Becoming Nomads: October 2020

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Osage Beach - Lake of the Ozarks

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Our typical four-hour drive got us to Osage Beach on the Lake of the Ozarks. Since I had never been there, and Bobbie since she was a kid, we booked a full week at an RV park on to the top of the ridgeline that is mostly Osage Beach. Across the road was a huge shopping center with everything from groceries to Lowe's and everything in between from clothing to furniture. All the name box stores, etc. The only thing not close or accessible was the lake itself.

Our park is full, with only space available on the weekdays. This was what we woke to on Saturday morning. we were both one of the smallest and one of the oledest....smile.

We took one day and drove around some of the "lake." Lake of the Ozarks is actually a huge snaking reservoir formed by the Bushnell Dam on the Osage River in Lake Osaze, Missouri. It was up one hill and down the other. All along the shoreline were private access roads for residents and guests. We barely had a clear view of the water.

Over a few bridges, we got to Sunrise Beach. Midday and no beach, we did find a Mexican restaurant and an interesting bar next door. LOL.

We took a whole day and drove north for an hour to Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. It is a sleepy city of 50,000 and the streets were barely active. Shops and a few restaurants were open. We toured the capitol building. All floors with accessible and we wandered past the offices of most senators and representatives, as well as the Governor. He was seated at his desk and the only thing between him and us was a receptionist and a welcome sign. I quickly googled his party affiliation and moved on. The building is magnificent and there is a nicely updated museum on the ground floor. We were two of possibly five tourists in the building. It was tomblike in many regards. There were people working in the offices, but the doors where most often closed and few could be seen walking around the upper floors.

We spent our last two days with a few lazy walks in the immediate area and lapped up a few movies like hungry dogs.

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

St. Louis - All About Family

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Another short drive brought us to the St. Louis area and the Granite City KOA RV park. This would be home base for the next week as we visit Bobbie's family. Sister Andy and brother Dan, and cousin Aleana (et al) live within a few minutes drive of the park. It has been four years since we have seen everyone and it was a great week. And herein lies the rub. We did not take a single family photo other than the one shown below. LOL It's been so long since I take photos daily that I have lost my tourist skill.

Mixed in with ou.r visits we also both hiked and then road the Old US Route 66 through the Chain of Rocks area. On our own we wandered the present desolate Union Station area and rode the ferris wheel. On our last day, we went downtown and wandered around the Arch National Park with Andy and had lunch at a Bosnian deli outside of the city

Springfield, IL

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It was a short drive, only three hours, as we traversed the Illioins "corn plain" and into Springfield. The only purpose for our visit was to be close enough to Chicago that our friends Nettie and Dennis could drive down to visit. We found a great spot at the state fairgrounds, just north of downtown. It was pretty, but we had great services for $25 a night. This made up for this few $70 nights that had us over budget.

The fairgrounds were closed but all of the spaces were open. Huge exhibition halls, animal stalls, and lots of open space made for an interesting daily walk for Bobbie. I rode my bike a few times. We were also across the street from the cemetery where Lincoln's tomb can be found.

Nettie and Dennis drove down on Sunday and we had a really lovely lunch and spent lots of time catching up;. It was great to see both of them. They were at our wedding...and although we see Nettie every other year on our travel club tours, we had not seen Dennis face to face for 18 years.

We visited the Lincoln museum. The library was not open to the public. We had a free small group tour of the Old Capitol building. We and a woman with three kids made up our group and our guide was great at keeping everyone apart. We treated ourselves to an inside lunch at a nice restaurant where only five tables made up the dining room. Well-spaced out and only three tables being used, we felt safe and the food was great. This was the third time we have eaten inside a restaurant since March 2020.

Across the street were the governor's mansion and the Dana Thomas House, an Frank Lloyd Wright design. We tried with no luck to see either. The rest of our short visit was spent wandering the history area of downtown Springfield.

Turkey Run, IN

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We departed Ohio and drove almost all the way across Indiana to reach Turkey Run State Park. In the middle of nothing but corn and bean fields, and surrounded by numerous very small towns, the state park is the first in Indiana. The park is covered in lush hardwood forest. It offers the chance to explore deep, sandstone ravines, walk along stands of aged forests, and enjoy the scenic views along Sugar Creek. We were here for a week walking the trails and riding our bikes. It was a really great campsite and we loved the quiet, peaceful area. The park was about 50% full and there was lots of daily activity. It is open year round.

Cross Creek, OH

Driving further west and into Ohio, it took us a lot longer than expected to reach our destination, about an hour north of Columbus, the state capitol. We took a few country roads along the way wandering through seemingly endless fields of corn. Our new home was an award-winning RV park with full services...and it was packed with families, kids, and lots of travelers. Being the end of the season, we got an indrecit rate and for our nights, we enjoyed great service. Two state parks are nearby and that provided lots of walking space and biking opportunities.

We took one day to drive into Columbus. The state's capital was quiet as expected. The downtown barely inhabited. We drove around the area looking at the buildings and wandered into the Germantown area with all of the wonderful 19th-century row houses. The area has been gentrified with loads of shops and restaurants...most closed or offering limited service. Since we were in a large city, we took advance of access to an IKEA store, a large hardware store, and we stocked up at a really great Kroger.

And, we found time to visit the local IKEA. While we did not buy anything...no need...it was fun to add another location to our international list. We have visited IKEA stores all over the world, and interestingly, many in countries you would never expect like Kenya and Uzbekistan.

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Lake Chautauqua, NY

Lake Chautauqua is my friend Lin Winters' childhood home. Many of you may remember the beautiful woman in the long red dress at our wedding. She was my "best person." Her parents owned a rather distinctive home on the shores of the lake, within the Chautauqua compound. I've heard stores about this place from her for years and we finally made it. We found a really great RV park just a few miles from the village. Once again it was a huge residential and holiday home resort. There were only two travelers in the transient area when we arrived. end of the season. Bright blue and cloudless skies blessed our four-day stay.

In the nearby town of Jamestown, we toured the Lucy and Desi Museum. Lucille Ball was born a few miles from here is a small lakeside town and this was also the home of her famous Lucille McGilooguddy character. It was great fun touring the sets from the I Love Lucy show, seeing the memorabilia, and the costumes. Something I was not aware of was that the original set was done in all greys, included most of the costumes. The cinematographers wanted the filming to have a greater resolution on the screen.

A lot of bike rides and a drive around the lake filled out days. We devoted one day to visiting the Chautaugua Institue. The village of Chautaugua is a completely gated community. We have to get a free ground pass to even enter. The events at the institute are over for the summer and after finding a suitable parking spot for the truck, we unloaded the busses and rode around this unique enclave for a few hours. The historic residence, the grand hotels, and all of the pavilions of learning were quite impressive.

What stood out also was in visiting the family home of our friend. The Packard Manor, as it is still called, was built by the luxury car manufacturer as a summer home. All 32 rooms and 12,00 sq. ft. were home to my friend's family from the early fifties (her dad paid $25,000) until 1996 when she and her siblings sold it for a "few" million dollars. The house sits impressively on the lakefront, on what was once 100;s of acres of private land, lawns, and gardens. Over the years the land surrounding the home was sold off. While we were not able of course to visit inside, it was still impressive.

Our drive around the lake took several hours, on narrow local roads, passing beautiful parks, homes, and amazing hardwood forests...all of course in glorious fall color.