MO As the title would suggest we are once again on the road traveling. After being stationary in locations most of 2012, we have once again started moving around the USA to enjoy the beauty and its many attractions. Would invite you to check the itinerary posted in our journal to see just where we will be heading from now until the year's end......going to be putting those miles on the HitchHiker from now til mid December! We left Village Creek State Park yesterday morning and plans had us arriving in...

Apr 2, 2012 - Plans Change

Last night, we had the pleasure of a visit from friends, Mike & Sandy. We had looked forward to their company for some time and were anxious to introduce them to Bob & Janet. Being the kind hearted sort, Mike & Sandy brought two dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, giving one dozen to Bob & Janet and the other dozen to Marilyn & I. Mike drove the group to a nice Mexican Restaurant where we met “Bubba”, another good friend of Mike & Sandy. The conversation and laughter never ceased when we were together. The good-natured bantering and downright, flat...

Aug 25, 2011 - Wilson's Creek, Lamar, and Carthage

When we arrived at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield where we wanted to walk the trails, we learned that the driving park was closed due to a controlled burn by fire officials. So, we visited the battlefield museum on adjacent property and had the opportunity to talk with the museum curator, Deb Wood. She explained that this museum, now under the National Park Service, had been privately owned and would soon be closed to merge the displays at the Visitor Center at the Battlefield. Afterwards, we decided to drive to Lamar, MO, to visit the...

Aug 24, 2011 - Day 42: Welcome to Miss-er-RE

4:30 P.M. Miss-er-re....102 degrees and humid! It's time for a cold front to go through!!! Glen was determined to wash the motorhome today! It has all been completed except for the front. He's waiting for it to get in the shade! I am the designated rinser! We drove through still-devastated Joplin this afternoon. There is still tons of debris to be removed. There is some construction going on. School started this week. We were told the 11-12 grades are housed in part of the mall; and the 9-10th grades are in a different building with...

Aug 23, 2011 - Day 41: The Circle is Complete!

41 days ago we started from Carthage, Mo to the northwestern area of the United States. This evening we returned to the same campground! The circle is complete. There isn't much to see across Kansas! I apologize to any Jayhawkers that might be reading this! There were many corn fields that were so dry there wouldn't be any harvest; very low to dry ponds; many feed lots full of cattle; a few fields of sunflowers that looked stunted; some cotton fields; small towns that looked on the brink of closure. The map shows the road ended (that we...

Jul 12, 2011 - Back in Civilization

We are back from the wilds of Shannon County, Missouri! Last Thursday we arrived at the Alley Springs National Scenic Riverways campground for the 29th Annual Whittle (my dad's family) Camp-out. At last count there was 96 present! That is a lot of Whittle family members...all descendants of five of the nine brothers/sisters in my dad's family. And...that wasn't nearly everyone! There were three aunts present; everyone else younger than Glen and me...except for one cousin who is older. We particularly enjoyed having both Trisha and family...

Jun 3, 2011 - Joplin MO Devastation

We are parked at the Coachlight RV Park, Carthage MO, near the Coachlight RV Sales and Service Company. Some recall work was done this afternoon on the refrigerator in the motorhome. While the work was completed we did an hour's driving tour through the devastated area in Joplin. Words cannot describe nor pictures show the devastation. The amount of debris is unfathomable. Darin, who has ties to Joplin, tells us the debris is being carried to three different landfills; one in Missouri, and two in Kansas. I can't really wrap my mind around...

May 5, 2011 - Day 31 into Missouri

The day started with a run to Walmart for supplies. Even with that detour, we were still on the road by 1030. We drove through Claremore one last time and said our goodbyes to Will. As we were driving down THE ROUTE, we passed tiny Sequoyah. Their claim to fame is Kong’s Korner, a store with, you guessed it, a statue of King Kong out front. We entered Foyil and noted a park on our right in honor of Andy Payne, remember him? (the winner of the “Bunion Derby”) This was his hometown, so there is another statue to him. Next we visited the Totem...

Apr 6, 2011 - Four Days Till We Hit The Road!

Oh my!!! This has been a long three months! We have been working on sorting, labeling, packing and selling everything we own since January! We've had 5 yard sales and made numerous posts on Craig's List. Thank God we are almost done and we can be on our way this weekend! I'm sitting here in my almost empty office tonight, remembering many happy times we've had in this home, as well as some memories that weren't so happy. I have 3 fuzzy kids lying at rest in the little grave yard in the back yard. We are leaving the best neighbors in the...

Jan 13, 2011 - Preparing to Leave Our Home

We are counting down to April which is when we will be leaving our house and beginning our new life as full timers. We have so much stuff to go through but we've had some warm days this month so we've actually been able to have a couple of yard sales to start the process. We have sold our semi truck and bought a 29' camper to pull behind our Diesel Dodge Ram 2500. After trucking for 25 years together, we are not worried about if we will be able to live in close quarters together. We are looking forward to traveling all the back roads we...