10-4-19 - 10-8-19 (Day 72 - 75 - Wally Docking/Timberlake/Home)

10-4-19 - Friday
We traveled 336 miles to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.  Or as the radio announcer in Kansas pronounces the word Arkansas as in the Arkansas River, "R Kansas."

Ferny Kat slept on her box in the back seat until we got to Little Rock.  She got back on her co-pilot duties when we got in all the traffic.

We are Wally Docking tonight.  We had a couple of destinations that were about 2 hours less travel time that didn't work out.  Luckily for us, it is cool tonight.  The temperature is in the mid 70's dropping to the 60's by morning.

This is one busy Walmart.  The traffic going by the camper is like a freeway.  There is a lot of engines racing and boom boxes booming.  We have definitely left the laid back West.

Ferny Kat was entertained by all the traffic whizzing by the camper door, then called it a night.

10-5-19 - Saturday
We got up around 6:30 this morning when the traffic picked up.  At least, it kinda slowed during the night letting us get some sleep.

We had a short travel day of 223 miles to Timberlake Campground.  It is great to be back with our long time friends.  This is like a second home to us.

10-6-19 - 10-7-19 - Sunday and Monday
We spent the days at Timberlake visiting with our friends.

10-8-19 - Tuesday
                                                                      Home!!!!

We were gone 75 days.  We traveled 6,306 miles in the truck and used 572 gallons of fuel.  We traveled 2,774 miles on Amber.  We took 4,273 pictures.  I added 139 new species and 212 more observations to iNaturalist.  Lauren added 247 new species and 639 more observations to iNaturalist.  Our average camping per night was $6.33 a night. Another great time for us nature chasers!

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10-3-19 - (Day 71 - Quapaw Casino)

We are getting a little closer to home after traveling 267 miles on this cool, rainy day.

We have another free campsite at Quapaw Casino which is barely across the Oklahoma State Line with water and electric hookups.  We got here, got registered, and grilled some chicken.

We grilled chicken on the opposite side of the camper that was out of the wind with pretty grass.  We thought Ferny Kat would love this place.  We were wrong.  This is not a Ferny Kat approved campground.

We went to the casino and ordered a couple of beers that cost $4.50.  We are definitely not in South Mississippi where the drinks are free.

We left the casino with more money than we went in with.  We are happy campers with our free campsite and a little jingle in our pockets..


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10-2-19 - (Day 70 - Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area/Quivira NWR)

It was a dreary, rainy, day with the temps in the mid 50's.  Another day of riding in the truck.  Although, the dirt roads we traveled on are not for the Asphalt Queen.

We checked out Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area.  It has an auto tour around the marsh and lakes.  It had an abundance of Coots and Great Blue Herons, as well as a lot of other shore birds.

We went back to Quivira NWR to check out the prairie dog town looking for badgers and burrowing owls.  We found plenty of prairie dogs, but no badgers or owls.  At least the little fellows didn't have to worry about being badger dinner while we were there.

We went back through the Quivira Wildlife Auto tour and saw some of the same birds that we saw yesterday, along with a Bobwhite and a Pheasant that we didn't see yesterday.

The American Kestrels were plentiful today.

We made a stop in town to fuel up and plan to make another southeastern relocation tomorrow.


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10-1-19 - (Day 69 - Quivira National Wildlife Refuge)

We spent 4 hours riding around in Quivira National Wildlife Refuge looking at the salt marshes on this windy, cloudy day.  Salt marshes are not something you think would be located in Kansas.

We got a lot of good information from the law officer at the visitor's center then walked the Prairie/Birdhouse Trail. There were 100's of Monarch Butterflies and other butterflies as well as grasshoppers on this short 1/4 mile trail.  It was a very enjoyable walk.

We went to the observation deck and photo blind at the Little Salt Marsh.  There were hundreds of shorebirds here, including White Pelicans and Avocets. 

We continued on the dirt, sandy, roads on the 14 mile auto tour to the Big Marsh using our 4 wheel drive at times.  We saw at least 40 different species of birds.  The bird activity here reminds us of the Seaman Lagoons.

The rain started so we skipped the Prairie Dog Town to look for badgers.  We will stay another night and check that out tomorrow.

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9-30-19 - (Day 68 - Lyons, Kansas)

We moved 310 miles in a southeasterly direction.  We are camping at the Lyons Overnight Trailer Park in Lyons, Kansas.  It is another free campsite with electric hookups.  We have access to a dump station, water spigots, and restrooms with showers.  We are living it up!!

We are parked next to the playground.  There are lots of trees with lots of birds.  This is a really nice place.

After traveling 6 hours to get here, we did pretty much nothing this afternoon; other than hit the shower.  We sat outside listening to bunches of birds in the howling wind.  I do believe, this is Ferny Kat's favorite campsite this trip.

We plan to stay here a couple of nights and check out the wildlife refuge.  There is a 90% chance of rain tomorrow so we have left Amber in the garage.


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9-29-19 - (Day 67 - North Platte, Nebraska)

Yesterday, we ran the heater and went to bed with an extra blanket to keep us warm.  Today it was 90 degrees with a howling wind.  What a difference a day makes.

We lazed around all morning, then got out and about at noon.  We went to QDOBA Mexican Eats for lunch. We sat at the bar so we could be waited on instead of standing in the long, self order line.  We laughed when we had to show our ID to get a beer.  The food and service was good.

We stopped by the North Platte visitor's center then went to the Golden Spike Tower.  The young man at the tower gave us the over 62 rate.  One minute we are being carded and the next we are getting the senior citizen rate.  How ironic!

The Golden Spike Tower overlooks the Bailey Train Yard.  The yard is 8 miles long and 2 1/2 miles wide.  It is very impressive to watch them organize the trains.  Lauren and the retired railroad volunteer had a thorough discussion about the workings of the yard. 

We took a ride on the wildlife loop.  This is the place that everyone comes in the spring to see the massive numbers of sandhill cranes.  There was not much wildlife today, and definitely no sandhill cranes.  

We rode around Lake Maloney then made it back to camp.  We sat outside in the howling, hot, wind most of the afternoon, then went in to watch TV.  Tomorrow is moving day.

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