St. Peters, MO
Tuesday, April 26
Our day began at Finger Lakes State Park in Columbia, Missouri. The campground was a lot noisier last night then we expected, given that we “thought” we had the place to ourselves. Andi said some ORVers rolled into the next loop over & he thought they might be up having a fire. We also heard the campers next to our site start their car around 4:00am. They were camping in a tent, so I’m guessing they finished out the night in their car where it was a little warmer. Temperatures dropped into the low 30’s last night.
Fortunately, we were parked in a campsite with electric hook-ups & travel with a small electric heater that keeps the inside of our small RV plenty warm.
Around 7:00am, Andi drove the Jeep to a coffee shop in Columbia to work on his computer for the morning while I did my workout outside the campground & Tory and Aden did school. I had to rely on self-discipline to get myself outside in the cold to exercise. Campground workouts make me very appreciative of my nice home gym back home! The cool, spring temperature of the morning wasn’t so bad once I got out there & started moving around.
Andi and I always say, it takes us about a week to get into the swing of RV living again. That was the case for Tory and Aden tis morning during school. They were both less than pleased about doing school. I didn’t take any pictures because it took all my energy to get the lessons completed with hem.
Around 11:30am, Andi returned to the RV with the Jeep and Tory, Aden and I were ready for a change of scenery. Andi and I decided not to hook up the Jeep to the RV since we were only driving a short distance in Columbia and would want the Jeep unattached when we got to our destination. So, Andi took the kids in the RV while I drove the Jeep behind them. We parked in a big Sam’s Club parking lot & decided to run into the store to get a few snacks for the RV and an lunch for the kids. It' was so hard not to buy all the things inside, but we truly don’t have the room for big boxes of anything inside our RV.
Back in the RV, Tory and Aden ate their pizza and hot dog while Andi and I re-heated leftovers for lunch. Then, we left the RV parked at Sam’s Club, hopped in the Jeep, and drove to downtown Columbia to walk along the infamous South 9th Street.
Together, we browsed in a few shops and then made our way to the University of Missouri campus. Andi and I thought it’d be fun to walk around the beautiful campus grounds with the kids. It was something fun and different to do! We shared stories with Tory and Aden about what it takes to get into college (studying hard, good grades) and why college will be some of the best days of their lives. We talked about what it’s like to live on-campus or off-campus, in & out of state tuition and how Tory and Aden could specialize in whatever career path they desired — the sky’s the limit! We walked the halls of the geology building (because Tory aspires to be a geologist one day) and imagined what it was like to go to classes there.
Tory liked the idea of stacking her classes so she’s only have to go to school three days a week.
Aden wanted to know where the parties were.
The four of us made our way back to the Jeep parted on South 9th Street, and then drove back to the RV parked at Sam’s Club. It didn’t take Andi and I long at all to hook the Jeep to the back of the RV again. Once we did, we set off for our next destination in St. Peters, Missouri. Andi reserved us a campsite at 370 Lakeside RV Park.
It was a beautiful afternoon in central Missouri! The sun was shining with temperatures in the high 60’s. Tory and Aden took some crafts and toys outside to play at our campsite while Andi took a shower. We have RV full hook-ups (water, sewer and power) at this location which is a nice treat! The campground is situated on a small lake and is close to St. Louis making this a popular place to stay for travelers.
Around 5:30pm, the four of us drove the Jeep to Sugarfire Smokehouse in St. Charles, MO. A childhood friend of mine lives in this area of Missouri and recommended the restaurant to us. Our family loves BBQ, so it didn’t take much convincing.
Sugarfire Smokehouse must be a popular place because there were lots of signs posted about not saving tables. A sign hanging in the window said the restaurant was featured on The Food Network. Fortunately for us, the restaurant wasn’t busy on a Tuesday night. Andi ordered two “Meat Daddy” platters for our family to share with a side of fried artichokes. OMG, we had so much meat to eat! All of it was delicious. Andi and Aden liked the ribs best; the smoked turkey and brisket were Tory and I’s favorites. We stuffed ourselves silly and still had at least a pound of meat leftover. Luckily, they had to-go containers! We’ll have leftovers to eat for lunch for several days.
My friend Holly also suggested we eat at the frozen custard place called Doozie’s across the street from Sugarfire. Even though we were all so full, we decided to get ice cream. Andi can never pass up a good local recommendation!
WOW! Doozie’s custard was out of this world. Tory and Aden called it “cloud ice cream” because it was so creamy. The four of us ate ice cream until our stomaches screamed at us at to stop. We were literally miserable, ha!
Back at the campground, Andi and Aden made their social rounds around the campground. There were so many full-time, retired RVers to talk to here — Andi’s favorite pastime. We met another couple from Washington who drive a Winnebago View similar to ours. Always fun to swap stories about various mods & upgrades.
Tomorrow, we’re excited to visit St. Louis.
