Road Trippin' Without the RV

Some of you may remember that Joplin, MO, was hit by a devastating tornado in May of 2011.  While many businesses have already been rebuilt, some of the larger structures are still under construction.  The new Mercy Hospital is one of those, and is where Shane has been working off and on this year.

Last week, Kat and I decided to join him in Joplin for a few days.  He rode down with his boss in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, with us following later in the day.  Joplin is about 120 miles or so from our home, but we somehow managed to make that drive in a mere six hours.  ;)

After a couple of necessary stops in town, we headed south on I-49 along the western edge of Missouri.  We made several stops, including one at Rich Hill, where we scoped out (scooped out?) the Big Mouth Coal Shovel.  It's not really a shovel, but a bucket, with a capacity of 30 tons, that was used back in the mining days of this part of the state.

After lunch, we visited the Harry S. Truman Birthplace State Historic Site in Lamar, which we both found interesting.  I learned that the home had also been owned by the family of Wyatt Earp.

In Carthage, we traveled along a stretch of Route 66 near Kellogg Lake and along Spring River.  Great scenery through here; I should have taken more photos.

Finally we caught up with Shane and enjoyed dinner (a provided amenity for guests at the extended stay hotel) and swam afterward in the hotel pool.

The next day we stayed mostly at the hotel, but did venture out for lunch with my friend Melinda.  I was happy to finally meet her; we've been cyber pen-pals for ten years, but the timing had just not been right for us to meet before now.

On Wednesday, Kat and I ventured into Northeast Oklahoma to check out the Grand Lake of the Cherokees, and do a little geocaching at Bernice State Park.
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While we were driving, I happened upon this stretch of the Ribbon Road.  To my understanding, this 9-foot wide stretch of pavement between Miami, OK, and Afton, OK, actually predates Route 66, but later became part of it.  If anyone knows better information than this, please feel free to add it in the comments.

We returned to Joplin an hour or so before Shane got off work, and found a few gems while we were waiting:  A park near Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center with public access to Shoal Creek, a waterfall of sorts on the same fast-moving creek (history unknown to me, but it looks as if there may once have been a mill, dam, or other structure there) with more public access to the creek, and upstream, a beautiful campground and RV park right on the creek were we hope to stay later this summer if Shane works in Joplin again.

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Staying at Homewood Suites
Joplin, MO
June 11-13, 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.


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