My month in Missouri

My take on Missouri

where I went this month

Missouri's land

The land is one of the things that surprised me most about Missouri.  I'm not sure now what I expected, but it's not what I saw.  I hadn't realized the Ozarks extended so far north into Missouri, so I was surprised at the genuine mountains I ran into.  It looked like the neighboring states - western Kentucky and northeastern Arkansas.  But once I realized they were there, I was surprised that they weren't an actual mountain range.  More like pockets of hills/mountains here and there.

I was also surprised that much of western Missouri looks a great deal like the neighboring states' - Kansas and Oklahoma - farmland "where the wind comes sweeping down the plain."  

But the majority of the land in Missouri was rural farming country, with hills everywhere.

Missouri also surprised me by being almost entirely rural.  It's got 2 large cities - St. Louis and Kansas City - and several medium-sized ones - Springfield & Columbia - and some smaller ones - Joplin and Jefferson City.  But more than 2/3 of the population live in rural areas: Missouri ranks #21 among the states for size, but only #30 for population density.

It's a beautiful state, with mountains and caves, major rivers and forests, farmland and recreational areas.  It has geological oddities like the Elephant Rocks, and it sits on a major geologic fault line - the New Madrid Fault, that tracks along the Mississippi River, which is Missouri's eastern border.

Missouri's people

Like other states in this part of the country, Missourians weren't as friendly as I'd expected them to be.  You could say Missouri sits between 2 areas - the Midwest and the South.  I expected it to be a Southern state, and to have folks be as friendly as most Southerners are.  Instead, I found it to be a Midwestern state, where folks were friendly once they got started, but I had to work at getting them started.  Most people just didn't want to talk to me - even to say hi, let alone comment on the weather.

When I could get them to talk, everyone told me they liked where they were living, usually either because they liked their neighbors or because they liked how quiet and/or beautiful the area was.  I found one guy who told me he liked where he was living because they had 4 seasons of weather.  There was that one odd comment I got from the guy who'd moved to St. Louis (where he found folks to be smug) from Kansas City (where they weren't), but he still said he was glad he'd moved.  I didn't find anybody who said they'd rather be living somewhere else.

I found 2 dark sides to Missouri, though.  One was the number of social problems they seemed to have, based on the state's billboards advertising help for drug use by kids, drug addiction treatment, suicide prevention.  But I was really impressed that the state was stepping up to help.

The other dark side was the continuing strong attachment I saw to the Confederacy, which presumably extends to racial inequities.  It was in Ferguson, MO, in 2014 that unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a cop.  Remember that?  And that certainly wasn't the only such incident in this state.  

I saw several Confederate flags and what seemed to me a general celebration of Civil War history but, to be fair, only Virginia and Tennessee had more battles on their soil than Missouri did.  It's likely that no state was more schizophrenic over the war than MO: it was a slave state that sent 110,000 to fight for the Union and 40,000 for the CSA; it had a star on both those flags; it had dual state governments throughout the war.  And as far as I can tell, Missourians have still not come to grips with this duality.  Instead, the impression I got is that they think (as many congressional representatives do now about the attempted insurrection) that they can just put it all behind them by wishing it so.

An interesting people in an interesting land.

Driving in Missouri

Missouri's current license plate

They use a different color sticker for each year, so it's easy for cops to see whose registration is out of date. 

 As far as I know, Missouri is the only state to have a sticker - or anything else this shape - in the middle of their plates, making these easy to pick out from other plates at a distance.

Missouri drivers have apparently never had someone pull over from the lane of travel to let them pass.  I say that because most Missourians refused to pass me unless I came almost to a complete stop on the side of the road - even when there was plenty of visibility and passing was legal.

And in the full month I drove in this state, not one driver signaled thanks to me for pulling over.  Not even the truckers, who I assume drive all over and know what a thank-you looks like.  Very odd.

Many of the roads were fairly lousy, though I've still found none worse than Ohio's.  But lots of Missouri's could seriously use some resurfacing (not to mention the county roads I found that weren't surfaced at all).  But I was impressed with the state's warning signs, and they were fairly good at telling me where I was most of the time.

What I didn't see that I wanted to see

Although the state's vastly more open now than it was a year ago, there are still many places closed, so I missed a lot.  Plus, I made a real effort to get to most parts of the state, which meant I had almost no time left over to visit the major cities.  I barely saw anything in Kansas City at all, and though I took a quick driving tour of St. Louis, I didn't actually go into anything

As a result of these factors, I missed a lot I wanted to see.  Aside from the things I mentioned in my daily posts, here are some of the other places a longer trip to Missouri could have yielded:

   * American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, both in Kansas City.  The Federal Reserve Bank in KC offers tours of its Money Museum.  

   * Also in KC is the Nelson Art Gallery, known for its outstanding collection of Asian art.  It also has the largest collection open to the public of Thomas Hart Benton works, and the largest collection in the US of Henry Moore bronzes.  From its webpage, it looks like it'd take a week to see everything the museum has to offer.

   * The northwestern town of Gallatin has what's called a "squirrel cage jail," one of only 3 rotating jails in the US.

   * Near St. Louis is Grant's Farm, home of the Busch Clydesdales.

   * Also in St. Louis, the Cathedral of St. Louis (I took a photo of the exterior) has the world's largest mosaic collection.

   * Other museums in St. Louis include: the American Kennel Club's Museum of the Dog; the Museum of Black Inventors; the National Video Game and Coin-Op Museum; the state history museum (currently open only at 25% capacity using timed admission tickets).

   * Missouri has a number of caves that have tours, one of the best of which is the Meramec Caverns, operated by the state and currently closed for the virus.

   * The Missouri town of St. Mary has a bridge across the Mississippi River to the Illinois town of Kaskaskia - a town that's inaccessible from Illinois.  It can be reached only via this bridge from Missouri which, at times, is flooded, limiting access only by boat.

   * The official state history museum is inside the capitol in Jefferson City.  Guided tours of the capitol itself allow visitors to go places the ordinary public isn't allowed, including the House Lounge where an enormous mural by Thomas Hart Benton (MO native) shows MO's history.

I could have easily spent 3 months here with all the things Missouri has to offer that I'd like to see.  Aside from sheer lack of time, one of my biggest problems was finding campsites near the big cities.  I hadn't anticipated how difficult it'd be to find nearby places to stay so wasn't prepared.  Now that I know, I know I'd need a lot of lead time to locate and reserve places to stay.  The smaller towns were much less problematic.

My conclusion

I liked Missouri in general.  It's a beautiful state with a lot to offer just about anyone.  

The state parks system is a good one, though not really geared for those of us who are technology-challenged.  

My only real problem was that the people were on the clannish side and just didn't want to talk to me.  Not sure why - I tried to be friendly, I was wearing a mask, I was asking what they liked about where they lived.  But most folks didn't much want to strike up a conversation.  

So I guess the summary is that Missouri may have 4 seasons, and it may have 2 political parties (though I'm not sure about that), and it certainly has a lot of natural beauty and interesting places, but anyone who thinks of moving here should probably plan on it taking a long time for the neighbors to warm up.  Definitely not a Southern state, regardless of the apparent affection for the Confederacy I saw around.

Missouri - Days 29 & 30 - in Pershing State Park

Pershing State Park, Laclede

Thursday, 29 and Friday, 30 April 2021

I had a busy couple of days here in the campground.

Thursday's weather wasn't so great after all the rain Wednesday night, and we had actual inches of water right outside the cabin door - neither dog even wanted to go for a walk when they realized they'd have to plunge into that pond just to get out.  And none of us had slept very well Wednesday night because of the thunder and all.  Thunder doesn't bother me, but I still finally got up at 1:30 AM after lying awake for an hour or so.

I did several loads of laundry so I'd be cleaned up before starting my month in Iowa; took a shower; changed the sheets on my bed.

I cleaned all the RV's windows - no small matter.

I wrote 6 blog posts, to try to catch up before the month was over.

I spent at least an hour retaping the torn screen on my cabin door.  I'd wanted to for months, but it'd always been too cold or too windy.  Finally, on Friday we had beautiful weather.  No wind to speak of, just an occasional breeze, pleasant temperature, sunny sky.  So I took this chance to mend that screen.  It's getting close to bug weather, after all.

I conquered my fear of not doing this right and finally put up this map on the outside of the RV.

I still ended up putting it on a little crooked, but it's on.  I'd had it for at least a month, waiting till I'd worked up my nerve.  The directions say to work slowly and carefully because once it's on, it's permanent.  I've gotten conflicting stories on that from various campers I've asked - most say it stays on despite the weather, but a few others say they have to keep sticking it down.  We'll see.

Of course I also took the dogs for many walks.  One of the nice things that happened was that, after all that rain Wednesday night, we heard a deafening chorus of frogs on Thursday and Friday mornings.  Seriously, they were incredibly loud, and incredibly varied in their songs.  I can't even imagine how many species there were in the area to produce all those different songs.  It was great.

And then when daylight came we got a loud chorus of birds - all different kinds of birds - singing as if there were some kind of competition with the frogs to see who could be louder.  Such a nice aftermath from all the thunder and rain.

In the campground I saw a flicker and a Red-headed Woodpecker - both of which are great birds.

Friday afternoon, the campground was starting to fill up, so I took the dogs down the road a ways to give them some exercise without running into other dogs.  We found a picnic area, and the start of a hiking trail, and some geological information about the area.

One of the reasons the park was named for Gen. Pershing is that, when he was young, he used to visit this area.  Stands to reason since his home was only a couple of miles from here, and this would be a good place for a boy to play.  Today, the park is the only large wetland area the state owns.  They say it's "one of the few remaining northern Missouri wetland landscapes."

see detail below

see detail below

It was while we were walking back from this picnic area that I realized I wasn't feeling well.  I had almost no energy and was having even more trouble than Gracie in walking up the slight hill back to the campground.

I finally took my temperature at 7:00 PM and found it was 102.7°.  Not an appropriate end to my month in Missouri, let alone an auspicious beginning to my month in Iowa.

Missouri - Day 28 - driving through central Missouri

Pershing State Park, Laclede

Wednesday, 28 April 2021

today's route

On the road

Knowing that today's route would take a full day of driving, we got on the road just before 7:00.  I first drove the few miles from the campground into Camdenton.  Though I'd seen the courthouse there a couple of days ago, this time I managed to get a photographable view of it.

Camden County Courthouse
in Camdenton

The courthouse, built 1931, sits at the intersection of 2 state highways, and unusually the building faces the point of this triangular piece of land.  That meant I couldn't get a clear view of the front from either road, but today I was sitting at the front of the line at a traffic light and real quick grabbed this photo.

After I mentioned the other day that I hadn't seen any passing lanes in Missouri, today I came across 4 of them.  Very welcome on these narrow, winding, hilly state roads.

I passed a road called Up and Down Drive.

I came to the Pomme de Terre State Park, which is on the Pomme de Terre Lake, which was created from the Pomme de Terre River.  The State thinks the name came from French explorers in the region who saw the local Native American tribes digging up a root that looked similar to potatoes - hence the name "pomme de terre," French for potato.  Various websites say this area is underused because it's relatively unknown, but that it has great muskie fishing.

I drove through a long series of serious hills, past green fields, farmhouses, cows and horses.

In one field I saw a pickup driving through the cows in the field and I saw 2 cows make a maneuver I wouldn't have thought a cow could do.  Remember the scene in Pretty Woman when Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts shopping and tells her to get rid of her gum, so she spits it out into the gutter, narrowly missing 2 women walking along the sidewalk?  That maneuver the women had to make to avoid the gum - that's what I saw these cows do.  I swear.

Hermitage

We came to the town of Hermitage, pop. 467, which was - yes - named for Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage.  And it's the county seat of Hickory County which was - yes - named for "Old Hickory" himself.

Hickory County Courthouse
in Hermitage

This courthouse, built in 1896, didn't have the kind of impressive front door I usually associate with county courthouses.  I drove around all 4 sides of this one, just to be sure this really is the front.  But 1896 was a long time ago, this is a small county, and oddly this county went for many years without any courthouse at all, when fires destroyed the previous ones.  So I guess these folks prefer to put their money someplace that will do some good, besides just being for show.

Back on the road

Today I saw lots of flowering dogwood.  

And in the 250 or so miles I drove today, I saw 14 Trump signs/flags.  Well, Missouri is, after all, the show-me state.

I was driving on a 2-lane road through farming country when I saw 5 Amish children cutting through a fence to get to the road, just as a semi without a trailer was coming by.  The girls waved and the boys jerked their arms down, and the nice semi driver obliged by blaring his horn for them.  My thought: life happens all around us, but we don't always get to see it.  And sometimes seeing it is the unexpected gift that this trip has given me.

I saw a billboard funded by the state that said, "Despite what you've heard, naloxone does work on fentanyl.  Carry naloxone."  The State says opioid deaths are steadily increasing in Missouri, and in 2018 1 in each 56 deaths was due to opioid overdose.  I'm impressed that they're trying to do something constructive about it.

Warsaw

Coming into downtown Warsaw (pop. 2,127 in 2010), I passed Chuck's Bail Bonds - "Don't Get Stuck, Call Chuck."  Which would have helped me locate the county courthouse if I'd needed the help.

Benton County Courthouse
in Warsaw

This building was built in pieces: in 1886, 1 firm put in the foundation, walls and roof; then in 1887, the county hired a separate firm to finish it.  Can't say I've heard of a building being pulled together quite like that.

Warsaw has an establishment called the Cow Pattie Restaurant.  Not the most appetizing name I've ever heard.  But the downtown area seems fairly prosperous and pleasant-looking for a small old town.

Back on the road

Heading west from Warsaw on MO Hwy. 7, I crossed 2 arms of Harry S Truman Lake, with bridges I hadn't expected.  The first was the longer of the 2 - Osage Arm - and the bridge is known locally as the Mile Long Bridge, because it's 5,128' long.  The other - Grand River Arm - is somewhat shorter, though I can't find a length online.  Not only had I not expected these bridges, but they were both 2 lanes only (1 for each side) and I couldn't follow my usual practice of taking an inside lane to avoid my fear of bridges.  I had to drive across both long bridges, without warning and without protection.  But I did it.

Halfway between the 2 bridges is the Truman State Park.  Also lots of RV "resorts" and motels and storage places.  Also the unincorporated towns of Racket and Coal, and the village of Tightwad, pop. 64 in 2010.  I looked up the origin of that name and came across a great deal more, including the Tightwad Bank that has depositors from all 50 states (so they can use the checks with the bank's name on them).  Here's the article that explains the town.   https://missourilife.com/tightwad-for-a-day

MO 7, by the way, was a seriously rough road.  We hit some bumps that jolted us much more than usual.

That metal piece hanging at an angle is an over-the-door rack that's always
 hooked over the other closet door.  One of the bumps we went over was so
serious it somehow made this rack come unhooked from the door and land,
as you see, half on and half off the other door.  With that kind of dislocation,
I'm astounded we didn't have some actual damage to the RV.  Or to us.

Clinton

The town of Clinton, pop. 9,008, seems like a city but with an old-fashioned downtown and courthouse square.  I saw 4 people standing on the sidewalk, praying, across from the courthouse.  Just regular people, they looked like - not a political statement or anything.

Henry County Courthouse
in Clinton

This building, which was finished in 1893, originally included a tower 127' tall, as shown in the mural (at left) that I found on a local building.  The tower was created by a steel framework covered with copper and stucco - not exactly permanent building fabrication.  Unsurprisingly, it began leaking almost as soon as the building was completed, and despite repairs over the years, it kept on leaking until - over the heated protests of local historic preservationists - the county voted to tear it down.  The result is shown in my photo (above).

When I was trying to leave Clinton, I got sent on a strange detour that took me several miles on narrow residential streets, then suddenly on a 2nd detour when a bridge on the 1st detour was closed - and then no signs saying the detour was ending or which way to go to resume my original route.  This detour depended entirely on local knowledge.  I came to a T intersection that said I had come to a street I wanted, but I had to guess which way to turn.  Luckily I guessed right, but it was disorienting.  

Back on the road

For the 2nd time today I saw a turtle in my lane, and for the 2nd time I barely missed it.  Both times I wanted to stop and get it out of the roadway, and both times it was impossible because of the traffic.

I passed through Calhoun, pop. 469, that bills itself as Jug Town USA, which turns out to be because of local pottery products.  In the mid-1800s there were as many as 6 pottery businesses operating at once, and their products were shipped all over the country.  There's still at least one such business - Jugtown Pottery, established 1917 - that's gearing back up for business now that the pandemic is coming under control.  I understand the point of the name, but it calls to my mind moonshine jugs, not today's nice pottery products, so It's almost as if they're devaluing their product.  But that's just me.

I started heading due north on US 65, passing large cropfields.  Some still had last year's hay bales sitting on them, others had been recently plowed.

We got to Sedalia, pop. 21,387, where I'd been a couple of weeks ago, and where I was seriously counting on finding a place to stop and have lunch and take a break.  But Google's routing took me completely around it - we were just barely skirting the edge with fast food places and tire shops and gas stations, but no parks or churches or neighborhoods where we could stop and rest.  We were out of town and back in the country before I'd even realized we weren't going to be going through town.  So I kept driving but I was feeling tired and hungry and guilty for not taking better care of my critters who were all feeling like I was.

I've noticed that many places in MO aren't open all year.  Many have signs or online notices saying they open on March 15th or April 1st each year.  I wouldn't have thought the weather would be that bad in this state, but maybe it's a problem for all these rural areas - getting supplies and keeping the roads plowed and convincing tourists to come despite the weather.

Marshall

When we got to Marshall, pop. 13,065, my first priority was for us to take a break, which we did.  Then we looked for the county courthouse.

Saline County Courthouse
in Marshall

Isn't this something?  It was built in 1882 and, per Wikipedia, is a "two-story, cruciform plan, red brick building and measures 100' by 110'.  It features a 4-stage, square clock tower with a pyramidal slate roof atop the intersecting wings."  That's so you can fully appreciate what my photo can't show very well.

Marshall has another claim to fame that's on one of the corners of the courthouse square: the former home of Jim, The Wonder Dog.  Really.

this is Jim

this is about Jim

You can see that Jim's statue is in a nice little garden, and all around the garden are signs explaining why Jim was a wonder dog.  I wouldn't dream of depriving you of them, so here they are.

1.  Jim the hunter

2.  Early signs

3.  Other performances

4.  Unexplainable feats

5.  Well known

Pearl's stories

7.  The final chapter

Back on the road

Continuing north, I noticed that I've seen lots of fields that had corn in them last year, but so far haven't seen any that look like they've been replanted.  Do farmers just let the cornfields sit fallow for a year?  I thought they planted some other crop that would revitalize the soil.  And maybe they have, but the fields don't look like it.

Near Brunswick, pop. 858, "Missouri's Pecan Orchard on the Missouri River," I saw an odd sight.  Three dogs, all different sizes and breeds, trotting across a plowed field, looking as if they knew where they were going, but I couldn't see that they were going anywhere except the road I was on.  It reminded me of those stories I've heard about animals making cross-country trips on their own, with movies like The Incredible Journey, which I haven't seen but apparently should.  I'm sure they all belonged on the farm they were crossing, but it's not a scene I've ever seen before.  Farm animals have always before been in the farm yard, or with the family, or in a pickup - like that.

At Keytesville, pop. 471, I found one of the more unprepossessing county courthouses I've seen yet.

Chariton County Courthouse
in Keytesville

This was built in 1975 and was not without controversy.  Some local residents thought a modern design unsuitable and submitted alternative plans.  But the county was already committed to the designer of this building and this is what they got.  Well, it's likely not got a wealthy tax base here.

I turned onto MO Hwy 5, and apparently ran smack into Amish country.  I passed 7 signs in only 22 miles warning me of horse-and-buggy outfits being possible and reminding me to "Share the Road."

Marceline

And then I was back in Marceline, pop. 2,233, Walt Disney's hometown.  I remember that when we came through here before, I'd decided to put off touring the Disney museum for another visit.  Well, I knew tonight's campground wasn't far down the road from here and decided this was the time for the tour.

Except when I got there, the nice man at the door told me a ticket for seniors was $9, and I didn't want to pay that much.  I'd've paid $5, or maybe even $6 at a stretch, but for some reason $9 was just too much.  Disney's family only lived here for 4 or 5 years, and although he seemed to cherish those years himself, I just didn't believe the museum would have enough to intrigue me $9 worth.  Products from the Disney studios were a major feature of my childhood and I'm very grateful for the memories.  But I guess my interest in Walt Disney the person is limited.

I did buy a t-shirt, though.  And the dogs and I walked around the same town square we'd walked around 2 weeks ago when it was under a load of snow.  Easier to walk this time.

And then we drove the 20 miles down the road to tonight's state park.

Back to Pershing State Park

The camp hosts listened to me explain about how I had a reservation for tonight but not the next 2 nights and how the folks at the main parks office had told me to just come and hope for the best, and then they spent some time figuring out how to make that happen.  And they did.  So I had the campsite I wanted for 2 nights, and the one next to that for the 3rd night.

And I got my waste tanks emptied and the dogs walked and got us all set up just in time for the heavens to open up into some very heavy rain.  And thunder.  I'd left Gracie's Thundershirt on her all morning but took it off in Marshall - the day was getting warm and I hoped we were past danger of thunder.  So when it started back up again, I put her shirt back on her and turned up the AC to drown out some of the noise.  Poor thing.  Both Dexter and Lily get nervous with thunder, but Gracie is obviously terrified.  It was a tough night for all of them.

Missouri - Days 26 & 27 - in the campground, mostly

Lake of the Ozarks KOA, Linn Creek

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.

Missouri - Day 25 - southeast to Lake of the Ozarks

Lake of the Ozarks KOA, Linn Creek

Sunday, 25 April 2021

today's route

On the road

Not far from Oak Grove this morning, I passed a place with a sign saying it was Kansas City's Botanical Garden.  And when I looked that phrase up, sure enough I came up with this place called Powell Gardens.  It's 30 miles outside of Kansas City, so I don't know why they're billed as KC's garden.  They say they've got 6,000 species of plants and they're open to the public, for a fee.

I passed Pittsville, the turn for Higginsville, and came to Warrensburg.  Missouri has a whole lot of place names like that - lots of -villes and -burgs.

The sign for Warrensburg didn't include a population figure, but online they say the 2020 census gave them 20,139 residents.  And it's the county seat.

Johnson County Courthouse
in Warrensburg

It's hard to see the building from the front, but you can see that fancy top.

a close-up

the back side, showing some architectural
details

This building was completed in 1896, and there's an unusual statue on the grounds.

Old Drum
(that's the name of the dog)

The shooting of this dog almost ignited a war, as 2 plaques here explain.

top half of the plaque on the front of the statue

bottom half of that plaque

And here's the explanation the Missouri Secretary of State gave of the incident.   https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/Old-Drum  After all, as Hagrid said in one of the Harry Potter books, people can be a bit stupid about their pets.

As I was leaving town, I passed a large plant for a company called EnerSys, which turns out to be a maker of batteries and other supplies for defense and aerospace applications.  That may help explain the unexpectedly large population here.

I passed the town of Knob Noster, with 2,709 residents in 2010.  I was curious about that name, but it means just what I thought it meant: a knob is a small hill and "noster" is a Latin word meaning "our."  Though I don't know who the "our" referred to originally.

Luckily, today I got the kind of light traffic I hope for on a Sunday morning.

Old Drum Real Estate Company advertises heavily in this area.  Now that I've seen the Old Drum statue, I understand the outline of a dog's head that appears on each of their ads.

I saw a lot of signs in this area that said, "No Waste Park Landfill," plus one that said, "Farms Not Landfills."  I couldn't find anything online but I'm guessing some company wants to create a new landfill in this area and that the locals have concerns - probably about toxic runoff and concerns about groundwater contamination.

I've noticed that the price of gasoline is almost exactly the same statewide, regardless of the brand.  Almost everywhere I've seen gas for $2.65 or $2.69.  It's not often I can find a name brand for less - or even an off brand, for that matter.  This isn't something I've seen in any of the other states I've visited.

I came to the town of Sedalia, pop. 21,387, established 1860.  This is one of the few towns that US 50 runs right through, instead of bypassing.  Here it's called Broadway.

Pettis County Courthouse
in Sedalia

This building, from 1925, has one of those oddball histories that you find only in Small Town America.  Here's a somewhat colorful version.   https://www.pettiscountysheriff.com/courthouse-history

There's a large Pepsi plant in town, which I'm sure helps the local economy.  Also facilities for Neet Archery Manufacturing.  They say all their products are handmade - not an everyday claim, these days.

I passed sheep and the first cows of the day.  Rolling farmland and a heavy presence of purple flowers in plowed fields.

I passed the town of Fortuna, named for the roman goddess of fortune.  It has a post office, a fire department, churches and a U-Haul dealer, and yet it's an unincorporated town.

I drove 155 miles today and saw only 2 Trump signs, with the first one here.

At Tipton I turned south on Missouri Highway 5, and started finding steep hills, narrow lanes and no shoulders.

On a mailbox I saw the message, "Live Soberly, Righteously and Godly."  Really.  It was all on a regular-size mailbox.

I passed a chicken farm or ranch or whatever they are and more cows.  I saw several Red-tailed Hawks.

This is serious farm country.  I saw a huge facility and, based on the vast number of pieces of large farm equipment I saw, I thought it might have been a business for renting out this equipment, mostly Caterpillar brand.  There wasn't a sign so I couldn't tell for sure.

There are wineries all over the state.

I came to Versailles, pop. 2,482, established in 1835.  I understand the town's name is pronounced "ver-sails" by the folks who live here, despite the town having been named for the royal palace in France.  It's a county seat.

Morgan County Courthouse
built 1889 in Versailles

There was a historical marker on the courthouse square about the moderately interesting county history.

side 1

side 2

A sign on the square told me that on May 1st I would have to miss a Made In Missouri fair, featuring vendors with products that have been made and grown in Missouri.  I'd have enjoyed that.

This is what downtown Versailles looks like on a Sunday afternoon.

Yep.  The dogs and I had a lonely walk around the square.

At Eldon, I switched from MO 52 to US 54, from farmlands back to dogwoods and redbuds.

I was nearing Lake of the Ozarks, so along here there's a series of small towns, all called Lake-something - Lakeland, Lakeview.  So I took the wrong exit.  What I was looking for was Business Rt. US 54, but I hadn't realized that this string of little towns along the road each has a branch of Bus. Rt. US 54.  The wrong branch I took gave me no choice whatever but to cross Bagnell Dam, and I'm here to tell you that's one narrow dam.  Only passenger cars can pass each other without worries.  Get in a pickup, and you've got to pay attention to the width of your side mirrors.  Tow a boat or trailer, as someone coming toward me was doing, and it's really hard to stay in your lane.  My RV, of course, could fit in the lane okay but was still a lot wider than anybody - including me - was comfortable with.  But there wasn't even a hint of a place to pull off, let alone turn around.  I had to cross that dam.

But getting to the other side wasn't an improvement.  I came to another Lake-something, this one called Lakeside, pop. 37, which was a complete resort area and, on a pleasant Sunday, was packed to the gills with tourists.  Besides the usual tourist stuff, I saw a shop that displayed only flags supporting Trump.  If they had other flags, I didn't see them.  (I didn't count this in the daily total.)  

In Lakeside too there was no place to turn around, but I was desperate because the road wasn't getting wider and I didn't know where it'd get me to, plus there was all the traffic and pedestrian tourists, so I created a place: I turned onto a side street - which immediately started a steep climb up a hill - and then I stumbled on a parking lot for a business.  The parking lot had signs saying parking for customers only, but it was empty and I decided I wasn't parking anyway, so I managed a turn and crept down that hill back to the Bus. Rt.  Even then, the only reason I was able to make a left turn back onto the road was because some tourists were crossing it, so traffic stopped to let them do it and I quick like a bunny made my turn at the same time.  Piece of luck.

Then back across that dam to the road on the other side, which had rock walls many stories high on either side.  But going in this direction, I discovered the rock actually overhung the road a bit in places, and the walls were so close to the road anyway, I actually had to swerve into the oncoming lane to be sure my upper sections avoided those overhangs.  Again I got lucky, because there was a drop in the traffic flow just then, and I made it back up to regular US 54 in one piece. 

I passed Lake Ozark (1,586 residents in 2010), crossed the Osage River, and came to Osage Beach, pop. 4,351, "The ♥ of the Lake of the Ozarks."  And the RV's cabin door opened again while we were driving.  And again I was lucky that I was in an area where I could pull over.  Gracie seems to be getting used to it because she no longer even moves a muscle, either when it happens or when I get up to fix it, so I'm lucky there too.

I stopped at a CVS in Osage Beach to pick up a refill on my asthma inhaler.  The doctor had anticipated me using one per month, but I got the first one this past December, and this is just the 2nd one, so I don't feel like I'm overusing it, which is good.

On the 12-mile drive to the campground, I passed a billboard showing an American flag and above it were these words: "Do You Miss Me Yet?  Trump 2024."  This was my 2nd Trump sign for the day.

Lake of the Ozarks is one of those long, narrow lakes created primarily from damming the Osage River, but also including some of the Osage's tributaries.  The result is about 1,150 miles of shoreline.  Wikipedia says its long serpentine shape has earned it the nickname Puff, the Magic Dragon.  I couldn't find a map online and the one on my AAA map is too pale for you to see it clearly, so I'm putting in a link to the Wikipedia page because it includes an aerial photograph of the dragon.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Lake-of-the-Ozarks

Despite having the lake's name in its name, tonight's campground doesn't have any lakeside frontage or access.  The office was closed - for Sunday, I assume - but they'd left a campground map with little arrows showing where we were to go.  We went, and found it to be fairly comfortable.

Missouri - Day 24 - in the campground

Kansas City East KOA, Oak Grove

Saturday, 24 April 2021

I spent the day figuring out a driving route to my next campground, trying to figure out plans for when I go to Iowa in a week, and publishing a couple of posts.  Throwing in several dog walks, it was a pretty full day. 

I got lucky during the day partly because the next door neighbors took their yellow lab and left for the day, and partly because for part of the day it was raining enough that they didn't want to sit outside.  So we mostly got our walks in relative peace.

This campground is oddly laid out, with a few sites being accessible from a road that funnels into another site, lots of unpaved roads (noticeable after rain), and a small dog park.  They've got a section that's labeled on their campground map as being for tenters, but the whole section is torn up and it looks like they're building sites for small RVs or something similar.  We walked over there, but the dogs decided they weren't interested because nobody takes their dogs over there so mine couldn't find any interesting smells.

I was too tired to drive back into Kansas City, though if I'd gone early this morning it might have been okay as far as traffic and parking go.  But I'd just spent 6 nights in a row each in a different campground, and I needed to stay in one spot for a while.  So we did.

Missouri - Day 23 - Kansas City & Independence

Kansas City East KOA, Oak Grove

Friday, 23 April 2021

The side door to the cabin came open again, fortunately while we were still in the campground, so I could pull over and try again.  David suggested I tie the door handle to the metal bar just inside the door for use by unathletic people like me who need help climbing into the RV.  I probably should, but I'd need to figure out some way for it not to be a nuisance.  The door's only come open 3 times (I think) while I've been driving - out of all the times I've closed it and it hasn't come open.  I'll keep thinking about it.

today's route

detail in the city

On the road

Missouri's license plates remind me that 2021 is this state's bicentennial.  The exact date is August 10th, and I'm sure the virus will be under enough control that they'll be able to celebrate by then.

Today I drove 90 miles and saw 3 Trump signs/flags.

I don't think I've mentioned anything much before about Missouri's volunteer litter pickup program.  Although I've seen a few saying the crew is from a church or civic group, almost all of them are in memory of one or more people.  Some of them are really personal: e.g. "Don (or Amy or whatever name) We'll love you forever."

Today I saw a sign that said, "In Loving Memory of June, June and Emma."  I'm still not sure about that one but think maybe someone named June died, and the volunteer litter folks are June and Emma.

Then I saw another one that said, "In Loving Memory of Josh Strencer - Ride Free, Brother."

And still another one: "In Loving Memory of Javon Reilly - Forever Will Fly."

Missouri's program is a little different than some other states.  Here, picking up litter is only 1 of 4 options they offer, the other 3 being to mow the adopted area, landscape it, or plant native Missouri wildflowers and grasses.  They have to sign a 3-year agreement, pick up litter at least 4 times a year, and submit an activity report to MODOT.  The litter crews I've seen out didn't look at all like volunteers but instead like people who work for the state.  And there's still plenty of litter out - though picking it up only 4 times a year leaves plenty of time for trash to accumulate.  Other states expect volunteers out once a month.

I passed an eating establishment called "Chicken N Pickle."  I don't know why that struck me as odd, but I'm glad it did because now I've looked it up and know that it's a chain that was started in Kansas City that offers chicken and pickleball.  Apparently it's wildly popular and the food's actually good.

I passed briefly into Kansas City, then crossed the Missouri River, which confused me.  I figured as long as I didn't cross the Missouri River, I'd be staying in the state of Missouri, since the river forms MO's boundary with KS.  What I'd overlooked is that the river forms the state boundary UP TO Kansas City.  At which point the river swings east and the state boundary goes straight south.

Independence

Independence had about 117,000 residents in 2010, and it seemed like at least half of them were out on the roads today.  I'd managed to make it this far without trouble only because I took a great deal of time beforehand being sure I'd know exactly where to exit from exactly which road.  Google doesn't always report the correct name of a street - or at least not the name that's on a street sign.  My route today brought me down MO 45, then MO 9, then somehow onto US 24, followed by an exit for Bess Truman Parkway.  I was skeptical, so I used Google Maps to be sure I knew what all those transitions would look like.  That turned out to be a valuable step, because I knew exactly what the exit signs would say, instead of relying on Google's "turn at the Taco Bell" type of directions.  They can say things like that without ever once mentioning the name of the road you're turning on or by dreaming up names for streets that never heard of that name.  So the traffic was heavy but I found the right roads with no trouble.

It took more than an hour to get to the Bess Truman Parkway, so when I saw we were passing a small park along there, I stopped to let us all take a break.  I found a display describing the conditions in the area in the mid-1800s and the trails that people took when moving west.  Here are a few of them:

I'd never heard of this strategy for buying the freedom of an enslaved family.

And there was this one about a lesser-known facet of railroading:

The Truman House was only a few blocks from this park.

Truman House

Of course, the house was closed, which is just as well because I'm not sure I'd ever have found a parking place.

But this is a pretty house, isn't it?

About 5 blocks away is the National Park Service Visitor Center for all this Truman stuff.  And it was closed - I guess because of the virus.  Too bad, because I'd found a good parking place (probably because nobody else wanted to park there due to closures).

Between the house and the visitor center I found the Jackson County Courthouse, Independence being the county seat.

Jackson County Courthouse,
aka the Truman Courthouse,
in Independence

This was the only angle I could get of the front of the building (on the left).  You can just see, on the right, a statue of Truman, and I've got a close-up of it.

likely shows Truman when he was Presiding Judge of the county,
before he was elected Senator

It turns out that Jackson County has 2 county courthouses, the other being in Kansas City.  In 1926, when Truman was presiding judge, voters adopted a bond issue that included remodeling the courthouse shown above as well as building a new one in Kansas City.

[I've just discovered this new computer is saving JPG files as JFIF, and the photo program in this blog is refusing to touch them.  I've found some complicated directions online for how to fix this, but it's way too much for me to want to tackle right now.  This seems to work okay on my own photos, but it's not letting me download some others.  In this particular case, I wanted to show a photo of the county courthouse in Kansas City that Truman helped design - but if you want to see it, you'll have to look it up for yourself.  It's a 1934 300' tall Art Deco building.]

 

On the corner by the visitor center is a historical marker titled "Second Battle of Independence - October 1864."  This wasn't about what I thought it was about.  The "independence" doesn't refer to the state's independence or the citizens' independence but instead to the town of Independence.  The account on the sign is wildly truncated, but you can read it here if you want.   https://www.hmdb.org/independence  

We've already seen accounts of part of this situation; one that I remember seeing was last year in Kansas at Marais de Cygnes (Marsh of the Swans).  I remember it had snowed that morning and the signs at the visitor center were iced over.  Anyway, there was a fierce battle nearby when this same Confederate commander - Price - was defeated, only to turn around and be defeated at Mine Creek later that same day, and finally ended up running for Texas with what was left of his forces.  So this Second Battle of Independence leader was the same guy.  Not really a military winner, I'd have said.  But I've taken a quick look at his biography and he turns out to be a more complex person than I'd have expected.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Sterling-Price

Driving through Independence, I passed a street named Higashimurayama, which wasn't the sort of name I'd expect in a town like this, so I looked it up.  There's a town in Japan by that name, and the two towns are sister cities.

Kansas City

From there I drove into Kansas City for the sole purpose of finding barbecue.  My first stop was Arthur Bryant's Barbecue.  Of course there are conflicting stories about who started Kansas City BBQ, but one of them is that Arthur's brother Charlie was the first and Arthur took over after his death.  But what matters is that this place is considered one of the best bbq places in town.

When I got there, I saw that it's also a compulsory stop for visiting politicians: I saw photos with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, with John McCain and Sarah Palin, several with Barack Obama - I can't remember them all, but you get the idea.  I can say 2 things to describe this place: 1) there were 4 cops in line ahead of me, along with a real mix of other folks; 2) there's this article from 2015 that is a little outdated but basically has the description down   https://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/bryants.  I ordered a half-rack of ribs and some potato salad.

Arthur Bryant's ribs and potato salad

The young women at the check-out end asked if I wanted sauce and, if so, what kind.  They offer original, sweet and spicy.  I figured if they were still offering the original it must be pretty good and said so.  But they said, well it has an unusual taste because of the vinegar and they thought I'd be happier with the sweet.  But I knew I probably wouldn't be happier with the sweet (they must have thought I was a nice little old lady from Queens or something) and they said well, for themselves they mixed the sweet and the spicy together.  I still wanted original and they ended up giving me 2 containers of the original, and 1 each of the spicy and sweet.  I ended up with a lot of barbecue sauce.  I learned that the original almost certainly has Tabasco in it, or something very much like it - it has the same color and texture and taste, though after a few bites "taste" is a relative term.  I still thought it was good.  As were both the ribs and the potato salad.  This made 3 meals for me.

I went from there to Jack Stack BBQ, another highly rated KC bbq place.  This is the chain I found last year on the Kansas side of Kansas City.  They're the ones who introduced me to burnt ends, and that's what I went back to find.  And I did find them, though Google's directions left something to be desired and, unfortunately, the dogs needed to be walked and I couldn't find anywhere to do that.  We tried in the Jack Stack parking lot, but that's shared with 2 or 3 other restaurants and Dexter's a whiz at finding semi-edible things I don't want him to find, so the walk was really short.  I made this barbecue my supper.

Jack Stack's beef (left) and pork (right) burnt ends and beans

This was 3 meals too.  I ate a lot of barbecue this week and didn't feel sad about it at all, except when it was all gone.

The Jack Stack barbecue sauce is something like you might find in a bottle labeled KC Masterpiece - sweet and spicy and tomato-y and very good.  But that original Arthur Bryant's is really something.

This might be a good place to mention that Kansas City, MO, had almost a half million residents in 2010 (and I'm guessing it's grown since then), and the total metropolitan area, including the Kansas side, has more than 2 million people.  So even in the middle of the day there were a lot of people rushing around, all apparently knowing where they were going, which I didn't really.  

For the 2nd time today I made a wrong turn and got really lost.  By the time I got myself found again, I was tired and still had a half-hour drive to the campground, so I decided not to do any looking around town today.  I did think I'd found a nice place to stop for the dogs, but it turned out to not be grass but instead that weed that's sticky and causes red itchy places on exposed skin.  Well, on humans anyway, and I was afraid it might do that to the dogs too, so we had to cut that walk short too.  This wasn't a great dog-walking day.

The KOA was fairly full, this being a Friday evening, and we ended up right next door to a very large yellow lab.  There were 2 problems with that, the first being that the lab and its people came in a very small e-pod camper, so they all wanted to spend as much time outside as possible.  The second problem was that I learned when another neighbor tried to walk her large dog that the yellow lab barked loudly and a lot as soon as it set eyes on another dog.  With this combination, there was no way we could set foot outside the RV.  I finally went next door and apologized for my dopey dog but you see I've got this problem and he's just overly friendly and it's hard for me to hang onto him and would you mind very much putting your dog inside for just 10 or 15 minutes so I can walk my dogs before bed?  They were real nice about it, thank goodness.