West Virginia, Day One

Our two night stay in Salt Lick has become one of the highlights of our trip this year! Outpost Campground was quiet, well kept, and we could toss a ball for Sasha from a chair outside our motorhome! A great place that shows the owners have a desire to constantly improve and impress.

However, duty calls, and we headed into West Virginia on Thursday, the 20th of May. 

After stopping for a fuel topoff in Nitro, West Virginia, we headed south to Princeton, WV, a total of 217 miles. Interstate 77 is a tough road to drive, constantly climbing out of the “hollers” or diving into one. Turns are constant and the road surface is awful. Add to that the tolls every twenty miles (it cost us twenty bucks to drive 60 miles) and you can see why we were happy to pull into Brush Creek Falls RV Resort. 

The park is set nine miles from the interstate on a narrow country road that has signs reading “may not be appropriate for large trucks” and “road ends 2 miles”. At mile 1.9, the park entrance appears and we bailed off a hill down into the park. Turns out the entrance road parallels the interstate and we’re only 100 yards away from it! The park is awkwardly laid out with narrow roads and close together sites, but is set in a nicely wooded area.

We had plans to meet friends in Princeton, but rv issues have prevented them from traveling. They are from this area, had family here, and have firsthand experience in the heart of the West Virginia coal mining area, and were going to give us a tour of an area and an industry that has fallen on extremely hard times. In lieu of a guided tour, they have provided us with a couple of day trips to take so we’ll start our virtual tour tomorrow.

Salt Lick, Kentucky

Leaving Grayville in rain slowed us up a bit as we approached Louisville on I 64 from the west. We stopped for fuel in Haubstadt, IL, because we weren't sure about the availability of diesel as we went farther east. The Pilot station was one of the easiest we've encountered to get into and out of, and the price wasn't the worst we've seen at $3.31 a gallon. The rain stopped as we approached Louisville and the weather was cloudy but nice all the way through Lexington and on to Salt Lick, just east of Owingsville, KY, on the Licking River, where we're camped in Outpost Campground on Cave Run Lake Rd. Site 17 is perfect!

Our GPS threw us a curve and sent us off the interstate onto US60. This 9 mile long two lane country road is a great road, if a bit crooked, but seems to have a large number of drivers wanting to exceed the speed limit by 15 or 20 miles an hour. We spent a good deal of our time pulling off the road to let other drivers pass. Should you ever come this way, exit 133 on I 64, Kentucky 801 south, is the way to get to Outpost Campground.

So, 260 miles later, we've settled in for two days.

We're one of only two transient rv's in the park. There are a couple of dozen rv's scattered about that appear to be weekend retreats, so we've enjoyed the casual tranquility of the park. The weather is great, the grass is green, and Sasha has her ball.

After a good nights sleep (we lost another hour to the eastern time zone yesterday), Wednesday showed up with a bright, clear sky, so we had to take advantage!

Cave Run Lake is an 8,300 acre lake in the northern part of the Daniel Boone National Forest, and along with controlling the waters of the Licking River, supplies water to the area's communities. It is also a huge recreation area, with boating and fishing the most obvious pastimes. The lake supports Crappie, Bluegill, Large Mouth Bass and Muskie, and is home to a dozen or more marinas. The extreme length of the lake allows over-the-top boating in the larger areas and good fishing in the various arms and inlets. Our favorite photo of the lake was this one of a quiet inlet.

As we headed south, around the lake towards Frenchburg, we encountered some of Kentucky's famous limestone.

Along with a view from a roadside rest that provides a hint of how dense these hardwood forests are. It must be beautiful around here in the fall!

As we looped back east on US460, we came across Broke Leg Falls. The origin of the name may be obvious but is undocumented, but the one thing that is know about the falls is that in 2012 a tornado came through the area, destroying viewing areas and trees. Large trees were snapped like twigs.

The Iris flowers apparently thrive in this area, as there are hundreds of plants in full bloom!

The conifers in the forest are also "in full bloom", with new growth everywhere.

Stepping down the path to the falls, we soon saw remnants of the tornado damage.

And the trickle of water heading for the edge...

Around the bend, we finally saw the falls. The first photo shows the entire length of the falls, but the second photo is my favorite!

Heading home through Mariba, Wellington, and Korea, we stopped just south of the new highway round-a-bout in Morehead for an early dinner/late lunch. After all, we had driven 87 miles and were getting hungry! Pop's Southern Style BBQ fit the bill very nicely!

A meal of brisket, Kentucky Wonder green beans, smoked sweet potato, and grilled shrimp took care of one half of the crowd.

And a brisket Reuben with cheesy potatoes handled the rest. The cheesy potato dish is a smoked potato roughly mashed and mixed with cheese! Unfortunately, they were out of their famous baby back ribs, so we had to make do.....!

Sweet southern iced tea finished up the meal. Great stuff!

Off to more adventures tomorrow!

St Peters, MO, to Grayville, IL.

We left St Peters, MO, in a midwestern thunderstorm. We had already enjoyed a heavy thunderstorm last night about 10 pm. We've seen these before, but it never fails to amaze a West Coast resident how so much water can fall from the sky in such a short time! Each of these storms dropped between 1 and 2 inches of rain in 20 minutes or so! Last night we sat by the windows and watched the sheets of rain dance across the streets. At one point, small hail began to fall and we wondered what we would do if the skylights were broken. The local news told us that there had been a "little rain, and thunder, but not anything unusual for this time of year"! We are extremely thankful, however, that we escaped with only some rain, since the local weather is predicting a very active weather week ahead throughout Kansas and Missouri.

Our two nights at 370 Lakeside Park in St Peters, MO, was very enjoyable. Coffee on the patio allowed us to watch a field of wild grasses being disced with some of the huge equipment in use in the midwest.

In the early afternoon we walked a bit on the bike/walking path around the lake/pond with Sasha. The entire path is about 9 miles long, with a short cutoff of 4.2 miles. We had plans to do the short version, but rain forced us to return to the motorhome at about the halfway point. We were all soaked when we got back! Sasha was so tired that she went to bed and slept until late in the evening!

Leaving St Peters late (checkout time wasn't until noon), we decided to avoid St. Louis by going to the north on M370 until we got to I 270. That took us across the Mississippi near Chain of Rocks Bridge and on to I 255 south. Eventually we turned east on I 64 and just after passing Burnt Prairie, Illinois, we turned off at the Grayville, IL exit, 160 miles east. Yeah, the only one. A thriving town of 1,700, Grayville is home to Davina's Country Kitchen, Hucks Food and Fuel, and The Palace of Seth (so labeled anyway, and apparently a private residence). Who knew?

A new KOA is located just north of I 64 on the way to town, so we pulled in for a nights rest.

There is a nature trail around the large rv park, so we took off with Sasha to see what it was all about. Dozens of rabbits and remnants of Coyote poop interested Sasha a great deal!

The sides of the trail are thick underbrush along with lovely flowering bushes.

It has started raining again, so the window shades are closed, the tv is on, and dinner is started! What more could we ask for?

Salina, Kansas to Odessa, Missouri, then on to St Peters, Missouri

Just an overnighter in Odessa, but 207 miles closer to our destination. We left Salina wishing that we had booked one more day there. We ran out of time to visit a museum dedicated to the Orphan Trains of the turn of the century. Fifty three miles due north of Salina is the town of Concordia and the National Orphan Train Complex. Between 1854 and 1929, some 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, and homeless children were placed throughout the United States and Canada from crowded Eastern cities of the US. Books have been written and the movement studied to a great degree, and for the most part, the goal of placing children in good foster homes was accomplished, but horror stories persist. In any case, we were close, but didn't get a chance to visit the complex dedicated to these children.

So, here we are in Owl Creek Market and RV Park, site 51,71. The trip through Kansas City was reasonable, as long as we paid attention to the signage. At one point I 70 east was reduced to one lane (by design) so traffic was a bit jammed up. With off ramps and side roads shooting off in all directions, we needed our A game!

They assigned us two sites due to our length, The park is under construction, with more sites being added and the existing sites are being improved with concrete pads to park on and improved utilities. Additionally, the name is being changed to Country Gardens Market and RV Park. The market at the entrance is full of country style goodies, cheeses, jams and jellies, as well as a selection of clothing items and souvenirs. It's a nice, upscale store and the staff is very friendly.

We had planned on leftovers for dinner, but a local restaurant was recommended, so we had to try it. Located on Old Highway 40, T and T's Good Farm Cooking serves an extensive menu of "good home cookin'" Donna enjoyed a Catfish filet dinner and I chose the Chicken Fried Chicken. Both came with side dishes. We both ordered a smoked potato when we discovered that it's a potato baked in the same smoker used to slow roast Tri Tip and pork shoulder! It was delicious! Perfectly baked and with a smokey flavor, it was a specialty item that we've not encountered before.

A good night's sleep is anticipated, and then it's back on the road tomorrow.

It's tomorrow already. Fast, wasn't it?

192 miles of Interstate 70 got us to the St Louis suburb of St Peters. Even though we're 30-some miles west of the city, we feel like we're right in the middle of it!

St Peters has developed some land north of town for a park. A fairly large lake, event center, and an rv park are located there. Nicely landscaped and well maintained, it's a great place to spend a couple of nights.

Site 422 was assigned to us, and it's lovely. Near grass and a 4.2 mile path around the lake, Sasha should be happy, and that's all that matters, yes?

Sasha and I did about a mile on the path this evening, and she met some friends along the way. Many locals come out for a bit of exercise after a long day. 

We're here for two nights, getting up the courage to attack St Louis! A ride around town this evening didn't show us much except for thousands of homes, the usual retail establishments along with some local stores, and hundreds of new housing units being developed south of town. This truly is a growing area.

The weather has been wet most of the day today, and thunderstorms and rain are in the forecast for tomorrow. We may just stay in and relax.

Next stop: Illinois.

A Pair to Draw To

 Evidently we have not had enough of driving lately, so we set out this morning to see a couple of local attractions.

Sixty two miles northwest of Salina, we checked out the Worlds Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Kansas. 

In 1953, Frank Stoeber stumbled over some loose twine and gathered it up to burn. Twine is a useful commodity on the prairie, so Frank changed his mind and wound it up, starting a ball. OCD Frank has a ball 7' 5" in diameter by 1956, weighing 1,035 pounds. In 1961, Cawker City celebrated its centennial and Franks' Ball is brought to town for the parade. It's left on display next to the post office for the year. In 1973, The Guinness Book of World Records awards Franks Ball the title of Worlds Largest. 

Immediately, the Wall Street Journal wrote a scathing article about Kansas tourism and singled out Franks Ball for particular ridicule. Unfortunately for WSJ, the article sparked more interest in the ball and tourism in Cawker City increased dramatically. In 1978, Francis Johnson of Darwin, Minnesota contested the title of World's Largest Ball of Twine and wins. By 1982, an annual "Twine-a-thon" had increased the size of the ball to 40' 3"and it regained the title of World's Largest.

Across the street from The World's Largest Ball of Twine is a cool old gas station, now used as the entrance to a motel!

A bit west got us to the hamlet of Downs, where we turned south on Kansas 181, to see some of the most beautiful prairie we've yet seen.

As we stopped beside the road to soak in the complete silence (except for the chirping of the red-winged blackbirds), we noticed a slowly building rumbling kind of noise.

With a wave as he passed, the operator zoomed by us!

We stopped for a quick lunch at a roadside rest area showcasing the limestone double arch bridge at Spillman Creek.

The bridge was constructed in 1908 of quarried limestone from the area. The south arch is 20 feet in diameter and the north arch is 24 feet in diameter. In 1993, the state moved the roadway to the west to remove sharp curves. It was in daily use until that time, a testament to it's construction.

In Wilson, the Czech Capital of Kansas, we pulled up in front of The World's Largest Czech Egg! Czech eggs are painted or embellished and exchanged at holidays or Easter as a symbol of good things to come, friendship, and love. 

Wilson's Czech culture began in 1874, when it's first Czech settler arrived. Thousands of his kinsmen and women had already settled in the plains, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and Francis J. Swehia used Czech newspapers across the us to spread word of a "Czech Settlement" offering cheap land, rich soil, access to water, and building stone. Wilson is in Rock County, and the ready supply of limestone was used in many of Wilson's buildings. The sod houses first used by new arrivals soon gave way to stone houses.

Smaller decorated eggs are scattered around downtown. We found several.

One of the downtown limestone building has not successfully stood the test of time....

Wilson has a large cemetery that has not been in use for a long time, but has many elaborate monuments to Czech immigrants. Out of respect we did not photograph them, but this memorial to Civil War casualties was so well done, we had to get a photo.

On the way back to the motorhome, we remembered that a friend had asked us to stop at Jenni's Liquor in Brookville, KS. The attraction is the wall branded by local ranchers and signed by most of the store's customers"s.

Back at camp, 227 miles later, we settled in for a comfortable evening. The Salina KOA is a nice enough rv park, with many trees that would be welcome in the hot Kansas summer. Kinda shaky for the satellite antenna, though. We've had a bird friend that seems to think that his/her reflection in the chrome motorhome step is a lifelong companion. There is a bit of mess to attest to that!

So I guess we took a draw and came up three of a kind. Nice day!