APR. 15, Tuesday, through Missouri to Branson, Arkansas
Our day began @ 06:30 a.m. I drove to Joe Cooper Ford to get a lube and oil change for the truck. It took about an hour then I returned to our site and packed. We were on the road by 9:15 a.m. We drove East on I-44 through Oklahoma City and connected with "old 66", a 4 lanes highway to begin with then 2 lanes through some very pretty country side scenes. I stopped for fuel East of Tulsa @ West Siloam and took on 12 gallons @ 3.899. We are now on Hwy 412 which we got on east of Tulsa.
We crossed into Arkansas and into the Ozarks mountains, famous for the hillbilly's who live here, although we didn't see any. If anything, what we saw was pretty nice and rich in value.
We came upon an intersection where we turned north on Hwy 65 an a few miles later, we entered Missouri. The country side is absolutely gorgeous. The road winds its way through the mountains which are not really that high but full of trees and open fields of grass and wild flowers. Twenty miles into Missouri, we arrived in Branson. We turned onto 265 then 165 where we followed a precipice for about 3 miles. The view of the lake and the country side was absolutely awesome. We turned into our park, "The Stagecoach RV Park" Paid for 2 nights @ $15 each, parked and set up.
It's been a long day....8 hours of driving but we are here...Branson, Missouri, Country Western et-al
APR. 16, Wednesday, sightseeing
We drove around town in the morning, exploring and sightseeing. We went for a walk into the historic part of Branson and had lunch in a cute little restaurant. We also bought two tickets to a show, a comedy/musical show at the "Pierce Arrow Theatre"
Branson is built on top of a couple ridges in the Ozarks mountains which creates some incredible scenic views. The downtown consist of two main "Strip, Vegas style", full of theatres, shows and tourist attractions. There are side streets to get around all this if not interested in the slow driving. It is definitely a destination for tourist. Got fuel @ 4.009 for 14 gallons. Prices for fuel are all over the map and there is rhyme or reasons for any of it.
After stopping for some pictures at a scenic viewpoint, get an ice cream cone for free, helping an older couple with a flat on their trailer camper and dropping off Tucker at home, we went back into town and attended our show for 3 o'clock.
The first half was great, full of laughter and good music but we were both disappointed in the second half. It was much slower and not as much comedy. All the same, we did enjoy it and bought a couple tapes for future showings.
Came home and had BBQ steaks for dinner.
APR. 17, Thursday, onwards to Iowa
After packing, we got on the road by 8:55 a.m. Headed north on Hwy 65. We crossed the Ozarks mountains and the scenery slowly changed to rolling hills and farmland. I stopped in Lincoln for fuel: 15 gal @ 3.999 then headed up to I-70 where we turned East then north on Hwy 63 in Columbia. We stopped for lunch at a rest area on I-70.
Hwy 63 was fairly flat with lots of dairy and farmland. We stopped in Kirkville for fuel: 17 gal @ 3.899. As we got closer to Iowa, the road became hilly again then we saw our first sign showing a "horse drawn buggy". We crossed into IOWA.
Our excitement really reached a peak when we actually saw a buggy being pulled by a horse on the road and we drove by it. (SEE PICTURES) We saw another one when we got to the corner of hwy 63 and hwy 2. Five miles down the road we arrived in Bloomfield, saw a campsite and stopped for the night ( Lakeside Estate and RV Park @ $20.) and none too soon.
For the first time since leaving the Baja, we got rained on. It really feels weird considering all the good weather we've had so far. We had heavy rain, lighting & thunder. Tucker is having a hard time with this as he hates the noise so he is hiding behind and below chairs. We have no internet but it feels good to be stopped. It is 5 p.m. Temperature is warm still; mid 60's
We averaged over 12 miles to the gallon which is EXCELLENT. Our top speed was 75 mph going downhill and we averaged 54 mph all day
N 40* 44' 22" W 092* 25' 23"
alt: 970 feet
distance today: 590 km
APR. 18, Friday, Broke down in Burlington, Iowa
It is raining this morning. It's a slow start. We left at 10:50 a.m. Yes, that late! We got on hwy 2 and turned left into Bloomfield village. Took a look around then we drove the scenic road which parallels hwy 2. It was interesting and we drove through a couple really neat villages. We saw more Amish buggy and saw two Amish men working outside, dressed just as in the movies, it was neat!! We got back on hwy 2 as we neared the Mississippi river and stopped in Fort Madison for lunch. Then we continued on hwy 2 and turned left on Hwy 61 and headed north towards Burlington. As we neared the town, I decided that I had enough of this and turned to head towards Illinois. I stopped at the bridge where I saw a tourist info centre and it's a good thing I did. As we pulled into the parking lot, I saw steam coming from the hood and smelled the sweet smell of Anti-freeze. Sure enough, it was leaking like a sieve, coming from a pulley so I suspected the water pump. Two guys stopped by and offered their help and called a couple garage around town but to no luck. I got them to give us the Ford dealership address, entered it into "Ms Daisy" and drove there. Had to stop once to let the truck cool and added more water and finally made it to the dealership. It was confirmed and so here we are, stuck in Burlington for the week-end. They cannot fix the truck until Monday. They gave us a courtesy car and we got a hotel for the week-end, at the "Arrowhead Motel" as they won't allow us to stay in our rig due to liabilities. What a day!!!! Called the RV garage in Indiana and left a message. I will call again tomorrow.
APR. 19, Saturday, laundry and sightseeing
Cloudy and raining on and off all day. We went out for breakfast then got our laundry from the rig which is sitting in "SHOTTENKIRK FORD DEALERSHIP" and came back to the motel and did our laundry. Afterwards we went back to the info Centre and got some info on the town, drove around and did some sightseeing. The old town is very historic and has a lot of old and neat buildings. It was at one time the capital of Iowa, back in the late 1800's. It also has the crookedness road section which made the Ripley's Believe it or not record.(see pictures) We drive through a nice little park called "Crapo Park" (that's not a typo) then had a beer in a neat little bar in an old building from the early 1900's
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