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.

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:

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. 🙂