Both of us had sore backs. So even though it's hard to leave without hiking a couple of highly-rated trails, we made the decision to head towards home. We felt even better about that decision when we found out that the entire state of Arkansas was in a severe weather threat for the day. So we dumped our tanks at Centerpoint Horse Campground, and were on the road at 8:45 to try to beat the storms. Our plan was to drive as far as Springfield, Missouri, to spend another day and night. But we were surprised to see the Boondockers Welcome site we had selected in Springfield was already booked for a Tuesday night. That was unusual! So we tried another Boondockers Welcome option and it was also booked. What is going on in Springfield today? We arrived at Springfield at 10:50, and decided to just keep driving. As we drove through, we commented on the airport right by the highway and saw signs for the zoo on the other side. The weather was still good and it was still early. We kept our eyes on the weather maps to see if we could beat the storms that were promising to cross over the highway we were on. Could we beat the storms, or did we need to stop?
Later we would read about the massive hail storm that hit the Springfield airport and zoo, and much of the north side of the city. It came without warning less than an hour after we drove through. The news was filled with pictures of baseball and softball-sized hailstones. One was a measured 4.75-inch hail stone, making it the largest ever recorded in Springfield County.
Falling from the sky, those spiky chunks of ice can break out windows and total cars (and trailers). We saw pictures of broken windshields and leaking roofs, and were so glad that they weren't pictures of our vehicles. The hail killed an emu at the zoo and injured other animals. We narrowly missed it, and we were blessed that those camping spots in Springfield had been full!
A storm popped up to our west, and we kept driving to outrun it. While we drove in a little rain, we were finally glad to leave the severe weather behind us. We ended up driving 202 miles this day, and stayed at Farrington Park, a city campground in Windsor, Missouri. After a day of running from the weather it was nice to spend the night north of the worst of the storms.
We set the trailer up in its spot in time to stop in at Denisa's favorite Amish stores in this area. We love driving the gravel roads to find the local shops run by the local Amish residents.
We bought apple butter, thin Amish noodles, homemade cranberry almond bars, spices, dried mangos, and found an amazing amount of sugar-free supplies like monkfruit. We also bought plants at Wagler's nursery, where they start plants from seeds themselves. We narrowly missed the Tuesday auction where the Amish sell their plants and fruits and vegetable in bulk. Attending an Amish auction is on Denisa's bucket list one of these trips.
It was good that the last stop on this trip would include a full hook-up site so we could flush and empty our holding tanks. The next morning we headed towards home for the final two-hour drive. On this trip to the Ozarks, we've dusted off the trailer and flushed the antifreeze from its plumbing. Now we're ready to stay home for a little while and plan a longer summer trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment