After ending our desert stint for early 2022, we started the long trip back to the midwest. We stopped in Denver for 6 nights – 3 with our friends parked in their driveway, and 3 at Bear Creek Lake Park. We had an absolutely wonderful time staying with our friends! Thanks again to the Gee clan!
After leaving Denver, we made a beeline to Northwest Arkansas (Bentonville/Rogers area). It was a 2 day drive for us in this rig, so on the way we stopped at a nice campground for the night, Ellis Lakeside Campground. It was just off I-70 and only $25/night for water/electric and a dump station. Great for passing through.
Once in Arkansas, we had two missions – lots of mountain biking & spending some time with my parents when they showed up later in our stay. Unfortunately, we only got 3 days of riding in then the rain took over. It just poured for the remainder of our trip.
Despite the rain putting a damper on outdoor activities, we had a great time with my parents exploring Bentonville & Rogers. We checked out the Crystal Bridges Museum, Wal-Mart Museum, Daisy Airguns Museum, and a handful of breweries of course!
After our stay in Bentonville (9 nights), we headed up to stay with Andrea’s parents for a couple weeks. Steve and Sue were up to their usual shenanigans, spending the morning traipsing about town and relaxing, just to wait for the heat of the day to get to work. And heat of the day it was! We had a few days well into the 90s with humidity to match – and if it wasn’t 90s it was well into the 80s. Just thinking about it makes me sweat! But we still had fun helping them with various chores around the farm.
After a wonderful stay with the McDonalds, we headed down to Linn to spend a bit of time with my parents. The main attraction was my grandma’s birthday – the big 9-0! Happy birthday again, grandma. 90 years old and your party was so much fun!
We also got to spend some time down at my parent’s lake and cabin – and I got to help my dad put in some solar and the associated batteries/inverter so they could have power down there. It’s keeping the beer cold without any issues – I think it was a great success!
And of course, no trip back to MO would be complete without some time spend with my nephew, Graham! Love ya, little guy. Happy 2nd birthday!
After our stay in Linn, we headed back to the McDonalds for Andrea’s sister Laura’s wedding. Congrats to Laura and Nalin, we wish only the best for you guys!
We had a great stay in Missouri, spending time with family – we miss them already! Our next post will be about South Dakota (Badlands National Park and the Black Hills area). Here’s a shot from our quick overnight stop in Iowa on the drive, and Missouri Valley City Park. Only $15/night and right off the interstate. Perfect!
-Kyle