We spent two days at Blue Acres (Boondockers Welcome) over Memorial Day weekend. This was better than a packed, busy campground and provided a quiet place until Sunday afternoon. Our host was delightful, and we would revisit if the opportunity arose. Late Sunday afternoon, we drove to Perry Lake COE where we had a lake view site.

Our visit to Old Prairie Town was relatively non-eventful, with most of the stores closed, but we did enjoy the murals painted on the side of buildings. I was ecstatic to find an all-gluten-free bakery. Those are hard to come by. The cinnamon strudel was delicious, and I took one to savor for another day.

We eagerly awaited our time to climb the State Capital Dome. The building is an experience one shouldn’t miss. The interior is magnificent, as the bottom floor has walls made of limestone, providing a grandiose feeling of awe. Each floor has beautiful tile floors, wooden staircases, and multiple murals depicting historical events.

Standing in the middle of the bottom floor and looking up through the dome makes you wonder how it is humanly possible to create an engineering-challenged and beautiful structure. This is the second-highest dome but the only one that lets visitors climb it to the top. Mitch has a fear of heights but is constantly pushing himself to overcome the fear. When our guide arrived, we looked at each other and acknowledged this would be an exciting journey up 238 stairs to the top. The number of steps wasn’t the issue, knowing the staircase was in the middle with no walls around and a straight fall down if caution wasn’t exercised. I do not fear heights, but going around the spiral staircase made my heart pump, and I could hardly catch my breath. Mission accomplished! We reached the top and enjoyed the 360′ view of Topeka.

Burnett’s Mound is the highest (not very high compared to our dome trip) land point in Topeka. It was a flat trek until the very end, when you reach the peak. It is said this area is sacred ground to the Indians. It was a blistering day, and I was glad to return to the campground and take a breather.

Lake Cheney State Park – Point Campground

Lots to do in Witcha. A visit to Old Town offers a variety of shops, art, murals, a train museum, and a farmers market on Saturdays. The chocolate shop was my favorite. The various flavors were only matched by the unique colorful beauty of the chocolate itself. Worth the trip to try a few of these delectable treats.

This campground is huge. It offers 29 miles of paved roads, 223 reservable electrical hookup sites with water, and over 400 tent camping sites, cabins, and an onsite marina. We were lucky to have a water view.

The bike ride around the riverwalk was delightful, with the highlight of visiting the “Keeper of the Plains” monument. This steel structure was built and donated by a Native American honoring his heritage. It stands at the confluence of the rivers where his ancestors camped. At night, pillars emitting flames surround the monument. However, we never returned to see it in its glory, but we didn’t want you to miss its magnificence.

The next day our exploration led us to bike ride on the Praire Sunset Trail. It was a 24-mile journey through farmland. I spotted the biggest dandelions along the way. At least, that’s what I thought they were. We passed through a city park and spotted a blue sign, “Storm Shelter.” In the middle of the park was a hill with steel doors as its entryway. I wondered how many people could fit inside one of them during a tornado, but I hope I never have to find out. I can tell you there was much trepidation on my part when we decided to travel to the Midwest. Hurricanes at least give you some warning, but tornados are instantaneous.

As you can see from the video footage, Mitch has a new toy. An Insta360 camera. He enjoys experimenting with it and hopes it adds a different flavor to our videos.

We relished the beautiful sunsets each night but were glad we were leaving before the Memorial Day weekend as the park would burst with much activity. The weekend was spent at a quiet Boondockers welcome outside Topeka, our next destination.

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Our journey to the following location was a bumpy ride. The roads were not in the best condition, and my thoughts trailed to what I would find once we hit our destination. Much to my surprise, only a few items were affected.

Chickasaw Recreation Area is located in the foothills of the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma near Sulphur in Murray County.  This area was named after the tribe that helped make the original Sulper Springs Reservation possible. There are opportunities to hike the trails, swim, or boat. The sites are pleasantly secluded as the plentiful trees were our surroundings, and not many campers during our stay. Usually, the weekends tend to be crowded, and by late Sunday afternoon, many campers have left. Our stay was primarily quiet, except for my visit to a local casino, and lady luck was not with me.

We decided to kayak on the lake and were pleased to know the inflatable kayak was still working, as we hadn’t used it in over eight months. We had the lake to ourselves and the birds, and it was a perfect day.

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Texas is a large state, and when we left Victoria to head to Dallas, we stopped at a Harvest Host to break up the trip. Point Venture Golf Course was our host for the night. That evening, a storm hit that area. The lightning entertained us as we had not seen one in a while. It was exciting to see the brilliant lighting burst into ragged lines as lit up the nighttime sky. We should have taped it but not a good idea to stay outside in a lightning storm.

Our stay for the week was at Loyd Park, a 1,200-acre park located in Grand Prairie, Texas. The park is situated on the northwestern shore of Joe Pool Lake and offers a variety of outdoor activities, including camping, swimming, fishing, boating, and six miles of hiking, and biking trails. There is also a bridle trail for horseback riding.

After we set up for the week, there were a multitude of butterflies fluttering around the rig along with a visit from a cardinal. Both of these are good omen signs, so I was happy to see them. However, the cardinal repeatedly kept knocking on the window, and it became a major disruption while trying to work. He kept seeing his reflection in the window and thought another bird was invading in his territory So much for omens.

The main reason for our stop was for Mitch to personally meet some of his co-workers. He has worked with several of these individuals for three years and has only seen their faces on Zoom calls. What my husband failed to remember being a remote worker for five years was the arduous, time-consuming commuter travel it takes to get to the office. As you can see by the video, he wanted to make sure you too endured the commute as well. We are glad our office is our 5th wheel as we continue our travels through the United States.

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