Truman Lake - Finishing our 4-state, 4-campground trip

The wind picked up, and it was a windy three-hour drive to our last campground of this trip on Truman Lake in Missouri. We pulled into the Thibaut Corp of Engineer campground, and it didn't take long to set up the hammock behind the trailer.

Our campground was somewhat protected from the wind, but the lake was not. We walked to the closed swimming beach to see white caps that looked like ocean waves. It looked like we wouldn't be kayaking today. Denisa was thinking it might not be a hiking day either when we almost stepped on this snake as we walked back from the beach. It feels like it might be a rest day in that hammock back at the campground. We cooked a nice meal and enjoyed cooling off with the air-conditioner since we have electric hookups here.

The next morning we drove 23 miles to Windsor, Missouri, to the trail head of the Katy Trail. We visited here last fall without the bicycles, and we were anxious to go further down this trail since we have our foldable bikes this trip. The trail is shaded for the first mile through a tunnel of trees.

Then we broke out of the tree tunnel, and into the blue skies. The Katy Trail stretches 237 miles from the town of Clinton in western Missouri, all the way to St. Louis in the east. Today we biked miles 16.6 - 21.7 of the Katy Trail. We only have 232 more miles to go to bike the entire trail!

The sky was lovely today, and this trail smelled of honeysuckle and spiderwort. It smelled like spring!

Our destination was the highest point on the Katy Trail, at an elevation of 955 feet. The grade is so slight that we didn't feel like we were really going uphill. But we knew that after the turn around, it was all downhill from there.

We were entertained by the birds on this trail. No pictures, but we saw red cardinals, blue jays, orange orioles, yellow warblers, and two quail hustled across the trail right in front of us. We also saw a hawk, dove, a host of sparrows, red winged black birds, meadowlarks, and even an eagle before we got back to the pickup.

After our bike ride, we headed out in the country to find some of our favorite Amish stores. We like the selection at Lilac Lane Bulk Foods. But it doesn't seem as authentic with their overhead electric lights and now they even take credit cards. Kuntry Bulk Grocery still has horse hitching posts outside, skylights provide the only lighting inside the store, and they only take cash. That seems more authentic, but they didn't have as many products that we were interested in. Since it's spring, we headed to Wagler's Greenhouse, with parking on the road and two litters of baby kittens in a box behind the counter.

We dropped off our Amish noodles, apple butter, fresh loaf of bread, cinnamon rolls, and a plethora of other favorite treats before we ate lunch at the trailer. For dessert we had strawberries just picked this morning, and a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven.

We love home-grown strawberries that are red all the way through. They sure beat those white-centered strawberries we buy at the grocery store!

Then we were off to the next Saturday fun event--the Warsaw Outdoor Expo. The festival had free admission to see a few vendors and food trucks situated on Drake Harbor of the Osage River in Warsaw, Missouri. This river connects to the dam that formed Truman Lake and the Lake of the Ozarks. Missouri is blessed with lots of water! This afternoon we were blessed with some good music. A group named "Potter's Wheel Blue Grass Band" from Lebanon, Missouri, played three hours in the sunny 97-degree heat from 2:00-5:00. We were hot after just one hour, so we were impressed with their music and their durability.

While the band was packing up and the next group was setting up, we walked some of the trails along the river front. We crossed the water on the Dice Suspension Bridge. A version of this bridge has been at this crossing since 1904. They used to charge a toll, but now it is free to walkers and bikers, and connects to a network of Warsaw River Trails.

We couldn't miss the large nest sitting on one of the trusses of the suspension bridge.

When we zoomed in, we could see a single head bobbing out of the nest occasionally. We're guessing that a pair of ospreys are sitting on eggs right now.

Mark sure wanted to see better inside that nest, so he walked a ways up the side of the bridge. Even from that vantage point he couldn't confirm any hatchlings were in the nest. Then we walked the Bledsoe Ferry Trail for 2.5 miles to get a little exercise. The next entertainment group was set up, and we enjoyed the Dueling Pianos from St. Louis from 7-10. We saw lightning in the distance as the pianists finished up, and we headed to our campground ten miles away.

It was loud in the trailer that night with the lightning and thunder booming. We had planned to stay three nights at this campground. But the weather called for sunny skies the next morning, and then more storms the next evening. It was more pleasant to break camp and make the drive home on a dry morning, so we shortened our stay. This four-campground, ten-night, four-state camping trip has been a good test of our new solar/lithium battery system that Mark installed. We are more confident in our ability to camp without electrical hook-ups now.

After that camping trip, we were anxious to get back to our grandchildren waiting for us back home. Doesn't Grandude and Eli look good in their matching outfits?

 

And we have new baby chicks! Carter cared for the eggs while they were in the incubator, and we couldn't wait until they hatched. It was fun watching them peck their way out of their shells in the incubator.

Carter is enjoying mothering them. She's calling them free range chickens because she takes them out to play in the back yard. Life is good after our 4-state, 4-campground trip!