MAY 2018 - TEXAS TO CONNECTICUT

TEXAS to CONNECTICUT

For most of the month of April - since the end of the last chapter - I was over in the UK, with the Airstream parked in what seems to have developed into its "usual" spot in Black Jack Springs in Navasota, courtesy of Les Thompson.

And I had decided while away that I should change my tow vehicle...

With 32,000 miles on my plucky Jeep Grand Cherokee (which had provided faithful service) I was fast approaching the end of the warranty period on the car, meaning either a) buying an expensive extended warranty and then keeping the car for another year or two to make this expense worthwhile; or b) trading the Jeep for another vehicle.

6 months ago, before embarking on this past winter's excursion, I would have been happy to trade the Jeep for new one, although ideally with the larger 5.7L Hemi engine. But due reflection recently had led me to the conclusion that I should really switch to a ½ ton truck... mostly as these are designed for towing on an extended basis, which the Jeep is not.

And never having owned a truck, I thought it was about time...

And why not America's best selling truck for the last 40 years, a Ford F-150...?

And if buying a Ford F-150, why not in Texas, the biggest truck market in the USA...?

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Thursday, May 10, 2018 - Navasota, TX, to Mother Neff State Park, Moody, TX

So here I am with the new rig, having a coffee and late breakfast in downtown Navasota before heading north to the canyons of the Texas panhandle.

I spent a couple of hours adjusting the "trim" of the new tow vehicle and Airstream last weekend, via various combinations of the weight distribution hitch - the technicalities of which I won't inflict on you, dear reader.

But there's still plenty of learning curve ahead in understanding the capabilities of the new vehicle. All in good time.

Today, the objective was a fairly short run to reach a state campground (to be able to plug in and have A/C running in the 90-degree heat) with further fairly short runs over the three days ahead to finally get to the first of the Texas canyons, Caprock Canyon, on Sunday, the first night of any campsite availability there.

Arrived late afternoon at Mother Neff State Park, so just got set up the very new, manicured and concrete-based campsite, planning to explore the park a little tomorrow morning.

Friday, May 11, 2018 - Mother Neff State Park, Moody, TX, to Weatherford, TX

A very quiet night... other than having to run the A/C from early morning onward to keep the inside of the Airstream comfortably cool for sleeping.

Up at 6:30am, headed out on the bike to explore the few sights in the park - a small wash pond in the woods, a "cave" formed by rock overhang, a larger open pond and then back-tracked to the Rock Tower, a rock enclosure built to hide a water tank, though the most interesting sights were actually the masses of wildflowers blooming in the areas of open prairie.

Rode up to the ranger station at 8:45am to check in, as they had closed early yesterday afternoon, then back to the new and immaculate campsite to shave and shower and contemplate the day.

Coffee at 11:00am, then paid another visit to the Rock Tower, this time walking along the trails from the campsite rather than riding there, before dumping tanks on the way out of the campground and heading out on a 100-mile drive north along country roads, passing through slightly sad, faded small towns and a few with a little more life, focused around photogenic central court buildings.

Made a final stop at a Kroger grocery store for some fresh produce, filled the gas tank in the truck, then the last 25 miles got me to Weatherford, just west of Fort Worth, and my KOA campground.

Inexpensive commercial campground, and fairly clear why once there... rough roads, quite tightly packed gravel sites, lots of longer-term residents, scruffy office, overly-chatty manager on duty who seemed in no particular hurry to get me to my site where I could at last get the A/C running to try to reduce the temperature in the Airstream below 90 degrees.

Saturday, May 12, 2018 - Weatherford, TX, to Lake Colorado City State Park, TX

And the campground WiFi practically non-existent, to boot...

So I was happy to head out mid-morning to a nearby Target store to check out storage containers (for the newly-installed truck bed organizer) and enjoy a coffee, chocolate croissant and good WIFI.

Spent an hour catching up with admin, sending e-mails and doing a little route planning for the days ahead, trying to figure out a route back to Connecticut that would meander through as many interesting places as possible in the mid-south, an area I've mostly not explored so far.

Then a long drive west along I-20, around 200 miles, into something of a head wind for much of the way.

I finally left I-20 after looping north of Abilene for the final stretch of the day on small local roads, through the city of Colorado City (named after the Colorado River on which it sits... confusingly, not THE Colorado River but another) and into the Lake Colorado City State Park, the outside temperature as shown on the truck dash topping out at 102 degrees just as I was turning into the campground.

Set up in a quiet spot in a fairly empty campground, the sites offering no shade so the A/C was cranked up to get the inside temperature of the Airstream down from 92 degrees to something a little more bearable (slightly puzzling why the Airstream wasn't warmer inside, though thankful for this, as also for the low humidity here).

Barely any cell reception and nothing in the way of TV channels, so it will be a quiet evening - other than listening to the A/C running, as overnight temperatures aren't forecast to drop below mid-70s.

Sunday, May 13, 2018 - Lake Colorado City State Park, TX, to Caprock Canyon State Park, TX

Out at 7:15am for a run before the heat of the day starts building, though the temperature is still in the low 70s, prompting walking intermissions during the last mile of the run.

Coffee at 10:00am, out of the park by 11:00am, and a largely downwind drive north to Caprock Canyon State Park, initially on a 4-lane highway, then increasingly small and deserted country roads, stopping only in Floydada for gas and a bite of lunch.

Set up in the campsite by 3:30pm, with the day having warmed into the low 90s, despite a good deal of overcast.

A/C on as first order of business, even before leveling up the Airstream, but still too warm inside for anything other than some researching of the park trail map and a mid-afternoon nap...!

Woken by a brief thunderstorm and headed out to scout locations for tomorrow's sunrise expedition, in the expectation that the thunderstorm moving away very slowly to the east and the residual cloud cover would spoil the chance of sunset photos today.

To the west, with slightly brighter skies, was a panoramic view of the wider canyon area, though the slight cloud cover and high humidity made late-day photos less "sharp" than they could have been.

Monday, May 14, 2018 - Caprock Canyon State Park, TX, to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX

Another night with the A/C running throughout to ensure comfortable sleeping conditions.

Up at 6:00am, quick ablutions and breakfast, and out to see what sunrise might show... which was a slight cloud line on the horizon at sunrise, then a little clearer sky and then intermittent sun and cloud, with a welcome breeze making early morning hiking bearable - 70 degrees at sunrise and warming up quickly after that.

Parked at the head of a canyon trail, the rocks very strongly ochre like Utah or Monument Valley, and walked an easy half mile towards a high ridge.

Here I branched off the main hiking path to tackle a steep, winding, convoluted, rugged, rock-strewn trail (passing multiple signs suggesting I turn back if I didn't have lots of water with me) that climbed 500ft to the top of Haynes Ridge, offering a good view over the canyons from that vantage point, though the rather overcast lighting and humidity meant that the photos from here weren't super sharp in the distant detail.

The climb down was actually rather more precarious than the climb up, followed by an easy stroll back to the truck, a brief visit to the western end of the park, and a longer but rather unrewarding walk along Wild Horse Trail at the equestrian camping area.

Just when I thought I wouldn't get to see any bison close up (one of the advertised features of the park) I came upon a large herd of bison on the road as I got back to the campground.

Took my time getting through the herd, waiting for them to slowly get ahead of me and clear the road...

Having seen a number of bison previously I know that they are not small animals, have huge heads, wicked little horns, and rather evil looking eyes, so rather intimidating close up.

Once most of the herd had ambled ahead I took the turning off into the campground loop road, parked the truck at the campsite and walked out onto the road to catch the bison coming slowly through.

Rather less intimidating, and certainly more cute and entertaining, are the prairie dogs (actually burrowing rodents rather than anything like a dog) that had all scampered into their network of burrows as the bison passed by but were now popping up to survey the world above ground once again.

Bison excitement over, time for coffee, a little more route planning for the next few days, then a 90-minute drive northwest to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, a more distinct canyon than at Caprock, with a long road from the park entrance leading down into the canyon and the campsites.

Once set up in the campsite (with the A/C running) I took an early evening scouting walk down Lighthouse Trail, which leads to the park's signature "Lighthouse" hoodoo formation, deciding that the trail should allow me to combine my morning run and sunrise photography tomorrow.

A smaller hoodoo half a mile down the trail was my turning point for today, however.

Another quiet evening - other than occasional bursts of A/C - with, predictably, no cell service and no TV stations down here in the canyon.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018 - Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX, to Geary, OK

Up early, usual morning run prep, but this time with a backpack filled with camera, two water bottles, protein shake, protein bar, cell phone, and t-shirt (in case I get cold standing around waiting to take pictures).

Drove the couple of miles to the parking lot at the Lighthouse Trail trailhead, threw the backpack on, and started off up the trail in the still-dim pre-dawn light - just a hint of a bright patch above the horizon to spur me on, but otherwise cloud-covered skies.

Rather a tough thing, running in the glimmer up a rough trail with a backpack. All rather new for me, not having undertaken a backpack-loaded run before, and not terribly inspiring to see the continuing cloud cover ahead, suggesting that any photos I might get would be rather blah.

Ran, and intermittently walked, the 2.7 miles to The Lighthouse hoodoo, climbed a trail up to the base of the formations, and here's the predictably blah non-sunrise photo.

All a little disappointing.

Not much to be done about it though, as there was no sign of the clouds lifting, so climbed back down to the trail and jogged the 2.7 miles back to the trailhead, running more than I had on the way up with the benefit of a more clearly lit trail (and possibly more downhill than uphill on the return trip).

Drove back to the campground, cleaned up, very briefly debated with myself a plan of walking back to the hoodoo as a few shafts of sunlight began to appear in the breaking cloud, but decided against this and in favor of getting on the road early.

So hooked up the Airstream, drove out of the campground, dumped tanks on the long drive back out of the park, headed up I-27 to Amarillo, turning east onto I-40 and very soon after that made a coffee and breakfast sandwich and WiFi stop.

After a little confirmatory research, booked a commercial campground on the west side of Oklahoma City, a drive of some 200 miles, with a rather less than exciting diversion at Clinton to view a couple of iconic Route 66 relics, such as this gas station.

Then on to the campground, getting set up just after 5:00pm, and making good use during the evening of their reasonable WiFi connection.

Wednesday, May 16, 2018 - Geary, OK, to Pryor, OK

Showers overnight cleared the air somewhat, and washed some of the accumulated Texas dust off the rig

A little early morning work and planning while campground WiFi was still available before setting off for Oklahoma City, making a brief mid-morning stop for coffee at a Starbucks before getting into the city itself and heading to the State Capitol Building.

Convenient off-street parking around the building which, unfortunately for the camera, is in the middle of a 6-year exterior and interior renovation with most of the outside elevations covered in scaffolding. Some of the interior also wearing protective cladding and most of the artworks that would normally grace the walls taken into safe storage, leaving sadly empty spaces.

So the tour of the building was fairly brief, visiting both the Senate and House of Representatives chambers - viewed from the public galleries above - and strolling round the rotunda on each floor.

Interestingly, the dome on the Capitol Building was only installed in 2002.

Although the dome was part of the original design for the building, a combination of budget constraints and shortages of materials during the First World War (when the building was constructed) prevented the dome from being erected at the time.

An oil derrick is proudly on display across from the Capitol Building, since oil has played such a large part in the fortunes and development of the state...

...and apparently there was once an active oil well on the site, drilling down at an angle to access the oil in the sands below the State Capitol building itself.

Made another Route 66 detour on the way out of Oklahoma City to see the famous "Round Barn", built in 1898 by a local farmer who thought its round shape would make it tornado-proof.

Finally on I-44 through Tulsa, with another brief diversion on to Route 66, and then into the parking lot of a Walmart store south of Pryor where I'll be spending the night - weather cool enough now not to need A/C overnight and the day running too late to reach a state park.

Thursday, May 17, 2018 - Pryor, OK, to Lake Wister State Park, OK

A worryingly large number of tractor-trailers gradually surrounded me in the parking lot last night, engines or gensets running, but by the time I turned in only one low-level noise was filtering in and that was partially masked by the low hum of the ceiling fan in the Airstream sucking in cool air from outside.

Low 60s as I headed out for an early run, two miles east on a quiet back road, heading into the sun, the mist rising from the damp fields either side of the road, and two miles back west with the sun warming my back.

Cleaned up and out of the Walmart parking lot by 9:00am, stopping at a sad attempt at a rock 'n' roll-themed coffee shop in Pryor for a predictably milky cappuccino, with which I retired to the parked Airstream to wash down a bagel and cream cheese.

Then off on a day's driving on mostly scenic roads over rolling hills, beside rivers and across lake dams.

Stopped in Jay and in Tahlequah for photos (of historic Cherokee Indian buildings) and a walk around town, fortified by a midday ice-cream.

With the day predictably running longer than planned, I decided to make an early stop at a state park close to the western end of scenic Talimena Drive and save this for tomorrow morning rather than rush it late afternoon today.

Stopped at my first "Tote-A-Poke" gas station... sure are some strange names for places and businesses in the US.

Oklahoma state parks seem a little informal, the Lake Wister State Park office offering the choice of multiple, scattered campgrounds - one 7 miles away - illustrated on what appeared to be 10th generation photocopies.

The simplest choice was to take a spot at the campground that was right by the park office, on a peninsular jutting out into Lake Wister, so the day finished at a relatively early 4:30pm with the Airstream partially shaded under a tree and the A/C cranked up to get the inside temperature down from 90 degrees.

Friday, May 18, 2018 - Lake Wister State Park, OK, to Hot Springs, AR

Up at sunrise for a beauty shot of the new rig.

Then a little interior clean-up, personal clean-up, breakfast, couple of e-mails and on the road by 8:30am, heading for the Talimena Scenic Drive, onto which I turned at 9:00am.

The 54-mile scenic drive is sinuous and hilly but often just like driving down a tree-lined canyon as there are limited open vistas.

The drive seems to not be as popular as it once was, and the infrastructure rather neglected - no mowing of the verges, grass growing in crevices in the roadway, weeds around the overlooks where views over the expanse of the Ouachita (WASH-it-ah) Mountains were obscured by young tree growth.

Crossed into Arkansas towards the end of the drive, when I also stopped to brew coffee, reevaluating the slightly ambitious day's plan and instead booking a campground at Hot Springs, home town of Bill Clinton.

Finding Hot Springs National Park was a little challenging, as the park seemed to cover the north part of the city...

...my confusion finally cleared up when I doubled back on my route and stopped at the city Visitor Center (with convenient RV parking spaces) where it was explained to me that the park does indeed spread across much of the north part of Hot Springs, including the historic highlight of Bathhouse Row.

And not only that, but the park Visitor Center is - rather confusingly - situated in the center of Bathhouse Row in the Fordyce Bathhouse which has been fully restored, with rooms presented as they were during the heyday of the spa in the early 20th Century, full of original furnishings and equipment, with an interesting self-guided tour over all three floors of the building.

After taking a tour of the house, I walked up the rest of the Bathhouse Row to the Hot Water Cascade where one of the many hot springs flows from the hillside - and it really is hot at 143 degrees (62 degrees C), impossible to keep your hand in the pool.

There are fountains throughout the town that dispense the untreated spring water, thoughtfully cooled to only 100 degrees...! Filled one of my empty 1L water bottles for later sampling.

Treated myself to a very tasty ice-cream for the walk back to the Airstream.

A short drive got us to our overnight stop in a commercial campground, complete with all the usual hookups and facilities, most importantly power for A/C.

Saturday, May 19, 2018 - Hot Springs, AR, to Petit Jean State Park, AR

Slow rousing myself this morning but entertained once up and about by the wall to wall coverage on TV of the Royal Wedding - Prince Harry and Megan Markle.

Made use of the campground WiFi and laundry, with the TV in the background showing the post-wedding drive through the streets of Windsor and event highlights following that. Not quite the usual informed and sober BBC coverage I'm used to for such events, as American broadcasters mostly involve a cluster of people trying to hog screen time and come up with witty sound bites.

Coffee mid-morning, then a final WiFi session sending out e-mails and booking a campground for tomorrow, so not on the road until just before midday, heading out of town on scenic Route 7 north, winding through the Ouchita Forest.

To really enjoy the drive you would have to love mile after mile of trees and curvy roads, with no overlooks to let you periodically break out of the tree canyon... so it was actually all slightly monotonous.

Diverted from the direct route to check out a nature reserve but decided to forgo the auto tour there as the road was unpaved and I didn't fancy peppering the Airstream trailer with gravel.

A short distance further on was the Petit Jean campground, a tight squeeze into a sloping campsite though blocking and jacking got the trailer mostly level.

Then off on a hike to the most popular spot in the park, the 90ft Cedar Falls.

Which was all rather disappointing...

...a trail that was rough with stones and roots trying to twist ankles, no scenery, high heat and humidity, and finally a waterfall running rather weakly due to lack of water flow, though still sufficient to attract a crowd of whooping teenagers who wanted to hang out under the waterfall - rather predictable on a Saturday afternoon in the summer, I guess.

Climbed slowly back out of the canyon and headed back to the campground and the comfort of the A/C.

Sunday, May 20, 2018 - Petit Jean State Park, AR, to Bull Shoals - White River State Park, AR

A/C running all night so almost chilly in the Airstream, which only served to emphasize how very warm and humid it was outside as as I headed out at 7:00am for my run on a paved hike/bike trail winding through woods, though with rather more dips and climbs than I would have liked.

Headed out of the campground fairly promptly around 9:45am after cleaning up and checking on the day's route, which will be mostly driving with the odd scenic stop and perhaps a cavern visit.

Stopped in Dardanelle for a cappuccino (to save brewing up in the heat of the Airstream) which would have passed, in a blind taste test, for hot chocolate. But it was convenient and adequate to wash down my bagel and cream cheese.

Reasonably scenic winding roads, a couple of overlooks, no caverns (closed on Sunday), a gas stop, a brief lunch stop, and an overwhelming desire for ice-cream... satisfied to a degree by a stop at a grocery store to buy a pack of three Double-Chocolate Magnums, two of which went into the freezer.

Finally arrived at Petit Jean State Park and got set up in my assigned campsite, backing onto the White River about a mile below the massive dam that created Bull Shoals Lake. All very scenic and peaceful, and not too stiflingly hot.

Took the bike out for a late afternoon ride to see the dam, then back to the Airstream for a quiet evening (no TV reception in the valley).

Monday, May 21, 2018 - Bull Shoals - White River State Park, AR, to Big Spring, MO

A heavy and prolonged thunderstorm late yesterday evening, but only heavy rain and no Airstream-denting hail.

The river beside the campground very misty in the calm of the morning, and the level significantly lower than yesterday afternoon, presumably as the hydroelectric plant at the dam has eased off on power generation (many signs around warning of potential for sudden river rise when the generating status of the plant changes).

Lots of dithering about the day's plan and unsuccessful attempts to get campground reservations for tonight, so finally headed off with the hope of finding an open site at the campground at Big Spring.

Heading east, and a little north, I crossed the state line into Missouri after about 50 miles of driving - just beyond Mammoth Spring, which I initially drove past but seemed to be worth a quick look so I doubled back and strolled around the spring and the state park of the same name.

An amazing amount of water rising up in the spring basin, only really appreciated when seeing the water pouring out of the basin down a couple of small cascades, but even more dramatically seen pouring over the dam at the remnants of a small hydroelectric plant.

All this just welling up out of the ground - 9 million gallons an hour.

A quick bite of lunch while stopped, then my route headed along scenic roads into the 1.5 million acres of the Mark Twain National Forest (although it is questionable whether Mark Twain ever set foot there), much of the time driving up and down quite dramatically steep but straight switchback roads.

A final burst along Route 60 brought me to the turn-off for Big Springs campground where there was no ranger station but just a self check-in (called an "Iron Ranger") and a largely empty campground so I had my pick of sites. Clearly the kind of place that would be packed at weekends but deserted during the week.

Selected my campsite and got set up, A/C running full blast, dug out my cash to stuff into the self-pay envelope and rode the bike the half-mile back to the pay station before carrying on another half mile or so to the spring itself, not just welling up from below but flowing out from the base of a limestone bluff.

Apparently this is one of the largest single-outlet springs in the world, its outflow averaging 289 million gallons a day but reaching up to a billion at times of flood.

And the volume of the flow quite evident in the violence of the turbulence created before it calms itself in a large basin and then flows a short distance to join the Current River, doubling that river's volume.

A decidedly quiet evening in prospect, with no TV signal and few neighbors.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - Big Spring, MO, to Onondaga Cave State Park, MO

A (relatively) cool but humid early morning for my run, with some mist in the air. Nice to be running on quiet park roads.

The day's drive pretty much planned out, following the scenic route north to another state campground, with a couple of detours and stops on the way, the first of these on the way out of the park to take another photo of the spring in the morning sunlight.

However, the Current River, into which the spring discharges, had risen substantially overnight and had therefore raised the level of water at the spring, diminishing the drama of the discharge (and also covering the path I had taken yesterday afternoon to walk around the spring.

So it was on to the next stop, Blue Spring, which tuned out to be 2½ miles down a gravel road, so I passed on that, turning shortly afterwards to follow a sign to Powder Mill, only to find the road closed after about a mile - and being a single track road that meant backing up the trailer quite some distance until I could find a turning spot.

The next stop much more successful, however, at Alley Spring where Alley Mill sits right beside the spring, taking advantage of the constant outflow to power the mill - and looking very picturesque in the bright morning sunlight. Which all rather raised my spirits, as getting a good photo tends to do.

Grabbed a bite of lunch, since I had stopped, and then headed on a good deal further north to Dillard Mill. I was persuaded by my truck GPS to take a shorter route than the one in my scenic drive guide, only to find - having driven over a flooded section of road - that this involved an un-paved back road.

So I drove back through the flood to the highway and went the long way round to Dillard Mill (only a mile of rough road required for this) arriving too late for the last tour and also much too late in the day to get the sun on the side of the mill facing the spillway and downstream section of Huzzah Creek, on which the mill stands. If ever I'm around these parts at sunrise, this would be the spot.

Backtracking from Dillard Mill, the end point of the day's drive was the overnight campground that I had booked.

Although the less direct main road route was equal in estimated drive time according to my Google Maps app, I once again allowed my truck GPS to take me on an alternative route, only to find this blocked by high waters of the Merimac River, after getting most of the way along. So another doubling back required, this one taking about 30 minutes, to then take the main road route.

And to top off the driving antics for the day, on arrival at Onondaga Cave State Park - a little after 5:00pm - I was directed by a temporary sign down a very rough and convoluted paved road to the campground, discovering on setting up in my reserved campsite that the main entrance road to the campground area of the park was closed due to flooding which was expected to recede overnight.

The widespread flooding I saw in so many places today undoubtedly the result of the heavy storms that came through the area a couple of days ago when I was at White River State Park.

And yet another quiet evening ahead - no cell service, and no TV signals - beginning with a beer to release the tension of the multiple driving frustrations, despite this being one of my "dry days"...

Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - Onondaga Cave State Park, MO, to St Francois State Park, MO

No rush to get going this morning, as I had decided to take the 10:00am tour of Onondaga Cave.

Rode the bike the ¾ mile to the Visitor Center (and cave entrance) around 9:30am to buy my ticket and then use their WiFi to do a little route planning... too many options, not sure if I can take much more of the rollercoaster switchback country roads, and with the additional complication of Memorial Day weekend ahead.

The cave tour was given by two students. The initial section of cave was not particularly interesting, other than to understand, and see, that this cave was rather more "alive" and in transition than the other couple of caves I've seen (Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky).

Formations more interesting further into the cave system, enhanced by "reflecting pools" made by a previous owner to promote cave tours although some have natural pools of water reflecting the formations. The final section of the tour was the Lily Pad Rooms, a great climax to an interesting tour, which lasted a couple of hours rather than just the hour and 15 minutes scheduled.

Cycled back to the campsite for a late coffee, stopped at the dump station on the way out, then pulled over at the Visitor Center to use their WiFi to complete my route planning - impressed by this entirely "accidental" find of the caves, I've decided on the slow, meandering route back to Connecticut as it's the only way to stumble across places like this. The Interstate roads are efficient but rather homogeneous and hold few surprises.

Stopped at a Lowe's store to pick up a ¾" socket to allow me to adjust the weight distribution hitch set-up, then drove for a short 90 minutes to get to the campground, mostly deserted as it's mid-week but with reservations signs on all the sites for this coming holiday weekend.

Another quiet evening, with no TV and no cell signal worth anything.

So quite a long session of route planning instead, plotting out the options with and without a stop at the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, OH, and my supplying Airstream dealer in Columbus, OH.

Thursday, May 24, 2018 - St Francois State Park, MO, to Cave-In-Rock State Park, IL

A pleasant early run along the park road beside the Big River river and, with nothing more to be done (route planning completed last night) I was out of the park and on the road by 9:00am.

Made a stop to brew coffee in the first town of any size - Chester, IL, just after crossing the Mighty Mississippi - but with a small Walmart my only grocery store option there I continued on to Jonesboro to a Kroger store for a grocery top-up to see me through the upcoming holiday weekend.

Continued east across the southern tip of Illinois, still on rollercoaster roads to Golconda on the Ohio River, another American town that's past its prime and rather sadly hollowed out - though a good backdrop for a beauty shot of the truck and Airstream combo.

By now, mid-afternoon, time to make some definitive overnight plans and finally decided on a conservative halt at Cave-In-Rock State Park only a little further along the river road.

Not much to report about the park, though a visit to the namesake cave in the riverbank (with a checkered history as a hideout for vagabonds of various descriptions) was interesting, the cave running much more deeply into the hillside than at first appeared.

A small, and free, ferry crosses the river here to Kentucky, which I watched in operation at the end of the afternoon.

This might be an option rather than driving north in Illinois and taking a road crossing further up.

A little concerned about the feasibility of the truck and Airstream combo getting onto the ferry, though, so watched a couple of trips being made with cars as input...

Part of my evening ruminations and route-planning...

Friday, May 25, 2018 - Cave-In-Rock State Park, IL, to Bardstown, KY

Awake early, as so often when I set an alarm, and so all the usual morning routine and final route and weather checking finished in time for me to be heading out of the campground at 7:45am.

Having decided to take the ferry, and sitting in my spot in line waiting for its return from the opposite side of the river (after a tug and barge had passed through) I was rather concerned that the tail of the Airstream might catch on the roadway as the loading ramp rose at an angle above it.

Fine in the end (I think) and drove down the centerline of the small three-lane ferry platform to the very front, being signaled as far forward as possible to allow a logging truck to load behind me - rather a frightening sight seeing this fill my rear view camera picture.

But what a calm and peaceful way to start the day, chugging quietly and slowly across the Ohio River... though concern rising again as I saw the exit ramp and road angle as we approached the Kentucky shoreline.

Again all was fine (again, I think) and off we set east having lost all the time advantage of this shortcut by waiting for the commercial river traffic. Still, a different way to start the day...

Made a brief stop for a gas station coffee to try to keep my journey time down, aiming for a (probable) 2:00pm tour at Maker's Mark Distillery, bearing in mind that an hour would be "lost" crossing into the Eastern Daylight Time zone.

With some construction and traffic hold-ups, and some compensating scooting along the last 15 miles of country roads, I arrived at 2:02pm... to be told I could get on a 2:20pm tour, so I guess all OK in the end.

And a good tour it was, not that much new was seen compared to my previous tour there, but today's tour guide was very professional and very informative (within the constraints of leading a group of 30 people around).

Maker's Mark has clearly has some marketing uplift since my last visit... slightly better distillery grounds and buildings presentation, a "crisper" tour with more product promotion, line extensions introduced to the mainstream product, more tchotchkies in the gift shop, personal hot wax dipping of any bottles bought...

Left the distillery quite satisfied, and with only another coffee mug as a souvenir (Maker's Mark whisky already on board the Airstream). Tried the nearby My Old Kentucky Home campground but it was predictably full (ahead of the Memorial Day weekend), so I'll be facing a warm evening and night in a Lowe's parking lot - but at least quieter than the Walmart parking lot over the other side of the highway.

Saturday, May 26, 2018 - Bardstown, KY, to Chillicothe, OH

Most of the night was comfortable enough for sleeping, especially after opening the window at the front of the Airstream beside the bed and running the extractor fan at the rear, drawing cooler air from outside over the bed.

Awake early and decided to go for a run, in the full knowledge that it would be very difficult to cool down afterwards with no A/C. Still crazy after all these years...

On the road by 9:00am heading for Frankfort and the State Capitol Building despite some confusion about whether it would be open, the official website saying they were open Saturdays 10:00am - 2:00pm but unable to confirm via a phone call as only a voicemail option.

Stopped for coffee and breakfast sandwich on the way into Frankfort and then shortly afterwards arrived at the Capitol Building, roads around which were eerily quiet save a constant parade of lycra-outfitted cyclists.

The open-or-not mystery finally solved when I arrived at the main door with its "Press Firmly To Open" invitation superseded by a paper notice taped to the door saying it was closed for the holiday weekend.

A little research had turned up a campground near my intended destination and I called and managed to secure the last remaining spot for tonight.

Stopped briefly on the drive to walk up and down the main street of Georgetown, which had some attractive older buildings, and once more at Maysville just before crossing the Ohio River.

Then a final drive north in Ohio to the campground just outside Chillicothe, squeezing into a grassy spot between a fence and a tree.

Not long before the Saturday evening beer was cracked open, A/C churning out cooling air...

Sunday, May 27, 2018 - Chillicothe, OH

A good night's sleep in this peaceful and somewhat out-of-the-way campground.

After examination of the various weather and route options and overnight possibilities - all forming quite a large decision-making matrix - I finally decided to stay at the campground another day, as it feels I've been on the road and in constant motion for a while.

So a fairly relaxed day, catching up on much of my outstanding admin, courtesy of a decent WiFi connection.

Although the 85-degree heat wasn't particularly inviting for a ride, I hopped on the bike early afternoon mainly to get outside and get moving but also to check out potential running routes for tomorrow morning.

A pleasantly quiet, and reasonably productive, day.

Monday, May 28, 2018 - Chillicothe, OH, to Barkcamp State Park, OH

A slightly damp and misty morning, so I was a little concerned about visibility running along the main road outside the campground, given how many cars had driven by me at speed yesterday when scouting out my running route yesterday.

In the event, very little traffic on the road - maybe not surprising at 6:30am on Memorial Day - so all was well, other than the strenuous hilliness of the road.

Out of the campground around 9:30am, stopping in Chillicothe at a Kroger grocery store for both the instore Starbucks coffee (though only pastries on offer, no breakfast sandwiches) and a top up of provisions to last me through to my anticipated arrival in Connecticut on Thursday.

A largely scenic route planned for the day, with stops at Nelsonville, home of the Star Brick that adorns the sidewalks of the historic square with its fountain, all pretty deserted on this holiday Monday.

Then on to McConnelsville and a drive beside the Muskingum River and its historic locks, still in operation with hand-cranked lock gates, before turning north for a final scenic run before hitting I-70 and peeling off just before Wheeling to take an overnight spot in Barkcamp State Park - which has a photogenic barn, a couple of other smaller buildings, and an otherwise rather unkempt series of trails.

Registered at the Camp Store, paid my $24, set up in a conveniently close "walk-in" campsite and fired up the A/C.

Took a short stroll while the Airstream was cooling down to take happy snaps of a photogenic barn, the trails nearby being rather poorly maintained and overgrown though it was rather too warm - 90 degrees - and muggy to encourage much walking in any case.

No TV reception, so a quiet evening in prospect.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018 - Barkcamp State Park, OH, to Fowlers Hollow State Park, PA

A good night's sleep and a reasonably prompt start to the day, though it was a slightly tortuous process getting out of the campground... messiest and smelliest dump station I have ever used (the only one in the campground of three areas and 150 campsites, no rinse water without staying to hook up your own hose, which I couldn't bear to do) and then back to the campground loop to find a water spigot beside the road to fill the fresh water tank.

After only 10 miles back on I-70, I pulled off at St Clairsville for a haircut, a coffee (while waiting for the haircut) and some time spent disassembling the weight distribution hitch (WDH) to adjust a different aspect of the setting than I had tried previously.

Pulled over for gas and lunch, finding the interior of the Airstream in total disarray with both sink covers on the floor, one of them having gouged a divot in the vinyl flooring as it landed, the table top loose as one of the slider fixing points had sheared, and a rivet head on the floor - though losing rivets is not a totally unusual occurrence. I hadn't thought the roads quite that bad, so it made me wonder if I had set up the WDH a little too firmly...

Put everything back in place, had lunch, set off, and the truck decided to play up with most electronic aids going AWOL. Pulling over and stopping and starting seemed to reset everything, and after about 20 miles I turned onto scenic I-70, passing through a couple of tunnels under the mountains in this part of the Applachians.

Leaving the Interstate I still had 25 miles to go to the campground I had booked, as I hadn't really paid enough attention to the location, way off to the northeast of the highway... didn't look quite so far on the map last night, and seemed to be a good choice as not many other options for plugging in and running A/C and having a chance of a running route for tomorrow morning.

So I trundled along through Amish country, having to pass a couple of horse-drawn carts. Amish country, certainly in Pennsylvania, always seems very neat and tidy to me.

Then headed up into the hills, the final two miles of the drive up a dusty road through the forest, dodging working truck traffic coming down the opposite direction, crossing some major pipe-laying construction, before finally ending up deep in the woods.

Slightly spookily, I'm the only person in a small campground, only the sky visible above the tree-tops in the clearing for the campsites. Spooky and a little claustrophobic. Wild animal and bear advisories on the signs in the campground. The whole place completely silent. Not sure I could live in the woods...

My check-in paperwork from the reservation I had made was sitting on the campsite table, held down with a few stones, so at least one person knows I'm supposed to be here.

Disassembled the WDH once again to try another adjustment...

So it feels like it's been a long and rather busy day, though not quite the protracted Interstate driving day I had been anticipating. And now a VERY quiet evening ahead as, in addition to the lack of neighbors and the silence of the woods, not surprisingly there's no TV signal or cell service.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018 - Hollow State Park, PA, to Mount Arlington, NJ

Slept well, despite the slight anxiety about the isolation of the campground, waking around 6:15am but laying in bed until it was properly light (and the forest monsters all gone) before heading out on a run.

Had a visit from a park ranger, Daisy, just as I was filling and flushing tanks, there to leave check-in paperwork for the one camper coming in today.

Started the day's drive through pleasantly rolling open farmland, eventually arriving in Carlisle, which was a surprisingly large place with substantial older buildings and a broad main street.

Just at the junction with I-81 was a convenient Starbucks for my morning coffee and post-run breakfast sandwich where I spent an hour catching up with a few things on WiFi and trying to find a self-serve car wash somewhere on my route that might accommodate the Airstream.

No luck finding anything on-line, so the day's route was more off the Interstate than on in, driving through towns looking for a car wash. The only one found wasn't working, so this is high on the list of priorities for tomorrow.

Made another adjustment to the WDH mid-afternoon, but decided by the end of the day that this had been a little too much, so spent another 30 minutes on yet another adjustment at the end of the day's drive, parked up at my overnight Cracker Barrel.

Thursday, May 31, 2018 - Mount Arlington, NJ, to Westbrook, CT

A cool and damp morning... the first for many weeks, as I've managed to keep in with warmer and mostly sunnier weather since heading out from Texas.

So a warming breakfast, as a sign of gratitude to my Cracker Barrel host, was most welcome.

No rush to get on the road with a drive of only about 3 hours today, and with traffic apparently slowed at the start of my drive by an accident, so 15 minutes of catch-up admin completed before leaving.

In the end, the traffic delay was minimal, and my wheels kept rolling pretty much all the way to North Haven, where I detoured from I-95 to head to a car wash I had eventually found through on-line searching that had enough clearance to accommodate the Airstream - though the bays were no wider than regular bays, so a tight fit working around both the truck and the Airstream.

But finally I was able to get off much of the road grime and dust from the 4,000 miles driven in the four weeks since leaving Texas.

A short section of I-95 remaining before turning off in Old Saybrook for a rather late coffee, a grocery top-up and then back down to Westbrook to the marina and my "regular" parking spot down near Dock 10.

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