Heading to Arizona, Day 1

We did a normal departure from the farm, we didn't hurry. We took our
time, read the mail, rechecked all of the locks, hooked up and pulled out at
9:05 AM. It was cloudy and over cast, so no bright sunshine to get in our
face. Traffic was moderate on I-80 and we seemed to make good time.

Our route was I-80 to Des Moines, then south on I-35 to Missouri highway 36
and west to St. Joseph, MO. We arrived here at a Walmart around 2:45 PM and
proceeded to get some credit added to my Walmart card. (I get three cents a
gallon discount doing it that way.) We fueled the MH with diesel and had to
leave before we were blocked in by the fuel delivery truck. Okay, next
time. I did like the price at $2.50.9

We checked with a few people and yes, RVers are allowed to park in the lot
over night. And since the weather seems to be very cooperative, we decided
to just call it a day. It is so nice to have weather close to 70 degrees
and no wind. Actually, we'd be happy with there was some wind now to blow
the lady bugs away. It is hard to describe the number of bugs we have
inside and outside. They certainly hung on for dear life coming today,
because I don't think we're missing any of them. I rechecked the lawn before leaving for
any forgotten items and it is obvious that the lady bugs were going to make
their winter home under the tires. I'm not sure how they did it, but it
was a solid mass of squashed bugs where the tire depression was. Two good
things, they won't fly any more and they will now contribute to the lawn
fertility. A characteristic of the bugs at this time of year is that they
seem to want to gather in bunches in very tight quarters. I should have
put some boards down with about a quarter of an inch gap between them.
Perhaps I could have squashed a few hundred more.

We are parked in what seems to be an odd appendage to the Walmart lot. No through traffic, probably employee parking. We don't complain.

Tomorrow onto a C.O.E. park in central Kansas. Venango campground, near Langley, KS.

Gene