Big Ol’ Bug Smacker

We pulled into the Casino Queen RV Park in St. Louis, Missouri after traveling through a not-so-good part of town and barely clearing some of their very low unmarked bridges. Following our check-in we were directed to an extremely un-level site, facing away from the river. I returned to the office and convinced them to let us choose another site.

The site we ended up in was terrific. It was the closest site facing the St. Louis Arch. It was an end site which meant that we had a large grass area to sit and relax. Not that we were going to spend much time at our site, we intended to visit several attractions in town while we were here.

I don’t know what it is about campgrounds and trains, there seems to be a connection. This time we were so close to the locomotives that our RV would resonate from the vibration and noise of the train engines. For a moment it felt as if they were going to hook-up and drag us down the tracks.

We setup a couple of chairs and proceeded to enjoy one of the best evenings of our trip, when our vacation took a turn for the worst. We received word that my wife’s mother had been admitted to the hospital and the prognosis was unclear about her condition.

We got a short restless night’s sleep. First thing the next morning, we lifted camp and quickly headed for home.

Our vacation was somewhat shortened, but there is nothing more important in life than a person’s family.

While we were in Kansas City we ate at several BBQ spots. The first night we went into town and stopped at a place in the historic city market called Winslow’s. We sat on the patio, listened to a live jazz band and enjoyed “The Famous Smokie”. I have eaten my fair share of BBQ and this sandwich is by far the best I have ever had. It was not saucy or too dry. It was perfect. The sandwich was made with tender and moist “Burnt Ends”. The smokey flavor is what pushed it to the top of my all-time favorites. I wish I had tried the ribs. I am beginning to salivate just writing about it. Two thumbs up for Winslow’s!

For our anniversary we chose to go back downtown to the Jack Stack Barbecue located in the old Freight House. I had a plate of ”Jack’s Best” while my wife enjoyed a ”Poor Russ”. While the pork wasn’t quite as good as the pork from Winslow’s, the Crown Prime Beef Rib was some of the best I have ever eaten.

Finally, before we left town I decided to try some of Arthur Bryant’s legendary Kansas City BBQ. The sandwich wasn’t bad, but it didn’t hold a candle to the other two places we had been to.

On the way to Kansas City we looked at online reviews of several area campgrounds. One that caught our attention was Worlds Of Fun Village. The RV Park is part of the Worlds Of Fun and Oceans Of Fun theme parks. It is located just off the east loop of I-435 at exit 54 in Kansas City, Missouri.

This place is not your typical campground; it is more of an RV resort. Each site has full hookups plus cable TV, concrete pads, which are even level and a park style outdoor grill. The park provides Wi-Fi, but the signal is not very good even from sites near the towers.

The place is kept remarkably clean. In fact I would compare the condition of the place to that of Disney World. The rollercoaster next to the village constantly reminds you that you are at a theme park. People scream with excitement every time it plummets.

The only thing I can think of in the way of improvements could be the method of check-in and out. They do not provide you with a receipt at check-in like other parks. They want you to check-out like you would at a hotel to receive your receipt. But unlike a hotel your paperwork is not slid under your door while you sleep, you need to go back up to the office. In our case (most likely because of the season) the office was not even open when we wanted to check-out. But I am sure I am just being nit-picky. I would stay at this place again in a heartbeat.

Entering the state of Kansas

Entering the state of Missouri

Entering the state of Nebraska

Sleepy Hollow is a far cry from the place we stayed at last night. It is located just off of I80 in Oxford, Iowa. The people were very friendly and the place was very well maintained. The night we arrived it was raining. In fact it had been raining all day and the roads in the park were a little on the mushy side. Our site was on the side of a hill and it was somewhat of a challenge getting the RV up the hill into our spot. Early the next morning after the rain had cleared the maintenance people were out in the park leveling and grading the roads. You can tell this place is well kept.

The park was built around a small lake. Our site was somewhat level for being located on the side of a hill. We had full hookups, although it took some doing to locate the cap for the sewer.

We didn’t stay long enough to give this place a thorough inspection. We would return if in the area and highly recommend it to anyone traveling I80.