Day 28: West St Louis KOA, Allenton, MO: Train keeps a rolling

Last night before bed I took some pictures of the area around the Bass Pro. I am not sure they are what I was hoping to capture. Maybe I was shivering? I can still make the whole place shiver.

We slept pretty well. Thank you Bass Pro and thank you citizens of Broken Arrow for not running your compensation vehicles all night long. Al night long, all night long.

This is our van in the parking lot.

Up at a reasonable hour and time for a walk. Where to go? No trails so a lap of Bass Pro and then over there. What is over there? A huge Baptist Church. There were many buildings and parking for thousands. So I walked around the campus. I’m sure they would forgive me my trespasses. The church had a water tower. They were on the biggest hill we saw in the area. That gives them the high ground, literally and perhaps figuratively. I finished my walk and we commenced to getting ready. We hit the road somewhere around 0930 (I can’t actually remember).

We planned to do about 650km today so we really did not need to rush much. We stopped at some of the places we did not stop at last year. Miller Pecans was first. Most notably, that required getting off the toll highway, getting our refund and getting back on the toll highway and handing over our refund.

Note for anyone travelling through Oklahoma. They have toll roads and they also have service centres like OnRoute so you do not have to get off the highway. It cost $10 USD to cross Oklahoma. Compare that to the 407 and $10 CAD will get you exactly 1.13 km during off peak hours.

This is the coolest Oklahoma Service Center. Which, by the way, is under construction and the merge lane to get back on the highway does not exist. Fortunately I stopped before Mr 18 Wheeler made us history. Next 18 wheeler let us in.

Next up was Ozarkland. A firm “why bother”. Mrs Milddogs did pick up a Missouri magnet so maybe it was a worthwhile stop. We had sandwiches in the van while stopped there. Maybe they could clean up some of the garbage. Some of it may have been there since route 66 was actually in use.

Time to make some distance. Next stop was some provisioning in Cuba, MO and then some BBQ from Missouri Hick. Sadly, we were both still pretty full from our dinner and cookies yesterday, but we took one for the team and picked up som BBQ to eat for dinner. I like their BBQ but they cheat a bit. The sampler plate comes with shredded brisket rather than slices. It’s easier to be acceptable with shredded brisket than with slices. Thus, on this trip the win goes to Terry Black in Lockhart, TX for best brisket. Missouri Hick does have pulled pork. That was also good. I think my “good” pulled pork is just as good. My better pulled pork is just better than anything I have gotten elsewhere. You are welcome.

Our stop for the night is the KOA in the title. It, like all of our stops today it is on historic route 66. That’s not really useful as there isn’t much of anything within walking distance. This place is conveniently near the highway and the train tracks. It may actually be louder than Bass Pro. It does have showers (review below) and hookups. Tonight we shall heat with electricity. Like all private campgrounds, this KOA advertises level sites. What they means is that there are at least two points on your parking area that are level to each other. This place serves a purpose for us, that is all we need from it.

The shower review. Mrs Milddogs went first and used the “family” washroom which features extra privacy and security. She declared the showers “had hot water”. I was going to go in there next, but a lady drover her large SUV the 167 feet from her campsite to the showers and stole that one. Dang it. I tried the showers in the male washroom and selected the wrong one. There was little water pressure but there was heat. Post shower I stepped left and tried the next one and it had pressure so I showered again. The washrooms have had a recent renovation of many of the visible things. They just didn’t go far enough. So, the score is, for the first attempt in the little Timmy stall, I give a 3. Second attempt in little Timmy’s neighbour, I give it a 5. Average must be 4.

We finished our Snickerdoodle Cupcake cookies today. OMG. On to the chocolate chip. I’ve had a bite of one. I should have eaten the chocolate chip first. Nothing will measure up to the Snickerdoodle Cupcake. There is no point ever eating another cookie again.

Tomorrow will be our last night in the United States of America. We are booked in the same State Park we stayed at last year. They have nice trails. No trails here. I’ll probably walk around the KOA in circles to get a qualifier in and then do a nice walk when we get to the state park. Looks like I may have to winterize the van in Sarnia on Saturday, but not before.

Oh, if I have not said it yet. The burn ban that is in place everywhere we went, except here, was fantastic. No shitty pervasive smell of poorly structured and managed damp logged fires. Yay. Last year we were at Bon Echo and it was like breathing in a hooka lounge. Yuck.

I checked the cottage camera today and saw the blizzard. It’s spring, enough already.

Take care and make sure you have some cash when driving highway 44 through Oklahoma!