Missouri adventures

Missouri & the Mississippi River

I last left off with our arrival at Lost Valley Lake Resort. Man this place is AWESOME!!!!! We immediately knew that we wanted to stay longer, but due to them being TOTALLY booked up for Memorial day weekend, we couldn't. 

Club house at Lost Valley Lake

After we got all checked in, security escorted us to our site. We were in site 731 and WAY up a hill. There was a CLUNK in the back that I thought was the broom and mop falling. When we stopped we found that it was Eddie's desk top computer that had fallen. Good news is it is okay, bad news.... it put a small gouge in the new bathroom floor!!! DARN. As we were setting up, I found another casualty. Eddie's painting of the Helicopters has a small tear on it. We hope we will be able to get it fixed. When I put the slides out, Freeda seemed HUGE. After five days on the road living with the slides in, it felt good to be able to have more room. Once we were all set up, we went to the pool to cool off. The outdoor pool doesn't open until the day we are leaving, but they have an indoor pool complex. There are two pools, two jacuzzi and a kiddie pool all indoors. The pool was cold, but VERY refreshing. After enjoying the pool and jacuzzi, we headed home to just relax and unwind. Both of us were pretty beat from the road trip.
Tuesday May the 21st, we went to explore the area. We drove to Owensville's Walmart to get a couple of things and drop off some medication to get refilled. They told us about a nice place to eat in Rosebud. Rosebud is just down the road. We got gas in the Cruiser first at Rosebud General store!!!!!

Says it all. 

After gassing up, we headed to Kline's restaurant. Kline's was the place the ladies at Walmart told us about. It is family run. Our server was a REAL sweet gal named Sarah. I had Catfish, hush puppies, and sweet tea. It was VERY good!!! Eddie had Meatloaf with all of the trimmings. He said his was real good as well. I had never had Catfish and hush puppies. It was a treat. We chatted with the owner and staff. They were all extremely nice and friendly. This is what our travels are about. Meeting wonderful new people!!!!!!!!!

REALLY good food in Rosebud

Eddie at Kline's restaurant

Our yummy lunch in Rosebud, MO

Little guy at Kline's

Eddie got a HUGE piece of German Chocolate cake to go, and we headed home. I still had half of my lunch for later!!

our server Sarah at Kline's
The next day we decided to get some chores and laundry done. After being on the road for so long, the laundry had piled up. We went to "Fort Wilderness" at the resort. Eddie worked on a watercolor drawing, and I read in between laundry loads. We do have a washer/dryer combo in Freeda, but it was faster to do it all at once. I chatted with a nice lady. She is a singer in a Christian band. Her and her family travel around as well. Back at Freeda, we made dinner and turned on the A/C. It was in the 90's and hot!!!!!!

Lost valley lake

Love this place

another view of the lake

Friday, May 23rd, we explored Owensville and the surrounding area. We snapped lots of pictures and enjoyed the country side. We also drove all around Lost Valley lake and took pictures of it. This is a gorgeous area, and an awesome resort.

Bell  

Alpaca on the way to Lost Valley Lake

Turkeys at the Alpaca farm

Swimming in the lake

North end of Lost Valley Lake

Creek outside of Owensville, MO

Eddie taking a picture of train trestle

After exploring, we headed back to Freeda. We stopped by the country store at the campground and enjoyed an ice cream cone. On the way up the hill, the Cruiser started acting up again. So as soon as we got home, Eddie got on the phone and got the parts ordered to get it fixed. For less than half of what the shop in Cottonwood wanted, we got the parts. They are being shipped to Elizabeth's, so Eddie will fix it when we get to Indiana. It had cooled down, so we were able to turn off the Air Conditioner and enjoyed the cool breeze. Eddie hooked up the dolly, so tomorrow's breakdown will be an easier one. I started getting ready for another travel day, and then we called it a night.
Check out time was 11 am on Saturday the 24th. So we eased into our morning and loading up. It went very smoothly. The drive to the bottom of the resort is down a steep hill, and around a kinda sharp turn. So we decided that I would drive the Cruiser down and meet Eddie at the reception building. He was just a couple of minutes behind me. We got the Cruiser loaded and on our way. We took Highway 19 out. It is a beautiful drive, but on a narrow two lane country highway. I was glad to get on the Highway of the Saints. It is wider, smoother and has a shoulder!!!! On Highway 19, we came across a turtle crossing the road. There was NO way we could stop in time. I SO hope we missed the little guy!!! Once on the Highway of the Saints, I saw a bunch of Vultures circling. I looked down and there was one on the ground over a dead deer. Interesting scene. Fortunately, no grossness was visible. Didn't want to lose my breakfast!!!!!
One of the small towns we drove through, just before crossing over the Missouri River, was Herman, MO. WOW!!!! We just LOVED this town. SUPER cute and clean. To bad were just traveling through. Would have liked to stay and check it out.

Herman, MO

We stopped in Warrenton, MO to gas up and grabbed some lunch. We didn't get to Tievoli Hills until just before 3 pm. 

Traveling on the smaller highways slowed our progress. There are not a lot of camping sites here. It is mostly condo's. But we were able to get a spot with full hook ups. There isn't any satellite reception or wifi at the sites. There is wifi center that we will have to use to check email etc. With no direct TV, we will be "roughing it" for the week. Oh well, it will be peaceful. By the time we got all hooked up and settled, we were done for the day. It is pretty warm and muggy here, so on goes the A/C!!!!

Tievoli Hills camp site

bridge into Tievoli Hills

Tievoli Hills

May the 25th was an AWESOME day!!! We drove to Clarksville to check it out and get some batteries for my camera. It being Sunday, nothing was open. We drove to Louisiana Missouri. Yes, the town's name is Louisiana. A lot of the streets have state names as well. So your address could be Delaware street in Louisiana, Missouri!!!!! There was a Shell station open and we were able to get batteries there. The cashier told us were we could go to put our feet in the Mississippi River and get some good pix. He also told us that Tievoli, (pronounced tiv-o-lee) is "I love it" spelled backwards. Kinda a cool piece of trivia. We drove over to the water front and got up close and personal with the Mighty Missisip!!!!

my feet in the Mississippi River-TOTALLY cool!!!!!!

Eddie on the Mississippi River

Train bridge over the Mississippi

Eddie looking out onto the Mississippi River

This was such a treat for me. Sticking my feet into the Mississippi River was something I never thought I would get the chance to do. Reading about places, and seeing them on TV and in movies is NO comparison to actually being there and experiencing them in the flesh. We hung around the waters edge taking pictures and drinking in the whole thing. We then drove up the hill to get some more shots of the river and the bridge linking Missouri to Illinois.

Water front in Louisiana Missouri

awesome sculpture in Louisiana, MO

Eddie taking pictures

cool looking house in Louisiana, MO

After our wonderful time in Louisiana, we headed back to the campground. I wanted to check out the water temperature in the pool. It was COLD!!!! I just put my feet and legs in. Eddie and I visited with fellow campers for a bit. Then home and dinner.
Memorial day we stuck around the park and home. Eddie replaced a burned out tail light in Freeda, and I worked on laundry. We went to the the wifi center to check email, work on my blog, and other computer duties. The wifi here is SO slow!!!!! It was VERY hard to get anything done, and took FOREVER!!!!

trying to get some work done. SUPER slow wifi

The day stated out sunny, but turned very stormy. There was thunder, lightning, rain and wind. It was CRAZY!!!! I made spaghetti for dinner and we watched the Godfather. A relaxing evening at home with a yummy dinner.

Stormy sky

needs repair??? YES!!!!!

now you know why bridges scare me!!!

Tin roof-RUSTED!!!!

Highway 79 in Missouri

May 27th we drove to Louisiana's public library to print out some paperwork. We then took Highway 79 to Hannibal Missouri. Yes, I said it... Hannibal Missouri!!!!!! Eddie and I were so excited about this. The drive there was beautiful. The day was sunny and hot, so we drove with the top down and LOVED it. We pulled off at a scenic spot and had a spectacular view of the Mississippi.

Mississippi river

scenic view point

Woods at the scenic view

Our are brief stop, it was onto Hannibal. I felt like a little kid heading to Disneyland. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would really ever see Hannibal, and here we were almost there.

Water front in Hannibal, MO

We went straight to the waterfront and saw this boat for tours and a gift shop. We parked and walked about a bit.

Tom & Huck statue

Tom & Huck

Tom & Huck

We visited the Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn statue. While there I noticed two couples looking around. I asked if they were Geocacher's and they were!!!! Our friends Roy and Jackie are Geocacher's. This is something Eddie and I may do down the road. While visiting with them, we found out that they are all staying in one of the condo's at Tievoli Hills. Small world. I wanted to check out the gift shop AND find a cool spot. It was HOT!!! I inquired about the boat tours. This is so not in our budget, but after talking it over with Eddie, we decided to go for it.They said we could take Suzy with us, and when might we ever have this chance again. It was only $16.00 per adult. So we got our tickets. We had some time to kill, so we drove around Hannibal to see if we could spot Tom, Huck or Becky strolling around!!!!

Beautiful house in Hannibal

Hannibal, MO

train in Hannibal, MO

Mark Twain riverboat 

getting ready for our tour of the Mississippi

We boarded the boat early so we could grab a hot dog at the snack bar before the tour started. I didn't want to miss a THING on the tour!!!!

me on the Mississippi

Eddie on the Mark Twain Riverboat

Hannibal, MO from aboard the Mark Twain riverboat

 After our little lunch, we headed outside and top deck to get the best view. We traveled up stream a bit, and then turned to go down stream. The wind off the water cooled us and it felt GREAT!!!! The caption talked about Mark Twain and Hannibal's history. He was informative and funny. It was quite a fun little tour. I could have stayed there all day.

Bridge from Missouri to Illinois

going down river

Cruising the Mississippi

Hannibal

more of Hannibal

All to soon our tour was over.They have dinner tour that last longer. It also coat a lot more and no pets. Maybe if ever get back we can do that one. I absolutely loved my time on the Riverboat. Floating by the islands I could TOTALLY imagine Tom and Huck swing off a tree into the river for a cool swim. This meant the wold to me, and I was thrilled to share such a great time with my honey bunch.

 Pictures of our boat tour down the Mississippi River. 

By the time the tour was over, we were ready to head home. On the way out of town, I took a picture of the Mark Twain Hotel. 

Limestone rock on Highway 79

Eddie collecting rocks

Eddie stopped just outside Hannibal to get some rocks from the side of the road. He wants to paint little scene's on them. I think that is a GREAT idea. That way we have some of his art work to sale for those that can not afford one of his bigger pieces We got home, had leftover Spaghetti for dinner, and watched Godfather II. Great end to a great day!!!!!!
Wednesday the 28th we hung out at home. Most of the other campers were gone, so it was pretty quiet. We went to the wifi center and again tried to use the Internet. It is Hughes net and incredibly slow. Eddie worked on his rock paintings while I battled the Internet. I was trying to download pictures to my blog. The two couples we had meet in Hannibal stopped by and chatted for a little while. I gave up on the wifi, and we headed back to Freeda.

sunset

boat launch at Tievoli Hills

my honey bunch outside wifi center

Hannibal rocks. $7.00 to $10.00 each plus shipping

Thursday was SO hot and muggy. I call this "muggy - buggy" weather. We drove into Clarksville. We left Suzy at home, to hot for her. Clarksville has a population of only 442. It is VERY cute. We grabbed lunch at Fitchett Diner. Our server was Jessica. She was very sweet, and VERY pregnant!!!! 

Inside the diner

Fitchett Bros Diner

Fitchett Bros Diner in Clarksville, MO

We then went to the water front. There were steps into the river, so I sat there with my feet and legs in the Mississippi while Eddie drew. It was a very peaceful and calming time. I loved just being in the moment. 

driftwood floating by

stairs into the river

soaking my feet in the muddy Mississippi

a view of Clarksville

Clarksville, MO riverfront

Friday, May 30th was another stormy day. More thunder, lighting and rain. Also the wind kicked up, so Eddie had to get the awning down. Once the weather calmed down, he had me help him do it up proper for the trip to Indiana. We started getting things ready for time on the road. Eddie hooked up the dolly to help the morning go faster.
 Saturday the 31st we got up and got ready to hit the road. Our time in Missouri was over. It was a GREAT place to take a break and do some exploring. We crossed over the Mississippi River on a HUGE bridge into Illinois. 

Crossing the Mississippi river

Illinois

We drove through Illinois only stopping for gas and lunch. We we both THRILLED to FINALLY arrive in Indiana. We will be here for a month and are looking forward to time with family and to just "sit" in one place for a bit. This is a good spot to wrap it up. Until next time, enjoy all that life has to offer. Take care of yourselves and be good to each other. 
Eddie, Darlanne & Suzy.