The Escape/The Return

 24 April 2022

We ended our time here on the gulf coast the same place where we started it. Shaggy's. More delicious grilled shrimp for us.

"Alright! Now you're just embarrassing me!" Gladys Butterpump said.

"What?" said I.

"You can't just unbutton your pants and lay on the deck like you were at home! Get up!" Gladys said.

"But I am so full of shrimp, I can't help it."

"You just tripped the waitress! Get up! It's time to head back to Minnesota."

And that is how the decision to head home started. Bellies full of shrimp. Freezer full of shrimp and crawdads. We were tan, full and missing the grandkids and smorgasbords.

After we left Gulf Shores we headed back to Waveland for one more beach day. We were ready to travel home. When that happens we don't do any sights. When we are ready we are ready. The trip home was uneventful which is always good.

We stopped at a couple of good camp grounds worth mentioning. Our first was called Tom Sawyer campground located on the banks of the Mississippi in West Memphis, Arkansas. Private camp ground and they gave us a front row site that overlooked the river.

This is our site. They were designed for motorhomes and he said we could drive in backwards but we needed the utilities. The views were still good. There was a lot of barge traffic going up and down the river.

There was also a river cruise ship that went by. I always thought one of those trips might be fun. Smaller groups and all.

So we watched the river traffic until bed time and the next travel day promised to be a wet one. The weather people were right. We got on the road as it started to sprinkle and as soon as we hit the interstate. It rained so hard for many miles that all we could do was 50 mph. Our wipers couldn't keep up. At least it rinsed the salt air off of the truck and camper. 

Also the interstate between Memphis to the Missouri border is probably the worst road we have ever been down. That state should be embarrassed that they call that an interstate. After the rain quit we tried to get up to 65 mph but that turned out to be a bad idea. The road was so rough, we were taking a beating inside the truck, I can't imagine what was going on inside the camper. So we slowed down to 55 and limped along to the border. Praying that the fourth shackle that I couldn't get changed, held. 

Our next stop was in Canton, Missouri. It was a city park along the Mississippi River.

Another night of barge watching was in store for us. Being the end of April we thought that the temps would be warmer but they weren't. We went from the eighties to the fifties rather quickly. We just watched the river traffic from the warmth of our RV.

Half way home. Our last overnight spot was in Clear Lake, Iowa. Last time we were in this camp ground we were traveling home in April to see our first grand baby. That was when we started to ice up and then had to winterize at 3 in the morning. Good times.

We made it home without incident. The shackles gods were smiling down on us. I will be replacing them all again this summer. When we had left April first we had hoped that when we returned home it would be warmer. That did not happen. We did miss a lot of snow while we were gone.

It was a fun trip. We saw many new things and enjoyed some sun and warmth.

Some numbers to think about. We put on 4400 miles and our fuel cost for this little trip to the beach cost us $1800 dollars. Nearly twice the amount if we had gone 2 years ago. I wonder what changed? Things that make you go Hmmm.

"Gladys! Unpack my thermal long johns. We are back at our Super Secret Undisclosed Virus Free Location." Insert sad face emoji here.