We woke up early at the Veteran’s Museum and decided to show Anthony a piece of Americana by eating breakfast at a nearby Waffle House. We at a good breakfast and watched in amazement as the waitress brought us a handwritten invoice, added up manually like it was the 20th century.
We had planned on a third Harvest Host in a row, but after showering for two days in the camper we were using up our fresh water supply and filling up our gray and black water tanks, we decided a campground with full hookups was in order. Tom chose Lake Manawa Campground , a little under 6 hours away.
Since we had time after fueling Khan (at $3.18/gallon, our second lowest cost diesel,) we thought we would stop at a scenic overlook – the Overlook at Pendleton Heights, as this was close to our route to the Pony Express National Museum , our next stop. It was pretty disappointing – a kinda seedy neighborhood and most of the view was obscured by weeds and such. We did park there to eat lunch.
The Pony Express is in St Joseph, the eastern terminus of the route. We found out That Kansas is just a quick trip across the Missouri River and made the hop. This added another state to Anthony’s growing list.
Scott was most impressed with the original well in the stable that was rediscovered in 1991 – he had to try it out. Tom was most impress with the maps and dioramas.
When we arrived at Lake Manawa, which we discovered had been open for less than a year. The bathhouse is pretty small, but the sites are large and level.
As soon as we got settled, and Anthony had checked out the swimming area, we left for Walmart to buy a bike helmet, DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) for Khan, and some groceries as we would be a bit off the grid tomorrow and Wednesday at Moon Lake Ranch in Johnson, NE. Scott searched for dinner and decided on Mongolian BBQ near the Walmart. We picked out ingredients and they cooked it in front of us. Scott thoroughly enjoyed it, Tom thought it was good enough to put in his rotation, and Anthony decided to say nothing.
After dinner Tom and Scott filled the DEF in Khan, and toured the area on the Missouri River on our bikes, while Anthony decided to go swimming. Before bed we did our chores – Scott writing the blog, Tom doing emails for work and planning another trip, and Anthony cleaning the bug-smeared windshield on Khan.