the end of the road

It was hard to get up this morning because it was so comfortable sleeping. It was time to make breakfast with whatever we had left in the cooler. We cooked up the last of the Nathan’s hot dogs and mixed them in the scrambled eggs, brewed a pot of coffee, toasted some bread on the gas grill, and poured a glass of orange juice. It was a meal fit for a king.

Today we headed home via Table Rock Lake, MO. It was another day of winding around roads (I almost got car sick) and forcing the car to make it up steep elevations. We arrived at Table Rock around 1 p.m.—just in time for lunch. I had prepared tuna before we packed up camp, so we devoured that with crackers, finished the milk, last apple, and the praline candy we bought in Charleston which got soaked in the cooler (it was meant as a gift, but was too disgusting to present to anyone.)

As we were picnicking, we noticed a great bike trail around part of the lake. Well, it was our last day and we needed to get our legs moving after riding in a car for so long. Even though it was in the 90s with high humidity, the ride was what we needed. It was about 5 miles and wound around a small part of the lake. We loaded them up again and headed for Branson (only a few miles away.)

We only drove through this crazy town. Neither of us have been there and felt that just looking at all the Vegas-like signs and buildings, we got the gist of the city. That’s all we needed. Now it was time to haul our cargo home to Topeka. We arrived home around 8 p.m.

I think the part I enjoy most about camping is the challenge of being organized in chaos and being ready for anything. Neither Chris nor I feel like we are ready to be back in our own beds. We are really enjoying this trip together. Sure, there’s lots of laundry to do and unpacking the tent again to make sure it is all dried out, but we have seen a lot of country in these 2,800 miles. I think next time we do a big road trip we will head to the Northwest--I hear they have lots of rain there too!