JUNE 25-27: Downstream Casino, Quapaw, OK

We enjoyed our stay at the Downstream Casino.  The RV Parking area is situated so that you park facing the casino, hotel and large parking area, or you can face a large pasture, our choice. Imagine our surprise in discovering that the animals grazing in that field were not cattle or horses, but bison (most Americans call them buffalo). The herd included males, females and calves. So if you want a home where the buffalo roam, just come to the southeastern tip of Kansas!

We took advantage of the free play on our casino player cards, and Hank came away with $8 of their money....the first time he's had a winning experience at a casino! Selene lost a dollar.  We also enjoyed a very nice 'buy one get one' buffet.  The only exploring we did was to drive a few miles north to Galena, Kansas for a post office visit and sightseeing (not much to see there), rode a short way on historic Route 66, + and we planned our next couple of stops as we make our way to the northern USA looking for cooler weather.  The weather was near 90 during our stay in Kansas!

SHAWNEE, OK TO QUAPAW, OK: Downstream Casino & Resort

Today, we left the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center about 9:15 A.M., and about 5 hours later, including a fuel stop, we pulled into the RV/Truck lot at the Downstream Casino & Resort near Quapaw, OK. The casino property is located at the point where the Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri state lines meet, and our route took us through part of  each state before arriving at the Downstream facility.  The RV/truck parking area is paved, with water and electric hookups for the RV spots, and has shelters where you can wait for the shuttle to take you to the casino, which is across a very large parking lot.  The casino is in Oklahoma, and the RV lot is in Kansas with Missouri just down the entrance road. The casino is owned and operated by the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma.

After parking Little House in our chosen site, we went to the casino to get our player cards. Each of them included $7 in free play .  Then we went to the gift shop to register our RV spot, and the player cards entitled us to 2 free nights of camping, with the 3rd night costing $25.....not a bad deal considering everything involved.  There  is no bathhouse in the RV lot, but there is a dump station, and we can use the hotel pool and spa. Security personnel make frequent visits and the area will be well lit at night.

We plan to stay here 3 nights before traveling northeast into Missouri.

SHAWNEE, OK: The 2017 American Coach National Rally

We arrived at the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center in Shawneek, OK on Friday, June 16. The rally events were being held in the Conference Center with  an adjoining area for vendor setups.  Most of the delicious food was provided by the on-site catering company

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we enjoyed 3 days of the Southeastern Chapter pre-rally activities including social time and meals.

Monday, June 19, was the beginning of the American Coach National Rally with 110 units participating.  Activities included meetings, seminars, and plenty of food -  1 Heavy Hors d'oeuvres event, 2 full breakfasts and 2 continental breakfasts, a pizza dinner, and 2 complete dinners.  There was also a golf outing, a ladies luncheon, and live entertainment for 3 of the nights, including Johnny Counterfeit , who put on a great show on the last night of the rally.

Many valuable door prizes were given away, and there were raffles for huge gift baskets from each of the chapters and a 50/50 raffle.  The money from the raffles is used for the American Coach scholarship fund which awards $1000 college scholarships to qualified children and grandchildren of the workers who build the American Coach RVs in Decatur, IN.

During the rally period, a variety of service and parts vendors were on hand to do work on the coaches right on the campsites.  Most discounted their fees and parts.  We had 2 day-night shades restrung, along with a couple of other minor items fixed,  and there was no charge for labor!  We had the Aqua-Hot system serviced. Technicians spent two hours trying to improve the air flow of our front roof A/C unit and didn't charge us anything for their time.  Since most RV repairs average a $120 per hour labor charge, these 'free' services were a great benefit.





Oklahoma is definitely Indian country, and that theme was carried out with decorations and centerpieces made by one of the chapters.



Even the speakers on the first night went with the appropriate headdress.




Each table had their own centerpiece and each one was given away on the last night.






There was plenty of room in the conference center for the meals and activities of over 200 people.  The staff spoiled us with attention and quick cleanups.


Thursday was mostly a free day, so we drove to Oklahoma City about 40 minutes away,  to see some of that city, visit AAA, and have dinner with friends at the Cattlemen's Restaurant in the Stockyard City area.  This eatery is famous for their steaks, prime rib, homemade salad dressing, and lamb fries (lamb testicles breaded and deep-fried). No, we didn't try the lamb fries!

The weather during our stay included mostly sunny, hot days, and almost constant wind but very little rain.  With activities mostly inside in the cool convention center, and 2 or 3 A/C units humming on each coach, everyone managed to stay comfortable.

Today, Saturday June 24, we're spending an extra day before heading northeast tomorrow. During the next few weeks, we'll be slowly making our way through parts of  Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin until we reach the upper peninsula of Michigan.

JUNE 14-16: Jemison, AL to Shawnee, OK

The first day's trip was from Jemison to West Memphis, AR and Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River Park located along the shore of Old Man River.  A few weeks ago, the park was under several feet of water due to the flooding river, but this is a common occurrence and the campground crew does a great job of getting things back in order quickly. The campground is not fancy - mostly gravel sites with full hookups, in a remote location on the river side of the levee, but the big draw here is the chance to watch the river traffic passing by. Park benches are placed along the shore line enticing you to come and sit a spell, watching the ever changing water patterns, the birds and the barges, as life slows down around you.

Barge heading downstream

Barge chugging upstream

 We spent about an hour, enjoying the nice breeze, and the river, as the sun gave way to twilight.


Yesterday, we got up early and were surprised to find friends nearby (Candi & Brian) who were heading to Shawnee also. Day 2 found us traveling from West Memphis to Overland RV Park in Van Buren, AR just 5 miles from Oklahoma. Our travel was slowed by several downpours, some with high winds, a road construction delay, and a long backup near Little Rock due to an accident on I-440 which backed up traffic on I-40 near Little Rock. Overland RV Park is a simple RV park with easy access from I-40,  but does offer long pull-thru sites with free cable TV, and great WiFi speed.  Overnight, a severe thunderstorm came through with wind gusts over 45 MPH, and we were a little nervous  that our new slide toppers might sustain some damage.

This morning dawned sunny and no damage was found. We finished our journey to the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center in Shawnee, OK about 12:30 P.M. We will be here for the next week for the American Coach Association National Rally starting on Monday with a chapter pre-rally being held this weekend. This large facility has over 700 RV sites and hosts many large RV rallies every year along with many other events.  The weather will be hot during our stay, but all of our gatherings will be held in air-conditioned comfort inside one of the buildings.

JUNE 7-13: Taking It Easy at Minooka

The route from Brooksville, FL to our next event on the calendar in Oklahoma took us right back through central Alabama.  We needed some time for R&R, so we came back to Minook Park, in Jemison, AL for another week.  This also gave us another opportunity to see some of our Alabama family including our new great-grandson, and some old friends.  As much as we love to travel, every so often we need to have down time, and that's what we've been doing for the last week....nothing very exciting, just quiet daily living in Little House.  The weather has been very warm and humid....typical Alabama in June conditions.

Tomorrow, we start a 3 days of travel to Shawnee, OK.

JUNE 2 - JUNE 6: Trip for Toppers

When we were at the Maintenance Session in Goshen, IN in early May, we made arrangements to have new slide toppers installed on Little House.  The original toppers were almost 10 years old and were showing their age.  We purchased the new toppers from Stone Vos but it was too late to have them made and then installed in Goshen.  Since we were already going to be in the south in central Alabama at the end of May, and didn't have anything better to do, we made plans to travel to Brooksville, FL (Stone Vos's home location) and have the toppers installed there.

We left Jemison, AL on June 2, and spent the night in Quincy, FL at Beaver Lake Campground (basically hookups in a field ). While we can use the air conditioners while running the generator, as a precaution,we don't go to sleep with the generator in use. This time of year, nights in the south are warm and humid, and definitely justify using A/C.



June 3, we drove to the Campers Holiday near Brooksville, FL. This is an 'over 55' community and RV Park nestled under tall pin oak trees , a well-kept park in quiet, country setting with few occupants this time of year. We had a long back-in site with full hookups at half-price using Passport America.  The slide topper installation was done on Monday, June 5 on our campsite and took about 3 hours.

Tuesday, June 6, we hit the road back north, with rain most of the way,  for an overnight stop in Dothan, AL at the Cherry Blossom RV Park and Mobile Home Park.  We had a level, pull-thru graveled site in a nice park with friendly workers for half-price through Passport America.

MAY 24 - JUNE 2: Family, Festivities, and Free Time

On Wednesday, May 24, we left Shepherdsville, Ky early enough to get to Minooka Park in Jemison, AL by 4 P.M., thus avoiding rush hour while going through Birmingham.  We accomplished this even though we had an hour's delay near the KY/TN state line due to a bad accident, and more slowdowns going through Nashville due to heavy downpours.  When we pulled into Minooka Park, the sun was shining.

Our trip to Alabama was for a family get-together to celebrate family graduations,and to have a baby shower for our first great grandchild, expected on June 22. The group that gathered for the holiday weekend included 4 of our 5 children with their families, relatives from Louisville, Ky and Powhatan, VA,  and extended family members and friends. There were plenty of hugs to go around and many conversations as we caught up on news and happenings, as well as card games and of course a lot of food.

The baby shower that was scheduled for Saturday turned into a family luncheon because Matthew Cruze Martin had decided he wanted to arrive 5 weeks early and was born on May 24.  All presents were delivered a few days later to the proud parents who were staying in  the hospital lodge so they could be with their son as much as possible. After spending a week in NICU, Cruze is now home and doing great!



There was another reason to celebrate this weekend as well.  Our oldest son, David, and his girlfriend, Heather, announced their engagement!  Our family continues to grow!






Sunday, many of us went to a local restaurant for lunch and were entertained by our grandson, Steven, a fine guitarist and singer, Hank's brother, Rick, an experienced musician and vocalist, and occasional backup singing from our daughter, Kathy and her daughter, Kimberly.  The music gene is well represented in our family tree!




After all of the excitement over the weekend, we needed to regroup before moving on, so we stayed in Jemison until June 2.  This gave us the chance to meet our new great grandson in person and welcome Cruze into the family.