The Roaming PJ's: Missouri and Escapade 58

Missouri and Escapade 58

Our first two weeks
of being full timing; it's been busy and smooth going; no surprises!

Sometimes all of the planning in the world still brings surprises, however our first two weeks out has gone exactly as expected.

May 26th: Shelby's Graduation
Her Graduation was at 10am and we left town about 1:30pm

Stopped in Jonesboro Arkansas. It was late but it was important to get that far to make it to the Escapade by the 2pm deadline. Since it was late, we stayed overnight at Walmart: It was hot! Definitely do not want to do that very often especially when it's so hot and humid.

Although it was just overnight, we did try and sneak in a few sights in Arkansas; it really is a beautiful state.

When stopping for just an overnight stay, it's a very simple process and there are some etiquette rules. It is NOT camping, it is strictly an overnight stay; isn't that one of the points of having a camper, to avoid having to spend money in hotels? To me it is. As much as I love traveling and staying in different hotels (decent ones anyway) there are some positives to carrying your home with you:

Do not have to pack; all clothes and toiletries are right here just like at home.
It's your own bed; you know how clean it is and when the sheets have been washed. A plus is if you have upgraded your camper mattress it can be really comfortable!
All of the food and anything you want is there. Of course in an overnight stay I wouldn't cook in a parking lot or even just staying some place for a short amount of time, but if I wanted something to drink or a snack in the middle of the night it can easily be done.

May 27th: It took all day, the roads were up and down; so many hills and no interstate!! Luckily it was Sunday and I didn't have to worry about work; it was a long day.

We arrived by 1:30pm; we were going to boondock at the Escapade but it was way too hot so we changed to full hook ups! It was nice to think that the weather would be cool enough to not need the AC but it felt just like MS, way too hot and humid.

Sunday at 3:00pm was the opening ceremony and ice cream bars.

Escapade:

The Escapee's RV club is an organization for all types of people who love to travel in a camper or RV. I am not paid to endorse them or advertise for them but since our first event was centered around them, I do want to explain who they are a little bit. https://www.escapees.com/
We decided to join Escapee's for the resources and events. The 58th Escapade which is a national event was scheduled in Missouri the end of May and since we were going right through Missouri to Iowa it worked out perfectly.

This is the event website: https://www.escapees.com/event/58th-escapade/

There were seminars and vendors and everyday packed full of things to do at this event. To me, it was the perfect way to start this adventure.

I am also going to admit how I felt like Dory in Finding Nemo with the Escape hatch because I was pronouncing Escapade wrong until I heard it pronounced correctly at the opening ceremony.

It was during the Memorial Day long weekend so I was off some but did have to work most of the week but still was able to enjoy a lot of the seminars and activities.

Expectation 1:
We would meet more people our age and get to know more people.
Reality 1:
Most of the people were older and really retired (not early retired). There were some people our age and some families with younger children but there were not any opportunities to get to know them unless you are really extroverted and can go up to people and just start talking to them. Unfortunately this is not where we excel and others didn't really do that either.

I did become known though and I wish I could get access to the pictures but I'm told they will eventually be up on the website; maybe.

Tuesday evening the entertainment was an illusionist named Reza. He's a young guy and I had never heard of him before but was quite impressed. I was brought up on stage for a couple of tricks; funny, entertaining and impressive tricks so people remembered me. Plus the next day at the evening door prize ceremony I thought I had won a big prize. They called my name to come up there. It was for a gift that Reza wanted me to have; it is pictured below. He signed it: To: Mrs. Smith Reza and it was the toilet paper roll from the entertaining side during my time on stage. So between the two, people knew me from that. It was fun though.

Expectation #2:
The seminars would be really helpful.
Reality 2: the seminars were not helpful at all; I blame Paul in a good way though. When you have a husband that spent the past year or so obsessed with learning everything possible about going full time; it doesn't leave much left to learn from a basic seminar. It is ok though, I am glad we went and had the experience.

Expectation #3:
There would be a lot of people there
Reality 3: There was a lot of people there

The red arrow to the right, that is where we were!

Heading North

Friday, June 1st: Time to leave Escapade and head north.

Drove about an hour north to Chillicothe: home of the sliced bread! The first place ever to sell sliced bread.

Finding unique places is something we love to do! This small town had murals painted everywhere and was the first place ever to sell sliced bread.

We found a free campsite by a lake and stayed there near Chillicothe; it stormed early the next morning but we had plenty of time to get to Iowa so it was ok.

Amish County

After the rain, we worked our way to St. Joseph, MO; a little out of the way but there were some things we wanted to see there. On the way, we visited a small town, Jamesport; the largest Amish Community in Missouri is there.

St. Joesph, MO

Where the Pony Express Started
The Glore Psychiatric Museum
The Home of Jesse James (where he was shot)
Wallace State Park (about 35 miles away)

We parked the camper and stayed at Wallace State Park and drove into St. Joseph since it was to the west of I-35 (took I -35 into Iowa)