Kansas City – Nascar, Golf and Baseball and Yes Even a Little of History Too!

We have left Arkansas on our way to Missouri.  We got tickets to the Spongebob Squarepants 400 Nascar race.  When we arrived, we were guided to our RV site.  We had a corner spot in one of several campground areas and thank goodness the spot in front of us was not purchased and we were able to pull right in.

There we met up with Ken and Renee Diaz, her cousin Rachel and husband, Curt.  We originally met Ken and Renee in Key West last October during our stay in the Keys.  They are Nascar fans and so it made the experience much for fun for us.

As you could see from the clouds, the sky was pretty ominous.  It rained quite a bit and because we were parked on grass, it got really muddy.  The area was so muddy that we had to bathe Jackson several times when he would return from his walks.   However, the races were actually fun.  We had tickets to go to the infield via the underground tunnel.   Now that was something I had never done before.

Below is a rooftop shot from RV parking spot.  Ken and Renee’s Motorhome was the brown one right next to the blue tent with the two cars parked in front, so we were actually pretty close to them. 

John, me, Curt, Rachel, Renee and Ken in the Infield
  

Infield tunnel 

Warmups:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

The day after the race everyone was trying to get out, but there were more RVs stuck in the mud, than those who successfully got out.  I was incredibly surprised that considering our weight, we were able to get out without any mud or tire spinning.  We had no mud in the fenders either.  Yeaaa!!!! 

Afterwards we decided to stay in Peculiar, a small nearby town, so we could tour the area. 

We were aware that the area was under tornado watches, so when we arrived at the campground I asked the attendant what we should do in the event of a warning.  He just laughed and said they did not have a shelter in the campground.  So when I inquired further and told him that we were obviously not from the area and really wanted to know what to do, he hesitated and told me that tornados were actually fun.  Huh?  He then pointed to the south side of the campground and informed me that there was a ravine behind the trees and that we would see a rock wall as it used to be a quarry.  He said that if we needed to go somewhere that we could go into the ravine, stand against the rocks and that we would not feel any wind there, or perhaps if we preferred we could drive to the nearest shelter which was about 1 mile away.  REALLY?  Fortunately, we had no warnings, and all was well.  I would imagine you get used to living with watches

Last year, while wintering at Torrey Oaks in Florida, John bought me a rather gently used set of ladies’ golf clubs and since our friends, Cindy and Steve’s driving range was within a mile of the Peculiar campground, literally on the same road, we both took golf lessons and decided to hit balls as often as we could.  I apparently got so excited that on one of my swings the club left my hands and just flew backward only to get stuck above the garage door on the front of the building.  Oops, fortunately, no one was behind me or they would have gotten seriously injured.  I think in the future I might have to install a small lanyard to each of my clubs, “just in case”.   Darn, I just can’t seem to find the picture.  Oh well.

While in Peculiar we also connected with our friends, Gary and Sherry Davis, who also live nearby.  We went out to dinner and had fabulous bar-b-que meals in various establishments.  Since they had never been to the Harry Truman Presidential Library, we all decided to visit together. 

President Harry S. Truman

The different angles of The Oval Office during Harry Truman’s years in office.   Remember the cabinet tv’s?

If you look carefully, you might be able to see the US emblem embossed onto the carpet.  My how things have changed!

Truman’s saying:

Our friends Gary and Sherry had the good fortune of securing tickets to the Royals v. Yankees baseball game.   The seats were incredible.  We had a lot of fun watching the game, especially since the Royals won (sorry Yankees fans).  We even got to watch fireworks after the game.

Ugly sky but no rain!

We really enjoyed our stay in Kansas City but it was time to continue our journey so on to St. Louis we went.