Casino Stop

Heading through Kansas we need to find something fun to do. Found an Indian reservation casino, Prairie Band, (formerly owned by Harrah’s) with an RV park attached. Park lacks landscaping, but the casino is great. Security guards drive us back and forth at a moment’s notice. I’m up a bit on the slots…break for dinner…big mistake to go back! Rick blows through a bunch at the roulette and craps tables…decides to try the slots, and he has more fun. Of course, we end the night down, but a great evening!

Down Memory Lane

July 29th and 30th – We head out for Columbia, MO for a trip down memory lane to my college campus. We pull into a relatively pleasant RV park near the fair grounds. Having a drink outside when we see a truck dragging a beat-up wreck of a car….then another…and another…and another….It turns out there’s a demolition derby that night….grill steaks, close up Tor, pull out in a DVD and settle in for a good night’s rest….wrong!

It’s not the crashing cars that keeps us awake all night. It’s a mockingbird with a full repertoire perched on the telephone pole. We locate the ear plugs. Next morning, that bird is still at it and has added an accompanying gymnastic routine which we actually caught on film. As far as we can tell this bird did not stop for 48 hours!

Had a car delivered from Enterprise and headed to the University of Missouri campus. It was stunningly beautiful. The Journalism school was under renovation, so couldn’t go in. But went to the newspaper office where I worked..new and gorgeous…the Commons book store and stocked up some new t-shirts…wandered all over campus, then visited my sorority house…glad to say it looked fabulous. Then went to the TV station where I worked. Beautiful new lobby and fancy production facilities we didn’t have, but my studio had barely changed! New anchor desk but that’s about all. Went to dinner at the restaurant where visiting parents always took their kids. Still quite nice, but food did'nt hold up to my memory of it.

The mockingbird continues its antics. Find the earplugs.

Getting Settled

July 28 and 29th - Columbus has one of the biggest malls I’ve ever seen. We need food and to figure out how to stabilize everything we’ve loaded into this beast. We rent a car…Enterprise is a wonderful invention since they bring the car to you…important when you’re not all that comfortable maneuvering through town.

We end up spending the entire day racing from store to store . Find the Weber BBQ grill we’ve been looking for and terrific looking baskets to stow packaged food at Sears. Bed and Bath and the Great Indoors have containers to temporarily ease things from rolling around…still trying to find an attractive and effective way to hold dishes and glasses. Will probably end up designing something that Rick can build for the next trip. Dinner out since we have a car.

Next morning, major shopping excursion at a Kroger’s….great store…very big for a city girl! Stop to pick up some wine and beer…major necessities, return car and head for Terre Haute, IN.
Uneventful drive…the surprise occurs when we need a place to stop for the night. One of Kelly’s friends has been kidding me about KOAs since we bought this thing. I said no way would we be doing that….never say never! It had 4 stars, so how bad could it be? It felt like the Twilight Zone! While there were several very nice RVs there, it was dotted with what looked like permanent residents in wrecks and many dogs! I am no longer trusting this star system. That's why we're starting our own rating system. We closed ourselves in, made a taco salad, put in a DVD and spent a pleasant evening.