Leaving Colorado - 2022/10/17

It's finally time to leave Colorado! (from Fall 2022. I'm a little behind)

Goodbye Gram! On this chilly October morning. 

The truck bed cover has started to build up frost overnight. Definitely time to hit the road and head to warmer climates! 

We'll see you again soon!

We hopped onto the Interstate, set the cruise control and took off. Leaving Colorful Colorado. It's not all that crowded on the highway today, which is great! 

Actually it's not crowded at all. I had set the cruise control when we got on the road and couldn't remember if I'd even had to restart it. We stopped for fuel, then got back on the road and I paid more attention this time. Yep, the whole rest of the drive, I didn't have to touch the brake once, even for construction. It was something like 300+ miles of driving. 

We're spending just one night at a Harvest Host, a place called Whispering Ass Ranch. A family has extra space on their property and with this program, we can stay with them for free! If we want water/electric it's a minimal $15 charge. Electric will be perfect though, cause it's going to get cold overnight and we need to run a heater! 

Dinner, definitely something warm. Like ramen with egg and bacon. Yum! 

Definitely chilly overnight. 

Good thing we all have these nice quilts to keep us warm overnight. 

In the morning, as we packed up to go, there were no donkeys, but we were greeted by a few curious sheep. 

Got any treats? 

The owners told us that they aren't even theirs. The neighbors own them, but sometimes they get out and say hi. 

Next time bring snacks. 

At our fuel stop, I saw this new flavor of Mountain Dew and sent a picture to my brother Patrick. It's even got a fish jumping on the label.Wish I'd have picked it up, because I haven't seen it again since! Mtn Dew Over Drive.  

Our next stop on our travels to Florida is the Cherokee Casino. They have a lot in the back where RVs can stay for free! They even provide full hookups! Water, Sewer, and Electric! Except when we got there, they had a sign saying that Electricity wasn't working. D'oh! We have solar and batteries, which is enough to keep the essentials on. But heaters and such will need to switch over to propane. 

Either way though, free place to stay! 

The lot got a little busy, but we've been packed tighter in some campgrounds. 

Cuddling on the couch to stay warm. 

Mmm, chicken noodle soup and warm bread for dinner. Perfect. 

Going out shopping, Ian noticed that one of these Pringles cans is not like the others. 

Though it is Halloween. We got our McDonalds pumpkin pail. Weird that there's no plastic lid. There's a paper covering the food when you order it, but what looks like a lid is just a strip of plastic molded into the handle. 

With a morning to chill, and since it's a Wednesday, we stopped by Chuck E Cheese for this half-priced Wednesday deal! 

Hi Chucky! 

This ball game is always a favorite. 

Alli and this other girl went back and forth, cleaning the machine out!

Line it up!

While they're busy, I'm setting high scores on the football game. 

New record!

Every new ball is still exciting!

Whew! What are you going to do with them all? 

Getting some candy with all their ticket winnings. 

Ian always gets a little extra to share with other kids. The girls would end up splitting the balls. 

Even though we've had a busy morning, it was still a travel day. Our next site though didn't allow checkins until 4pm, so there was no reason to get on the road early. Only a 2 hour drive and we were there. 

Back in Arkansas at Lake Quachita.  

Our campsite has a beautiful view overlooking the lake. 

There's also lots of shale that we can use for skipping rocks! 

Practice will make perfect. 

One little surprise was waiting for us underneath a large rock. A little snake! 

Ian was concerned the mama snake was around somewhere, but, like other reptiles, once the babies hatch, they're on their own! 

While we were out at the lake, Theresa was finishing dinner. We enjoyed spaghetti with a nice view. 

And afterwards headed back to the lake to see an amazing sunset. 

It's going to be a fun time here! We've got a fun event planned for tomorrow!