We got up earlier than usual as it was travel day and I wanted to be out of the park by 10:00 am if possible. We went out for the final walk at this campground before having a quick breakfast and coffee. My next-door neighbors were also getting ready to move on and I resisted the urge to turn it into another contest. This time, it would be breaking camp instead of setting up, so I ended up waiting for them to drive out because I needed to back up onto the road and hook up the Jeep which would interfere with their arrangements. This time, the Jeep cooperated, and it went well, for a change.
I drove back into town to gas up at the Walmart’s gas pumps and paid $4.04 a gallon for 59 gallons of gas for a total of $239.00. Good for maybe 400 miles if I am lucky although with the mountainous trip ahead, probably not. I had to do a bit of driving finagling to get out of the gas station and get back on the road, but I managed it. Some of the turns were too tight for the RV which does not have a good turning radius not helped by the Jeep behind. Back on the main road, we settled in for at least 4.5 hours of driving on totally unknown roads.
We had a 125-mile trip ahead of us and we are in the Ozarks which means a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns and that is exactly what it turned out to be for the first 80 or so miles. The RV Trip Wizard had forecast a time of about 4.5 hours which seems a long time for 125 miles but when taken into consideration that the first 80 miles were in the mountains, their time was accurate almost to the minute when we finally pulled into the park. There was nothing unusual about the drive apart from the mountainous terrain and Quatro handled very well. We sometimes had a caravan of cars behind us and whenever possible, I would either slow down or pull over so they could pass. The scenery was spectacular with tall trees most of the way.
The last 30 or so miles, the countryside opened up and levelled off with fields and Ranches although not much in the way of cattle. The trip wizard had done an excellent job of getting us there and just a couple of miles and as we were almost at the park, the darn thing shut off and I missed the turn and had to keep driving. I found a place to turn back around in construction companies’ huge yard and after re-setting the iPad back to the trip wizard program, drove back to the Campground having to negotiate a really tight hairpin to get into the park.
I checked into the office and the receptionist gave me a choice of two sites. I paid my bill opting for the monthly rate as it was cheaper, and it came to $590.00. Maybe, I might even stay the month…With directions in hand, I made the big loop and located the choice of sites ending up in Site 9 which had more shade. It is just long enough for the RV with room to park the Jeep alongside. This time, I was not in a competition to set up as before although a 5th wheel pulled into the lot right next to me. I took my time and set up at my own speed. Luckily, the site is pretty level, and I did not have to do any blocking other than to chock the wheels. This time, because we have a two week stay, I unloaded the wicker couch from the Jeep along with the floor mats and set us all up to be comfortable outside. It was hot and the sweat ran off me in torrents, but I stuck with it and even sat awhile outside in the shade with a soft drink after taking the dogs for a short walk.
We eventually retired back inside waiting for it to cool down before taking a longer walk. The park is busy and while we were setting up, a couple more RVs pulled in along our row including another Class A. Not as pretty as Quatro, though. Another couple more pulled out. When I was chatting to the receptionist, she told me that they had not been terribly busy this season, but it had picked up a little this week. This surprised me as in my research and planning, I had come across several campgrounds that had no vacancies.
We retired for the evening, and I was pleased to notice that the sun is behind us most of the time which is a good thing because of our large front windows, and we are in the shade from the trees behind us. The next test was to turn on the TV and see what sort of reception that we have and what channels we can get. Turns out, we were very lucky and our combination of the Netgear unit with the ATT service works just fine. We ended the evening in the usual way of the evening meal and a glass of cheap wine watching “In the Heat of Night” with Carrol O’Connor. He has that Southern accent down to a tee.
Written 07/26/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Ozark Country Campgrounds, Branson, MO. Day 2 Tuesday – 07/25/2022
We slept well probably because of the stress of driving up and down the mountains and all that goes with setting up the RV at a new campsite. We got up to take the first walk of the day staying in the shade along our road. When we got back, I took a long cold shower which felt so good after yesterday’s exertions before fixing breakfast which of course, both dogs ignored as it did not have any chicken, sprinkled on the top. The chicken is reserved for the evening meal. There is not much shade to walk in and we are restricted to wandering along our row of RV’s at least, in the morning. It is better in the evening walk when the shadows are much longer, and I try to leave it late to do the walking.
As usual, after a driving day, we have nothing planned. The nearest Walmart’s is only a couple of miles away and that can wait for a bit. I sat down and caught up on the blogs and checked with the front office to see if one of my packages had arrived, which it had. I drove over to pick it up and it is a collection of 3 waterproof bags in assorted colors that I had ordered from Prime (who else). I will use them when we are travelling. The red one will hold the power cord, the yellow one will hold the freshwater hose and the black one, for obvious reasons, the sewer hose. Currently, the black hose is in a large plastic bag, which does the trick but is rapidly wearing out. The fresh water and power chord are just coiled up inside their compartments. This way, they will be easy to spot when I am hooking up and then when we are travelling, will be compactly and neatly, stored.
I returned to Quatro and continued to write and to work on the pictures I have taken so far. Not too many yet and I will keep working on more as we walk around. The temperature has gone nuts and it is 104 degrees and with the humidity, 108 degrees. No one in their right mind goes outside unless out of necessity, like walking dogs…It is supposed to cool down, relatively speaking to the high 90’s tomorrow and for the rest of the week with a chance of rain. I will believe that when I see it. I might even dance outside in it, naked. Well maybe not as that would be a site enough to turn everyone’s stomach. A naked 86-year-old man, dancing in the rain and the first things would be the nuthouse wagon, guaranteed.
We went out for another walk later in the day and by then, the shadows had lengthened considerably giving us a much larger selection of where we could walk. We explored more of the campground and discovered other places to get our exercise. Back in Quatro, we did our usual evening thing of food, wine, and television.
Written 07/26/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
My first thought here is about $590 for the month and over 200 for gas. I had no idea that living in an RV would be that expensive! My second thought is you dancing naked in the rain and you’re right ; they’d take you to the nuthouse. Too funny!
I bet it cost you more with electricity and taxes plus a water bill than I pay. The gas bill would not be $200 as that is for a whole fill up and we only drove 120 miles. You are right about the naked dancing though.
I stumbled on your post and had to laugh. We were the 5th wheel parked next to you. Safe travels and enjoy your trip.
One of my blogs discusses the fact that very few campers befriend other campers even when they may be side by side. The occasional “good morning” is about as far as it goes. Wonder why that is? Safe travels to you.