Day 217 – We were up and on the road at 10 a.m. this morning after dumping tanks. It was 41 degrees, cloudy, with some wind. We don’t really have a definite plan as to when we’ll stop & where we’ll spend the night. We just entered Elkhart, Indiana in the GPS & headed out, figuring we’d stop when we were tired of driving.
251 miles
Lake Wappapello State Park: Asher Creek Campground and the Ridge Campground, Route 2 Box 102, Williamsville, MO 63067, (573) 297-3232, www.corpslakes.us.com. This was our second separate visit here during Trip #3. Rather than just referring back to our first review, we are doing a second review also because most campsites were closed last time. There are two campgrounds within the State Park, one perched on the mountain ridge overlooking the Lake (Ridge Campground) & the second one nestled right on the Lake (Asher Creek Campground). Part of the Ridge Campground is open all year; the rest of the Ridge and all of Asher Creek open early April & close the end of October. The State Park is very large and it’s spread out. The roads throughout the Park are paved and would be great for bike riding, there are boat launches within the Park, and there are hiking trails. Really, really nice. It is 30 minutes from Mingo National Wildlife Refuge. The Park is, however, isolated and because it’s fairly far from any towns, some people might find it inconvenient for shopping or golfing or other activities. We found it to be perfect for peace, quiet, & beauty. A $2 per night discount for seniors or the disabled is offered on all sites within the Park. No taxes are charged.
Asher Creek Campground. The Lake campground had 26 campsites on one loop with 7 of those sites on the water. There was a boat launch, a dump station, & water spigots were available in the campground. Some sites were reservable & some were first-come, first-served. Most sites had okay space between them and a few of them were relatively private, but it wasn’t a really large area in total. The campground was surrounded by trees, but there weren’t many in the camping area itself. Three sites had no electricity; the rest offered electric hook-ups, some 50 AMP & some 30 AMP. Because of the location on the Lake & the popularity with boaters, fees were higher than at The Ridge, running from $10 to $15 per night for no hook-ups to $17 to $24 per night for Premium Electric (50 AMP). We first drove thru this campground to check it out since it was closed the last time we were here. Even though it was on the Lake, we much preferred the quiet Ridge Campground and picked a site there again for this visit.
Ridge Campground. We chose site #41. This part of the campground was not open when we were here before. We would definitely stay in this campsite again as our first choice if this loop was open. If you head in to this site (not back in), you literally feel you are the only one on this ridge overlooping the Lake. (Other sites may feel like this, too, but we loved this one.) Most of the 54 campsites at the Ridge Campground have “patios or decks” with a picnic table, fire ring or bar-b-que, and plenty of space for a screened tent or several chairs to overlook the Lake. This is in addition to decent-sized site pads for campers or RV’s and tow cars. They are located on top of a ridge of forested land. The trees down the hill between you and the Lake are beautiful and dense – both times we were there when no leaves were on the trees. You probably could barely see the Lake when there are leaves. There were plenty of water spigots available and all campsites included electric hook-ups, some 50 AMP & some 30 AMP. There was a dump station. There were some pull-through sites, a few cabins, and some handicapped sites, a showerhouse, restrooms, and a small playground. Sites were in three loops and some were private while others were designed as family campsites with double sites, tables, etc. Fees ranged from $10 per night off-season 30 AMP to $20 per night for holiday weekend double family electric sites in-season. We paid $14 per night for 50 AMP electric in-season minus $2 senior discount – amazing. Some campsites are reservable; the rest are first-come, first-served.
We will definitely stay here again.
We drove east from the campground on Route 60, eventually crossing the Mississippi River once again and this time entering Illinois. We’ve gotten a lot of respect for the Mississippi. After criss-crossing this very long, huge, and muddy River many times in many States, we’ve come to realize just how mighty Old Man River really is. And once again, the land around the River was flooded. The terrain was mainly flat farmlands until further north on Route 57 in IL when it became hillier. We stopped several times briefly for gas, lunch, rest stop break, and the weigh station. We passed the test this time; Rob’s redistribution of the weight of storage from back to front was successful. We’ll keep a better eye on this in the future. The high was a whopping 45 degrees and it rained a little and was windy. At one point a large adult Bald Eagle swooped down from the sky onto the opposite-facing lane of the highway, picked up its raccoon-sized prey in its talons, and flew off. Of course, I didn’t have the camera ready.
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We found a campground near Effingham, IL and stopped there for the night. Tired of driving, our minds boggled, we arrived after 3 p.m., got a site (luckily, because they were almost full) and were unpacked by 4:00. We were assigned site #2 at the end of a row, so one side of us had no one camping, and it was overlooking a lake – darnit. It had reached 33 degrees by 5:30; gonna be a cold one tonight. End of Week 31, Trip #3.
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