Fall Trip 2021

A trip to Texas to get our camper from my sister's house since the kids are out of school on Friday.   Totally unplanned.  Spur of the moment.  Sometimes those just make the best trips!

Picked up the kids at school, and took off towards Texas, had to stop in Ft. Smith for fuel and noticed that there was an oil leak in the Adventure Machine. Uh oh.  Not good.

Checked the oil, and it was a bit low, so added some while we were there.  We took a route that would lead through Oklahoma and crossed the state line into Texas about 10PM.  Couple of hours later we pulled into my sister's driveway.  Was starting to worry about that oil leak.

Got up and checked the oil leak.  Doesn't look good.  Worried about it getting the Adventure Machine back to Branson without issue.  Hooked up the camper and headed out to see a dear friend in Tyler, and to fill up with CNG (one of the only stations around those parts).  Met up with Allison and her husband at their house, I worked on her computer, fielded a few work calls, and then had to leave after having lunch with them.  Took the back roads from Tyler to Texarkana to see another dear friend who is a church planter there, and caught up with them for a while before heading to Wal-Mart for some groceries.  A short while later, we beat feet to make it to DeGray Lake State Park before dark.   Pulled in to the park and the check-in station was closed, we'll have to check in tomorrow.  Setup the camper and realized that the heat had taken it's toll on the poor camper.  It's been in mostly sub 90 degree temps most of it's life, and the 100plus degree temps did not to well for the plastics inside, they warped a little.  I'll have to get the heat gun when we get back home and straighten them out.  Setup without much further incident.  Noticed that the camper was coated in a fine film of motor oil that had been leaking from the Adventure Machine.  Yuck!

Got up and made breakfast, complete with our daily dose of camping "Tang"".  We tidied up the campsite and hung out the kids hammocks in the tress so that they could have some R&R.  First chance they've had to use them since we got them, it's been a loooong summer, and with the move to Branson and school starting soon after, we didn't get to do much camping during the summer.  We did, however, take the opportunity to go check in at the check in station and buy some firewood for later.  Kids got some things from the gift shop, Corey got dehydrated crickets (I think they were Sour Cream and Onion flavored?!)... Who knew..

On the way back, since it *was* third Saturday, I decided to stop and treat the kids with a good'ol fashioned horseback ride.  Now when they were younger and we lived in Texas, we had horses, but they were much to young to ride.  They all picked a trusty steed (well, the wrangler picked for them), but they had a very fun time riding them.  What a fun experience, lots of pictures!

We made it back to the campsite, and Corey decided to partake in his delicatessen epicurean delights called crickets.  He is the adventurous one when it comes to food.  At them without hesitation, and offered to share...I said no thanks!  Claire, however, decided to try a leg.  I think Jesse and Kaye helped themselves to a piece as well...

After we ate lunch, they lounged around in their hammocks and took the occasional trip into the forest with the shovel to find worms, or the hatchet to find a branch that "was just begging to be firewood" as Claire put it.  Kids rode their bikes and found friends across the road in the adjacent campsite to play with. They found n interesting creature that the kids had never seen before, so Claire and Corey got to play with stick bugs!  

We had dinner, made S'mores and settled in for the night.

We got up and cleared camp, packed and left before 9.  We had every intention of finding a church for today, but it just didn't seem possible.  This is one of the reasons we don't usually camp on Saturday nights, because we feel it necessary to be in church on Sunday.  With all the packing and travel, it makes it very difficult to get to anywhere on time, and not to mention the lack of shower facilities in the close proximity of of the campsite, and clothes that look like a duffel bag.  Not a good way to start the week, stinky and wrinkly.  We prefer squeeky clean and pressed!

With all the travel going on, and the potential oil leak issue, I decided to press on towards home and pray that the truck makes it.  There are things that need repaired on the camper as well, so I'm a little worried that the summer took it's toll on the camper and it might not make it back.  I hoped that it wasn't the case, but the closer we got to home, the more worried I became.  The Adventure Machine started to overheat, but oil was fine.  When rolling, the temps were fine, but when stopped it would start to climb. I have an electric fan, and it was running, so I was having issues figuring it all out. We got to a spot where I could check all this and paused to take a picture with the kids and a *really* big bear.  While getting away from it, I actually caught one of is claws on my head and ripped the skin enough to bleed! 

We continued on and ran into an issue where the road was blocked due to an accident, so being the adventurous adventurers that we are, and not wanting the truck to overheat from being still...  We traipsed off the beaten path farther down the road......and farther away from help should something go horribly wrong.  Against my better judgement, I we went on.  When we were about2 miles from joining back to the main route, we popped a tire on the camper.  Sigh.  I pulled it off the narrow and winding two lane road, across the ditch next some rancher's cattle fence.   Jacked up the camper and removed the tire, it was in really bad shape, it must have dry rotted at my sisters over the summer.  More damage from the heat I suppose.  Changed it only to realize it was....flat.  And I did not have my compressor, because it was in the Jeepinator...  I did, however, have a handheld compressor that I picked up at a thrift store for a couple bucks, complete with case and.....No battery.  But I did find the DC adapter!  Pumped up the tire and continued on down the road.  Filled up with fuel at a little gas station near the Buffalo River recreation area, checked oil.  It was very clear at this point that I had a major oil leak in the Adventure Machine.  Not tada.

Also noticed that I had a latch that failed on the camper which resulted in the lid almost opening and letting the wind/weather in just north of Harrison Arkansas on the four lane road to Branson.  Pulled back over and strapped it down, and made it home to find out that the wind had blown over our fence.  All in all it was a great day, we made it home safely and were no worse for the wear.  We even made it in time for evening services!

God is GOOD!