LBJ National Grasslands

On our way south through Texas, we chose to stay a couple of nights at the LBJ National Grasslands. By doing so we killed two birds with one stone: we mostly avoided trucking with the trailer through downtown Dallas, and got to spend some time in a secluded area.  Based on our research of the area, it seemed unique and offered 75 miles of multi-use trails called the TADRA. The $2 a night fee (without RV hookups of course) sure didn't seem bad either.

Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge

So we had our second boondocking experience! Before leaving OKC, we did some quick research on the internet on casinos near the Wichita Mountain Wildlife refuge and found several that offered free RV parking. I called them up, and it turned out that the Comanche Nation Casino offered not only free RV parking, but free electricity, as well as an opportunity to get fresh water and dump! SCORE! We arrived on Sunday evening, got situated and made dinner.

Sky, using our attachable grill to make dinner!

Our First Boondocking Experience and Oklahoma City

One of the ways we are hoping to make this trip last as long as possible is to do what’s called boondocking. Boondocking is dry camping, meaning no water or electrical hook-ups, and is usually free. Some examples of boondocking locations are Wal-Mart parking lots, casinos, hospitals, Bureau of Land Management and some Federal land dispersed camping spots. Another type is church parking lots, and we decided to give this one a go in OKC. We picked a park we wanted to be near, then looked for churches nearby using Google Maps. OKC's First Church of Nazarene had a great location, so we gave them a call. We said we were coming through town with our travel trailer, would they mind if we stayed a couple of nights in their parking lot? The answer was “Sure! No problem, see you soon”. THAT WAS EASY! Here is a pic of our parking spot, see if you can find Lucy:

Tulsa, OK and Route 66

Our second day in Tulsa started out with a slow breakfast at the RV park, then Sky decided to try out the Turkey Mountain mountain biking since we were nearby (read his review of those trails here). Afterwards, we had our first go at dumping the grey/black water tanks. Before leaving town, we’d been watching You Tube videos on how to do this properly (yeah, you know it, wouldn't want to mess this up..). We even purchased heavy duty rubber gloves. Turned out, the hose that came with the trailer was broken; we had to make do with some duct tape. Overall, the whole process wasn't so bad, we need to buy a new hose though.

Turkey Mountain Biking

While staying at an RV Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma I decided to give a nearby mountain biking trail a try. Here is my write-up on that trail and the experience I had there.

I will first preface this post with the fact that I did very little research on this mountain biking trail. This certainly hindered me on the ride. Also, what little I did read, rated this trail system as difficult, but well-marked. I would agree with the difficult part, but not so much with the well-market.

To get to the Turkey Mountain main trail head  I would suggest accessing the park on the South or Southwest side and following the power lines in. Unfortunately, I didn't know this beforehand and tried to ride up on some single track on the East, Northeast side, to little avail. See the pic below for more detail, but it involved two very strenuous hike-a-bike sessions, each lasting about 10 minutes!

First Day on the Road!

It’s hard to believe, but the day is finally here! Today we finally hitched up the travel trailer to the truck and set off on our adventure around the United States! Since this was our first day we decided to take it easy and picked Tulsa, Oklahoma as our first destination. We made it to Tulsa in under three hours with no hiccups. 

Right before we hit the road!

Going Away Gifts

We had several going away parties recently, and got some awesome going-away presents. Here are the highlights. My parents gave us this metal I Love Lucy poster, since we named our trailer Lucy.

One of my favorite shows, I Love Lucy.

We Took a Dump on Valentine's Day!

We took a load of trash to the dump technically..but I thought it worked for the title. :o) We finally finished up at our rental property today!!! We signed a contract on the place earlier this week and all we had left was to clear out the trash pilled up in the garage. So we took the large load of trash to the dump. Some of the trash was renovation related, but mostly it was items left behind by past tenants. Here is a pic of the local trash transfer station:

Sky taking out the trash at the transfer station

Snow Day in Northwest Arkansas!

Today we had a small sprinkling of snow in Northwest Arkansas! Skyler, Anya (my little sister) and I took advantage of the fun environment and went for a walk at Lake Fayetteville.

Skyler and Anya with our two pups

Beer Tasting

Yes, I went to a BEER tasting.

A friend of mine, Alex, is a connoisseur of beer, as well as being a home-brewer   He was going to attend a beer tasting at a friend's house and he invited me to join along.  Sounded tasty to me, so I accepted.


Alex's Beer Fridge

We Have a Rental Contract!

After only having our rental property on the market for two weeks, we had numerous interested parties and signed a contract last night! Woo Hoo! Now with that out of the way, we just have a few items to wrap up here in Northwest Arkansas, and we are planning to hit the road on either next Wednesday or Thursday. The Weather Channel and the Almanac (yes, I have a copy of the Almanac, I picked it up for free at our insurance agent's office, jealous?) both predict snow on Sunday night into early Monday. Hopefully that doesn't put a damper on our plans.

Happy Potential Last Week Before We Set Off!

M.

Going Away Chug Run!

So our local running group decided they wanted to give Maria and I a send-off. We all like to run... and drink beer... so what better activity than to combine those two and race! I'm a decent runner and below average chugger, so if I stood a chance, I'd have to make up for it with my legs, rather than my throat and stomach.

The small crew before the start of the run.

House Renovating Adventures

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that we had a few items left on the renovating list. Yesterday we tackled the branch clean up and the plumbing. The branch clean up involved climbing onto the roof and one person holding a branch while the other chain-sawed through it. I picked the holding the branch job, and then we switched places. I even got a picture of me holding the chainsaw!

"Arg, arg, arg!" As Tim Allen would say.

What Sammy Does All Day

This is what Sammy does all day long. He's one of those nervous dogs that has boundless energy, but in between bouts of hyper active excitement, he's usually stretched out on our bed.

This is what Sam does about 20 hours out of the day.

Happy Sammy,

M.

We Took a Day Off

Today we didn't set the alarm and woke up around 11:30. We had worked both days over the weekend, so we decided to take today off. We ate some breakfast and then took our pups for a walk around Lake Fayetteville.

Skyler, Chloe and Sam on a pedestrian bridge at Lake Fayetteville.

Lunch Break From House Renovations

Here are some cute pics of Skyler and the pups taking a lunch break amidst our rental property renovations.

Sammy, playing ball in the backyard of our rental property. 

An Early Morning Run Around Lake Fayetteville

I finally made it out to the 5:30 am girls group run this Wednesday, and was really happy I did as the weather was perfect and my IT didn't bother me too much. When I came home, I woke up Sky and he decided to go for his own run around the lake. Here is a good pic he took while crossing the levee in the morning haze.

Lake Fayetteville, in the morning haze.

Happy Lake Fayetteville Running,

M.