Days 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Great Adventure

Okay folks - hope you have stayed with me - we have been without Internet access for three whole days!!!! I'll explain as I go through the days, but who would have believed I would be without Internet like this. The entire time we were heading west last summer I was never without Internet - go figure. Anyway, let's go back and start with Day 2 - Sam A. Baker State Park in Missouri.

Day 2 started without any fan fare. We were up and on the road by 8 am - I fixed the thermos of coffee and a sausage biscuit for Dan and I. The road trip was uneventful (which is a good thing) and we got to Sam A. Baker State Park right outside Patterson, MO early in the afternoon. It is a beautiful park - the picture above was taken right outside the park - but it is in the middle of absolutely nowhere - which meant I had no cell phone service or Internet service (and no tv). I tried using the booster and it still wouldn't work - so, no blog for the two days we were there. As soon as we arrived, while checking in to the park, Dan met a distant cousin on his mom's side of the family (Shearrer). So they talked for awhile about the families and who was still around that area. After we got camp set up we went driving around - out to Dan grandparents farm (or at least where the farm used to be). The old well house and the steps for the schoolhouse were still there, but that's about all. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around and looking at places from Dan's childhood and from his parents childhood. We also drove into Fredicktown to the cemetery to Dan's parents grave. Then we drove on into town and ate dinner at The Pig - a local establishment that was a MUST do on Dan's list. Then we found another family member and we stopped at her apartment and visited for a little while. It was way after dark by the time we got home and it was time for bed.

Wednesday morning (Day 3) we took our time getting going - in fact, Dan had said Tuesday night that he had done everything he wanted to do and we would leave on Wednesday - however; he changed his mind Wednesday morning and we decided to stay the extra day. We went over to the bath house and took showers (no water in the state park!) then jumped back into the truck and rode around to more places Dan remembered from growing up in the area. We were back home early afternoon where I proceeded to fix dinner. While cleaning up the kitchen I heard a car door slam and we had company. One of Dan's cousins on his mother's side had heard we were here and came by to visit (which we thought was extremely nice). We had a very nice visit and Dan was able to reminisce about growing up and riding horses and playing in the river. It was really a nice time for Dan and I'm glad we decided to stay the extra day. We gave out a couple of our cards with our blog address on it and I hope that the cousins will stay in touch and follow along on this adventure we are on.

Thursday morning (Day 4) we were up early and ready to get on the road. We had everything ready and we were pulling out by 8 am. Once again, the road trip was uneventful, other than the wind - horrible side wind that cut down on the fuel mileage, but Dan said he couldn't tell the difference with the truck pulling the unit - a couple of stops for fuel and we are eating lunch at rest areas - it gives Dan an opportunity to get out and stretch his legs - the pups and run around and potty - get some energy spent - plus, it is much more relaxing for Dan. He doesn't have to worry about trying to find a place to park the unit or getting into a fix that will be a problem getting out of. It has worked out well for us so far - I think it is a good break for all of us. Well, I did get a telephone call on Thursday from one of the children just checking in making sure all was well - I told her that I would be blogging last night as we had a RV park all picked out just north of St. Joseph, MO that advertised Internet service (yeah!), but we got to St. Joe so early in the day that Dan didn't want to stop - he said we could do at least another 100 miles so I looked in our handy 'The Next Exit' and found a KOA at the same exit as fuel - perfect! (By the way, we have been stopping at truck stops to get fuel and so far it has worked so much better than we thought it would - people are very nice and we don't have any trouble pulling in and out.) Okay, back to the road - we made it to the fuel stop - got fuel and saw that the weather was looking bad - found out we were under a tornado watch until midnight. The KOA was down the road about 500 feet so we headed there. When we pulled in we were met by a very nice lady who explained that they had just opened the KOA after it being shut down for over a year - they had found a huge water line leak and there was no water in the park - no sewer - no bathhouse - but, if we wanted to stay she could turn on the water long enough for us to fill our on board tanks. Price $25.00. I was tired and so was Dan so we decided to stay. Dan pulled on down to the site while I went in to pay. The lady explained that we were only the second people to stay at the park since they opened and she had not had a credit card sale at all - well, to make a long story short - she didn't have a merchant number - the credit card wouldn't work so she told us to enjoy our stay (she didn't charge us anything!). Well, I walked down and told Dan - at first, he was a little upset that it took so long then when he heard the story he felt a little sorry for the people. Well, I went inside and tried to get on line - the word here was tried - once again, NO INTERNET!!!!! I couldn't believe it, but I wasn't about to try and leave then. Anyway, we went to bed - we were both tired! I woke up to the sound of a huge storm sometime in the night, but I went right back to sleep. We sure have been sleeping well!

This morning (Day 5) we woke up to gray skies and no wind. We were on the road by 7 am and on the way out we stopped at the office and left them $10.00 to at least cover the electricity we used. We drove through some rain - not hard, just a steady drizzle - but it wasn't bad and the traffic was light. In fact, the further north we got the less traffic there was - and almost NO RV traffic at all. We drove the rest of the way through Missouri, all of Iowa, all of South Dakota, and are now just west of Fargo, North Dakota. We are staying at a nice RV park tonight - and, wonder of wonders, I finally have Internet (or you wouldn't be reading this now!).

The plan for the rest of the week will be to go to Teddy Roosevelt National Park tomorrow and possibly spend tomorrow night depending on what amenities are available. Then it will be on to Great Falls, Montana on Sunday for a couple of days. We will probably be there through Tuesday and then move on into Canada on Wednesday of next week. We have requested our mail to be sent to the park in Great Falls - so hopefully, it will be there waiting for us on Sunday or be there by Monday anyway.

I wanted to let you know that if you come to look at the blog and I haven't been on know that it is because I don't have Internet service - so, please, keep checking back - I'll blog everyday IF I have access, if not, I'll catch you up as soon as I can get back on line. Thanks for hanging in there with me - this is a new adventure for me as well - and I'll just have to go with the flow! Hope all is going well with you all and ----------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow (hopefully)!!!