Walmart, Joplin, Missouri
We were up with
the birds on Wednesday, Mar. 18th. We were drinking our brews at
6:30 and in to the Walmart at 7. That is definitely the time to go with maybe only 20 people inside aside from staff. We got our ground beef and some chicken for
the freezer and scooted out. Quickest shopping ever! Ken and Kim were heading
in as we returned. With quick wash ups, I made a sandwich for our lunch and we
all pulled out before 8:30.
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| Driving into the fog once more |
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| And eventually, we saw the blue sky and sunshine |
Just at
the corner, we both pulled in to fuel up. The price for diesel was amazing at
$2.39/gal! The sun was fighting the fog this morning so we were expecting a
clear sky at some point along the drive. Let’s see how far we get today. The
goal is Joplin, MO at minimum. Before we left Bill chatted with his
sister, Carol, with the same concerns as everyone else back home and full support in our decision. We all agree
how crazy the hoarding is and that is one thing we can scoff at, even though this is a
serious situation. Just get what you need for 2 weeks people!
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How many of us have driven under this awesome looking Skydance bridge ?
The structure was inspired by OK's state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher
How cool is that!? |
The
temperature was co-operating as it was a mild 50F already. The sun broke out
through one of the visible blue patches at 9:45 and that sure warmed things up
inside and out. We had 57F staring at us right well and proper! By the time we reached Oklahoma City, it was almost 10 but busy enough for not being rush
hour. Clouds have now replaced the blue sky and sunshine but it is a dry day.
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| It's hard to not notice these huge planes along the highway |
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| Part of the Airforce Bomber Base |
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| You can see the fog has returned somewhat |
We had
one close call where a pick up cut across in front of us for no apparent
reason. I’m dreading what that did to inside the Suite. Bill had to pump our
brakes 4 or 5 times. They work and so does the horn! We were glad to put O.City behind us. Staying on I-40E there were good sections and
very bad spots but we are trucking along. Just after 11 we pulled off to a
Sinclair fuel station to top up on diesel at $1.99/gal and so we could use
their washrooms. They were just cleaned, so perfect! The rest area previous was closed.
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My only collage today but it is an interesting one
We understand the implications from low fuel prices
BUT we are still happy to save all we can on this trip home |
Down the
road, we pulled off at a No Facility rest area that was open for parking so we
stopped and had our sandwiches. We checked and compared notes for the route
ahead before heading out around 12:45.
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| Our rest area lunch stop was open and very spacious |
Woops! Bill and I took a B instead of an A exit
and had to drive the wrong way 2.5 miles to turn around. Now we were on I-69N
and Kim and Ken would be ahead of us. They were paying better attention and
didn’t make the same mistake. I-69N is no treat to drive on either.
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| So many familiar things along the interstate |
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| Lots of water in the area |
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Many fields of grass fed cattle
which is nicer to see than those cattle farms we've also seen |
Thinking we would catch up to Kim and Ken, we drove
through a lot of small towns, Muskgee, Wagoner, Chouteau and Pryor before we
caught US60/Rte 66 at Vinita and went through Afton. Still no sign of the
Journey.
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| It is nice to see a lot of trees in blossom too |
They’re ahead of us somewhere. We chatted back and forth by text to
update our destination address and carried on through Fairland. Still in
Oklahoma. Next was a turn onto OK-10/S 660 Rd, a jig to the right and left onto
MO-43. That means we crossed the state line!
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| Grand Lake State Park |
Too
funny! Ken and Kim got twisted around too so now they are behind us, somewhere!
We carried on with a few more turns and arrived at the Walmart SuperCentre in
Joplin at 4:00.
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| The day got better again |
We found the ideal location, way off to the side and within 15
minutes, Ken and Kim joined us. After set up, Happy Hour ensued inside the
Suite. We could only sit inside because we didn’t want to get our chairs out
although the weather was quite nice. It isn't proper etiquette in these lots.
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| A really nice casino Temporarily Closed |
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| Some nice homes off the highway on a frontage road |
Many
topics were discussed with an acceptable interruption by phone call from
Marilynne. After reassuring her of our location and well-being, we carried on
until 7 o’clock with our friends. It was almost like a ‘this is soon coming to
an end’ gathering and it will be sad. When they said goodnight, I heated up a
container of our chili for supper. For dessert, it was a toss up between Jell-o
and Ice Cream but I seriously doubted that I would need anything at all.
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| Joplin arrival at 4 pm |
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| The Happy Hours are winding down but we are still together |
We ate by
7:15 and had dishes done and sandwiches for tomorrow made by 7:45. I sat to
work on my posting but I was tired and distracted. I gathered the receipts and made a list of our expenditures that needed to be claimed at the border. Then I didn't feel like finishing my blog. This was another good
travel day and although we lost each other for a while, we miraculously ended
up at the same place!
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the chili was good and healthy too!
good night all! |
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