On the Road South 2012

We left De Forest on Wednesday, October 31, for our winter destination: somewhere south. Late fall had settled into south-central Wisconsin with the thermometer dropping into the mid 20s at night and then rising into the 40s during the day.  Some days were warmer, some cooler.  That dose of weather reality and the fact that the campground was closing on November 01, led us to pack up and head for a south-bound  highway.

We had planned to drive only until we made it through the St. Louis traffic mess. Of course, whenever we hit a major city, we time it just right to be there for the the rush hour snarl.  It's a tradition with us. We drove only 430 miles on Wednesday and stopped for the night in Sullivan, Missouri--about 60 miles west of the Illinois border on I-44. We stayed the night at at a Flying J truck stop.   This station has separate fuel lanes for RVs with dump stations, water, and propane available.  It was a decent place to join many other south-bound RV travelers. It also had a decent Denny's restaurant in which we dined in the evening and morning. 

In the morning we continued west on I-44 until we hit Springfield where we veered south onto US 65 toward Branson. US 65 was put through the frontier before the terms "flat" and "straight" were invented. It is a 4 lane road with very steep but picturesque grades. The closer to Branson we got, the more the road rose and dove through the Ozark mountains of southwest Missouri. I am sure we eked out a meager 1 mpg up the hills and got at least 180 mpg going down! We arrived at Turkey Creek RV Village in Hollister about 11:30 AM--less than a 200 mile morning drive. 

Just eleven miles north of the Arkansas state line, Hollister lies directly across Turkey Creek from "historic" downtown Branson. Hollister boasts that it is home to the first iron bridge in Taney County (still standing). It also boasts of its first traffic light downtown which we were fortunate enough to be one of the first to stop at with other traffic.

So why are we here.  Neither of us are fans of the local Country/Gospel music or Christmas shows ad nauseum.  We are here because of convenience.  If we go back home for Christmas, we will leave our home on wheels here and drive the 620 miles north to reality.  This RV park is part of the Escapee system which offers reasonable rates for us and it lies in the general direction of our final destination in Texas.  So we did not come for the tourist attractions, we came for a safe and reasonable place to park.  And Donna wanted to see the new traffic light.

We expect to be here for at least a month if the weather cooperates. After that we expect to hit the road again and travel to the land of the Bushes--Texas. I am sure good ole George Jr. will greet us with wide open arms.  I wonder if they have any new traffic signals down there in Texas?