Continuation of Maiden Trip

I am sitting in Effingham, IN, heading back to the Gettysburg, PA, area to have the hitch put on my tow car then head out not to return to about October.  I thought I would give you the next installment of my trip to MO.   As usual, my daughter found the perfect place to stop for the night so this makes a good time to tell you more about the trip.  The campground is Camp Lakewood.  The sites are large, with fire rings, 30 and 50 amp hookups, cable and WI-FI, all Pull thru sites (YEAH).  There is a lake facing me and when I went for a walk, people were fishing on the dock.  After the owner took me to my site, he came back with a cup for me to remember my stay.  The freezer had thawed  and I found out later that it was because I was very unlevel at my friends house, all food ruined, so I had pizza delivered and I am waiting on it while I am writing.


Day 4 continued-After we left the winery, we headed toward Makers Mark in Loreto, KY.  I had been there before with my son-in-law and daughter and do not drink bourbon, however the grounds are so beautiful that I was looking forward to going again.   We called and they told us that the parking was RV friendly, I do not agree unless you are very small.   My friend was able to get us into a tiny spot but if it had been me, I would have just turned around.  The road to the distillery is curvy and one lane so be prepared.

We signed up for the tour and was told that we had 20 minutes so we went to take pictures.

When I went with my daughter, it was a Sunday so we did not get the complete tour, this time we did since it was during the week.  Don't expect a large  operation, it  is very small.  We got to watch from making the labels to dipping the bottles in the red wax.

Shutters

Vats full

Labels being made

tour guide

kegs fermenting the brew

bottles being filled

corks and more corks

After the tasting, we contacted my daughter again and told her she was doing so well, could she find another site for us.   She texted back that she had found a place in IN that would be on our route called Horsehoe Bend RV Park.   We called, and was told that the camp host would not be there and pick any spot that was open.   Not long afterwards, the NOAA broadcast came on telling us that there was  a tornado in the area.  Checking the map, we found we  were heading right for  the area the tornado, wind, hail was expected. We found  a  Kroger grocery store and decided that if it got bad, we would at least be able to go into the store and wait it out.   We fired up the generator, got food from Kroger to heat up, turned on the AC and TV, had lunch.   Nothing happened.  Off again heading to the campground.   

It had started to rain really hard when we arrived and I had to parallel park, I picked the longest area I could find.   We used the generator during the heaviest of the rains but I went out and hooked up the electric when the rain lighten up.    Later, my friend called me to come outside, nature was putting on a light show across the river.  It was beautiful.

Day 5-The next morning, I woke to this scene. 

We were parked beside the Ohio river.  

The campground hostess came by and we talked for quite sometime about my plans and the care and feeding of a RV.  Horseshoe Bend is a very small campground, full hookup, friendly staff and well maintained.

Off to St. Louis, and my first time seeing the arch.  Since my daughter was doing such a great job finding campsites, we asked her to find something near St. Louis so he could show me the arch and other sites.  She texted that she had found a campground near a Metro at the Casino Queen on the Illinois side of the river.  

Well, it sounded good to us, so we put the address in the GPS and was off.   We both agreed that we would just go straight to the campground and sight see in St. Louis rather than stop and get in late.  He had no idea you could overnight at a casino and that some had campgrounds.  Since neither one of us gambles, the allure of seeing the casino was not there.   We checked into the campground that has full hookup, good security, level, and with a view of the arch from Miss Kitty.

Miss Kitty was tucked in and then we called security to take us to the Metro which turned out to be so close that we decided we would walk when we came back.   First stop was the arch.  It was very impressive, we did not go up in it because he had so much to show me of the area but I was so happy to have finally seen it.

He said that we were close enough to walk to  his favorite restaurant which is a cajun restaurant.  I received a lesson about the area as we walked.

Food was out of this world.  When we walked up, I was sure that it was a dive and he had made a mistake. It is called the Broadway Oyster Bar .

I would highly, highly advise you to go here if you like good cajun creole food.

Bathroom wall

Met some wonderful people, they took pictures of us and we took pictures of them.  But we had to leave, St. Louis awaited.

We walked to one of the numerous city parks and watched the children playing in the water.

We decided if the children could do it, so could we.   Frankly, the water felt quite good.  

This song came to mind when I was standing in the water

We then took  the metro to the Loop, looking in the shops and watching the people.  He wanted to go to the MoonRise Hotel  for a drink on the roof terrace.

We left the area and took the Metro to LaClede's Landing and because the area was quite dead, we ended up at the Morgan Street Brewery where the barmaid made me a drink she had made up that she called Hawaiian Punch.   It really taste like Hawaiian Punch.  She wrote down the recipe and signed it.  Back to Miss Kitty and some needed sleep. 

Day 6- we went to pick up his truck and then I followed him to his home where his friends had planned barbeques and good fun.   

I will try to get up a little more about my week in MO on my way back to MD to pick up my tow car..

Have a good evening