We left Alabama intending on staying at Cuivre State Park in Missouri, basically between St. Louis and Hannibal. We got there, but we didn’t fit! The park website said we did, and the reviews on RVParkReview.com said we would, but that must have been before they stopped trimming the trees above and next to the road. We actually scratched the coach, something that made me very sad. We then headed back north, but we couldn’t find a nice campground with openings. The campgrounds in the Hannibal don’t have good reviews, and Mark Twain Lake, a great place, was just too far off the road. We ended up staying in the Hannibal Walmart parking lot, running the generator pretty solid because it was so hot. I didn’t feel too bad because everyone else was doing the same thing!
We stopped at Center Point, Iowa, about 45 miles from home, to dump the tanks at the Travel Plaza. After we finished, we realized we were within 5 miles of one of our favorite camping spots – Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area. We decided to stop there for 6 days. Luckily it was Monday so the few no-reservation campsites had openings. It is a huge pull through site with 50 amp service at the princely cost of $16 a night. We decided to stay here until Sunday morning.
It was miserably hot on Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy and hot. My daughter, her husband and son, and my second son came last night for dinner. I used the Instant Pot to make pulled pork (cut into 1 pound chunks, use vegetable broth, garlic, and onions as liquid, pressure cook 70 minutes, natural pressure release after 10 minutes – delicious). I also made my daughter’s favorite chocolate cherry dump cake. I usually make it in a Dutch Oven, but the rain put a kabosh on that. I made it in a 6×10 baking pan I had. Put 2 cans of high quality cherry pie filling in the pan, spread about 1/2 a package of chocolate cake mix, and apply liquid margarine in a cross hatch pattern. I baked in the convection oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Today it was absolutely lovely most of the day with mild temperatures and just a bit of wind off and on. I tried to sew just to see where things would work best. I have already decided I don’t like seeing at the dinette table, so tomorrow we will pick up my little portable sewing table and see how that works.
In summary, it was awfully nice to have a comfortable place to really try out the coach. We are close enough to home we can pick up things, and we have packed a number of things we will be wanting to take with us.