Just a quick post of random thoughts about a week in the Caravel. Each leg of the trip is a different color on the map.
First night was at Prairie Dog State Park in Kansas. Very nice RV hookups (power and water, but you could only dump on exit) and a big lake. $18
Second night(s) was at the Offutt AFB FamCamp. For all you military and military retirees, it is excellent and the staff is very helpful. $15 or $16
Third stop was a mouthfull--Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park on Rend Lake (south of intersection of I-57 and I-64) in Illinois. Huge Lake, nicely cleared RV area, lots of turkeys. Camp hosts close at 8 PM and other campers said they don't open until noon-ish. No self-registration kiosk, either. Our stop was brief, didn't hook up, but I think each site had only water and power, no dump.
Then after some great days at a friend's in Tennessee, we're off again. This stop was at the BoomTown RV park on I-55 in Missouri, convenient and all the amenities for only $12.
The next stop, Ft Dodge Kansas, was the most interesting. A small state facility for veterans, very quaint and several things to see, including Custer's house. You only need to be a veteran to stay there. If you arrive late, the roving security guard will find the key to the power boxes and water (and there's a dump at each site). Only three sites--$10.
Getting back to Colorado was a grind. We didn't hit any of the real severe weather, but the high winds limited speed to 50-55 and ate up fuel. I was surprised that I didn't see any semi trucks blown over.
One objective on the road back from Tenn was to get on the back roads and off the interstate (to look for orphan Airstreams, what else?). What a surprise--more than half of US-60, as well as the rest of the route back, was either 4-lane divided or two lanes that looked like one side of an interstate, but not much traffic. Seems like way too much highway for the traffic. What's going on?
In Kentucky there was an unbelievable expanse of woods, few people or towns, and sometimes 15 miles between exits--what a surprise! Beautiful, but wholely unexpected. My one question from Kentucky was "how do the gas stations get away with not posting their prices?" If they were posted, they were often obscured. Very irritating. Noticeably different than any other state I've been in.
As for Airstreams, we saw only four. One in Kentucky, two parked together at one house in Missouri, and one in Kansas. Granted, the woods kept visibility to a minimum, but I was still shocked at how few there were.
Greensburg, Kansas. What can be said? We came upon this devastation at dusk and suddenly realized that the entire town was destroyed. Not just a narrow tornado strip, but the whole town. The trees were the first indication--huge trunks with no branches, yet many small sprouting twigs. Suddenly you realize that you're not at the single stoplight in a two gas station pit stop, but that you're sitting in the middle of what was once a small city. Taking a few minutes to get off the highway and drive a few of the side streets only increases the impact. The debris and foundations have all been removed and some rebuilding is taking place. All I can say is that what you see is breathtaking and thought provoking. It was too dark for photos, but here's one from the web...
Happier travels, Zep