From Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park (Missouri) to Lake Shawnee Campgrounds (Kansas)
Travel Dates: 7/10/2020 to 7/14/2020
Drive Time: 4 hours 56 minutes covering 292 miles (469 km)
Today was another long travel day but not nearly as long as the day before. Heading out a little later than I planned, around 9:30 am, I first stopped by the dump station and made use of the recycling bins. I also filled my fresh water tank a bit and headed out on the road. I made the decision to not make many stops and push to get to the campground as quick as possible.
The only major stop I made was at the famous barbecue restaurant called Joe's barbeque. Less than a week before, I saw a YouTube couple I follow on Instagram, Kara and Nate, had stopped here and loved the food. I figured if they loved it, I should stop here as well seeing as it wouldn't be that far out of my way. I had already placed my order online earlier in the day and set a pick up time when I felt I should arrive. I was able to pull in and only had to wait about 5 minutes for my food to be brought out to me before I made my way across the street to a Walmart parking lot and ate the amazing ribs and burnt ends with onion rings that I purchased. Look at the photo below and tell me you wouldn't want to stop here either!
This was definitely the best barbecue I've had in a very long time, although I'm not sure if it was worth the price. Then again, I never liked spending more than around $10-$15 for a meal. I did have leftover Texas toast and a pound of barbecue smoked beef and pork that I would absolutely be using later, but my total cost was $47.94. Not thinking ahead I left the Walmart and continued on my way too the campground only to realize before getting there that I needed to stop at a Walmart to pick up some items like ice and food so I wouldn't have to leave the campground. Times like these I had someone traveling with me or that Isabelle could talk. Finding a Walmart fairly close to the campground I pulled off to get gas and groceries before continuing on and not arriving much later than I had initially planned.
Once checked in, I made my way over to my site and found it a little complicated figuring out exactly where I was supposed to park. Why? Because two sites shared one pedestal containing electric and water hookups and there were no lines or barrier's defining each space and picnic tables were scattered sporadically as well. Well I was told when making the reservation no one would be on either side of me I didn't know if that would actually be the case upon arrival and forgot to ask when checking in. Therefore I decided once I had backed in that it close enough to the pedestal and would leave enough room if someone ended up being assigned a spot on either side of me. I found that the site was not level initially and had to back in and out a bit to find a good spot for the next few days I'd be staying there.
As I was hooking everything up, I noticed I was fairly close to the steep decline at the back of my space and thought using my plastic wheel chocks behind the wheels would help me feel a little safer and not relying only on the emergency brake to keep me in place as I moved around inside. I realized later I could easily have pulled forward up to 5 feet and still not effected vehicles driving around the loop, but I was still so new to RVing, I didn't want to do anything that might cause a problem at a campground.
Once I was finally set up , I notice just how busy the campground was getting and remember that I was told Friday night was the busiest day of the week here and that Saturday would be busy but by Sunday there will be very few people in the park. This was because 90% of their guests were locals who would come to get away for a day or two on the weekend, but had jobs they needed to get back to during the week. After dinner I decided to spend a little time outside, knowing there wasn't a rush to do anything else since I had planned this to be a relaxation stop. Check the clouds that night!
The next morning I just took it easy and sat outside my RV and enjoyed the weather. Later in the day I made myself a barbecue sandwich using some of the leftover barbecue, which was absolutely fantastic. I was so glad I had bought the extra 1lb of bbq now!
I then decided it would be good to catch my family up on my travels knowing my parents, especially my dad, would want to know how it was going. My mother was content with hearing I was doing well and having fun, but my dad wanted to know every detail. I answered some of those questions, but there were so many I had to put a limit to them. My sister and brother-in-law were both very happy with the update and hearing about my travels so far and thanked me for getting in touch.
Late in the day, I ended up talking to my neighbors for about an hour about my travels thus far and what I'd encountered and felt as a newbie getting used to full time RV living. This was a very pleasant conversation and helped me see just how friendly fellow RVers can be with each other. We shared stories and experiences and I was able to get a few tips, such as using Casino’s, as a way to get free overnight stays, usually only need to obtain a players card to do so. You get one free night with each card you have, so if you were a couple or traveling with friends and each of you had your own card, you’d be able to stay one night for each of those cards. Good to know! It was getting late, so we all said goodnight and headed to bed.
My 2nd full day was a an important one, although I really didn't do a whole lot. So, why was today so important? LAUNDRY! I hadn't had a chance to do laundry yet on my trip and it was beyond time to do so. Laundry was $2 per load in the washer and $1.75/load in the dryer. I had to run two loads in each, so my total cost was $7.50. Not too bad! While the laundry went well, my shower experience did not. The shower was hard to use and you had to push a button every 10 to 15 seconds to keep the water running. Yes there was another one I could have used however the shower head could not be moved around and the pressure was quite strong and I was looking for something more relaxed. I know some of you may be asking, isn't there a shower in your RV? Well, yes, there is. However, I am 6'3" (192 cm) and a bit on the bulky side, meaning my small shower was not all that comfortable to use either. At lease in the campground showers I had plenty of room and could technically, take a shower as long as I wanted. In the RV shower, I'd have to limit it to around 5-10 minutes so as not to fill up the tank. Still both needed to be done and were accomplished, so I was happy with that. Other than those two things, I spent most of my day sitting outside and enjoy the sounds of nature and boats out on the lake. Occasionally I saw a few other campers walking or driving by, but mostly there wasn't any activity going on.
Waking up and making breakfast my last full day there, I spent the majority of my time sitting outside my RV under my awning playing on my phone, or watching YouTube videos. It was one of those days where the air was fresh and the breeze nice and cool. It was something I hadn’t experienced in a long while and so I decided that today I would just soak it in as much as possible. Plus the campground had emptied out so much that in my fairly large section there were only 5 or 6 of us, all spread out with at least 5-6 spaces between us. Just as the afternoon switched to evening and the sun started to slowly fall from the sky, I changed into my swim suit and headed over to the campground beach, which I figured would be empty. There was a couple on the dock, finishing up some fishing with their dog, but otherwise no one was around. As I entered the water, my eyes were searching around to spot the gators, why? Well, I’m from Florida and nearly all the lakes and rivers have them, though you can still swim in some areas if you’re careful. Being alone in the water, my senses were on high alert….until I remembered where I was and that I didn’t have to worry about them at all. Silly me, but it gave me a good laugh!
A short while later, maybe 10 minutes or so, the couple left and I had the whole beach area to myself. I just relaxed and did some stretches and enjoyed the cool refreshing water. It had been such a long time since I allowed myself some time in the water like this and I absolutely made the most of it. After another 15 minutes or so a family came down with their rambunctious 4 year old boy, While we kept our distance from each other, we struck up a conversation, being interrupted constantly from their child playing, we quickly found many things and common and the conversation just flowed allow easily. Having other people around, I swam out in the deeper section for a bit before making my way back to the beach and deciding it was time to take another shower and return to the RV. Returning, I found Isabelle laying on my orange yoga bolster above the cab looking over things like she owned the place.
I'm not sure when exactly it happened, but during the day I caught Isabelle staring out the window and was able to capture the awesome image below. This is by far my favorite photo that I have taken of her and one that makes me smile whenever I look at it.
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