I’ll admit there were a few tears shed when we headed out of Garner State Park. We had such a great visit, we didn’t want it to end, even after extending for 2 days. But, as always, there were places to go and people to see – this time with our fav travel buddies – (also named) Linda and Steven. Except they wouldn’t be there for a few more days – we (ok – mostly Bill) had work to do first!
The drive to that first stop wasn’t too long, about 220 miles. We arrived at Live Oak Ranch mid-afternoon and were greeted by John (Linda’s Dad) and Buddy (John’s dog). Bill got us parked up next to Ruby Red, Linda & Steven’s new-to-them home on wheels! We were there to get them all set-up with solar panels, new lithium batteries, and the assorted other components.
Linda & Steven wouldn’t be arriving into DFW for a few days, as they were wrapping up their European travels. Our plan was to have their system install completed before they arrived.
We got to work the very next day, with John and Buddy coming to check on us every so often. It was pretty windy those first few days, so getting the panels up onto the roof was a bit of a challenge, but Bill was able to time his climbing up on the ladder to avoid the worst gusts.
It was finally the day of Steven & Linda’s arrival. Bill and I headed east on I20, arriving as they walked out of the baggage claim area. Perfect timing! By this time, everyone was hungry, so we stopped at a Sonic for burgers. When we got home, it was getting late and everyone was tired, so it was off to bed.
After a slow start in the morning, Bill got started with solar school. They had a complete system on their previous motorhome, so it was mostly showing them the difference between that system and the new one.
You may remember from a few years back, we had adopted one of the barn kitties from Live Oak Ranch. His name was Simba and we had him for about 5 weeks before his congenital heart issue caused us to have to help him cross the rainbow bridge. It was terribly sad and since then, we’ve been carrying his ashes with us. We decided to (with John’s permission) to bury those ashes beneath the huge Live Oak that the ranch is named for. It seemed appropriate.
We enjoyed a few days of catching up and relaxing before continuing on our northern trek. I had planned a couple of new stops to keep the drive to PA interesting.
We had a quick stop-over at Dallas Elks Lodge, a new one for us.
Next stop was Vicksburg Elks Lodge, which was another new one for us. We stayed 2 nights, allowing us one full day to see some new things.
We drove through the Vicksburg National Military Park. Each state that fought in the war had an area for their Memorial. Not intending to start a political discussion, I must admit I was surprised to see statues for the losing side. Why honor the people who died trying to keep people enslaved? I found it a bit disturbing to be honest.
We visited the Vicksburg MS Civil War Museum. After only a quick look, I was almost ready to leave, but then I started looking deeper and reading – we were there about 2 hours and still didn’t read all the things, but I was growing overwhelmed by all the information. The actual reality of how our fellow man was treated was just heartbreaking. I hadn’t known before our visit how important Vicksburg was in the Civil War.
Calera Elks Lodge, near Birmingham AL, was also a 2 night stay. We spent the full day seeing the sites.
Morristown TN Elks Lodge was a convenient one night stop on our route northward.
We originally planned 2 nights at Waynesboro VA Elks Lodge, but I got antsy (as I usually do when getting close to our summer destination) and we only stayed one night, opting for 2 shorter drive days verses one longer drive day.
Our final night en route to Somerset PA, was Hagerstown Elks Lodge. We took the opportunity to do some shopping at a Lidl, which we had first heard of and stocked up at when in Ireland in 2022.
Whew! Finally we arrived at Hickory Hollow Campground! I was anxious to see my girls! We had arranged with our daughter that they would come by to see how we get parked and watch the slides open up. I think it was confusing to them why they can’t visit us in the winter, which I realized when I was in PA for Freya’s birthday in March. They both wanted to go to my house at the campground. They didn’t understand that our home closes up and moves. So we showed them at first how our site was empty and then Pop drove up with the truck and the trailer. They were both like “Whoa!” After watching Pop get parked, we let them see the inside with the slides in and had them sit on the steps while we pushed the button and opened it up, one slide at a time. Freya wanted to know why it was “squished” and we got to explain how slides in are for driving down the road and slides out is how we live once we are parked. They both seemed pretty amazed by the whole thing.
Our daughter had planned dinner so after a bit she left with the girls so we could finish getting settled, get cleaned up then head over to her house. Freya and Arwen didn’t want to leave and we promised we would be at their house soon. I’ve got to admit its getting harder to leave them. Each time we return I feel like I never want to leave again, but the pull to keep traveling is so strong. More on that coming in future posts.
What’s Coming Up: Summer time in Somerset PA – The First Half
Previous Post: Garner State Park TX
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Love this post! Only issue is that only about half of the pictures worked.
Sorry to hear that! Maybe they were just slow to load?
Enjoy reading about your travels. We used to do that years ago. Age got us.
Thanks for reading! Hope you have tons of awesome memories of your travels!
The Military Park and Civil War Museum would be very interesting but such a sad history.
Safe travels!
Agreed!