Wednesday 4-15-26 Rain, Walking, Laundry & More

 

Canadian Geese enjoying Boulder Lake

We had a rainy morning with the temperature of 61 degrees. It was very humid all day because it was overcast. There was a breeze all day at times it was stronger then other times. The high was 75 degrees.

We woke up to rain, that had started early in the morning. I woke up at 7:15 and got dressed. Then we shared a bagel with cream cheese spread on it and a shake. 

Rain Day

About 9:00 we decided to go to the office and pay for another day because we didn't want to drive in the rain. Our site was available until Friday so there was not problem to pay another night. After paying for we continued to walk. We walked to Wakonda Lake Campground and walked around it. We ended up walking around for an hour for 3 miles. By the time we got back we were drenched with sweat. 

We spent most of the day relaxing. Larry read and I played games.

Larry had gotten a three book series from Libby. He finished one of the books yesterday. He started the second book and finished it today. He did his daily reading of groups he follows and the news groups. He did research on where we are going next.

Relaxing with a book

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). It took me 1 hour, 14 minutes and 45 seconds, which put me in 14th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

The rain was suppose to be back between 5:00 and 7:00 so I decided to do my evening walk at 1:00. I walked around for an hour, which was our campground three times for 3 miles.

While I was walking Larry went and took a shower. When I finished my walk I went over and took a shower. 

The park has a washer and dryer for $1.50 per load so I did a load of shirts. I thought why not, we're going to be hanging around the Minnie for the rest of the day. We had been sweating so much we needed some shirts done. When I went over to take a shower I put the load in the washer. Its timer said it should be finished in 29 minutes. After my shower I had 10 minutes to spare. When it was time to put the load in the dryer I went back to the laundry. The dryer cycle took 45 minutes and the clothes came out perfect. 

Doing laundry

In the evening after I finished my games I continued reading A Stranger in the Kingdom. I ended up doing 16,000 steps.

  

  

Tuesday 4-14-26 Wakonda State Park & Having Fun

 

Wakonda Lake

During the early hours of the morning we had a rain front come through. At one point it rained very hard. The morning temperature was 66 degrees and it got up to 89 degrees. It was a muggy day. 

Larry woke up at his normal time of 5:45 and did his morning routine. I got up at 7:15, I wasn't in any hurry because we weren't going hiking. I got dressed and we had breakfast. It wasn't a big breakfast we shared a bagel with cream cheese and a shake. Then we went for a walk around the campgrounds before it got too muggy and hot. We walked around for an hour for 3 miles. We walked to Wakonda Lake Campground, which was about 1.5 miles away from our campground. We walked to the entrance office and kept walking straight. The road led us to Wakonda Lake day area. It was a beautiful day area with a ramp and rental store of kayaks. There was a nice dock where the rentals are on season, not today. A little further down the road there was the picnic area, beach and shower house. The picnic tables were under the trees and had a view of Wakonda Lake. While walking we saw remains of cement structures, they were from open-pit mining in 1924. Next we walked around Wakonda Lake Campground. It had 13 full hook-up sites, two were being occupied. They did a great job of making the campground. After walking around the campground we walked back to the Minnie. By the end of the walk we had walked for an hour for 3 miles. We were hot and sweaty.

Remains of the open-pit mining

Wakonda Lake Campground

Cool birdhouse (two layers with holes and a roof for the birds to perch and use)

Flood lines of Boulder Lake (yellow 1993, green 2008 and red 2019)

Fun facts rom the internet: Before Wakonda was a state park it was a source of deep glacial gravel deposits used for road surface. Beginning in 1924, the Missouri Highway Commission contracted private companies to perform open-pit mining on the site, removing over 26 million tons of sand and gravel by the late 1980s. The excavation process left behind six lakes and piles of  sand that eventually developed into a rare sand prairie. In 1960 Wakonda State Park was established after the state highway commission transferred 273 acres of the mine land to the Missouri State Park Board.

As you walk, hike or drive around the park you can see the lakes, which are: Boulder Lake, Granite Lake, Jasper Lake, Agate Lake, Wakonda Lake and Quartz Lake. It's a beautiful park with a lot of trees.

Most of the day we spent hanging around the Minnie because it was too muggy to walk around or sit outside. We  have power so we kept cool and relaxed under the air conditioner. 

Everyday Larry gets an e-mail from Book-Bub and E-eeader on free or bargain e-books. He loves getting these, sometimes he will buy and download the book. Sometimes they're free or sometimes he has to pay $.99, $1.99 or $2.99. These applications introduce him to authors he wouldn't normally know about.  

Have fun reading

We're also a member of the Houston Library and they have a program called Libby, where you can check out books and videos. Today Larry saw a book on Book-Bub that interested him, he looked the author up on Libby and found other books by the same author. Libby is just like a library, you check out a book and after you finish reading it you check it back in. Some books have a waiting list and they only have a couple of copies. It's a great for people who read a lot and it's free. We don't live in Houston, we live in Belton but the Houston Library still lets us join and use Libby. We have added them to our yearly donation list.  

I played my Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 37 minutes and 17 seconds, which put me in 21st place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

When I was playing games I continued reading A Stranger In The Kingdom by Howard Frank Mosher. 

After dinner I did my 3 miles walk around Boulder Lake Campground for an hour. I did 14,500 steps today.      

Woodpecker pecking on a power box

      

    

Monday 4-13-26 Hannibal Mo, Wakonda State Park & More

 

Sunrise on the Mississippi River

We had a hot muggy day with rain and wind.

The morning temperature was 67 degrees in Clarksville, MO. The high was 83 degrees in La Grange, MO. It sprinkled on and off all morning into the afternoon. It was very humid and windy. 

We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise on the Mississippi River at Silo Access Area. We didn't have power but it was very comfortable sleeping. I got out of bed before 7:00 to go to the bathroom. I decided I was awake so I stayed up. We put things away and secured. Then we had a quick breakfast. 

It had rained while we slept and there were some rain in the area. We decided to hang around at Silo for a bit to let the rain pass through. While we waited I continued reading A Stranger In The Kingdom. Larry did some research on where to go next. 

Relaxing with a book

At 9:30 we were on the road. Our next destination was Hannibal, MO, which was 40 miles from Silo. The road we took was The Great River Road Highway 79. It was a two lane curvy country road. It was a beautiful drive through Louisiana, which was a very small town. There were a lot of trees. As we drove we noticed we just missed the rain because the roads were wet.

The Great River Road sign for Missouri

Hannibal was the boyhood home of author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain 1835-1910). He was known for his novels of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). 

 We arrived at Hannibal at 10:30 and parked in a public parking lot in a park by the Mississippi River. Then we walked around Hannibal. First stop was at Mark Twain Dinette for lunch. We shared a roast beef & cheddar melt and onion rings and a bottle of the homemade root beer. After lunch we walked around Hannibal. We climbed the 240 steps to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse where there was a beautiful view of the Mississippi River. We walked where the old bridge was, that stretched across the Mississippi River. They have a very nice Memorial Park. At the bottom of the hill (Cardiff Hill), where the lighthouse was located there was a huge statue of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer made by Fredrick Hibbard in 1926. Then we walked through a few shops. When we got back to the park where the Minnie was we walked around. It had a very nice marina and benches along the bank of the Mississippi River for people to sit and enjoy the river. There's a riverboat, that takes people on cruises down the Mississippi and learn the history of the area. There's a big statue of Mark Twain. We had a very nice walk.    

Fun Fact:  Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse is 54 feet tall, 200 feet above the Mississippi River and 240 steps from the statue of  Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

A mural of Hannibal

Downtown Hannibal

Mark Twain Dinette 

Homemade Mark Twain Root Beer

Our meal

 

Mark Twain Dinette sign

Memorial Park

Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Statue

Riverboat cruise boat

Mark Twain statue

After our walk we continued our adventure for another 30 miles to Wakonda State Park. Before leaving Hannibal we stopped by the Walmart to pick up a few items we needed. 

We arrived at Wakonda State Park at 2:30. Larry couldn't make a reservation online because the park doesn't officially open up for the season until 4/15/26. We stopped at the office and Larry went inside. The gentleman told Larry to find a site and come back. There were two campgrounds, which were Boulder Lake and Wakonda Lake. We decided on Boulder Lake because it's not full hook-ups. We had no problem, no one was there. We picked #57, which looks over Boulder Lake (20 acre lake). Larry paid for two night. The gentleman said it's available until Friday night. 

Entrance sign to Wakonda State Park

Camping at Wakonda State Park

Boulder Lake

We backed the Minnie in site #57 and Larry plugged us in. We set the Minnie up for two nights. We were glad to hear, that the water was on in the shower house. 

After dinner we went on a walk around the campground to get familiar with it and where the trailheads are. Larry walked with me for a half hour, which was a mile. While we were walking we saw a few cottontails and a beautiful woodpecker. Then I continued walking around for another 2 miles. By the end of the walk I had done 3 miles for an hour and fifteen minutes. It was very hot and humid but there was a breeze. 

A couple of cottontails

I spent the evening playing games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Klondike Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 51 minutes and 38 seconds, which put me in 19th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

Larry started a book and stopped after reading 20% of it. He didn't like it so he picked a new one.

By the end of the night I had done 13,000 steps.    

 

     

Sunday 4-12-26 Clarksville, Silo Access Area & Having Fun

 

Clarksville Missouri

Tonight I'm sitting here writing my blog on the Mississippi River. We had an outstanding day. We didn't do too much.

The morning temperature at St. Francois State Park in Bonnie Terre, MO was 61 degrees. The high temperature was 78 degrees in Clarksville, MO. We had overcast skies and a little rain. 

I surprised Larry by waking up at 6:45. We wanted to get an early start. We have to go through St. Louis. I got dressed and we started to get ready to go. We put everything away and secured. Then we had a quick breakfast. We were on the road by 7:30. On the way out of St. Francois State Park we stopped at the dumpster to get rid of our trash and cans in the recycling bin.

Larry drove 125 miles today. He drove on I55 to St. Louis (50 miles), where we picked up I270 to bypass St. Louis. It had six lanes and road construction. After going around St. Louis we picked up I70 West to Highway 79. We crossed over the Missouri River via a huge bridge. Highway 79 is a two lane highway through small towns. There were quite a few signs saying it was part of the Great River Road (Mississippi River). We did the Great River Road back in 2017 and had a super time. We started at Baton Rouge, Louisiana and traveled all the way to the beginning of the Mississippi near Bemidji, Minnesota. 

We stopped in Clarksville, MO to see the lock. While there we walked around by the lock. We saw a barge in the lock and watched it go in the lock. We saw an old Harley Davidson and we talked to its owner a little bit. Clarksville looks like it's barely surviving. Then we got back into the Minnie our final destination was 5 miles down the road.

The sign for the lock in Clarksville

A ship in the lock

The guys roping off the ship to get through the lock

Living in Clarksville

The Judge going in the lock

The final destination is a free camping area run by the U.S. Corps of Engineers called Silo Access Area. It is right off the Mississippi River. It's a beautiful camping area. It's paved and the sites are paved. There no power or bathroom but they do have a port a john. We took a pull-through site #10, which looks over the Mississippi River. It was very leveled.

Camping on the Mississippi River

We parked the Minnie and set it up for the night. It was very comfortable to sit in the Minnie because there was a breeze. We watched the barges go down the river. Occasionally a train went by but it wasn't a problem. We saw four of them I took pictures of three of them. We saw the barges coming from both directions, which was against the current and with the current. The barge we saw in Clarksville we saw it here. The name of the barge and tug was Judge. It had two barges it was moving. The other two I took pictures of were Andrew Cannava and Roberta Tabor. Andrew Cannava waited for the Judge to go down the river before moving on. It was going with the current. Roberta Tabor came a little later going with the current. It had five barges and we saw a worker walking around to make sure everything was ok. We always enjoy watching the barges going down the river and through locks.

The Mississippi River

The Judge coming up the Mississippi River by our camp site

The Judge tugboat

Worker walking the barge 

Roberta Tabor

Look how close the barge and the Mississippi River is to our site 

Andrew Cannava

We kept entertained by reading. I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 33 minutes and 37 seconds, which put me in 41st place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

I didn't do too many steps because there wasn't anywhere to walk and the campground was very small. I ended up doing 2,200 steps.        

  

Saturday 4-11-26 St. Francois State Park, Ranger Talk & Relaxing

 

Just hanging out with friends

We had another beautiful day in Missouri. The morning temperature was 51 degrees and the high was 74 degrees. It was a little muggy because of the cloud covering. At 1:00 a little rain shower came through. It only lasted a few minutes. 

I got up at 7:30 and got dressed. For breakfast we had a Big Texas cinnamon roll and shared a shake. We didn't do any hiking today because Larry wanted to give his feet a break. One of his big toes is a little tender. 

Instead we walked around the campground a few times. We did a morning walk for 1.25 around both loops. In the afternoon we walked for 2.5 miles, which was the two loops three times. Larry walked the loops once with me. After dinner I walked around the loops three times for 2.25 miles. By the end of the day I had done 15,500 steps.

I played my Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Games Tango of 20 games (10 Klondike and 10 Spider). It took me 2 hours, 9 minutes and 19 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

Larry started a new book and finished it. I finished Northern Borders written by Howard Frank Mosher before going to bed. I asked Larry to choose another book. He decided on another book written by Howard Frank Mosher called A Stranger In The Kingdom. I really enjoy reading Howard Frank Mosher novels because he is the main character and telling the story of his childhood in Vermont. So far I like A Stranger In The Kingdom.

 

Reading is fun

In the evening we walked to the amphitheater to attend the park presentation on Possums. The gentleman, who did the presentation did a very good job talking about possums. He had a table full of different animal hides found in Missouri (possum, skunks (spotted and stripe), foxes (red and gray) and coyote. We learned a lot about the possums. The kids in the audience asked him a lot of questions and he answered them. We really enjoyed the presentation. The presentation started at 7:00 and was over by 7:40. He had about fifty people there.

Showing the different in size of the skunks spotted and stripe (the smaller one is the spotted skunk)

People at the presentation

When we got back to the Minnie we relaxed with a book until it was time to go to bed.    

Friday 4-10-26 St. Francois State Park, Errands & Having Fun

 

Poplar Bluff welcome sign

We had a great day. 

We woke up to 54 degrees and a breeze at Lake Wappapello State Park (Williamsville, MO) and at the end of the day the high was 75 degrees at Sr. Francois State Park (Bonne Terre, MO). We had a small rain shower at St. Francois State Park. It lasted a few minutes.

Beautiful Day in Missouri

We had paid for another night at Lake Wappapello State Park but decided to move on. We had hiked the trails and enjoyed the campground. In Asher Campground the sites were by Lake Wappapello and we had gorgeous views of the lake. In the morning the lake was flat and very peaceful. While there for three days we watched a family kayaking on the lake even if the wind was blowing hard. We were entertained by four Canadian Geese walking around the campground. We hiked the two trails ( Asher Creek and Allison Cemetery) for a total of 6.25 miles. We had a super time.

I woke up at 7:15 and crawled out of bed. I got dressed and we shared a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese spread and a meal replacement shake. After breakfast we put things away and secured. We were on the road by 8:00. Before leaving Lake Wappapello we stopped at the dump station and dumped the tanks. At the dump station there was fresh water so we filled the fresh water tank. It didn't take too long. 

Today we travelled a total of 120 miles to St. Francois State Park. 

On the way there we stopped in Poplar Bluff to do errands. Poplar Bluff was 20 miles from Lake Wappapello. It was pretty close but the road was a two lane curvy road. It went through the forest where we saw beautiful trees. They have really bloomed in the last couple of days. Our first stop in Poplar Bluff was the UPS Store to pickup an Amazon package, it had a couple of fuel hoses and a thermistor for the refrigerator. We don't really need these parts right now because the refrigerator is working great and the hose to the fuel tank is working out. Larry may not have to do either project until we get home but it's nice to have the parts just in case.

Next stop was Walmart to go grocery shopping, we also bought some safety glasses for Larry. When the trailheads aren't too far away (a couple of miles) from the campground we don't wear helmets on the motorcycle. Larry wanted safety glasses to protect his eyes from the bugs. After going shopping and putting things away we were back on the road.

We had another 100 miles to go. This part of the ride was down a four lane highway, that took us by some some towns and cities. When we got to Fredericktown we stopped because we needed to take a bathroom break. It was lunchtime and there just happened to be a Little Caesar's pizza right at the exit. When we arrived a bus full of elderly people from the local assistant living home had also just arrived. They had stopped at Little Caesar's because the folks wanted pizza. It was a nice size group. A couple told me to go ahead of them because I was there first. It was very nice to see the group having fun on their outing. Some of them haven't had pizza in a long time and didn't know what to order. It was very hard to read the menu sign because it keeps switching on you. They had a couple of people taking care of them. They all decided on having the lunch special of two pieces of pizza and a bottle drink for $6.49 plus tax. This was the first Little Caesar's we can remember seeing where there were some tables inside for you to eat your lunch. I bought a Hot and Ready pepperoni pizza. I took it back to the Minnie where Larry and I had lunch.  

Little Caesars pepperoni pizza

After lunch we went the final 40 miles to St. Francois State Park. I was fed and happy, I dozed these last 40 miles. We checked in at the entrance gate because someone was manning it. It's the weekend and it was going to be busy. This park is about 50 miles from St. Louis, MO. Larry made reservations this morning and there were only 11 electric sites left. The lady, who checked us in was very nice and gave us the park map and the hiking trail map. She explained where out site was, which was site #9.

Our site is a pull-through site. Larry thought he might have to put one corner on blocks. But he backed up a little and the site leveled out great. It was about 2:00 when we arrived. We set the Minnie up for a couple of nights. Then we relaxed.

Larry finished his book and did some research on where to go from here. Then he started a new book.

I played games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Games Tango Mini of six games (3 Tri Peaks and 3 Pyramid). It took me 15 minutes and 10 seconds, which put me in 23rd place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

I finished reading Northern Borders by Howard Frank Mosher. It was a terrific book, I liked it very much. 

After dinner we went on a walk to get familiar with the campground. There are two loops, one power loop and a non-power loop. The non-power loop only had a few campers but the power loop is almost full. Larry walked around with me for about a half hour for a mile. Then he went inside the Minnie I continued walking around for another 2 miles. I did the loops two times. Each loop is about a half mile. By the end of the day I had done 10,000 steps, this is pretty good considering it was a travel day.     

     

Amphitheater

Playground

St. Francois Campground (power)