The Trek for Turkey

[hoyden]

<snip>
Note on a single woman traveling alone. Another single woman on WTW once posted she puts out a old used pair of size 12 boots next to a large dog bowl. Anyone walking by will take note.
Bill

Thanks, Bill!
Funny, my mom and I were talking about just that the other night. She likes the idea of the boots, except that she said that she once did that and a critter took off with one of her boots! Ha!

 

[hoyden]

Fun reading your trip notes. I shared it with my mom, single and very active, camper too but she only goes with us none of her girlfriends camp.

Just a thought put one of these on the back of your fwc. http://www.cafepress.com/mf/8064767/doberman-on-duty-rectangle_sticker?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=26939072--t-9032021&utm_source=pla-google&utm_campaign=207320410&utm_content=16932179170&productId=26939072

I have a Dobie hes a total leaner, wuss but no one knows the breed and everyone thinks of Hollywood killer dog and avoids you like you have horns coming out of your head and giant fangs. LOL Just tell Pugsly a big dog bark occasionally is OK. Have a safe trip.

I guess this probably doesn't help :-D

I like the Dobie sticker!
I actually planned to look to adopt another doggie after Thanksgiving. I want a companion for Pugsly, and a hiking buddy for me.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Thanks, Bill!
Funny, my mom and I were talking about just that the other night. She likes the idea of the boots, except that she said that she once did that and a critter took off with one of her boots! Ha!

An old, well worn empty holster left on the dash is another option.

 

[hoyden]

Yes, that one. I believe it is the same height as a normal home toilet. The water fill is a screw in cap. I have a front dinette Grandby. I had FWC leave the cabinet door off, and I cut the face plate off in the center to allow sliding the porta potti in and cover it with a curtain. Our blog has a photo, in the Camper Modification Page. jd

I'm liking the Curve. It looks a bit more solid than mine. The water 'spout' cap on mine doesn't screw on - just fits on. It kept popping off during driving and water escaped. Boo.

I do have a pic of mine. The water fill spout is there right top rear:

I'll take a pic tomorrow daytime of my little mod - I unscrewed the little built-in ledge that is over the potty so that I can have easier access to the porta-potti (instead of having to move it out to the very narrow space just in front of the door. Awkward!

You can see the ledge there on the right with the potty under it

Your set up looks good!

 

[hoyden]

An old, well worn empty holster left on the dash is another option.

I have a not-so-worn-out one

 

[hoyden]

Nice write-up! Good campsites and short winter daylight hours do make for a challenging combination. I've tried to plan as much in advance as possible and will get an alpine start at 4 or 4:30 if it means I can get to a campsite with some daylight left.

I usually get on the road about 6:30am - not sure I could get up for a 4am start unless Pugsly starts to learn how to make coffee.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

I guess this probably doesn't help :-D

I like the Dobie sticker!
I actually planned to look to adopt another doggie after Thanksgiving. I want a companion for Pugsly, and a hiking buddy for me.

Northern CA Dogworks.org. addopted our first Red Dobie through them basically filed an order trained, 2-3yrs old, Red etc. They called and said they had one perfect for us. They were spot on he was rock solid awesome!!!He passed away 4yrs ago 16yrs old zero issues just age. They helped me sort through breeders for a pup replacement. Again they were awesome and the pup has turned into a great dog.
If you travel with a Dobie allot keeping the ears natural keeps the radar down some. Sort hair means just a wipe down with a towel. Claws on a true doberman dont touch the floor! No clicking and claw marks on the floors. True American bred Dobermans only hit about 80-85lbs max, ours is 63lbs at 3yrs doubt he weighs more than 70 full grown. They get cold easy and need boots for hiking no fur between their toes. LoL You do feel very safe with them mainly due to the response people have when they figure out you have a Doberman. Our pup has natural floppy beagle ears. 99% of the time people dont notice him being red etc. But people who probably arent up to anything good still seem to respond and simply avoid us. Which is the perfect kind of dog when your solo and adventuring. Personality wise smart, quiet Lab without slobber and spaz behavior is a good description.

 

[Cayuse]

I usually get on the road about 6:30am - not sure I could get up for a 4am start unless Pugsly starts to learn how to make coffee.

I'd rather drive in the dark when I'm fresh than drive at night when I'm tired.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Bob

 

[craig333]

My thetford cap screws on but I don't even fill it. I just pour water in manually. Maybe toss a few used shotgun shells on the ground like you've been shooting?

 

[ski3pin]

We very much enjoyed your adventure and perspective on road trips. There are so many stories out there that we only get a glance at as we travel. Thanks for letting us tag along. Hope you had a great mid-western Thanksgiving and have a safe journey home.

 

[hoyden]

You know what sucks? When you start to write a post and, in pre-travel excitement, forget to save it and shut your laptop down so that when the page reloads, the data is all lost and you start to write in a second-person narrative instead. Argh.

Of course, the post was brilliant, insightful, philosophical, and full of breathtaking photos.

 

[hoyden]

One of the things that I greatly dislike about having a timeline on a road trip like this is that I don't get to stop at places like the Petrified Forest or take photos of random things like statues of dinosaurs. If I stop for every interesting thing I wanted to take a picture of, I would add hours to my drive-time. Days, even.

Oh, how I long for those days.

I had a wonderful visit back home. As a child, the SouthWest captured my heart. My mom did some fieldwork around Santa Fe one summer when I was in grade-school and we spent time watching summer hail storms, hummingbirds, little lizards, and scarfing sopapillas. (okay, mom might have done more than that, but those are my memories, along with a few others of turquoise and the square in Santa Fe with locals selling their lovely silver jewelry). Another summer, my grandparents and mom and I visited the Coral Pink Sand Dunes in southern Utah and rolled in the soft sand dunes. My grandpa taught me how to find scorpions under rocks and the art of gathering sagebrush. There is magic in the mesas, canyonlands, sage and juniper out here in the wild west.

But for me, there is also a comfort in the midwest plains and southern Illinois forests. As much as I love this magical land, I haven't found my home here. Then again, I've moved so often in my life, I often wonder if I will ever feel 'at home' anywhere or if on the road is destined to be my home. You'd think I'd have figured this out by now.

While I was visiting, my mom, step-dad, step-brother and our dogs (Pugsly stayed in the truck, Sadie is my step-brother's Golden) went for a visit over to the Mighty Mississippi. We were near where Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer stayed for the night after taking the wrong turn up the Mississippi instead of the Ohio.

Sadie had a great time!

After a fabulous dinner than included my family's traditional oyster dish, we settled in for a movie.

Pugsly really enjoyed tromping through the Fall leaves!

On Friday we checked the weather forecast. I wish I'd taken a screenshot because it was pretty horrible looking. There was an almost vertical swath of storm that covered from northern Kansas down through Texas. It was traveling East-ward, so I hoped that I could cut through it on my superslab dash back West.

This is what it looks like now. Still pretty ugly but more spread out than it was Saturday and Sunday.

The first day was terrible for driving. Instead of going through Kansas City again, I dropped south through Memphis to pick up the I-40 West. Turned out that was a good plan. This is what I somehow mostly missed. My first day was through torrential rains for the first half of the day. The second half backed off to a more functional lighter rain where I could actually see the Interstate. I landed at Eufaula Lake State Park in Oklahoma. The weather had settled into a drizzle and I navigated to the Park service hut (I can't remember what the place where you are supposed to check in is called). No one was there, so I located the campsites.

The lake is HUGE! The park ranger came to collect money around 6pm. She told me that when the lake was built, it was the largest man-made lake in the U.S. I just did a remedial search, and couldn't find verification of that but it sounds feasible.

That night I had Turkey-day leftovers - my very own little second Thanksgiving.

There were a few big giant 5th wheels in the campground, but it was pretty empty (winter....) I left in the morning before sunrise and got lost in the campground! I drove twice around the circle before finding the way back to the main road. That was weird. I thought I'd discovered some kind of Hotel Oklahoma! Eep.

 

[hoyden]

By the time it was light out on Sunday, I was deep into Oklahoma. I somehow camped just East of the storm. The highway itself was pretty clear, but there had been a huge ice storm overnight. I wish I had stopped to get photos of the beautiful ice-laden trees and grasses that lined the highway.

The sky sprinkled down on and off all day, but was never very bad again.

Pugsly was not fond of the very cold weather.

By the time Pugsly and I arrived at Santa Rosa Lake State Park in New Mexico, it had stopped raining, but was still overcast and windy. The "dispersed camping" at the park is a gravel road where you just pulled over and parked. There are campsite tables and fire-pits set back in, but you have to walk to get to them.

Except for the oddness of camping on the side of a road, it's pretty nice. I could barely see the lake from my site, but that's okay. It was too grey to be able to appreciate it anyway.

Pugsly got a little exploring in.

Hard to get a good pic of the sunrise with my cell phone, but I got a couple that are decent enough I suppose.

I get up around 05:00 - 05:30am and each morning more Easterly, it had been dark when I left in the morning. However, when I poked my nose out about 06:00, I was surprised to see how light it was there in New Mexico. It had cleared up and there was no one else around. I was kinda bummed I hadn't poked out earlier to see the stars.

Pugsly and I made it home today.
I really wanted to keep going. As nice as it was to take a hot shower, cook in a kitchen with elbow room, and have a tv, I really wanted to be in some remote area popping up my camper top again tonight.

 

[hoyden]

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

 

[ski3pin]

"I really wanted to be in some remote area popping up my camper top again tonight."


Well said, hoyden. Welcome home and we enjoyed sharing your adventure through your posts. Thanks!

 

[Occidental]

Thanks for taking us along on the trip, it was a great read. I also just returned from a Thanksgiving weekend trip, and I am wishing I was popping the top on the camper tonight as well. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I'm glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and a safe trip!

 

[LuckyDan]

Well done. Thank you for posting.

 

[highz]

Thanks for posting your Turkey Trek. I enjoyed reading it.

 

[longhorn1]

Thanks for sharing. Glad you had a fun and safe trip. Jd

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