We are now in Red River Gorge and it’s a gorgeous day. We set off for a couple of hikes from the campground, trying not to worry too much about the bears and ticks which we’d been warned about at the campground. It seems like snakes might be a worry too, with four venonous types here. Mike reckons it’s too cold for them. Mike has no idea.

Today we did five walks.

The first walk was just over an hour and took us alongside a stream to a trickling waterfall. The second walk from the camp took us to a mini arch. On the way Mike pointed our some fresh bear prints. That was a little concerning, then Mike said it was probably dog prints. But dogs aren’t allowed up here….

After our walk, a man came over to our van and asked if we were The New Zealanders. Seems word has gotten around the town that New Zealanders are about. But he just wanted to compliment us on our van. He said he loves the character and retro style, as do we.

We drove into the gorge today looking for hikes to do. We stopped at a local shop and asked for directions, and while they were showing us on the map, one of the girls showed us a photo of a copperhead snake that she’d found in her bathroom that morning. EEK. Now I am really worried about the big gap in our van coming from the engine. I think I’ll get Mike to fix it asap. 

We bought a 3-day pass for $7 which allows us access to the gorge and we can also camp in there for free at designated spots. Inside the gorge, we turned off down a potholed dirt road. Rodger’s soft suspension made it a very uncomfortable ride. Rodge did not dodge the potholes too well. We parked up and hiked about 40 minutes to Grays Arch, which was basically a big arch. 

After that walk we did a smaller walk which took us to two mini arches with neat rock formations.

Our fifth walk for the day was the skyridge walk and my favourite walk. This time we were above the trees overlooking rocky outcrops, similar to the Blue mountains in NSW. We walked across a large arch, then followed the trail through the woods until we were under the arch. Lot’s of neat rock formations along this walk.

It was 5pm by the time we’d finished, so we headed back 30 minutes to the same campground as the previous night.

We tried to light a fire but we had no kindling, so that was a massive fail We need to get an axe. So we cooked bacon and eggs on our grill, and a baked potato in the microwave. When we learn how to light fires properly, we’d like to do some cooking over the fire.

We had a great night sleep in Kincaid state park. Mikes fix seems to have worked and the tank is no longer leaking but we found another problem.

As we left camp this morning it started to rain. No big deal, we thought. We’re in a campervan, we’ll stay dry. But then Mike turned on his wipers and nothing happened. Well this can’t be good.

He popped the bonnet to have look but couldn’t see anything obvious. But when he closed the bonnet, they started working! Weird.

So we’re driving down the road and it starts raining heavier, and the wipers decided to stop again. We arrived in a small town not too far away and we found a garage on the outskirts.

We opened the door to the garage and a thick haze of smoke enveloped us. Three people sat there staring at us like we’d just parked our spaceship out the front.

I said hello and explained our wiper problem to them. They continued to stare blankly. Then Mike spoke and they seemed to understand him but no one made a move to help us. I guess it was chucking it down with rain and we’d clearly crashed their smoko.

After a while, one of the guys got up, put his coat on, and went outside to take a look. He fiddled with a few things and voila, the wipers were working again! He didn’t want payment, so we thanked him and were on our way.

We drove for a good hour with the wipers working, then one of them stopped. Thankfully it was on my side and Mike’s was still working. Just as well too as it began to chuck it down, fork lightning cracking in front of us.

Then my phone started making a scary noise. I looked down and saw it was a tornado warning in the area and to find shelter asap. But we were in the middle of nowhere!

After about 15 minutes we arrived at the red river gorge visitor centre and waited there with a few other people also seeking shelter. We also got the information we wanted on the hikes in the area.

We are camping at whittleton campground and plan to do some hikes over the next few days in the gorge.

The previous evening I had noticed a damp spot on the floor. There was a leak coming from our water tank. We’d put a cup under where we thought it was coming from and turned off the water pump.

This morning when we woke up, it was even wetter and the cup had overflowed. It looked like it was leaking at the filter, so the first job of the day was to find a hardware store.

Thankfully there was one not too far away. Mike bought some plumbing tape and started on repairs in the Main Street. He had to empty the tank, take off the filter, wrap some tape around it, and wait until we could fill up again to test it.

The USA doesn’t have free dump and water stations around the place like in nz, so we’d have to wait until we found a camp.

It was a long day of driving today with not much to see. We stopped at Walmart again and bought an inflatable canoe ( ironically the wordle for that day).

We were heading for a campground just outside red river gorge when Mike saw a sign to Kincaid lake state park. Do we diverted off onto a windy narrow road for about 20minutes. There was nobody on the booth so we just went in and chose a spot.

There were lots of RVs huddled together in one spot, but we went around the corner and there was nobody. The spaces were too small for RVs so we had the place to ourselves.

Our campsite was surrounded by trees and very beautiful. We also had electric and water hookup. We filled our tank and so far no leaks! Let’s hope mike’s fixed it.

We had chicken fajitas for dinner (cooked in our microwave) and it was satisfactory. We were too tired to light a fire so we just went to bed.

After having camped at Yankee Springs campground for 3 nights we finally decided it was time to leave. I could probably have stayed another week, but we need to get to Texas by early June. 

After a short bush walk, we continued on our way. The garmin headed us on the freeway and we really didn’t like that, so we conveniently turned off and found a Walmart. It seems we never have all the stuff we need. Mike needed some rubber gloves for emptying our waste tank and we needed gas for our cooker. Thankfully this walmart had both of those things.

We changed our Garmin and Google settings to avoid freeways, highways and tolls and that took us on the back roads, which was much nicer.

The scenery was pretty flat today. We crossed from Michigan State into Indianna today. Our campground is next to Mississinewa Lake, but we’re not camping right beside it. 

We were both exhaused that we passed out as soon as we arrived. After dinner, Mike decided to make a plunger coffee and it perked me right up. Only problem was, I couldn’t sleep and read my book until well after midnight!

Tomorrow we are heading towards Red River Gorge.

We’ve named our van Rodger. We crawled out of bed this morning, feeling refreshed after a good nights sleep.

The lake was calm this morning and I could see some things swimming backwards and forwards across it, but couldn’t tell what they were. Just a little head poking above the water. I thought I’d seen a beaver the previous day, but these were too small for that.

We managed to get Rodger’s water working today, after another jetlag distaster yesterday. There was another switch we didn’t know about. Even though Rodger is a 1992 model, he is very advanced for his age and this is what caught us out. Our van can use water directly from a hose rather than the tank. To do this, you turn the switch one way. If using from the tank, the switch goes the other way. So that was our problem yesterday, the switch was for town water. Problem solved.

We spent another day at the lake in Yankee Springs as we’re still trying to get our van sorted and we needed another dreaded trip to Walmart. As we were shopping, the staff who’d seen us on previous visits, greeted us like long lost friends. It was at this point we realised we’d become regulars.

Mike needed tools for some odd jobs so he picked up a tool box. The louvred blinds at the back of the van had a gap in them, so we picked up some cheap curtains. Mike picked up an extension lead, and I also picked one up and we didn’t notice until we got back to camp. So now we have a spare. We could probably take it back but we daren’t show our faces there again.

Back at camp we sat, sipping on a zero beer, mesmorised by the lake. Then I saw another one of those things, swimming across the lake towards me. Having seen them in Australia for many years, it looked like a snake. Sure enough, as it got closer, it was a little water snake swimming towards me. At this stage I didn’t know if they were poisonous or not, so I took a step away from the bank. Thankfully It didn’t come onto the land. We found out later that they aren’t poisonous, so that’s a relief.

People are so friendly here, stopping to chat with you. Random people in the supermarket even say hello to you.

We’ve spent three days at this wonderful campground, and we still haven’t done any of the walks around the place. Perhaps we’ll get time tomorrow before we leave.

Internet here is really bad, so blogs have been a bit slow.

Despite going to bed after 2am we were up bright and early after having had a good sleep at the hotel.

Darrin from D&l auto sales picked us up in our campervan and we went back to the dealers to sign the papers and see how the van worked.

Our van is a 1992 Dodge Ram which is kinda ironic as we spent the last 2 weeks of our housesit dodging the ram. 

Super excited, we took our new keys and drove off. The v8 engine roared away, 5.9 litres of power guzzling fuel from the tank, and the money from our wallets. First stop, Walmart! We had to pick up things. A lot of things! BEdding, towels,  cups plates cutlery, the list goes on.

After a few hours of frantic shopping, we found our way to our first camp for the night at Yankee springs state park. The campground is surrounded by trees and our campsite is in a beautiful spot beside the lake. Now the next step, getting our van ready for our first night.

Walmart had regurgitated all over the inside of our camper van. Stuff was everywhere! There is heaps of cupboard space but it’s sectionalised so that nothing actually fits in the cupboards. In my mind, I am  plotting a lot of work for Mike.

We are both terribly jet lagged. You know that feeling where you feel normal, but when you try to think or do something, the simplest tasks take effort. 

First, we plugged in the power to make sure everything worked. Nope, no power. I checked and double checked it was plugged in correctly at the campground socket and the cord was securely plugging into the van. I switched the switches to the off position in case that would help. Nope. 

It was hot and I really wanted to try out the vans air conditioner. Also, we were unable to buy gas canisters for our cooker so we’d be relying on electric kettle for coffee.

Then we tried to get the water working but that failed too. The water was not coming out of the tap. On further investigation Mike found it was pouring out all over the ground. Shit! I thought. We’ve bought a dud!

Then I thought, no, these guys are professionals, they’d make sure everything was working. They’d had it plugged into power when we arrived at the shop, it was working then. I double checked inside the van. What I saw next surprised me.

I looked, I laughed, I FFSaked. Then I set all the fuse switches to on. Suddenly the air conditioning, kettle and microwave all kicked in at once! Stupid jet lag. But at least we can have coffee in the morning

The water is still not working, so we’ll have to take it back to the shop tomorrow. Thankfully it’s only a 25 mins drive.

The next problem was internet. Mike had bought a months worth before we left but it’s next to useless. And we can’t make phone calls because our nz numbers are out of credit and aren’t renewing for some reason. And we really need to ring the car place to find out how to work our water. So back to Walmart we went.

I picked up a cheap sim for $14 which will give me unlimited phone calls and 5 gb data for 3 mths. I doubt the data will last that long.

For dinner we got cooked some microwave Mac n cheese with some salad. It was actually quite nice.

We have to make up our bed every night but it wasn’t too much drama. And it’s really comfy and we had a great nights sleep.

It’s that time of year again where we jet off to new adventures and hopefully better weather. We’ve spent the last 2 weeks looking after sister Jenny’s farm and it’s done nothing but rain.

Our Farm sit went smoothly apart from the black headed ram that terrorised us at every turn. This sheep is an escape artist. He knew all the loopholes between paddocks and made sure to terrorise us every opportunity (Mike, me and Rosa). Not only that, he terrorised the ducks and chickens as well!

But now, it’s time to leave all that behind. We thought we were organised, having packed our backs 2 weeks before starting the housesit. We’d weighed our carry on bags and we both had about 7 kgs each. But as the weeks went by, I’d been adding little bits to my bag. and when I weighed in this morning, it was 9kg! So a mad panic had me unpacking my bag and discarding 2 kg worth of stuff.

As I was loading my bag into Jenny’s car, Mike decided to slam the boot on my head. Okay, it’s not quite as bad as it sounds, just a sore head and neck and a headache for a few hours.

The bus was a direct service to the airport and was easy as. We checked in and nobody even looked twice at our slightly overweight carry-on backpacks.

We had an upgrade pending but they said it was unlikely as the flight was full. About 15 minutes before boarding I decided to ask about our upgrade, and it had come through! so that was a bonus.

It’s a 13 hour and 45 minute flight to Houston, but we left Auckland about an hour late, but still arrived on time, so the flight time was only 12 hours and 30 minutes.

We arrived in Houston, and as we were getting off the plane. there were at least 20 people lined up along the skywalk with wheelchairs. I thought this was odd as everyone had walked onto our flight in Auckland.

We arrived at terminal D, and had a 15 minute walk to terminal C for our next flight to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Our United flight was delayed due to storms in Nashville. Then we had to wait for flight attendants to arrive from another flight which was also delayed. Then they had to wait for wheel chair drivers (yes this is a thing). Apparently family members are not allowed to wheel their family onto the plane and wheel chair drivers were in short supply, which made me wonder why there were so many waiting outside our plane when we arrived.

Our United flight finally took off, and we landed at Grand Rapids at 1am. Our hotel shuttle stopped running at midnight, but thankfully there were a couple of taxi’s lined up. It cost us $28 USD to get a taxi 4.5 miles to our hotel.

Tomorrow we pick up our campervan!