Last Days of Summer

Wow! was it ever different when we arrived in Illinois. From Florida to here we had been used to hot, hot and hotter. You know, temperatures over 100 degrees. When we got to our first leg of the R & R (that’s “run” and “rest”) on our way west, Edwardsville, IL which is about 20 minutes from St. Louis across the Mississippi, we were pleased to find a bright sunny day in the 80’s with a mild constant wind. Very pleasant. The first night was in the mid-50’s. Can you believe that? Sorry to rub it in!

The location is the Red Barn Rendezvous RV Park, a small campground of only 30 sites but with very nice roads and camping areas and nicely landscaped. It is surrounded by corn and soybean fields---and flat. Not a hill in sight. It is owned by two very nice people called Connie & Rusty. They made us feel welcome and invited us to help ourselves to the garden of tomatoes and peppers next to our camper. We did.

The park is on a frontage road next to the Interstate Highway but we are about 100 yards from the road. The noise is not too bad. Much better than the park we had just left which had us a mere 30 yards from the Interstate. Many campgrounds are located like this next to a major highway for easy access. They are fine for short stays, but I don’t know about an extended time. We are off again tomorrow, September 1st for our next stopover in Booneville, MO.

The terrain changed again from flat to rolling in central Missouri. More corn and soybean fields lined the route. We were amused by noting the road signs and billboards along the way. We are not accustomed to highways designated by letters like “Y”, “NN“, “E” instead of numbers. Some billboard examples are “Frumppy Joe’s, some kind of eatery, and “We Cover Your Aft”, for marine insurance. It takes little to amuse some people.

It is pot luck choosing a campground determined only by the distance one wants to drive. Which is what we are doing on this quick segment. The present campground (Booneville, MO) is a prime example of what not to do. It was hard to find, behind a Conoco Truck Stop, down a rough gravel road and with sites on grass up to ones calf. We had to search for the sewer connection in the tall grass but finally found it under a flat rock that was covering the hole. The outside isn’t appealing, but at least when we get inside we’re at home, and its only for one night. We had to unhook, setup and look for a place to purchase diesel fuel that we wouldn’t have to take out a mortgage to buy. Diesel in this part of the country is 20 cents to 30 cents higher than regular gas.

Look at the photo of the little orange trailer. The trailer must be about 15 feet long, if that. It seems to be the permanent home of a family. See the little boy, maybe 6 or 7 years old, coming out the door? He came out with a large fork in his hand and went to the water source in the tall grass that you see to the right. When he saw me he said, “What are you doing?” “Nothing, What are you doing?” “Nothing. I had apple pie!” The orange trailer had large letters on the front saying “Home Depot”. Maybe that is where they got it. It would have no facilities. They are close to the “rest rooms”, which are in great disrepair. The park looks more like a permanent residence for the economically deprived than an RV Park.

We landed at the Crossroads RV Park in Lyndon, Kansas on September 2nd. The park was nice, but the town could be missed with a blink of the eye. We had to drive to the next town to find a place to grocery shop. On Labor Day we roamed around Topeka the Capitol of Kansas, as you no doubt remember from your history class.
It is the third largest city in the State. Topeka is about 25 miles north of Lyndon. We spent the evening resting before moving farther west.

It is now September 4th and we are in Russell, Kansas the home of former Senator Bob Dole. The town again is small. The downtown streets are all brick, and as brick streets will be, rather bumpy. The drive over was a beautiful one. We enjoyed the scenic view of wide open space. The terrain is rolling and the altitude rising. One can see for miles in all directions on the high plains. Since we had not passed this way for thirty years, we forgot what it looked like. Alternating cattle ranches and farm crops, some we could not identify. We saw one sign repeated along the highway at various mileage points that said “ 1 Kansas farmer feeds 128 people + you.” It is not hard to tell what the State industry is.

We kept seeing numerous vehicles that were filthy with gray-brown dirt. We wondered if everyone in Kansas had a dirty car. We found the reason for this when we noticed that all the county roads were gravel and dirt. Only State and Federal highways were paved. Every vehicle was followed by a cloud of dust like the wagon trains of old. I soon noticed that the wheel-wells of our own truck was becoming gray with gravel dust.

We left Russell the next morning, September 5th on a short drive (135 miles) to Colby, KS. As we drove, it kept getting higher in elevation. We know these things, not only on visual inspection but by our faithful GPS. We kept looking side to side with nothing blocking our view but the sky. We kept looking ahead expecting to see some distant mountains come into view, but no, our view ahead just disappeared into the sky once again. We found another source of income to the people of west Kansas along the roadway….oil. Numerous pumps were operating near and far accompanied by storage tanks spaced here and there.

We arrived in Colby soon enough and found our campground near the Interstate. I should say, alongside the Interstate, next to a Wal-Mart, in another grassy field. Disappointment. We had expected better. And the WiFi wouldn’t reach to our RV, just six spaces away from the office where the antenna is located. Bummer! But we do have cable. And wind! As the song from Oklahoma goes, “…and the wind comes sweeping down the plains.” Constant wind at 25 miles-an-hour (info courtesy of the local weatherman). We have found Kansas to be a very windy place. No wonder it is known as tornado alley.

We found one bright spot in Colby, The Prairie Museum of Art & History. We were introduced to the early history of the plains with exhibits inside and outside. You see a picture here of a barn, the largest barn in Kansas, measuring 66 feet wide, 114 feet long and 48 feet high. Inside the barn is 100 years of agriculture history and artifacts, a most interesting collection.

Of the several outside structures was a church, a 1930’s family home, a one-room school house and a typical sod house of the prairie, also pictured here. The house was made of sod blocks 1 foot by 2 feet by 4 inches deep. The inside walls of the “soddy” could be plastered or newspapers used like wallpaper. Muslin was usually stretched across the ceiling to catch the dirt, bugs and an occasional snake. The indoor part of the Museum has a fantastic collection of items from the late 19th Century and the early 20th, toys, dolls, clothes, glass, furniture, etc. etc. Well worth the two hours we spent. We got there at 3 pm and they close at 5 pm.

That was today. Tomorrow, September 7th , we leave the land of OZ and head to Colorado. To end your read of the blog today, do me a favor. Click on the “comment” link at the bottom of this message and let me know you are reading. In the Name place, put the city were you live and in the comments space, just tell me how many in your location are reading the blog. That’s it, a simple place and number. You don’t have to write anything else unless you wish. To paraphrase Charles Osgood, See you on the Blog!