How Are You Doing??

I've been slow to get an update on here...and I am so sorry! But with all the CoViD-19 activity it has put a sobering cloud over activities. And, when I am parked for an extended amount of time, there is not always much of interest to "impart" to you!  🐸😉

 I'm setup at the family home place...and as my little video shows, you can often find your own little piece of "the woods" no matter where you happen to be! Which is one of the things I want folks to learn. Always look around wherever you happen to be...there are "woods" available almost anywhere!

As for the act of  "Social Distancing" I am sitting almost in the middle of 3.27 acres of buffer land!!  If it weren't for the traffic it almost feels like being in the middle of the woods!!

 

I spent the weekend at a friend's place up on the mountain here. It was a great weekend. It is so nice to be able to take a couple of days and visit with a good friend that you haven't seen for almost a year!

He had been working on straightening up his basement and rearranging when he found something that I ended up with! 

It's a "Caloric Cub" camp oven! It is only, probably, 55+ years old...and I believe still in perfect working condition! A little of the vinyl trim is gone, but other wise seems to be perfect! The company also made kitchen stove/ovens. It is really neat. It cooks by "infrared"...and uses a 1lb propane bottle. I'll be testing it in the near future.

      

From what I've been able to find out, the company was started in the late 1800's. Over the years they were swallowed up by larger companies that bought it for it's "technology".

 I watch NHK World quite a lot. It is the Japan National Broadcasting company. Sorta like BBC, but Japan. The main difference is that it has really superb coverage on Japan/International/US news, weather and also Japanese Heritage & Culture. I have enjoyed watching it for years! Their news coverage is very good and very balanced. And from what I see, at least in my opinion, they are about the most balanced coverage I've seen in years. And if you spend some time watching the programs that deal with heritage & culture it becomes very deeply interesting very quickly! If interested, here's the link...

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/live/

Like I always say...everywhere you can go there are sunsets & sunrises that are beautiful! You just have to slow down and take the time to soak them in!

I'm looking forward to getting back on the road in a couple of months and sharing the sights and sounds. And I do so hope that you will have a chance to take the time to get out and see this beautiful country!

And always keep in mind our acronym...

AYNTSI

America, You Need To See It!

Hope to c'ya soon!!  

Frog, Abbie & Snickers

🐸🐹🐱

Made it!! Alabama for a while!

Got to Alabama this past Saturday (2/29). Was a pretty good run! Even the one "negative" on the trip has had a "positive" outcome!

I headed out on 2/22 from the DFW Metro. Had a going way breakfast time with my buddies, won't get to have breakfast with them for a few months. Was a good visit to start out the trip on!

Drove a bit further than I usually do for a day's drive. Spent the first night at the Louisiana Welcome Center. It's a really goo

d stop because it is quite new. Lots of "Truck/RV" parking. Very nice facilities and very clean! And, ""I must admit", it was nice to fall to sleep listening to diesel engines idling!  LOL!  Too many years on the road trucking! It really is amazing how we humans can find "comfort" in what to many are strange situations!

Sunday morning (2/23) went in and got the current Louisiana road map. When I got to looking at the map I realized that it has NO mileages between points! And I mean NONE! I've never had a map that didn't have mileages on it. Strange!!

Stopped at Kroger in Shreveport and topped of gas. It was misty and overcast, almost stayed there. But after a break it quite misting & started to see some blue in the sky, so headed east on I-20.  

Stopped in Gibsland, LA and visited the "Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum"! Quite a little museum. A lot of trivia about that day. A lot of information about Bonnie & Clyde's lives, their families, etc. There were more artifacts, authenticated even, than I expected. Pictures all over the walls. 

Actual newspapers, reprints, posters, displays of

period items, a video of the incident (runs about 14-16 minutes)...a really decent little stop. It is the one thing in Gibsland...the museum! And the entrance is through the gift shop. $7 to go thru the museum, kids 5 & under free. I bought my usual sticker & magnet for Europa.

Drove a bit further than normal, again!  LOL!  Topped off gas in Rustin, LA and ended up spending the night (2/23) at WallyWorld RV (heheheh) in Ruston, LA.

Topped off at Murphy, Ruston, LA next morning and headed east. Destination for the day was Vicksburg, MS and the Vicksburg National Military Park. Stopped at the Mississippi Welcome Center to get the current map. And I actually drove in rain for half the drive (a rare thing for me to do). Got there early enough to go through the Visitor center, take a few pics, get my sticker & magnets before closing time.

The parking lot at the Park has no gate, locals come in to walk & jog the park. Soooo...I thought I'd park there for the night. And I made it until about 2015!  LOL!  The Ranger stopped by and let me know there was no overnight parking there.  LOL!  We both got to chuckling when I said "yeah, I was wondering how long I'd make it before she had to tell me to move along!" 

 
So packed up and drove back to the WallyWorld about 4 miles away. It was actually very quiet at Wally. Woke up to heavy fog on Monday (2/24), so sat for a couple of hours before the sun burned it off.  Stopped off at Murphy, topped off gas and headed back to the Battlefield.

Drove the Battlefield (2/25), took pictures, walked up/down too many stairs/steps. but was a beautiful day for it! Then stopped at the USS Cairo museum/exhibit. It's an "ironside" battle ship from the Civil War era. It was found, what was left brought out of the river, and a reconstruction of the basic ship built, using the items & plating brought up. I was actually surprised at how much of the ship had actually survived the 100+ years under water.

There are some very nice views of the Mississippi River from the battlefield. When there you are seized by the view and you end up staring at it for longer than you planned. 

Drove to WallyWorld in Forest, MS for the night(2/25 AND 2/26). Was idling Europa to charge batts for a little while and found out I had a rather large leak in the fuel line! It rained for most of the day, so a second night in Forest. Morning 2/27 (Thursday) got under the house to see what needed. Called O'Reilly's and Johnny (store mgr) sent me 2 end pieces of hose for free & I paid for a box of small clamps. Ended up having to get a longer piece of hose. But got it on, leak stopped and on the road by 1430.

Stopped for the night (2/27) at the rest area just south of Eutaw, AL. Nice, quiet night. Got a good night's sleep. Topped off gas next morning at Pilot, Tuscaloosa, AL on the way to Pell City, AL to visit the kids there & spend the night. It was a good visit...and the g'kids are growing too fast! Or I'm just getting older too fast!!

Got into Gadsden Saturday afternoon (2/28)...8 days on the road, 780 miles...so overall ran my daily average of miles. The only downside to the trip was the fuel line. BUT...it had a bright side..real bright!  Since fixing the line, my average mpg's has gone from +/- 7.5mpg avg to 10.45mpg avg!! A few more tweaks and dualie wheels on Europa...I might actually get her to 11+mpg!!

So this brings me up to date! In Alabama for a couple of months, but I'll be making several 2-3 day trips to see some things that I never took time for when living here fulltime!

So stay tuned as we make repairs, updates and short trips over the coming weeks!!

C'ya soon out here!!

Frog, Abbie & Snickers

Another Eventful Trip!! (late post)

(First trip..1/24-2/2/2020) 

I'm a little behind on letting you know about the rest of the trip! So now is a good time to get caught up!

After my visit to the "Chairy Orchard" I headed towards Jacksboro, Tx. Destination was Ft Richardson State Park. A really nice historic spot. Well kept up & quite informative. It also has quite a nice campground area! Shaded spots with elec & water, a sanitary dump station, primitive sites for tenting, tent pads at the RV sites, nice gift shop and the whole thing has a paved road!

These three pics are from the restored "Officers Qtrs" on the grounds.  It is the last of the 5(?) houses on the fort.

   This pic is the interior of the restored barracks building

 

 The above was the fort "magazine"

From the officers house, display about Tx at the time of the fort & it's commanders.


My first trip of 2020 ended up rather eventfully!  As I was doing my daily pre-trip before heading out on the road for the day I happen to notice a rather large protrusion from one of the rear tires!

Sooo, I proceeded to get bottle jack, jack stand, electric impact tool, etc out of Europa. Started to loosen lug nuts...got one done, started 2nd nut...and the impact "dies".  tried 3 times with same result...stuttered couple of times & dies!

The inverter kept showing "HiP" on display...which I decided must mean "High Pull" or possibly "High Power"...which caused me to look closely at the impact tool.

Guess what...it's pretty hard to run a tool that draws 840 watts power...when your inverter is 700 watts! LOL!

Parked Too Long!!

First Trip of 2020

 Welcome to

"The Chairy Orchard"

If you ever make it to Denton, Tx you need to stop by "The Chairy Orchard". Talk about a novel place to soak up...this is one of those places!

I had the pleasure of meeting Judy. She & her neighbor decided to take what started as "the chair tree" in Judy's backyard & move it into the empty lot between their houses.

The idea took root as something for the grandkids, basically!  LOL!  It has grown to grand proportions!  Their original goal was 100 chairs...which took a surprisingly short time to acquire. From what I could "guess" at by a quick count...they have surpassed 300 so far!

From the arbor entrance to "chair and chair alike"...to a "cemechairy" to a wall of chairs to the "Chairosel"....to....sooo many different spots in the "orchard"!

  

 

The Chairy orchard has another great aspect to it....

It is a hands-on spot...there are no "Keep Off" signs!  In fact, you are invited to sit under the big tree in whatever chair you choose & just soak it in!  Slow down, relax, read, nap, have a picnic...there's even a big hammock to relax in for a few minutes during your visit!

So just do a search for it in your map app, or with your web search app and if you get close to Denton...stop in!

The Orchard is open daily, closing at sunset.

Get out of town and see this grand country! There is so much to see, do and enjoy! And some really neat folks to meet!

Hope to see you out here soon!

C'ya,

Frog, Abbie & Snickers 

Summer in AZ 2019

 

It was a good summer in AZ this past summer. Weather was good overall & the temps were livable! I was in the Alpine, AZ again

I'm back onto Blogspot for the time-being until I'm able to get my website back up and running. So time travels onward!  

I've  been in the DFW Metro area since the end of October. Visiting with the kids and folks, spent a couple of weeks working with Toys for Tots and I'm in the middle of doing some repairs and upgrading to Europa.

I'm getting close to being headed for Alabama. I'm planning on getting on the road February 21. Spend 4-5 days getting there is the plan. 

I put together a couple of quick videos of a couple of stops coming back from Arizona....thought you might like to see them....

 This video is a slideshow from a stop while still driving a truck that I put together just to start getting back used to my video editing program. 

So "back on Blogspot" for the time being...and just might stay on here for a few months...time will be the judge!!

As always, "headed for the woods & backroads" so stick with us. I'll be headed out this coming Monday or Tuesday for a 5-6 day excursion just out of the Metro...to get a little peace back into my soul!!

Hope to see you out here soon...on the road & off the grid!!

Frog, Abbie & Snickers

 

Still in the Metro!!

Hi gang!  We're still in the Metro...and will be for a couple of more weeks!

Just barely started with the maintenance & repairs to Europa. A couple of major things that I had planned to get done I've decided that they are more like "Winter Projects" than beginning of summer projects!!  So doing the repairs that we have to get done to be able to get back out on the road. And these will take a couple of weeks to work thru & work out!!

So hang in there with us...we'll be back on the road soon!

Something else I needed to let you know...I will be moving my blogging to the AYNTSI website soon. Trying to keep up one site is a pretty much full time job for me...keeping up with 2 or 3 is just not working!!

That said, by the time we roll out of the Metro and get back on the road, everything will be on the website!

"Frog's Travels" will be the blog page

"Sites along the Backroads" will be photo & video galleries

AYNTSI Store is just that - books, pamphlets & Photos for sale

 As I have said...I've been away from "technology" for such an extended time that I working with brain cells that have been dormant for a couple of decades almost!! So it's been slow going, but it's getting better each day!!

If you haven't been there yet, check out the website when you get a chance...

www.ayntsi.us

That pretty well brings "life" up to date!! I still have an itinerary...NM, AZ, UT, NV, maybe CA...and then heading East to AL for the winter...sometime in the Oct/Nov time-frame!! 

Always have an itinerary...just don't have a REAL schedule!!

Take care and hope to see you out here on the backroads soon!!!

C'ya

Frog, Abbie & Snickers  

The Island! (Late Post)

(Apparently this never posted from Padre Island!)
All settled in on the beach. About a mile from the end of the pavement of the road coming down to beach. It was fairly busy this weekend...Cinco de Mayo weekend.

I have figured out that my favorite time on the beach is 1900-0800!  If I'm going to be hot, I would really rather be in a dry climate...all this moisture is really tough for me!

 I've had a couple of fires...with the predominate wind coming onshore it makes it so nice not to fill Europa up with smoke!! Also cooked a potato & it came out great! Does take about twice as long as when you throw it into the coals...but it came out sooo good!

 

Just had to include a pic of one of the "pelican patrols"! This is one of the largest patrols that I've seen!  They are just really cool birds.I think I saw a Caracara this morning, tried to get a pic of it, but it stayed on the inland side of the 2nd sand dune & never got close enough to get a good shot at it. Shot as with a camera!!

In The Metro!

 

Made it a little over halfway on the first day! Made it to this roadside picnic table spot just after sunset. Actually ran longer than planned because 2 of the spots I was shooting for were shutdown. But it worked out ok. This one was in the middle of pasture land, had good breeze all night, cooled down nicely and was relatively quiet! 

 

I arrived at the kids place at 1830 last night. I decided to run from Waco to here on I-35 & I-35W. That was almost a mistake! The traffic wasn't any worse than usual. Actually, it was lighter than I expected. But it was HOT! Every time a pack of cars & trucks would catch up with me and pass me it was a lesson in how much air flow is restricted, even at 65-75mph, as vehicles travel down a road! Even at that speed I & Europa would start heating up! 

I think Europa did better than I did! By the time I got here & parked I was completely drained. By the time I got thru the heat, the stress of dealing with the other "drivers" (I use that term loosely), I was exhausted!

I was shocked at how quickly I was able to unhook Sidekick, get Europa backed in and then Sidekick! It was all done & settled in under 20 minutes! I do believe that was a record!!

So I'm off the road for 21-28 days. Today I re-hydrate, relax some, start the unload (also called the purge) of stuff in Sidekick and prepare to get onto Europa's issues. If all goes well she will be road ready in 3 weeks.

So hang in there with us as we make repairs, updates & upgrades to our mobile tiny house!! 

C'ya soon!

Frog, Abbie & Snickers

 

Headed North to the Metro Tomorrow

Just a quick update...heading north to the DFW Metro area tomorrow! Have had all the beach fun I can take for now! 

Have to get to the Metro so can do a few major repairs to Europa. Will be fixing the exhaust manifold issue on her. Also installing a new solar controller & adding another 100w solar panel. That will take our on board solar output to 400w. And I'm considering adding another 100w in a couple of months.

Still planning out our travel itinerary for the next few months. Always keep an itinerary...it's the schedule that is seemingly always in flux!

Be sure to check our website every so often. I'm about to add a page for offering "guided" trips. They will be set up for 2-3 RVs and they will be "topical"!  I'll do all the planning - stop-overs, night camps, things to see & do and the cost per person. 

The trips will not be to the spots that are usually inundated each "vacation season", but to see things off the "beaten path" where crowds don't exist! There will be nights in RV parks, nights in campgrounds and nights dispersed camping (that's what I've always called dirt camping - off the grid).

Some of the trips I'm thinking about will be to places passed up by the pace of today. Other trips will be totally arranged around Nature. Some dealing with historical things. Some will be for "beginners" all the way up to the "old hands"! I'm even considering doing, possibly, age groups or family groups.

So, in case you haven't, bookmark the site....

www.ayntsi.us   

Also, hopefully soon, this old brain of mine will be able to figure out how to put a "subscribe" button on the site! If wanted, you can leave your email in a comment section so as I get my newsletter started I'll be able to make keeping up with AYNTSI.  

So hang in here with us...I hope to see some of you out here on the road soon!!

C'ya,

Frog, Abbie & Snickers

 

Off the Beach - Surge!!

 NEVER A DULL MOMENT WHEN FROG'S AROUND!!!

It was a good time while it lasted!!  Had a nice spot about a mile from the road end...little cutout in the dunes....high tide mark was probably 25+ feet from my camp....cooking my potatoes in the chiminea....and then.....

 .....I woke up Wednesday morning to the above excitement!

 

Yup! Overnight a front/storm had moved in over the Gulf, the winds had hit a high speed of 32mph overnight, and when I opened my door that morning I was greeted by the tide swishing past and under Europa!! Not a very secure feeling!!

 So after I got over my initial shock...and moving things out of the way...and surveying the situation....I gave the kids a call and...the cavalry was on the way!!

At least it was a pretty day....sunny, windy, too warm!  LOL!  Didn't take long to get Europa free from the sands. Tera & I dug the rear tires out some & ramped the sand. So when Greg gave a good solid tug Europa fairly well just popped out of the holes. It did take a heavy foot on Europa...but I was proud of her...came right out and we headed for the pavement!!

I'm back in front of Tera & Greg's place in Corpus Christi. But I made it 6 nights on the beach...and I will say it is really pretty from about 1900 each evening to about 0800 each morning!!!  LOL! I'm just not a sun & sand kind of person!

If you are a sun & sand kind of person, Padre Island is your spot, North Beach....you stay right there on the beach, the only fee is your park entrance fee. Camping is for 14 days...you will love it!!

 The deer come down to the rich grasses on the dunes morning & evening...you have several flights daily of the "pelican patrol"!....there are even locals that perch on the facilities for tourists at the Visitor Center!!! And they are quite friendly...even if they also happen to be a bit messy with their hygiene!

But no matter where you go once on the island you will have excellent views....

 expansive views of beautiful skies.....

and unique places to park and enjoy the sand, sun and beach!!

  Just remember....don't do like Frog....

make sure that you keep a close eye on the weather, find a GOOD weather app and when the skies look like the above sky....

LEAVE!!!!

LOL!

Hope to see all of you out here one day soon! I'll be headed north for the DFW area next week. Then about the middle of June I will be headed out to the Western Lands for the summer...and possibly the fall.

Please try to take a minute and visit my website that is actually up and running now..... www.ayntsi.us ...... I think you might enjoy it. And on this blog home page is a button for becoming a "patron" of AYNTSI...I hope you will think about becoming a patron and share what Frog & AYNTSI are all about and offering!

 Take care, travel safe...but Travel!!

C'ya,

Frog, Abbie & Snickers