The Long Road Home

Graham  Cave State Park

The decision was made, home it was.  Well, wait a minute that is long way.  It was not exactly a speedy drive home and we did not take the fastest route either.   We opted for I70 through Indiana and Missouri and then getting off the interstate and taking some of the less traveled routes through Kansas and western Oklahoma.  We did an overnighter somewhere in Indiana just before Indianapolis. Hot.  It was hot.   It was pretty miserable in the RV after a long day of travel. It takes awhile for the RV to cool off when it gets this hot.  Plus the whole stretch of I70 in Indiana is in bad shape.  We had a frustrating time getting fuel in this state. We found out the interstate truck stops handle commercial diesel pumping different than private vehicles.  Save yourself the hassle and use only the passenger pumps if they have them.   Let’s get out of this state!  

Lazy Day Campground

Whew, crossing over into Illinois was like a breath of fresh air.   The roads were in better shape and the trucking traffic thinned out.  We decided  to find a place to stay for a few days and take break while the heat spell passed.  We found Lazy Day Campground about 40 miles west of St. Louis, MO.  What an unexpected joy that turned out to be.  It is a pretty little park with a pool and the owner takes great pride in the gardens around the grounds.  Two days turned into five.  

 It turned out to be an interesting area.   We explored a cave used by early Native Americans in nearby Graham Cave State Park.  Daniel Boone also made this area his home in his later days. The town of Hermann  located on Missouri river is a short scenic drive from the RV park. It was an early German settlement noted for wineries that pre-dated the infamous Prohibition days.  The local farmers at the time helped hide some of the equipment before all the fields were burned and the wineries destroyed. In the late 6o’s some of historic wineries were bought and the area started restoring the vineyards.  Wine making has returned to the area in a big way.  I hear they have one wild Oktoberfest due to the German heritage.  We toured the town and enjoyed lunch at the beautiful Stone Hill Winery.    Do take the tour and sample the wines.     

Stone Hill 

Just down the road a piece from Lazy Day is the historic Crane's Country Store .  It is still  an operational store but the owners are happy to let you walk around and check out the antiques strewed around the merchandise.   Next door is a small museum and restaurant.  I suspect that popular restaurant chain Cracker Barrel was based on this place.  Come see the genuine article for yourself. What a fun place to explore!

Crane's Country Store

We hitched up and continued down I70 past Kansas City and  turned onto I35 through the Flint Hills  of Kansas.  Unfortunately,  it was just too hot to explore the area.  We did an overnighter in El Dorado, Kansas and headed out on RT 54.  I enjoyed this part of Kansas and the western panhandle of the Oklahoma It was a nice break from always taking I40 through this part of the country.  One last overnighter in the panhandle of OK at Corral Drive-In.  A fun RV park with an attached drive-in that shows movies on the weekends!

A cold front moved in overnight for the last day of travel.  Sigh of relief. We entered New Mexico via RT 54 and onto I40 in Tucumcari.   Wait! Is this New Mexico? Eastern NM was unexpectedly green.  Monsoon season has arrived!  Amazing how fast rain changes the desert landscape.  Just one more stop at Joseph’s for lunch in Santa Rosa.  That first bite of green chile is always so yummy.  And  then home it was! That's all for this time around. Now it’s time to unpack – ugg.

Corral Drive-In

Note:  We arrived  home on July 27th 2014. All was well with homestead although we did lose some large pinyon trees due to the bark beetle.  Guess those monsoon rains were too late to save them.