For Blogger. Family road trip summer 2014.
7/24: My First version disappeared, only about three or four paragraphs' worth, when Blogger crashed aft night while I was trying to save it to draft. Lesson no. 1: type your work to a note, then paste it into blogger, especially when you have barely any cell service. After driving about as far as we cared to, getting a good jump on Friday's travels, we started looking for a place to camp for the night. After a couple sites didn't pan out, we headed for Bogard, MO, which a website said had a city park that allowed overnight camping. We pulled into town a little before sundown, and took a quick look around. We wee actually just about to head to the next town up the road. Torrey got out of the car to look at an old foundation near the Park, and a lady drove up, I thought to see what some strangers would want poking around their park.
She was Loretta Fomes, and she told us we could pitch camp nearby. Loretta told us that Bogard had a school that stood on the site of the Park, and that the ruin across the street was the old Gymnasium. We pitched our tents next to the old ball field, and sat looking at the Milky Way until about 10:30.
7/25:
This morning, Loretta sent is off with ears of homegrown sweet corn. We were more than grateful for her kindness! We headed up out of central MO and headed west on Route 36. The day rapidly warmed,
with temps mostly about 98 degrees almost all day. We made a memorable rest stop near Jefferson, NE, nothing really more than a couple of sheltered picnic tables, but was a pleasant place to pause. We are camping tonight at Gallagher Canyon SRA. Very warm and still. Nay, Hot. Lots of hungry insects! However, the delicious sweet corn Loretta gave us for dinner made up for it- thanks, Loretta! Also, lots of red headed wood peckers. Some kind of vireo or warbler, and something that sounded like a deranged heron flying around in the dark. Torrey saw a big barred owl just behind our campsite at bedtime. Awoke about 3am; it had clouded over and storms which has been previously about a hundred miles west were filling the skies with silent lightning. Torrey was already putting the storm flies on the tents, and the breeze actually had taken on a chill. A check of weatherbug (kinda slow) showed the storms passed to the south... and fell back to sleep...
