Missouri, Kansas, Colorado & Utah Van Trip Segment Recap

Oh boy, have I fallen behind on keeping the blog updated with our cross country van trip towards EclipseFest23 in Oregon.

Last we left you, we had just settled into St. Louis for some time with family after our drive from Florida.

That seems like a lifetime ago at this point! I suppose that’s the beauty of an abundant adventure on the road, it’s been one amazing stop after another with little down time.

So, let’s get ya caught up a bit closer to real time (we’re sharing on our Facebook Page in a more timely fashion – which is helping me put these posts together).

This post covers our travels from September 14 – October 1.

Stop 1: Hermann City Park – Hermann, MO

After leaving the St. Louis area, we decided to follow the Missouri River to ride portions of the Katy Trail – one of the longest Rails to Trails projects of 240 miles.

We selected Hermann City Park in Hermann, MO as our first stop. Snagged a little site with hook-ups for $35, and then hit the trails. It’s about a 2.5 mile ride to the trail itself.

We did about 32 miles all in all – and it was amazing!

Afterwards we explored the darling downtown Hermann – so much there! We selected Doxie Slush for dinner featuring Gluten Free Fish & Chips and amazing alcohol slushy drinks (White Chocolate Mojito, Peanut Butter Painkiller and more!).

Definitely went off our Medetarian Diet that night – but figured the bike ride helped counter balance it?

This is a town we definitely need to route through again.

Stop 2: Cooper’s Landing – Columbia, Mo

Next up on our explorations of the Katy Trail that follows the Missouri River – was grabbing a spot at Cooper’s Landing outside Columbia, MO.

A quaint little campground and marina with a handful of RV spots. We got a riverfront site with an amazing view off our back. And the Katy Trail literally runs through the park and was visible off our front.

We enjoyed a gorgeous ride along the river and bluffs, including ‘Boat Henge’. And then when we returned there was live music and a food truck to cap off our evening.

At $60/night for a teeny little spot with electric/water – it’s kinda pricey, but totally worth it for the unique experience!

Stop 3: Rock Creek Campground – Perry, KS

After riding along the Katy Trail with two one-night stops in a row, we were finding ourselves needing some recharge time.  We spotted Rock Creek Campground along Lake Perry in Kansas with a couple open sites on a weekend.

We just absolutely LOVE Army Corp of Engineer Parks. And so many of them have converted to online reservation/payment only.

It was super easy to look up on Recreation.gov to see what was open – and then just pull in and choose our site, pay online (no booking fees.. just a flat $16/night) and setup. No interactions with staff, or going back and forth to the check in station. They even do ApplePay!

At this location, they’ve actually removed the payment booth and replaced it with a sign with instructions for walk-in customers.

So simple. So easy.

We’re pretty sure this site was only still available because it’s marked as a 20′ site (clearly, much larger), and has no power or water hook-ups. Perfect for us!

And our stay was amazing. We enjoyed amazing lakefront running and biking, cooking healthy meals again and just.. being.

Stop 4: Atlas Ad Astra Missile Silo – Wilson, KS

Overnight at a missile silo in the middle of Kansas? Didn’t take us but a minute to say YES!
Especially since we are currently reading the ‘Silo’ book series after watching the first season on AppleTV (amazing!).

Atlas Ad Astra – Missile Silo Adventure Resort in Wilson, KS is an abandoned Atlas 7 missile silo from the Cold War that has been purchased by an amazing guy named Matthew.

Many missile silos are being converted by doomsday preppers – but Matthew has a different vision. One of positivity, sharing and research.

He’s converting his silo to be an adventure resort with AirBnb underground rental suites, onsite RV Park, massage spa, coffee & whiskey bar and research lab for sustainable living and space travel.

And he’s come a long way mostly all on his own, and loves sharing the progress and vision on his paid tour that takes you underground with a view down the silo.

Before you think.. ‘oh, they must have been invited because they’re Technomadia’ … nope, you can stop here too. It’s one of the most unique Harvest Hosts stays we’ve ever had. Not a member? You can also book an overnight boondocking stay directly with him via his website.

Definitely a must see, that is not too far off I-70 as you cross Kansas – which doesn’t have too many other overnight RV options anyway.

Stop 5: South Meadow Campground – Woodland Park, CO

We took a long driving day to get across KS and eastern CO and stopped in Colorado Springs for a couple days. We driveway surfed with our friends and team mates at the Mobile Internet Resource Center, Andy & Suzy. It was fun to catch up, and we totally blanked on taking pics.

We had originally planned to head up to the Denver area and try to camp in Longmont (heard amazing things about the biking there), but city life just wasn’t calling us.

Peace, nature and solitude were.

Our friends recommended a grouping of forest service campground outside Woodland Park, CO with mostly first come first serve sites – so off we headed from Colorado Springs to see what we could snag.

We were a bit disappointed when all but one of the campgrounds were already closed for the season.

But thankfully half of South Meadows Campground was still open, and we were able to snag a lovely private feeling site for 3 nights over a weekend at just $25/night.

It was pure bliss with an amazing view.. and right along a paved (but bumpy) bike path into Woodland Park with a view of Pikes Peak.

What a lovely wonderful stay, and just what we needed to recharge for the many miles ahead to Oregon.

Stop 6: Peak One Campground – Frisco, CO

After a delightful stay at South Meadows Campground, we decided to move on up to Frisco to check out the highly rated Peak One Campground (another NFS campground).

This campground is amazing, and right along the bike path network that connects to Frisco, Breckenridge and Dillon.

We grabbed a first come first serve site for 3-nights at just $27/night, after visiting the city dump station for just $10.

We just loved this location at 9000 ft. The aspens were sparkling with gold all over. And there’s so much to do – biking, disc golf and exploring these ski resort towns. Frisco is only about a 3 mile bike ride, and it’s a darling little town with a brewery and lots of dining options.

We even biked 20 miles around Lake Dillion which has nearly 1000ft in elevation gain – on our 55lbs e-Joe Epik Swan ebikes, using hardly any electric except for the climb up Sapphire Mountain.

3-days was both relaxing and bustling with fun and even some work.

Ahhhh…. bliss.

Stop 7: Palisades Basecamp – Palisades, CO

Serendipity had us joining up with Marc & Julie of RV Love and Mark & Sandy – all of us on our way to EclipseFest23.

These four were meeting up at Palisades Basecamp outside Grand Junction to handle a little RV transaction, and the timing worked out perfectly for our pass through the area to stop in for an evening.

So much fun to catch up before we all head to the big event the next week.

Palisades Basecamp is a lovely and well maintained park with pretty nicely sized spaces. Great views of the terrain around. A heated pool and bathhouse as well.

But it’s also pretty darn pricey. Mid week with about 80% of the park open – our ‘River Bluff’ back in site along the Colorado River came to $100/night with taxes. And there wasn’t even a water view from the site. Pull thru’s were a bit less expensive.

If it wasn’t for the price, this would be a great spot tucked amongst wineries (some which are Harvest Hosts – so that’s an option too).

But worth it to connect with dear friends, for sure.

Stop 8: Cabela’s – Grand Junction, CO

While at Palisades Basecamp, we saw a poster for FABBA – an ABBA Tribute band, playing the next night in Grand Junction.

Well.. we just had to go, of course! So we snagged some tix online.

To wait out the day, we got some work done at a local winery while sipping on a lovely bottle of dry Rose’.

And then we headed downtown for the show! It was pretty fun, and had us dancing in the aisles.

For an overnight, we had spotted a handful of potential spots. We first headed out to the Colorado Welcome center in Fruita – which had a free dump station and reports of allowing 10 hrs of parking. Which would be perfect. We arrived, and while there were several RVs nestled in for the evening – but there was a clearly posted sign that non-commercial vehicles were limited to just 4 hrs. And we just weren’t comfortable risking a knock on the door in the middle of the night.

So we back tracked to the Cabela’s in Grand Junction with several recent reports of permission granted. We arrived to a parking lot full of RVs overnighting.

And in the morning, we did some shopping there – as we’re still trying to build up our layering wardrobe for colder temps. These nomads have been Florida based for a bit too long where winter happens from about 8pm to 3am on a Wednesday evening in January.

We’re very thankful that Cabela’s still allows overnight parking in many locations. We don’t do ‘blacktop boondocking’ often, but it sure is nice to have the option.

Stop 9: Spanish Fork River Park – Spanish Fork, UT

Leaving Grand Junction was basically our last convenient bail out point if we wanted to ditch our Oregon plans and head to Arizona instead.

We were getting more and more excited for the fun to come hanging out with so many dear friends, and making new ones! Oh, and an eclipse, festival stuff and Smash Mouth! So onwards we trekked westward with another long driving day across Utah.

We stopped for the night in at Spanish Fork River Park (just shy of Provo).

$20/night for dry camping did the trick to get in a night’s rest, and a nice long run along the old railroad path behind the park.

Stop 10: Antelope Island State Park – Bountiful, UT

After attending to some chores in the big city (Salt Lake City) – such as groceries, updated vaccines and stopping at the Apple Store to fondle some iPhone 15 Pros… we spent a couple nights at Antelope Island State Park for $40/night.

Absolutely amazing views of the Great Salt Lake.

When we awoke to bison roaming the campground we were blown away. Absolutely amazing to have these creatures approach our campsite and see them close up.

Such a magical stay here, amazing views, great trails for biking & running & hiking.. and bison! (Didn’t see a single antelope however).

Real Time Update

That’s a lot of stops and adventures in just 2 weeks! And the driving has been just spectacular with autumn colors starting to peak.

We’ve done well to pace ourselves – making the miles across country, while keeping balanced and enjoying the journey.

I’ll get you caught up as soon as I can on the rest of the journey to Oregon, our amazing time at EclipseFest23 and beyond! We’re also overdue for a YouTube Live.. so stay tuned, we’ll try to do one when we find open time and bandwidth.

In real time, we’re near Reno, NV making miles southbound back to Zephyr awaiting us at our lot at SKP Saguaro in Benson. We should reach there in another week or so. At present time, we’re planning to base ourselves in Benson through likely the end of the year before we return to Y-Not who is doing well in the care of friends in Florida.