You’re Not In Iowa Anymore…
Or, as a friend commented, The Misadventures Begin…
I was finally able to leave my home state of Iowa. Seeing as how it had been unseasonably cold in Iowa, I wanted to get to a warmer climate and decided to start with neighboring state, Missouri. On a drizzly Friday morning I set out of Des Moines for Hannibal, Missouri. I was truly hoping that when I crossed the border into the Show Me State, that the rain would stop, the clouds would part, and the sun would bless my new adventures. You guessed it…it didn’t happen, though the rain temporarily stopped.
I arrived in Hannibal late Friday afternoon and drove directly to the Mark Twain Cave Campground. Up to this point the day had gone smoothly, but that was about to change. Upon checking in I was given a QR code to scan to get a map of the park so I could find my spot. First issue: I had no cell service. I found my spot which I knew was going to be a back-in spot. Second issue: spot was almost impossible to get into with a big rig. But, two very nice men from the two spots next to mine came over and helped direct me into the spot. I couldn’t have done it without their help. I got parked and set about leveling the rig. Third issue: the site was unlevel and the ground was very soft from all the rain the area had received. In short, leveling pads sank into the ground and the automatic leveling system could not get the fifth wheel level, even with the front jacks fully extended. Knowing there were no other available spots in the campground, I spent the night in what I felt was a very unstable rig with no cell service and very, very weak and spotty WiFi. A couple moments of self-doubt about my ability to continue my dream of traveling the country in an RV had to be thwarted by telling myself I was tired and needed a good night’s sleep.
Saturday I awoke to more rain. Around 11 a.m., when the showers somewhat let up, I went out and re-hitched the rig to my truck and tried to fortify the ground under the front jacks and add blocks to aid in leveling. While this helped some, the front jacks still had to be fully extended to get the right close to level, which did not ease my fear of instability. For the next 48 hours I checked quite often to make sure the jacks were not sinking further into the ground, which never happened. The rig was not level, I never felt comfortable, but tried to go about life.
To occupy my mind I decided to set out and explore Hannibal. I stopped at the Mark Twain Cave Visitors Center (which was also the office of the campground). I had read there was a trolley tour that stopped at the cave as part of it’s route and asked a clerk for information. To my dismay, she knew the trolley had just gone by, but nothing else about the tour. She asked another clerk, who also knew nothing about the trolley. The clerk then asked her manager to come over, and again, he had no information, but did call the Trolley office and was told the trolley should be back at the cave at about 2:45, it is was 1:20. If you research the Hannibal area there are only three or four “big” things to see or do, two of them are the cave and the trolley. Since the trolley stopped at the cave, I thought the people at the cave would have useful information for tourists like myself, I was wrong.
Not wanting to wait for the trolley, I decided to take a tour of the cave, which began shortly. My cave tour experience is documented elsewhere, so let’s just say I conquered my slight claustrophobia and enjoyed the cave tour. I returned to the trailer and after checking to make sure the jacks weren’t sinking, I sat down to get caught up on emails. Woops, I forgot I had absolutely no cell service and the WiFi was so spotty I couldn’t do anything online. I spent Friday evening until Monday morning with no cell service at the campground. I think the last time I went that long without cell service or WiFi was before I owned a cell phone. One doesn’t realize how dependent they are on the internet until you don’t have it. Want to check the weather? Can’t do it. Want to find the hours of the museum? Not going to do it in your camper. Want to text a friend? Get in your vehicle, drive three miles to a spot that has cell service and text away, but end the conversation before going back to the campground. I did get one television channel, which allowed me to watch the evening news so I could check the weather forecast.
The rain stopped and the sun started shining, so I spent Saturday night and all day Sunday exploring Hannibal. I drove through Riverview Park, took the trolley tour, and explored museums. This is what I had dreamed of doing. I even felt comfortable looking like a big tourist by taking out my tripod mounted camera in order to take night pictures along the Mississippi River, focusing on the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse.
I had reserved the campsite for four nights, planning to leave for my next destination on Tuesday. Sunday night’s weather forecast called for more rain starting Tuesday. Believing I had seen most everything I wanted to in Hannibal and wanting to avoid setting up in the rain at my next campground, I packed up the trailer on Monday morning and headed to Sedalia, Missouri, forfeiting one night campground fee, but believe my feeling comfortable is worth more than the lost camping fee.
There will always be lessons to learn. My big take-aways this week…I need to go to Lowe’s and get some 2x12 planks to use for leveling when the ground is soggy and I need to make sure I research campgrounds a little more fully to make sure I don’t have major parking issues in the future. I thought I had done the research, but in hindsight, I didn’t. Admittedly, most of the problems were not the fault of the campground. I just need to gain more experience.