The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Berryman Campground, Mark Twain National Forest

Yesterday morning, Sam and Donna took us down to the old section of the city of St. Charles. This is famous as being the spot where Lewis and Clark and their dog Seaman set off for their expedition way back in 1804.

It’s a very pretty area down there and we enjoyed walking around. We looked in a couple of the shops and I needed a key chain so I bought a St. Louis Cardinals one ($4.30) with a bottle opener. You never know when you might need a bottle opener.

They have a Lewis and Clark museum down by the riverfront in St. Charles, but it was a small privately owned museum and they wanted $4 each so we declined.

Ruth always did like Daniel Boone

Lewis, Clark, Seaman, and Ruth heading out on their expedition!

Then we headed back to the Weeb Ranch. We have been watching the gas prices the last couple of days and they have been dropping like crazy. St. Louis had the cheapest gas prices in the U.S., and it had been down to $3.139 a gallon ($0.828 per litre) at one spot. But now, we were seeing some stations at $3.399 a gallon ($0.897 per litre) and even the one near Sam and Donna’s was back up there. We wanted to fill Sherman up at the cheap price and Donna found another station nearby that still had it cheap.

So back at the house, we quickly got Sherman ready to go and said our goodbyes.

We made it to that gas station and put in 42.5 gallons at $3.199 ($0.846 per litre) and when we left the gas station the gas price was up to $3.399 a gallon ($0.897 per litre), so we got in by the skin of our teeth! Pretty much the cheapest gas in the whole U.S.A.! We love getting a deal, and now Sherman had a full tank of it!

We headed south on the backroads and made it into the Mark Twain National Forest. I had found a site online that showed some free RV sites at the Berryman Campground. We put in the GPS co-ordinates and Ruth’s Streets and Trips brought us right into the entrance. There are 11 paved RV sites here, each one with a picnic table and fire ring, but no hookups. And, totally free! And, we were the only ones there! Only drawback was that the sites are not very level, but of course we were able to choose the best one.

Sherman, free camping in the forest.

Oh, and another drawback. When we went to bed, it was very warm and very calm. But the wind picked up overnight and at 3:00am we were woken up by acorns falling on Sherman’s roof from the oak trees in the forest! We eventually got up and moved Sherman to a clearing in the front parking lot. So we didn’t get a great sleep even though it was such a quiet place.

We have to say a big thank you to Sam and Donna for extending such fantastic Missouri hospitality. We had a great time visiting and hopefully we can meet up on the road somewhere in the RV’s!

We took all the backroads from Sam and Donna's and did 98 miles (157 kms) yesterday

10 comments:

  1. To bad it is a nasty day right down there where you are camped at is Huzzah and Steelville MO is some of the best river rafting spots in MO. with places to rent a raft or canoe.Good to see you got a great camping spot.I had to move last year at the lake because I got bombarded with acorns, they sure are loud when they hit the roof. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

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  2. Love your header picture. Ruth looks like she's ready for an adventure with those guys!

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  3. Looks like you had a great visit and found a nice camping spot for the night. Love the price of fuel, can't wait!

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  4. My goodness that is one big statue... Ruth looks so little! Looked like a nice spot to boodocke to bad for the acorns!
    Have fun & Travel safe
    Donna

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  5. Never heard of Seaman as part of the expedition!!

    Another first, acorns on the roof, how funny! Well I guess not if you were trying to sleep:(

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  6. We missed this museum when we were in St. Louis. I am not a happy camper about that! I love museums that are about our history.

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  7. Sam and Donna...We would have liked to have gone whitewater rafting. It's a beautiful area down here, too bad the weather wasn't nicer so that we could have enjoyed it more.

    Kevin and Evelyn...Thanks! I read a book about their adventure back in 1804 and that is a little too much adventure for me. Loved the statue though!

    George and Suzie...We had a great time and yes we are loving the gas price too.

    Donna...The statue was huge. I saw this statue in one of Diana's posts from www.lifeontheopenroad.blogspot.com/ and just had to see it seeing we were here.

    Contessa...Seaman was Meriwether Lewis's dog and he was definitely part of the expedition, even helped them out of trouble a few times. And no, acorns falling on the roof are not nice. They are very, very loud!

    FULL-TIMERS...OCT. 17, 2009...It was a tiny museum in our opinion and not worth the $4 they were asking. I think the gift shop was the same size or bigger. I have read a book about the expedition and would love to do the Lewis and Clark Trail one day.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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  8. Oh gonna mark that one down on our map for free camping spots! Have to keep that in mind----


    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  9. Karen and Steve...It was really nice there other than the acorns hitting the roof at 2am. The sites are a little on the unlevel site too. There are also other camping areas in the National Forest.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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  10. It was great seeing you. I didn't know about the museum in St. Charles so we'll put that on the list to do. Thanks for mentioning it. Those are huge statues.

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