America the Beautiful

An Apology

First of all, I want to apologize for the infrequent posts.  I failed to consider the impact of being away from our powerful home WiFi or the reality that all WiFi is not created equally.  If it says "Free WiFi" in the window it may mean that you will have to spend every last FREE moment in the establishment, waiting for that picture to upload!

That's another thing...what is a travel blog if it doesn't have pictures?  My intention had been to do most of the updating on my iPad but that has turned out to be very difficult. The software only wants to read photos that are in my iPhone but pictures I have taken with the iPhone are not yet in the cloud until I am on a good WiFi soooooo....anyway, excuses, excuses.  Words are cheap.  I'll try to put in photos, 'nuff said.

What We Are Learning

Here are some bullet point realities we are learning about our decision to tent camp...

• When it is hot inside a tent it is VERY HOT. As covered in a previous post, uncomfortably hot, sticky and sleep depriving.
• Many campsite descriptions may be similar but the campsites are NOT. At Ogallala, Nebraska there WAS water but pretty far away from our campsite which meant carrying 56 lbs a looooong way.
• Camping people are very friendly and very eager to help (water carrying as an example)
• Tent camping is apparently rare, at least after Labor Day. RV's are what is popular, especially among the greying, silver haired types such as we are!
• Being close to the bathroom facilities is probably more important than being far away from wildlife.
• Not all small town, down home cooking establishments are a good idea to try.

What We've Seen

It's a challenge to gather all of one's thoughts about the experience.  As you drive along the highway and stare out your window little flashes of nostalgia and insight pop up continually.  Nostalgia because there are glimpses of the America Dinah Shore used to sing about, there are snapshots of old gas pumps, old screen doors hanging caddy whumpus from what used to be a neighborhood supermarket, porch swings that are are a tiny bit off balance, yard art that hasn't seen paint in decades, city markers announcing Population 356 followed by School Bus Stop, and yet no sign of children anywhere. Insight because at the same time that the sadness this surge of nostalgia produces there are so many optimistic signs of the America of effort and endeavor.  Miles and miles of land producing multiple crops (Google got a good work out identifying soy beans and sorghum), hard worked people in overalls and suspenders (yup, suspenders are still a thing in rural America), lots of cattle, sense of humor, panache and apparent common sense.  We were going too fast to get a picture of it but one of my favorite little glimpses into the American psyche was a hand painted sign saying Rest Stop in a very unlikely place. As you passed it there was an old recliner chair and a discarded toilet! Sense of humor AND panache!

Glen Elder State Park in Kansas

Glen Elder State Park (http://ksoutdoors.com/State-Parks/Locations/Glen-Elder) in Kansas provided a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere with the tent site conveniently located in front of the bathroom facilities; including showers. There were many RV's parked there but no one in them. We gather that locals park there month long and then come out on the week-ends.  There was just one other camper in the entire location.  Payment for the sites is "Self Pay" but it was unclear how one was supposed to find a place to pay.  Our fellow camper never did discover how to pay for her site. We prepaid over the Internet when we reserved.

From Kansas we headed to Nebraska where we stayed at the Ogllala State Recreation Area.  Be sure to watch for our next post where I will address how to carry off a conversation with a very nice man who has almost no teeth and whom you can barely understand.