Our View From The Road

Sharing where we've been and what we've seen

Tag: MO

  • Day 7: …insert witty Oklahoma-ism here…

    Day 7: …insert witty Oklahoma-ism here…

    , , , ,

    After enjoying a very quiet night and the wonderful shower facilities at Cook’s RV Park, it was time to dump our tanks (no faecal matter on me 😎) and head back out onto the road.

    Heading Southwest along US44 we soon arrive in Joplin, MO where we stopped to looked at a a Rt66 mural park that the city has installed.

    Route 66 Mural Park

    US44 beckoned and we returned to our Southwestern drive. The highway undulated with the landscape and soon we were nearing Tulsa, OK. The freeway had become a tollway and we were charged $5 to drive into Tulsa and then $5 to drive away from Tulsa towards Oklahoma City. The trees are fully leafed out here and the grass is starting to dry off as the sun is getting hotter as the days get longer.

    Route 66 Historical Village, Tulsa, OK

    After stopping for lunch in the van in Tulsa at the Route 66 Historical Village, we continued to Oklahoma City and then onto El Reno where we are staying at the Lake El Reno RV Park. This is a municipal park and is first-come-first-served. We had no issues getting a great campsite for the night. It is supposed to rain steadily tonight, but as you can see below we got to see a wonderful sunset from our site.

    Sunset in El Reno, OK

    Tomorrow we head into Texas. Good night all.

    P.S. if you can think of a witty Oklahoma related catch-phrase for this post, send it my way & I might replace my placeholder above with it (giving you credit of course).

  • Day 6: Solar Eclipse

    Day 6: Solar Eclipse

    , , , ,

    Despite reports of coyotes howling in the night, we slept well and did not hear any sounds at all. The Milddogs were up early and on the road by 9:00am heading toward their eclipse viewing location in Indiana. We departed the campsite shortly thereafter and headed towards St. Louis, MO.

    The drive along the shore of the Illinois River was beautiful and in Grafton, IL it converged with the Mississippi River. Together these two waterways had created a wide fast following watercourse that from here winds its way Southward to New Orleans, LA. We soon spotted the bridge that we would take across the Mississippi into Missouri from Alton, IL.

    Bridge across the Mississippi River

    Our route took us around St. Louis and so we did not see the Gateway Arch. We will stop one day. Heading away from the Mississippi River you climb into hilly and treed country. It seems that Missouri has many caves in the limestone rock and they all seem to advertise using large roadside billboards. Many seem to also include zip lines and animal preserves, one assumes because not all people would like to crawl around in the dark underground.

    Nearing Springfield, MO it was time to find a spot to stop while the solar eclipse reached its peak. It was supposed to be reaching 97% totality in this area and we didn’t want to remain on the road during the event in case others chose to take their eyes off of the road.

    The eclipse came, the sky got dimmer, the lights in the rest area parking lot came on and then it got lighter again. The picture below was taken at the point in time that it was at its peak and as you can see, 97% totality is not nearly enough to really notice a change.

    97% totality during the solar eclipse

    After enjoying our break (and lunch) we returned to the highway and continued on to Buc-ee’s in Springfield, MO. This one is smaller than others further South and in Texas, but it still had 63 gas pumps and a massive convenience store. It was however missing windshield squeegees at the gas pumps. Yep, not one at any of the 63. This was sad.

    A few more miles down the road and we stopped for the night in Springfield at Cook’s RV Park. It’s a small family run park that has the best showers we have ever encountered.

    Campsite at Cook’s RV Park, Springfield, MO

    We spent the evening relaxing in the van catching up on some YouTube channels that we subscribe to. Tomorrow we head into Oklahoma.

  • Day 12: May 31 – Higginsville, MO to WaKeeney, KS

    , , , ,

    A hot and muggy night leads to gentle showers falling as we awake. A quick breakfast and we’re ready to go. West towards Kansas is todays itinerary.

    30 minutes into the drive and the skies opened as heavy rain fell and lightning lit the morning skies. The interstate was awash with water and the traffic slowed to a manageable speed, but did not stop. An hour into the drive and we arrived in Kansas City still amid the storm. We passed the Kansas City ballpark and went through downtown. Once on the other side the rains began to let up and before long we were on the Kansas Turnpike headed toward Topeka. The toll was $4 for the entire I-70 portion and then we were back onto the I-70 as a freeway.

    The scenery changed throughout the drive from tree-lined pastures until we arrived on the true grasslands that define the great western plains where one can see for miles in any direction. Communities are defined on the horizon simply by the presence of a grain elevator and the train tracks and roads that connect each together.

    The road today was uphill. We started at an elevation of 250m and ended at 750m. Tomorrow will be quite a bit higher than this.

    Our stop tonight is another Harvest Host, Shiloh Vineyard and Winery just outside of WalKeeney, KS. I’ve included a link to their website below. This place is amazing, tranquil, friendly and just what we were looking for. If ever you’re out this way, look them up.

    https://www.shilohvineyard.com

  • Day 11: May 30 – Terre Haute, IN to Higginsville, MO

    , , , ,

    A quiet night. I awake early in the hopes of having the shower to myself, Yay! It works. It’s also COLD … freezing actually. It takes almost my entire shower before any warmth is felt. The shower gets a 6 / 10. It loses points for lack of immediate hot water, no shower curtain and standing water inside and outside of shower pan. It is however clean and there are hooks and a bench.

    We enjoyed a light breakfast of yogurt, banana, hard boiled egg, coffee and a danish before topping off the water tank, packing up and heading out.

    Our view from the road

    Today was a day of driving westward. We’d bypass St. Louis and head towards a winery just short of Kansas City. This takes us across both the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and onto the great central plains.

    Crossing the Mississippi River

    We came across one traffic backup (unknown cause) which happened to be just as we came upon a rest stop. So being in an RV, we simply pulled in, parked up, and laid down for a short nap while the traffic sorted itself out. When we rejoined the highway, traffic was moving slowly but we felt refreshed and ready for the remainder of our trip.

    Pulling off of I-70 in Higginsville, MO we managed to get gasoline for $4.169 / gallon ($1.394 CAD / litre) the best price we’ve seen.

    We are staying tonight at the Arcadian Winery & Brewery, a Harvest Hosts location for which the only cost is that you purchase something from their business. If you’re a camper and have not heard of Harvest Hosts or Boondockers Welcome, check them out as there are thousands of places to stay across North America for almost no cost.

    Arcadian Winery & Brewery.

    Lastly, here is our map with stickers added for the Provinces and States through which we have driven our campervan. Look for an update further along the road.

    Our travels so far