MN - IA (Spirit Lake), MO - Osage Beach, Kansas City, Lakes of the Ozarks!

Tuesday 9/29  we had just an overnight in MN – a short time, LOL, but really, I don’t think,  judging from our research, there is much to see/do there. We stayed in Oak Park Campground in Garfield, MN ($34 night for our RVing friends) and they are closing the park for the winter!  Today is the LAST day they’re accepting RVs in!  If we’d been going to the east side of the state, I’d have loved to have gone to the Mall of America again.  I remember some years ago, Earl had a conference in Minneapolis, and I spent 2-3 days in that mall!

Wednesday we drove through Minnesota, very pretty farmlands, very rural and peaceful looking.  We enjoyed NOT being on interstates at all, just driving the country roads, winding our way down to Iowa.  Who knew Iowa was so pretty?  Wow, we’re staying at Cenlas RV Park ($35 a night) in Spirit Lake, and it’s a lovely area!  We’re in the Okoboji area, which is Iowa’s #1 vacation destination.  Lots of beautiful lakes around here.  You’d think we were in Florida!  Lakes, marinas and golf courses all over the place! Really lovely area!  

I thought this was interesting. On the left side of the road was Minnesota, and the right side of the road was Iowa!

We explored most of the day Thursday, after eating breakfast at a recommended local place called the Family Diner.  I got the kid’s omelet and seriously, couldn’t eat it all!  I’ve never seen a restaurant serve such huge portions!  No wonder Americans struggle with weight issues!  Gracious!  The had THE most enormous cinnamon / caramel buns, and you should have seen their pies!  They must have been 6” high!  Crazy! We came home thinking we'd never be hungry for days, but surprisngly we got hungry late in the day and I made a new Cajun pasta recipe that was yummy!

Friday, we drove all over the place again, just enjoying the lakes and interesting to see people getting ready to shut down places. Our RV park is closing on the 15^th and they are hustling around getting trees trimmed, branches picked up, lawns mowed for the last time, etc.  We’re not used to this seasonal thing.  It has turned pretty chilly, but really beautiful still.  Definitely sweater/jean weather!  High of maybe 58-60 each day, and feels wonderful IF the wind is not blowing.  We decided yesterday afternoon to sit outside and read a bit, as the sun felt so wonderful and warm.  But then a breeze kicked up and whoa….. too cold for this Florida girl.  Back inside for me!  We did take a bike ride this afternoon, but it was so cold, we didn’t stay out too long.  Headed out tomorrow....just for an overnight in Harlan, IA, and then on to Kansas City, MO.

October 4^th – we drove to Oak Grove, MO, just outside Kansas City.  KC is strange in that it’s the only city I’ve ever heard of that is in two states.  Hmmmm I don’t know how many people have assumed we were in KS since I said we were going to Kansas City, but nope, we’re in MO.  It is quite chilly here today – 38 last night and highs in the 50’s today, but a warming trend is on the way!  Woo Hoo!  By Wednesday it will be high 70’s and that’s perfect for me!

Monday, the 5^th, we caught up on getting some supplies and doing our laundry – we did go out for lunch and ate at a wonderful BBQ place known for their ribs.  Pretty pricey but really good!  Fall off the bone tender – I just got the 3 rib plate and it was all I could eat – Earl had to eat my sides.  But yummy.  I had made some amazing Cajun pasta the other night, so we decided to just relax this afternoon and have leftovers for dinner.  Started the most amazing book (along with 2 other ones I’m reading) – this one we’re reading during our devotional times in the morning.  It’s The Apocalypse by Dr. Jim Richards.  WOW!!!!!  On the one hand, we want to just keep reading and reading, but on the other hand, we have chosen to just read one chapter a day as it is a LOT to digest!  We need time to process what we’re reading.  I’d encourage all of you to get it!!!!  It could be the most important book you’ve ever read (outside the Bible) to give you an understanding of what’s going on in our world today and what is to come!

Home of the Kansas City Royals....

Parked next door to us....hmmm he didn't offer to cook for us.  Shoot!

Tuesday, we had a relaxing morning, and then I went for my hair appt that I’d made last week when I’d been unable to get in “last minute” to any of the salons there, so I was excited to get highlights/low lights and a cut!  Whew, long overdue!  After Earl picked me up, we went shopping a bit, and then ate at the famous Stroud’s! My hairdresser told me about it, I’m surprised none of my friends who know this area have mentioned it.  The walls are LINED with famous people who have eaten there!  All kinds of people, ranging from Phyllis Diller, and other actors, John Boehner, other politicians and more sports stars than you can count!  They are famous for their “pan-fried chicken” so of course we had to get the most popular thing, and it was yummy!  I don’t get fried chicken real often, and this was very similar to what my grandmother used to make!  Stroud’s has been open since 1933!

 Wednesday – 10/7 was our big day to explore Kansas City!  Just driving in, it seemed like any other big city, and I didn’t feel real excited. But after taking the trolley tour through the city, I wish we were going to be here several more days!  What a city rich in history, some of it quite colorful!  From mafia and crime bosses, to stories of the Prohibition days and more.  Fascinating.  This is the headquarters for Hallmark and they have the largest Hallmark store I’ve ever seen!  We spent a couple of hours in Crown Center and then went on over to the Country Club Plaza which I liked even more!  We have a spell of very warm weather, it was about 80 today.  Everyone says it’s highly unusual and we told them it was because we came and God knows I like warmer weather.  Haha 

We picked up the Trolley at Union Station.  Talk about history!  If you can, blow up and read some of the info I posted.  Very interesting.  

This is what used to be the ticket counters, where you'd go order/pick up your train tickets.  Now it's an upscale restaurant.

This is the looooonnnng hallway, where each of the doors was the entry to a different destination for picking up your particular train.

I saw this in one of the gift shops in Union Station - it was SO cute!  A take off on "Good Night Moon" book, but talk about being indicative of our times....wow.

Scenes from downtown Kansas City....

Kansas City is CRAZY about their Royals! Also known as the "City of Fountains" ....during the season they have ALL their fountains filled with BLUE water for the Kansas City Royals.  Really cool!

This is the World War I Memorial. 

We had a yummy dinner at Chuy's and this is the view from the balcony where we ate.

  

Thursday 10-8 – Today is our favorite son-in-law, Mark’s birthday!  We miss seeing him on his birthday!  One more thing to miss about being away from family.  Boo.  

We drove to Lakes of the Ozarks today – pretty drive, and nice park – Osage Beach RV Park ($35 a night).  We almost immediately met our neighbors and enjoyed chatting with them.  They’re on their way to FL for the winter! Their family and home is in Iowa but they love to winter in Florida.  After getting set up we just relaxed and read outside – simply beautiful weather – about 82 or 83 degrees. Definitely my kind of weather!

Friday – our day to explore!  We drove through the State Park here, and the colors are really starting to come out, so that was fun.  We love being in nature and just admiring God’s handiwork!  But today it was COLD!  Brrrr I was not really prepared for this much difference.  Yesterday was SO warm and so I knew today was going to be cooler, but still, I should have dressed in socks and shoes and a big sweater!  The wind made it even cooler – AND the heat in our car stopped working!  Not good, but thank goodness for heated seats! Ha – big problems, I know!

Our car was just covered with leaves and these stayed on the windshield for quite some time. We were on the hunt for not one, but two swinging bridges.  They make me a tad nervous, they're so creaky and it just feels weird to feel the movement as you drive over what feels like a really rickety bridge over water!

Pretty scenic drive....

2nd swinging bridge.

Saturday, we slept late and I fixed us a wonderful late breakfast. We read for awhile and then went to see the new movie, The Martian. VERY good! I do hate that they have to insert some language, one of my pet peeves, but it was minimal and the story was just excellent.  We came home and I made us a delicious pasta dish with andouille sausage. Yum….

Sunday, we watched the live service at The Cross.  Zach brought one of the best messages I’ve heard in a long time. We thoroughly benefited from that time and the worship music was very good.  Then we got everything ready for our short journey to Branson tomorrow!