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We Have Neighbors Again!!!Sep 29, 2007
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| From Ray Behrens (COE) Campground, near Perry, Missouri, 123 miles NW of St. Louis On Thursday we wandered for +190 miles through several different highways to move ourselves from Knoxville, Iowa to this location. Probably the most interesting part of the trip was a road sign that we saw somewhere along the way & then another identical one just short of arriving here. I've never seen a road sign that had the same message anywhere else. We've all seen the road signs that are very common noting the weight limit of bridges. These two signs put a different twist on that idea. Rather than saying simply that the bridge's weight limit was xx tons, these signs read "Trucks over 20 tons, speed limit 15 MPH while crossing bridge". Fortunately we are only about 15 tons, bus + Jeep, but still I wondered. If I am driving a rig that weighs over 20 tons, is the bridge going to support me or am I & the truck going to go crashing into the water?? If I go 14 MPH will I be OK, but if I go 20 MPH will I get wet??. As Vicki was saying, wouldn't I be better-off to go fasttttt across the bridge if I am overweight?? That must have been the thought of that concrete truck that zipped past us just as we approached the bridge!! Sorta like skipping a rock across the lake!!! If I hit the bridge fast enough, maybe I can get all the way across quick enough before it falls out from under me. But, if I am only doing 14 MPH, the bridge would collapse & I would still be sitting short of the other side.....with obvious consequences. Anyway, you get the picture. Just one last thought before I leave this spin........with so many of those weight limit signs that we all see out there everyday, when was the last time (other than the Minneapolis bridge) that you have ever heard of a bridge collapsing. And we know that big trucks seem to totally disregard the weight limits on a regular basis. Yes, we did arrive here at Ray Behrens Thursday afternoon.....another very nice campground, at a very reasonable price ($16 [no tax] for 50 amp elec, $22 for 50 amp, water & sewer). The front section with 53 sites will remain open for several more weeks, but the back two sections with an additional 112 sites will be closed again Monday. The hosts told us that those back sections have already been closed twice this year, but have been re-opened to meet demand. Given that we will likely be here for a week to ten days, the front section was the obvious choice. In each of the sections, approximately half of the sites were reservable, the other half were first-come. All of the reservable sites were taken & most of the first-come sites were taken, even though it was only Thursday afternoon. A few sites were open, one of which was site number 41. Upon looking at it, we thought that it would work well for us......some openness, a nice shade tree to cover our patio area, reasonably level, sufficiently long, a nice stroll away from the bathhouse. I thought that the rooftop satellite receiver would have a clear sight-line to the Direct TV satellite, but after I parked I realized that south was a little different direction than I had first thought. The shade tree solidly blocked the signal to the rooftop, but we were able to get the tripod locked-on after a few trial & errors. This campground is veryyy nice........& best of all, it has some other people in it. We immediately felt much more relaxed than we had while staying at Elk Rock all by ourselves. We knew coming in that we had several bags of laundry that needed attention. Since there were no full hookup sites available, it was a moot point of whether we pay the extra $6 per day so that we could do laundry in the bus. The availability was irrelevant, I would not have paid that much differential for the duration of our stay. Friday we went into Perry, the nearest town, to a Laundromat, where we spent $15 to do all of our laundry. That was the fourth time since January that we have had to use a Laundromat. While there, I picked-up a couple of area newspapers, checking-out what was happening in the area. We found at least two area high schools that were having their Homecoming football game, so we decided to go into Monroe City. We ended-up having three segments of entertainment for the night, the game, the Homecoming festivities & the school band. The Monroe City Panthers were playing the Macon Tigers. Both teams were 3-1, having both lost to the same team. The home-team Panthers scored first & then led until the Tigers tied the game in the final minute. The Panthers had the first opportunity to score in the overtime, but failed to do so. The Tigers then made good on their opportunity to win the game. I think the fans would agree with our thought that the overtime should never have happened. The Panthers totally shot themselves in the foot throughout the game for what must have been at least 20 penalties for Illegal Procedure (drawing the Tigers offsides) & a few other infractions. I'm certain that without some of those penalties the Panthers would have scored some additional points to avoid the OT. Now I realize that it has been several years since we were in high school & had our own Homecoming festivities. As best as I remember, the girls were dressed in something close to evening gowns & the guys were dressed in suits when the Homecoming Court was presented. Times have changed. The five couples who made-up the Court last night could easily have come directly from whatever other activities that might have been occupying their time before the game........& could have left directly from the game to catch their friends at the local bowling alley. The Monroe City band was a bit on the small side......a total of 17 band members, which included two Drum Majors who apparently alternate the responsibility & one cheerleader & one football player who doubled as band members. The football & cheerleader uniforms intermingled with the other band member's uniforms. Still, with all of the nuances of the evening, it was good to see the kids "doing their thing", participating I'm sure in ways that are consistent with current times. Today we debated whether to go into Hannibal or one of the other local communities for sightseeing but decided to just enjoy hanging loose here at the bus & saving the traveling for the midweek. We did get enough gumption to go aerobic walking for an hour or so around the park; we are slowly sneaking up on getting back to our healthier side by being more diligent about walking daily & being more careful about what we eat......sneaking up on it, but not totally there yet. I've noticed that the past week to ten days have had a significant spike in reader traffic. If you are a new reader, WELCOME to the Journal; I'd love to hear from you, how you found it & a bit of info about you. If some of you have been readers before & have recently gotten back in the habit, WELCOME BACK & I'd love to hear from you. If you have been a regular reader, THANKS for being loyal & I'd love to hear from you. PSSST.....did you notice the consistency there????........I ALWAYS love to hear from you so that I can feel a bit more personal with you. And just a reminder.....I typically open your comments for public viewing, but will certainly honor your request to not do so for your comments, or if you make a comment that I think might be too personal for your interests, I will elect not to open your comment. One other thing.....I ALWAYS reply to your comments, so if you don't get a response within a few days (usually one, at most two), then let me know because something went amiss. Yes, I see the numbers for reader traffic, but it is always nice to have communications that are a bit more personal. Most of all, THANKS!!!!!! |
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