When we left Amana Iowa after the RV Miles Homecoming, we spent a few days at a Boondockers Welcome property. We also visited my cousin Julie and her family, and got to see my sister in law Tammy.

A day on the road

Our intention when we left Iowa was to wait near Kansas City for the arrival of the Union Pacific Big Boy. It was one fairly long day’s drive from Amana to our Boondockers Welcome site. Plus we had to stop and fill our water tank because we didn’t want to travel all day with the tank full.

Host with the Most

When we arrived, our host Nathan came out and showed us where we should park. He had electrical hookup available, which we thought at the time that we wouldn’t need. More about that in a moment.

Nathan was very kind and friendly, and said that if he and his mom were out sitting around the fire pit, we were welcome to join them. He has a huge, lovely yard with a duck pond, and an area set up with chairs and a fire pit. The weather was a bit nippy, so we did not end up spending much time outdoors. Which, you know, is kind of normal for us.

Nathan also told us about his favorite places for Kansas City BBQ. We were tired from the drive and had steaks defrosted, so we ate in the trailer Sunday night and got set up for a few days.

On the day we left, Tony went outside to stow the Starlink and he found a bag of goodies that Nathan left for us. What a lovely parting gift!

Water

We agreed that we didn’t know how sanitized the fresh tank might be, so we decided to use our Dometic Hydration Go for drinking water. We use this often in the cab of the tuck, particularly in the summer when I drink about a gallon of water a day. The rechargeable pump is super convenient in the truck, and it turns out is is just as great in the trailer! It fits perfectly next to the stove. We are amused by the light when the pump is running.

Kansas City BBQ

Monday, we ate the rest of the steak for breakfast. Then we worked all day. By dinner time, we were confident we had time to reward ourselves with Kansas City BBQ. We ate at Zarda in Blue Springs Missouri, as recommended by our host.

Tuesday

Haha, there isn’t much to say about this day. We never even unlocked the trailer door. We sat and worked furiously all day, so we could take off Wednesday and see the Big Boy. Plus, we would get to see family on Wednesday. Bonus!

Trains and Family Day

The big day finally arrived - the arrival of the Big Boy. Well, it actually arrived Tuesday night but, like I said, we never left the trailer.

First, Food

I knew my sister in law Tammy had flown in the night before so I texted to see if she wanted to join us for breakfast and a visit to the train station. We picked her up at Julie’s and headed toward the city.

We chose IHOP for breakfast. Because, pancakes We went inside and waited to be seated.

And waited.

And waited.

Another man waiting told us is keeps getting worse there. We stood there for 10-15 minutes without even being acknowledged.

We knew were not waiting any more, when someone came to talk to us. We told her we were not staying. She didn’t care one bit.

OK, let me just step up on my soapbox for a moment. I understand being short-staffed. I truly do. What I do not understand is ignoring the growing line of people waiting to be seated. There were as many serves as customers.

Let me back up to a week or so earlier. We went to a restaurant. While they were finding us a table they told us a really large party had come in and the kitchen was kind of backed up. No problem. The server came and took our drink orders. She apologized that the kitchen needed a bit more time to catch up. No problem. We ordered our drinks (it was a brewery so - you know). It really was not long at all before the server came and took our food orders. Seriously, it takes me so long to read the whole menu that I barely noticed anyway.

All that is to say: people don’t mind when you have to make us wait so you can catch up. What we MIND is when we are completely ignored and then given attitude when we decide not to take it anymore.

We went to First Watch. This is a chain of restaurants; there is one a couple blocks from my mom’s house but we’ve never been to one. We went in, were seated right away, and had THE nicest server. The food choices were terrific. The service was terrific. They bring a carafe of water and of coffee, so you can refill yourself. The food came quickly, even though there were easily four times the number of patrons as we had seen in the IHOP. And the pancakes were enormous - and delicious!

These places were only a few blocks apart, so don’t blame location. Customer service goes a long long way!

OK, soapbox put away and we are back in the truck on our way to the train station.

Big Boy

Have we ever told you that we are lazy? Haha, so, we got to the train station where the Big Boy was on display. We got a bit nervous, because it appeared all parking was in a parking structure. That can be a problem for our Ram 2500 with he Flated topper. We followed the cars in, and when we rounded the corner there was the Big Boy!! Sitting on the tracks, surrounded by a crowd of people. We took photos and video as Tony followed the rest of the traffic. When we go to the parking entry, we decided not to pull in. We went around the corner, made a circle at the end of the road, and drove back past the train.

Then we did that again.

Then we figured we couldn’t actually blow the whistle or anything, so we had seen enough. We headed out of the crowd.

Now What?

Having spent much less time than planned at the train station, we drove around town checking out Kansas City. When we’d seen enough, we set our sights on heading back to Julie’s to take it easy for the afternoon. We did stop at the trailer and pick up our backpacks, in case the urge to work came cover us.

Taco Night

When Julie and Shawn got home, they started dinner, Shawn grilled some chicken, while Julie made rice and refried beans. The boys and their girls arrived, and we had a delicious dinner and watched the Dodger game.

We always like visiting Shawn and Julie. They feed us well and we used to be able to camp in their yard. Unfortunately, with our current low hitch configuration, we cannot get into the driveway so we have to find other places to stay. Still, we go hang out with them when we can.

Everyone had an early morning planned, so we said our farewells and headed back to the trailer.

Everything can change

Like is so often the case, our plans were set in Jello. We talked about our plans for the following week, and made modifications. Rather than follow the Big Boy slowly all the way across Kansas, we decided we were ready to get home. Not that we will be there for very long, but we miss our house, and our friends, and our big desks. Hehe

Plus, we found out that the 2025 Mini Lite 2506FK line is being build in November. You may remember us taking about how much we like the 2025 floor plan changes, and think we would be more comfortable traveling in that model. This week we worked out a deal with Rockwood that will work for us. So, after a trip to Arizona for Halloween, and a couple doctor and dentist appointments, we will be back on the road to Indiana soon. You better believe I’ll be sharing that trip with you!

Hurry Home

So we put the miles behind us, in an effort to get home. It was three long, wind-blown days. We stayed in a Passport America campground in Pratt Kansas one night and in a KOA in Tucumcari the nest. We drove into the wind pretty much the entire 700-something miles, which is really tiring. The third day, we stopped in Amarillo for a steak at the Big Texan. It was fairly early and we had enough energy so we kept going and ended up staying in Tucumcari for the night.

We got home this afternoon. I’m writing for a while, then bringing a load from the trailer, in turns. We are going to meet friends for dinner, so I need to wrap up this really long post and get ready for that!