Going West 2013

It’s been a few days, so let’s go back. First thing Friday morning was tire repair. I took it off and went to the local Firestone store, where they told me I needed a new tire (?) so I got the name of a place from a worker at the campground. Actually I got the location, because it was an old garage where a man sold used tires. It was in a less desirable section of St. Louis, but he plugged the tire and shortly we were on our way. We decided to go to Hannibal, MO, birthplace of Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain. We were on US 61 again, but it often followed the interstate. In Hannibal I followed the signs for the RV parking which we discovered was located on the river side of the levee. Remember the flooding in St. Louis? Same river. The floodgates were in place where the street passed through the levee, so I turned onto a dead end street. After pulling through a parking lot I couldn’t get out of because of a gully they called a gutter I backed up, did a K turn and parked in the movie theater lot. We toured the museum and Samuel Clemens home and the homes of several other friends who became characters in his books- Becky Thatcher, Huck Finn, Aunt Polly, etc. I learned that Sam Clemens had actually been a steamboat captain, too.

From there we went across the state on US 36 rather than the interstate to Plattsburg, MO and the Hatcher farm. It’s a beautiful location on top of a hill surrounded by grassland and trees. There is no house but they have their camper and a nice covered pavilion along with storage for all the necessary toys. Saturday we drove to Kansas City, MO and visited the WWI memorial and museum. The museum tells the story of WWI and contains a huge collection of armaments from the war. We also met both of their sons and their families and had some wonderful conversation. It was a great stop.

After Terri and Terry fed us breakfast this morning we went north to St. Joseph, MO and turned left onto Rt. 136 through Nebraska. We stopped at the Homesteaders National Monument near Beatrice, NE. It’s on the site of the first homestead (160 acres) claimed under the Homestead Act of 1862. There was a video about the land rush and the effects on the American Indian and artifacts from the period. I learned that the last homestead was claimed in Alaska in 1970. Who knew it lasted so long? We continued along Rt 136 to Alma, NE across rolling hills, climbing steadily, then went south into Kansas and west southwest, mostly on Rt. 383, which follows the Prairie Dog River. Part of the trip is through rolling grassland, some through mostly flat corn and wheat fields. As we approached Colby, Kansas there were severe thunderstorm warnings and it was apparent from the sky that we were headed right at them. In Colby we met the storm- forecast 60 mph winds, rain, quarter size hail – so I hid under the cover of a closed gas station. We rocked in the wind for 10 or 15 minutes, but not much hail. Lots of rain and lightning though. We’re camped at the KOA in Goodland, Kansas after crossing another time zone.