Let's get serious!

Cindy and I have made a few short trips and done some camping/living but as of yet, we have mostly stayed close to the  home base or gone to visit relatives.  There have been a few trips to new places like Beaver Lake, Arkansas and Smithville Lake but it has become evident that we need to have some new  adventures in new places so guess what....we expanded or horizons and remember that campground resort membership we bought, it's time to start using it!
November 1 we were supposed to head to Tennessee to have an early Thanksgiving with mom, then we were going to head west from there.  What really happened on November 1st was that I woke up with one off the worst cold/flu bugs I have ever had.  I made my annual contribution to the company that makes Nyquil and proceeded to take my medicine, so to speak.  I awoke on the 2nd and felt really good so off we went.  We got to mom's and spent a week with her.  The original plan was to slowly meander west and meet up with some friends at the Texas-Oklahoma border then go on to Scottsdale, Arizona from there.  Needless to say, plans change, especially when you have a truck that is as experienced as Brutus.

Nothing like a cool, foggy Tennessee mountain fall morning!

I'm really proud of this device, my design and my construction

I knew that there would be some times that we would need our own power supply and visiting mom is one of those times.  I added a truck bed tool box to Brutus so putting the generator at the front of the truck bed was no longer an option, besides, it was virtually impossible for me to load and unload the generator by my self so I devised this generator mounting device on the back of Matilda.  It allows me to easily raise and lower the generator while keeping the generator secure during transport.  I am very pleased to say that the entire set up did fantastic in the real world with absolutely no issues whatsoever.  When the generator is on the mount you can not see the boom because it is partially detached and the remaining part nestles down in it's own little cradle behind the generator.

Enough about that.  One of our original intents when we started this is to go see things that we had wanted to see and to just spend some time with just us, not rushing to get somewhere and aside from just making sure we have a site to stay at, not really being on a time schedule.  Cindy and I had both talked about some day spending some  time on the Natchez Trace.  Now we had passed the sign on the interstate numerous times and had commented many times that someday we would have to go see what it was like.  This trip was going to be one of those times.  We drove through the Pin Oak State Campground just to see what it was like, and we were very impressed.   I decided to check on availability for a site and figured that since it was the off season, should have no problem getting a site right on the lake's edge for a week.  I was able to get a site but there are over 70 sites at this campground and even though I was reserving a week ahead, in the off season, there were only a few sites available so I got one, not close to the lake, but I got one.  I did realize, eventually, that one of the reasons was that it was Veterans day week and that made for a three day weekend for a lot of folks. 
We got all set up and on that day we were the only rig in the campground, but only that day.  We woke up the next morning to rigs all around and  by Thursday there wasn't an empty site in the whole campground, and for good reason, this was one of the NICEST, CLEANEST, and most beautiful sites we have ever stayed at.  The sky was so blue, the colors so elegant and bright and the weather was just perfect.  It kind of reminded me of my Dragon Run motorcycling days.

Check out that blue sky!  We were also in for another treat on this outing, the appearance of a Super Moon!  I took a couple pictures, but they really don't do the beauty justice.  Cindy really enjoyed just walking up in the woods behind Matilda and walking down to the lake.  She also enjoyed gathering pine cones, which indirectly became a false cause for alarm. She put them in plastic bags and I put them in  the back of the truck.  While driving down the interstate on our way to the next stop I kept seeing these little black things flying from under the trailer, looking a lot like a tire that was shredding or something detaching from the trailer.  You can only imagine my relief when we stopped at a rest area and I discovered what was flying from under my trailer.

This picture was the best I could do as a amateur photographer with the huge, bright moon atop Matilda. 

The campers in this campground were very nice and the other thing I noticed was that when the campground had emptied out Sunday night, it was spotlessly clean!  Each site was ready to use with no trash or debris left behind.  People here really respect the beauty they have at their back door and it shows.

One of the things that I had been failing to do as we traveled was make where ever we were be home.  I have been carting these two motorcycle frogs in my truck since May. This trip they made a campsite a home site for the time we were there.  Simply getting them out of the truck and placing them in their new location, the biker frogs made this their home and made this place more like home.

This was on our last day at the park.  Cindy and I went for a walk in the woods behind our site and walked to the water's edge.  For the first time in a long time she volunteered that she had fun on this outing.

We left the beauty of Tennessee and headed for the next stop on this adventure, Checotah, Oklahoma on beautiful Lake Eufaula.  It was on this part of our trip that Brutus decided to develop an oil leak.  Now this leak would be no problem back at home but out here, it caused me some concern.  I didn't want to risk major issues and the leak was getting to be more than I liked so we sadly cancelled out on the trip to Scottsdale and elected, instead to ease our way back towards home base. 

We arrived at our campground, one of the member campgrounds in our membership, and set up.  The trip had been long and tiring and I was ready for a good night's rest.  The Lake Eufaula area is really a beautiful place and we will come back here sometime in the spring.  The lady at the front desk did advise me to utilize another perk from our membership and make a reservation 120 days ahead because if I didn't , it would be extremely difficult, if  not impossible to get a site.

This was our place in Checotah.

Well, one last thing in closing out this session.  My cousin made this nameplate for Matilda and I made the open air end gate for Brutus so, Aunt Rie, if you are reading this, tell Ray I need a nameplate for Brutus so he won't feel left out.  We'll be down your way after the first of the year to see you and pick it up.

So, until the next edition, here's wishing you all safe travels and happy living!