Buckhorn to Wapakoneta

by Gary Burke | Jun 26, 2020 | Ohio

Buckhorn to Wapakoneta

WHERE HAVE THOSE BURKE’S BEEN?

Our apologies for the delay in updating our blog! Here’s a quick recap:

We left Rincon West in Tuscon on 3/23/20 heading East to Texas via two favorite locations:
- Roswell, NM – Found we had not seen nearly all of Roswell, so that was fun.
- White Sands National Park (formerly National Monument); it was closed due to the pandemic but we spent a couple of days in Alamogordo anyway.
We moved on towards Texas, intending to stay at six of the state parks that had been recommended by our buddies, Jim and Gayla, but after visiting the first one the state parks were closed down by their governor due to the pandemic. ☹
That first Texas State park was awesome, however: Caprock Canyon was totally beautiful; the canyon is beautiful – like a small Grand Canyon; there were bison all over the place, even in our campground!
Our buddies, Jim and Gayla, met up with us at Buckhorn RV Resort in Kerrville, TX. It’s an awesome park and we loved it and want to go back there. We saw so many of the sights in the area: The Enchanted Rock, Garner State Park (opened for day use only while we were there), The Cross of the Coming King Prayer Garden (left some prayer rocks there), Fredericksburg where the National Museum of the Pacific War was fantastic), and the wildflowers were blooming… the hill country of Texas is truly beautiful. Oh, did I mention we also made it through 2 tornado alerts? High winds and rain …. But no hail hit us (thank heavens). Found out that three days after we left they did have another tornado alert and golf-ball-size hail hit Buckhorn. Got out just in time!
Left Buckhorn for Vidalia, Louisiana. Shortly after we arrived at River View RV Park in Vidalia, the weather folks began warning of tropical storm Cristobal, soon to become a hurricane, Cristobal. We left a couple of days earlier than planned since the hurricane was headed in our direction. We moved out the same day it came ashore and headed up through Mississippi ahead of the storm. In Leland, MI, we got the rains and wind but were out of the dangerous flooding area.
We visited Memphis, TN., staying at the Graceland RV park right across from Graceland. We decided to take the tour of Graceland and were so glad we did! However, Elvis was not there.
Leaving Memphis, we stayed a couple of days in Nashville, then continued North and visited the Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky, the largest caverns in the world. They are breathtaking! We took lots of pictures. We visited Carlsbad Caverns last year and were very impressed; Mammoth Caves are different but still so incredibly beautiful! A must-see.

We are now in Wapakoneta, Ohio. We dropped the CTYII (Close to You II, the name we gave the Airstream) at the factory in Jackson Center, Ohio. We are missing it! Staying in a hotel is not the same for us as it was pre-CTYII ☹. It is getting fixed up and a couple of additions are being made. We hope to pick it up within a week.

Yes, as you can see, we have spent April, May, and most of June making it here to the Airstream Factory: over 2,000 miles! We have gone through tornado trials; outrun a hurricane; dealt with the pandemic situation (and still doing that), and stayed as safe as we could while still taking in as much of this fabulous country as we could. You know what? We live in a wonderful country (warts and all), and the people we have met along the way are really awesome!

You will see pictures of our entrepreneurial great-grandbabies and their folks back home:

You will see that our Josie and River set up an ice cream service, and have learned how to drive!
Miss Lenna Rae and Wyatt are considering going for the “big rigs” and are trying their hand at driving them!
Ezra is growing like weed just as he should be, and marveling at this big brother River, and big sister Josie!
Cam invested in a new boat! I can’t wait to hear about the adventures this will bring!

WAPAKONETA, OHIO

We are staying in Wapakoneta, OH. It is a very sweet town with a beautiful old-town area. It is also the home town of astronaut Neil Armstrong (the first man to land and walk on the moon, 1969) and the site of the Neil Armstrong Museum. We visited both and loved them. The museum is more than just seeing pictures of the moon and his rocket; it is about his life and life of other astronauts. We found he began flying at 15 years of age; preferred flying over riding his bike! We also were so surprised to see pictures of all the astronauts who have come out of Ohio! We loved the museum and the old town area!

Downtown Wapakoneta is truly one of our MOST FAVORITE places in the United States! The people are so very engaging and we loved talking with them. We met Debbie Fisher who writes for the local newspaper and is also one of the most outstanding and enthusiastic people you can imagine. She is a huge promoter of Wapakoneta and loves to speak about its history and what is being done to re-energize the community. We loved meeting her and you will see her in our pictures. We do love this town, and we fully intend to come back. Oh, and there are wonderful places to eat like “J. Marie” and an awesome ice cream and shake shop, Max’s. Had a totally awesome Strawberry milkshake.

WAPAKONETA, YOU ROCK!!!! We are raving fans.

Yes, we are continuing on our adventure, and loving it! Well, not all the time, but MOST of the time, for sure!

Enjoy all our pictures… they are just a sampling!

Best from The Burke’s

We are Out-n-about!

Josie and River’s new enterprise!1C142F5

Josie and River’s ice cream truck!

Gary’s Birthday Hamock

Michael sent a terrific gift!

Baby Ezra

Ezra loves his bath!

Baby Ezra and Dad

Cam & Ezra

Baby Ezra

New toy – Yum!

River – new teeth?

River mugging for the camera 😉

G&P climing Enchanted Rock

Enchanted Rock, near Kerrville Texas.

Cotton Plantation near Leland, MS

Cotton Plantation

The Camp Restaurant, Natchez

The Camp (Under the Hill in Natchez)

Pat and Strange Man in Natchez

Pat picks up a stranger in Natchez!

Loved the T-shirt!

Natchez Brewing Company

Our Fav Coffee Shop in Natchez

Natchez Coffee Company

Waiting for Coffee at the Natchez Coffee Company694FF

Natchez Coffee Company Visit

Maggie Brown at the Under the Hill Saloon

Under the Hill Saloon, Natchez, MS

BFFD657C-E868-497B-8634-093DD2D8C7FE

Rio Frio in Garner State Park

Garner STate Park, Texas

Friendly neighbor in Kerrville

Dave showed us through his private museum.

Entrance to Luckenback

Luckenback, Texas

Entance to Enchanted Rock

Enchanted Rock, near Kerrville, Tx.

Jim and Gary at Luckenback

Luckenback, Texas

Enchanted Rock in the distance

Enchanted Rock

Enchanted Rock Close up

Enchanted Rock

Brookville, Ohio Mason’s Lodge

Brookville, Ohio

Neil Armstrong Museum 1

Neil Armstrong Museum Pics

Neil Armstrong Museum 2

Neil Armstrong Museum Pics

Neil Armstrong Museum 3

Neil Armstrong Museum Pics

Neil Armstrong Museum 4

Neil Armstrong Museum Pics

Neil Armstrong Museum 5

Neil Armstrong Museum Pics

Neil Armstrong Museum 6

Neil Armstrong Museum

Neil Armstrong Museum 7

Neil Armstrong Museum

Outside Jim Henson Museum

Lelan MS, Jim Henson Museum

Brookville views 1

Brookville, Ohio

Brookville, Ohio 2

Brookville, Ohio

Brookville Sweetshop

Brookville, Ohio

Natchez Coffee Company

Natchez, MS

Salt & Pepper from Mike & Debbie

Salt & Pepper

Great BBQ Set from Michael & Debbie

BBQ Set Gift

Walking along the Mississippi

Mississippi River Walk, Vidalia, LA

Distance to Portland

To Portland from Natchez

Mississippi River Walk 2

Mississippi at Vidalia

Cotton Plantation

Cotton Plantation near Vidalia

Bishop’s Prayer Garden Info

St Mary’s Basilica, Natchez, MS

Cam and his new Boat!

Cam’s smile says it all!

Lili Annee Burke

Lili picture # 4999

Flags at Buckhorn RV Resort

Buckhorn RV Resort, Kerrville, Tx

Enjoying lunch at Buckhorn

Buckhorn RV Resort

Pat at the Nimitz Museum

Admiral Nimitz

Another shipment goes up the MIssissippi

Mississippi River Barges

Neil Armstrong flew this plane

Neil Armstrong Museum, Wapakoneta, OH

The Bridge at Vidalia-Natchez

Looking South from Vidalia

Lenna Rae takes on a Big Scoop

Lenna Rae and the Earth Mover!

Wyatt joins Lenna Rae in the driver’s seat

These kids are going to move the earth!

Wyatt leads the way with Lenna Rae to check out the equipment

Lenna Rae & Wyatt in the Scoop!

St Mary’s Basilica

St Mary’s Basilica, Natchez, MS

Pat & Gary with the Mississippi at sunset

Taken from the Under the Hill area in Natchez

St Mary’s Basilica Interior

Beautiful Church in Natchez

Our site at River View RV Park

River View RV Park, Vidalia, LA

Slave Home in Cotton Plantation

Cotton Plantation Museum Visit, Vidalia

Outside The Camp

Waiting for our table at The Camp, in Under the Hill area, Natchez

Natchez Brewery

Great Pulled Pork Sans!

Lili Pic # 4998

Lili Annee Burke

Pat and Gary Entering Graceland

Graceland in Memphis

Elvis #1

Graceland in Memphis

Gardens at Graceland

Graceland in Memphis

Elvis Memorial

Graceland in Memphis

Garden Pic at Graceland

Graceland in Memphis – taken by Flight Attendant we met there.

Graceland Mansion Front

Graceland in Memphis

Graceland National Historic Site

Graceland in Memphis

One of Elvis’ many cars

Almost identical (except the color) to one Michael had

Interesting Statue in Memphis

Memphis