A white alpaca with a long neck and a yellow plastic ear tag, smiles for the camera.

Smiling right back at ya.. #ArkOnWheels

I don't know how far you'll have to scroll back to see the whole trip to Arkansas, but it was posted here last year #ARKONWHEELS hashtag

GMC Sierra AT4
#GMC #GmcSierra #AT4 #6.2L #ProComp #ArkonWheels #Nitto #RidgeGrappler #Airlift #LiftedTrucks #YESSUURR #LopezLake #ArroyoGrande

A black sky, split by bright red of the approaching dawn

Found another 400 photos...
#GoodMorning #Bonjour #GutenTag

I've returned to the world of internet and telephone.
Downloaded my camera and there's still my #ArkOnWheels adventures. I'll sort and share later
Going to post my heardle game shortly. Play along?

I really researched for my #ArkOnWheels tour. I did mile by mile of every highway, checked every parking lot. We had a major problem without a place to park until end May.

A silhouette of a couple against the setting sun over Lake Erie.

Watching the sun setting in Geneva, Ohio.

#Selfie #ArkOnWheels

You know there's more photos, right? I was averaging a GB of photos/videos for each of the 30 days we were traveling.
I've just included some samples in each of the storytelling segments of our trip. Here's the summation in #Video form, through YouTube. #Alpaca #ArkOnWheels
Thus ends another day.

A lady with a blue ball cap on, glasses and standing at the rails where an Alpaca is fenced behind

Inside the merchandise store, a row of shelves, multi-colours dolls, gloves, socks, key chains, every imaginable item with Alpaca wool in it

The Gift Shop dolls, modeled like Alpacas instead of bears

A model Alpaca, and more shelves in the store portion of the farm

You could look at Alpacas all day, couldn't you?
We're off to the Gift shop, to support our Host.

As mentioned before, Members of Harvest Hosts are encouraged to support their hosts, buy their wine, food or crafts. A small purchase in an Alpaca store isn't cheap.

#Alpaca #ArkOnWheels

A group of smaller juvenile Alpacas. Separately penned from the adults

A fluffy little cream coloured baby alpaca with a pink collar and a name, 'Tapioca', it looks like it reads

A white baby alpaca, laying on the floor, lower than the bars that contain them

A little black Alpaca on the floor with another above seems to be touching its ear, perhaps the mother

Separate buildings, separate pens, the nursery unit is over here..

Once you've seen one baby Alpaca...
naturally, you'll want to see the rest. .
#Alpaca #ArkOnWheels

A corral of Female Alpacas. There's a separate pen for each group

The face of a mother Alpaca. The smile looks so fake.

This Alpaca has some straw stuck to its face below the eye, and just adds to the funny face. the back looks knitted, from fresh shearing

Looks a bit Snooty.. The Real Housewives of Green Acres. Alpaca

"How will she look when she's older? Look to the mother"
These are the mothers. LOOK AT THE MOTHER

It's hard to get them to look directly at a camera.
They all want to show their best side on the runway.😉

♪ To all the girls I've loved before
Who wandered in & out my stall

#Alpaca #ArkOnWheels

An Alpaca is at the bars of the enclosure, and a woman and a man face it from the outside. The man appears to be offering a kiss. He's a former sailor, they'll kiss anyone.

A black furry looking male Alpaca, all by itself inside a large gated area. He's responsible for a number of new babies and can't be trusted around the ladies.

"Kiss the Greeter", naa.. I hear they spit.

This farm has several large buildings, barns for groups of #Alpacas & a barn for the nursery of those who have recently given birth.

Only 1 Male was corralled away from Females?
He's been busy boy! There's a lot of babies.
#Alpaca #ArkOnWheels

Parked behind fencing, against a treeline, and surrounded by other vehicles, is our old motorhome. It's just a parking spot on the grass

SIGN - WARNING, under Ohio law there is no liability for an injury or death in an agritourism activity conducted at this agritourism location ...... etc..

It was an enduring drive from Missouri, through Illinois, Indiana & into Ohio before evening.
We were arriving at an #Alpaca farm.
Today's #ArkOnWheels Adventure: 'DOWN ON THE FARM'

When I contacted our host, he said he'd meet us to lead us around back. A big group event was going on inside.

In the world of Alpacas, this one is a beaut. Cute and ugly at the same time. There's a coral of them, with one face in the center

Today's story seems long, and the day hasn't ended.

We'll be staying, on this night, at an #Alpaca Farm in Medway, Ohio, which is really just a parking spot, on a farm, with a lot of expensive pets that make great photos.
I'll show you the rest tomorrow.. #Alpacas #HarvestHost
#ArkOnWheels

The city of Indianapolis, Indiana, with a large dome top building in the center at the end of the two lanes of highway.

SIgn, city market exit 111, President Benjamin Harrison Home, Exit 113 (from the side window of the Motorhome, a mirror edge in the bottom right corner)

The front of a man's face, arm, steering wheel, window and mirror. Driver wants a break, maybe some lunch, it's been 5 hours since we left.

SIGNS Dayton Ohio, east 70, North 65, Exit 80 South 64 Louisville and four lanes of vehicles filling each lane

♫ Indiana wants me ♫ #NowPlaying #NSR R Dean Taylor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZL_...
Lord, I can't go back there ♫

That's Indianapolis ahead. Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, It's been 6 hrs with breaks, but I'd like to gas up, grab a coffee, have lunch, & pee before we enter Ohio #ArkOnWheels

Sign Blue Star Memorial Highway. A tribute to the Armed Forces that have defended the United States of America

All the other trucks parked in Tractor Trailer spots, My motorhome is just on the edge of the curb at the rest area parking lot

Well manicured lawns and building of the rest area, again, unmanned, just a washroom and information with vending machines.

Sign at edge of rest area, and RV Motorhome in the distance. Sign readsd, PLAINFIELD REST AREA

They say (Whomever They Are), you shouldn't drive longer than 2 hours in a Motorhome at one time. It's tiring, and sometimes stressful, with wind, thunderstorms, reckless drivers, and fatigue. Never pass a rest area. The first one in #Indiana was at #Plainfield.

#ArkOnWheels

A narrow gravel drive, a woman pointing a camera at a tree on the left, and below the tree down the path, is the motorhome parked.

A half-dozen headstones of the cemetery, revealing names, such as, LEVINGSTON, LYTLE, ADAMS, WATTS

The edge of the highway again, yellow flower tops along the fields that follow the road, and a big tree every now and then

Highway signs, 70 East, Indianapolis, BLUE Rest Area WELCOME (to Indiana) sign

I get up pretty early each day, it might be several hours before my wife joins me for coffee. With few places to pull over, even for a bathroom break, I stopped at a cemetary and stretched my legs checking out the headstones.

And hit the road again, moving into Indianna now.
#ArkOnWheels

Large billboard in a farmer's field, I ♥ Firefly Grill

A cemetery, urns most likely, just small markers and zero flags

A church steeple, a gas station FAST STOP, an a mural of the USA Flag on the building in the center. Highway signs everywhere, to get back on the 70

Closer view of the American Flag mural on the wall of a brick building

Never heard of them www.ffgrill.com but their advertising worked. I looked up #FireflyGrill. Everywhere we traveled, particularly before Memorial Day, there were cemeteries lined with Flags. We saw only one without them. We'll be another State, a pitstop in #Teutopolis for gas/coffee.
#ArkOnWheels

Silver Lake Rest Area, a brick building, and parking lot

Appearing tiny, a 25 foot motorhome is parked between two big tractor trailers.

Memorials at the rest stop, Blue Star Memorial Highway and Illinois Remembers POW

The short neat lawn at the rest area with picnic tables and covered sheltered ones.

A brief pause at the Silver Lake Rest Area, so we can say that we've experienced #Illinois 😁, stretch my legs, & see what critters might be new. We still never saw an Armadillo & I don't think they extend far into this State.
#ArkOnWheels

A 24 by 8 foot wooden highway sign, starting with INJURED? and a phone number for lawyers to sue for you..

Three lanes each way, the safest lane for me, is second from the right. Right lanes get forced to exit, and there's a passing lane to the left. Still have people pass from either side, at speeds up to 70 MPH

Is it a three-wheel car, or a three-wheel bike? The Motor vehicle that put a car front on a motorbike, and is driven like a car. It's in the passing lane

Looking out the windshield, and almost daily observance, dark clouds forming. We might drive ahead of it, but we've been in several SEVERE STORMS with Tornado warnings so far this trip, another day would seem normal now

Next to Real Estate & Politics, 'Sue Someone' signs dominate #Illinois highway landscapes. Also acres of, "Guns♥You" propaganda signs. Boring motorway, too many lanes, passing from both sides.., oh look, a backwards 3-wheeler! Remember Charlie Brown's rain cloud followed him? Like this
#ArkOnWheels

Sign through windshield. ST LOUIS (EAST) and 4 lanes of highway below it

Twin Louis Blanchette Memorial bridges, crossing Missouri River. 5 lanes in each direction. Lots of cars

Looks like a rail bridge, crossing the Mississippi River

Sign CHICAGO, SPRINFIELD 55 North

♫ On The Road Again ♫
#NowPlaying #NSR Willie Nelson
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Gg...
I just can't wait to get on the road again ♪
Crossing #Missouri river & Mississippi River into #Illinois,
with Chain of Rocks Bridge, as we head east. We have a Harvest Host booked for the night.
#ArkOnWheels

A dark outline of a woodpecker in a tree above

A bird nest, just above our heads at the top of the gazebo

A cicada bug. There was supposed to be an abnormal amount of them, and in all the states we crossed, this was the only intact one.

Narrow gravel trails, the width of a park path, but are the driveway between the trees. It's curved, which makes the swing of the Motorhome concerning, and the roof is higher than branches, risking rips or catching the AC on the roof

I always get up a little early, to watch the sunrise, but we were canopied in, trees to tall to see around. A lovely setting in the forest, a #Woodpecker 🦉, a #bird nest on gazebo, only cicada & exitway between trees, that I have to navigate through. Low branches too that scrape AC
#ArkOnWheels

A heron just took off and the legs are still drooping and the wings spread, very close to the water surface

A heron, possibly a grey heron, but I'm not able to see enough detail. It's sitting on the rocks with backdrop for the dam face

We came upon a bird tearing fish apart next to the parking lot. We suspected it was a hawk, but it was a Vulture, a turkey vulture most likely a tuff of red on the head, and shadowy brown feathers, against the background of green grass and foreground of concrete curb

A large kettle of hawks above the water, only about 5-6 captured in this photo, when there were as many as 20 at a time, but difficult to capture

I'm sure others get excited to find so many birds in one short visit? The #Heron #Hawk and #Vulture 🦉
All part of the #critters in the Mark Twain State Park
mostateparks.com/park/mark-tw...
A rest-stop before we say goodbye to our friends Jette & Vinny. We planned to stop there #ArkOnWheels

A narrow, freshly paved road. I wonder where it goes?

The Clarence Cannon Dam, at the end of the roadway, a popular fishing spot, for hawks and fishermen

Frothing water from the turbulence of the Power Plant dam. On the sides downstream are heavy rocks banked to prevent erosion from the flow

Apparently, this is a hot fishing spot, a half-dozen fishermen jockey for position in the downstream of the dam

On the way to Jette's place, we stopped at Clarence Cannon Dam & Mark Twain Lake, www.mvs.usace.army.mil/Missions/Rec..., our backroads route took us here by accident. Spent an hour watching dozens of hawks, fishermen & roaring water from Power Plant dam.
#Opossum #Critters #ArkOnWheels

An opossum eats a chicken bone on the deck in front of the patio window

Jette has a collection of odd visitors. A mama squirrel has a nest in the tree against the deck, birds of every type feeding, and a birds nest above us within reach.

#Opossum eats a chicken bone, for the calcium, passed to it on the deck. www.terminix.com/opossums/diet/

#Critters #ArkOnWheels

A man driving a truck, arm across to the steering wheel, and under it, against the window, on the armrest, is a white cat. On the other armrest is a black cat. They both have their butts on a leg, their heads on the armrest

#Caturday in a truck. The boys each took a leg and an armrest. My black T-Shirts & Shorts looked like Cotton Balls stuck to me when I got out to fill the gas tank.

After leaving Hamilton, it was another 5-6 hrs drive to visit Jette & Vinny again. That quilt detour used two days

#ArkOnWheels

Another non-quilter, a red Irish Setter dog, waiting in the truck for it's owner to finish shopping

In the passenger's seat, is an old golden Lab, and the head of the Irish Setter can be seen behind him on the other side of the truck

Two concrete garden figures, a boy and girl, carrying a basket

And another day of the Adventures has passed, as we hit the road, say goodbye to those we met in #Hamilton
and see what the next day brings? #ArkOnWheels
We're heading back to visit Jette & Vinny again outside St Louis. We were so close to Kansas, I don't know why we didn't skip across while there?

James Cash Penney (JC Penney) in black and white. He's a senior here, with a suit jacket and bowtie

A mirror at a table with water jug and wash basin

A display showing an open bible, and a note to remind you of the JCPenney museum down the road

A sitting room with a bible open, chairs are wide wooden with velvet covered seats

#Hamilton is also the hometown of James Cash Penney founder of #JCPenney stores in 1902.
The Boyhood home of J.C. Penney is relocated downtown. historicmissourians.shsmo.org/j-c-penney/
There's displays, artifacts and a video of the life of the Penney family in Missouri #ArkOnWheels

A tabby cat greets us like a long-lost friend. All over us, loveable and does not live nearby. My wife is bent over to rub it

A tabby cat falls at my feet, delaying our walk

A garden of mixed flowers, many bright flowers are visible along the walk

A red squirrel sits on a wooden fence top eating a nut

#OnMyWalk this day, we met an overly friendly cat. It came running to us, rising to rub our hands, and greets everyone that way, does not live where found. #Hamilton

Town is decorated well in flowers, on lawns & main street displays. Red squirrels are treated as a rat nuisance here.
#ArkOnWheels

The life-like cut-out of Jenny Doan and quilts on display behind her

Various displays of quilts and materials on the wall inside the museum

A room of shelves and tables, overcrowded with tiny craft and notions.

A quilt with each square, being an outline of a different state

My wife went in the Quilting Museum, I'm not a quilter. #Hamilton Inside are displays of every type of quilt design, pattern and history.
Jenny Doan is a quilter, author, YouTube personality & the face of the largest #quilting supply vendor in USA, 'Missouri Star Quilt Company' #ArkOnWheels

The top half of a giant thread spool with thread of every colour wrapped around it. It stands 22 feet tall and has World's Largest Spool of Thread written at the top, outside the Missouri Quilting Museum in Hamilton

The 25 foot Motorhome on the left, and a much longer limousine on the right. There are at least 7 side windows on the limo, with buttons and thread and lettering all around for the quilting town. It's licensed for the road also

A tiny cafe with outdoor chairs and parasols , on the wall facing the outside dining, is the mural of the town's history of railroad and the tracks and station

Main building downtown, the Missouri Star Quilt Co. (Beside the cafe facing the mural wall)

The World's Largest Spool of Thread, 22 feet tall, one million yards of AURIFIL thread.
And there was this giant limousine, covered in buttons and thread. It was plated to drive the road too.
#Hamilton: #Quilting Capital of The World
The first day, everyone was taking photos too
#ArkOnWheels