Yesterday was a long day, but we powered through and we are hopefully within a day’s drive of our destination today. Moving forward we would like to limit the driving to more like 5-6 hours plus stops, but the car issue definitely set us back. On days where we sightsee, we want to drive even less. 

Although the internet was only useable during the evening when the Visitor’s Center was closed, the Lamoni, IA rest stop makes the most of its location in a way I haven’t seen before. Art permeates the building, with the Mormon Trail as a centerpiece. The gorgeous design includes lots of comfortable seating, and against the wall are booths with Internet and seats so that you can work with electricity (and heat!) in comfort. The rest rooms are really nice too.

Outside you’ll find a pet area, tons of picnic tables and some historical information in the area. An outdoor patio invites you to linger. Two additional walking trails are worth a look. One leads to an overlook of the river. It’s a nice walk, even if the foliage is a bit overgrown like it was when I was there. And the other leads to an absolutely incredible spot on the lake with a picnic table to enjoy the views. There are also walking trails (not handicapped accessible) that look like they go around the lake, but I wouldn’t explore that without an orange vest at this time of year.

I absolutely loved waking up to the sunrise here. What beautiful (and free!) views.

Other things we did yesterday:

Got gas in Kearney, MO (and resisted the excellent Krispy Kreme displays)

Crossed the Missouri River

Walked downtown of historic Independence, MO, home of Harry S. Truman and his library; full of beautiful homes and sidewalks and diverse residents (at least one that didn’t seem thrilled we were visiting!)

Drove through Kansas, including a few city areas that were crazily busy

The highways had “exits on exits” which weren’t our favorite

Drove the Frontier Military Historic Byway

Enjoyed the look of Fort Scott, KS (future trip?) which seemed fun and historic

Enjoyed this pretty state with lots of lakes and trees 

Visited Missouri for literally another minute before entering Ohio

Stayed warm although it got down to 25 degrees outside our RV (40 in)

We had hoped to stay at another rest stop last night, but they actually close it down after hours so we found a different free parking lot (Walmart) to crash in. Miami, OK is home to eight American Indian nations and it is kind of fun to be in Miami! We were also charged the car rate when we exited to pay a toll, $.75, so that was fun. 

Today we will head toward a friend who lives outside of Dallas for Thanksgiving. No grand sightseeing plans for today. We are ready to relax our pace after this. Thanks for reading!