Thursday, June 20, 2019 - Travel Day to Garnett, KS; Dinner with Friends and Family

Thursday, June 20, 2019 - Travel Day to Garnett, KS; Dinner with Friends and Family

Dean and I were both up during the night a few times.  After drinking so much water following his procedure yesterday, he couldn't help it, but I don't know what my problem was.  I woke this morning about 5:30.  I wanted to post to the blog before we left.  Once I was finished, I ate breakfast, then started packing up the remaining things I couldn't do last night.  Once I had most of it done, I showered, then finished packing the final few things.

It was about 8:00 when we finished, so we walked down to say goodbye to Frank and Joyce.  We'll see them again in August at Yellowstone, but we'll keep in touch via text. 

We pulled out of the park at 8:30.  After a quick stop at the front gate to turn in our gate key, we took Hwy 76 to the High Road 365, which led us to Hwy 65 right into Springfield.  There we took a short detour on I-44 to reach State Hwy 13.  We drove on 13 to just south of Osceola, MO, where we transitioned to Hwy 54 through Nevada, MO and Fort Scott, Bronson and Moran, KS before heading north on Hwy 59 to Garnett.  It was approximately a four hour drive and it was very relaxing once we left the Branson/Springfield traffic behind.  

I took this looking out the backseat window - I'm not sure why there were there - but when I enlarged it - there were a number of American flags with many others.

These are random pictures I took - it was such a gorgeous day to travel!

As we passed through Nevada - pronouce va with a long a, not as the state Nevada with a short a.

Welcome to Fort Scott

Old grain elevator in Fort Scott

So beautiful

We were near Uniontown KS when I noticed this large U made of rocks on this hill!

Bicyclists were taking off from the vehicle on the side of the road, and the driver was filming them as they left.  I tried to catch what was on the side of the vehicle, but what I thought it said, when I googled it, I found nothing.  

These wind turbines were just outside of Garnett - hmmm, we have never seen these before.

A very interesting thing occurred on Highway 59, before the turn to Garnett (which should be to the left) and Kincaid, where you turn right on SH31.  Our GPS notified us with the following, "Turn right, then prepare for a U-turn".  It even gave us a picture of what to do!

Dean and I have traveled this road many times going back and forth to Oswego with the GPS on --- we've never experienced anything like this.  It was pretty comical!  Thanks to "Bobbie" for giving us a good laugh!

We soon arrived at Garnett's North Lake Campground.  Dean called his sister last night to see if she would be willing to go to the campground to see how many sites were taken.  She agreed and came back and said besides the camphost, there is only one other RV there, and she was right!  We thought we were in good shape!   So we were surprised, when we found "RESERVED" tags on almost all of the sites.....surprised in more ways than one!  

While we were in Branson I googled Garnett's website.  It said you could not make reservations more than 3 nights out - at the time it was beyond that so we decided to take our chances, since they have other RV sites available in town.  

The camphost was gone, so I called City Hall to see if any sites were still available.  Fortunately there were 3 sites not yet reserved and we were blessed to get the best of the three.  Some of the sites were a reservation as far out as July.  The site we chose gets full shade by late afternoon, which is great because it is only a 30amp site.  I also mentioned to her what I had read on their website.  She did not seem to be aware of that.  At least now we know we can call ahead and make a reservation with no time limit on when it can be made.  We've camped here several times when Dean's brother was camp host.  I guess having family onsite helps!

Only 5 miles to go!

Garnett's south lake.  There are camping spots here as well.

Golf course, right across the road from our campsite.  

We took time to eat a quick lunch and just rested for a couple of hours.  It was nice!  At 3:30 we changed out of our "travel clothes" in to our "going out to eat clothes".  Lol!  We are meeting Dennis and Pam, and Bill and Janice at Smoked Creations in Ottawa for an early dinner at 4:30.  

As we were getting ready to leave the campground (and pay our fee at the onsite pay station) a large motorhome pulled in.  He asked Dean about the spots.  Dean told him the site numbers of the remaining sites that were empty.  He pulled into one of those.  Unfortunately, the only two spots left were in full sun.  At least it still cools down at night.  (It was in the mid-60's when we got up on Friday)

We arrived at the restaurant a little early, and, as we expected, it was only a few minutes until they both pulled up as well.  We met both of these couples through our Escapees family and we enjoy them both so much.  

As with most new introductions, people always ask where you are from.  When Bill told us they lived in Rantoul, KS, Dean said he was from Garnett.  (Both towns are close to each other).  From that we found out Bill and Janice knew Dean's sister Marie and her husband Jerry.  It is a small world!  Our meals were wonderful as always.  Marie and Jerry actually introduced us to this place a few years ago, and we've never been disappointed with the food here.

Our waitress took this picture for us.
On the left Dean, Bill, Dennis, Pam, Me and Janice.

We arrived in Ottawa early so as we drove through town I took a few pictures to share.

This metal work with bushes caught my eye.  Funny, I didn't even notice the electrical tower until I looked at it later.

Water tower - logo included in the metal work in above picture.

A eyecatching flower garden in someone's yard.

Franklin County Courthouse - so beautiful!

Dean had me call his sister Marie several times as we were driving to Ottawa and again on the way back to Garnett.  Both the home and mobile phones were going to voicemail.  As we headed back I remembered when he talked to Marie a few days ago, she told us her grandsons were playing baseball tonight.  As we passed through Princeton we noticed a game, so we pulled in.  We drove slowly looking for any signs of their family.  As we left I told Dean I saw someone that kind of looked like his nephew Keith, but he decided to go on.  Since they live near Richmond, next town south, we drove through town looking for their ballfields.  Dean was surprised to see they were no longer there.  

Richmond Museum - I love the quilt design on the side.

Back in Garnett, we checked to to see if Dean's brother Larry, and wife Sandi were home.  They weren't home when we checked before leaving town, but they were now.  We had a nice visit with them and left about 8:30.  

As soon as we returned to Bentley, I changed into my pajamas, and settled to work on the blog.  I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to type more than a paragraph.  I headed to bed shortly after 9.