The Inherent Dragonfly A journey of discovering hope, change and love within myself.

  Odometer Reading: 4563 - 4884 Departed: Marshal, Illinois 9 a.m. Arrived: Mt. Gilead, Ohio 4:30 p.m. Overnight: Mt. Gilead State Park Campground We saw three deer on our way out of the park at Lincoln State Park. I suspect two of them were twins as they were small fawns of the same size.This was our last significant drive of the journey. We were going to be going from Illinois to Ohio. I had decided before we left that I wanted to stop near Dayton, Ohio at a Buc-ee's, a cult-like following gas station.  I absolutely love their brisket sandwiches. It was only an hour or two from our overnight stay in Illinois. When we arrived, we were greeted with lines in the parking lot, at the gas stations, and in the store like it was a free day at Disney World. We honestly didn't even know if we were going to be able to get a parking space. RVs and buses have their own designated parking spaces, but because of the crowds many cars filled those in. Bruce was determined that he was goin...

Odometer: 4240 - 4563 Departed: Osage Beach, Missouri 9 a.m. Arrived: Marshall, Illinois 4 p.m. Overnight: Lincoln Trail State Park Campground Since leaving the Great Sand Dunes our daily purpose was just a drive and get to our next spot. Our next spot was a pull through site and we didn't even have to unhook. Our set up took us 10 minutes from start to finish. The park was nice and we took Kenobi for a couple strolls.  We sat quietly for the majority of the day and evening.  After being together for almost 24 hours for the past 22 days, we were running low on new topics. We experienced some “Lasts” on this day. We ate the last of the chicken, we had the last campfire, and we used the last of the phone book that we have been using for the past 3 years to provide us with paper to start the campfire.   Wildlife: squirrels, mosquiotos Trailer: no issues Reflection: Some days may not be exciting and you are just putting one foot in front of the other, but be thankf...

Exploring & Relaxing I was missing my morning Chai latte.  We had not come across a Starbucks or a coffee shop that would accommodate a trailer in their drive thru only locations since the World’s Largest Truck stop in Iowa.  Could  we have gone into towns and searched one out, likely.  But I was looking along our route and in travel Centers. No need to make a special trip.   After our long drive through Kansas, we arrived and were happy with our choice of this cute little family RV Park. I loved how they had a wood carver come in and carve their dying for their dead trees into some beautiful art a couple places around the grounds. This would be our home for the next 3 days. We were looking forward to not having to pack up and move on. We spent the next 3 days, our longest staying in one place, in the Ozarks. We tried to decide if we wanted to go kayaking, do a little hiking, or just relax. My vote was for visiting a winery and hanging at the pool. Bruc...

Odometer Reading: 3945 - 4240 Departed: El Dorado, Kansas 9:15 a.m. Arrived: Osage Beach, Missouri 4:30 p.m. Overnight: Osage Beach RV Park Along the Way Along the way we stopped at the town of Fort Scott in Kansas. Fort Scott is a designated Nation Historic Park because of it’s importance in history of Indian Removal, Westward Expansion, Bleeding Kansas, the Civil War, and the Railroad years. This is a time in history I am interested in.  Blame it on Little House on the Prairie.  I was hoping to go to the Fort Scott Visitor Center to learn more, but it was under construction.  We did manage to see a little outbuilding but that was it. Upon our exit from the truck, we were greeted with the smell of barbecue and decided it was time for lunch. It was too hot to order out and eat in the trailer so Bruce asked the hostess at “The Brick Street BBQ” if we could sit on the patio with the dog. She said “it's so hot outside you should be in the air conditioning go ahead and bri...

Odometer Reading: 3716 - 3945 Departed: Ingalls, Kansas 10 a.m. Arrived: El Dorado, Kansas 4:50 p.m. Overnight: El Dorado State Park Walnut River Campground Along the Way  On this day, my fatigue was lifting a bit. We were traveling through a familiar area. Two years prior, we took a road trip with our friends across Route 66 beginning in Boot Hill, Kansas. Bruce and I decided we wanted to drive past the very sketchy hotel that we had stayed the first night and then we went on to Greensburg, Kansas. Greensburg Kansas had an old fashioned soda shop that we enjoyed on our first trip and we wanted to go back.  Bruce again got his ice cream flight. Across the street was the Big Well museum. It was closed when we stopped 2 years ago. I'll admit I gave the museum a really hard time. Who wants to go to see a hand dug well? We had decided that if Kenobi was allowed inside the museum, we would go and if not we would just get back in the trailer and head back on our way. Surprising...

Odometer Reading: 3183 - 3393 Departed: Mesa Verde, Colorado 9 a.m. Arrived: Great Sand Dunes National Park 1:30 p.m. Overnight: Pinons Flat National Park Campground Disclaimer: This is the part of the trip that I stopped writing my notes into readable form so I am mostly going by a very foggy memory. Along the Way Kenobi's tummy was feeling a little better as we made the drive across Colorado.  I had originally thought we would stop at Pagosa Springs and soak our feet in the hot springs but the construction was insane right down the center of the town so we decided to move on. Looking around from our orange barrel tour, it reminded me of Estes Park in Colorado. It's a cute little town with the hot springs and we made a note that we want to come back to visit at some point. Along the drive we saw two roadside waterfalls that I had also planned on stopping at, but I was so exhausted at this point and the traffic was busy and the pull off looked full so we decided to just dri...