Fall Trip Wrap-Up

I need to wrap up this blog even if it is several weeks late.  This blog will wrap up the final few days and weekend that we camped at Turkey Run.  On Saturday of the last week, we got up early to drive to Warrensburg to pick up Hunter so he could be with us this last weekend.  He had to work the first weekend so he was unable to be here with Keegan.  He is the photographer for the Warrensburg-Lathan football team and they had a final game Friday night which meant we could not pick him up until Saturday morning.

We were on the road headed west early enough to enjoy a nice sunrise.

The leaves have really begun to change making the drive to and from Warrensburg much prettier than two weeks ago.

The Amish were out in the fields and on the roads

On Saturday we went to Bridgeton and ate festival food for lunch but on Sunday we drove to Danville, Indiana to the Mayberry Cafe.  This is a tradition that both the boys like.

Hunter was the lucky boy to eat lunch at the Mayberry Café this fall.  He can see by his face that he is happy with that decision.

In the parking lot of the café we found one more Jeep with its window filled with rubber duckies.

During Hunter's weekend, he and Papaw played a couple game of chess.  Each won one. The three of us played three games of Crazy Cards and again, each won one.  Papaw learned to play chess while he was in the Air Force.  His roommate was an avid chess player so he and Carol would play a lot.  I am not a chess player and have absolutely no desire to learn the game so Papaw is happy that Hunter likes to play.

This weekend  Jason and Kara didn't have to drive to Turkey Run 

to pick up Hunter like Jason did last weekend.  Hunter drove the car back to our house.  That way I could ride in the motorhome with Carol back to Decatur.  Hunter camped for the first time at Turkey Run with us when he was four years old and now he is 18 and able to drive.

There he goes!

Sunday evening the moon created a beautiful view for our final night at Turkey Run.

The first pictures I took two weeks ago showed lots of green leaves on the trees.  Today the leaves have turned colors and it looks like fall.

Here is the motorhome all packed up and waiting to pull out of the camping spot.

  It looks sad.  Leaving will wrap up over 15 years of coming to Turkey Run for two weeks in October. 

This is Gobbler's Knob.  Getting ice cream is another tradition of our time at Turkey Run.  Each weekend we stopped here for ice cream.

    

We made it back to Decatur Monday morning and immediately began the clean-up, clean-out, winterizing process for the motorhome so we could put it in winter storage.  I also wipe down everything and shampoo the carpet.  I want it to be clean and ready to go when we need it next year.   It has been another good year for the fall trip.  We drove the motorhome 3500 miles and the car 2500 miles. We finally made it to Key West and Dry Tortugas National Park.  We spent three days in the Everglades which we really enjoyed.  Part of that enjoyment came from the camp spot we had.  It was the best!  We returned to St. Augustine and Cape Hatteras.  We visited with family and friends.  The motorhome ran well and we managed to load the car and find gas (my biggest time of stress) without any problems.  It was a great year. 

 In January I usually begin the planning stage of our next year's trip.  We know that our Granddaughter Katie graduates from high school in May so we will be going to Florida in May and driving the car.  We don't plan to return to Florida in the fall.  Where will we go???  We don't know.  Maybe we will only go to Turkey Run and stay closer to home, shorter trips along with Turkey Run or not.  We just don't know. We have even thought about selling the motorhome and no longer camp as we travel.  We don't either one like that thought but know that there are phases of life and it may be time for another phase of our life.  We have camped in tents,  a pop-up, pull-behind trailers and finally a motorhome since our first trip in 1973.  It has been great and we have many, many memories.  We have been in 49 and 50 states. Our son described our trips as "an adventure."  That is a great way to describe the last fifty years of trips.  No matter what we decide, we will have the memories, photos and have seen the beauty God has bestowed on this country.