I started a rant back in August and never did get around to posting it. I did manage to read over 30 books that month and posted reviews of most of them on my sister blog.
After much preparation set out the day after Canadian Thanksgiving for Southern Climes. Away from Lake Ontario the trip has not necessarily been warmer than it’s been back in Oakville but it has been drier.
I set out at 4:00 AM Tuesday Morning with no second thoughts about the items I”d forgotten, well maybe my sanity. :-( I no longer enjoy night driving but they were familiar roads. Tuned into Toronto Classical Stations on my RV radio. The US Customs Agent I encountered at Fort Erie/Buffalo had not taken the public relations course our own are apparently being sent on but after a few insults and poking his flashlight in my side door he sent me on my way. I made it out of Buffalo before rush hour and discovered that South of Lake Erie the leaves have turned and some trees were bare. The New York Turnpike on I-90 cost me $5.95. Gasoline along the highway was $3.59--I was glad I didn’t need any.
Pulled into Erie Pennsylvania just after dawn and decided to go explore Presques Isle State Park, the reason for my stop there. The drive out on a four lane roadway is 13 miles return with some thirty parking lots marking the various beach locations along the sand spit. The peninsula is stabilized by 100 offshore rock-filled barriers sequentially numbered. The one remaining lighthouse is surrounded by trees that block its view of the lake; the lighthouse keeper’s home occupied by a park warden. Once accessible only by boat the location is not the lonely isolation post it once was. The Nature Interpretive Centre marked on the park map and prominently signed I discovered closed permanently in 2007!
After 9:00 AM dropped by Sara’s Campground and got a site parked on the beach with my rear window facing the water the sound of the waves lapping in my ears. The adjoining amusement park’s roller coaster overshadows the campground but mercifully it closed Labour Day Weekend. Across the road in season Sara operates several fast food restaurants and amusements adjoining a second campground. A Mennonite Group had 9 tents pitched 10 ft from the water on the sand. One of the seasonal campers made a bond-fire on the beach that night. I walked the beach noting neighbours out searching for polished glass. Enjoyed talking with the locals.
Since it rained on Wednesday I didn’t hang around. Filled up for $3.09 in Erie and set off for Cleveland and then headed South to Delaware, Ohio. Cross Creek Campground was all dollied up for their annual Hallowe’en Celebration already past and about to become Santa’s Workshop for the local Christmas Lights Trail. Although it drizzled off and on all day I did get in a walk on the park’s ‘nature’ trail and collected a couple Osage Orange Hedge Apples. Spent a layover day catching up with my reading.
When I set out Friday Morning the inside of my windshield was totally coated in moisture that took ages to dry off. This made driving narrow backroads in the dark even more troublesome. Droplets remained hours later when I reached St Louis. I got past Columbus, Ohio before rush hour and spent the day with the sun at my back dodging truck traffic. I crossed the middle of Indianapolis without incident. The one moment of terror all day occurred when a suicidal individual stepped backward and stood in the middle of my lane. I’d have pulled over into the inside lane but for the left lane hogs who prevented my doing so. At 75 mph it happened so fast I didn’t have time to get an Adrenalin rush as I missed him by inches.
St Louis Drivers are aggressive and slow to react at intown traffic lights. If you give them quarter to enter a lane they will not take it as they assume you’ll behave as they do. The road system is confusing and made more cumbersome by unco-operative drivers who will not let you in to make your exit. Being a National Park the St Louis Gateway Arch was closed by the government shut down. Until reading a book recently I had no idea there were viewing ports inside the Arch.
Belleville RV Park in Fenton south of St Louis is a residential community with a few free spots for overnight campers. The Office Sign is missing in action but I finally found someone to take $60 in cash for two night’s stay supplying a written receipt and the Wi-Fi Code. The power worked when I finally found the remotely located circuit breaker. The St Louis Cardinals clinched their berth in the World Series that night tickets $90-$360. Saturday night Yo Yo Ma played the symphony tickets $100-$150. I decided a visit to the Missouri Botanical Gardens was more my style especially since they accepted my RBG Membership. This gardens made news in 2012 when their Corpse Flower bloomed. A native of the island of Sumatra this three foot flower blossoms at ground level with a four foot phallus shaped pollen body sticking skyward while it perfumes the air with a powerful fetid odour. It bloomed again last Thursday. The flower lasts one day. The female cone appears with no particular schedule at a later date as does the plant a single 10 foot stalk with an umbrel of leaflets up top.
After leaving the Visitors Centre with its restaurant, washrooms, and gift shop one can take the tram ride with its live audio tour or walk the gardens on one’s own. There are various greenhouses and themed gardens on the 700 acre grounds. The two homes of the garden’s founder Henry Shaw are located on the grounds along with a garden director’s residence. By far the largest area is devoted to a Japanese Garden but there is a box hedge exhibit, scented, herb, woodland, rhododendron, rose, shade among other sections and a maze to amuse the children along with a building and garden for children. A home garden section features an on site plant doctor and a geodesic dome holds a tropical greenhouse.
I left St Louis Sunday Morning traffic aside from Sunday drivers not being an issue. I’d filled up the day before at a balky pump for $2.95. Plenty of truck traffic even on a Sunday. I spent the day driving through the Ozark Region of Missouri passing almost 200 miles of ads for Branson. Missouri not being one of the states that bans billboards. Crossing into Oklahoma they at least have the grace to Welcome you before they hit you with the toll booth--another $4.00. The tourist bureau I took a break at served burnt but drinkable complimentary coffee. If I thought Missouri was bad billboards in Oklahoma are egregious.
When I reached Tulsa I was thankful my GPS knew how to negotiate the serpentine route to my campground. I met myself going and coming several times. I also collected my first kamikaze insects that day. Warriors RV Park’s Office is not open Sundays. I found a place to park and an envelope supplying the Wi-Fi Code and hooked up to power. Visited the office next morning where Kobi the white-footed black cat had the run of the place. He rolled contentedly on the welcome mat inside the door on Sunday. Enjoyed a warm shower in their facilities and spent a quiet day beside I-44.
Leaving town Early Tuesday Morning I discovered i-44 wending South-West is a toll highway under construction. Guess we’re paying for the work. At Oklahoma I-40 parallels old Route 66. I stopped in Clinton for fuel where a very tired pump took 30 minutes to pump 30 gallons of fuel at $3.09/gallon. Four miles later I stopped on the Frontage Rd to visit Jigg’s Smokehouse a local phenom I’d read about in a Route 66 Guidebook. Noted for the excessive size of their burgers I decided that’s all they have going for them. Judge for yourself by mousing over the menu items:
https://jiggssmokehouse.com/menu.html
They don’t do vegetables, plates or cutlery. Process cheese, condiments I couldn’t detect and cheap rolls. Potato salad in a small foam coffee cup. Water without ice. Oh well, it was an experience. The daily allowance of salt for a week in one sandwich. I’ve been thirsty ever since.
Sixty miles later I entered the Lone Star State where the Welcome Centre is 100 miles further on in Amarillo. There I discovered it to be on the wrong side of the highway and didn’t bother stopping. Took I-27 South from Amarillo which will eventually take me to Lubbock and Abilene. Hung a left on 217 and balked at driving 75 mph on a two-lane with level intersections and cow pastures on either side. Welcome to Texas. Fourteen miles later reached the Palo Duro State Park Gatehouse. Two forlorn longhorns were gazing over an adjoining pasture fence. The Visitor’s Centre is located on the crest of the cañon affording a magnificet view. The water cooler figured prominently in my visit. Aside from a hikers guide there was little else of interest. Two screens afforded an opportunity to watch feature length movies available in the gift shop but there is no intro to the park movie. The ravine is accessible via switchbacks that drop you 800 ft to the valley floor where 5 Water Crossings pass over the Red River. I decided to drive the entire Park Road 5 before settling into my campsite.
Palo Duro is worth it for its scenic beauty and utter peacefulness. The deer wander at will and wild turkeys walk up to your picnic table looking for handouts. Mind you in summer the temperature hits 120 and scorpions, tarantellas, spiders, various snakes and poisonous plants call for caution. Flash floods make Water Crossings hazardous. Once home to the Cherokees and still used for cattle ranching the mile wide cañon is a great place to hike, mountain bike or go horseback riding. Remains of its life as a cattle ranch remain as do the sites used by the CCC Boys who developed the park.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 for my full day in Palo Duro I hiked 7.24 miles in 90-100º F heat to see Palo Duro’s so-called Lighthouse rock formation. When I finally got in sight I did not feel it necessary to go the extra mile to actually stand under it feeling I’d walked enough already. I was glad to find a water tap at the trail head as at that point I still had over a mile to walk. I took 139 pictures still well short of the 700 I took when I visited Western Brook in Newfoundland. That coffee and ham and tomato sandwich tasted good when I got home. A/C felt very good as well.
What is it about being a bachelor that there is always someone nearby with a loudly whining brat. Thank goodness the people across the way moved out this morning. A young couple from Switzerland with an RV with Swiss plates moved in. The other truly annoying facet of Hackberry Campground is the fact that it is overrun by flies. It’s nearly impossible to keep them out and they’re on top of everything. Whether they’re endemic to the deer or breed on human garbage the place has swarms of them.
After much preparation set out the day after Canadian Thanksgiving for Southern Climes. Away from Lake Ontario the trip has not necessarily been warmer than it’s been back in Oakville but it has been drier.
I set out at 4:00 AM Tuesday Morning with no second thoughts about the items I”d forgotten, well maybe my sanity. :-( I no longer enjoy night driving but they were familiar roads. Tuned into Toronto Classical Stations on my RV radio. The US Customs Agent I encountered at Fort Erie/Buffalo had not taken the public relations course our own are apparently being sent on but after a few insults and poking his flashlight in my side door he sent me on my way. I made it out of Buffalo before rush hour and discovered that South of Lake Erie the leaves have turned and some trees were bare. The New York Turnpike on I-90 cost me $5.95. Gasoline along the highway was $3.59--I was glad I didn’t need any.
Pulled into Erie Pennsylvania just after dawn and decided to go explore Presques Isle State Park, the reason for my stop there. The drive out on a four lane roadway is 13 miles return with some thirty parking lots marking the various beach locations along the sand spit. The peninsula is stabilized by 100 offshore rock-filled barriers sequentially numbered. The one remaining lighthouse is surrounded by trees that block its view of the lake; the lighthouse keeper’s home occupied by a park warden. Once accessible only by boat the location is not the lonely isolation post it once was. The Nature Interpretive Centre marked on the park map and prominently signed I discovered closed permanently in 2007!
After 9:00 AM dropped by Sara’s Campground and got a site parked on the beach with my rear window facing the water the sound of the waves lapping in my ears. The adjoining amusement park’s roller coaster overshadows the campground but mercifully it closed Labour Day Weekend. Across the road in season Sara operates several fast food restaurants and amusements adjoining a second campground. A Mennonite Group had 9 tents pitched 10 ft from the water on the sand. One of the seasonal campers made a bond-fire on the beach that night. I walked the beach noting neighbours out searching for polished glass. Enjoyed talking with the locals.
Since it rained on Wednesday I didn’t hang around. Filled up for $3.09 in Erie and set off for Cleveland and then headed South to Delaware, Ohio. Cross Creek Campground was all dollied up for their annual Hallowe’en Celebration already past and about to become Santa’s Workshop for the local Christmas Lights Trail. Although it drizzled off and on all day I did get in a walk on the park’s ‘nature’ trail and collected a couple Osage Orange Hedge Apples. Spent a layover day catching up with my reading.
When I set out Friday Morning the inside of my windshield was totally coated in moisture that took ages to dry off. This made driving narrow backroads in the dark even more troublesome. Droplets remained hours later when I reached St Louis. I got past Columbus, Ohio before rush hour and spent the day with the sun at my back dodging truck traffic. I crossed the middle of Indianapolis without incident. The one moment of terror all day occurred when a suicidal individual stepped backward and stood in the middle of my lane. I’d have pulled over into the inside lane but for the left lane hogs who prevented my doing so. At 75 mph it happened so fast I didn’t have time to get an Adrenalin rush as I missed him by inches.
St Louis Drivers are aggressive and slow to react at intown traffic lights. If you give them quarter to enter a lane they will not take it as they assume you’ll behave as they do. The road system is confusing and made more cumbersome by unco-operative drivers who will not let you in to make your exit. Being a National Park the St Louis Gateway Arch was closed by the government shut down. Until reading a book recently I had no idea there were viewing ports inside the Arch.
Belleville RV Park in Fenton south of St Louis is a residential community with a few free spots for overnight campers. The Office Sign is missing in action but I finally found someone to take $60 in cash for two night’s stay supplying a written receipt and the Wi-Fi Code. The power worked when I finally found the remotely located circuit breaker. The St Louis Cardinals clinched their berth in the World Series that night tickets $90-$360. Saturday night Yo Yo Ma played the symphony tickets $100-$150. I decided a visit to the Missouri Botanical Gardens was more my style especially since they accepted my RBG Membership. This gardens made news in 2012 when their Corpse Flower bloomed. A native of the island of Sumatra this three foot flower blossoms at ground level with a four foot phallus shaped pollen body sticking skyward while it perfumes the air with a powerful fetid odour. It bloomed again last Thursday. The flower lasts one day. The female cone appears with no particular schedule at a later date as does the plant a single 10 foot stalk with an umbrel of leaflets up top.
After leaving the Visitors Centre with its restaurant, washrooms, and gift shop one can take the tram ride with its live audio tour or walk the gardens on one’s own. There are various greenhouses and themed gardens on the 700 acre grounds. The two homes of the garden’s founder Henry Shaw are located on the grounds along with a garden director’s residence. By far the largest area is devoted to a Japanese Garden but there is a box hedge exhibit, scented, herb, woodland, rhododendron, rose, shade among other sections and a maze to amuse the children along with a building and garden for children. A home garden section features an on site plant doctor and a geodesic dome holds a tropical greenhouse.
I left St Louis Sunday Morning traffic aside from Sunday drivers not being an issue. I’d filled up the day before at a balky pump for $2.95. Plenty of truck traffic even on a Sunday. I spent the day driving through the Ozark Region of Missouri passing almost 200 miles of ads for Branson. Missouri not being one of the states that bans billboards. Crossing into Oklahoma they at least have the grace to Welcome you before they hit you with the toll booth--another $4.00. The tourist bureau I took a break at served burnt but drinkable complimentary coffee. If I thought Missouri was bad billboards in Oklahoma are egregious.
When I reached Tulsa I was thankful my GPS knew how to negotiate the serpentine route to my campground. I met myself going and coming several times. I also collected my first kamikaze insects that day. Warriors RV Park’s Office is not open Sundays. I found a place to park and an envelope supplying the Wi-Fi Code and hooked up to power. Visited the office next morning where Kobi the white-footed black cat had the run of the place. He rolled contentedly on the welcome mat inside the door on Sunday. Enjoyed a warm shower in their facilities and spent a quiet day beside I-44.
Leaving town Early Tuesday Morning I discovered i-44 wending South-West is a toll highway under construction. Guess we’re paying for the work. At Oklahoma I-40 parallels old Route 66. I stopped in Clinton for fuel where a very tired pump took 30 minutes to pump 30 gallons of fuel at $3.09/gallon. Four miles later I stopped on the Frontage Rd to visit Jigg’s Smokehouse a local phenom I’d read about in a Route 66 Guidebook. Noted for the excessive size of their burgers I decided that’s all they have going for them. Judge for yourself by mousing over the menu items:
https://jiggssmokehouse.com/menu.html
They don’t do vegetables, plates or cutlery. Process cheese, condiments I couldn’t detect and cheap rolls. Potato salad in a small foam coffee cup. Water without ice. Oh well, it was an experience. The daily allowance of salt for a week in one sandwich. I’ve been thirsty ever since.
Sixty miles later I entered the Lone Star State where the Welcome Centre is 100 miles further on in Amarillo. There I discovered it to be on the wrong side of the highway and didn’t bother stopping. Took I-27 South from Amarillo which will eventually take me to Lubbock and Abilene. Hung a left on 217 and balked at driving 75 mph on a two-lane with level intersections and cow pastures on either side. Welcome to Texas. Fourteen miles later reached the Palo Duro State Park Gatehouse. Two forlorn longhorns were gazing over an adjoining pasture fence. The Visitor’s Centre is located on the crest of the cañon affording a magnificet view. The water cooler figured prominently in my visit. Aside from a hikers guide there was little else of interest. Two screens afforded an opportunity to watch feature length movies available in the gift shop but there is no intro to the park movie. The ravine is accessible via switchbacks that drop you 800 ft to the valley floor where 5 Water Crossings pass over the Red River. I decided to drive the entire Park Road 5 before settling into my campsite.
Palo Duro is worth it for its scenic beauty and utter peacefulness. The deer wander at will and wild turkeys walk up to your picnic table looking for handouts. Mind you in summer the temperature hits 120 and scorpions, tarantellas, spiders, various snakes and poisonous plants call for caution. Flash floods make Water Crossings hazardous. Once home to the Cherokees and still used for cattle ranching the mile wide cañon is a great place to hike, mountain bike or go horseback riding. Remains of its life as a cattle ranch remain as do the sites used by the CCC Boys who developed the park.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 for my full day in Palo Duro I hiked 7.24 miles in 90-100º F heat to see Palo Duro’s so-called Lighthouse rock formation. When I finally got in sight I did not feel it necessary to go the extra mile to actually stand under it feeling I’d walked enough already. I was glad to find a water tap at the trail head as at that point I still had over a mile to walk. I took 139 pictures still well short of the 700 I took when I visited Western Brook in Newfoundland. That coffee and ham and tomato sandwich tasted good when I got home. A/C felt very good as well.
What is it about being a bachelor that there is always someone nearby with a loudly whining brat. Thank goodness the people across the way moved out this morning. A young couple from Switzerland with an RV with Swiss plates moved in. The other truly annoying facet of Hackberry Campground is the fact that it is overrun by flies. It’s nearly impossible to keep them out and they’re on top of everything. Whether they’re endemic to the deer or breed on human garbage the place has swarms of them.
