Moving Again

 Alllllll - Righty Then!

We're moving again, well virtually anyway. There is the whole COVID thing after all.

After a lot of frustration with the whole Bloggr by Google software, I (Paul) bit the bullet and I'm going to be using a Wordpress hosted blog. I spend a huge amount of time choosing and editing pictures, (and hopefully making them look like they haven't been edited..), so you, our readers, can enjoy them to their fullest. Bloggr was no longer letting me accomplish this. Please bear with me as I go through the learning curve of using a new platform. 

This platform is easier to use in some ways, and more difficult in others.Please bear with me as I go through the learning curve of using a new system. At some point I hope to establish a consistent look, navigation that works well regardless of the device the blog is viewed on, and pictures that will enlarge and show in a lightbox when you click on them.

That's the goal anyway...

The new blog can be found at 2psinapods.com/ .

If you're an email subscriber you'll need to re-subscribe in the box provided. Sorry about that. I don't know yet if you'll bet the posts emailed to you like before, or if you'll get a link to click on. I guess I'll find out soon enough...

Again, please pardon our dust, but remodel we must.

Thanx, Paul

Time To Settle Down

After having gone through a series of one-nighters we decided it was time to bite the bullet and make a commitment... to a longer stay at a campground. 

Just kidding! When we travel we prefer to stay at National and State Parks as well as other Federal places like COE (Army Corps of Engineers) projects, Fish and Game Refuges, National Wildlife Preserves, National Monuments, etc. These kind of campgrounds are generally less developed than most RV parks and resorts. What they lack in amenities and conveniences they more than make up for in scenery, natural surroundings, spaciousness and wildlife. A plus for us is that we have Senior Interagency Passes that allow us to enter the federally run places for free, and get half-price camping. Naturally, when we're looking into places to stay, we look at these first. 

The first such place was the Heartland Campground on Pomme de Terre Lake in Southwest Missouri. Pomme de Terre Lake is a COE project, and Wheatland is one of several campgrounds they manage there. On paper, (digital paper that is,) the place looked awesome. When we arrived we found that the roads at Wheatland were really twisty-turny, sharp-cornered, low-limb-hanging and the campsites were incredibly hard to get into, paved with gravel (which ran out onto the paved parts of the road and site's entryway). All the sites were terraced which is really nice except that the timbers needed to shore up the terrace walls didn't leave enough room to turn our rig into our spot. The site was positioned roughly 90 degrees perpendicular to the road, which in turn was at a severe downward slope. In order to make the turn and not hit the wall on the high side of the site, I (Paul) had to attempt to drive on the timbers on the low side without going over the edge. 

This was complicated by two factors. First, the the loose gravel on the asphalt caused the truck's tires to slide downhill while I was trying to turn into the site. This was all Isaac Newtons fault. HIS gravity and laws of motion were screwing with my park job! While sliding down, the second factor came into play. Although the road was going downhill, the site wasn't. It was actually slightly sloping up.

We got it in. I don't know how, but we got it in!

So I'm trying to make a 90 degree turn into a spot hemmed into a wall on the driver's side and a drop-off on the passenger side while the truck is tilted at one angle, the HOW at another angle and the mass of the whole setup is being pushed where gravity says it should go. Did I mention the leaves and nuts?

I cannot remember how many attempts it took to get the rig in the site, but we eventually did! I'm glad to say getting out was less of an issue. 

Paul editing pics for the blog

Once we were parked, leveled, hooked up, and settled in, the place was amazing! Our site had a concrete picnic table, a fire ring, (with wood) and a gorgeous view. 

Check out this view

And the views at night were equally spectacular. Even with a very bright moon, we were able to see the milky way. We hadn't seen our galaxy's closest spiral arm since the early 80's! This time of year is a great time for skywatchers because you can plainly see Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn with the naked eye! Add some binoculars and you can see some of Jupiter's moons. The constellation Cassiopeia was in clear relief against the dark sky, and using her as a guide, I (Paul) was able to locate and view the Andromeda Galaxy through my binos. It wasn't overly clear, but I was able to see that it was definitely a spiral galaxy. I can't wait til we're somewhere really dark, and I have the binos on some kind of steady mount! 

Moonshine during the blue-hour at Pomme de Terre Lake

While we were there, we went looking at another COE campground at the same lake, this one near the dam. This campground was where we probably meant to stay as the sites were larger, leveler, and had really easy access. It had some pretty great views too. Should we find ourselves nearby again we'll stay there for sure.

Below the dam, which was more of a spillway, was a really nice looking stream with bluffs on one side. 

Cool to see the layers of sedimentation in the rocks forming the bluff

On the other side the rocks formed ledges that dropped off sharply and ended abruptly. There looked to be a small patch of shoreline just big enough to fish from. And from my vantage point above the drop-off at the end of the spillway, there were some enormous carp to fish for.... 

Nice stream below the dam

That's all we got for now. Until next time...