Beavers Bend 2014 April 25-26 2014

[2bits]

It was a great campout! So glad to see so many designs and get ideas for my build. Thanks for making me and the kids feel welcome! The potluck was amazing!!

Katie, was that you across from me with the Kayaks? With so many people around it is hard to keep them straight! Since you are looking for the long haul camper, a teardrop is definitely a good choice! I fought headwinds all the way home heading South struggling to keep it over 60 mph, and as soon as I turned right I was doing 70 and not even noticing! So size matters!

[katiehallsmith]

That was me! We really enjoyed the paddling, too....

and yes, I look forward to towing a tiny blip of nothing back there...I know what heavy and big can do to gas mileage....I have a 3k# popup and a big 17' ski boat....a teardrop will fit the bill!

Glad ya'll made it home safely!

[Martinjmpr]

Hope to have some pictures up soon. Watch this space!!

[Martinjmpr]

OK, here are a few pics from our first trip to Beavers Bend

Texas state line (Yay! We get to add another state to our map!)



Palo Duro Canyon near sunset:



Our campsite at Palo Duro (we just about had the whole campground to ourselves!)



Big Tom Turkey, his "harem" of 3 hens, and a couple of does all in one spot:



Next state line: Oklahoma, where the wind was really "Sweepin' down the plains!"



Our campsite at beautiful Beavers Bend park!



Squirrels feasting on someone's left-out food!



Selfie by the fire pit!



Fired up my birthday Coleman (12/61!)



Trash was out of reach of the squirrels - but not the crows!



More wildlife at the campground:



(to be continued...)

[Martinjmpr]

We had to show our Colorado "colors!"



These little critters were dropping out of the tree like crazy and even onto Liz's shoe!



The Saturday Night banquet was awesome!





Group Photos were taken (see my note at the end):



Sunday morning we had heard there was a storm coming through, so we woke up early and rolled out, headed for Barnsdall (up in Osage County), where my mom grew up and where I spent my earilest years. We camped at Birch Lake and on a side road we saw this guy, just trying to make his way across the hot pavement:



We visited Woolaroc Park, where my dad worked back in the early 60's. Saw lots of wildlife including these white deer...



...and this horse/zebra hybrid (Zorse? Hebra?):



Woolaroc lodge. If we ever win the lottery, this is what my "man cave" will look like:



More Oklahoma wildlife:



Downtown Barnsdall. Like many small towns, it's been dying for a long time. very few of these buildings are occupied. in fact, some of them have never been occupied in my memory of the town, which goes back to at least 1965.



...TO BE CONTINUED...

[Martinjmpr]

Back at Birch Lake, Liz did some reading...



Another selfie, this one by the lake:



"Bubbles" by Birch Lake. Again, we had the entire campground to ourselves:



Is this a sandpiper? Not sure but it was near the lake:



Liz went to take a shower but came back because there were some critters there (including a scorpion. Nasty!) So she asked if I would go with her and she could see if the men's showers were any better (since we were the only ones in the campground we knew there wouldn't be anybody else to bother us.)

When we got there, I saw this (and yes, that is my hand for a size comparison):



Needless to say, we decided not to shower there as there was entirely too much 'wildlife' for us.

We left next morning, knowing we would have a long drive (667 miles) back to Denver.

Our last "new" state line was Kansas:



The winds were unrelenting. Of course, this was the "tail end" of the big storm that had swept through the South and Midwest, spawning tornadoes and drenching rainfalls, so we didn't ge the worst of it. However, that wind was unreal! Probably one of the worst driving experiences I've ever had. Trying to keep the truck and trailer on the road in the face of 40-60 MPH head- and cross-winds was a struggle. Oh, and there were also visibility problems, like when we went by a farmer's field that had just been plowed up and this happened:



Keep in mind we're going about 65mph.

After 11 hours of this, we finally left the flat plains for the Black Forest hills and trees, close to home:



All in all a great trip!

It was awesome meeting another great group of Teardrop and Tiny Trailer owners.

[Bodyman]

I arrived back home from my extended trip (two weeks/2550 mi) to Beavers Bend late Saturday afternoon 5/3/14. Cole and I had a very enjoyable trip.
I would like to thank everyone especially Linda and Charles for one of the best BB Gatherings yet. I am disappointed that some of the veteran attendees could not make it this year but enjoyed meeting many of the new campers. As always, I know I missed meeting some of the newbies. Hopefully next year.
My daughter (Shannon) and Mark had a good time despite his bout with kidney stones. He regrets not being able to meet many. They plan on attending next year.
A special thanks to Hap and Shirley for my overnight stay at Greers Ferry, Ark and for taking me out for Mexican food. Not really necessary but again thanks very much. We had a good trip from Greers Ferry to Beavers Bend on Thursday morning with Hap taking the lead most of the way. We were surprised to be the first to arrive but things started to fill up soon.
Again, a very enjoyable road trip with the highlight being a relaxing three night stay at backcountry campgrounds at LBL in Kentucky ($7 camping fee for three nights!!!) I hope to make it back there sometime for a longer stay and do some fishing. Will post some pictures when I get them sorted.
I hope to see you all again next year.
Randy