Camping for a Family Picnic - Lake of the Ozarks State Park

It's been a couple of months since I updated either of my blogs, so I thought I'd write a couple of quik back-dated posts to get this one caught up. - Annie, August 25, 2013.

On June 28, we made a quick camping trip to Lake of the Ozarks State Park.  This park is just far enough away from us that I would rather have made the trip on a three-day weekend, but because we were going for an extended-family picnic, we did it on a regular weekend.

This park is very large.  Once inside the park entrance, we drove a full five miles before we reached the campground.  It's a beautiful park, and we'd like to return sometime to enjoy it more.

The only drawback to our visit was that our site was very un-level.  We made it work, but the tail end of the RV was in the air and a little wobbly, which gave me a little bit of motion sickness.  I just tried to avoid being inside as much as I could.

Our family picnic was not here, but at Ha Ha Tonka State Park, about 25 miles away.  Ha Ha Tonka has no campground, but it has some very pretty and interesting ruins of a castle-like mansion, as well as hiking trails, a naturally-formed bridge, swimming, etc. 

Both parks are located on the Lake of the Ozarks, which is a resort area with lots of restaurants, boutique shops and amusements.  We enjoyed time at an arcade (or as Kat calls it, a "kids' casino"), and played a round of mini-golf.

As happens most times we camp, it rained.   After we finished our game of golf, we barely made it into the truck before the downpour.  It rained throughout the evening, but that didn't keep us from enjoying our evening by the fire...intermittently.

__________

Parked at Lake of the Ozarks State Park
near Osage Beach, MO
June 28-30, 2013

Our First Outing of the 2013 Season - Sparrowfoot Campground

We kicked of the new camping season in an old favorite campground, Sparrowfoot, on Truman Lake.

What a difference a few months makes!  If you'll remember, last July we visited Sparrowfoot during a the middle of a heat wave and drought.  The beach then was almost non-existent and the park was practically empty.

This weekend was a different story.  The park was full almost to capacity.  A few sites were closed and their power hook-ups wrapped, so we assume they were out of commission.  The grass and trees were green and lush.  The temperatures were lovely, around 80 degrees during the day and mid-60s at night. 

Unfortunately, the beach was again non-existent.  We thought because the lake levels were so high earlier in the spring that maybe the sand had washed away (it's been known to happen), and then later we heard that at least one beach on Truman Lake had been closed because of a high E.coli count, but we found out with certainty that the Sparrowfoot Beach is closed this season because of budget reductions.

That didn't keep Kat from getting in the water, though.  Or at least trying to, but she soon found out that the water is still quite cold.

She and Shane tried some fishing.  Our neighbors at camp who had boats were hauling in some very large catfish, but all Shane caught from the shore was this little bass.

I spent some time lounging in the sun, then lounging in the shade, then lounging while reading.   Shane also did some reading and poked around at the campfire a lot.  Meanwhile, Kat made friends with other young campers and enjoyed a water gun fight.  We watched a movie or two inside the camper, (NOT roughing it, but so what?), stayed up very late, slept in very late, and generally had a great time doing whatever we liked, whenever we liked.

More often than not, it rains on us at camp.  This time, the rain didn't happen until our drive home, when we ran into (and back out of) a very heavy thunderstorm, but it was bright and sunny again by the time we got home.

__________

Parked at Sparrowfoot Campground, Truman Lake
near Clinton, MO
May 24-27, 2013

A Series of Unfortunate Events - Mill Creek Campground

You won't often hear me say that a camping trip wasn't much fun, but this camping trip wasn't much fun. 

Lakefront property.

Our plans were to arrive at camp just south of Branson, MO, on Friday evening.  We would meet my sister and brother-in-law on Saturday morning, and spend the entire day at the Silver Dollar City theme park, have my sis and BIL join us at the camper for supper, then spend another night and drive home on Sunday.

It was sunny and warm when we left about 3:30 in the afternoon to set out on our 200+ mile trip.  About an hour in, we needed to stop for a bathroom break.  While Kat and I were inside the convenience store, Shane decided to check out a few things on the camper (something he does often, both when we're on the road and when we're parked at home).  He noticed that one tire on the RV had some weather checking that he felt was bad enough to be a potential hazard.  So we stopped at a tire store, had the owner look at all five tires (the four on the ground and the spare) and ended up buying two new (and expensive) tires.  They had just enough time to get them on the camper before they closed for the day.

We drove for another hour or so, then decided to stop for supper and refuel the truck in Boliver, MO.  When we stepped out of the truck, we noticed how chilly it was compared to our earlier stop and that the sky was clouding over.  By the time we finished eating, it was raining lightly and rained all the way to camp.  No big deal, though, since the forecast for Saturday was calling for partly cloudy skies, temps around 70, and only a 20% chance of more rain.

We made it to camp around 8:45.  This wasn't our first time setting up in the rain, but it was our first time setting up in the dark.  We were lucky enough to have a level, paved, pull-through site, so we didn't have to worry about backing or leveling.  Set up was as easy as ever.  By 10:00 we were inside watching part of a movie, and by 11:00 we were in bed listening to the rain. 

We listened to the rain all night long.  And during breakfast.  And on the way to meet my sister.  And the rest of the day, too. The temperatures didn't get above 60 all day.

On a sunny day, this view would be gorgeous.

Since it had rained the last time we went to Silver Dollar City, we decided not to experience that adventure again.  Instead we looked around at some small shops in downtown Branson.

My sister, Kat and me.  Brown hoodies were entirely coincidental.

Then at Kat's request, we visited the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum. 

Finally, someone Kat can look up to!

Somehow those two activities took up most of our day, and we headed back to camp for supper and more visiting with my sister and BIL. 

Family photo atop an Ozark mountain.

My "big" sister and me.  Why isn't her hair a frizzy mess like mine?
That's my BIL in the background.

Shane, with Branson area in background.

They stayed at camp with us until about 8:30, at which time the rain finally let up.

I was hoping the weather would cooperate enough for us to do something outside on Sunday morning, but more raindrops on the rooftop woke me up around 7:00. We decided there was no point in sticking around, so as soon as we ate breakfast, we started packing up.  The hardest rain of the entire weekend happened while Shane was outside rolling in the awning and putting away what few things we'd taken out of the storage areas. 

As we pulled out, we realized that one of our jacks was still down.  No damage was done, but it was kind of embarrassing that we missed it.

Raining on Sunday

Also as we pulled out, the rain stopped and the sky started to slowly clear.  Figures.

On the way home, we stopped for lunch and just happened to notice that the undercarriage cover was dragging.  Again, this is nothing that caused damage.  It's just a foam core board cover that keeps moisture and mud from splashing up under the camper onto the holding tanks, hoses, etc.  We have no idea when it fell or how far we'd been dragging it.  It only took a few minutes for Shane to reattach it, but it was just another inconvenience to add to our list.

We made it home around 5:30 on Sunday evening, glad that our unfortunate and costly weekend was finally over.  I try to look on the bright side, though, and have to say it was nice to visit with my sister for a few hours.  We found an old-timey five-and-dime that was a lot of fun to shop in; the toys/games and kitchen wares sections alone were worth the visit.  Kat truly enjoyed the Ripley's Museum, so that was another positive.  And the rain was needed, even if it did mess up our entire weekend.  Finally, the park was very nice and would have been absolutely beautiful on a sunny weekend.  We plan to come back when we have more time and better weather.


__________

Parked at Mill Creek Campground, Table Rock Lake
near Kimberling City, MO
September 14-16, 2012