Cutting The Season Short

Last Saturday we headed out to find the place where we used to camp at least 30 years ago.  We had always called it "Hinkeyville" because the guy who owned it was Bob Hinkey.  We set off for Fredricktown and headed north to Mine La Motte.  We weren't sure we would even remember where it was, but we did.  There were two elderly gentlemen sitting on a golf cart at a road called Hinkey Lake Road so we stopped to inquire.  Yes, it was the place, but a tornado several years ago destroyed most of it.  We had lots of fun camping at this place many years ago, but what we remember most was picking all the ticks off the dog all the way back home.  I usually referred to the place as "Tickville."

Our next stop was a marker on the side of the road designating the spot where the first lead mine in the Mississippi Valley was opened "around 1700."  This was right near the aforementioned Hinkeyville.

On our way back to Annapolis we stopped at the Tiemann (Milstream Gardens) Shut-Ins on the St. Francis River.  It's a very popular place for kayakers and in the spring, has the only "white water" kayaking in Missouri.

While walking down the path to get to the water, we came across this unusual tree trunk.

Scenes from around the park:

Roxy trying to get into our trailer.  She just wanted to drive Butch crazy one last time.

After another slow, boring week at this RV park, we decided over the weekend that when we returned on Tuesday we would turn in our notice and pull the trailer back to St. Louis.  We arrived back there mid-day on Tuesday, spoke to the owners who understood completely, we packed up in an hour, and had the RV back into storage, somewhat emptied, and pulled back into the driveway by 4:00pm.  It was a very long day but now we're both happy again and looking forward to our next campground job.

This is the view Butch and I had yesterday while following Mark pulling the trailer all the way back. 

Yesterday we updated our resume on the Workamper program and received four offers within four hours.  Unfortunately they were for Massachusetts, North Carolina, Austin, and the Yukon!  I think we'll just stay home for the summer and do what we like best:

Giving this little guy a whole lot of love!