We blasted out of Oklahoma City this morning just after 0900 hrs and made our way northeast through OK City, past Tulsa-town to Joplin MO, stop #6 on this year's Griswold Vacation! I-44 was very rough through OK City but once out in the open it smoothed out quite a bit. The trip was uneventful and we only stopped once during the 227 mile drive. Pulling up along side of us at the fuel stop was an Alliance Avenue driven by Dave from Kalamazoo MI. Between us they were busy with their two dogs and so we did not have a lot of time to talk. Hopefully they will be at the Rally and we can chat more.
At 1306 hrs we rolled into the nearly empty Joplin KOA, in-checked and made our way to our home for the next three nights. There are many sites along the edge of the campground occupied by most likely seasonal folks based on the size of their propane tanks. In the "transient" area that we are in, we are it! There is a lot of room in between sites here, and for a KOA it is very quiet even though we are relatively close to I-44. It seems that most KOA's are close to major thoroughfares and so it is not unusual that they are noisy from passing traffic. But this one is very quiet. I did not get a picture, but right next door to the KOA is a fireworks / liquor store. What could go wrong with that combination?! Hold my beer and watch this!
After we arrived and got settled we decided to seek out a local restaurant for dinner, so we headed out and in route we visited one of the nearby sites on our list, the Grand Falls, which is known as the largest continuously flowing natural waterfall in Missouri. It is located on Shoal Creek and plunges 12 feet down a 163-foot-wide ledge before crashing into jagged crags and then flowing peacefully to the south. Swimming is allowed, but it was a bit too cool for us!
From there we headed a few miles north to the famous Route 66 and stopped at Woody's Wood Fire Pizza shop. We both love a good wood oven pizza. The last one we had was in Burlington Vermont last summer with our friends Armand "Hammy" and Lorie Lambert. Well, Woody's Wood Fire pizza did not disappoint, and we brought half of it back to the RV for lunch tomorrow!
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