There were 2 “must see” attractions for us in Springfield, Missouri. The first was the original Bass Pro Shops which is as large as 7 football fields and takes up an entire city block. In addition to all of the sporting goods for sale, inside this Bass Pro are waterfalls, aquariums, exhibits, a restaurant, and 2 museums – the Archery Hall of Fame and the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum.
The original and largest Bass Pro Shops
Display as you enter Bass Pro Shops
This guy was huge
Our second stop was dinner was at Lambert’s Cafe – the Home of Throwed Rolls. Lambert’s has been featured on TV shows and yes, they really do throw the rolls to you! The roll thrower was a young man who would stand at one end of the restaurant and announce “Hot rolls!”. When someone holds up his hands, he tosses them a hot roll. He told us a lot of people miss the catch.
When one little boy asked him “Why do you throw the rolls?” he answered “I don’t really know.”
The rolls were warm and yeasty and delicious. We both had a pork special with barbeque ribs, pulled pork and pork tenderloin served with cole slaw and a sweet BBQ sauce. Servers walk through the restaurant with large stainless steel bowls of pass alongs to offer to each table. We tried them all – black eyed peas, fried okra, fried potatoes, and macaroni and tomatoes. We had so much food we brought enough home for a second meal!
Lake of the Ozarks State Park is the largest state park in Missouri. The park has many miles of shoreline as well as many trails for hiking, biking or horseback riding. The rain followed us from Columbia and our hopes of hiking were rained out.
We chose not to pull our fifth wheel on the narrow, winding roads to one of the beautiful waterfront sites in the campground. Instead, we stayed in a big site with a view of the woods. We enjoyed watching four deer come out at dusk.
Time to relax
Henry found this fuzzy Catterpillar
Blondie likes the leaves
Rock cliffs line the shoreline at Lake of the Ozarks and although we were too early for the fall colors to be at their peak the trees were starting to display the beautiful orange and yellow of autumn.
There is a line from the George Jones song “Tennessee Whiskey” that has been going through my head ever since we crossed the Tennessee State Line. It goes “You’re as smooth as Tennessee Whiskey”. There. Now it’s in your head, too.
Our first stop of our fall trip was Barton Springs Campground, a TVA park in Normandy, Tennessee. We love waterfront camping so of course when I found this campground I made reservations for a site right on the water. The lake is down now during the off season but comes right in front of the campsite in spring and summer. This is a federal campground so you can use your Senior Pass to get a discount on your camping fee.
Sitting outside watching the lake was a great way to end the day after a 300 mile driving day which included going through Atlanta and Chattanooga. A doe and a fawn were across the lake grazing. A great blue heron stood on a point out in the lake. A couple launched their canoe and went for a paddle. And we were able to watch a pretty sunset.
Just before sunset at Barton Springs
Almost a Full Moon over the campground
Blondie enjoying our site Barton Springs
Old canoe on the beach
Sunset over Normandy Lake from Barton Springs Campground
Monday morning saw thunderstorms coming through the area. After breakfast we waited a little while for the rain to let up and then hopped in the truck to visit the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Jack Daniel was 13 years old when he bought his first still for $25. He developed the formula for his famous whiskey and the whiskey is still produced using the same formula and method. All the water used comes from an underground spring on the property, the barrels are still made by hand out of white oak, and the charcoal used for filtering the whiskey is made there from Sugar Maple wood. Jack was only 5 foot 2 and never married.
Our guide Janine told us the story of how Jack died. One morning Jack came to work early and tried to open the safe in his office. He was too impatient to wait for his nephew to arrive to open it so he kicked the safe and broke is big toe. He was too embarrassed to go to a doctor right away and when he finally saw one he had developed an infection which led to gangrene. He died as a result of this. It just goes to show you should never go to work early!
He left everything to his nephew shortly before prohibition shut all the distilleries down. His nephew opened a hardware store in town and made enough money to pay the property taxes every year. The distillery opened back up when prohibition was repealed.
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After our full day of sightseeing Blondie took a swim in the lake and we ended the day with a Single Barrel Jack on the rocks.
Before we left the next day I took Blondie for one last walk along the lake and enjoyed watching a Great Blue Heron and 2 Egrets. A great ending to our enjoyable stay at Barton Springs.
Has it really been eight years since we bought our RV and took off on our first adventure across our beautiful country?
We purchased our Titanium fifth wheel on June 29, 2006 and spent a couple of nights in the dealer’s lot to get familiar with our new home on wheels. After returning home to Georgia it took about two weeks to pack and get ready for our maiden voyage. With no reservations and no set itinerary we set out on our two month adventure across America and into the Canadian Rockies.
Here are a few highlights of that first amazing journey:
Grand Canyon North Rim – Vista Encantada (Arizona)
Bryce Canyon Hoodoos (Utah)
Capitol Reef National Park (Utah)
Canyonlands National Park (Utah)
Arches National Park – Delicate Arch (Utah)
Elk in Yellowstone National Park (Woming)
Old Faithful (Wyoming)
Lower Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Bison in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
Glacier National Park, Montana
Columbia Icefields, Jasper National Park, Alberta, CanadaDevil’s Tower National Monument (Wyoming)
Mount Rushmore National Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota
We were hooked! We knew this was the first of many amazing trips to come.
Exactly one year ago today we arrived in Skagway, Alaska on the 31st day of our journey from Georgia! We had a wonderful time as we traveled across the U.S. and through Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon but after 31 days we were ready to see Alaska. Here is my original post from Skagway after we finally arrived.
Day 31: Saturday, June 15, 2013. Watson Lake, Yukon to Skagway, Alaska. Pullen Creek RV Park Site 45 overlooking the Skagway Harbor and surrounded by mountains. 320 miles traveled.
I was talking to a fellow traveler at the RV park in Watson Lake before we left there this morning and I commented that this was our 31st day on the road and we still weren’t in Alaska! Our plan for the day was to continue on the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, Yukon and enter Alaska northwest of there in several days.
It was another beautiful drive on the Alaska Highway with some nice places to stop along the way.
We crossed the Continental Divide
These purple wildflowers were growing all along the highway
Yukon wildflowers
We crossed the Nitsutlin Bay Bridge to the town of Teslin on the other side
These carvings at the Teslin Tlingit Heritage Centre represent the Wolf, Eagle, Frog, Beaver and Raven clans
We stopped for lunch at a rest stop. While I was fixing lunch Henry walked over to read an interpretive sign. On the sign was a large map of the area. As we were eating he commented that we weren’t very far from Skagway. We talked about it for a few minutes and he was just as anxious to get to Alaska as I was. We had to make a decision as the turnoff to go to Skagway was in about six miles. I entered Skagway into the GPS and it was 59 miles to Whitehorse and about 102 miles to Skagway. It was a no brainer. We were going to Skagway.
We left the Alaska Highway and off we went. We were about halfway to Skagway when I realized it was Saturday of Father’s Day weekend. What if all the rv parks were full? There was no cell service and no way to find out until we got there. I read ahead in the Milepost and saw in red letters warning of an 11 mile descent with 11% grade going into Skagway. I told Henry “There’s something coming up you’re not going to like.” There was no turning back.
The drive on the Klondike Highway was spectacular. Snow covered mountains, deep blue ice covered lakes. There were even two bears along the highway. We couldn’t stop to look at anything.
I kept checking my phone for cell service. We had to get AT&T when we got to Skagway, didn’t we?
Finally, we stopped for pictures at the Welcome to Alaska sign! We were really here!
We finally made it!
We cleared customs with no problem and headed straight for the Pullen Creek RV Park hoping for one of the waterfront sites on the harbor. We asked for 2 nights, maybe 3. He said no problem, go pick one and come back and tell me where you are. After setting up, we were happy to just sit outside and enjoy the view.
An old mine on the way to Skagway
On the South Klondike Highway on the way to Skagway
There is still ice on the lake
Over 70 degrees and there is still snow
Back in the U.S.A.!!!!!
Our campsite is in the parking lot at the Skagway Harbor
View from our campsite
Henry says I looked like I was going to cry when I saw AT&T with full bars and 3G come up on my phone. We called our kids and enjoyed the rest of the night.
Wandering Dawgs 