Monday 10-16 Back on Track

After spending the night in Missouri we got back on track towards Texas. We drove about 250 miles through Missouri and into Oklahoma. Upon entering into Oklahoma we discovered that the interstate turned into a toll road. The toll sign said for an automobile it would cost $4.50 and a semi truck cost $18.50. We figured we would be somewhere in between. When we reached a toll booth we were happily surprised to only be charged $4.50. A couple miles past the toll booth we exited and there was a sign that said stop to get a refund, just show your receipt, we were refunded half the cost so it only cost us $2.25. This was the cheapest toll we have ever had to pay. 

We took a four lane highway the rest of the way to our destination. When we took the toll road it was very well maintained and we saw people working on the road to make sure it stayed that way. When we got on this highway it was very rough. Larry drives slower than other people so he stays in the right lane but it was too rough, he didn't want to beat up the Minnie so he went into the other lane and it was a lot better. He stayed there until the right lane got better. For lunch we sopped at a Braum's restaurant, we shared a delicious grilled chicken cranberry apple salad. Braum's is known for their ice cream so for dessert we shared a cup of pineapple cashew ice cream.

Our final stop was at Creek Nation Casino. The casino is small and it has five RV parking sites with electric hookups. The casino has a non-smoking area with its own entrance, however, the Players Club signup is located in the main casino. It was funny because there were no smoking signs at each window and yet it was located in the smoking area. The lady that took care of us was friendly and easy going. What a deal, they give me $15.00 to play with and a free RV spot with electric for the night. I had fun playing with the casino's money for 6 hours and left with $10.00 in cash. We had a great day.     

Sunday 10-15 Square Dancing to Joe Saltel

The wind blew all night and at times it was very strong. By morning the sun was shining and the wind was down. Before leaving the site Larry filled the fresh water tank then we drove to the dump station and dumped both tanks, now we won't have to dump them until we get home. There were a couple of RVs in front of us so we had to wait a little bit. When the gentleman in front of us was dumping his tanks Larry decided to turn the Minnie around and get ready to dump the tank. It worked perfect, when the gentleman was done Larry dumped our tanks, he put the hose away and was ready to go and the other gentleman was still putting his stuff away.

We were going to stay in Kansas for another day or so but we changed our minds. Joe Saltel, a caller from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas made a Facebook post last night saying he was going to be calling a dance in Raytown Missouri, which is only 75 miles from Topeka so away we went.

Raytown is a suburb of Kansas City and we knew there would be a lot of traffic but it was Sunday so we thought it wouldn't be too bad. The traffic was actually heavier than we would have thought. The highway had enough lanes to but there was one section that was down to two lanes because of construction. It was extremely rough and there was a concrete barrier on both side of the lanes, I was glad Larry was driving and not me considering it was a little scary.

We arrived at Raytown a little after 11 and drove around to find the church where the dance was going to be. The dance wasn't until 6:30 so we had time to kill. We had passed a Planet Fitness a couple of blocks away so we parked in their parking lot and hung around reading. 

The dance started at 6:30 with pre-rounds and was over at 9:30. They had over 12 squares and 10 couples for round dancing. Joe did a super job of calling. The dancers were very friendly. We hadn't danced in over 5 weeks so we weren't sure how well we would do but we ended up doing great. We had a super time.

Joe Saltel and me

 

We were tempted to spend the night in the church parking lot but Larry didn't want to fight the traffic in the morning so he drove 30 miles to Harrisonville Missouri to a Walmart. It's suppose to be down in the 30s so Larry setup our small propane heater. We had a great day. 

Saturday 10-14 Rainy Day

It started raining in the early morning and continued throughout the day. We spent most of the day inside reading. The rain let up for a couple of hours around 9:00 am so Larry and I went for a walk. We walked down to the swimming beach and the boat ramp and around the camping area. When we got back we read for an hour and then I made lunch. It's amazing how sore our calves and thighs are today, not sure if it was from riding the bicycle or climbing all the stairs yesterday at the Capitol Building. Everytime we got up and moved around we could feel them. 

After lunch Larry went over and took a shower and when he got back I went over. I had finished my shower when the rain came back. I was going to wait for the rain to stop but Larry showed up with an umbrella. I had walked out and then went back inside the bathroom when I heard Larry saying my chariot awaits. I came back out and he escorted me back to the Minnie. The rain stopped again around 6:00 so I walked down to the swimming beach and around the campground and finished getting all my steps. I was lucky to get back when I did considering the rain started up again. It's suppose to be out of here by morning. The rain was not a surprise considering the weather report said it was going to rain all day. 

Friday 10-13 Topeka Kansas

Topeka Kansas

Today we left Sac & Fox Casino and headed down the road for 54 miles to Topeka.

We arrived in Topeka around 9:00 and decided to go by Shawnee Lake Campground which is on the outskirts of Topeka. Shawnee Lake is a beautiful lake where people fish, do water sports and the University has their rowing team. The campground is setup like a parking lot. The sites look over the lake. It has a bike and hike trail that goes around the lake which is 7 miles long. There is a golf course, a couple of boat ramps with docks, beach area and day area.   

Larry's, Aunt Barbara lives in Topeka, Larry called her a couple of days ago and told her we would stop by between 1:00 and 2:00. Topeka is the capital of Kansas so before meeting up with Barbara we toured the Capitol Building. The Visitor Center for the Capitol Building is in the basement but their signs directing you there were not very good. We walked around the whole building before figuring out where to go. Once we got there we asked about touring the building. The lady said we were right on time, there was a tour at 11:00 and there was a tour of the dome at 12:15. We decided to do both. The first tour was an hour tour where the tour guide talked about the structure of the building, the paintings on each floor and took us through both the House of Representative and Senate Chambers. The paintings in the building were painted by three different painters and told the history of Kansas. There were sculptures in the building. We were taken in the governor's office where she talked about the furniture in the room. This governor uses this room for official greetings and press conferences. We used the old operator run elevator to get to the second floor, it's was installed in 1911. We walked through the State Library and took a spiral staircase to the second floor of the library and walked on a glass floor. We also went to the old Supreme Court. Our tour guide did a great job. 

Topeka Capitol Building

The Speaker's desk

The State Library

The Senate Chambers

The old Supreme Court room

The dome tour started on the fifth floor, we took an elevator up. During the tour we climbed 296 stairs. Our tour guide Joe, did a super job talking about the dome. We stopped on three different levels before we walked a spiral staircase all the way up to the top of the dome where we walked outside and around the dome, we had a great view of the city. It was a challenge to do this tour considering the spiral staircase was very narrow and only had hand railing on one side. We got a workout but it was fun.

The staircase we climbed

The spiral staircase to the top of the dome

After the two tours we went back to the Minnie and had a sandwich before going to see Barbara. We had and very enjoyable visit. She looked great.

Larry and Aunt Barbara

By the time we got back to Shawnee Lake it was time for dinner and it was 94 degrees. We have not seen temperatures in the 90s for two months, heck we have seldom seen them in the 80's. After turning on the A/C and cooling off I made spaghetti for dinner. Shawnee Lake Park has a bicycle program, where you can rent a bike for $2.50 an hour. Larry went online and signed me up and paid $5.00 to the account. After dinner we decided to test out the program. The bikes are locked up and to get them unlocked you have to enter your account number and a pin on a pad on the back of the bike. It took us a little bit to get it to work. It has been years since we have been on a bicycle so we didn't go far. At the beginning we were a little shaky and we had to figure out how to shift the gears. The bikes had three gears. The bike trail had hills so you had to go up and down the hills. We ended up riding 1.2 miles. By the time we finished we were tired and we could feel our legs working. It was a lot of fun riding the bike, maybe tomorrow we'll ride some more.

Having fun riding a bike

After putting the bike away I walked the trail for a half hour to get my steps. We had a very fun day.        

Thursday 10-12 Where are we?

Where are we?

We started the day in Nebraska, then we crossed the Missouri River and we were in Iowa. We traveled south through Iowa to Omaha, but we didn't get back into Nebraska until we were well south of  Omaha. We then entered back into Nebraska and from there we went Kansas. 

Nebraska welcome sign

Iowa welcome sign

Kansas welcome sign

Larry drove 230 miles today for about four and a half hours. We stopped at the Golden Eagle Casino near Holton, Kansas. When we entered the casino the security guard opened the door for us and asked if we had been there before, we told him no. He told us if we went to the players club area we could sign up for a card and the casino would give us $25.00 on the card to gamble with. After signing up Larry left me in the casino so I could gamble for a couple of hours. The casino was small but it was very clean and well kept. There wasn't a non-smoking section so I had to put up with the smoke. When I finished gambling and giving them their $25.00 back I went back to the Minnie. 

We decided to check out another casino that we had seen on the way to Golden Eagle Casino. It was a few miles back on the highway. It was called Sac & Fox Casino. Before going there we called and asked about overnight RV parking. They said yes, it came with power and cost $10.00 a night. The Sac & Fox Casino was a little bigger. We stopped at the desk to get a RV spot for the night. The gentleman said no problem he could take care of us. Then we asked about the players club card, he said he could help us with that. He signed me up for the card and once again they put $25.00 on the card. After paying for the RV spot they paged a gentleman so he could unlock the power box. Once we were hooked up to the power we had chicken wraps for dinner.

After dinner Larry walked me over to the casino so I could gamble. When Larry was leaving the casino he stopped by the snack bar and got a piece of apple pie for our dessert. I gambled for a couple of hours and then went back to the RV.  We shared the piece of apple pie then I went back to the casino and gambled another couple of hours. I gambling off the $25.00 card and came back with $10.00 in cash. While I was gambling I went to the snack bar and bought a cinnamon roll for our breakfast in the morning. 

I had fun gambling at both casinos and it didn't cost me anything, I actually ended up $10 ahead which paid for our camp spot, not bad.  

Wednesday 10-11 Sioux City

Site Seeing in Sioux City Iowa

We woke up to 28 degrees and there was heavy frost on everything. Our agenda for today was to go to Sioux City and be tourist. 

Around 9:30 we ventured over to Sioux City, which was just over the river. We thought about walking  the two miles or so across the river but decided it might be better to drive the Minnie. The other day we had located a public parking lot downtown that allowed you to park for 24 hours for free.  

The first stop after parking was The Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. In order to get to the center we had to walk through a gorgeous riverside park. It had a hike and bike paved trail, a playground and a dance stage. We walked the trail for about a mile and a half to get to the center. The center was in two buildings. The first building was photography from local people and the history of Sioux City. The second building was about Lewis & Clark's adventure along the Missouri River. Both buildings were very nice. The Lewis & Clark building had animated figures of Lewis and Clark that told a story of their exploration. There was also an animated figure of the Newfoundland dog (Seaman) that had gone with Lewis & Clark, Seaman barks at the prairie dog , moves his head and wags his tail. The figures were very real looking and moved just right. It was a great museum. The admission was free but we made a donation.

Standing in front of a Lewis & Clark & Seaman statue

Clark talking about Lewis and the expedition

Lewis & Clark remembering Sergent C. Floyd at his funeral

Seaman barking at a prairie dog

The next stop was about a block away, it was a museum and visitor center that was located in an old riverboat. There were three floors. The first floor was the gift shop and information for Iowa. The second floor was Sergeant C. Floyd Memorial, he was the only person that died on Lewis & Clark Expedition. The third floor was where the captain drove the boat from and you can ring the bell up there. As we walked through the boat and climbed to each floor we saw different displays about Sioux City.

Sioux City Visitor Center

A carved out canoe that was used to transport cargo and people

As we were walking by the Lewis & Clark Center we noticed a few carvings made out of old trees. In 2011 the Missouri River flooded and wiped out a lot of trees. Theses carvings were made on what was left of a few trees. They were beautiful.

Tree carving at the Lewis & Clark Center

Another carving on the grounds

After touring these two museums we walked back to downtown where we stopped at Burger King and had lunch. .

Our next stop was the Sioux City Public Museum. Before walking around to look at the displays we watched a 14 minute movie about Sioux City. They did a super presentation with the movie. The museum was all on one floor, it had a lot of displays about the history of Sioux City. It was also free but once again we made a donation. The donation box was a cow and every time you put a bill in the cow would moo. It was very cute.

Some antiques on display in the Sioux City Museum

Our last stop was at the Palmer Old Fashion Candy Shoppe. It is known for the Bing candy bar, we were given a free sample. The Bing is handmade with cherry nougat covered with roasted peanuts and chocolate. They come in three different flavors: cherry, vanilla and blue raspberry. They had a lot of different candies for sale, some were sold in bulk, some out of glass display units and there were seconds that came from the factory. Palmer Candies have been in business since 1878 and is family owned. We bought a couple of peanut clusters, a chocolate pretzel and three small pumpkins with a creme filling, they were delicious.

Palmer's Old Fashion Candy Shoppe

The candy we bought

 We had a great time visiting Sioux City. .

     .

Tuesday 10-10 A cold damp day

It's cold!!!!

It rained all night and into the morning. When we woke up it has just stopped raining and everything was wet. The temperature was 37 degrees. The rain went completely away by 9:00 but it was overcast. The wind was down a bit from yesterday. 

We were planning to go to town but we decided not to considering the roads were wet and it was cold. Instead we walked around for an hour and fifteen minutes. We walked the trail to the dog park. As we were walking by the river we saw a beautiful bald eagle flying along the river. I had gloves on and by the time I got them off to take a picture he was too far away. It was a very nice dog park, there was a section for small dogs and one for the big dogs. It had an agility course and a lot of room for dogs to play. It also had an area where you can have a picnic. The park was a memorial park for John Douangdara, who died in Afghanistan alongside Bart, a military work dog and 29 fellow soldiers in 2011. We continued our walk down the trail to G Street. G Street took us through a neighborhood and back to the campground. The walk started out cold but by the time we got home we weren't cold. 

Agility Course at the dog park

Memorial Monument of John Douangdara and Bart

In the afternoon we went to the office to pay for another night. Then we went on another walk, this time we walked by the YMCA complex towards the main highway. We walked through another neighborhood and back to the campground. We walked for another hour and fifteen minutes.

While we were eating dinner the sun came out and it felt good. Even though it was cold all day we still had fun.