Across Missouri

We started our morning off by gathering in the Monarch.  There were decisions that needed to be made!  We decided how far we wanted to go today, the route to take, the line up, and the campground where we would spend the night.  There were plenty of ideas, books, computers, an I-Phone, cell phones, and all were working together to get this day planned.  All this lead to lots of laughs to start off our morning.

The last thing we checked was the map on The Weather Channel's phone application.  Hummm, lots of green showing on the map of Missouri, which meant rain!!  Ohhhh boy, we were certainly in for an exciting day!

We 'coordinated' all of this little directional boxes that are attached to the sweet voice!!  Yeah right!!  Again, today, she turned ugly!  It seemed as if they were all possessed!  Two would say turn right --  two would say turn left!  We made it after a couple of goof-ups, and we were all laughing about it before the long day was over with!  There for a while, I think a couple of us were ready to throw that little box out the window and go back to the Atlas!!  A tried and true system of navigation for sure!!!

We did manage to find a huge Pilot/Flying J to park and we had lunch and relaxed a bit.  We had a few laughs when we found out we had actually stopped for a while in a city named, Peculiar Missouri!!

Kansas City here we come

A wild looking bridge span near Kansas City!

We had pretty much a full day of rain and high wind gusts that were courtesy of Isaac!  We made it though and it sure didn't dampen our spirits, because you can tell by the fields on the side of the highway, that they are very much in need of rainfall, just as we are at home.  I'm sure it was welcome by a lot of the farmers!  We didn't welcome it to drive in, but we muddled through, and made it to our destination of St. Joseph Missouri,and Beacon RV Park.

For our evening meal, Judy fixed dinner for all of us and we invaded their rig and had a wonderful meal together.  It sure was a mighty tasty dinner, and as we settle in for a good nights sleep, the raindrops are gently hitting our roofs, and we are assured that tomorrow is another day!!

We will leave out in the morning, possibly, for Council Bluff Iowa.  That will all be finalized in the morning when we have our meeting of minds and electronics!!  Tonight, though, we will all probably dream of rain, wind, ugly voices telling us where to go, and chicken & dressing, but we'll sure be ready to roll.

I only have a few photos to post of today's travels due to the rain.  I had a full days adventure just getting here.  These were made from my passenger seat, all the while, trying to catch in between the wiper blades, watch out for traffic, talking back to that voice in the box, and just holding on!!!  Hope to do a better job at this as we roll further down the highway!

About and Around

Today was a beautiful day everywhere we went, but we were ever mindful that there are those in this country that are hurting and in much need, after Isaac paid them a visit. We are blessed, indeed!

We spent most of the day driving, although we did find a little town of less than 700 population!!! How lucky, for them that we drove through their tiny town at lunchtime! We did find an abandoned convenience store, that, unlike their name (Lucky's), had fallen on what looked like unlucky times! Good for us, though, we had a huge empty parking lot that afforded us a chance to fix lunch and enjoy some 'being still' time!!!

We headed out once more, all in a row, following that sweet voice that lives in our GPS.

We were traveling from Sikeston to Branson, but that sweet voice turned ugly! She took us on a country route, winding roads and off the course we 'thought' we were on! We ended up closer to Springfield than to Branson. It also took us more time than we had planned on too! 😱

After the 4 rigs invaded a Lowe's parking lot, we found a campground and headed that way!!! Another surprise awaited us! The campground listed in our book is actually a trailer park! Wasn't funny then, but now it is! It's being converted over (slowly) from the trailer park to a campground! We did get our 4 spots and after a day of surprises, we're in for the night!!!!! Will load pictures tomorrow!! It's bedtime now!

Hoping tomorrow will be good and have a few less surprises! Life is good!

The end of a beautiful day!

We had beautiful, clear blue skies today as we made our way along the highways together.  We left Tennessee this morning, and have now driven into Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri.

From Tennessee into Kentucky

Beautiful river and clear sky as we cross the bridge into Missouri

We made it to Missouri

I even drove the Condor for about 100 miles today!  I have driven it a little, here and there, since we purchased it, but today was the test for myself, and I made a pretty good grade, for such a distance!!  I'm very proud of myself, and the others in our group gave me high fives!!  I even think Butch was beaming with pride!!

Our stop tonight is Sikeston Missouri and we have all set up camp at Town & Country Camping and RV Park.  A pretty campground and their motto is "Your Home Away From Home", and that certainly fits it tonight for us!!

For dinner tonight, we went to the famous Lambert's Cafe.   They even have shuttle buses to come pick you up at the area campgrounds & airports, take you to the restaurant, and bring you right back to the door of your RV.  Can't ask for better service!!   They are the only home of throwed rolls!  And boy, do they throw them at ya when you're ready for more!  They are about the size of softballs, wonderfully delicious and hot when you catch them!  James attempted to catch one tonight, but managed to hit Wallace in the back of the head with it, and it fell straight to the floor!  No problems, though, they had a whole plan of fresh out of the oven rolls, and quickly tossed James one, which he caught and quickly 'took care of', if you know what I mean!!!!   :-)  Any doubters or curiosity seekers, can check out Lambert's website at www.throwedrolls.com and it's one of those restaurants that if you leave hungry, it's your fault!  Needless to say, we were all as full as ticks at a dog show!

A roll comes our way!

So many interesting things to see, plus awesome food too!

The 7 heading west, along with the server!

When the shuttle bus brought us back to the campground, the girls decided to begin a game of Mexican Train Dominoes at Judy's rig.  We played about 5 or 6 rounds, when we figured we'd just play a little bit every evening, and it was time to call it a night!  The guys all got together and planned out our day tomorrow, which will begin with trips for each of us to refuel, and then our plan is to head to Branson Missouri, maybe manage to see a show and then call it a night!

What a wonderful end to our day!  Safe, sound, full, cool, and in a nice comfy bed to sleep the night away and see what tomorrow brings for the 7 Heading West !!!!!

The trek begins!!

We met this morning and by 8am we were all on the highway, like a row of ducks, with Butch (Condor) leading the way, but we are finally into Kentucky! We found a wonderful picnic table under a big shade tree and had our lunch! Stretching, laughing, and making plans and just enjoying this beautiful day!!

Final plans are made!

This was our final 'planning' meeting before pulling out on Wednesday, the 29th. We met at Logan's Roadhouse, had an awesome meal, and set up meeting places, routes, and just general travel plans and stops along the way! One thing about it, we are ALL ready to travel!

Preparing to see America in style

JAMES & LINDA   aka  Monarch

BUTCH & BRENDA   aka   Condor

TOM   aka  Montana

WALLACE & JUDY  aka  Fleetwood