Prairie Dogs, Wild Flowers, Wide Open Spaces, And A Big Ball Of Twine - Road Trip Into Kansas

Nebraska/Kansas road trip (78 degrees, slightly windy, endless blue skies and pretty clouds)

"...the land wanted to be let alone, to preserve its own fierce strength, its peculiar, savage kind of beauty, its uninterrupted mournfulness"

Willa Cather

We find ourselves in south central Nebraska and are staying at another Corp of Engineer Park. There is not much to do here but relax, listen to the wind, and perhaps go on a road trip. John studied the map and found a couple of interesting landmarks which only make sense in a place like this. Across the border into Kansas is a landmark which is the geographical center of our 48 states and not far from there is the Worlds Largest Ball of Twine. I said ..."Lets go!!!".

Willa Cather Memorial Prairie 

We drove past strikingly beautiful prairie land. and stopped often to take it all in. There are endless grassy fields and newly planted ones with huge irrigation devices.. The roads are often planted with hay  and after mowing it someone bales it up. What a great idea. 

We could hear lots of song birds but only identified a few. If you looked carefully you  can find lots of pretty wildflowers in the tall grasses.

Arriving at the geographical center of the U.S we found it over run with many friendly bicyclists who were on a six day tour across Kansas. It was their second day at this point and we all took turns getting our pictures taken in front of the "spot"

Geographical center of our 48 states

There is a small chapel for weddings..who knew and remnants of what used to be a hotel. After wishing everyone a safe journey we were off to find the twine in Cawker Kansas.. 

We found it and initially were the only ones there. However,  after looking at the "guest book" it appeared many had stopped that day. On the website there is lots of information about this oddity and it mentioned it was possible to add a piece of twine if you went to see Lottie. Well, just as we were getting ready to leave out came Lottie from somewhere with this gigantic roll of twine and asked if anyone was interested. Well, of coarse I signed up and Lottie and I were soon revolving around it. I couldn't stop laughing. It was a crazy fun time. She is a very dedication ambassador for this ball of twine and has met people from all over the world. As we were talking to her two folks  from Denmark arrived. Lottie was a very nice lady and I'm sure she would have told us many more stories but she had to take off for an appointment.  As she was leaving she said many wedding are held here too..."you know...to tie the knot". What a hoot!

Worlds Largest Ball of Twine with John, Jimmy and me

Lottie and me adding some twine

As we headed back to our campsite we made a quick stop at Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge. It is very remote and quiet. We were welcomed by the Refuge Manager and he seemed very proud of this refuge. 

We came across a little prairie dog town. Ranchers do not exactly like them very much but they sure were fun to watch.

Little bird peaking his head out wondering what was going on

What a great road trip. I hope you enjoyed coming along too. 

We spent three nights at the Hunter Cove COE campground near Republican City. This one was not nearly as well cared for and unusual for a COE. There is a long dusty road which leads up to it. Our site had lots of tall thistles and many of the sites by the water looked very worn out. Some new ones have been added but with little shade and very little grass. If you are willing to boomdock there are nice sites by the  water/ We checked out another nearby COE  called Methodist Cove in Alma which was much nicer and where we hope to stay in the future. 

Our site (50 amp) near the entrance

We are very excited because our next month will be in the beautiful  Colorado. We will be staying in several areas over the next month. Until then...happy trails!

Beautiful Lake View Campgrounds in Iowa - Plus Some Route Planning Tips

Rathbun Lake, Iowa (72 blue skies, lots of pretty clouds)

We are on our way to Colorado and decided to take a different route due to the very crazy weather. Routing our trip  through Iowa and Nebraska seemed like the safest option (sorry Barry ...avoiding Kansas this time) and so far the weather has been very good. We are taking more of a back road approach this time since we are not in a hurry to meet a deadline of a workamping job. Leaving on Memorial Day we passed through many small towns in Indiana and Illinois. Many of them were decorated very patriotically for the holiday with the streets lined with flags. Nice!

Our first stop was a Corp of Engineer Park (COE) near Centerville Iowa. We try to stay at this type of campground as much as possible. Being able to have a lake view site is always a treat and this type of campground is very inexpensive and usually well managed.. This is the view out our front window tonight. 

Buck Creek COE campground

I use Streets and Trips software by Microsoft to help plan our route. I can drop pin sets right onto the map to help find campgrounds. Pin sets are a beautiful thing. There are ones for just about everything ...State Parks,Walmart which allow camping, Elk Lodges, National Parks, Escapee Parks...the list is endless. The   map below is of this area. If you look closely you will notice on this lake there are five Corp of Engineer Parks. Wow! To sort this all out the website RVParkReviews.com comes in very handy . It turns out all of the COE campgrounds here received good rating and we choose Buck Creek because of its location on our route. I use this website a lot when trying to find a campground and oftentimes  add reviews  to help others along the way.

We are spending two nights here. Today we decided to go on a road trip and check out the other campgrounds. Why not join us and come along too. All of the campgrounds were sparingly populated. However, over Memorial Day weekend every site was taken. It looks like from the COE website most of the sites are taken on the weekends too. 

Pretty Eastern Kingbird

Many of the sites in our campground (Buck Creek) would be difficult to level a big rig on. The campgrounds are somewhat  hilly and most have quite a few sites on the water. All five parks provided 30 amp electricity and there are a few with 50 amp. All sites are electric only with water spicket and a dump site  available.  Each campground offers a boat launch.  

This lake is huge and over 21 miles in length. The dam and reservoir were constructed in the 1960's and dedicated by President Nixon in 1971. We saw lots of land set aside as prairie.

Prairie Ridge COE

Bridge View

There is also a State Park here with full hook ups. However, the sites are very close together and the bathrooms are old.  The campground has lots of weeds and had an unkempt look to it.  In comparison the  COE parks looked dramatically different where everything is very neat, tidy, and sites are well spaced.

Horny Creek State Park Campground 

Bridge View Campground

Dam

Island View

Island Vieware  two favorite

After our road trip visiting each of the campgrounds we decided  our two favorites  COE in this area are Bridge View and Island View. The are more level sites and may with  beautiful views of the lake 

We ended our road trip at Centerville, the closest town to our campground. It's a pretty town with many historical buildings and it was once centered around coal mining. We had a delicious dinner at Lucile's Steak and Spirits located in the Continental Hotel established in 1893. Some interesting people have stayed here including Jesse James, Al Capone, and recently Al Gore and Joe Biden. 

Continental Hotel

Continental Hotel

We enjoyed our stay here very much and it will definitely be on our "keeper" list. Tomorrow we are Nebraska bound. and we will be staying at a military campground.  Happy Trails!

Enjoying A Beautiful Waterfront Campground - W.P. Franklin COE

Alva, Florida -along the Caloosahatchee River (82 degrees, clear blue skies)

 

Our site #18

Just east of Ft. Myers, Florida is a beautiful Corp of Engineer Park along the Caloosahatchee River called J.P. Franklin.  For $12 a night for a water/electric (50 amp) site this is super deal using a Golden Age or Access Pass.  Even at the full rate of $24 it's a bargain, especially for Florida.  Most of the sites are along the water and reservations are a must.  Even in the off season the campground was full most of the time of our visit.

We decided to stay here so we could participate in the "Ding Days" a special week long festival held at J.N. Ding Darling NWR where we volunteered this summer.  The Wildlife Drive was closed most of the time we were there for a major overhaul and we were looking forward to checking it out.  Luckily the government shut down ended and these parks are back open.  Sanibel is about 1 1/2 hours from the campground.

Our campground overlooked a lock system and we enjoyed watching the boats come in and out.  We even saw a house going down the river.  Check this out...a barge on a barge. 

We attended two of the  "Ding Days" and especially enjoyed the special reception for the Duck Stamp winner. These stamps are sold at Fish and Wildlife refuges for $15 and offer free admission to any refuge for a year.   Hunters also purchase them to hunt migratory waterfowl.  Ninety-eight cents out of every dollar generated by the sale of Federal Duck Stamps go directly to purchase or lease wetland habitat for protection in the system and Ding Darling designed the first stamp in 1934.  The contest, originally established by Franklin Roosevelt, can be entered by anyone 18 or older. It's quite an honor to win and this years stamp was created by Robert Steiner.  He has traveled over 50,000 miles this year talking about the program and it is the second time he has won. He would autograph your stamp upon request. There is also a Junior Duck stamp program for children. This years winner was only six years old.

2013-2014 Federal Duck Stamp

Duck Stamp Winner 2013-2014 Common Goldeneye

Junior Duck Stamp winner Madison Gramm Canvasback Duck

We also went of a photography trolley tour with a few of our friends and saw  the new improvements to the Wildlife Drive.  The road used to be a dusty gravel surface and it's now been paved with asphalt and looks terrific.  Riding a bike will be so much more enjoyable.

I learned some great tips for improving my pictures of birds.  Our guide suggested if possible to shoot your pictures with the wind at your back.  Birds fly into the wind and if you have positioned yourself correctly you might get some great in flight photos.  Another great tip when using a point and shoot camera is to use the  sport setting for moving birds.  It has a higher shutter speed and your pictures are less likely to be blurred with their movement.

Photography Tour

Alligator checking out all the tourist along side the road

We are now on our way to begin what's now been christened The Crazy Christmas Kiosk gig in Port Charlotte with Slippermania. You might remember we did this last year.  It's lots of fun and it pays fairly well.  We are sharing the kiosk this year with our friends Fran and Randy.  I'll tell you more about it in our next post.