Camping/RV
Everything related to RV travel and camping, from campground reviews and experiences to tips, gear, and planning. Whether traveling cross-country or staying close to home, this section covers life on the road with a trailer.
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October 9-11, 2015: Prophetstown State Park
Knowing October is going to be a busy month, we decided to head out for a RVing weekend. We weren’t sure which park we wanted to go to, so Pat had the Indiana State Parks website open to their reservations page, showing all available campsites, periodically refreshing it. Two sites came up that were not previously available, so they were probably reserved and canceled. Both sites were at Prophetstown State Park in Battle Ground, near West Lafayette. The park is primarily on flat prairie land, which is being restored and landscaped to include native prairie plantings. It has a very different feel than the parks in southern Indiana, which have…
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2015 Route 66 RV Trip Overview | September 12–20 Road Trip Adventure
By September 2015, we were starting to feel comfortable traveling Route 66 with our RV, but we were still learning something new on every trip. Traveling the Mother Road in an RV is a very different experience than traveling by car and staying in motels. The pace is different, the planning is different, and the experience of the towns and the road itself feels different when you’re bringing your home along with you. This trip would take us west on Route 66 through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, before turning around and heading back east toward home. We planned the trip around RV parks along or near Route 66, which…
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Final Days on Route 66 – St. Louis KOA and Heading Home (September 19–20, 2015)
September 19–20, 2015 – Final Stop on Route 66 After feeding the fish one last time, we left the Joplin KOA and made a stop at the Candy House Gourmet shop in Joplin, Missouri. It was a fun little stop and a good way to start our final travel day before heading east. From there, we made our way to our third KOA of the trip — the St. Louis KOA West in Eureka, Missouri. This would be our final stop of the trip. We had actually stayed here back in 2013, and it left a good enough impression on us that we decided to stay here again. Unlike the…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Joplin, Missouri: September 18, 2015
On the morning of September 18, it was time to leave Twin Fountains RV Resort in Oklahoma City. I really can’t say enough good things about this place. The grounds were beautiful, the facilities were excellent, and the staff were wonderful. It’s definitely the kind of campground you remember and want to return to. We look forward to heading back there sooner rather than later. After packing up, we continued east along Route 66. Visiting Jerry McClanahan in Chandler Our first stop was in Chandler, Oklahoma at the gallery of Jerry McClanahan. Jerry is a well-known Route 66 author, artist, and historian who has spent years documenting the many alignments…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: September 17, 2015
We left the Oasis RV Park in Amarillo this morning to begin the return leg of our journey home. As we were packing up, Jameson wanted to spend a little more time enjoying the playground at the campground. While he played, the truck doors had been left open while we loaded gear. Unfortunately, that turned out to be an invitation for a swarm of Texas flies to move into the cab. When Jameson climbed back into the truck, he was immediately surrounded by buzzing intruders and quickly became very upset, loudly declaring: “I hate Texas flies!” We opened the windows and spent a few minutes shooing them out until the…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Amarillo to Tucumcari: September 16, 2015
After finishing our visit at the Jack Sisemore RV Museum, we headed west from Amarillo along historic Route 66 toward Tucumcari, New Mexico. Our first stop was the Midpoint Café in Adrian, Texas, where we enjoyed a simple Route 66 lunch of burgers and fries. Adrian is home to the Midpoint of Route 66, marking the exact halfway point between Chicago and Los Angeles. Of course, we had to stop for photos at the famous Midpoint of Route 66 sign. Next door we visited the Sunflower Station, owned by Fran Houser, who previously owned the Midpoint Café for many years. It was a nice stop to browse souvenirs and chat…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Western Oklahoma to Amarillo: September 15, 2015
Our Route 66 adventure with our grandson Jameson continued as we made our way through western Oklahoma and into the Texas Panhandle. One of the things we enjoy most about traveling Route 66 is discovering the small and often overlooked roadside pieces of history that still remain along the Mother Road. This stretch of the trip certainly delivered plenty of those moments. Western Oklahoma Stops Our first stops of the day came in Sayre, Oklahoma, where we spotted an old Rexall pharmacy building that still hints at the town’s historic past along Route 66. A little farther west, we passed through Texola, Oklahoma, one of those nearly-forgotten border towns where…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Shasta Trailer Adventure: September 12–14, 2015
Our latest journey took us back to the Mother Road, but this time with a new twist. Instead of our usual road trip by car, we brought along our Shasta Travel Trailer. Another special part of this trip was traveling with our four-year-old grandson, Jameson, introducing him to the adventure of the Mother Road. Because we were traveling with the trailer, we planned the trip differently than usual. Instead of long driving days, we chose shorter travel distances with planned overnight stops, giving us more time to enjoy each location along the way. Saturday, September 12, 2015 Speedway, Indiana → Springfield, Missouri Originally we planned to leave Friday evening after…
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Birthplace of Route 66 Festival – Day 4: August 16, 2015
Not too much to say about today, really. We started the journey home early, broke down camp, packed up the trailer, and hauled it east to Indy all day. No festival attendance for us today, since yesterday was our big day. We took Route 66 most of the way out, but eventually had to take the Evil I home. Still, we did stop at the Route 66 Rest Area and Visitor’s Center, which is a great place to pick up information not just on Missouri, but on Route 66 as well. The rest area is very much Route 66-themed. Here are a few examples; see the gallery below for more.…
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Birthplace of Route 66 Festival – Day 3: August 15, 2015
Saturday was the big festival day for us. We knew we’d be heading out early the next morning, so this was our one full day to take it all in—and we made the most of it. Getting ready in the bigger trailer has definitely been a nice upgrade. There’s still a bit of morning choreography involved, but nothing like the old Scotty days. Everything has its place now… even if I was still figuring out exactly where those places were. We made our way over to the festival grounds and started with the car show and local vendors before heading into The Glass Place—basically the hub for many of our…