The trip begins.
We left home about 10am and headed out with a few items to load up into the trailer. It did not take us long to get hooked up and on the road. Lisa had not pull the trailer, or even drive the truck, in awhile so we decided to avoid highways as long as possible as we headed to our first stop. This also gave us a chance to avoid some construction traffic that we knew about on the route. Lisa did not have any issues once we got around the construction traffic, we connected with a highway to continue our travels to the campground.
When we arrived, we met the WagonMaster for the rally in the office. She complained quite a bit that the rally was not going to be as grand as she would like as Grand Design had pulled a lot of funding and support. We told her that we were excited about it any.
We got pulled into our spot within a couple tries. Setup did not take long. I did not have any cold beers, so we decided to go into Higginsville to a popular bar called Zybisco’s Bar and Grill. It was happy hour so we enjoyed a couple cold beers and each had a taco salad. Afterwards, we walled up around the downtown area.
We then went up to Walmart to get some mouthwash for Lisa. On the way back to the trailer, we found a farmer’s market closing up but was able to get some peaches, tomatoes, and a blueberry coffee cake.
When we got back to the trailer, we spent some time putting some things away. We got the bed made. Lisa struggled with how she was going to get everything in her closet. I was able to get the Roku connected and running through the mobile hotspot on my phone. I also mounted our shampoo dispenser on the shower wall. This will keep up from using the camper shower for 24 hours. I also discovered that I left a piece of my CPAP headgear at home.
We finished the evening around the 10 o’clock after watching some TV. We were both pooped.
June 5, 2019
Today we had to go back to the house to get the missing piece from my CPAP headgear. After breakfast and a shower at the camp shower house, we headed back to the house. Thank goodness our first stop was not very far from home.
Since we decided that I would take the overhead shelving above the bed for my clothes and Lisa would the closets on either side of the bed for hers, we decided we would also stop by a store and look for some shelving, so it would be easier to store Lisa’s folded clothing. This trip back also gave us an opportunity to pull in our trash can from the street and return some Amazon and Walmart items that I had. We also stopped by Hobby Lobby to get an outside mat for the stairs.
Acadia Moon Winery
On our return trip we stopped by the Acadia Moon winery for lunch. We did a wine tasting (Luna and Erato) and beer tasting (Irish and India Pale) while sitting out on the patio in the shade overlooking their small pond. The Luna and Erato were both very sweet wines that had a lousy smell. Lisa enjoyed the Erato wine, but not enough to get a glass. The Irish beer had an aftertaste like a mild Irish Whiskey. The India Pale tasted as expected to me, but Lisa said she enjoyed it. Overall we decided that we would just stick with ice water as the temperature was about 93 degrees at that time. We both shared a wood-fired pepperoni pizza that was wonderful. Overall it was a very nice.
Kleinschmidt’s
We then went across the highway to a large boot and cowboy store called Kleinschmidt’s. Lisa wanted to try to find a cowboy hat, but all were either too big or too expensive. It was fun looking at all the fancy boots though.
Great Escape RV Park
Lisa and I came back and changed into our swim suits and enjoyed the camp pool while talking with several other couples that were there for the Rally.
Later Lisa grilled some burgers on our new Cuisinart Grill. It was a little frustrating for her as the grill kept blowing out. Something to figure out in the future. We ate inside to avoid the flies while watching some TV.
Later that night we were treated to a lightening light show.
June 6, 2019
After a leisurely start in the morning of TV, coffee cake, and showers, we decided to visit Lexington, MO. This was a small town just north of Higginsville along the Missouri River. Before we left I tried putting Shampoo/Conditioner/Soap into a dispenser that I bought for the bathroom. Unfortunately, I was unable to prime them well enough to work. So I decided to let them sit for the day to see if maybe the liquids could work themselves into the pumps.
BATTLE OF LEXINGTON STATE HISTORIC SITE
When we finally took off and arrived at the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site visitor center, we found a painted rock on one of the historical markers with instructions to post our findings on Facebook. We have found these before when we travelled Route 66 in Illinois.
Once inside the visitor center, we watched a short film that tried to convey the feelings each side had at the opening of the Civil War. In the film, the wife of a plantation owner with family roots in the South conveyed her confusion about how she could not understand why people were making a big deal out of slavery. A German immigrant merchant and saloon owner conveyed the abolitionist side. Missouri was a tumultuous area prior and during the civil war as a border state, and because of its close proximity with the Territory of Kansas which was in the process of declaring its slavery position. Afterwards, we wandered around the museum looking at a very impressive collection of period artifacts and displays detailing the events surrounding the largest battle in the western campaign.
Behind the visitor center was the Anderson House, and old house that was used by a pre-Civil War slave owner that owned hundreds of acres while growing hemp that was used to make a variety of products to include rope. When the Union soldiers came into town in early 1861, they confiscated the house and turned it into a hospital. Situated on the top of some high ground with steep slopes on three sides, it became an important focal point during the Battle of Lexington when the Missouri State Guard with loyalty to the South attacked them in early September. The building was now over a century and a half old and still pocked with bullet holes from the war.
We then drove up a short distance to see the center of the high ground which contained a couple of Civil War graves and traces of some of the fortifications that may have been dug during the battle. We were both shocked at how steep the slopes were as we walked around the battlefield. It is hard to imagine what war was like during this time (or any time.)
DOWNTOWN LEXINGTON
Later we randomly drove around the city and discovered numerous historic houses from the mid-1800s that had been well restored. They were absolutely beautiful. Lexington was at the time of the Civil War the fifth largest city in Missouri and an important agricultural and trade point on the Missouri River and Santa Fe trail. We also saw a lot of homes that were probably from that period that had not yet been restored. Supposedly there were four registered historic districts in the city so it was really easy to see and feel the history of the city.
LINWOOD LAWN
We also drove out to an old antebellum plantation mansion called the Linwood Lawn that was a short distance outside the town. It was surrounded by green farmland and it was easy to imagine the stereotypical slaves working the land around the house while the white family watched and played from their home.
SPOTTED PIG
For lunch, we decided to eat at a restaurant & bar that we saw in the center of the town called “The Spotted Pig.” I was a small warehouse looking building with the usual bar decorations, pool tables, and 15-foot square dance pad in the center. It was mostly empty, but it looked like it might be the city hot spot during the evening hours. It was taco night there so we each had tacos and shared a big pile of potato wedges with cheese and bacon.
WENTWORTH MILITARY ACADEMY
After lunch, we drove by the now-closed Wentworth Military Academy which until 2017 was the oldest military academy west of the Mississippi.
LAFAYETTE WAR MEMORIAL
We tried to go down by the Missouri river to their Riverfront Park, but the river had overflowed all the roads there, so it was blocked off. I was able to climb the steps of the Lafayette War Memorial to get a beautiful view of the Missouri River and the flooded area around it.
MADONNA OF THE TRAIL
We also stopped at the Madonna of the Trail statue which celebrated the spirit of pioneer women. The Daughters of the American Revolution had commissioned 12 of these statues to be placed in different states along the National Old Trails Road, a coast-to-coast trail that mostly follows the National Road and the Santa Fe trail. We had seen one of these statues in Council Grove, KS.
GRAND DESIGN RALLY
We headed back to camp to participate in the opening reception for the Missouri Regional Grand Design Rally. While enjoying a free drink and appetizers, we were introduced to the Wagon Master for the event and a few Grand Design representatives.
We then wandered around the park talking with a few other 2250RK owners to try to learn some tips and tricks that they had picked up. We were back at the trailer by 9:30.
June 7, 2019 – Grand Design Rally
I woke up at 6:30 and wandered down to the clubhouse where a vendor had provided some donuts and coffee. There were only about a dozen chairs there and they were all full, so I decided to go back to the trailer and eat a healthier breakfast and drink the coffee I preferred. We bought a Keurig for the camper to give us the flexibility of having coffee on demand. I do miss the smell of a pot of coffee brewing though.
We both miss-heard/read the start time for breakfast, so it was already put away when we hit the club house. Lisa was able to grab a donut, so we sat down to listen to a presentation by JC Mooney on Proteng fire suppression systems. After a slide show of burning RVs and hearing statistics that there were over 20,000 RV fires a year, we were introduced to a tube containing fire suppression material that could be placed in various high risk areas in the trailer such as the refrigerator compartment, circuit panel, generator area, etc. This tube would heat up when there was a fire and explode releasing the fire suppression material. We later saw a presentation of these tubes in action outside. The exploding tubes were definitely loud and appeared to do the job.
This presentation was followed up by one from the Missouri State Police. This was mostly a question-answer forum where most of the questions were about tow limits and licensing requirements.
Afterwards we went to the trailer demonstration area where Lifestyles RV had brought about a dozen new model trailers for us to look through. As Lisa and I looked through the various trailers, it confirmed that at least among Grand Design models, we had gotten the best trailer for us. We also walked quickly by the vendors but there were only about a half dozen of them: Scensty, 11 Purses, a sign maker, RV health insurance, SkyMed, and MorRyde.
I had banged up the kitchen steps on the way back from Arkansas, so I asked if a Grand Design tech could take a look at it. They did while I was in the vendor area and made them a little easier to pull out. Now I need to straighten out the bent fender. I am not sure how I am going to do that yet. I may be able to roll it out with a wooden roller either still attached or maybe I could unattach the fender when I got home to make it easier.
We enjoyed some burgers and chips for lunch and heard about the advantages of disk versus drum brakes on the trailer. They claimed that it could almost cut the stopping distance in half and require less maintenance.
After lunch, Lisa and I caught up with the tractor and wagon that would take us on a scavenger hunt. They took us along a grass cut road through the woods where we were supposed to write down 45 items that looked out of place. They had ponchos, children’s dolls, cutting boards and many other silly things hanging from trees or laying on the grass. At the end, Lisa and I only had about 30 items so we decided to ride through again. This time we found about 10 more items. We both enjoyed this.
When we got back, we cleaned up our lists so that we could turn them in, climbed into our swim suits and enjoyed the park’s pool. It was very refreshing. After we showered off in the park’s showers, we sat at our site’s picnic table to dry off while enjoying a beer.
We then got into our Rally shirts for a group picture at the club house. They used a drone to take the picture which was interesting. When then enjoyed a huge dinner of brisket, baked potato, corn, beans, rolls, and lemonade sponsored by Grand Design followed by sheet cake. After we put the tables away, we were given a show by PickPocket Gene. He gave us a lecture on personal security using comedy and slight of hand tricks while demonstrating how easy it was to pickpocket various willing and unwilling audience members. I thought is was a very good demonstration.
Later, we joined a campfire for a beer and some conversation before going to bed.
June 8, 2019 – Grand Design Rally
Most of the morning is free time today which is disappointing. I had hoped for a full schedule of activities throughout the weekend but it looks like many of her vendors did not make it. There is a big rally in Oregon that has over 250 rigs there, so many decided to prioritize their efforts there.
After breakfast, Lisa decided to do laundry and I decided I needed to drain the Gray tank that was getting full. Though I got all the tanks empty, I got caught up in a conversation with our neighbors and didn’t do much more until Lisa joined back with me after doing the laundry. We both jumped into the truck to fill it up and get some iced sodas. When we got back we drove around the park in the truck and got invited to come inside and see their rather large trailer. It was huge but nicely laid out.
We eventually made it back to the trailer and went to the clubhouse for a sack lunch. We were suppose to see a presentation by folds of honor but the presenter had cancelled. I was able to hook up with the Grand Design technician from Indiana and tell him about the strange beep that occurred about 40 seconds after my air conditioner turned off. This was real annoying when the A/C cycled during the night to keep the temperature at a constant temperature as set by the thermostat. We eventually traced the noise to the fireplace that would beep when the A/C turned off. The technician had no idea how to disable the beep or what caused it. He recommended that I contact Grand Design Customer Support and tell them about my issue to see what could be done.
I then decided to try to sanitize the fresh water tank. Lisa and I poured ¾ cup of chlorine into the fresh water tank, filled it with fresh water, turned on the water pump, opened the kitchen and bathroom faucets, emptied the grey water tanks, refilled the fresh water tank, and ran the faucets again. We are not sure when we might use the tank, but it is nice to know that it has been sanitized.
We went back to the clubhouse for dinner and enjoyed an Italian meal of pasta, salad, and bread followed by Italian ice. The Wagonmaster then proceeded to raffle all the remaining donations and purchased items that were obtained for the raffle. Lisa was able to win a pair of heavy tongs from Tupperware, but I did not get my ticket called. For consolation, I was given a Grand Design wind chime.
When we got back, Lisa and I had a rather large argument centered around each of us feeling that the other one was not trying hard enough to communicate effectively with the other. Like most arguments, I do not think anything got resolved.