Monday, 6th July 2009 – A few miles driving around town 1 last time.
Today was a little bit sad as it was our last full day in town so we made the most of it by lounging around at home and doing the washing. Oh, and then we decided we needed to go out and find another lakeside bar to drink at! We ended up at Coconuts which was huge and pretty cool but the service was a little rubbish and they had a “dive in bar” and a bikini contest (not at the time thankfully!) and I find both of those things a little dodgy.
Anyway, here’s a plethora of photos from our last full day at the Lake of the Ozarks, including another timed shot at Big Dick’s Docks where Hubs is running back for the photo. There were more s’mores that evening, as well as more firworks and a stunning full moon. I’ll just let the photos paint the pictures.
Sunday, 5th July 2009 – 50 feet driving on the wrong side of the road.
Today we set out to do some bush walking at Ha Ha Tonka State Park which was about a half hour drive from Kimberley and BJ’s. We left around 9am armed with fruit, sandwiches, water, hats and sunscreen. We stopped in at the visitors centre to pick up a map and decided on a couple of different walks. It was a perfect day for it – overcast and a bit cooler than that previous few days.
And here’s some photos of the Natural Bridge (I’m so strong), a Cardinal, us following the blue path, and the ruins of the Ha Ha Tonka Mansion (and Hubs running back for the timed shot! So cute.)
Now, if you look carefully at the things I listed to bring earlier in the post, you’ll notice the absence of aeroguard. This proved to be quite an oversight…
I actually felt really really bad that I forgot the aeroguard. The thing is, the mozzies were ANNOYING me, but they weren’t actually BITING me. They thought Hubs’ blood was much juicier than mine, so they just went to town on him. Poor poor Hubs. 🙁
The video didn’t turn out so good but it’s worth a look anyway!
It was a lovely day spent outdoors and we decided to stop in at the Walmart Supercentre on the way home to pick up a few things. 2 hours later we were on our way home! (Did I mention we LOVE Walmart!?) That night we had a cocktail and dinner at the bar (Hubs had a Reuben sandwich – one of our favourites and I had a grilled fish roll – so good!) and then we headed back “home” to make s’mores:
Place roasted marshmallow on chocolate, put the lid on (the other Graham Cracker) and enjoy with a good friend!
Damn they were good. We had our first one and then we wanted s’more! The second one made us feel a bit ill but we still wanted s’more!! I think we went halvsies. There were still some fireworks leftover from the 4th of July Celebrations, so we enjoyed watching them explode over the lake. Ah the serenity.
Another cruisey day with little other than walks along the lake, and lunch at the bar to kick off the 4th of July for us.
It’s the biggest day/weekend on the lake so by about midday we could already hear the sounds of fireworks being set off. Yeah. In broad daylight. But you know, when they’re only a couple bucks each, who cares if you can’t see them!? BJ’s Dad took us for a cruise in his cruiser up the lake for an hour or so and it was great fun. Very relaxing indeed…
Kimberley contemplating life. What else can you do when you’re so relaxed!?
The pretty pretty clouds and sunset.
Just as the sun was setting, a storm was rolling in but we were undeterred. We grabbed our margaritas (well, everyone else did. I still can’t go NEAR tequila) and deck chairs and set up on the water’s edge. The darker it got, the more ominous the storm clouds looked, and by the time the fireworks had started, so had the thunder, lightning, and downpour! We took refuge in the car, but not before Hubs got some very tricky shots of the fireworks and the full moon.
Our next day on the lake started out much the same as the first with a sleep in and some relaxing. Kimberley had arranged for her “Missouri Mom and Dad” to take us out for a boat ride on their pontoon, so once the rain cleared they picked us up and we were away. Jim and Mona had invited their good friends Jeanette and Ron as well and we started cruising around the lake as they pointed out hot spots along the way. They offered us drinks and gave us the menu – G & T, Rum & Coke, Beer… Well okay. Since we’re on holiday! They also had lunch on board for us which was tuna salad, devilled eggs (Hubs’ fave!!) and breadrolls and potato chips and some sandwiches. So we ate and drank and took “pit stops” when needed.
Mona & Jeanette
Jim & Ron
One of our “pit stops”
The weather started to get a bit ugly so we got dropped off and we decided to take it inside the bar. The night was full of eats and drinks and shennanigans. And another Minnow shot! We decided at about 8pm that it would be fun to go for a ride with a couple of guys from the bar down the lake. They let Hubs have a turn at driving too! The classic line for the night when Hubs gave it a bit too much gas “Duuuuuuuude it’s 25 miiiile an hour after darrrrrk.” Yee-haw!
Thursday, 2nd July 2009 – On the lake, being chauffeured!
We started off slowly this morning so we really felt like we were on holidays! Kimberley took us to Docknockers which is a bar she used to work at, and she treated us to a bucket of crabs legs for lunch. It was so much fun and SO yummy. There were crab bits flying everywhere!
Docknockers outside
Some other bar we went to on the lake!
We stopped in at Walmart on the way home for some supplies, then headed back to Big Dick’s. When you go to Big Dick’s Halfway Inn, you have to shoot the minnow. You choose your shot (I chose Lake Water – I can’t remember what was in it but it was blue and delish, and Hubs had a Jager), you get given your minnow, you pop it in your shot, and down the hatch it goes! Well, that’s the theory anyway! Here’s a vid of us doing it. Check out my minnow jumping into my shot for me!!
Food and drink in one! Ha ha. We did a couple of minnow shots in our week on the Lake, cos, you know, when in Rome!
We spent the night in, cooking up pork chops, drinking wine and just taking in our surrounds. We watched some practice fireworks for the upcoming 4th of July celebrations and took it all in.
Wednesday, 1st July 2009 – Sprinfield, MO, to Lake of the Ozarks, MO. About 120 miles.
Our first mission for the day was to drive to Bass Pro – the biggest outdoors hobby shop I’ve ever ever seen – to try and get a reel for Dad for his fly fishing. They are a lot cheaper to buy direct from the US as there’s less tax, so in we went. It was like Bunnings for the outdoor adventurers. Dad would have spent all day (and maybe all night) there if he could! They didn’t have what we wanted on-site but there was one at the warehouse so after picking that up, we set off for The Lake of the Ozarks.
After another beautiful, scenic drive, and getting just a little bit lost, we arrived at Kimberley and BJ’s Bar, Big Dick’s;
Yes, that’s the name of the Bar. It’s at the half-way point of the Lake of the Ozarks and it was established by a truck driver named Dick who was, well, BIG! BJ’s family have been running the bar for about 10 years. There are no words to express the feelings we had when we turned that little corner on that secluded road to find Kimberley and BJ running a VERY cool bar, right on the lake, and living 2 doors down. We were to spend 6 amazing, fun-filled, relaxing, fabulous, 6-of-the-best-days-of-our-lives here, and we couldn’t wait to get the relaxing started. We pulled up some chairs at the outside bar, ordered a pain in the ass and a couple of burgers, and so began our week on “the lake”.
The water was within stone’s throw. Literally. There are so many more photos to come – we didn’t get too many the first day as we knew we’d be there a while. But here’s an idea of what we were looking at, just across the road:
And a view of the bar from the lake!
We didn’t do a whole lot that day – just lots of catching up and drinking and eating and more catching up. We went out for dinner around 9pm to Paradise Bar and Restaurant – another lakeside bar. Everyone knows everyone on the lake, especially if you run a bar, so we were treated to a great feast of crab cakes, fried clams and salmon. Oh, and cocktails. Lots of cocktails! Luckily for us, BJ was driving so we could just chill-out and relax. It was an awesome start to our week on the lake.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009 – Amarillo, TX, to Springfield, MO. 540 miles.
We left our hotel around 8:30am, after a bagel for me and a Texas-shaped-waffle for Hubs! 🙂 We decided to take Route 66 as much as we could for the next leg of our journey. It was a very hot, very sunny day – just over 40 degrees – so having the top down and only going about 50mph was pretty exhausting. But we HAD to do it, cos, you know, WE WERE ON ROUTE 66!! It’s days like these that’ll make us happy…
Being just before the 4th of July, we saw a lot of these: i.e. temporarily places where you could buy FIREWORKS!! LEGALLY!! But the 4th of July story is yet to come. Back onto Route 66.
It was another lovely day to be on the road and we just really enjoyed the scenic route we took. Here’s one of those casinos in the middle of nowhere I mentioned earlier:
We really took our time driving, and we didn’t arrive at Springfield until 8:30pm, but it was still light!! Before we left, I decided that we HAD to visit at least 1 Springfield in the States, and I had emailed my gal-pal Colleen, who’s originally from Kentuky, to see if she had any rellies who would LOVE to have a couple of young, hip Aussies stay with them. (Did I actually just use the word “hip”??) And she told us that her brother and his family live in Springfield Missouri! And of COURSE they were happy to have us stay! We had a great time chatting with them into the night and we really appreciate them having us stay!
We couldn’t stay up too late though, as we had an early morning coming up. (Okay, 7:15am is early for us!!) but not a big driving day, so we were excited. We were almost at our first long-stay destination! Hooray!
Monday, 29 June 2009 – Williams, AZ, to Amarillo, TX. 666 miles.
This was our first really big driving day and we were well prepared after a good night sleep (mostly – it was pretty cold!), some great sunshine, pumping tunes and snacks; you know, like Beef Jerky!
It took me a few pieces to really get into it, but after that I was hooked! We even bought some at Woollies the other day!
We left around 8am and the weather started out lovely, but when we were stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch, it absolutely poured with rain. Lucky we didn’t get caught on the road with our top down! (That happened later!) I decided to broaden my horizons and try gritz. I had it with some eggs and it was okay. At least I could tick jerky and gritz of the list! We also popped in to WALMART (we love Walmart) for some better road maps and another cool t-shirt (Hubs bought 5 in total – $7.50 each… BARGAIN!) and then we were back on the road.
The lanscapes were just gorgeous!
But the weather was a bit temperamental so we didn’t have the top down much that day. We decided it was our duty to introduce the USA to some good Aussie music so we had a bit of Hilltop Hoods, The Cat Empire and Missy Higgins pumping through the speakers. I also found that I don’t get car sick when riding in a convertible with the top down (except on long, winding roads – more stories later) so I’ve determined that from now on, it has to be a convertible all the way. The kombi needs some work 🙂
It was a pretty long day of driving, just over 1000km, and it was made even longer by the fact that we had to cross 2 time zones, losing an hour each time. However, the speed limits were up to 75mph (120km/h – weeeeeeeeeeeee!) so we did it quite comfortably. Driving around sunset was particularly beautiful.
And everything is BIG in the US of A!
We arrived in Amarillo, Texas, around 9:30pm which meant it was still twilight, and decided just to order in pizza and chill out, as we had another substantial driving day ahead of us!
Sunday 28 June 2009 – Grand Canyon. 0 Miles in the Mustang.
In my research for accommodation in Williams, AZ, I came across Marvellous Marv’s Grand Canyon Tour and I got very excited! It sounded right up our alley – a small, relaxed tour, mainly avoiding all the touristy areas, a personal tour guide, and a good price. He picked us up in his van at 9am on a gorgeous sunny Arizona day, and away we went. Marv is a real salt of the earth kind of guy. He’s been running these tours for over 30 years (if memory serves) and he is very passionate about the Grand Canyon National Park and finds it appalling what they are doing to his “own back yard”. (e.g. there’s now a McDonalds there!!) There was only 1 other couple on the tour, Peggy and Jerry (we neglected to get a photo of them which is a shame) who were a retired couple travelling across the country in their RV. The RVs were EVERYWHERE! But that’s a story for another day.
Marv showed us some great sights and at times, we were the only people in that particular spot. The Grand Canyon is breathtaking. My mind just couldn’t comprehend the size and the magnificence of what I was looking at. Photos never do it justice, but Hubs took some beauties. I’ll let them tell the story…
We walked down the first part of the Bright Angel Trail and passed some Mules carrying people back up from Phantom Ranch. I thought Marv was pulling my leg when he said there was a resort down the bottom of the canyon! But sure enough, it’s there, all the way down the bottom. Our timeframe (oh, and budget and lack of planning) didn’t allow for such luxuries this time around. Maybe next time Hubs!!
We had such a relaxing day and I would highly recommend this tour to anyone. We went out to dinner with Peggy and Jerry that night and had Mexican (I had a Chimichanga – SO GOOD) and 2 buckets of Coronas (5 beers to a bucket) between us, and Jerry was telling us that the blood alcohol limit was .08 in Arizona, so there was no need to worry! He also told us that police in th US can’t just randomly pull people over, so as long as we drove in a straight line, we’d be fine! Luckily, we were only a mile down the road and Hubs took it easy on the beers. We finished the night back in their RV sharing our Bundy Rum and drinking their Coconut Rum (which I LOVED!) A great end to a great day.
And a couple of videos, for your viewing pleasure!
Saturday 27 June 2009 – Palm Springs, CA, to Williams, AZ. 375 miles.
After a complimentary brekky at the Travelodge we jumped on the I-40 and we were off! The first part of our journey was quite interesting, seeing the desert landscape, and then coming across a Casino and resort, seemingly in the middle of nowhere! And there were many more to come after this as well. The California Desert really is beautiful. The long stretches of roads, the hills and the valleys…
After driving for a while, we realise we should stop for petrol. But we haven’t really seen anywhere to stop for a while. On my google maps that I’d printed out (which were totally rubbish BTW) it showed that “Rice” was coming up, which I presumed was a town. It turns out “Rice” was just the area which was the middle of the desert. I was getting a little anxious, but we finally pulled up at a truck stop that was selling fuel for $3.89USD/gallon. I didn’t care. We put in about $40 worth and that was the most expensive fuel we paid for. (On average we paid between $2.25-$2.50 per gallon!!)
We stopped in at Kingman for lunch at a Diner on Route 66. We had our first sweet potato fries (Mum used to make them for us when we were kids) and we were hooked! We shared a burger, fries and a yummy chocolate shake….
….and we were on the road again. We were in Arizona by this stage and not long after, we arrived at Williams – the gateway to the Grand Canyon – and set up our tent. It took us a little while, but we figured it out and enjoyed a Bundy Rum and Coke as the sun was setting. We headed into town for a beer and some ribs that we shared (delish) and enjoyed the twilight which lasted until about 10:30pm. Hubs kept teasing me but I was really scared of bears, even though the locals assured me there was nothing to fear. Of course, there was no incident and we had a good, albeit cold, night’s sleep, with our alarm set for 8:00am the next morning!
