2016 Trip - 9) Platte City, MO to Plankinton, SD

Tues. 6/28… (Platte City, MO)  Last day in Kansas City area. Janie was doing just ok this morning but she wanted to go to the Truman Library.  So we left around 9:00am and stopped back at Roxanne’s for breakfast. It was as good as our meal there yesterday.  We then drove the 20+ miles to Independence, MO and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. It was raining this morning so we did get a little wet on the walk in.  But at least the rain made it a lot cooler! This library is up there on my favorites list. 

Truman coined the term "The Buck Stops Here".  This is the plate that was on his desk in the White House....

 

They had a path you can walk and see everything, unlike some of the others we have visited.  Truman’s 1^st term in office was when Roosevelt died and he assumed the position as his VP.  He was elected one additional term but went through some troubling times.  He was the president who made the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima which all of America didn’t necessarily support.  He was also in the middle of the Cold War.  But he did gain support by passing legislation allowing desegregation in our schools. He also signed a bill allowing for school lunch programs. Janie decided to take in the library by wheelchair....

 

After the library we stopped at a Verizon Wireless store.  I have a problem with my phone – it only powers up when plugged in.  They don’t sell batteries but analyzed it and determined it needed to be reset.  That didn’t work other than to remove all of my contacts! So I am without phone or messaging til I can resolve the problem.  If you need to contact us – use Lydia’s phone/text. We also decided to drive out to Cabela’s and then go to Arthur Bryant’s for BBQ.  We did both.

 

The bbq pulled pork sandwich from Arthur Bryant's was very good!...

 

 

Janie can walk!......

 

 We returned home to discover Rick had lost his rv keys somewhere today.  They made some calls and checked in with the rv park but no luck.  I found a window unlocked and managed to crawl in and get it opened for them.  They will now keep a set of rv keys in the car! We again skipped dinner as the bbq linner filled us up.  I walked Bailey down by the pond and still had trouble holding her back from jumping in the water!  It’s mucky and she has to wait until we find better water!  We sat out for a while and then went in and watched tv till bedtime.        

 

Wed. 6/29… (Onawa, IA) We left this morning and headed on our 224 mile journey north into Iowa and along the Missouri River seeing Omaha, NE just across the river while heading up to Onawa, IA.  We did hit a pretty good storm cell and got some heavy rain.  Oh yeah, my windshield does not leak.  Yaay! We are now at On-Ur-Wa RV Park (tl $35). We are here for two nights.

 

After getting set up and on the internet I posted the last blog. So that’s caught up now! Lydia fixed chicken and black bean burritos for dinner. Really quick and easy but tasty. Later, I unhooked the car and we drove into town to check things out.  Onawa is a tiny town but they have signs up boasting that it has the widest main street in the USA! They also claim to be the home of the Eskimo Pie.  We spent a few minutes driving around then headed west. On the way we stopped at a state park which, judging by the reserved signs on the campsites will be full for the 4^th of July!  We drove on an old bridge over the Missouri River and into Nebraska. We turned south and ended up driving over 30 miles to get to another bridge just to turn back to head home!  Long trip but we saw some nice scenery. I walked Bailey and we called it a night.  

 

Thurs. 6/30… (Onawa, IA)  Nothing on the list for today.  We slept in and ate a light breakfast and cleaned up the rig a bit.  We later took a drive up to Sioux City to check things out. We encountered a storm cell which dumped water and smaller than pea sized hail.  We pulled over for a few minutes and then it passed.  No biggie.  Ten minutes later the roads were dry again! Later, in Sioux City we happened by a Scheel’s All Sports store.  Our son, Jeff, went to one of these in Reno when he lived up that way and said they had everything.  Nice store and they do have a lot but I’m still a Bass Pro Shops guy myself!  Didn’t find anything we couldn’t live without. We then went to Sam’s Club and stocked up on a few things but soon found ourselves hungry.  We decided to go to Godfather’s Pizza which was just ok. While there I called Batteries+ in Sioux Falls and they do have my cell phone battery and will hold it for me for tomorrow! Cool – just hope that solves my problem! Later, we drove back into camp and found we had new neighbors.  We talked with them a bit and Bailey and their dog, Cricket, played a big.  She is a 17 month old black lab about 90 lbs and she plays really rough - scared Bailey a bit but at least she got rid of some energy.  We watched tv a bit before we called it a night. 

  

Fri. 7/1…… (Plankinton, SD) We have a 212 mile drive today.  We left a little after 9:00am. Rick & Janie went on to Flying J while we veered off to Batteries+Bulbs to pick up my cell phone battery.  I tested it before purchase and it works!  Yaay!  We met up with R&J and headed west on I80. We are now at Hill’s RV Park in Plankinton, SD (pa $20.). We are here for two nights. The park is simple but ok.  The layout is good but they have trees just growing out now to block a satellite signal.  But we both got lucky and we have a signal! 

Bailey likes to drive whenever I let her!

Janie’s turn for dinner tonight and she said she felt up to it. She fixed chicken parmigan and it was terrific!  We ate early and then took a quick drive for Rick to get gas and then drove around tiny Plankinton before heading home.  While out we laid out our plans for tomorrow. We will go and visit the Corn Palace. After returning, we settled in and watched some taped shows.