Pony Express rally

Yesterday was the opening ceremony lead by Lyle and Mary.  They served ice cream with lots of toppings and cupcakes.  We know Lyle and Mary, Mike and Meredith and Gary and Laura from other rallies.  There are 13 or 14 rigs here and all but two are HitchHikers but they use to have one.

Today we went for a short ride around Milford Lake and into Junction City and stopped at a monument to the Buffalo Soldiers.

The monument honors the black soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments stationed at Fort Riley in Junction City.  They fought in the western US, Spanish American War with Teddy Roosevelt and in WWII.

Curtis Creek COE park rally

We made the 191 mile trip from Chanute to Junction City, KS arriving at noon to attend a local Pony Express HitchHiker chapter rally at Curtis Creek COE park.  We arrive a day early and Lyle and Mary's rig was here but they were gone.  A little while later another HH arrived and had trouble getting his Big Foot to level their unit so I introduced myself and gave Ed a hand.  After manually leveling it I set the new level into it's memory and it worked.  They will have to wait until the next move to see if it works again.
We aren't impressed with this COE park after one day; our site will be shared with another RV, the power didn't work at first but suddenly did, it's only 30 amps, we have to use extension power and water lines to reach the pedestal and spigot, at night there are thousands of little bugs that can get inside, and I just had an AC power failure. 
There are 4 units here now and the rally starts today so several more will arrive, we'll know at least 3 other couples so many folks will be new to us.

I sure hope our incoming neighbor knows how to back in, I just might move the truck and bring in the slides to be safe! 

 

Steve & Susy in Chanute

Steve & Susy have stopped in Chanute for a couple days on their way home to Kansas City for a visit.  Unfortunately they will be here longer than planned.  When they went inside their HitchHiker the kitchen cabinets pulled away from the ceiling so they are now waiting to be squeezed into service for a necessary repair, at least it happened in Chanute.  I screwed up again and didn't get a picture of them.  We certainly spent enough time visiting and eating out at the Mexican restaurant and Opies.
We also made an unplanned stop in service, I couldn't raise the over the air antenna.  Daryl said to stop by on the way out of town Tuesday morning and he's take a look at it.  We arrived at 8:30 with donuts and left at 8:45 after he climbed on the roof, loosened it up and lubricated it.  Judy will be happy now that she can better view the local channels.

Beaumont, KS lunch

We arrived in Chanute Thursday afternoon and Friday morning we went to the Grain Bin with Jeff and Susan for breakfast before they pulled out for Montana.  We all stopped at Kansas RV Center (formerly NuWa) to each get a part and I talked with Mike Mitchell about the possibility of buying or selling our HitchHiker after we settle in Foley later this year.  Judy and I talked more and are leaning toward keeping the truck and our home for the last 11 years.  We can store it at The Grove where we will live and use it for summer travel.  We shall see what happens.
On Saturday we met Roy & Carol and Mel & Dee in Beaumont for lunch.  Roy found this place between us and it is a gem.  It took a little over an hour to get there and it's a tiny (REAL tiny) place in the middle of nowhere.

 

The hotel and restaurant were the only place we saw that was still in operation.

Yep, sure enough.  While we were outside exploring a small plane taxied down Main Street from the grass landing strip.

 

 

 

Next stop......Tahlequah, OK

We haven't been to Tahlequah, OK for a couple years although we met Wes & Tonia two years ago in Branson.  Jeff & Susan were also in Tahlequah visiting Wes & Tonia so we got to spend time with both couples.  Our first stop after setting up was Sam & Ella's Chicken Palace for a Big Sloppy.

Big Sloppy = double cheese, double pepperoni, and black olives.  We ate one small and took one home.

The second day we were there another HitchHiker couple, Tom & Charlie, came over for a visit so we all went to Fish's Restaurant for BBQ. 

Do  you think food plays a big part in this lifestyle?

We were watching the weather as we are in tornado alley and a thunderstorm blew in Wednesday with a fair amount of rain.  We didn't get out of Tahlequah until 1:30 when the rain was starting to let up.

Met Dan in Whichitaw Falls, TX

Our next stop was in Wichita Falls, Texas as to see Dan, he's in the USAF and in training for fighter maintenance.  Dan and Devyn have been together for 3 years and make a good couple.  He'll be here 3 more weeks before going to NC to continue his training.  He drove over from the base and we had a nice visit before going out for a BBQ lunch.

Here's a couple pictures from the campground.

 

 

Opa's Schnitzel Hut

We spent three nights at Union Grove COE (Corp of Engineers) campground on Stillhouse Hollow Lake near Salado, TX.  It was interesting listening to Foot Hood's artillery booming and echoing Thursday afternoon and into the wee hours Friday morning.

We have been here a few times and we return to have schnitzel at Opa's.  On Thursday we met RV friends John & Glynda there for lunch and spent 2 or 3 hours catching up.  I forgot to get a picture.  On Friday we returned for more schnitzel with my niece Haleigh and husband Dallas who live nearby.