Retirement……LOVE IT!

We left the STL area on Friday, September 15, to go to Springfield, MO, by heading west on I44.  It was an uneventful trip which is what we like.  😊  We did pass a town along the way where one of my former students and his wife live and run a local restaurant.  I snapped this shot of the exit (we didn’t have time to stop because we had an appointment we had to keep) and told him the next time we came by we expected a free lunch.  I tagged him in the picture on Facebook and he was quick to reply, “Keep it under $20 and I will see what I can do!” was his reply.  He was a great student to have in my class and has grown to be a super nice young man!  Catch ya next time, Chuy!

We had a 1:00 p.m. appointment scheduled at Camping World in Strafford, MO (about 15 miles from Springfield), to check on a small water leak where the water comes into the RV and goes through the filter.  Fortunately it was a pretty simple fix (an O ring, or something like that).  However, it took a little while to wait our turn and get everything checked out.  The repairman decided to check the other side of the filter and that connection also had a little leak.  Thank goodness he checked that out, or we would undoubtedly have been back!  He also fixed some kind of support fixture for the filter so it wouldn’t vibrate and jiggle as much while traveling in the hopes to avoid future leaks.  I’d say we got our money’s worth! 

We are staying in a mobile home/RV park in Springfield similar to the one we were at in Fenton, MO.  It’s nothing fancy, but we are here to spend time with family; not be “tourists.”   We had a pull through spot at the end of a row that gave us one side without “neighbors” and plenty of room to walk Zoey.  Like I said, it was nothing fancy, but it did have a small pool, clubhouse, and a laundry facility which was nice and clean (except there was no place to hang permanent press clothes when you pulled them out of the dryer still damp).

We stayed in Springfield for four nights.  We played several games of Skip Bo with Jack’s mom (she was not a “happy camper” because she didn’t win!).  One afternoon/evening we visited with Jack’s sister and her husband and played Mexican Train Dominoes (now THAT’S a fun game!).  One day when it rained all day we didn’t do much except try to figure out how to setup all our online bill pay accounts — that took ALL day.  Needless to say we were a little a LOT stressed that day!!  One day we did laundry, cleaned house the RV, and took Zoey to the groomer for a bath and haircut.  Our last night in Springfield we finally got to visit with Jack’s brother.  We took him and Jack’s mom out to eat supper.  Can you guess where we went?  Here’s a little hint: 

Yep.  Cheddars.  They have a really good the absolute BEST hot chicken pot pie!  It comes with a salad and the BEST croissant ever!  If you haven’t tried it, you really need to.  I have never really liked pot pies (hated them when I was a kid!), but this one is worth the money (salad AND pot pie for less than $8.00!).

“Th-th-th-th- That’s all folks!”  

Hint: