Day 13&14: Getting out of Dodge because there is no place like home.
After our sleepless night, we left Dodge City. We had two days to go about 16 hours. We decided to stay at the Springfield KOA for out last night on the road with hopes of visiting Route 66 if we had time. We never made it to Route 66, but we did have fun along the way. As we came through Kansas, we saw a sign for the Wizard of Oz museum. I mapped it out and it wasn't far (10-15 miles) off the high way. I called the museum and they said they had a tour starting at 1:30 and we could join it if we got there by that time. So, we decided to check it out.
When we got there, we asked about the tour and they said you had to book those well in advance and that we had been misinformed. We decided to do a self guided tour anyway. The museum wasn't large but it was packed with Wizard of Oz information and displays!
Here are a few pictures:
Isn't this Dorothy a little Creepy?
There were Todo statues all over town and there was a cute yellow brick road you could follow with murals on the buildings. The homes along the yellow brick road (walkway) had put out decorations too.
It was a fun little adventure to break up a day of driving. We also stopped at Cracker Barrel along the way to eat. The kids love to stop at Cracker Barrel on trips. They check out the store after we order and before our food comes. Emmy found a fun mad libs book that we used to pass the time on the drive for the rest of the day and the next!
We pulled into the Rochester KOA after dark and long after they had closed. Typically, when you enter a campground after the office closes, they put your info on a bulletin board or in a specified location. The information will have your camp site, campgrounds map, and information about the campgrounds. It was raining when we got there and the kids were exhausted. One trip to the bathrooms, and we were all fast asleep.
One thing about entering a campgrounds in the dark, you never really know what it looks like in the daylight! This campground was soggy because of the rain. It was a smaller campground out in the middle of nowhere. The campground was alive early with young children and their parents. There were tons of activities but we decided to leave early.
We forwent visiting Route 66 to go see my aunt.
We realized the day before that meeting her at a Cracker Barrel near her house would only take us 15-20 miles out of our way. So, we headed there for lunch. Parking is always fun with a trailer but Cracker Barrel has RV parking which makes it easy!
There was over an hour wait which is to be expected at Cracker Barrel on a Sunday. We had a great time visiting.
Sorry about the lighting. I realized this was the only picture we got of us together!
Do you like the hat I tried on in the Cracker Barrel gift shop?
We then headed to my parents to get the dogs, Harley and Roxy! The dogs were so excited to see us! And, of course my parents wanted to know about the trip. Everything was so exciting and vivid in our mind so it was especially fun to tell of our adventures. We stayed as late as we thought we could, and then headed home.
Vacation is a blast and this one was extraordinary, but there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed! It was good to be home! Because, as we know, there is no place like home.