Category: History

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Hannibal Missouri – Mark Twain Cave

As I drove Northeast from Columbia, the weather slowly changed into a classic fall day – breezy and cool with bright blue skies. I had called ahead to book a reservation at Mark Twain Cave RV Park, an interesting place in that it is a private operation that operates both a campground and tours of the cave located on their property.

It was nearing the close of their season so they were only at about 25% of capacity, which suited me just fine. I was given a fine site at the back of the park.  The sites here sport full hookup with one quirk: the sewer connections are near the front of the sites, far forward of everything else. My fifteen foot “stinky slinky” wouldn’t reach, so I had to pull forward and dump at departure. No biggie, but I did put a ten foot extension hose on my list for items to acquire for next year.

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Northern Kansas – The Space Between

I’ve you’ve ever driven to California from the Midwest, you probably remember driving across Kansas. I-70 bisects the the state in a merciless dead flat, arrow straight line of pavement. Hours of boredom before you can reach Denver or Kansas City is the way most travelers think about the Sunflower State, and I was no exception. This is my account of the trip that changed my mind about this “space between”.

Colorado transit

Ordinarily Colorado is a destination, a place to enjoy the spectacular Rocky Mountains after crossing trackless expanses of desert to the West or equally flat grain fields to the East. On this occasion circumstances were different. A Canadian Clipper was swiping down from the North, and the forecast was for significant snow. While this was great news for the ski resorts like Vail, Loveland and Copper Mountain ahead of me, I had no intention of being caught on the wrong side of the mountains in a snowstorm.

Accordingly, I got an early start out of Thompson Springs Utah and put my rig on Interstate 70 at the full speed limit, a rarity for me.

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Central Utah – Sego Canyon

Previously, I mentioned the great tip on Professor Valley I received from the camp host at Ballard RV Park in Thompson Springs. This post describes the second destination he told me about – the remote canyons of the Book Cliffs to the North. Access to the area is by semi-improved BLM roads, which are navigable by cars for the most part, assuming you have decent ground clearance and exercise common sense. It wet weather or beyond the ruins of Sego you’d better have all wheel drive and be prepared to take care of yourself; there is no cell service in these canyons.

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