It’s time for a solo trip with Eva! Back in February my Son Jeff and his wife had their baby Kiya. Tammy and I drove up for the birth, and Tammy stayed behind to help take care of the baby. I flew home and picked up Eva who was kenneled for the first time overnight.
For the next five months, Eva and I got a lot done on the travel trailer. We replaced all the wheel bearings and races, replaced a bad power converter, and fixed the mysterious leaking bathroom sink. We also resealed many areas of the exterior of the trailer, and the roof.
Well, July crept up on us pretty fast. Now it was time to head up north in the trailer to pick up Tammy. This was the first time in many years that I would travel alone with a travel trailer. The last time was about in the late 1990s. I would tow our trailer to the Wisconsin Dells on a long holiday weekend. I would go up a day early, set it up, and then go to work the next day back in Madison. That evening we would all hop in the Van and head to the dells. No set up required!
Good times with the kids at Stand Rock Campground, Wisconsin Dells.
Well, now it would be a much longer jaunt as Eva and I travel first to Tyler State Park. We do this to avoid the July 4th fireworks, then continue on to Wisconsin. We would be stopping in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois along the way.
On July 2nd, we headed out to Tyler State Park. This may be my favorite state park in Texas. In a word – it was a very hot day. The ride was uneventful, and Eva was great. Eva has had a pretty spoiled life. All of our other shepherds had to live with our work life so they spent time alone. Eva has had us around 24/7 with the exception of that four day period when our granddaughter was born in February. Then she was boarded, and I was worried about how she would handle it. She was fine although I noticed she hadn’t eaten all of the food I left for her.
Tyler State Park has a brand-new administration office and it’s a behemoth of a building. You now drive much further into the park to reach it. The signage is not great so you may be tempted to go through their drive through window on the right side of the building but don’t do that. Instead, go to the left as you enter the driveway and park in one of the RV spots and go in.
I have no idea why they aren’t using the drive through window for registration. Anyway, the process is easy enough. We drove to the big pine campground into site BP304. I hit the sweet spot immediately and used my new leveling blocks to raise the passenger side of the trailer by 3”. I bought these because I realized it would be a much easier task with Eva, then me spending time building a ramp out of leveling blocks while she sits in the truck waiting for me to finish.
Once I leveled the trailer, I hooked up the electricity and chained Eva to the picnic table. With power on, I extended the slides, hooked up the water, and turned on both AC units—the inside temperature had reached 95 degrees. Then I moved Eva’s lead to the frame of the trailer and she flopped down under the shade of the trailer. It was extremely hot now! the temperature was 94 but the real feel was 109 according to the local weather guy. By the time I finished setting up, I was soaked.
BP304 – Our site at Tyler.
Meanwhile back at home in Nevada Texas, one inch of rain was falling with heavy thunderstorms and two power outages. I was so glad I left a day early. After a few trips to take items from the truck, I was ready to call it a day. I had no desire to go out except for Eva’s potty breaks.
We would stay at Tyler from the 2nd and depart on the 7th. Every day at Tyler was a hot and humid mess. Eva and I would take our walks very early in the morning and once noon came around it was pretty much back into the trailer.
On July 4th, we could hear the fireworks in the distance, but they didn’t last long, and Eva seemed to take it in stride.
We ended up doing a really long trail on July 6th. That was a mistake because it ended up being about 8 miles (guessing) and I didn’t take water. I thought it was a short trail, never going to make that mistake again.
The next stop on the Journey is Lake Eufaula/Checotah KOA. It’s about a five-hour drive from Tyler.
If you would like to see our videos from Tyler click here.
Click here to continue on in the trip to the Lake Eufaula KOA.
Solo Trip with Eva Part 1
It’s time for a solo trip with Eva! Back in February my Son Jeff and his wife had their baby Kiya. Tammy and I drove up for the birth, and Tammy stayed behind to help take care of the baby. I flew home and picked up Eva who was kenneled for the first time overnight.
For the next five months, Eva and I got a lot done on the travel trailer. We replaced all the wheel bearings and races, replaced a bad power converter, and fixed the mysterious leaking bathroom sink. We also resealed many areas of the exterior of the trailer, and the roof.
Well, July crept up on us pretty fast. Now it was time to head up north in the trailer to pick up Tammy. This was the first time in many years that I would travel alone with a travel trailer. The last time was about in the late 1990s. I would tow our trailer to the Wisconsin Dells on a long holiday weekend. I would go up a day early, set it up, and then go to work the next day back in Madison. That evening we would all hop in the Van and head to the dells. No set up required!
Well, now it would be a much longer jaunt as Eva and I travel first to Tyler State Park. We do this to avoid the July 4th fireworks, then continue on to Wisconsin. We would be stopping in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois along the way.
On July 2nd, we headed out to Tyler State Park. This may be my favorite state park in Texas. In a word – it was a very hot day. The ride was uneventful, and Eva was great. Eva has had a pretty spoiled life. All of our other shepherds had to live with our work life so they spent time alone. Eva has had us around 24/7 with the exception of that four day period when our granddaughter was born in February. Then she was boarded, and I was worried about how she would handle it. She was fine although I noticed she hadn’t eaten all of the food I left for her.
Tyler State Park has a brand-new administration office and it’s a behemoth of a building. You now drive much further into the park to reach it. The signage is not great so you may be tempted to go through their drive through window on the right side of the building but don’t do that. Instead, go to the left as you enter the driveway and park in one of the RV spots and go in.
I have no idea why they aren’t using the drive through window for registration. Anyway, the process is easy enough. We drove to the big pine campground into site BP304. I hit the sweet spot immediately and used my new leveling blocks to raise the passenger side of the trailer by 3”. I bought these because I realized it would be a much easier task with Eva, then me spending time building a ramp out of leveling blocks while she sits in the truck waiting for me to finish.
Once I leveled the trailer, I hooked up the electricity and chained Eva to the picnic table. With power on, I extended the slides, hooked up the water, and turned on both AC units—the inside temperature had reached 95 degrees. Then I moved Eva’s lead to the frame of the trailer and she flopped down under the shade of the trailer. It was extremely hot now! the temperature was 94 but the real feel was 109 according to the local weather guy. By the time I finished setting up, I was soaked.
Meanwhile back at home in Nevada Texas, one inch of rain was falling with heavy thunderstorms and two power outages. I was so glad I left a day early. After a few trips to take items from the truck, I was ready to call it a day. I had no desire to go out except for Eva’s potty breaks.
We would stay at Tyler from the 2nd and depart on the 7th. Every day at Tyler was a hot and humid mess. Eva and I would take our walks very early in the morning and once noon came around it was pretty much back into the trailer.
On July 4th, we could hear the fireworks in the distance, but they didn’t last long, and Eva seemed to take it in stride.
We ended up doing a really long trail on July 6th. That was a mistake because it ended up being about 8 miles (guessing) and I didn’t take water. I thought it was a short trail, never going to make that mistake again.
The next stop on the Journey is Lake Eufaula/Checotah KOA. It’s about a five-hour drive from Tyler.
If you would like to see our videos from Tyler click here.
Click here to continue on in the trip to the Lake Eufaula KOA.
john.martini.patterson@gmail.com
August 4, 2025
Blog, Camping Locations, General Travel
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