It was a fairly mellow morning in Council Bluffs with a 10AM departure because I was out late with reader P.J. and her husband who treated me to pie. It was so nice to have a social engagement in a place I never pictured myself visiting!
Just before leaving Iowa, I saw something I wish I could have photographed. It was a billboard advertisement for a nearby pharmacy called… Stoner Drug. I kid you not. Thankfully, someone else caught a picture of the storefront.
The first milestone of the day was crossing the Missouri state line:
I was due for fuel and my GPS told me there was a truck stop in Rock Port, so I decided to head for there. Fueling is one of the nastiest RVing chores; I’m always concerned about getting stuck at an RV unfriendly gas station and not being able to get turned around so I try to only go to ‘truck stops’ when coming off a major highway. Anyway, the Phillips 66 station was visible from the off ramp including its “RV lane that way” sign and a nice clear area where I could park after fueling to use the bathroom. I pulled in beside the pump, put in my credit card, and started fueling. A few gallons in, I noticed a man circling around the rig taking notes.
“Excuse me, sir, is there a problem?”
“No, ma’am, just getting your information.”
“Uh, for what purpose?”
“In case you drive off without paying. You RVers do that a lot.”
Let me pause here to have a word with ‘you RVers who [drive off without paying for gas and otherwise do bad things]’: QUIT MAKING US LOOK BAD. PEOPLE DISLIKE RVERS ENOUGH AS IT IS!!! You keep doing that and there will come a day there won’t be room for naughty men like us to slip about at all!!!
Little did I know that this exchange would set the tone for the day.
I stopped for lunch shortly thereafter.
pastoral Missouri, as seen from the first rest area on I29 southbound out of Iowa
Like the day before, no ‘camping’ at rest areas:
I took about 40 minutes for lunch. When I came out of the rig to do one final check before driving off, a guy doing clean up on the site came to remind me that there is no camping allowed at the rest area. “I just stopped for lunch.” “Well, you’ve been here a long time!” SERIOUSLY?!
Nice rest area, though:
I pushed on south, not realising just how far south I had gone:
next exit for Amazonia
Getting around Kansas City had concerned me, but it was very easy, following I435 to meet up with I70 eastbound. It required my undivided attention, but was not harrowing in the least.
I crossed the Missouri River and passed yet another fireworks place, making me wonder what the heck is up with Missourians and fireworks?!
I pulled into another rest area and got a picture of something on which I need my readers’ opinion. What would you think of my painting Miranda my favourite colour?
Lovely rest area, by the way, right about at Higginsville:
Love the architecture of the building:
And the snazzy handwashing station:
Much as I love the prairies, I have to confess to missing rolling hills of green trees (pardon the state of my windshield):
The plan was to stop sometime after Kansas City. As it turns out Missouri is an RV unfriendly state and everywhere states no overnight RV parking! By the time I got to Columbia, I’d had enough of being honked at for going 65 in a 70 zone, being cut off by folks merging onto the highway and immediately slamming on the brakes so that I would have to slam on mine (and be honked at by the guy behind me driving way too close), driving to a Walmart where I’d been told over the phone that parking was okay only to be turned down in person. The ‘No overnight RV parking, as per Columbia ordinance bla bla bla, violators will be prosecuted’ sign just about sent me over the edge. Prosecuted? Oh, lordy, what a miserable state! Do you honestly think you’re bringing more money into the economy that way? I would have probably spent $100 at Walmart tonight in Columbia on things I needed, but I would not pay $40 for hookups I did not need!
It was just past 4PM when I rolled out of Columbia and by this point I decided that another 200km wouldn’t kill me. So I drove all the way to Maryland Heights, within St. Louis proper, to stay at the Harrah’s Casino, where they were very happy to let me stay for a few nights. Not at all the day I’d planned, but this gives me extra time to do touristy stuff here and to possibly hit a few spots of interest in Kentucky. So hurray for Harrah’s. 🙂
I’ve always found the further east you get the less there is for RVers, although there are a lot of RV parks in the southeast. The west is definitely the most RV friendly, but then they do have more available space.
“Oh, lordy, what a miserable state!” Chuckle! That’s why folks from Kansas call it Misery instead of Missouri.
I knew that things would get tougher the further east I got, but I wasn’t expecting it this soon!
Judy, that’s hilarious!
“What would you think of my painting Miranda my favourite colour?”
If you are talking about the color on the 18 wheeler my vote is “NO”
Sorry, that does not look like a good RV color to me.
BTW, keep on truckin, you are making realy good time!
Gary, *pout*. But it’s my favourite colour! (In case the post isn’t clear, I wasn’t being serious, but I do love this colour and would like to eventually use it as an accent colour on Miranda). I didn’t mean to be making such good time, honest! 🙂
We’re very happy we were able to make connections with you for last night. It was a lot of fun and very informative for us. Now you can say “people recognize my rig by the curtains”. Better than the ORANGE rig.
I-29 and I-80 both are heavily traveled by snowbirds and vacationers. One would think rvers would have a better rep. Sorry!
Good traveling the rest of the way!
P.J., I didn’t comment on it last night, but I thought it was hilarious that the curtains are what convinced you you’d found Miranda! And I guess that’s another vote against orange for the rig. Darn!
Do you mean I-70? Because that’s the one I was on today. I-29 was fine, no nastiness there, but I-70 has thus far being a nightmare. 🙁
I can’t believe that, mileagewise, I’m more than halfway to Quebec and I’m less than 1,000 miles from my destination in Virginia!
I-80 goes east-west thru Iowa and Nebraska. You were on both I-80 and I-29 together for about 3 miles lasts night. There are ALOT of various rv going to showrooms and customers on I-80 from Indiana to point westward each day. Makes me drool.
Ah, I see. They’re just trying to confuse the tourists! No complaint about that stretch at all! Everything was fine until I headed east out of Kansas City. 🙂
As one who often has to figure out how to walk with a cane with wet hands to the dryer, I loved that wash/dry station!
I once painted one wall of a sitting room orange. I’m sure glad I only did the one wall, though–it was a bit much. It took a lot of gold and brown accents to help tone it down. 🙂
I’m thrilled you got through the south portion so quickly and are now headed east. No more tornado alley so we can all breathe again.
“In case you drive off without paying”? WTF? OK, first of all, what lame brained “RVer” (as that intellectually challenged individual put it) is going to try and drive off without paying….in an RV? It’s an RV! Hello? How far are they gonna get?
I think he was just being an ass. Gee, wouldn’t the “information” be on the credit card you just used?
And oh, I would have so much fun with anyone trying to tell me the rules in the middle of the day, when I’m obviously not CAMPING.
You have to slow….right…..down….and…..talk…..at …..their…..level……
“You took a long time”?
I think my head would explode.
Better yet, you could have just started speaking French to him. That would have been interesting.
Linda, my comment about the washing station might have sounded snarky, but it wasn’t meant to be so. I thought it was brilliant! As for tornado alley, I can breathe, too. 😀
Bob, what gets my goat is that he assumed I was going to run and didn’t take two seconds to see if I’d pre-authorized the pump with my credit card. As for speaking French, you’re hilarious! And I will admit to having used the ‘I barely speak English’ card (complete with heavy accent) when I’m doing something wrong and can’t figure out how to get out of the situation. It makes everyone more sympathetic. 🙂
Given that you cannot start pumping without either a) pre-paying inside or b) inserting your credit/debit card which pre-authorizes a certain amount, guaranteeing its payment, nobody, “RVer” or not, is gassing up and running. That fellow was getting the info for some other reason (or he is a moron).
Good luck with the rest of your eastward travel, Rae.
Ted, I have come across a lot of pumps that you can start without having them pre-authorized. It just depends on the state/province.
He did tear up whatever he was writing when I told him I’d pre-paid with the credit card.
We traveled on I-70 through Missouri last summer going home (eastward). We wanted to stop someplace and “be tourists” for one day, so as soon as we crossed the state line from Kansas, I looked for the usual “Welcome Center” that you find on EVERY SINGLE INTERSTATE as soon as you cross any state line. There was NO welcome center in Missouri! I didn’t even have a good state map, since we’d changed our route a few days earlier to take I-70. I didn’t have a AAA book with tourist sites. We couldn’t find anything for hours! Finally I found a map in another rest stop, but no other tourist info. Obviously Missouri doesn’t want people to stop there anyplace at ALL. Very tourist-unfriendly all around, evidently.
Fortunately I found a state park very near St. Louis (a beautiful campground, huge pads and lots of space, and I think only $20/night), and we stayed there. We had no tourist info, so went to the zoo. Found out later about the St. Louis City park, which sounds utterly fantastic! Maybe next time.
FWIW, btw, a lot of rest stops say “No Camping”, but we often spend the night. No one has ever knocked on our door or said anything to us. I think the signs are more to keep permanent squatters away than to chase out people who are just “napping”. Who is to say you can’t nap in your bed?
Rae, you wrote that you had put in your credit card before pumping and I don’t recall coming across any station that hasn’t made pre-pay mandatory if credit cards can be used at the pump. Why wouldn’t they, especially if, as the fellow stated, they had a problem with gas-‘n-run RVers?
The nearby Chevron here has no credit card slot at the pump (such a hick town!) and I can pay after. But that’s rare and getting rarer. Then again, I’m in the West. Maybe the Midwest really is different. It still doesn’t excuse such rudeness. 🙁
“I do love this colour and would like to eventually use it as an accent colour on Miranda”
As an accent color that could be cool, picking out the graphics would be tough, too many choices!
I am appalled at the horrible treatment you have encountered so far in Missouri. 🙁
Even in my tiny village, you cannot pump without paying. I’m sorry, but if that station allows that, then they’re shooting themselves in their own foot. Morons. I have no patience for them. Next time, remind them that you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.
BAH!
Debbie: I, too, was appalled by the lack of welcome centre. But they are finally building one!
Ted and Bast: I didn’t think the guy was that bad, but maybe I’m more forgiving than most. 🙂
Gary: I already have the designed sketched out for Miranda’s new graphics. Not sure if I will ever get to that point, but the seed is planted. 🙂