Monday, 26 - Tuesday, 27 April 2021
I'd been trying since Saturday to get a reservation at the Des Moines West KOA. Once I'd compared the relative attributes of this campground versus the Des Moines East KOA, I decided on the one west of town. I tried to call at least 3 times, left my name, number and a message as instructed, and never once got a callback. Even assuming they were closed on the weekend (which isn't uncommon in the winter, but definitely not common as tourist season gears up), they should have called me on Monday. I finally called the one east of town, got them right away, had a helpful person try to figure out the best campsite for me and the dogs, and now I'm assured of a place to stay for my first 2 nights in Iowa. Since May 1st is a Saturday, one of the busiest nights of the week for campgrounds, I wanted to be sure I could find a place.
I also figured out that Des Moines is too far for me to drive there from Lake of the Ozarks (a regular driver could do it, but that's not me). So then I had to decide where I'd go in my last days in Missouri. I decided on Pershing State Park again, because I knew I could pick up an internet signal there, and I knew they had laundry facilities. But then I learned that they didn't want me. Sort of.
I ran up against this if-you-want-one-weekend-night-you-have-to-stay-both-weekend-nights thing. But I didn't want both nights. I wanted to leave Missouri on Saturday, so I only wanted Friday night. The computer system brushing me off, I called the statewide number, and the woman there insisted neither she nor a supervisor had the authority to override this command. But she suggested I just not make a reservation at all and go up there on Wednesday, as I'd planned, and ask the park host to let me in on a first-come-first-served basis. She said as long as the campsite I wanted didn't get rented out in the meantime, the host could fix it for me.
I spent a good part of one day figuring out a driving route both to Pershing and to Iowa's KOA, pulling in a little sightseeing on both trips. But then I realized I'd be driving as many as 8 hours on Wednesday going up to Pershing, and I just couldn't bring myself to do this without knowing for sure that I'd have a place to stay at the end of it. So I reserved a site for Wednesday, figuring once I got there I could ask the host about the next 2 nights.
I got 2 more blog entries posted.
I went to 2 different towns for groceries (these are small towns, after all, and it can be surprising what a local store does and doesn't have in stock). I tried to get a look at Lake of the Ozarks, but the traffic was so fierce - even on a Monday - that I couldn't look at anything but the road. A shame.
I walked the dogs often around the campground, grateful for the much lighter occupancy in a campground on a weekday. This campground was laid out very oddly - with roads ending abruptly at campsites, others running inches from campsites (we had people walking almost inside our RV, thanks to this layout) - but at least they posted street signs to help keep people from getting lost. They also had a very functional wi-fi signal, which I appreciated.
We got temps well into the 80s on both days, which made a nice change from snow. And just to prove that complacency doesn't work, we also got rain and thunder overnight on Tuesday. Gracie wasn't happy, though I put her in her Thundershirt. Either it doesn't work right for her, or I'm not putting it on right. Or both.
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