De Soto, Kansas to Topeka

Driving from Desoto to Topeka we passed by many towns and saw multiple farms with huge fields. We were used to seeing large fields in the Carolinas but most of these fields seemed to go beyond the horizon in their immensity. Upon arrival in Topeka we drove to the Deer Creek Valley RV Park and got set up easily. The RV Park has very roomy paved sites with full hookups and well manicured lawn areas around the campsites.

We were able to take a quick tour of Topeka and made a plan of what we wanted to see the next day. One of the main places of interest for us was the old Monroe School building in downtown Topeka. This school was the focus location for the famous Brown versus The Board of Education of Topeka case in 1954. The school building is now a national historic site but was closed for tours due to the Covid19 pandemic. Reading the historical placards around the outside of the school reminded us once again of the terrible oppression and persecution that generations of Black Americans have been forced to live with for centuries. Hopefully someday all Americans will truly be able to fully realize the promise of the Declaration of Independence for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Even though some progress has been made in this area there is much more to be done.

We also located the Frontier Prairie Village which has several early frontier buildings and displays. When we returned the next day we were able to walk through the various buildings, enjoy a self guided tour and even had an ice cream sundae from the old drug store soda fountain. The adjoining Ward-Meade mansion and botanical gardens were delightful with many tulips in full bloom. While touring the village we were reminded of how strong and determined the frontier folks had to be just to survive. Transportation of goods and people via the railroads and ferries were a vital link to making their expansion efforts survivable.

We enjoyed our two day stop over in Topeka but will be ready to break camp and head to Wichita tomorrow.

Ribs, Rails and Ragtime in Sedalia, Missouri

Our road less traveled pick for today was Missouri Highway 50.  We could not have chosen better.  Approximately 200 miles of small towns and beautiful forests completely covered in blooming dogwoods.   

We drove through Jefferson City, Missouri's capital but decided to continue driving and pick a smaller town to explore.  Sedalia, Missouri was our choice.   There we discovered the Katy Trail which is now a bicycler's dream that uses the old railroad track as a bike trail taking you to other picturesque small towns in the surrounding area.  In the 1800s, a local businessman was able to persuade the railroad company to put a depot in Sedalia.  KT was the stock exchange symbol for the railroad and eventually the line became known as the Katy.

 Scott Joplin lived in Sedalia for several years.  He is considered a pioneer of Ragtime music.  A prolific composer, he is known for Ragtime hits like The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag.  We listened to those pieces and more as we drove today.  

Of course, we had to have ribs.  The ladies at the Depot Visitor's Center recommended Little Big Horn as the place to go.  The fact that they had adequate parking for a travel trailer was also important.  Craig went in and picked up two barbecue plates with ribs, brisket, chicken and sides.  The ribs were amazing, the brisket was very good and tender and the chicken was chicken.  The amount of food was crazy and enough for lunch and dinner.  One of the things that we love about traveling with our trailer is having lunch breaks in the trailer if there is no outdoor seating.  It proved to be even better today eating messy ribs!

From Sedalia we continued on to DeSoto, Kansas and our second Harvest Hosts stay at Happy Valley Farm.  Happy Valley is a berry and fruit farm and a lovely setting.  The hosts Patty and Spike made us feel welcome immediately upon arrival.  They have a farm store where we purchased some of their honey from their bees and oh my is it good.  

Gateway to the West - April 26, 2021

It was exciting to see the famous Saint Louis Arch, Gateway to the West,  as we drove through the city. We were in full tourist mode with Becky leaning out the car window taking pictures of the Arch while I managed to navigate all 39 feet of our car and trailer in heavy traffic without bumping into anything! After driving a couple of hours on I-64 west with continuous tractor trailers and a strong wind blowing we once again decided to take the road less traveled. That road was Missouri highway 50 with occasional stretches of historic Route 66. We passed through many small towns with interesting names like Red Bud and Peaceful Village and had fun discussing the origins of their monickers. We have a Harvest Host site for tonight at The White Mule Winery in Owensville, Missouri. We met one of the owners, Charlie, who greeted us and gave us instructions on where to park. The wind here is quite blustery and will provide a gentle rocking motion of our travel trailer as we go to sleep tonight. Well that and the dry red table wine we got from Charlie.

Our Journey is the Destination

 We both find it difficult to not have an exact plan laid out for our travels, or honestly, for anything.  Our travel trailer, an Rpod 196 is named Wander Yonder II.  Wander Yonder I was our Aliner that we bought in 2016.  It was very fun but didn't have a bathroom or comfortable sleeping so we decided to upgrade to our Rpod.  Our grandson, Tyler, came up with the name and we liked it so much we decided to slightly modify. 

When we were planning this cross country trip, we decided that we really needed to have the first week or so planned.  We have things planned through this Friday at this point.  It has been helpful to work out how far we want to travel each day.  Three to four hours seems to be working well and gives us the opportunity to wander the backroads and see things we would miss on the interstates. So truly for this trip, our journey is the destination. 

We heard about a couple of "camping clubs" that were interesting.  You pay an annual fee and stay as many nights as you want for the year. Boondocker's Welcome is a club that RVers open their land or driveway for people passing through to boondock for a night or so.  Generally there are no hookups.  We have had two Boondocker Welcome stays so far and we love this program.  Both nights have been extremely good experiences.  The vistas have been incredible and incredibly quiet locations.  

We awoke this morning after a restful night's sleep to sunshine and so much beauty.  We took a walk around the farm and then down the road to this pretty river.  If we ever pass back through this area of Kentucky, we will definitely be staying at Honeyshuck Farm.

The other club is Harvest Hosts.  Wineries, Breweries, Farms, Museums and Golf Courses allow the members to boondock in their parking area.  Our first Harvest Host stay is tomorrow night so we will give you a report on that later this week.  

Today our wandering idea worked out beautifully.  We departed Honeyshuck Farm about 8:00am and began our journey down country roads.  About 45 minutes later, we came upon South Union Shaker Village.  It wasn't open but we wandered about the grounds and enjoyed reading the information signs.  

We traveled mostly backroads to our overnight stay for tonight, a full service KOA campground in Grayville, Illinois.  Our plan is to do 2 or 3 boondocker nights and then a full service which means power, water and sewer hookups.  This is a new KOA and really cute.  We had fun walking around and taking advantage of the cutesy photo props.  

Hope you are enjoying our wanderings!

Rain, Rain & More Rain (April 24, 2021)

Bec cooked a hot breakfast on the trailers inside kitchen this morning to fuel us up for the days adventures. I then headed out to disconnect the trailer for travel while being pelted with huge rain drops blown by a 30mph wind that made me feel as though someone was repeatedly shooting me with a BB gun. Since it was only 42 degrees temperature outside I was a bit frigid in addition to being soaking wet by the time I had finished. I mentally asked myself “if I was having fun yet” and decided that even in the cold, wet and muddy mess I was in the answer was still “yes”. A quick change into dry clothes and our cars good heater and seat warmer and I was ready to begin the days drive to our next stop at Honeyshuck Farm in Woodburn, Kentucky. 

We decided to take backroads again to be able to see more of the countryside closer than traveling on the interstate highway. Due to a miscommunication on our gps we got a tour of the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green, KY along the way. We were actually looking for the Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green but missed a couple of turns so ended up pulling our 22’ travel trailer through the city then the campus before arriving at the aviation park. By the time we arrived at our stop for the night the rain had almost stopped. We met the owners of Honeyshuck Farms and then were directed us to our campsite. It is a beautiful campsite surrounded by rolling green pastures with horses and cows.

Traveling Tennessee

Our first boondocking experience could not have been any better. We had a nice visit with our hosts, Scott and Debbie, and enjoyed pleasant conversations about places traveled and our lives so far. We also got a tour of their RV motor home and some ideas of ways to enhance our camping experiences. Their Boondockers Welcome site was level, safe, quiet and very picturesque. We slept well last night and enjoyed our coffee this morning while looking at the beautiful mountains that surrounded us. After getting a warm send off from Scott and Debbie we departed and headed down the mountain to I-40 to continue our westward journey. Hopefully our paths will cross again in the future and we will get to enjoy their company once more. Our travel today was thankfully uneventful and we arrived at our next stop during a light rain shower. Our campsite tonight is at the Belle Ridge Retreat in Monterrey, TN. Belle Ridge Retreat is a very nice RV resort that looks new and is nicely manicured.  After a yummy dinner and a hilly walk around the campground we retired for the evening excited about our trip so far and what we had planned for tomorrow.

First Boondocker's Welcome Stay

After a delicious breakfast prepared and served by the Pine Tree Inn owners, Dean and Donna Jacobs, we said our goodbyes to Laura and Addison then headed west. We chose to take the road less traveled to avoid the interstate highways and wound our way through the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee arriving at our first Boondockers Welcome host site in Cosby, TN. Our BW Host, Scott, met us with a friendly smile and showed us where we could park and set up for the night. To our delight the site was level and very scenic and Scott even allowed us to hook up to his 30amp electric outlet nearby. After setting up our trailer we took a walk around to view the grandeur of the mountains that surrounded us then enjoyed some wine and cheese that we brought with us. A very satisfying start to our cross country travel adventure!

Pisgah Forest, Pines Country Inn, and the Parkway

Our first stop on our cross country trip was Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. Pisgah Forest is a community just outside Brevard. We met our daughter and granddaughter at Pines Country Inn to celebrate our granddaughter's 22nd birthday. There are eight guest rooms in the main building of the inn which was built 1883. A country breakfast is served daily in season. There are also cabins available. We spent 3 nights at the inn and loved the panaramic views from our room and attached porch. Craig was happy to be able to assist with the project of the week, reflooring the front porch of the main inn. Brevard offers numerous restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops and gift shops. We had several meals and all were good but our best meal was at Square Root, where we enjoyed Addie's official birthday meal. We ordered 2 appetizers to share, Wok Fried Brussel Sprouts and Southern Fondue. The brussel sprouts with chilies were tossed in a sweet ginger chili glaze finished with orange zest. The Southern Fondue was house made warm pimento cheese with hushpuppies, pickled okra, bacon braised collard greens and crispy fried black-eyed peas. Everyone agreed they were "order agains" or try to duplicate in our own kitchens. Our entrees were very tasty also. Two of us had Fried Green Tomato BLTs and two ordered cooked to temperature burgers. Driving up to the Parkway from Brevard is a beautiful drive with soaring vistas and waterfalls. There are multiple places to pull over and explore the Davidson River that runs parallel to the highway. Our granddaughter always enjoys getting into the icy water but that activity is not for the faint hearted. The Blue Ridge Parkway has many overlooks and several tunnels. It feels like you are at the top of the world. These three days were a great way to launch our trip. Our next stop is a Boondocker's Welcome stay in Cosby, Tennessee.