310 miles via I-80, I-35, I-470 (east of Kansas City), a short stretch of I-49 and some final miles on I-470 to Lee’s Summit. Cumulative tow miles: 2609. Truck miles: 375. Cumulative truck miles: 3850. I refueled in Lamoni IA, just north of the Missouri border.
This was a pretty easy hop, in good weather, almost entirely on interstate highways that were in good repair. Very little construction and not much traffic, even around Des Moines and Kansas City. The truck ran well and the refrigerator stayed on (I reset the battery circuit breaker – don’t know why it trips but it does, apparently randomly).
Kansas City marks the westernmost point of the TS7. From here my route will take me east, to Ft Myers via the Florida panhandle.
My home for 2 nights in Oxford was the Beyonder Getaway at Sleepy Hollow, a strange name for a pretty decent, family-oriented campground. There are obviously a lot of seasonal campers here – including some pretty permanent mobile homes – but there are also quite a few transient sites, all pull-through. The electric service with just 30A but that is fine as I rarely use both air conditioners. Water was a bit yellow but tasted fine. OTA TV was adequate – about 15 channels.
The “adventure” during this stay was my attempt to get Rusty groomed. I had an appointment for Rusty at the PetSmart in Iowa City and I was on my way there when I realized that I didn’t have his rabies certificate with me. I called to ask if I needed it and they said no, but I did need proof of distemper vaccination. Proof of distemper? I had no idea whether I had such a thing, but I had no choice but to turn around and travel 9 miles back to the campground. I frantically searched through his records – nothing current – then searched for my receipt from his July checkup. Bingo – the receipt included a list of vaccinations and showed that his distemper was good until 2023. Back in the truck and off to PetSmart, arriving just 15 minutes late.
And then they refused to groom him because they regarded the area of his tail that he had been gnawing as an “open wound”. So I bought a grooming razor, took him back to the campground and spent much of the rest of the day giving him a haircut. Or at least a partial haircut – I didn’t have the courage to shave his face. So I now have a fuzzy-faced, smooth-bodied dog. But he seems to like having his thick coat gone.
I did take the opportunity to take a quick tour of Iowa City. I wasn’t impressed. Madison is much more appealing. I didn’t want to stay too long as Iowa had a home game that afternoon (just as Wisconsin had a home game when I was there).