Wow! I knew I had been slacking on updating this, but I didn’t
realize so much time had gone by! A lot of the places I stay I don’t have cell
service, so I never think to pull out my laptop, and the other times I’m just
too busy exploring that I don’t save time to write about it! But I am now in a
remote boondocking site in Wyoming with an amazing view, and cell service, and
I am going to get this caught up! There really isn’t much else to do but sit in
this awesome new chair I found yesterday and soak up the view, so it’s finally
the perfect spot to just veg out and write about it all!
August 3rd I had decided last minute that I
wanted a break. The campsite I was at thought I was staying a night longer than
I had actually planned, so I figured it was a good enough reason to just not
leave! Cooper had been acting a little strange and had been to the vets the day
before (turns out he’s fine, just tired of being in the truck!), so I thought
it would be a nice bonus day for the pets! That was until I was checking my
bank statement and saw a charge for a place in Missouri. I hadn’t been to
Missouri yet, and as far as I could remember I had absolutely nothing planned
out for places to stay. And then I remembered a campground that I had left a
voicemail for, and an email, and a request for a site on their website… All of
that, and when they called to tell me I could have a site, I never wrote it
down! I still had to do my laundry, and wasn’t ready to drive, so I headed
into town and took my time leaving. Of course this made me get to our site for
the first time after dark, but luckily it was a pull-thru spot so I had no
trouble. I heard people in the pool next to my site, and by the time I had set
up the camper they had left so I got it all to myself! I was staying near the
Lake of the Ozarks, and there is a new show named ‘Ozark’ that just came out on
Netflix. It looks really creepy, so I purposely haven’t watched it, knowing I
was coming here! So because of that, I didn’t stay in the water for long! All I
could hear were really loud bugs, and couldn’t shake the feeling that I
was going to be murdered in the pool!
The next day I went to check out the lake and realized just
how wrong I was about the area! I was nowhere near the middle of nowhere! I’m
assuming because there are no nearby beaches that they built up the lake to
have their ‘beach’ scene – every spot on the lake was built up with resorts,
bars, and yacht clubs! They even had a strip with the generic t-shirt and towel
stores you would find at the shore. After exploring for a bit I went to Ha Ha
Tonka State Park, which is the remains of an old castle. It was pretty neat,
but it looked like they had recently put up fences to keep visitors away from
the ruins. That night I went to my first concert by myself! One of the resorts
was hosting 2 local country bands with no cover charge, and though it wasn’t
really my type of music, I had a great time!
Saturday, the 5th, I had planned on leaving, and
was actually completely packed up, literally rolling out of my site when the
woman from the office came over. I had seen there was a bad storm coming but
didn’t think they would have a free site on a Saturday, so I never asked.
Always ask!! I didn’t even have to change sites! After unhitching, Amber video
called me from my brother’s baby reveal party! So I got to read his birthday
card to him, and watch the reveal! They are having a girl! (I was hoping so!!)
The rest of the day I just hung out at the camper. The storm wasn’t that bad
(she had warned me of a tornado!) but I was happy to not be driving in it!
On the 6th we drove to Sharp RV Park in St.
Joseph Missouri. Don’t camp there. Well, with Passport America it was only $14
for full hook ups, and I had good cell service, just never pay full price! It
was more like an RV parking lot, and a lot of the sites were full timers. When
I pulled in, I had pulled off the entrance onto a little clearing, only to find
out that I had parked at my campsite! Later on a neighboring site had heard I
was traveling alone from the owner, and gave me a bottle of wine for my
travels! So at least the people were nice!
The following day I was finally able to get an eye appointment in
St. Joseph! It turns out that I actually am not blind, I passed every test, but
I have a stigmatism so light doesn’t enter my eyes the way that it should. I
really thought I was blind… well, blinder than I used to be! I’ve been having
trouble with road signs, and will avoid driving at night, so I am very happy I
am getting glasses to fix that! (Of course they don’t make them on the spot, so
it’s been 18 days and I still am trying to figure out how to get them to me!)
From there we drove to Elkhorn Rec Area, about 30 minutes
outside of Omaha. I stopped at Indian Cave State Park along the way which was a
pretty neat stop. It would have been nice as a day trip though, not only
passing through. The strangest part of the drive was that on all the nearby
roads, leaving Missouri and entering Nebraska, there were hundreds of
butterflies sunbathing on the pavement! Even on the busy-ish highway, they
would lay there until they had just enough time to fly up and die on your
windshield…. So that was upsetting.. but they sure looked pretty up close in
those final moments! That night a girl, Rachel, pulled up and was camping out
of her jeep! Over a few beers and a fire we told each other about our adventures.
She was driving across country in just a week to start a sort of internship at
a vineyard in Northern California!! She also had recently gotten back from a
spur of the moment trip to Europe! So jealous! She told me that while she was
there, some days $10 could buy all 3 meals, beer, and ice cream! Also a few of
her flights were as low as $15! (Next up, I need to go to Europe!)
On the 7th she had left before I woke up but left
her number on the table which made me really happy! That day I finally found a
solar panel kit that was available for in store pickup nearby! For about $250
and some searching for instructions online, I was soon charging my battery with
the sun! Yay! Later on I went to Ralston for free town music that I had found
on Facebook. I also checked out the Village Bar, a really cool dive bar with
arcade games! The only downside was they didn’t have a kitchen. I got talking
to 2 locals who filled me in on their tornadoes and other things unique to Nebraska. Apparently, even though Ralston is so close to Omaha, they have an agreement with the city where they can’t
increase in size, but they also aren’t included in Omaha’s taxes. So you get
this little tiny town, practically attached to the city! Before leaving the
bartender gave me a glass with their logo on it as a souvenir!
On the 8th I packed up and hit the road for
Windom, Minnesota. I felt bad that I was only passing through the NW corner of
Iowa, so I was happy when I saw a sign for the highest elevation in the state,
right off the highway! It was only about 1000ft above sea level, and to add to
that it was surrounded by flat farm lands, so it didn’t seem higher than
anything else in sight! But I signed Milo, Cooper, and I into the visitor log,
so Iowa stop accomplished! Shortly before that I had given into Milo's meowing demands, and had pulled into a gas station to let him do his business. I'm glad I stopped there, because inside I found a local Native American handmade pipe! I don't think I'll ever smoke it, but will probably hang it as an ornament! So Iowa souvenir also a success! When we got to our campsite I went grocery shopping. I've started to get used to not finding everything in small stores, but get totally frustrated when a store is big enough to have what I want, but locally owned and not organized in a "chain store" way that I can relate to! At check out the bagger offered to bring my bags to my car for me, and it seemed I had offended him by declining. After watching for a few minutes, I saw him helping a girl with only 2 bags who was talking on her cell phone, struggling to find her keys in her purse, while he stood there patiently waiting. I suppose maybe that's normal? To me it just seemed rude! Back at my site there was an adult baseball game going on in the park, with probably most of the townspeople attending. It was $6 to watch though, and because I like Netflix more than baseball, I didn't stick around.
Well the sun is going down here in Wyoming, and it was chilly when it was out, so I will continue on tomorrow with week 5 and 6! I promise I won't leave this site until I am up to date! (And then won't let it go another 23 days in between!) Next up is the Dakotas and the Grand Teton Mountains, hands down two of my favorite experiences yet!
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