Ooooooo........Aaaahhhhhhhhh!

Come on Down.....to Springfield Missouri.  We've been here for 4 days and have had a great time.  The weather has been outstanding, the people are extremely helpful and friendly, the food is great and the entertainment…..what a time we've had!  On day 1, we stayed in Springfield and did a trolley tour through the Fantastic Caverns.  The caves are well-named:  they were fantastic.  The tour guide explained the history of the caves, which were originally explored by 12 local women.  She even told us how to make gunpowder out of dried, boiled bat guano.  You don't get that information from just anywhere!  And who knows, it might come in handy.  We also found a way to make a neat flashlight out of a coffee can and a candle - can't wait to try it at Grundy.

The next day saw us in Carthage, where we visited the Precious Moments museum and chapel.  It was a very inspirational tour - they certainly take their bible studies seriously out here.   There were a lot of references to people from the old testament so Nui was a bit lost although RRR said she'd at least heard of some of them.   Unfortunately for us, there was a huge gift shop attached to the museum.  Needless to say, the Beast is now home to several Precious Moments figurines and  one really huge peridot colored crystal ring.  Seriously, though, it was an amazing tour and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Today, we were off to Branson.  After driving the strip and admiring some of the local architecture, we had a bit of time on our hands….. so we went to a psychic for palm reading and tarot cards.  The results were a bit dubious, but you get what you pay for.  Then it was off to the Welk Resort where we participated in a live version of the Price is Right.  This was a lot of fun and we got to Ooooo and Ahhhh along with the crowd at all the prizes.  We registered to be contestants but, sadly, our luck was not with us.  Maybe we should have bought a charm or two from the psychic to improve our chances.  We met some interesting people in the lobby and had our photo taken with the handsome Johnny, who came dressed for the occasion.

 Tomorrow is a rest day, then we're off to Arkansas and digging for diamonds.  RRR will have to take off her ring for that little chore.

 

 

 

See the World in Just one Day

We left Cloverdale, IN on a rainy Saturday and drove less than 20 miles before re-discovering sunshine.  The new GPS was intent on sending us down small, narrow country roads to get to I-70 but Nui ignored her and eventually she settled down and sent us on our way to our new destination.  There was only one short moment of confusion when the GPS got the exit wrong and we missed the turn onto I-55 and had to detour through downtown St. Louis.  No big deal - it turned out that the detour saved us a lot of time since we avoided a huge traffic jam at the I-55 turn-off.

A pleasant 4-hour drive down excellent roads led us to our next destination, the Ladybug RV Resort in Cuba!  This is a great little park and the owners are very friendly and accommodating.  We stayed overnight and left the next day for Springfield, MO.  Imagine our delight, therefore, when we discovered that from Cuba, we were going to Paris and then Lebanon! All that international travel from the comfort of the Beast and in only 3 hours.  We are now at the Springfield, MO KOA (not the Springfield, IL KOA as previously booked!) and we're going cave-touring this afternoon.  We're heading out tomorrow for the Precious Moments Chapel (I know - Nui will probably burst into flame) and then on Thursday we're heading for Branson and a Live version of the Price is Right.  Should be a fun couple of days!

Clueless in Cloverdale

We arrived in Cloverdale on Friday after some very tense hours on the road.  The GPS decided to pack it in and, of course, we don't have a map.  The GPS would not charge and we had to rely on the remaining battery power.  RRR spent hours pressing the "stay on" button, trying desperately to keep the unit going until we got past Indianapolis.  We made it to the Cloverdale RV park just in time.  Nui was able to charge it just enough to allow her to find a Walmart and buy a new Garmin.  The new unit sucks - it has a horrible, whiny female voice instead of the deep baritone we're used to and half the usual applications are missing.  Still, it stays on which is a real treat.

This morning, we awoke to torrential rain and thunderstorms.  Nui took this photo of RRR coming home after (and also during) a shower.

We therefore decided to stay put for one more day, since we did not have a chance to see the wonders of Cloverdale, which is renowned for its covered bridges.  These may or may not be amazing attractions because we had to look for an hour and a half before finding just one of them.  Cloverdale's budget doesn't appear to allow for signage.  You would think that if covered bridges were your big claim to fame, you would at least stick a sign up somewhere.  Even the locals couldn't tell us much about where to find them.

To cap off the day, we bent one of the retaining pins on the tow assembly.  Even though the sales person had told Nui this was not possible to do, she still managed.  Fortunately, she had the foresight to buy extras and we will be able to leave tomorrow for Cuba, MO as scheduled.  EXCEPT..... Nui slammed the car door on the adaptor for the "Brake Buddy", which smashed to bits and the fuse broke.  Ever resourceful, we found a new fuse and glued/taped the adaptor together.  The way our luck is running, we expect the car to burst into flames sometime tomorrow morning.

RRR says trouble comes in 3's (notice the 3 R's in her name).  So:  GPS, bent pin, broken brake system...... we're done!  Now we're safe.

Shipshewana Shopping

Day 4 of the BBA (Big Beastly Adventure) saw RRR and Nui heading off (by car) to the flea market which, contrary to the brochure, is not even remotely within walking distance.  The flea market is huge - over 110 acres, with a lot of variety (especially in sparkly t-shirts, as RRR soon found).    Thank heavens we brought our little scooters because walking up and down those aisles for 4 hours would have been next to impossible.  You could tell we're new at this snowbirding thing because we took off under a blazing hot sun with no hats, sunglasses or water.  It was 82F in the shade and that was at 4 p.m.   Even Nui was hot!  We'd better take a crash course in hot weather survival because we're going to be living in the desert in about 3 weeks.

RRR had originally said that she wasn't all that interested in going to a flea market because - and I quote - "we're not going to buy anything".  Boy was she wrong!!!  A lot of vendors had big smiles on their faces when we left.

Today, we left under drizzly skies and went to visit the RV Museum and Hall of Fame.  It was fantastic!  Well worth seeing if you've ever camped.  The oldest RV was made in 1913 and it was amazing.  There were some oddities too - for instance, one guy used a kitchen chair to sit on while he was driving.  Another one used a living room chair - I guess he wanted to be more comfortable.  Presumably they didn't make any sudden stops.  We even saw the motorhome that Mae West used to go from her home to the movie sets.  That one had a porch where she would sit in a rocking chair to relax. 

Detours and Dimwits

Day 2 started out pretty well.  We breezed through the US border in about 20 minutes, without being pulled over.  Then we started to drive, and drive and drive and drive.  At first, the trees were lovely, sparkling red, orange and yellow in the autumn sun.  After about 2 hours of all this sparkling, we realized that we hadn't seen a gas station or a rest area since leaving Canada.  One tank was getting very dry.....our personal tanks were starting to get pretty full and it was time to stop.  We finally found what is apparently Michigan's only gas station near Saginaw and promptly filled up the Beast.  We were pretty tired and were looking forward to taking the exit to our campground near Frankenmuth but, sure enough, we got detoured and had to drive the Beast through even more sparkling scenery before we finally got to the campground which was, of course, closed.  By this time, we were ready to hire ourselves out as farmhands to pick corn, since that would have been a welcome relief from all those sparkling trees.

We set up camp and set out for Frankenmuth where we had a lovely, if unpronounceable, Bavarian dinner.  The atmosphere was great.  We loved looking at the knees of all those cute guys in leiderhosen.  From there, we went to Bonner's, the world's largest Christmas store which is jaw-droppingly amazing.  Unfortunately we had less than half an hour to visit but it is definitely on the bucket list for next year.  We are planning a three-day mini-tour next spring.

Day 3 began with a propane refill.  Apparently the term "fill it up" is rather a foreign concept in Michigan since we have not been able to get a full tank of gas nor a full tank of propane.  But off we headed for Shipshewana, IN.  Upon crossing into Indiana, we found dozens of gas stations.... perhaps they should lend some to Michigan.

Shipshewana is a smallish town which boasts the largest flea market in the Midwest.  The campground we had booked was, according to their brochure, "within walking distance" of the flea market.  We're not sure how much walking the Amish do, since they seem to be pretty tied to their horse-drawn buggies.  That might explain why no one seemed to know where the campground was or, for that matter, what was or was not within walking distance of the flea market.  Nui asked a dozen people for help with directions and was told to go north, west, or east and was also told that there was no campground.  We drove up and down the main street for an hour and a half, looking for a blue flashing sign showing the campground entrance.  Even the campground people weren't sure where they were located, since they told us they were north of the flea market when, in fact, they are a half mile south.  And the blue flashing sign they boasted about as the "only flashing sign on that street" is not blue, but is blue, yellow and red. They also told us that we could not see the campground from the road but would find a sign saying "RV Wash".  In fact, the campground is visible, it is the RV Wash sign that is impossible to see.

We think it must be the fumes from all the horse manure that is killing off their brain cells.

However, the town is really cute and we're looking forward to hitting the flea market tomorrow.

Holy Cow...the world is coming to an end!

There are two words that no living person on this planet has ever heard uttered by Road Rage Rita.  NO…not THOSE words.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  I'm talking about:  "I'm Cold!"  RRR has been known to hang her clothes out to dry in -30 weather, while wearing nothing but shorts and a tank top.  To hear her state that she is cold made Nui very nervous since everyone knows that the only time this would ever happen is when hell freezes over.

But we bundled her up in several layers of wool and cotton and she slept like a baby until the early morning hours of Day 2. 

And We're Off.... Day One of the Southern Expedition

And we're off!  We set off under cloudy skies and managed to hit rain about one hour out of town.  This downpour had the added benefit of camouflaging a sink hole which appeared near the Tim's at Nairn Centre.  The hole almost swallowed the Beast - we managed to hit it with all 10 tires, not to mention hitting rock bottom on the hitch.  Nui was not impressed.  However, the stop at Tim's was not a total loss.  As we were playing cards after lunch, a man came by, unzipped and proceeded to relieve himself not 10 feet from our window.  Dining and entertainment in one place!

The gas station next door had huge bays, perfect for RV's.  However, this did not pose enough of a challenge so we opted to keep going until we found one that was narrow and very hard to get into and out of.  The owner ran out to remove his flag when he saw us coming.  We filled up and asked to have the windows washed.  This was quite a confusing proposal to the man running the place.  He couldn't quite figure out what liquid to use (and wound up using plain water) and he couldn't quite grasp that you use the spongy side first, then the squeegee side.  Obviously, he's never washed a window in his life - perhaps he's more management than staff. 

We made it to Sault Ste Marie without further delays, under bright sunny skies.  That's when Nui found out that she could  not connect to WiFi, which is disastrous since there is no way to navigate in the US without MapQuest, unless you use old-fashioned technology like looking at a map.  R3's daughter came to the rescue and walked us through the hook up process.

All in all, it was a good day and we're looking forward to Frankenmuth and shopping tomorrow.