July, 2006 - Bridge Coast to Coast Saga

July 1 - 2
Saturday, July 1. Moving on day - headed for Missouri for most of the month of July. Mike worked on Dan's DVD recorder, so we didn't leave Portage until 10:00, then stopped to visit Mom for a little while.

We drove west along US 151 as far as Cedar Rapids, IA. The drive through Wisconsin was as pretty as we both remembered, and we were glad that we had decided on that route. It will be all interstate after that leg of the trip. The roadsides were covered with wildflowers of all colors; bright yellow daisies, golden yellow coneflowers, pink clover and crown vetch, blue cornflower, white Queen Anne's Lace, and purple salvia and lavender.

We stopped along the highway to let Lucy out and before we took off down the road again, a highway patrol officer knocked on the passenger side window to see if everything was ok.

When we got to Cedar Rapids, we took I-380 south to connect with I-80, then headed west to Des Moines. It was pretty windy and we were carrying some water, so our fuel mileage was a miserable 7.65 - I guess that's not too bad according to some of the stories we've heard. We stopped for the night at Cutty's Des Moines Camping Club ($8), a Coast to Coast resort that was only about a mile off the interstate and very easy to get to.

We were both really tired, so shortly after we had a bit to eat, we started to watch TV, but we both went fell asleep - and it was only about 8:30. Thunderstorms were going through, so we were thankful that we got setup before they hit.

July 3 - 9
Monday, July 3. I went with Penny to run errands for Amber's wedding next Saturday, starting with a stop at Club 1000 (the wedding location) in downtown KC. Getting there was a bit of a challenge because we had 2 near accidents along the freeway and called 911; one was a large piece of steel in our lane and the other was an accident that had just occurred. Next, we met Amber for lunch at Panera.

After that, the quest for ribbon to be used for flower arrangements, the cake, and decorating began - this turned out to be a real challenge. Several craft and flower shops were checked and we couldn't get enough at any one place. Penny found a fabric store in The Plaza that had 50 yards, so we were able to get enought to drop off to the person making the cake and the person doing the flowers.

The day was hot and humid, in the upper 90's.

Tuesday, July 4. I woke up this morning to the sound of raindrops, then while sitting at the computer reading the news I watched 2 deer approach the back yard and walk all along the yard. I tried to get a picture but wasn't quick enough. The rain is much needed around here and should help to cool things down a bit, it is expected to be in the mid 80s today.

I stopped by Rita's house for a couple of hours, then returned to Bob and Penny's to help prepare for a 4th of July picnic with family. After dinner, we went with Penny's parents, Phil and Norma, to watch the fireworks on Lake Lotawana from their pontoon boat. We met up with her sister Rena's family to watch a beautiful fireworks display, set to music.

Lighting off fireworks is legal in many of the surrounding communities, so they were popping all around us all day and way into the night.

Wednesday, July 5. I did our laundry this morning, then met Rita at the mall for some shopping. I still needed a few things for the Switzerland trip and she went with me. It was a very successful trip because we found sales at every store we walked into. We also stopped at Applebees for a bite to eat for lunch.

After dinner, we sat with Bob and Penny and watched "Failure to Launch", a comedy that got us all laughing.

Thursday, July 6. Today was another busy day, starting with a trip to see Rita and Denny�??s 1985 Blue Bird Wanderlodge motor home. They keep it stored in an underground mine that has been converted to storage place. It was kind of eerie driving through it, seemed like a tunnel although there were pillars and lights in the ceiling. The motor home is really cool, much bigger than ours; a diesel with lots of buttons, controls, dials and switches. The tires seemed to be almost as tall as I am.

When we left there, we went to Kansas City, KS to see Aaron�??s skate and snowboard shop, Art-Official. It was too early and it wasn't open, so we only got to peek inside. We then met Bob for lunch at Red Robin.

In the evening, I mowed Bob�??s lawn with his new 0 turning radius mower and what an experience that was to drive. It was kind of fun and took a bit to figure it out but I enjoyed it. I did have one casualty when I first got started - I took out one of his pampas grass plants but fortunately, it was one that was struggling to survive.

Later on, Amber and Joel came over and we all got involved in printing, folding, and trimming the programs for the wedding.

Friday, July 7. We decided to kennel Lucy on Saturday so I took her to the vet in the morning to have her shots updated. In the afternoon, we went to Stadium View - Mike bought a Toshiba Libretto notebook computer from one of their tenants and we took the money to him.

Bob and Penny went to the rehearsal and dinner tonight, so we had BLT's for dinner and I watered down Penny's flowers and we just relaxed.

The nighttime temperatures have been really nice, so we've been shutting off the AC at night. The mornings have also been really nice.

Saturday, July 8 (Amber and Joel's wedding day). Lucy got to go to Shaggy Chic for the night. It is nice, once in a while, to not have to worry about her, especially since we don't know how long we might be out tonight. Penny left the house early for hair appointments and to be with Amber. I helped Bob with a few things around the house, but mostly it was a relaxing day.

Randy and his family arrived in the afternoon and we visited for a while until we left for the wedding. It was held at Club 1000 in downtown KC, on the 6th floor overlooking the city. After dark, the city lights were very pretty. The club was decorated with floral arrangements in various shades of pinks and votive candles. The ceremony was simple but very elegant and the bride was gorgeous in her satin wedding gown. Amber is the first of her generation in our family, to marry. The dinner was excellent and the reception was lots of fun visiting, laughing, and dancing.

July 10 - 16
Monday, July 10. Mike, Lucy, and I followed Rita and Denny to their house on Lake of the Ozarks today, about a 3-hour drive from Blue Springs through the beautiful lake country.

It had started to rain early this morning and continued all the way. Rita and I went to Laurie to the farm market to get veggies and then to the grocery store to stock up for the next few days. The rain stopped by about 7 pm, so we were able to sit on the deck after our wonderful steak dinner and enjoy the evening.

Sunday's newspaper had an article claiming that Lake of the Ozarks is America's third most dangerous waterway because it is narrow, heavily populated, known as a party place, large and fast boats, and a lack of law enforcement. During the summer, they try to avoid the weekends because the boat traffic is so high and the lake so rough.

Tuesday, July 11. After relaxing and having a good breakfast, we headed for the lake and rode the jet ski�??s for a while. We then went by boat to Backwater Jack�??s for lunch. The lake was pretty calm today and not a lot of boat traffic, so it was very enjoyable. The temperatures were rising closer to the 90s, but were still not too uncomfortable being close to the lake.

Wednesday, July 12. This morning we went to Lake Ozark to the outlet mall and shopped for a bit, then went on to the Horny Toad for lunch. When we got back to the house, Rita and I floated in the lake and rode the jet ski�??s while the guys took naps. Mike wasn�??t feeling too good, saying he must have had some bad chicken the night before (I think I�??ve heard that line before).

Mike and I fixed grilled pork tenderloin and herbed potatoes for dinner tonight, giving our hosts a break.

Thursday, July 13. Back to Blue Springs. The temps keep going up and the AC in the Suzuki doesn�??t work very good, so it was a long, hot ride back �?? not too uncomfortable as long as we were moving.

Phil and Norma, Penny's parents, took us on a tour of Lake Lotawana by boat tonight. Penny picked up sandwiches for dinner and we moseyed along seeing all of the shoreline and into the coves. The lake is beautiful and the temps were comfortable out on the water. Just as we were getting off the lake, storm clouds appeared and the wind picked up. The rain started around 10 pm and kept on through the night.

Friday, July 14. Bob joined us in the motor home for breakfast this morning and I got the laundry out of the way. We putzed around the house, did some shopping and computing today, but were pretty relaxed - getting ready to move on to Warsaw to visit Rene (my sister) and Mike for the weekend.

When Penny got home from work, we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, then to see the movie, �??You, Me, and Dupree�?� �?? a good comedy.

Saturday, July 15. Bob, Penny, and I went to the City Market in KC and stocked up on fruits, veggies, bread, spices, and had an Italian sausage for breakfast.

When we got back, Mike and I disconnected the motor home and got ready to head for Warsaw to hang out with Rene and Mike for the weekend. The drive was nice and we arrived at the Osage Bluff Campground ($16) at about 3:30. We camped in site #16, just up from Truman Lake.

Sunday, July 16. Rene and Mike�??s lake house is just a short drive north from the campground, and we got there at about 11:00. We drove to a great BBQ place just north of Warsaw for lunch, then stopped to show them our motor home �?? our thermometer on the motor home showed 104° in the shade under the awning. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out indoors because it was so hot. We did sit outdoors with a fan blowing on us when the sun started to go down but it was still awfully hot, no breeze.

Grain Valley to Sunrise Beach, 128 miles

July 17 - 23
Monday, July 17. We took our time getting ready to move on to Springfield this morning, leaving our campsite at 11:00. The drive was enjoyable with very little traffic until we hit Springfield. Randy had made reservations for us at the Ozark Highlands RV and Mobile Home Park ($20), not far from their house. Shortly after arriving, Randy, Julie, and Lanae stopped by hoping to go for a swim but the pool was closed for cleaning. Julie and I went shopping for groceries for our trip to Table Rock Lake and the Cape Fair Campground tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 18. The decision was made to keep our plans to go to Table Rock Lake with Randy and family, in spite of the temps expected to be near 100° all week. It was close to 11:00 by the time we were ready to go and we arrived at our campsites at Cape Fair Campground ($16) shortly after noon. Our sites are pull-ups, much like parallel parking, with a few steps to the picnic table and cooking areas maybe 15 feet from the lake shore. Although the campsite is mostly in the shade with huge oak and cedar trees, it is very hot and the flies are pesty but fortunately, we have electric so can run our AC. Our thermometer registered 102° in the shade under the awning.

We proceeded to blow up our floaties and get in the water that is also very warm. You have to get in a deep spot for it to be cooler. After an hour or so of floating, we all went to our motor home to watch Lucy & Desi�??s, �??The Long, Long, Trailer�?�, a hilarious movie made in 1953 about their experience driving and living in a trailer.

We had a great dinner of buffalo burgers, sweet corn, salads and fruit. Once the sun went down, it was a little cooler and we sat around for a while. The girls all went to the public showers but won�??t be doing that again �?? although they were clean, there was no air circulating and the water wasn�??t even cool. Since it was cooler outside, it didn�??t even feel refreshing. Guess we will be showering in our motor home the next two nights.

Wednesday, July 19. I woke up around 7:00 and decided to go sit outside while it is still kind of cool (80°) and try to get online. The air card (Cingular) won�??t work, although we have very strong signals on our cell phones (Verizon). The fish are jumping, turtles floating, blue jays squawking, and a hummingbird is buzzing around �?? very nice.

Randy has the use of friend�??s boat today, so we toured the area by boat and jumped in the water when it got too warm �?? pretty frequently. The lake is beautiful, bordered by hard wood trees and huge rock formations.

There was no break in the heat again today. A cold front is predicted for the weekend but there have been record hot temperatures throughout the country. We are fortunate to have AC and a lake nearby, although the water temp is around 85° on the surface �?? but it still feels refreshing.

Thursday, July 20. A short thunderstorm and a little rain came through during the night but we woke to another hot morning. Randy took us all in to Cape Fair for breakfast �?? couldn�??t believe the price �?? 2 eggs, 3 slices of bacon & toast for $2.50. What a deal!

We then took the boat out, anchored and swam in a couple of different places. We were going to look for a geocache, but it was pretty hot when we got out of the boat so decided against that plan and came back to the campsite for a snack. It seems a little cooler today, but not by much. There is a little breeze every now and then.

A boat ride after dark provided a little break from the heat, but not much. Another early to bed night in the AC.

Friday, July 21. Springfield and the Ozark Highlands RV Park was our destination today and we will stay here until Monday when we will be heading back north to Wisconsin. The plan is to spend next week at Clarksville, MO on the Mississippi River. A cold front is expected to move into the area this afternoon, bringing temps in the mid-80s. That will be so refreshing after the last 4 days.

Saturday, July 22. It did cool down overnight and it was nice to sleep with the windows open for a change. The down side to that was the birds waking me up at 6:00. Randy and Mike took the Suzuki's out "mudding" (see pictures, more to be written later) and had great fun. I walked to a nearby shopping center.

Mike's Suzuki Tale. Randy and I decided to take our Suzuki�??s out to �??test their limits�?�, as Randy said. He had a great spot with good rough roads with rocks, mudholes and a great creek to drive in. We pulled off the road and locked 4-wheel drive in and went looking for mud. I went in a great mud hole and began to hear a sound like an inboard boat. There I was, up to my doors with my exhaust bubbling away under water, and my tires spinning like crazy. Randy was having a good time laughing his butt off. Then he pulled me out and we tore around for a couple of hours.
It was time to go, so we decided to run down the creek and clean the Zuks off a bit before we hit the road. I was following Randy, driving carefully as I didn�??t want to have to be pulled out of the creek. I came around a bend and there was Randy, sitting in the middle of the creek, up to his head lights. His Samurai was still running and it was my turn to do some pulling.
The adventure ended well. Both Zuks were running good, nothing was broken, and machines and drivers were muddy. Now to go home and clean up the mess.
If you want to go 4-wheeling in Springfield, MO give Randy a shout and he�??ll show you a good time.
Thanks again Randy.

In the evening, we went to Randy and Julie's for dinner and were joined by Julie's parents, Barbara and John. Had a wonderful dinner, homemade ice cream, and a great visit.

Sunday, July 23. Today was an R & R day for us, except for grocery shopping - had to stock up for our trip back toward Wisconsin. Julie and Lanae came over in the afternoon to swim for a bit and then we had them over for dinner in the evening. We all called it an early night since they were back to work tomorrow and we were hitting the road once again.

Springfield, MO to Stoughton, WI 612 miles

July 24-30
Monday, July 24. We got on the road by 10:00 and made it to our destination of Clarksville, MO, along the Mississippi River by about 4:00. We will be spending the next week at the Tievoli Hills Resort ($8) located about 4 miles west of Clarksville. The campground has about 50 campsites and we picked a shaded one along a little creekbed that hasn't seen water for a while. The telephone, television, and aircard all get poor reception, so we're going to have to be creative on how our days are filled.

Tuesday, July 25. We drove around the resort to locate the wi-fi antenna and to see what the place has to offer �?? we found it to be kind of strange. There is a huge clubhouse that sits atop a hill as you enter the resort, but it isn�??t open. Ownership changed hands about a year ago and they are in the process of making the clubhouse a winery and bistro. There are many new grapevines planted in front of the clubhouse. The grounds are well manicured and there is a nice swimming pool, tennis courts, condos, and log cabins, but not many people around.

Clarksville was our destination to explore today and we found it to be a quaint little river town with several artisan shops, but most were closed today. We drove south on Hwy 79, expecting to go along the river, but the road was too far inland to see the river. We stopped at an antique shop to browse and then stopped at the Clarksville Café and Mercantile where we had a cup of soup and a piece of cherry pie, both were delicious.

When we got back to the motor home, I watched the movie, �??Brokeback Mountain�?�. After dinner, we took our computers to the top of the hill where we could get the wi-fi signal and check our e-mail and bank accounts. On our return, I found that I could get a signal with the aircard �?? a pleasant surprise.

Wednesday, July 26. Today we checked out Louisiana, just north of here, and drove to Hannibal along Hwy 79. The drive was beautiful and we stopped at several scenic overlooks along the way. One was so overgrown that you couldn�??t see the scenic view and two others had very nice views of the Missippi River from atop a hill.

In Louisiana, we stopped at the ASL Pewter Foundry and Gallery where they make unique, functional pieces that can be used with foods and beverages. A very nice place and one of the artisans told us about the history and the processes that they used. We both found it to be very interesting.

When we got back, we had a dinner of locally grown sweet corn and tomatoes.

Thursday, July 27. A stay-at-home day, we went to the top of hill to get internet access for a while this morning �?? what a pain. We sat under a covered shelter that was pleasant enough, but then it was so bright that it was hard to see the computer screen.

In the afternoon, we washed the motor home �?? it really needed it, with all of the grime of travel from the last month. It�??s been a funny day weatherwise, still hot, but threatening rain most of the afternoon. Some big, gray clouds rolled through and the temperature dropped 5° very quickly, down to 85°. That made it feel a lot cooler than it had been for the past few days. There has also been a good breeze most of the day.

We still find this place to be kind of strange �?? not like many of the RV parks where the folks are real friendly and there is quite a bit of activity around.

We watched the 1st half of Steven King�??s, �??Storm of the Century�?�, a scary story about an island town off the coast of Maine.

Friday, July 28. Not much happening today, except laundry. We did drive into Louisiana to the smallest Walmart I�??ve ever seen. I went to the pool in the afternoon for a little while.

Once it cooled down a bit, we had a nice dinner of grilled tenderloins, mushrooms, sweet potato, and spinach. After dinner, we sat outside for a while, then watched the 2nd half of �??Storm of the Century�?�

Saturday, July 29. Traveled from Clarksville to Peoria, IL today, mostly along US Hwy 24, a nice scenic route through eastern Illinois. Before we left though, we had to get propane because we found that we had been running the refrigerator on propane, although we were connected to electric all of the time. Not sure how long that had been going on, but we emptied the tank just the same. Since it has been so hot, we thought we'd better fill up so the refrigerator could switch to propane as we drove down the road.

At one point along the drive, we had to go through some road construction that included a very narrow, 10' wide single lane bridge. Mike did a great job considering he had only about 6" on either side between us and a wall.

Sunday, July 30. We left Peoria and made it to Stoughton at about 3:00. It was another hot day, about 96. We got leveled and plugged in and blew a circuit, tried another outlet and blew another circuit. After waiting in the house until after dark, ran our refrigerator on propane, and unplugged all unnecessary appliances and were able to have AC through the night. Since the heat wave is not expected to break until Wednesday, we've decided to move on to Babcock Park in the morning.

Created on 07/02/2006 07:30 AM by bridge
Updated on 08/01/2006 08:08 PM by bridge