RV ALASKA - Cinnamon Rolls Across America!

I published my first blog post seven years ago in December of 2017.  I started blogging after I escaped from the work force, mainly to document our travels - especially our extended cross-country National Parks trips with our kids.  Plus, I enjoyed creative writing and wanted to do more of it than just produce our annual Christmas newsletter.  And, I was hoping to connect with like-minded adventurers who enjoyed travel and the camping lifestyle as much as Alan and I did.

What has truly amazed me is the number of friendships that have developed during these past seven years.  Connections I expected; ongoing friendships, I did not, but it is with a whole lot of gratitude that I view these relationships.  Many of my connections and friendships are with fellow bloggers; a few are with wonderful people Alan and I have met in our travels.  Today’s post is a story of a friendship that came about strictly due to happenstance and coincidence.  And it’s a “dam” fine story.

Date(s) – September 13th – September 17th

Total Miles Traveled to Date – 19,089

Wildlife Sightings to Date – We saw one rabbit and 4 ospreys at Minooka Park in Kansas.  At Dam West, in Illinois, we found an abundance of birds – a flock of pelicans that gathered every day on a small sandbar in the lake, 19 great blue herons and countless cormorants.

Our wildlife sightings to date now total: 1 fox; 4 feral horses; 3 loons; 2 ptarmigans; 10 ospreys; 101 dalmatians eagles (including 2 fledglings); 4 seagull chicks; 19 swans (including 2 fuzzy cygnets); 12 turkeys (including 5 half-grown young’uns); 9 sea lions; 33 seals; 17 sea otters; 1 river otter; 4 cow moose; 1 bull moose; 5 grizzly bears (including a sow with 2 cubs and the back end of one grizzly retreating into the brush); 8 black bears; 1 coyote; 1 snowshoe hare; 9 rabbits (including one cute little baby bunny and one very fast bunny that just managed to cross the road safely); several small herds of bison with at least 2 dozen young calves; 26 deer (including 3 fawns and 2 bucks with their racks covered in velvet); 9 mountain goats (including 3 tiny and adorable kids); 23 bighorn sheep; 62 elk (including 7 calves that hadn’t yet lost their spots and a number of bull elk with full racks covered in velvet); several small herds of pronghorn antelope (including 2 mamas with 3 newborn fawns between them); 23 great blue herons; dozens of American white pelicans; countless cormorants; at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings; and several dozen ducks (with lots of little ducklings).

Highlight(s) of the Day – On Sunday, September 15^th, Alan and I celebrated our 45^th wedding anniversary.  We awoke to the most amazing sunrise of the entire trip.  What an incredible blessing it was!  Yes, of course, the photo is below - I like y’all too much not to share it!

Back in May, when Alan and I were about to start our expedition to Alaska, “Tracy K in Illinois” commented on this blog for the first time.  Tracy and her husband Billy were planning an RV trip to Alaska as a retirement celebration a few years down the road.  Tracy planned to follow along (and, probably, learn from our mistakes!), taking notes along the way.  As time went on, it became clear via Tracy’s comments over the summer that we shared a lot of personality traits – we’re both frugal “numbers” people who enjoy quiet time outdoors and love all of God’s critters.  That last one became very apparent when Tracy admitted in one of her comments that she made her husband and son hang out with her near a moose bog for hours once, just waiting for one to appear.  I laughed because I recalled the time Alan and I drove back and forth on the entire length of the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire looking for the same elusive creature.  A woman after my own heart, indeed!  In addition, Tracy and Billy are both campers and boaters who enjoy their solitude, so there was yet something else we had in common.  The blog had gifted me with another great connection.

Toward the end of our trip, I decided that, if Tracy was interested in it, I’d pass along our 2024 edition of “The Milepost.”  The Milepost is a mile by mile guide for the Alaska Highway, and it contains travel info on many other roads in Alaska, too.  I knew that if Alan and I made this trip again, it would be some years from now, and I’d buy a current edition of The Milepost.  Since it’s a fairly expensive guide, and I knew Tracy was frugal (she found my blog through another blog we both follow – The Frugal Girl), I figured she might take me up on my offer to mail it to her.  So, via the “Special Messages” section of my August 31^st blog post, I asked her to email me directly.  Before she did, Alan and I got to talking.  We often pass through Illinois as we crisscross the States, and we decided it would be fun if we could meet up sometime in the future if our travels took us near Tracy and Billy – wherever in Illinois they lived.  When Tracy emailed me as I had asked, I asked her if she’d be interested in The Milepost – and a potential meet up for coffee or ice cream sometime if we happened to be near her neck of the woods.  Tracy replied that she’d love to have The Milepost (but wanted to pay for the postage) and, since two of Billy’s favorite things are coffee and ice cream, they’d definitely be up for a meet up.  As I finished reading Tracy’s email, I could hardly believe my eyes.  In fact, I read it twice before I started laughing, and then I read it to Alan.

Tracy told me that they lived in a small town in the area of Carlyle, Illinois.  Carlyle?  As in Carlyle where the Dam West COE campground was?  As in we’d be in their neck of the woods in just two weeks?  Yup, that Carlyle!  If that wasn’t an “It’s a small world” moment, I can’t imagine what would be!

So, on one of the evenings Alan and I were at Dam West, we met Tracy and Billy for dinner at Swamp Tales, a Cajun restaurant just outside of Carlyle, and we had such a good time with them!  Come to find out, they keep their RV at one campground for the summer season – and that campground was immediately adjacent to Dam West.  (I had actually turned around in the driveway there when I made a wrong turn out of our campground on a run to Walmart for groceries.)  So, I got to handoff The Milepost and a couple of other travel guides I knew I wouldn’t use again directly to Tracy – and you’ll never believe what she handed back: a tin of freshly baked CINNAMON ROLLS with cream cheese icing!  Wow!  What a gift – and a tasty gift it was, I can assure you!  As it turns out, Tracy is quite the baker.  At a recent fundraiser for the Lemuel Rhodes Cancer Foundation, Tracy had baked a blackberry pie for one of their friends, a “celebrity” at the fundraiser.  Their friend Wes auctioned off Tracy’s pie to the tune of $400.00!  Congratulations, Tracy!  I have no doubt that your pie was as delicious as your cinnamon rolls!

And so, the very best highlight of our stay at Dam West was the birth of a new friendship.  Usually, we spend our time there biking - through the campground, over to the marina and across the dam on Carlyle Lake.  I have a (very heartwarming) feeling that our future visits will include get-togethers with Tracy and Billy – a brand new friendship and yet another one born from connections with fellow travelers.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that, if these two retire and hit the road to Alaska, they’ll have an adventure as exceptional and extraordinary as Alan and I did.         

Lowlight(s) of the Day – It was a l-o-n-g day on the road as we traveled from Kansas to Illinois, making our way from one Army Corps of Engineers campground to another.  We pulled into Dam West after dark – which I absolutely abhor.  By the time we got settled in it was late.  Really late.  Guess what we had for dinner to celebrate our 45^th anniversary!  Bologna sandwiches.  Seriously.  Isn’t that pitiful?

Campground(s) – Minooka Park is an Army Corps of Engineers campground about eight miles north of Interstate 70 in Dorrance, Kansas.  It was our first visit there, and it turned out to be a large and lovely campground directly on Wilson Lake.  The eight mile trip off the highway was well worth the sweet campsite and the peaceful solitude we received in return.  This is another COE campground that we’d return to in a heartbeat.  The only thing I didn’t like about Minooka Park was the late check-in time – 6:00 p.m.  Of course, that’s offset by a late check-out time – also 6:00 p.m. – but I’d rather have the option to be off the road much earlier than that.  We paid only $12.00 per night for a water and electric site with Alan’s Senior Parks Pass, so I’d happily cough up funds for an additional night’s stay just to be able to arrive earlier in the day.  (Note that I what I call it is not its real title.  It’s just easier to type “Senior Parks Pass” than “National Parks and Federal Lands Senior Lifetime Pass.”  No matter what you call it, this pass allows us a 50% discount on camping fees, so it's near and dear to our frugal hearts.)  There’s a dump station available, and it was a rather nice one, well, at least as far as dump stations go!  We camped at Minooka Park for two nights, and I can see this campground continuing to be an excellent choice for a one or two night stay whenever we’re traveling Interstate 70 through Kansas.

Dam West, another Army Corps of Engineers campground, is one of our favorite layovers as we work our way back and forth across the country.  The COE really knows how to do a campground up right.  The fact that all of their campgrounds are located on reservoirs, lakes or rivers appeals to us immensely.  The dam on Carlyle Lake is within spittin’ distance of Dam West, and the level terrain is conducive to enjoyable biking.  A paved trail leads from the nicely-treed campground over to the marina and on to the boat launch, picnic area, beach and, beyond that, across the dam.  You could easily bike to Walmart, if you were so inclined, since it’s only about a mile away.  I know there are other campgrounds on the lake; however, since we usually use Dam West as a spot to decompress from cross-country travels, we find ourselves often just hanging around camp relaxing.  We really need to get out and explore the area more.  I’m almost embarrassed to admit this, but we paid just $9.00 per night for a lovely waterfront site with electric thanks to Alan’s Senior Parks Pass.  Potable water and a dump station are available, with a well-placed water spigot easily accessible just past the entrance gate.   Despite its 5:00 p.m. check-in time, Dam West has earned its place on our list of favorites; having new friends Tracy and Billy in the area just makes it more appealing.

Laugh(s) of the Day – What did the Thesaurus eat for breakfast?  (Answer below.)

Pics(s) of the Day

Minooka Park - Site F15 overlooking Wilson Lake

What an extraordinary gift for our 45th wedding anniversary!

Dam West - Site 55 overlooking Carlyle Lake

The full moon, one night after our anniversary

An early morning visitor to our campsite

A view of Carlyle Lake from the boat launch area

A view of Carlyle Lake from the bike trail on the dam

Tracy and her delicious Cinnamon Rolls!

Billy, Tracy, me and Alan at Swamp Tales

Laugh(s) of the Day – What did the thesaurus eat for breakfast?  SYNONYM ROLLS!

Up Next – It was hard to believe that our big Alaska expedition was winding down!  Next on our itinerary was the Outdoors RV Owners East Coast Rally that was held at Pocahontas State Park in Virginia.  On the morning of September 18^th, Alan and I pulled out of Dam West and continued our journey eastward. 

 

My thanks to everyone who has joined us on our travels in 2024.  It has been a true pleasure having you along for the ride!  Best wishes to all of you for a wonderfully happy and healthy New Year that's filled with delightful adventures and all of life's best!