Figment – 11-03-15 NC Trip – Home

Well, it’s been quite a trip! I had to be repaired 3 times and the Mamas took quite a toll too. My feet are a little tired and I’m just waiting for them to clear all their “stuff” out so I can go visit my RV friends at my storage lot. I will miss the Mamas, don’t misunderstand, but it is nice to just sit a while and have short visits with my friends. I will be ready to go though, the next time they want to hit the road. Nite, nite.

Conni – 11-02-15 NC Trip –OKC, OK

Well, after passing the RV Park entrance (not well marked) once, we got caught under the freeway the second time around with a split second decision to make. Yellow light, lots of traffic: Get thru the light making a hard left turn or cramming on the brakes. We boogied and made the light, but obviously things left on the countertop took a bad hit.

 

 

 

Hunkered down here for the last nite on the road - ate at Outback for a treat. The park was a real surprise. We had stayed here before and remembered it to have trees, nice grass and spaces, etc. There were almost no trees and it was obvious that new grass had been planted everywhere – yet to really take off and cover efficiently. Also, there were new slabs scattered about. When talking to one of the owners, we discovered that it was nearly destroyed in the tornado that hit here back in May and had only been re-opened about a month. A little sobering.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conni – 10-29/11-01-15 NC Trip –Branson, MO

Our intended stop here was actually Table Rock Lake. But, with jacks not working and much rain, we could not locate a level spot right at the lake. So, instead we stayed in town on the Taneycomo River – well, probably 50 yards back from the river. We found out that you need reservations a year in advance to sit right at the river.

We did find two really good places to eat here. Seems to never be a problem, huh? We had dinner at Billy Bob’s Dairyland, which was patterned after a 50’s diner. It also had neat music from an old jukebox. Great burgers and the best fried pie I’ve ever had. I could go back just for that.

 

 

 The next day we headed just out of town to Billy Gail’s for breakfast. It too, was very good. A fairly small place in what once was an old gas station. Very neat and not too long a wait.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Mary ordered one pancake. It was on a large plate and hung over the edge all the way around. I think she ate “maybe” half of it. I had biscuits and gravy.

 

After breakfast, we took a fairly short drive along part of Table Rock Lake. We’ve been several times before and usually drive most of the way around and take many small roads up in the mountains to get pretty overviews of the lake. Today was just a short drive though.

 

 

 

 

Conni – 10-27/28-15 NC Trip –Pacific, MO

As usual, it was raining as we went thru St Louis on our way to Pacific.

 

This was basically just a stopover before getting to Branson and Table Rock Lake. We did drive into the town, which was several miles away. Pretty sleepy, except for the trains and railroads. It was named “Pacific” due to it being the beginning of a railway to the Pacific Ocean around 1852.

Conni – 10-24/26-15 NC Trip –Midway KY to Evansville and Santa Claus, IN

 

 Another cloudy/rainy day on the way to Evansville.

 

 

 

 

But, some pretty fall colors

 

 

 

 

Bentley taking it all in

 

Entrance to campground

 

 

While there, we went into Evansville to Turoni’s Pizzery & Brewery for dinner. It has been there since 1963 and their slogan, “Famous for Feasting, Imbibery, and Frivolity”, holds true. We ate in the bar area and the food was very good. Mary got some neat pics. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A real old-timer

 

Another day trip was to Santa Claus. It is the world’s only post office with Santa Claus as the name. Nearly everything is Santa Claus and/or Christmas oriented, even the street names. Neat shops, where we looked a whole lot and got Christmas stockings. Now, wonder what will fill them? Oh yeah, we also saw Santa ClausJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The real deal

 

Pretty scenery in the town and area too.

 

 

 

 

 

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Conni – 10-21/23-15 NC Trip –Frankfort and Midway, KY

Surprisingly enough, this capital city is just off the same highway as the capital in Charleston, WV. So, of course, we checked it out too, though we did not have the opportunity to tour the interior. Not quite as impressive, but it is the 5th smallest state capital. The city population is around 26,000. It too, is on a river, the Kentucky.

 

 

 

View of river and capitol from cemetery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove around the capitol area and saw the Executive Mansion and other beautiful homes.

 

 

Governor's Mansion

 

 

 

 

 

Zeigler House

 

Homes on bluff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a beautiful old cemetery that looks down on the city and the river here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the cemetery is an impressive memorial to Daniel Boone. Apparently, there has been much said about where he is really buried. It’s stated that he was once buried in MO. and then later moved to KY. There is still some controversy to that. His wife, Rebecca, is also buried at this site.

 

 

Daniel Boone Monument

 

Side of monument

  

Side of monument

Rebecca's side of monument

 

We took a little side trip to the historic town of Midway, KY., which is situated extremely close to the railroad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is the hometown of a major thoroughbred horse breeding operation. Even though it is very small, some of the shops there are targeted for horse breeders and followers of the races (rather than tourists). We didn’t go into a shop that sold hats for the races, but were told by some fellow travelers that they were basically eye-popping expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

Canopied street