Osage Beach, MO
Tuesday, May 7
It isn’t a surprise that we’re in a cell phone and internet dead-zone at our campsite near St. Genevieve, MO. Nothing to do with the town itself; all our campsites have been this way and it’s starting to get annoying. We like camping in state parks because they’re typically quieter and we’re closer to nature, but that apparently means we’re out of coverage range when we do. We had better connectivity while we traveled in Costa Rica!
Without internet, it’s impossible to access our internet-based homeschooling program or for me to do my morning workout. Andi had a conference call this morning at 9:30am, so we knew we needed to pack up and leave Hawn State Park before that time today. We held off on school and decided to go for a quick morning hike before we left the park.
The campground host recommended the Pickle Creek Trail hike along the water, so we drove our RV to the trailhead near the picnic shelter to check it out for ourselves.
This was just the type of hike Tory and Aden enjoy. It was full of tree roots to jump over, rocks to climb and a zig-zaggy path. About half-way through, Tory tripped and fell hard on her side. I thought she was going to cry for sure, but she popped right up and said she was OK. Andi and I traded glances because we were not expecting that reaction.
Given that Missouri was the start of Lewis & Clark’s expedition, I thought I’d use our hike as a teaching moment. I told Tory and Aden about the role Lewis & Clark played in expanding the West and invited the kids to do a little role-playing with me as we walked along. “You be Lewis,” I told Aden. “I’ll be Clark and Dad will be Thomas Jefferson. Tory, you can be Sacagawea.” Without turning around, Tory gave me a half-hearted thumbs up. I guess she wasn’t up for a history lesson.
After our hike, we rushed to the nearest town so Andi could call into his conference call. Meanwhile, I sat in the RV with the kids and did school with Tory. Then when Andi finished, we switched and I went into Anytime Fitness to workout while Andi did school with Aden. We ate another RV lunch in a random parking lot before we left town, and then hit the road for Osage Beach, Missouri about 3 1/2 hours away.
I’ve always wanted to visit the Ozarks, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. Growing up in Nebraska, the Ozarks was a popular vacation destination for a lot of people but my family never traveled there. Andi has done photo shoots for work in the Ozarks, so he called a fishing guide he’d worked with in the past and made arrangements for us to go trout fishing tomorrow. In the meantime, we checked into a campsite at Lake of the Ozarks State Park near Osage Beach, MO. The campground was empty so we had our pick of spots. Tired of having zero cell phone and internet reception, we drove around the campground for 20 minutes until we identified a spot with the best signal — site #48! Ridiculous, I know, but we’re tired of our phones and computers not working!
After we got the RV setup, we hopped on our bikes and rode around the campground. Our new bikes are such a great way to see an area!
Andi grilled burgers for dinner and then the four of us sat outside by the fire. We don’t have a campfire every night while we RV (some campsites don’t even have a fire pit), but this seemed like a pretty great place to enjoy one together.
That night as we were laying in bed, Andi and I heard what sounded like wolves outside our camper. I peeked out the window and saw three raccoons snarling at one another. Now, this is where Andi and I differ — he grabbed a headlight and ran out the door to see if they were getting into anything. I, on the other hand, didn’t move an inch. No way I would have gone out there!
Tomorrow we’re excited to get on the water at Lake of the Ozarks.
