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.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Round Spring Campground, Ozark National Scenic Riverways

We actually had a good night sleep at the Salem, MO Walmart. Interesting note, there has been a Walmart in the town of Salem, MO since 1971… store #46, if I remember correctly. Saw a sign that said they have one employee who has been there for 40 years! I hope she was able to take part in a share purchase plan!

Yesterday morning, we decided to buy Ruth a cheap bicycle at the Walmart. We had been looking for a good quality used one, but we didn’t find anything back in Ottawa so we decided to buy a cheap new one. So we found a full suspension mountain bike for $99.97 plus 6.725% sales tax.

Now, for that kind of money, the bike is junk and we knew that. But still, you would think the people who put them together in the store would do it half decently. Twice while trying to buy it we had it sent back to make the brakes work and to tighten the handlebars. Then on the third try, the brakes still didn’t work properly and I said if they give me a discount I would do the adjustments myself. But they said they couldn’t sell me a bike that didn’t have working brakes! Well wait a minute, if I didn’t tell them about the brakes, they wouldn’t have known they weren’t working! Too funny.

Anyhow, eventually I gave up on their service and just bought the bike brand new, as is.

And we finally got on the road about 10:30am after all that. Fortunately, we didn’t have far to drive and we arrived at the Round Spring campground at the Ozark National Scenic Riverways well before noon.


They have about 50 tent sites here for $14 a night, but most of them have enough parking that they are suitable for an RV as well. Or, you could pay $17 a night for a concrete pad with water and electric hookup. Besides the host, there is only one other site taken. We don’t need hookups, so we chose a $14 site with Sherman in the sun, but with shade for the picnic table.

Pretty butterfly we saw on our walk

Ruth and Whiskey by the Current River

There are a lot of underground springs coming from caves.

Whiskey and Kevin on the walking bridge

Playing on the teeter-totter

Ruth, WAY up in the air!

We went for a nice walk, and when we got back I spent an hour adjusting everything on Ruth’s new bike. Everything is working well now, but it really is poor quality. I think she’ll try it out for the next week and if it’s really that bad we’ll take it back to Walmart before we cross into Mexico.

Did some chicken breast on the Weber for dinner, then went for a walk to the caves. One of the reasons we stopped here was to visit the Round Spring Caves but it turns out they are only open for July and August, and closed the rest of the year. Oh well.

The Current River is really nice though. It’s an underground spring fed river and the water is crystal clear. It goes for 100 miles (160 kms) and is very popular for drifting downriver in a canoe. Some day we will come back here and canoe the whole length and camp beside the river in a tent! 

Yesterday's drive, only 31 miles (51 kms) 

13 comments:

  1. OMG, you are on playground equipment...where are your safety helmets, your knee pads, your arm protectors....you are a lawyers dream
    LOL
    Donna W.

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  2. You should have come to the flea market in Smiths Falls. Last year when we moved here we went there and got 2 bikes in good condition for $5 each. The tires are even in good shape!

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  3. Looks like you are all relaxing and enjoying life as you should. Nice campsite.

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  4. nice place to camp for the night for sure, and a bike from Walmart would be nothing great for sure. But at least you can return it if you don't like it.

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  5. Fun photos... glad you are having fun!!!
    Donna

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  6. haha, the bike story reminded me of a story i forgot to tell you about..... well, we were in a zellers in Halifax buying our umbrella stroller. They had none left but they had the floor model. So, we asked if we could just have that one, nope, we weren't aloud to have one that the store put together. Apparently you have to put things together yourself at home (that way its not the stores fault if something happens) so after arguing with her about the stupid rule she gave in and said fine we could have it (man would she be in trouble if we sued the store because something happened). Then after she gave in i asked for a discount, nope. She said take it or leave it, i said but its used could i have a discount please? haha, anyways we ended up leaving it there and got a new one from the store in town.
    haha, you know I'm your daughter when!
    Love ya,
    Lindsey

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  7. Lindsey sounds like a chip off the old block... :)

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  8. I would check the "want ads" in the nearest town before I bought at walmart again. Even pawn shops seem to have better quality bikes!
    I got mine from Canadian tire (which you would not have in the US), and SD's was second hand from a Kijiji ad.
    Sometimes second hand is better!

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  9. Another beautiful picture! My three Labs would be in the water in less than a heartbeat. Sometimes, when you are going to buy something at Walmart, check to see what you can get on-line. A few years ago I checked the lowest price on a trolling motor, then printed out the web advertisement. I went to Walmart and they matched the price.

    Keep the stories and pictures coming. We're watching your progress.

    Paul

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  10. Love the header picture. It looks like you found a gem!

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  11. I have canoed that river,the water is even cold in the heat of summer it's nice.

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  12. Donna...We love to live life dangerously!

    Sandra...Wish we had known, we would rather buy used.

    Contessa...We are, thanks!

    George and Suzie...I will try it out for a few days and see how it works. We are still going to keep our eyes open for a used one.

    Donna...Thanks!

    Lindsey...Glad you walked away when they wouldn't give you the discount. They should have done that for us as well, especially with the amount of work Dad had to do to it to make it roadworthy but we were afraid that we would end up in Mexico without a bike like we did last year without a BBQ.

    heyduke50...She certainly is!

    WBY...We did check Kijiji when we were at my Dad's place but didn't come across what we were looking for at the price we wanted. We are still keeping our eyes open but it is much harder trying to do it in a big city or town as we don't want to drive around in the motorhome trying to find a bike. If we happen to see a flea market or garage sale that has one as we drive by then we will stop and look.

    Paul and Helen...Thanks, we will try that. We always love a deal.

    FULL-TIMERS...OCT. 17, 2009...Thanks, we thought it was pretty nice there.

    Kenny and Angela...I bet it is, but it does look like a nice river for floating down. Really love the area.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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  13. Glad you got to spend a little time on the Current River and glad the weather has improved a little. We are way up north in the UP of Michigan and the weather is great, maybe you are headed the wrong direction. LOL

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