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)