After we spent two nights in the so-called campground in Iowa (with WI-if), Jerry reserved us a spot in Missouri. I will have to admit the ad in the book made it sound like a utopia. The only honest part of the ad was that it did NOT have a connection. We managed to camp without one before so figured we could handle that again. Everything else sounded pretty good.. showers, restrooms, swimming and a small store. It was close to Jefferson City and lots to see. I included pictures of what the campground looked like. There is one of our cat and truck parked under the wonderful trees. The picture of the building with two doors being kept closed with the 2X4's is a picture of the showers/restrooms. On the last day, Jerry actually went in them--he had to. Somewhere along the trip, our toilet uhm..broke. So, we were very creative about that whole part of life. At least the shower in the cat worked and we could stay clean. The swimming area was a lot less than we were used to as well. The campground was a called a marina. I think they called it that because it was within a mile of a river. There was a stagnant slough to the side of where we parked (swimming area?). I warned Rose and Chris to NOT go down there...and of course at night we had the skeeters. That is what you call them in Missouri.
We did have some wonderful things in camp. We had fireflies. Not millions of them, but enough to know they are not a fantasy. There were also some very large old oak trees. I paced one and it was at least 20 feet around. Beautiful tree.
You would be amazed at the amount of forest here. It started in Iowa and went all the way through Missouri. We are still in it in Kentucky. When the road got to the top of a rise so we could look out, there was no end to the hills and all of them were covered with trees. It amazes me to think that someone actually tried to cross that mess without a map only using deer paths and Indian trails. We had the advantage of clearings now and again to see the forest, but the frontiersmen would only have one tree after another. The trees grow rather close together, so it is dark and formidable. Makes sense that the settlers traveled by river. Daniel Boone was truly trail-blazer.
Speaking of him, we went to his grave site. (There is a picture of Rose and Chris by a monument.) It was mostly his wife's family graveyard, but the monument did address the fact that he WAS buried there. Several years ago, Kentucky asked for his remains so they could duly honor him. There are two stories. One is that Missouri honored the request and exhumed his remains and gave them to them no problem. The other story (far more interesting) is that Missouri didn't want to give the bones to Kentucky so they dug up a slave and gave them those bones. Part of that story is if they did get the wrong bones it was an accident. Let's see--politics. Would they really make that mistake??? Or did they get caught?? Anyway, they are discussing digging up some more bones to satisfy Kentucky's request. Now the plot thickens because the property which is connected to the graveyard is for sale (graveyard is not state property) and the sellers don't want the mystery solved as the value of the property will go down if his bones leave the area. They have 30 acres they are asking 1.2 million for. If ol' Dan's bones leave they will only get market value.
While we were driving the scenic route, we were interrupted by a huge thunder/lightening storm. They experience some kind of rain!!! I guess it was close to an inch within just a few hours. They have moved whole towns up into the hills after they flood a couple of times.
A lot of the little towns could be fun, but they don't even use the old buildings. We were intrigued by them and you now have our pictures. The jail-house picture was one of those buildings. It was obviously the oldest building in town, but they were using it to store plastic barrels. When we stopped for the picture-taking, the locals thought we were up to no good. I expect they wanted to know what was so interesting about that old building. Poor Jerry, I made him get in there for his picture and he broke out in a sweat--there was a nest of hornets right behind him. Even our bug girl refused the second picture. Jerry was a trouper. For those that don't know Jerry is allergic to bee sting. We have to carry one of those bee-shot kits. Hmmm...maybe that made up for the campground choice?
When we traveled into Kentucky we had to cross the confluence of the Ohio and another big river. Both bridges went way up so the ships could go under They are the old steel girder type of bridge. I took a picture as we entered the second bridge which had one lane closed. Good idea as this was a very narrow bridge and it was a white-knuckle ride the way it was. Jerry was strangely quiet.
We will be in Kentucky for a bit longer than a week. On Monday we will head to the north-central area to try the National Forest. Rose and Chris have a half-brother living up that way that they want to visit. We are hoping he can camp with us a few days as well.
Stay cool if it is hot, get warm if you are cold. Just some practical advice from someone who has been to Missouri.
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