Category: Kansas

We left Deer Creek Valley RV Park shortly after 10AM CDT. Just before Noon we saw highway information signs stating that there was a wreck ahead and that I-70 Westbound was closed at Mile Marker 291. We got off at Mile Marker 295 and hopped on Old US-40 (and I mean old). I was worried to death that it was going to turn into a dirt road, but it didn’t. It wasn’t much road, but we got to Chapman, KS and took the main northern road out of town to get back on I-70 at Mile Marker 286 (thinking we were West of the wreck). A flag man met us at the on ramp and told us the wreck was further West, but that the left lane was now open. We eventually reached a wreck which appeared to involve a big Class A motorhome towing an SUV. We couldn’t see what damage it sustained, just that it was being hooked to a larger wrecker and there was tons of debris beside it. Just ahead of it was a trailer that had nothing left on it and debris everywhere. We think it was a flatbed, but couldn’t tell for sure. Then another few miles down the road we came across at Travel Trailer that was upside down (no tow vehicle in site). We’re not sure what all happened in those two incidents, but we were glad we weren’t part of it.

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We are staying at the KOA in Wakeeney, KS. We’ve stayed here twice in the past and consider it the last decent campground along I-70 between here and Denver. We reserved two days here in case we ran into issues along the way and needed some repair time. We will head to Denver on Thursday.

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Today we slept in a little bit and left Lazy Day Campground at about 10AM CDT. In order to maintain her driving skills Beth elected to drive the first leg this morning. I didn’t want Beth to think I was watching over her so I took a good nap with my cat Kirby. We arrived at Deer Creek Valley RV Park in Topeka, KS just after 2PM CDT. We stayed here in 2017 on our way to Denver in Site #47 (beside our current Site #48). As I mentioned then, this is a really nice, well maintained RV Park. The WiFi download speeds are over 5Mbps and there aren’t any trees, so the roof antenna works fine for DISH satellite access. Beth reheated our leftover pork chops, baked potatoes, and cheese logs from Patti’s for supper and round two was still delicious.

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Yesterday we left Goddard, KS on US-400 (nice four lane highway) and stopped at the Walmart in Pratt, KS to pickup a caulk gun (I left mine at home) and some other essentials. We then headed North on US-281 (nice two lane highway with plenty of shoulder) to Russell, KS where we hopped on I-70 West.

We are camped at the KOA in Wakeeney, KS. We stopped here on our way home back in 2017. Last night we walked (quarter mile) over to The Brazen Bull for supper. We both had Cowboy Burgers and Tater Tots which were very good.

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Today we got up and walked three miles on a frontage road along the interstate. It was quite desolate (surprise, you’re in Kansas), but Beth was excited because there were horses where we turned around to head back. When we got back we had some cat outdoor time while we cooled off and then headed into town for lunch. We ate at the Western Kansas Saloon & Grill. The food there was delicious. Beth had a Patty Melt and I tried out their Steak Fingers (which were like finger size chicken fried steaks). After lunch we stopped off at the local grocery store to stock up on grandchild food/treats.

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We began our journey home today. Since we were anxious to get home we elected to break our retirement rule of 250 miles maximum per day and knocked out 475 miles. We decided to spend the night at a Cracker Barrel and didn’t want to get there too early and take up valuable parking so we didn’t leave the Denver area until 10AM MDT.

Two hours into the trip we stopped and ate lunch at the Arriba, CO Rest Area (Mile Marker 383). We forgot to buy lunch meat at the grocery store before we left, so we had to thaw out one of the packages of Eckrich Bologna we had cut (extra, extra, extra thick) at my hometown grocery store deli and froze. This was an unexpected pleasure and I’m glad I still have one more pound in the freezer to enjoy sometime this winter. For those keeping track at home, Beth was the mature adult in the family (as always) and made herself a nice salad.

Once we got out of the blue state, diesel fuel prices dropped $0.30/gal so we stopped two hours after lunch in Colby, KS and fueled up at the 24/7 Travel Store. There was supposed to be a McDonald’s at the travel store, but it was closed due to construction so we ended up stopping on the road in front of a local Sonic Drive-in while Beth ran in to grab a couple fountain sodas (with the great Sonic chewy ice). We had no idea how difficult it would be to purchase a soda at a Sonic if you aren’t in a car. They ought to have those two clowns that do their commercials do one about that. It would be an instant classic.

At just after 6PM, we stopped at the Ogallah, KS Rest Area and ate leftover hamburgers we had grilled Sunday afternoon. We drove non-stop to the Junction City, KS Cracker Barrel from there. There was a Shell Station at the same exit with good diesel fuel prices, so we topped off and cleaned the massive bug carcasses off the windshield before pulling into the Cracker Barrel. We arrived just after 9PM CDT and fired up the DISH Satellite in time to see the last three innings of the National League Pennant race where Washington knocked off St. Louis to make it to the World Series.

If you like cloudy, foggy, rainy Fall weather, today was your day.  We departed from St. Louis at 7:30 AM CDT at 69 degrees.  It was foggy most of the day, but we didn’t hit rain until we approached Kansas City.  Fortunately, the rain was never heavy enough to slow us down, but once it started it was very constant.

Out of pure luck we managed to time our trip through Kansas City shortly after the Kansas City vs Jacksonville NFL game started so we were not impacted by game traffic.

We stopped for fuel in Columbia, MO at a QuickTrip station where the diesel fuel was much less expensive than at the high end travel plazas (Flying-J and Loves) and a very nice store (comparable to a Wawa station).   Beth discovered their Iced Tea bar (which was massive and had every type of Iced Tea you can imagine).  She loved her unsweetened tea (in Styrofoam cup).

We stopped for lunch at the first rest area on the I-70 Kansas Turnpike and enjoyed our leftover spaghetti from Beth’s retirement luncheon on Thursday (thanks Mike and Rick for the second great meal!).

We arrived at the Triple-J RV Park in Russell, KS at 4:50 PM CDT.  The temperature upon arrival was 52 degrees and the rain was pretty steady, so we turned the heater on for the first time in ages and hunkered down watching host Scott Hanson on the NFL RedZone for the rest of the day.

We left Denver this morning at 10:20 AM EDT and arrived at the Wakeeney, KS KOA at 3:43 PM EDT.  The campground here is adjacent to the south side of I-70.  The noise from the interstate is acceptable with the camper closed up and the AC running (it was too hot today to spend anytime outside).

The sites are pull-thru with 50 Amps and septic at each site and plenty of space between.  The Verizon reception is 5 bars with great LTE download and upload speeds.

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We departed from Jasper, TN this morning at 6:15 AM EDT (sorry neighbors, we tried to be as quiet as possible).  There’s no better way for your Caterpillar C7 to start the day than an immediate trip over Monteagle.  As we started to lose speed I dropped to 4th gear and were able to maintain a speed of 55 MPH all the way to the top with no change in engine temperature.

We fueled up at a very nice Flying-J in Oak Grove, KY and Beth took over driving duties at that point as I demonstrated how to knock out a quick 2 hour power nap.

I took over driving again once I woke up from my coma and we kept on cruising (only stopping once more for fuel).  Beth got to see the Gateway Arch for the first time in her life and in honor of Clark Griswold I made sure to point it out to her and then tell her we didn’t have time to tour it.  Unfortunately, we lost nearly an hour when traffic came to a complete stop for road repair just west of St. Louis.

We arrived at Deer Creek Valley RV Park in Topeka, KS at 7:50 PM EDT (it was a long day).  This has to be one of the nicest RV Parks we’ve ever stayed in.  All concrete pads with plenty of manicured grass between sites.  We will definitely try to stay here again on our future trips west.

We showered and watched the USF vs San Jose St college football game before going to bed.

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