We left Ay and Em's house on Sunday heading across Colorado and then northern Kansas to St. Joseph Missouri. Driving across Kansas on US Route 36, "The Pony Express Highway", the landscape made a radical change as did the elevation. Colorado and western Kansas was pretty barren - high desert, dry and lacking a lot of green vegetation and trees. As we continued east, though, we descended about 2000 feet in elevation. By the time we got into eastern Kansas, the fields were green and there were lots of trees. Another observation: one may think of Kansas as relatively flat. NOT!!! At least the northern part along US 36 had lots of rolling hills. It was quite a change from the mountains of Colorado and the mesas and buttes of Arizona and Utah.
We stopped about two hours into the state of Kansas at the Prairie Dog State Park near Norton, KS. This was a beautiful location - no prairie dogs seen, but the campground was on a large reservoir, was well-maintained, and quiet. It was a nice break to relax and enjoy some leisure time.
We left Prairie Dog on Monday morning, continuing across US 36 into Missouri, crossing the Missouri River around 3:30 PM. We arrived at the AOK RV Park outside St Joseph shortly thereafter. AOK is a family-owned and operated Good Sam Park, sitting on a small lake with lots of grass. The RV pads and roads are gravel. We were concerned as we turned off the highway as the entry road was also gravel and the campground sign was a bit faded, so we were not sure we were turning at the right place. A phone call to the campground alleviated our concern and we proceeded down the hill and into the AOK. The staff has been wonderful, even personally guiding us into our campsite. The sites are configured so that two RVs sit utility side to utility side. We share the electrical pedestal and water connection and each have a separate sewer fitting. The upside of this is a larger "front" yard with grass and a picnic table. The downside is that our slide and the slide of our neighbor are just a few feet apart. Our elevation has decreased some more to just under 1,000 feet. We can breathe again.
On Tuesday we picked up a rental car and did some grocery shopping. Then we relaxed in camp until dinner. On Wednesday, June 28 we headed east on US 36 to Hamilton, MO. This is the home of the Missouri Star Quilt Company and the boyhood home of J. C. Penney. There are 12 quilt shops that are part of "Star", all on the main street of Hamilton. Each shop contains a different style of fabric: vintage, seasonal, batiks, etc. One of the shops is in the location of the first J. C. Penney department store. We spent about 5 hours walking through the shops and looking for fabric for a quilting project Em is going to do where we get home.
Thursday will be another "in camp" day - we need to do some housekeeping and prepare for the next phase of our adventure. On Friday, we head back into Kansas to visit El's sister and her husband. We'll be there through July 4.
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