May 11 to 15

http://edandcarol.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b33ba6594532
Go to this website for pictues . Carol

Sunday, May 7:
Decided to move on. Stopped in Pine Bluff, AR with the intent of spending the night in a City RV park. Not what we had hoped for so we continued on to the Little Rock area. Stayed at the Willow Beach Park, a Corps of Engineers Park on the Missouri River. Very nice. Our site has a great view of the river in front and a pond in back. Plus, we have Verizon internet service and it’s Sunday. Carol got caught up on her Blog. We both checked e-mail. Called Mom. Had Jambalaya for dinner. An easy, one pot meal. For lunches we have been taking canned soup and adding veggies, or rice, or serving with pasta.

Monday, May 08

Went grocery shopping today. First stopped at Harvest Foods in North Little Rock. The main display when you walked in was Hamburger Helper, Vienna Sausages & Mac & Cheese. We left. Used the GPS unit to locate other grocery stores in the area. Went to a Kroger. A very basic store, but better than Harvest Foods. The GPS unit can find stores, restaurants, gas stations, on & on, then lead you right to them. What a wonderful device.
Back to the campground. Ed & Gopher went walking around a lake. It was full of water moccasins. Ed counted three in maybe a five minute walk on the waters edge. All tolled, between us, we counted about ten for the day.
We meet the most interesting people at campgrounds. This morning Carol talked to a lady who lives in their 5th wheel full time. Her husband’s hobby is to buy the contents of storage units that people abandon. Some times they make money by selling the stuff, once it was $4,000. The lady said they check every pocket and envelope looking for stuff. Some times the contents are just trash that get throw away. This lady loves to play Bingo but Arkansas , Utah , and Hawaii don’t allow gambling, so can’t play ‘till they leave Arkansas. A couple pulls in next to us this afternoon. They are from Utah and traveled here to visit their grandkids. They travel with a 20 year old deaf cat who was walking outside driving Gopher nuts . We also had a turtle under the motorhome. Gopher kept sniffing at it , but then it walked under the lawn chair Balou and Bagera were sitting in. They went nuts, it took some heavy pulling by Carol to keep them from following the turtle into the water. Once Carol saw the snake slide by in the water the dogs were dragged to higher ground. Further south it was alligators in the water; now it’s water moccasins. Once we get further north, the waters should be free of dangerous creatures.

Tuesday, May 9

Drove to Branson, MO. The plan was to stay in the Branson City RV Park. What a disappointment that place was. Dirty, no privacy between sites, lots of transients. Instead, we headed for Table Rock State Park. A wonderful place. The campground is located on Table Lake. Clear, cool water. Overall, about the nicest campground yet. There is a really big storm headed this way. Tornado warnings, flash flood warnings, destructive winds & hail. Turned on both of our weather alert radios. We are just across from the bath house. Out tornado plan is the bathhouse. As it turned out, the worst of the storm was to the north & south of us. It rained from about midnight on.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The morning weather was partly cloudy & cooler. The high today is supposed to be in the low 60’s with the low tonight in the 40’s. Rained on & off. We went into Branson. Looks just like International Drive in Orlando, Gatlinburg, TN or any other really tourist place. Did some grocery shopping, mailed Moms Mothers Day card and left. Stopped at the Table Rock Dam then back to the campground. We switched camp spots to one right on the lake. A beautiful view. Ed & Gopher took a nice walk along the lakeside trail. Carol cleaned the camper and enjoyed her book.
Carol had called Johnny yesterday about a dentist appointment. Ed has had a sore tooth. Johnny called back and we made an appointment for 2pm Monday. We’ll see how the tooth is doing then.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Up by 7am. Clear, cool (55)& windy day. We all took a nice walk on the Lakeside Trail then had breakfast. Oatmeal. Ed’s tooth is feeling just fine. Cancelled the dentist. Left for Cedar Ridge, C.O.E. park on Stockton Lake near Stockton, MO. Pretty drive.. We shop at the Pro Bass store in Springfield, their largest store. We walked in and it is huge they have a zooquarium and lots of shops but we walked right out when Ed found out they didn’t sell propane for the motorhome. The side trip did take us by a Panera Bread store in Springfield, where Carol bought their biggest loaf of whole grain bread, chocolate chip cookies and trail mix bagels.
Ed made great toasted cheese and ham sandwiches with the bread. Cedar Ridge is really in the boonies. If it wasn’t for the GPS & the Camping with the Corps book we have, we never would have found it. No directional signs at all. Nice campground. Wooded, right on the lake. $6/night with our Golden Age Passport.
We are low on propane, which runs the hot water heater and stove. Carol wanted a shower so she walked up to the new bathhouse. Her comment was” Good thing, I know scary movies are fiction. The only thing between me and the open door was a flimsy shower curtain. The water pressure was great and lots of hot water. I didn’t care how much water I used. The need to be clean over rode scenes from Psycho.


Friday, May 14, 2006

Left early to head towards KC. A pretty drive. Saw some Amish people driving carts. Arrived at John/Marge’s house shortly after noon. The dogs really are enjoying running in the back yard, chasing the ball and such. Johnnie cooked a great dinner for us.

Saturday, May 14, 2006

Went to the local Green Market for fresh fruits & veggies. Stopped at Panera Bread for bagels, lemon cakes, bread for dinner and coffee. Johnnie had bought a bunch of lobster as part of a school fund raiser. Johnnies friend George & his wife came over for dinner. Karen’s 2 children were over while Karen had her husband Andy admitted to the hospitasl. Andy has pneumonia . We had 13 lobsters to share , it was a feast. Karen came by about 9pm ate a little and toke the children home.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Clear & cool. 50* when we woke up. Johnnie had a dog sweater from when they had a dog. Balou is wearing it. He gets very cold. Bagera shivers some because of his thyroid condition. Gopher, with her heavy coat loves this cool weather. Carol, Marge & Johnnie went to church in the morning. Had another of Johnnies great breakfasts. Omelets & hash browns. If you’re ever in the KC area, be sure to stay at the Wagner B & B. It’s a five star joint. Left about noon time. Stopped at Target & a grocery store on the way out of KC. Arrived at Big Lake State Park near Fortescue, MO/Rulo, NE about 3 pm. Cloudy, windy & cool. The “Big Lake” is an oxbow of the Missouri River. Very nice park. There is a small store & restaurant, a few motel rooms and cabins. Lewis & Clark camped here in 1806 on their return trip to St. Louis, MO. Not in this campground actually, but on the other side of the “Big Lake” when the Lake was the main channel of the Missouri River.

Monday, May 15, 2006
It was 52 degrees and windy this morning. The dogs and I were warm and comfy under our electric blanket. If we don’t have electic , I open up a Thermacare and sleep on it to keep warm.
Left about 9am. Destination Summit Lake State Recreation Area near Tekamah, NE. Took I-29 through Iowa then Omaha, NE. Mostly farm land. Corn. Saw a corn ethanol making plant. Summit Lake is a large spring fed lake. Access was via a mile long washboard road. Lots of ducks, geese and other water birds. We were the only campers there. It was a beautiful place. Ate lunch and walked around. Gopher played in the very tall grass. She would crouch down then charge out like she was a lion. About 2:30 we decided to checkout the City RV park in Tekamah. It was part of a very nice park. Ball fields, playgrounds and such. Continued our drive north to Decatur, NE. Decatur has a beautiful City campground on the banks of the Missouri River. The cost is $14 a day for electric and water. And we have internet access. Very well maintained. Beautiful river view. Once again, it was just us. The park gets a lot of use from the residents for walking. The sun came out today. One of the few mostly sunny days we have had on the trip so far. The weather forecast is for warm & sunny the rest of this week.The fun part of this trip is never knowing what type of camp ground we’ll end up in. All have been nice some better than others. Also, since we travel the back roads we go through little towns with populations of 300, 500, or a big place or 1,500 people. We are in the Heartlands, clean well keep little towns all celebrating the 200 anniversary of the Lewis and