Sunday 4-28-24 Muggy Day & Big Spring Campground

 

Hot Humid Day

The rain was gone but the forecast indicates it is coming back later today and it's suppose to stick around tomorrow. The humidity is very high. 

I got out of bed at 7:00 and made mini waffles for breakfast. Then we put things away and secure because we're moving on. We weren't in any hurry because we were only going 60 miles to Big Spring Campground, it is in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways Missouri.

Before leaving Greenville Larry filled the fresh water tank and dumped the black and gray tanks. He didn't have to move the Minnie because everything was at the site. This was very convenient, except our site had some standing water because of yesterday's rain. 

The drive was mainly a four lane divided highway. Larry had a choice between two routes, he decided to take the four lane highway, most times we prefer the two lane highways but this would have been a tight curvy two lane highway with no shoulders. The drive was very nice. When we got to Van Buren we were only seven miles from the campground we stopped and filled the Minnie with fuel. While there Larry bought a couple of donuts. They were ok but not excellent. They were the normal convenient store donuts. 

The last seven miles was a curvy two lane road through Mark Twain National Forest. It was a beautiful drive. The entrance gate was a very nice building built by the CCC. No one was at the gate but they did have a brochure on the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, three campgrounds (Big Spring, Alley Spring and Round Spring) and the hiking trails in the area. We decided on Big Spring Campground because they have a RV loop with power. 

 

The entrance wall that's on both side of the entrance road

 

Check-in booth

We arrived at the campground at 10:15 and only five sites were occupied, three of those folks left soon after we arrived. We decided on the site and parked the Minnie in a site we liked. The only way to pay for a site is via a website. Fortunately there is cell service so Larry went online and made the reservation for two nights. After the confirmation came through Larry plugged us in. 

 

Camping at Big Spring
 

We relaxed until it was time for lunch. We had a pasta salad. 

After lunch we went for a walk around the park to get familiar with it and where the trailheads are. There are multiple places to access the trail that goes along the banks of the Current River. We walked the trail by the river to the main road and from there we walked the road to the Big Spring. It's gorgeous and amazing. There's a trail, that goes up the mountainside via rock stairs made by the CCC and a switch back. We hope to hike this trail in the next day or so. We did hike the trail on the bottom to the main road and took the river trail back to the Minnie. It was a nice walk. We ended up walking 3 miles. 

 

The caves Big Spring formed

 

Standing at Big Spring

Big Spring is the largest spring in Missouri and one of the largest springs in the world with a daily average flow of 286 million gallons. The spring remains between 55 and 58 degrees year round and has a gorgeous aquamarine hue thanks to the minerals. 

When we got back we relaxed with a book. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and the Event, which was Event: Experts Only Mini of 5 games. It took me 1 hour, 39 minutes and 13 seconds, which put me in 15th place in my group.

After dinner I walked around the campground for an hour to get my steps. I ended up doing 16,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group for the week. For the week I did 106,587 steps.

 

      

Saturday 4-27-24 Return to Missouri & Greenville Campground

 

Minnie by the Mississippi River

Today we said good-bye to Illinois and returned to Missouri. 

The rain came in last night and stayed around most of the day. 

 

 Playing in the rain

Larry got up around 6:00, his normal time. I got up about 6:45, which is early for me. I had to go to the bathroom so I decided to stay up. I made pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast we got ready to leave Randolph County State Conservation Area. We had a great time here but it's time to move on. 

The rain had stopped and we wanted to get on down the road before it returned. We were on the road at 7:45 am. Before leaving Illinois we drove back to Chester and parked by the Mississippi River. Chester has an area where you can park as long as your trailers are not left unattended. We parked there for about a half hour. We enjoy sitting by rivers and watching barges go by or into the locks. Today we saw a tugboat pick up construction workers and deliver them to a barge, where their equipment was. They are working on building a new bridge across the Mississippi River. The current bridge is really old, it is narrow and rough. We saw another tugboat delivering stuff from the Missouri side of the river to the Illinois side. We also saw a huge barge going up the river, it was going into the current so it was moving pretty slowly. We were surprised we only saw one barge on the river. We had fun hanging out by the Mississippi River.

 

The construction barge by the bridge

 

Barge going up the Mississippi

 

The tugboat moving the barge up the river

 

The barge on the other side of the bridge

After watching the barge go by we were back on the road. The roads we drove were two lane highways through small towns. They were curving narrow roads. We did take a four lane divided highway for a short period of time. The two lane roads didn't have any shoulders and they were damp. It was a beautiful drive because we drove through canopies of trees. 

When we got to Perryville, Ill. the clouds were very dark so we parked at their soccer complex. It was a gorgeous park and big. We decided to walk around the park before the rain started. There was a soccer game going on. They were very small boys and they had their own portable goals. We thought the kids were just going the wrong way but they had their goals going perpendicular to the field. We watched the game a little bit. It was fun watching. Kids this small don't always understand what they are suppose to be doing but they were having fun and their lady coaches were really enthusiastic. We walked around for probably a half hour. We were going to sit in the parking lot and wait out the rain but we decided to go to the Walmart. I needed to pick up a few things. So off to Walmart we went.

 

Parents cheering the boys on

 

Perryville Soccer Complex

We parked the Minnie at the Walmart and went inside to do our grocery shopping. We finished our shopping just in time because it started to rain. We sat the rain out and waited for the road to dry a bit. We were there a couple of hours. While waiting we had lunch and read.

After the rain stopped we were back on the road. We drove to Sam A. Baker State Park and checked out the camping sites. We decided on a few of them and Larry went to register for one and found we had no cell service. We drove to the visitor center and had a little bit of WiFi. But because there is rain in the forecast and the park didn't have internet at the sites we left. We parked at a Dollar General so Larry could find a place to camp for the night. He knew that Greenville Recreation Area was nearby. He found and booked a site for the night. The park was just 11 miles down the road.

On most of our trips we make sure we have a campsite locked down for Friday and Saturday and because most campgrounds are full on the weekends we don't move until Monday. Here in Missouri weekends have not been a problem, we have always been able to find open spots. Of course come summer that probably wouldn't be true. Missouri has lots of state parks with large campgrounds, there are also quite a few large Corp of Engineer parks and even some National Forest/Park campgrounds. 

 

Welcome sign

We had been at Greenville Recreation Area back in October of 2010. The town of Greenville was moved back in the 1940's because they believed the town would be flooded by the dam project. All the buildings were moved but the foundations were left. The campground is actually where the town of Greenville use to be. As you walk around the campground, there are signs about the buildings that were there. The old sidewalks are still there and the old cemetery is still there. 

It's a gorgeous campground and has a hiking trail that takes you to Greenville. We found our site and parked the Minnie for the night. Our site is full hook-ups. There is a bathroom with showers. The bathrooms are old but are in good condition. 

By the time we got to Greenville it was 4:30 and Larry had driven 110 miles. After setting the Minnie up Larry barbecued pork chops for dinner.

After dinner I walked around the campground for 45 minutes and took pictures. I ended up doing 15,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group. We also took showers. I played my Daily Challenge of Solitaire and Event. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Klondike and 5 Free Cell). It took me 1 hour, 42 minutes and 21 seconds, which put me in 12th place in my group. 

 

Union Cemetery

Wayne County Bank

 

St. Francis Hotel

 

Ward's Store

Wayne County Courthouse (foundation)

 

Picture of Wayne County Courthouse

 

Wappapello Lake

 

  

 

   

   

Friday 4-26-24 Popeye Statues Continued, Camping & HIking

Popeye statues adventure continues with Popeye four nephews and more. 

 

 

 Peepeye (2016)

 

 Pupeye (2016)

 

 Poopeye (2016)

 

 Pipeye (2016)

 

 

 Prof. Watasnozzle (2014)

 

 Rough House (2015)

 

 Sea Hag & Bernard (2010)

 

 

 Statue of E.C. Sega as Sherlock

 Toar (2020)

 

It was cool where they decided to put the statues of the Popeye characters. The four nephews statue was at Chester Elementary School, Professor Watasnozzle was at Chester High School, Cole Oyl was at the library and had books he checked out, Popeye was at the visitor center to welcome you to Chester and Harold Ham Gravy was at the courthouse, he was the gentleman who courted Olive Oyl before Popeye. He was at the courthouse because he didn't get any further than courting Olive. The new statues, that were added since our visit in 2017 were  King Blozo (2017), Nana Oyl (2018), Popeye's Pups (2019), Toar (2020), Harold Ham Gravy (2021) and Oscar (2022).

While we were at the Spinach Can Collectibles the lady gave us a brochure on the history of the Opera House. Elzler Crisler Segar started his career as a projectionist at Chester Opera House when "Live" theater had been replaced by silent motion pictures in 1906. He always wanted to be a cartoonist so he took a mail order course, which was funded by his boss at the Opera House. In 1919 he created the comic strip "Thimble Theatre", which made him famous. The "Thimble Theatre" was about the Oyl family, Nana and Cole and their children, Castor and Olive. The adventure of the Oyl family and Olive's early boyfriend, Harold "Ham" Gravy went on for 10 years. Popeye was introduced in 1920 when he was a hired by Castor to pilot a boat in one of their adventure. He was introduced as a "throwaway" character but soon became a focus character. Each character was based on a Chester resident. E.C. Segar died in 1938 of leukemia and his apprentice, Forrest "Bud" Sagendorf took over to keep Popeye alive until 1994 when he died from brain cancer. Several other artists have drawn Popeye over the years but Hy Elsman was selected to carry on the tradition in 1994. Today, Popeye is still the world's most popular cartoon star, with almost 650 cartoons to his credit. If you happen to be near Chester, Ill. I recommend visiting Spinach Can Collectibles. 

 

Spinach Can Collectibles

 

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Camping in Pine Ridge Campground
 

The rain came in last night around 11:00 pm. It didn't rain hard and it only lasted about 45 minutes. In the morning when we woke up it was gone. 

I got up at 7:00 and made orange rolls for breakfast. After eating we got ready to go on a hike. We weren't sure how long we would hike because the trail is in the trees. We ended up hiking 5.5 miles on the Six Bridge Eagle Trail. We picked up the trail at the campground. The hike was very beautiful through the trees, over granite stones, across creeks, over one bridge and up and down hills. The trail was mowed in places and well maintained. As we hiked we saw the lake through the trees. Part of the trail horses are allowed. We saw small sections where they had planed grain such as wheat. These places we hiked on the mowed part around the sections. It was challenging at places where you went up the hill. We were looping back towards the campground, where we saw a statue of a deer. At first glance Larry thought it was real. The deer wasn't the only statue there. The statues were a soldier kneeling at a grave, a couple dressed in red, a cat, a man and Blessed Mary. The statues were very nice. After checking the statues out we continued our hike. We were about a mile from the campground when a gentleman drove up on a four wheeler, he is in charge of the area, we talked to him for awhile. It's hunting season for turkeys and he was trying to locate a hunter who wasn't suppose to be in the park until next week. Here, the hunters have to sign up for a certain week because they limit how many hunters are allowed in the park at a time. Each week in the season it varies. We asked him about the farming areas. He said he plants certain grain for the animals. He explains how he maintains the area. He gets paid through a federal government program and a state government program but mainly by the federal government. It was very interesting to learn about the area and how it's maintained. After saying our good-byes we continued our hike. We hiked all the way to the other side of the lake where the boat ramp is, there was a nice loading and unloading dock and shelter #1. Someone had a party at the shelter because the kids drew on the sidewalk with chalk After resting at the shelter we took the trail back to the campground. It was a very nice hike.

 

Boat ramp and dock on the lake

 

Granite rocks we hiked on

 

A waterfall

 

One of the farm areas

 

Deer and soldier statues

Cat, couple and man statues

 

Statue of the Blessed Mary

Larry resting on the bridge before climbing the hill

We got home just in time for lunch. I heated up a can of soup for lunch.

After lunch I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and the event. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 38 minutes and 1 second, which put me in 21st place in my group.

At 2:00 the rain came back. It rained on and off for the rest of the day. That was ok because we relaxed with a book. I finished reading The Bookbinder by Pip Williams. It was an excellent book about two sisters growing up during World War I in England and how things were changing. Such as women rights and the divisions of the classes (Gowns and Towns). Gowns were people, who went to college and Towns were people, who worked in the factories. Tomorrow I'll start another book. After finishing the book I played some Sudoku games. 

 

Reading is relaxing

After dinner I walked around for a half hour. By the end of the day I had gotten 18,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

Shelter #4

A blind for hunting

In the evening we listened to live music for three hours. The gentleman, who sang had a great voice and the music was very good. It started at 7:00 and was over about 10:00. It rained on and off and he kept singing.  

      

 

Thursday 4-25-24 New State, New Campground & Popeye Statues

 

Illinois

We spent the night in the parking lot of the River City Casino. According to the thermostat the temperature in the cab was 54 degrees. But officially it was in the 40's. We used our Wave 3 propane heater to keep the Minnie warm.

I crawled out of bed a little before 7:00 and made pancakes. Then we got ready to move on. We put everything away and secured. Then we walked across the street to see the Mississippi River. There were a lot of trees so we didn't see much of the Mississippi River. In a few minutes we're going to cross over the Mississippi River into Illinois. We did see the river better.

 

A tugboat going down the Mississippi River 

 

 

Bridge across the Mississippi River

Mississippi River from the bridge

 

Today we started in Missouri and ended up in Illinois. Larry drove 60 miles on two lane roads that went by a lot of farm fields. Occasionally we saw cattle, horses and goats. Our destination was Randolph County State Conservation Area.

Randolph County State Conservation Area has three campgrounds, two of them are tent sites and the other one was RV sites with power. We drove through the tent campgrounds first because we didn't know about the campgrounds. Then we drove through the RV campground, which was Pine Ridge Campground. The campgrounds were gorgeous with lots of pine trees and other trees. There are a lot of sites available for first come first serve. The center sites could be reserved but it has to be three days in advance. The bathrooms are vault toilets. There is a hiking trail right at the campground, you can pick the trail up at multiple places.

After checking out the campground we decided we would stay for a couple of nights. Before paying and selecting a site we continued on the Chester, IL, which was only five miles away from the campground. 

We visited Chester seven years ago when we did our Great River Road tour up the Mississippi River. It is the hometown of Popeye's creator, E.C. Segar's. The Popeye Museum is called the Spinach Can Collectibles. The lady, who runs it started the museum 30 years ago. She had moved from Memphis, her husband and her had collected Popeye items as a hobby. When they came to Chester they knew E.C. Segar was from here so they decided to start The Spinach Can Collectibles to advertise Popeye. People thought they were nuts. But they're still there after 30 years. They expanded the store with Opera House Antiques. Throughout the years she got the city interested in Popeye. Seven years ago they had a map of 12 different Popeye characters and now they have 18 characters. The fire department and police department have Popeye on their buildings, vehicles and uniforms. There are other Popeye murals around town. While there Larry bought me a tee shirt and hat and we picked up the map of the statue locations. We walked three miles and located 10 of the statues. We then drove around town locating the other 8 statues because they were too far to walk to. We spent a few hours locating all the statues and had a super time.

 

Top of the police station with a Popeye character on each side

Emblem on a police car door

 

Popeye emblem on the doors of the fire station

Fire station Dalmatians and Popeye

 

Popeye and Olive Oyl on display in the store

 

Popeye getting his car washed

 

I'm Olive Oyl

 

E.C. Segar's mural

Spinach Can Collectibles

Popeye character trail (Map To The Stars) gave you the location of the statues and a little bit about the statues. Below are some of the characters.

 

Alice The Goon (2012)

 

Bluto (1906)

 

Castor Oyl & Wiffle Hen (2009) and me

 

Cole Oyl (2011) at the library

 

Harold Ham Gravy (2021)

 

King Blozo (2017)

 

Nana Oyl (2018)

 

Olive Oyl, Swee' Pea & Eugene the Jeep (2007)

Oscar (2022)

 

Poopdeck Pappy (2013)

 

Popeye's Pups (2019)

Popeye (1977)

Wimpy (2006)

More statues to come tomorrow.

After searching for the statues we went back to Pine Ridge Campground. We decided to take site #1 for a couple of nights. The site was very level so we didn't have to use any blocks. Once we set up the Minnie I walked over to the office and paid for two nights. The office is not staffed, you put the money in an envelope and put it in a box.

I played my Daily Challenges in Solitaire and got caught up on them. I also played the event, which was Event: Two Game Tango of 10 games (5 Spider and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 1 hour, 2 minutes and 36 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group.

Before dinner I walked around the campground to locate the trailheads. I walked for a half hour. When I got back it was time for dinner. Larry barbecued hamburgers and I cooked some waffle fries.

After dinner I walked around the campground for 45 minutes to get my steps. I ended up doing 19,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group. Larry read while I walked around.

We had a super day.