Friday, 2 through Monday, 5 April 2021
I spent most of this time in the campground. It took me a couple of days to write the 2 most recent posts. One very full day was spent on planning where I want to go while I'm in Missouri, where I can stay, and how I'm going to get there.
I hadn't realized such a huge chunk of the state is in the Ozarks. I expect this will make travel times much longer than Google thinks, and likely means there'll be no internet or phone service in most campgrounds. I also hadn't realized that Missouri has many natural wonders, as well as historic sites and places of current interest, and I can tell right now I'll be having to miss a great number of things I'd want to see.
One day I went in to Joplin (sounds like a trek, but the KOA is only 2 highway exits away from the main part of town). I wanted to give the dogs someplace else to walk, so I stopped at Joplin High School, figuring it'd be okay with no school on Saturday. It's a pretty fancy school.
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| Joplin High School |
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| more of the school |
The fence along the left side of the school encloses track facilities. That section of the school at far right is a Performing Arts Center (see fancy glass enlarged below).
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| above, the islands mentioned in the sign, enlarged at right |
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Because there were quite a few cars parked in front of the performing arts section, I guessed there's an upcoming school play.
I saw on the map that a Joplin garage apartment was used in 1933 as a hideout by Bonnie and Clyde. Wikipedia reports that, after a couple of weeks, neighbors reported "suspicious behavior" (and I can't help but wonder what that consisted of), and police came. B&C got away but left 2 dead cops behind them. Apparently they also left some undeveloped photos behind them, and the cops used those to help track them down eventually.
I was also in town for groceries and was surprised to learn online that the only stores in town are a natural foods store and discount groceries. The only national chains were Walmart and Save-A-Lot. I'm left to conclude that folks in Joplin aren't into gourmet cooking.
All the gas stations in town sold gas for $2.67/gallon. All the gas stations by I-44 sold gas for $2.47. It's usually the opposite, with higher prices for the traveling public. But 20¢/gallon is a big difference.
When I got back to the campground I filled up with propane and dumped my waste tanks and my trash. Lots of chores that had to be done.
Almost the whole time I've been here there's been a strong wind - just like I found in Oklahoma and Kansas, which Joplin is right next to. I guess I'm still getting that wind that blows across the plains here in western Missouri because there's nothing to stop it.
One of the semi-permanent residents of the campground has a red-and-white Rambler American station wagon. A sight for sore eyes. I've always felt affection for station wagons and have wondered why we no longer have them. SUVs are absolutely not the same thing.
This is a comfortable KOA. The owners are a little surly (though nothing like as bad as that man in Michigan),and the dog park is pretty small, but the campground is in good shape and is big enough for us to have lots of room to walk around. And surprisingly, it's not overburdened with lights during the night, so I don't have to cover up the windows with extra towels.
Because there's so much to see in Missouri, I hated to spend extra time here, but I needed to plan where I'll be going and wanted to catch up my posts before I got back on the road.
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