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First posted Jun 1, 2010
Last update Mar 15, 2015
2010
May 2010 June July 2010
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2010 June
View entire year's route With Google Earth 588K
View year's Camps With Google Earth 106K
Route 81K with Google Earth     Galleries
Tuesday, June 1 Todays route using Google Earth
Big Brutus Campground   West Mineral, KS Locate this campground with Google Earth $15.00 per night
We are camped next to the second largest electric shovel ever built. Big Brutus is now a museum dedicated to the mining industry. The shovel towers 160 feet and its dipper can hold 190 tons of dirt and rock. Check this gallery page for photos and a description of this massive machine.
Wednesday, June 2 Todays route using Google Earth
Prairie Band Casino and Resort   Mayetta, KS Locate this campground with Google Earth $15.75 per night
We're back in this campground for a third time. We were here on July 4, 2008, and again on August 9, 2009. On the way we passed through Kansas farm and cattle country. Everything is lush and green from all the recent rains.  After we set up the trailer, we drove to a nearby hardware store and then a grocery store.

Thursday, June 3
Today Frank worked on the computer, while Tom did laundry. Frank also ordered meds from Walgreens. We went to dinner at the Casino's Buffet.

Friday, June 4
Tom started the day by faxing informtion to the IRS that they requested for taxes in 2009. The Casino did the faxing for free. Frank continued working on computer issues. Dinner was the Seafood Buffet, which was quite extensive.

Saturday, June 5
Days here have been very warm, like in the mid-90's. So prior to breakfast Tom washed the truck, then came in for breakfast. We drove south into Topeka to a Verizon store and bought a new modem, as the older one was broken. Then off to Walgreen's to pick up meds, then a grocery store which is a spin off of Kroger. Tom did more laundry. Interesting that next to us at the base of the water faucet of the next site is a Mother Killdeer sitting on her four eggs. She has been sitting on the eggs, which are beige and brown, the same color as the stones, since we got here. If we approach too closely, the Father Killdeer comes by and yells at us while pretending to have a broken wing. He is trying to lure us away from the nest.

Sunday, June 6 Todays route using Google Earth
Oak Grove KOA   Oak Grove, MO Locate this campground with Google Earth $28.80 per night
Today we watched two small birds who had emerged from their eggs during the night, as if they were saying ...watch me, I am one day old and I can walk...Imagine their surprise when they find out they can also fly!!!   We are heading east now for the rodeo near St. Louis. Along the way we stopped to change drivers and saw an interesting set of buildings used as a rental facility for parties.  
Monday, June 7 Todays route using Google Earth
Cottonwoods RV Park   Columbia, MO Locate this campground with Google Earth $29.00 per night
Very well maintained campground but sites a bit too close. We had some difficulty getting into our site due to a tree. Another tree on the other side of the trailer has a robin's nest right outside our dining room window. It's that time of the year.  
Tuesday, June 8 Todays route using Google Earth
St. Louis West KOA   Eureka, MO Locate this campground with Google Earth $42.07 per night
Today's ride was difficult with rain and heavy gusty winds all the way. We will stay here for the next 3 nights while touring the area and Frank gets another refill on meds. Later in the evening strong thunderstorms and heavy rain came through the area.

Wednesday, June 9
Today was a work day at the trailer. Frank worked on computer files, while Tom did laundry. We also visited Whole Foods which is about 25 miles from the campground. We have not been in a Whole foods store in over a month and really miss their selections and fine quality. Expensive, but good.

Thursday, June 10
Today we drove further in St Louis and spend about four hours at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. What a magnificent place. Garden founder Henry Shaw W came to St. Louis in 1819 to open a business selling hardware and cutlery. As St. Louis flourished, Shaw's business expanded to include investments in agricultural commodities, mining, real estate, and furs. Shaw's business success provided him with a substantial fortune and allowed him to retire in 1840 at the age of 39. During the next decade he continued buying property. His eventual holdings of about 1,000 acres included the land he had seen his first year in St. Louis. By the 1850s Shaw had resolved to spend the remainder of his life in acts of philanthropy and began to provide a great deal of support to develop many St. Louis cultural and social institutions. Shaw also had a strong interest in botany and gardening,. He decided to give the people of St. Louis a garden like the great gardens and estates of Europe. Shortly after 1851 Shaw began development of a ten-acre site near his country home. He eventually created a beautiful garden of approximately 70 acres which he gave to the state of Missouri.  

Friday, June 11 Todays route using Google Earth
Scott AFB Fam Camp   Scott Air force Base, IL Locate this campground with Google Earth $15.00 per night
Today we moved across the Mississippi River, east of St Louis, to Scott Air Force Base. This weekend we will attend the St Louis Rodeo which is about 16 miles away from the campground we are in. What a treat today. We finally got to meet Blythe and Niven who also own an Ameri-CAmp fifth wheel. Bylthe was the Ameri-Camp Family webmaster until Frank took over the site last year. They came over to our site and we traded ideas and remedies on how each of us have modified our trailers to our likes by making the trailer move liveable. It was a very good visit.

Saturday, June 12
We began today with a trip to the BX and Commissary. The rodeo started at 3:00 pm so we headed over around 2:00. It was hot and humid all day. Around 5:00 the storm hit with nearby lightning and heavy rains. They postponed the rodeo twice while waiting for the lightning to pass. During the second episode, the rains came down in sheets and flooded the arena turning it into a quagmire. Some of the tents that were setup for fans to have lunch and dance under, flooded with about 1 to 2 inches of water. Here are a couple of photos of the rain. By 5:30 they officially canceled the rest of the rodeo for today.  

Sunday, June 13
Due to yesterday's cancellation they started the rodeo at 10:00 rather than noon as had been planed. Of the events that were canceled yesterday, they ran both Saturday and Sunday's heat's today to allow contestants to cover all the events. The weather was even hotter and more humid than yesterday and the heat index over 100 took its toll on the contestants as well as the small croud of dedicated fans who showed up today. Sunday's rodeos usually have fewer folks show up than Saturday but this croud was unusually small. Much of the difficulty, and sometimes humor, was due to the extremely muddy conditions in the arena. It was a very difficult competition and some of the contestants even lost their boots in the mud.   Check out the main gallery for more rodeo photos and the mud of Sunday.  

Monday, June 14 Todays route using Google Earth
Terre Haute KOA   Terre Haute, IN Locate this campground with Google Earth $42.58 per night
We are starting our trek home and expect to get there Friday or Saturday mid day. After setting up camp we drove down the road a few miles to a car wash to clean the mud from the rodeo off the truck. We then got fuel and later Tom did laundry again, we needed it because we went through so many sets of clothes over the weekend. It was so hot and humid, and with the mud and sweat we switched clothes more often than normal. We have now passed into Eastern time and we had a bunch of heavy rain and severe thunder storms come through about 7:30.
Tuesday, June 15 Todays route using Google Earth
Dayton Tall Timbers KOA   Brookville, OH Locate this campground with Google Earth $47.17 per night
Today we continued our trek east toward home. Bev, who is watching our home, was at the house today lowering the thermostat, and plugging in water beds and refrigerator. We are at a "5-Star" KOA and it is a very well kept campground. Tomorrow we head further east.
Wednesday, June 16 Todays route using Google Earth
Spring Valley Campground   Cambridge, OH Locate this campground with Google Earth $31.00 per night
We are moving along and are in Eastern Ohio. Tomorrow we will be in Winchester VA again. The oppressive heat and humidity of the last week have eased. The air is much dryer and the tempeture is now in the upper 70's. This is a prety nice campground, especially toward the rear where they have permanent and seasonal sites. Usually seasonal areas are not as nice. The internet is not very good though, about the same as our Verizon account. Tom paid an extra $2 for cable.
Thursday, June 17 Todays route using Google Earth
Candy Hill Campground   Winchester, VA Locate this campground with Google Earth $ per night
We pushed today and put on 317 miles. We are only about 80 miles from home but needed to stop in a campground with sewer hookup so we can clean out our sewer holding tanks. The weather is very nice but a bit windy. At least for most of today's ride the wind was directly behind us. Technically this is the last day of our current vacation. Tomorrow we will be home. I will make one last update tomorrow evening and that will be it for this trip.
Friday, June 18 Todays route using Google Earth
Home   Clifton, VA Locate this campground with Google Earth $0.00 per night
We are home after almost 6 months. The house is a bit dirty and dusty and the F150 and Honda are covered with dirt and leaves but everything else is fine. We will be home for about 6 weeks and will take off again around the second or third week in August. Until then, happy trails.