WE HOPE IT’S GOOD NEWS, KAREN! THINKING OF YOU.
Day 70 – We have a little shorter drive today, so we didn’t rush to get out early. We departed Reelfoot Lake at 10:30 a.m. It was 52 degrees & sunny, a beautiful day. A crop duster was flying over the farmlands. There was a flood warning for the next six days at the northwest part of the Lake, near where we were camping. The girls were not thrilled to be travelling; they whined a bit, then settled down.
135 miles, (3:25), 36260-36395
The campground was on the extreme northwestern corner of TN. Just a few blocks north of us was the Kentucky border, and to the west of us in the middle of the Mississippi River was the Missouri border. There was plenty of flooding of farmlands between the campground and the western side of the River. As we traveled further west into MO, away from the River, we saw the first dry land we’d seen in awhile. This part of Missouri was flat, lots of farms, some very small towns. We headed north, continuing on country roads, avoiding the interstate, stopping for gas, in a town called Qulin. We stopped a little later in a fairly large city, Poplar Bluffs, for lunch in their Walmart parking lot. Hey, a big city. (YAAA – a place to do laundry and shop at a health store at some other time.)
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
Continuing north, it became much hillier as we entered the Ozarks and drove through part of the Mark Twain National Forest. Lovely countryside! We knew we were getting closer to the campground at the State Park.
Heading into the Ozarks on I-67, MO
MO-172 heading toward Wappapello Lake State Park, Wappapello, MO
We arrived at Lake Wappapello State Park at 1:55 p.m. It was 68 degrees & sunny. It’s off-season here & the campsites at Ridge Campground are first come/first served. The Asher Creek Campground is closed until April, and the reservations system doesn’t activate until April 1. Since it’s off-season & there’s hardly anyone here; we were told to pick a campsite, go to the kiosk, fill out the envelope, submit payment, and that’s it. We drove through the Ridge Campground which sits high on a hill above Lake Wappapello and chose campsite #41, an excellent site. We’ve been to this campground twice before; this is the campsite we had last time. We really like this Park (which is why we keep returning), and although it is a decent drive to Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, that NWR is one of our favorites. This is the main reason we come here. We do hope, however, that it isn’t closed due to flooding. We’ll find out tomorrow.
We went through the camp set-up procedures & the kitties were oh-so-happy to be done traveling. When we arrive at a new campsite, there’s a specific behavior the girls have been exhibiting: We release the girls from their bedroom/traveling place & give them food & water. I stay inside the RV & unpack the inside; Rob goes outside & deals with making sure we are all set up with electricity, water, and sewer, if applicable, plus the positioning & leveling of the RV & the car. So lately, the girls have all huddled at the RV door’s steps and hollered at the top of their lungs – where’s daddy, etc. Like what am I, chopped liver? I am right here. LOL. I’ve been wanting to get a pictures of this. Everytime he passes by the RV’s door, he has to comfort them. He comes inside when he’s finished outside and has to reassure everyone. Gag me. LOL.
Where’s our Daddy!
Daddy! Come back!
Don’t worry! I won’t leave you!
After we set up, we went out to the chairs which were overlooking the Lake far below through the woods. We didn’t set up the screened tent because there didn’t seem to be any biting bugs out yet. We were surprised that there was relatively little greenery, if any. Spring is certainly not here yet. (But, positively, you can see the Lake better that way.) NOT positively though, we had forgotten that “Missouri is the TICK capitol of the world”, or so we’d been told. We won’t disagree with that statement. On previous visits to this State, we’d both discovered ticks on us. At various campgrounds in very different locations in the State. We were rudely reminded when sitting in our chairs for only maybe 15-20 minutes, the first ticks were discovered, on Rob and on me. ICK. ICK. ICK. Anyway, we went inside & had our beer & wine inside. The high today was 72 degrees, sunny, with a little breeze. That part was perfect.
The kitties at the door is a precious picture!!