08-16-2020 Lake Wapello State Park to Lake Ahquabi State Park

This is moving day, so there’s not much else on the agenda.  It’s a leisurely morning and I’m enjoying Bonnie’s homemade granola and homemade yogurt for breakfast!  And her instant Folgers decaf with hazelnut creamer with much more yummy than my mint tea!

It’s fascinating to watch the way the slides move into place and still allow access to all of the facilities.  It really doesn’t take a lot of time to get ready, if you know what you’re doing., and Bonnie is a pro.  We watched the people next to us with a fifth wheel and the art of hitching it up to the truck looks pretty darn demanding!  Bonnie has to attach her car to the rear of the RV and Ginger helps, so as to see how difficult that would be.

 

When we all packed up, Bonnie sets off first so she can dump her gray and black water tanks and fill her water tank.  We will take Ginger’s car and meet her at the new campground.

 

Along the way we take a route that takes us past Lake Rathbun, another product of the Army Corps.  It is a lovely lake with lots of people boating, but it certainly isn’t as impressive as Rock Lake!  We’re starting to get hungry and when we stop for gas at a Casey’s we go inside to scope out the offerings.  Somehow we just don’t feel it’s the place for us, so we go next door to the Subway.  I haven’t had a Subway Veggie in more than a decade and I can’t wait!  We gather our sandwiches and ask for directions to a local park.  We follow them and find that the best park is actually an aquatic center with neither shade nor a picnic table.  Luckily Ginger had spotted the perfect place just a little ways back and we head there.  It’s a picnic table on a grassy plot and under a lovely tree.  It’s adjacent to a Dollar General, but so what?!

 

Lunch is even more delightful since Ginger had packed a table cloth!  It’s something that reminds her of her mother who always loved to eat outside.

 

On the road again and we’re about an hour away when Bonnie calls us to see if we know how to get to the campsite since, surely, we would have gotten there first.  Oops, sorry!  But when we do arrive she has only been in her spot a few minutes, so it’s okay.

 

We are able to help set up and it really takes very little time before we are all settled in, with the slides out and everything restored to it’s rightful place.  Our only plan for today was to move, so it’s a quiet afternoon.  Our hopes of good WiFi are dashed though.  I try to use my phone as a hotspot, the way Bonnie does, and for whatever reason, it won’t cooperate.  I can get email but nothing else, although for a brief moment I get Facebook.  But there’s no way that Blogger wants to come play with me.  Oh, well.  I can text from my phone and sometimes post to FB, too, so people will at least know I’m alive!!

 

There is ample time for wandering along the lake and seeing the local fauna!  Then it’s time for planning tomorrow’s expedition and for dinner. Bonnie has made the most marvelous chicken curry with a side of cucumbers and yogurt and fried lentil chips!  Everything is so delicious!!

                                                     You put the lentil chips in the hot oil.

                                       And they turn into these light, puffy bits of deliciousness!

                                              And three different kinds of chutneys and relish!

                                                                                      Life is good!

 

We finish quickly so we can catch the sunset and when the last bit of color is gone from the sky Bonnie builds a fire and we luxuriate in the blissfulness.  After a while Ginger and I agree that it is time to investigate the bathhouse.  She gets in right away and I only have to wait a few minutes for one of the other shower rooms to become available.

 

Back at the campsite Bonnie is minding the fire and we return to our seats to enjoy the last of the dying flames.  Back inside we are all ready for bed, or at least ready to blog or read.  We were smart enough to make up our bed before we left, so it’s just a matter of taking off our shoes and stashing our bath stuff.

 

Tomorrow we’re off to see the Bridges of Madison County!  The actual bridges, that is, and the farmhouse where the movie was filmed!  And we’ll probably watch the movie tomorrow night!  Should be a blast!