Starling Travel

The beauty of leaving our travel schedule open was that Mike and I could drive as far as we wanted and when we were tired we could find a campsite to stop at and sleep. The irresponsibility of leaving our travel schedule open was that we were driving home during Memorial Day weekend. After visiting The Laura Ingalls Wilder House and Osceola Cheese, we planned on camping at Lake Jacomo near Kansas City, Missouri.

When we arrived there, however, it was packed full and the camp host assured us that the other two campgrounds near the lake were also full for the weekend. Mike and I took one look at the rowdy campground full of people excited for their long weekend and decided to move on.

Mike pulled up the Allstays App [iTunes link] and found Beacon RV Park in St. Joseph, Missouri, about an hour away from the lake. They had room for us and their prices were very affordable. Their office closing time was in thirty minutes, however. The owner told us to head over and he would stay long enough for us to get there. We did our best to get through the Kansas City traffic up north to St. Joseph.

I had a bad feeling about the RV Park when we drove down the Belt Highway. How good could an RV Park be when it’s situated between a used car lot and a Chinese restaurant? I envisioned a night of noise from the big road and an unsecured location. Instead, we found a haven, sunk below the traffic noise. (Continue Reading…)

Mike and I saw the sign at the same time. I said,

“Share the road? With what? The Amish?”

We laughed and Mike pulled out his iPad to do some research.

“Umm… yeah.”

“Yeah, what?”

“We need to share the road with the Amish.”

I suddenly felt like I was in a strange land. There was a possibility that I could actually see Amish people driving horse-drawn buggies, just like the movies. And I did! I finally understood how all those tourists who come to Utah to see the Mormons felt. They’re just people. They might wear funny clothes (or underwear), but in the end, they’re people just like us.

I had no idea that with the Amish comes really good cheese. We kept seeing billboards for the Osceola Cheese Company. The giant mouse on the billboards enticed Mike, so we stopped there. I’m so glad we did. (Continue Reading…)

Mike and I left Memphis and started on the long journey back to Utah. I was driving and in a bit of a road trance when Mike asked,

“Do you want to see the Laura Ingalls House?”

“What? Yes! Of course I would!”

He replied, “We just missed the turn off for it.”

It was all I could do to not slam on the brakes and attempt a u-turn on the interstate.

“It can’t be the Little House on the Prairie. That wasn’t in Missouri, was it? I thought they lived in South Dakota.”

Mike pulled out his iPad, doing research while I looked for another exit.

“It was the house she WROTE the books in. Take the next turn-off.” (Continue Reading…)