Independence, Kansas

 Independence, Kansas

After a about a seven hour trip, which included our visit to Outdoor World, we arrived in Independence. Kurt’s old buddy, Rob, had called us the day  before and told us about an ACOE campground that is about 3 miles from his house. The campground is on Card Creek, which flows into Elk City Reservoir, where the state park is located. We drove into the campground and found it to be very nice and no one was there other than the camp host. We picked our site, backed up to the creek. The sites were $16 per night, with electric and a water hydrant within hose distance of our site.  We filled the fresh water tank and got all hooked up. We were pleasantly surprised and glad that Rob had reminded Kurt about this place. We unhooked the truck and decided to go into town to Walmart and get food and provisions. We also picked up pizza to take back for dinner, as we didn’t want to cook that night. While in town, Kurt talked to Rob on the phone and arranged for him to come out to our camp when we got back. Rusty had also called and he and Debbie were coming out also. So, our first night was a fun evening of chatting, sharing stories of the good old days in Independence. And of course, we had pizza and adult beverages. The evening ended very late and we crawled into bed after midnight.

The next day we had made plans to go to Rusty and Debbie’s property, where they live in their fifth wheel, when they are not working on the road. Rusty’s family owns quite a few acres back in this lovely valley with a creek running through it, Kurt calls it Woodville, as Wood is their last name. Rusty and Debbie have their piece of land up on a hill that they excavated and built out for their RV. It’s so awesome, with beautiful trees and rocky outcroppings all around. We took a tour of their amazing fifth wheel that they recently had custom built. Man, we would love to someday have an RV like that! Since they live and work from their RV, they have all the comforts of a beautiful home. Rusty drove us down to his parent’s home on the property and we sat around the table telling more stories of the old days. Rusty’s mom, Myrna, is an amazing woman, a regular hard working, caring country woman. It was a hoot listening to all the trouble these boys ran into during their young adult lives! Rusty wanted to drive around the area, go back to Kurt’s farm where he lived as a teenager. They also visited some other friends that Kurt had worked with on the farm. It was so much fun running around the rural area and seeing sights that Kurt grew up around. It is very pretty in this part of Kansas. There are green rolling hills, rivers, creeks and farmland. Rusty and Debbie were going to a grandson’s baseball game, so we headed back to the camper. Rob then came over to visit for the evening. We grilled some chicken and had a fun time hanging out and talking. Another late night, but we enjoyed every minute of it.

For Friday evening, we had made plans for them all to come over for a gathering that night. Rusty called and wanted to meet us for lunch in town at a Mexican restaurant. Rob went into town with us and we all had a nice lunch, then headed back to the campground. Rusty was driving his TBucket, his big toy. Check out the pictures on my Picasa web album. It’s a model T converted to a street rod. It’s beautiful and draws lots of attention from everyone that sees it. Rusty and Debbie were going to run home, then come back to the campground for the rest of the day. When they did return, they were towing the trailer (his rolling garage) with the TBucket. We were all treated to a ride and to drive the car. It was a lot of fun, driving around on the country roads. I’ve never even had a ride in a car like this, let alone drive it! Too much fun. Rob went home to get Gigi, after she got off work. We had so much fun preparing food and drinks! We had a meat feast, with steaks, burgers and pork chops. Everyone brought some food to share. There was so much food that we couldn’t eat it all, so we won’t have to cook for a week! The guys built a huge campfire after dinner and we all hung out telling more stories and having so much fun. Again, another late night, but it was so worth the time that we spent with long-time friends. Now, if we can just get them to visit us in Florida, they will be able to see how we live in the warm winters. (hint, hint)

Before dinner time, someone noticed a snake swimming on the creek toward our campsite! After looking at it, Kurt determined it was a small water moccasin. It came near the shore, then slithered up on a floating log right next to the water’s edge. Luckily, there was a brave Floridian to take care of business, while the local boys sat cowering in their chairs (Kurt’s words). He went closer to inspect it, and decided that we didn’t want that creature sitting there waiting until dark so he could slither up into the camp site. He began throwing large stones to scare it away. Instead, he swam off the log and headed for the shore! Kurt then picked up a huge fire log and smashed the evil creature to death. We were all relieved that he was gone, especially Debbie! Kurt picked up the dead snake and we thought Debbie would pass out. We were able to enjoy the rest of the evening snake free.

We slept in a little the next morning, but we weren’t really in a hurry. We broke down camp and got ready to leave. Rob came by to say farewell, we all had such a great time. Next we’re heading for an overnight flop at a Walmart in Dodge City, Kansas. It is half way to our next stop in Colorado Springs.