About 4:00 a.m. I was woken up by ... what WAS that noise?? Sounded to me like a hot air balloon being heated. In a truck stop? I dozed off, and again heard it. This time, I noticed that Rick stirred, so I asked him what the sound was. We looked out the window, and noticed water drops on the window. Rain? Nope. But maybe - though we didn't know for sure - the sprinkler system was throwing water on the side of the trailer. That was confirmed when, at a more palatable time, we were readying for more travel and Rick was working on things in the bed of the truck when - sure enough - the sprinklers turned on and gave him a shower!
We continued on through St. Louis (I am never impressed by the 'mighty Mississippi'. Of all the rivers in the country, I LOVE 'my' river, the Susquehanna, and never tire of seeing it twice a day for 188+ days a year). We arrived in Waynesville, Missouri about 1:00 CT after driving about 5 hours. We planned to stop here at Glen Oaks RV Park overnight at to visit our friend Jack. We know Jack from iRV2.com, and made it a priority to visit him this trip as he has been struggling with health issues since the fall. We had a wonderful visit with him, spending a bit of time when we first arrived visiting. Later in the afternoon, he took us to T's Redneck Ribhouse for dinner and more visiting. He sacrificed to find the best ribhouse in the area, visiting and doing taste tests in the weeks before we arrived so he could be sure Rick had the best rib-eating experience.
After dinner, we reluctantly said goodby to Jack and headed to bed.
After dinner, we reluctantly said goodby to Jack and headed to bed.
On Tuesday, we woke early and headed north back to Rt. 70, then west to Lee's Summit, MO. to visit Rick's brother, Chuck and his wife Jamie. We set up camp at Blue Springs Lake campground, a beautiful county park about 1/2 hour north of Chuck and Jamie's house. After set-up, we arrived a their house about 2:00. We sat and talked and talked and talked until about 7:00, when we headed to downtown Lee's Summit for dinner at Maxwell's. We talked some more, and I enjoyed a Creme Brulee for dessert. Only my second Creme Brulee, and I am so glad I don't know of a restaurant at home that makes it - or I would be eating it all the time! After dinner we walked around the downtown area - reminded us of Lititz or old town Branson - lots of great shops and restaurants - before heading back to their place. Finally pulled ourselves away (they say the best visits are the ones that end before you want them to!) and headed back to the camper about 9:30.
We left Wednesday morning to head WEST (that is the theme of our trip - WEST!!). We made our way through the Kansas City Mo and KS traffic, marveling at how aptly Jamie described Kansas City - like OZ - rising up out of the flatness. Getting through the other side, I finally put my book away, got out my camera, and sat back to enjoy the endless scenery. Nothing but wide open space - prairie as far as we could see. My eyes didn't know where to look - there was so much to see.
At one point, we spotted some windmills in the distance. We counted - about 24, a good size wind farm. Then, as we went over the rise (no mountains in Kansas, but there are gently rolling hills) - there were windmills as far as we could see. Hundreds and hundreds of windmills - 21 miles of wind farm! As we went over each rise, and saw more and more, all we could say was "WOW".
At one point, I saw a huge billboard for a quilt shop just 1 1/4 mile south of an exit, and pointed it out to Rick (it was still 100 miles away, so I did it jokingly) Rick debated replacing trailer tires before we left, but decided that if we had problems, it was easier to replace them out west, where everyone has trucks and trailers, and truck and trailer tires are plentiful. Sure enough, as we stopped at a rest area, Rick noticed one tire tread beginning to separate. We decided to stop at the next town, after consulting the Exit Guide to see what was available, and have all 4 tires replaced, rather than repeat a previous west trip when we had them replaced one at a time! Lo and Behold! It was the same exit as the quilt shop! I mentioned that he could drop me off, get the tires taken care of, and pick me up, and neither of us would be the worse for wear :) We drove over 2 miles looking for that quilt shop - he gets points for trying - but never found it. Beck to the Firestone dealer, and I took a walk though their 'mall' (all 10 stores, and not even a Dollar Store!) while waiting for the tires to be done.
We stopped at the KOA in Goodling, Kansas for the night. This campground was 19 miles from the Colorado border, and just a few miles into the Mountain Time Zone. We were now 2 hours behind home time.
Haley spent most of her time scouring the countryside for a view of COWS and HORSES! She would bark excitedly when she saw them - or when we announced that we saw them. She was exhausted by the end of the day - she normally sleeps all day, but watching for cows and horses wore her out!
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