2015 Western Trip – On The Road – Days 1-3

We are finally underway for our big trip to the Pacific Northwest and hopefully this will be the dream trip I’ve been awaiting.  We’ve had all of the known coach issues taken care of, the basement area reorganized, and the RV chassis, the car, and me serviced.  The coach and car were all fine but I had a couple of issues requiring attention, so I’m hoping for a non-eventful trip – except for the positive ones.  The house sitter is in place and someone is lined up to tend to the grounds so we can hopefully not have to worry about things at home – this may be the part of traveling I like best and it makes me somewhat envious of the full timers.

Our plan is to spend a total of 73 days as we angle from home up to Washington, spend several weeks in the Northwest, then drop down to the middle of the country (Colorado) and head back home – I know, I know, this is not enough time to do the area justice but it is all I could get committed from my girls.  In addition to seeing the sights and eating good food, we hope to meet up with several blogger buddies during our adventure.

The first day we drove to Paducah, KY (311 miles) and spent the night at Fern Lake Campground which was an older park ran by a nice couple who live on site.  It is just grass and gravel, not a destination park but a good place to stop for the night.  They had pull thru’s that fit us and were about a half mile from the I-24 and a Pilot truck stop.  I would stop here again for a night or two.

The second day, we drove to Columbia, MO (302 miles) and skirted the SW of St. Louis by going up I-55.  I only like to drive two days in a row so we took an off day in Columbia, MO, staying at Cottonwoods RV Park which was another good place for a night or two but not a place for an extended stay.  After setting up, we went out, drove around a little, and decided to give the White Castle drive through a try for supper as we’d always heard of them.  Our opinion - if Krystal ever decides to expand into this area, White Castle will be history, but now I can say I’ve eaten them.

The next morning, we headed downtown to a small farmers market and had breakfast at the Ozark Mountain Biscuit food truck where my large sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit was delicious and well worth the $6 cost as were the deep fried pimento cheese balls.  I forgot my camera so here are a few shots from the web – I would definitely go back.

For dinner, Bev and Pat brought home supper from Buckingham Smokehouse Bar-B-Q as it was recommended by the campground check-in person.  Unfortunately, like most restaurant BBQ, everything was overcooked and dry requiring lots of sauce to be decent - to some folks BBQ is all about the sauce so they would have enjoyed this.  To me, BBQ is all about the meat and I'm spoiled by the stuff I make at home. 

We're off tomorrow to points further west and I'll check in again when we have something worthy of a post.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

7/24 - 7/26/15 event dates