Days 18, 19 & 20 - Onaha, Iowa; Rock Port and just east of Kansas City, Missouri
Day 18 - Here I am once again ensconced in a KOA just outside Onaha (emphasis on the first syllable), Iowa. I left South Dakota this morning and I’m now in Iowa which continues the beautiful autumn colors I’ve seen in the long fields of corn and soybeans. What a blessing to be traveling at this time of year! Such browns and yellows and oranges and dusky greens surround me on all sides. How lovely!
Did you know that one of Onawa’s claims to fame is the Eskimo Pie? I didn’t either. But yep, it was created right here in Onawa by Mr. Chris Nelson. There’s even a museum here that features an Eskimo Pie display with one of the original dipping machines. It also has a copy of the contract between Mr. Nelson and Russell Stover; yes, that Russell Stover. I’m not sure what the connection is except perhaps Mr. Stover provided the chocolate for the dipping - the flier doesn’t say. But there sure was a contract and you can sure 'nuff see it at the museum! Too bad I won’t be able to view this historical document, however. Perhaps later...
I had a lovely chat with a husband and wife who were a wee bit older than me while I was staying at the Onawa KOA. They were retired, lived in Prescott, Arizona, and were out traveling and enjoying themselves. They were amazed when I told them what it was like when I lived in Phoenix so many years ago. Prescott was just a hole-in-the-wall tiny town famous only for being one of the filming sites for the 'Billy Jack' movie. And the town claimed that it was the most western town that saw Civil War action. I never investigated exactly what action this was, but I'll go back and check this out in the future. Interesting, though, ya?
Anyway, at the time I lived in Phoenix, which was between 1973 and 1977, around Phoenix itself there was only Sun City for older folks to retire to. Now, however, there are countless subdivisions of both Phoenix and Prescott that have been turned into retirement areas and even Sedona has undergone a tremendous growth (sadly,in my humble opinion). I long for the tiny artsy-fartsy town that I recall. Now it is filled with silly stuff and all kinds of tours that would take you out to where the "energy centers" could be felt and you can experience the 'energy of the cosmos.' I'm not denying that any of this can be felt if you're sensitive enough, but did we have to turn this beautiful red rock country into such a commercial enterprise? Sigh...
This lovely couple had been all over the country and beyond and we compared notes on places we’d been to. They had friends who lived up on one of the San Juan Islands above the Northwest Peninsula but they had never been to Port Angeles. I’m not sure what ferry they took to get to their friends but they had never been to Port Angeles or anywhere else on the Peninsula. They wanted to go back and see more of Washington and I encouraged them to do so because the state is so beautiful.
Other than chatting with this lovely couple, there wasn’t really a whole lot to say about Onaha, so I transitioned on to Rock Port, Missouri, which is in the far upper left of Missouri. It’s so far upper left and I-29 is so close to the border that at times I wasn’t sure if I was in Nebraska, Kansas or still in Missouri. Wherever I was, it was still tornado country and the weather forecast predicted that I was heading into thunderstorms, which would actually be rather nice. As long as the storms didn’t get any stronger than that, that is...
This KOA outside of Rock Port, I had discovered, was really not opened for business yet since the owners just bought it and were still cleaning up. The previous owners had walked away from it and had left $40,000 in debt and no taxes paid for three years. Oops. It had also been left to weather and neglect for over a year so they had been slowly rebuilding it and filling in potholes and repainting and cleaning, etc. I spoke with the lady half of the couple who bought the place and she reminded me very much of Katherine Hepburn in her final years. Same elegant cheekbones, same beautiful features, and even the same palsy and somewhat jerky voice. She assured me that they had been able to hook up the center area where water, electric and sewer were turned on and she was very gracious about letting me spend the night there. When I asked her how much I could pay her for the space, she replied that $10 would be nice if I could spare it.
Well, heck, I was very happy with that since their showers and bathrooms were now clean and open so what more could I have asked for? Ok, so their laundry facilities weren’t quite ready yet, and their store wasn’t open and neither was their pool, but that didn’t matter to me. I could wait on the laundry and I didn’t need anything at the store and didn’t generally use the pool, so that meant little to me. I thanked her for her generosity and wished her well in her endeavors. Her husband had not yet retired and was still working as an electrical engineer in St. Louis. This meant that the couple had quite a commute up on the weekends to work on the site. He would retire before next April when it would be officially opened and until then they would just plug away and be as ready as they could be by the time the next big camping season opened. I told her that I hoped that their business would be a big success once they got it all squared away. They should, frankly, since they were it as far as KOA’s went in this area. In fact there was one on the west side of Kansas City and one just east of the same and you wouldn't find another for miles and miles. Business should be good once they get back open. Such a lovely, gracious lady...
On the way down to Kansas City I stopped at a turnoff for gas and after filling the van (which is getting about 22 mph on the highway, 18 in the city) I went inside to hunt for cat food that I knew Chopper and Fluffbutt would eat. They are very picky and would rather starve than eat what they don’t like. Well, they might just have to starve until I found a store that carried the food they like but I wasn't willing to test them on that. Ergo, I hunted, but, alas, in vain. I also asked where the heck I was since Charmagne had no answer for me and this turnoff had not shown up on either the Rand-McNally map or my KOA directory. The lady in the gas/grocery/crap-I-mean-souvenir shop told me that I was in Percival, Missouri and that I wouldn’t find the kind of cat food I wanted until I got to St. Joseph’s, about 90 miles down the road. Who knew?
Well, I made it to St. Joseph’s and found a Wy-Vee grocery store (that was a new chain of stores in my experience) and filled up on everything either I or my kitties could want, and then I noticed something. It was Sunday, I could tell, because my computer told me or otherwise I wouldn’t know, and I thought everything would be open to cater to the weekend shoppers. Nope. A “Worlds of Fun - Oceans of Fun” amusement park was on my left as I passed and it was completely closed. And this was after 12:00 pm, at which time I thought there might have been a few stores open for the shoppers, but alas. Nothing was open. Does Missouri, or at least this part of Missouri, shut down on Sundays? Indeed, the only shops I saw open were the grocery stores, gas stations and fast food take-outs. Malls were closed, specialty stores were closed, everything was closed. I wondered what the Blue Laws in this area were. Obviously they were still in place, I gather. I had not seen cities of this size that dead on Sundays for a long while. Another ‘huh.’
But, thank heavens, campgrounds were still open for business regardless of the day of the week. And now tonight I’m east of Kansas City on I-70 and I think the closest town is Blue Springs. Actually I’m past Blue Springs and this is just a little campground sitting out in the middle of nowhere. There’s still plenty of stores around me, however, even if they are closed. Just no city proper.
I’ve noticed that I’ve been seeing fewer signs with Indian names and more that have reflected a southern tendency, like 'Savanna Road' and 'Lee’s Point.' I’ve seen many more Cracker Barrel restaurants and I saw my first Bob Evans this morning! May the good lord save me because I don’t stand a chance in either of those restaurants! I haven’t yet stopped at either but I’m very fond of breakfast at Bob Evans because their sausage was made in heaven where all good pigs go when they die. I’ve actually taken sausage back with me to eat at home in the past when I’ve visited one because it was so good. Never mind the fat content, I don’t want to talk about that. And I’m losing weight, so I must be doing something right in my eating habits. If you disregard what I eat for breakfast, that is. That’s the heaviest meal of the day and usually I’m too tired to eat much by the time I arrive at my next campground. Hence, I don’t feel too bad about a little (oh, heck, make it more than a little) fat in my diet. I’m still walking and eating very lightly in the evening, sometimes foregoing lunch altogether. Hence, I will stop at either Cracker Barrel or Bob Evans on one of these mornings and I don’t want to hear a word about it. Riiiight. Like I would. Y’all would simply join me and wonder why I would even question it.
I also saw a billboard advertising my old friend, Dave Ramsey, and his daily radio broadcast. Now that’s southern! And I'm constantly reminded that this is the state where Mark Twain, one of my most favoritist writers, was born. I won't be anywhere near his birthplace in Hannibal, but I'll be sure to visit when I come back.
And that’s enough out of me. Tomorrow I head for St. Louis. Don’t know if I’ll make it, but I’ll try. If not, I’ll try to find a wifi connection somewhere, although that doesn't automatically mean I can access Blogger.com. Last night I could get a signal but I couldn't access anything. Tell me again why I'm paying $90 a month for an internet connection I can't access...
Lessons Learned:
That Fluffbutt likes to go outside and explore while I’m setting up or tearing down.
That she doesn’t like to go out with her harness on. She hates it, in fact.
That as long as I leave the door open where she can see it and can get back in she won’t go far and is just fine.
That maybe I’ll leave the harness off of her and see how that goes.
Except I can’t let Chopper do this.
She likes to go everywhere and definitely is NOT ok without a harness. She might run into the corn fields and get lost.
So she’s got bad luck.
Poor kitty.
That Chopper likes to be cuddled during the long driving day.
That she will not be denied when she wants to be cuddled.
That I’ve learned that if I can coax her to my lap and make her sit I can handle the wheel with just one hand while I stroke her with the other.
That she still wants to climb up on the dashboard exactly in front of me while I’m driving.
That this won’t work. At all.
That as hard as I try I cannot see through kitties, even skinny white ones.
But if I spend time cuddling her in my lap she will sometimes accept only this and allow me, after an appropriate period of stroking, to be dumped behind me so I can drive with two hands.
So, I cuddle.
Observations:
My first sighting of a flock of geese in V-formation near Onawa, only the geese weren’t heading south. In fact they appeared to be going east to west. Is there some other route I’m not familiar with that the geese are taking? Heck, what do I know about southern routes for geese?
A small reminder that we are in tornado country: A sign near the KOA pool in Onawa that says it’s heavily reinforced concrete and in case of ‘inclement’ weather we should take refuge in the pool. Well, that’s fine and dandy except the pool is filled with water and still in use. And there’s no diving board so except for the one ladder which would most likely just break off in a really good storm, what are we to hold on to? Personally, I’d just detach my van from the water and electric and get the heck out of there. The pool idea just doesn’t make me feel that secure…
Lots and lots of road construction going on wherever I have been. Looks like several states have been taking advantage of the Stimulus Package.
Either I’m still in recession country or it’s just a reminder that I’m in the “off season” because most of the “information areas” have been closed two/thirds of the week, as are the museums, so I can’t go in and peruse. And they always seem to be closed on The Day I come through. Sigh. Even several KOA’s have had only partial hours leaving we travelers to select a place on our own, hook up and then come back and tell the employees when they get in the office around 4:00 p.m. Apparently we are an honest lot because no one has reported being taken advantage of, and for that I'm glad.
Road sign out in the middle of nowhere that says ‘Vending Machines.’ There’s no turn-off for at least ten more miles so I’m wondering if I should be looking in the soybean fields on my right or left for this wonder.
An ecologically and business-friendly way to use old transport cargo storage containers - turn them into highway advertising billboards, which several folks have apparently done along this road. Makes sense - the containers are large, very cheap, easy to paint and I doubt that the rental fee they might have to pay to park them there is larger than a billboard sign would cost.
Beautiful goldenrod, cornflowers, Queen Anne's Lace and unknown purple flowers follow the highway on both sides. I have always loved this combination of flowers and colors and if I thought I could take a photo that would show their beauty, I would. And the prairie grasses grow tall between the road and the fields of crops! How lovely, and it doesn’t take much imagination to see what the hills would have looked like with only the grasses stretching as far as the horizon or the bison or buffalo that once grazed upon the prairies in such huge numbers. Oh, how lovely!
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