For the past several years Mother’s Day has afforded us the opportunity to gather with other families and enjoy a weekend of camping while honoring the mother’s day. Our original plan for Mother’s Day was to visit a local state park. However, COVID restrictions were extended and ultimately we were cancelled as our state parks are not allowing camping.
So, we moved our reservations to a full hook-up campground in the small town of Carrollton, MO, La Bella Vista & RV Park. Carrollton is a small town with a population of 3,500 people. We are familiar with Carrollton as it is where we deer hunt and close to my hometown.
La Bella Vista & RV Park is beautiful piece of land with thick green grass, a boundary line of mature trees and across the street from the city park and soon to be aquatic center. Occasionally pipeline workers check in and call La Bella home while working near Carrollton. During Mother’s Day Weekend 2020, there were no other guest except for the one rental house and one full time RV’er on property.
We spent the weekend resting, relaxing, playing, and even shopping. Naps were taken. The kids played nonstop. It was a welcome treat to not worry about vehicles speeding through the campground. Even the littlest of the littles could toddle along minding their own business. The kids were not the only ones who enjoyed their best life; the dogs ran off leash all weekend.
Our Mother’s Day trip came during Phase 1 of life post COVID quarantine. We really just hoped to find a place that would allow us to camp. However, we found a small town open for business. We visited the local downtown square and found hand dipped ice cream at the Mercantile. (Ya’ll that Black Raspberry Truffle made me forget that I am lactose intolerant!) We visited the Amish store and even were gifted free firewood from the Amish sawmill. We made nightly runs to the local brewery, River Bottom Brewery, for to go growlers and to go Beer Margaritas.
The hand scooped ice cream from the Mercantile. I think we each hit this place several times during our weekend stay.
On Mother’s Day we were gifted the most amazing tour by the La Bella Villas & RV Park owner, Linda. She also co-owns La Bella Casa Mansion and offered us a tour of the home. La Bella Casa Mansion is an event center and a beautiful place for a wedding or party. Linda showed us the grounds and the home. The home was built by a banker in 1912. The woodwork throughout the house was amazing. Linda even pointed out the resident critters (bats!) that call the shutters home.
All the mothers with their children/grandchildren outside of La Bella Casa.
The grounds and first floor of the mansion can be rented for one price. If you would like access to other parts of the house, you add them on. I am pretty sure I got lost in counting bedrooms but I think there are approximately 8 bedrooms and the house can sleep nearly 30 people. The entire third flood is a giant bar/billiards room with a lot of space for entertaining. Linda and her business partner have done an amazing job of turning an old house into something very beautiful! Thank you, Linda, once again for a wonderful Mother’s Day treat!
Bar/Billiards room on the third floor of the mansion.Foyer/EntrywayOne interior fireplaces. The door off to the left goes to the kitchen. All of the floors are original as is all the other wood work.Beautiful stained glass hanging in the window from the first to second floor. Linda reported the original owner obtained this from an old church.
What do you need to know if you are considering visiting La Bella Villas & RV Park?
Only some of the sites have concrete. Most are on grass.
All sites have water, electricity, and sewer.
The rate is $25 a night.
There are no fire pits but you are able to bring your own fire ring.
There are no public shared spaces. So no bathhouse, no public restrooms.
The sites were originally set up for mobile homes. So you may need to maneuver around the site to make your electric cords and sewer connections work. Otherwise be prepared and bring extensions.
Contact Linda and let her know you are coming. She will swing by and pick up the rent.
The weather was fickle. Cold, windy, sunny, warm. Our evening campfire was a welcome treat.Cowboy Stir fry for dinner for large group on the Blackstone.
Carrollton is not exactly urban setting. It is the epitome of a small rural town. It is located at the intersection of highway 65 and 10 highway. It is one and half hours east of Kansas City MO. It is 50 miles north of the highway 65 and I-70 intersection. However, there is enough cute shops and soon to be the inclusion of a aquatic center right across the street from La Bella RV Park that makes this a nice, change of pace location.
There are two camping trips we do every year that I think our children live for. The first is our Annual Family Camping Trip. The second is the Annual Halloween Camping Trip.
We have been fortunate to have a two local state park who organized a Halloween camping trip for years. Unfortunately, this past year one of them ended this tradition. Fortunately for us, a few other local campgrounds have stepped up to host Halloween camping events. Each of the campgrounds we have visited host a Scariest Campsite Contest. We are competitive enough that we want like participating in that contest.
2019 was our sixth year celebrating and competing in a Halloween at the campground. We have evolved, what started out with two families and a few visitors has grown to a dozen families camping and celebrating Halloween together.
Each year we pick a theme and coordinate our costumes with the site decorations. Part of the fun for us is the prep work and getting ready for the camping weekend. We share text messages, photos, costume finds, and then get together to create whatever props we need. The excitement for the camping trip builds with each passing day. That excitement is felt not only by the kids but also the adults.
Let’s review our Halloween trips over the years. Our first year we used our leftover Halloween costumes from Disney and we were crayons. That year we were told we were “creative” but not scary.
The next year, we got it together and created a mad science lab. We had science experiments as well plenty of gruesome sights (it’s amazing what a black light, neon water, and some grow in water animals can do!).
The third year we dressed up as Zombies and decorated our site as a Zombie Prom. We danced the night away and had a lot of fun dancing with random strangers.
In 2017 we turned our campers into giant pirate ships and we dressed up like Pirates! We created games and had everyone walk the plank if they wanted a Halloween treasure. Right after trick or treating ended, the sky opened up and we got drenched!
2018, we created a haunted house and each family took a different room. The result is we had a six room haunted house with a GhostBuster room, a western bar with dead outlaws, a science lab, a haunted surgical room, a haunted dollhouse, and clowns. We even created a chicken exit!
2019, we decided to make a ghost town. We decided our costumes could have anything to do with cowboys, cowgirls, western outlaws, dead or alive. We each purchased a sheet of plywood so we ended up with 7-9 sheets. We built a fake ghost town out of plywood. It was pretty epic.
Unfortunately, as we were setting up the town at the new campground, the campground host came by and told us we needed a million dollar liability insurance policy. They were worried our plywood city would fall on someone. (UGH!) They were nice enough to let us keep it up, but we were instructed that no one could walk on the site. We had envisioned visitors could walk through our town and interact with us. So much for creating selfie stations!
In addition to the campsite contest, the park also had Halloween games, pumpkin carving contest, and site to site trick or treating. The weather was a real challenge, it was cold and damp. However, it did not stop those kids from hitting up every loop in the park for trick or treating.
There are so many aspects to our Halloween camping trip that make this special. Some of those I have already touched upon. We love creating the concept together. We love the pre-trip. I also think we love the competition of it all. But most importantly, I think we overall just really like each others company and this event speaks to how much fun we have while camping and outside of camping. I think our children love seeing their parents let their hair down and play (or dress up in silly costumes in this case).
Do you have access to a Halloween camping trip? If so, do you decorate your site or just participate in the trick or treating? If you are looking for a campground in the Kansas City area that celebrates Halloween, I suggest you check out:
Have you ever invited a few friends to go camping with you? Camping is fun but camping with other friends is like…more fun. How about inviting 130 friends to go camping with you? Yep, I have done that.
In August 2019 we held our 8th Annual Family Campout at Smithville Lake. And while I did not take attendance, I think we had nearly 130 people there.
I started organizing and planning this annual camping trip years ago…well 8 years ago. I invited a bunch of friends who had kids to go camping. My thought was, as cool as I think I am as a parent my daughter would have a much better time camping if she had friends. So I over invited hoping for one yes. Instead, I had multiple yeses. The daughter had a great time but so did everyone else. So we have kept doing it.
And having fun while we do it.
Planning and hosting a giant camping trip really isn’t much different than hosting a party. You need a mix of structure with unstructured, a wide range of personalities, food, and a venue. I am honestly humbled and honored that so many choose to come camping with us.
Activities for this years campout were diverse. We have found that some activities need structure and others just need a place to grow. Organized events are important but allowing time for campers to synthesize is also very important. I have learned over the years that there are two types of campers: the watchers and the doers. Our success is making room for both types.
This year we had several structured activities:
A return of boat races. Any former cub scouts who use to do raingutter regatta. Same concept. Pro tip here; skip the cheap boats from Dollar Tree.
Sip and Paint. Amazon had mini canvases and I asked volunteers to bring acrylic paints. We set a painting station up at a picnic table and campers could come/go all day. For the life of me, I can’t believe I know so many creative talented people who can really paint well!
A giant chalk bag fight. I happened to find some chalk bags at Dollar Tree. I thought the kids would love it. I couldn’t predict the adults were going to love it just as much (maybe more) than the kids. Either way, everyone was chalked.
A washer tournament. Two years ago we introduced a washers tournament. It has been a lot of fun. And I remain thankful to the duo who organizes the tournament, deals with the rules, and the over competitive players. (Just kidding, we have no over competitive friends!) I love that my role is to advance the bracket and announce the next games. Easy stuff. I can handle the easy stuff.
Our annual glow party: black lights, UV body paint and a play list. Is there a better way to spend a Saturday night? We do not think so!
In addition to the structured activities, at their leisure campers could: swim, boat, bike, hike, or fish. There was plenty of organized activity as well as spontaneous activities (I loved the breakout musicians!) and even some down time. The weather was perfect. Well, except for that rain storm on go home day. We could have done without that.
Oh well, ya can’t have everything.
While this started out as a personal invitation from me to camp, we are well beyond that. Our camping trip has grown by word of mouth. From one camper to the next, this camping trip gets recommended to someone new every year. Our current camper population is made up of “OG’s (those who have been around for all 8 years) to newbies (first year campers) and everything in between. We have tent campers, campers who rent RV’s, and day campers who just swing by for the day and go home at night. The most important attribute the campers have is they all are coming to enjoy the outdoors and the companionship of others.
Feeding hungry campers is always the area that I struggle to get right. We have streamlined the menu as much as possible: walking tacos for lunch, hot dogs and s’mores for dinner, and pancakes, biscuits and gravy for breakfast. But the quantity of each items is honestly a stab at a moving target! I have given up the dream of no leftovers. Instead, I open any leftovers to those who linger on the last day. I mean can you go wrong with two days of walking taco’s?
As our group grew, communication became even more important. Last year we had a giant paint ball fight and I found myself waiting with a group of anxious children on other kids who were at the park or out swimming. I searched my brain for some way to communicate to everyone at all times about events as they were happening. In the end I chose to use two communication tools: one is the website Sign Up Genius and an app called TEAM APP.
I use the sign up genius for all the community meals. I list out all needed ingredients and how much is needed and campers can sign up to bring the items. The most asked question around food sign up has always been how much do I bring? My easiest answer to that question is “most of us have an idea of what it would cost us to provide groceries for our family for three camping meals so we strive to contribute that number.”
The TEAM APP is an app my daughters cheer team was using. It suddenly dawned on me during cheer season that this type of communication app would work perfectly for us. In this modern world we can count on someone or several someones to have their phone with them. So I set up a team on TEAM APP and communicated to everyone who registered for the campout to download the app and join our team. This was so much faster than a group text. The administrator can send quick important messages out to everyone all at once.
This year I asked several friends to text me the answer to one simple question: “What is your favorite thing about the family campout?” The responses melted my heart. (thanks guys!) Let me share some of the nice things:
“We were nervous, lots of new people, meals, events…but man it was the best. Come as you are and be ready to make new friendships and just share in good, wholesome [fun].”
“We love all of the family activities, specifically the glow party! It’s a safe environment for the kids to explore. Feels like a great way to kick off school season!”
“My initial reaction [to being invited camping] was “heck no”! But as I thought about it and processed my feelings, I realized that camping was never going to be something that I introduced to my family because it was never introduced to me as a child. I wanted better for my kids. Tagging along while someone else (Pam) planned everything out for me was a super safe, and not too overwhelming way for me to be a better mom for my kids.”
“We love that the loop is made up of our group and for the most part, not outsiders. We don’t know everyone but someone in our group does and it makes me feel a little more at ease with my kid running around having fun.”
“We love the family activities…having a group makes meals and activities more fun due to competition, shared meals, and playmates for the kids so the parents can enjoy sitting on occasion.”
“I absolutely love the camaraderie of the family camp out! Lots to do and fun meeting new people! The community meals are great because you don’t have to cook an entire meal yourself.”
“I love that we are big enough to have the entire loop, my child enjoys playing with all the other kids, I really enjoy the group meals because it takes stress off of me to meal plan.”
“The thing I enjoy most about the campout is how excited Pam gets when she talks about it and starts planning.”
From the very first campout I have enjoyed organizing and planning this weekend for everyone. My heart swells thinking this weekend has become important to others.
I love the idea of staying in a National Park. I love the idea of waking up before the park gets busy, grabbing that moment of solitude inside a national treasure, or staying up late to hear the animals and see the dark skies long after the crowds move on for the day. But if I am honest with you; I am spoiled. I love my electrical sites and I love my life more when I have easy access to water. There I said it. So, because of this, I find taking my camper to national parks somewhat challenging. I have a large camper and it does not always fit in the spaces available.
When we decided to visit Mesa Verde National Park I was most excited to see that they have a small number of full hookup RV sites at Morefield Campground. With early planning, we were able to secure three of the 15 full hookup sites for our visit.
We arrived at Mesa Verde after a short (less than 4 hour) drive along Colorado Highway 160 from Alamosa. Upon arriving at Mesa Verde our daughter had the experience of actually using her Every Child in the Park pass and taking us to a National Park.
We spent two nights and roughly three jammed packed days inside the park. We had a nice balance of some relaxing time, some hiking, and some exploring of ancient communities.
Morefield Campground:
Staying at Morefield Campground was everything I had always knew staying inside the park would be. It was peaceful, there were breathtaking views, and intimate animal encounters. I felt like we were some place special from the moment we arrived. The sites were spacious and had grass, shrubs, and trees, the exact opposite of what we experienced in Yellowstone at Fishing Bridge.
One funny thing about our site at Mesa Verde, the sewer connection was uphill from our camper. We were a little “worried” because we all know stuff rolls down hill and not uphill. We established a back up plan: use the holding tanks and the dump station at the bottom of the campground. But since we were only there for two nights, we managed.
Nightly there were Ranger Lead Programs in the campgrounds although we never attended any of these. By the time we reached our campers at the end of the evening, we were worn out and ready for bed.
Hiking:
One of my favorite vacation activities is hiking. Mesa Verde National Park has several different hiking options. Their hiking trails seem to be batched by area and there are three different areas: Morefield Campground has three trailheads, Chapin Mesa has four trailheads, and Wetherill Mesa has two trailheads. We elected to hike the Petroglyph Point Trail from the Chapin Mesa area.
The Petroglyph Point Trail is a 2.4 mile loop that takes you past a large petroglyph panel as well as evidence of ancient Pueblo homes. We found the trail challenging, which was a level of fun for everyone in our group. The age ranges of our group varied from 7 to 65 years old.
Tours:
Mesa Verde is most known for their Ancient Puebloan cliff dwellings so if you are visiting this national park, planning to visit the dwellings is a very important part of the experience. There are two ways to see the cliff dwellings: a ranger led tour and the self-guided tour. We did a combination of both. We were able to do self-guided tour to see Spruce House, the third largest cliff dwelling and best preserved, from the Chapin Mesa Visitor Center. Currently there are not any tours to Spruce House so seeing it from afar will have to suffice.
We purchased tickets to tour both the Balcony House and Cliff Palace. Tickets were $5 per person and we purchased our tickets the night before at the ranger station by Morefield Campground.
I, personally, had a lot of anxiety about taking the two tours and visiting Balcony House and Cliff Palace. The park brochure gave fair warning to visit the dwelling you would climb multiple ladders, of various sizes (8 to 10 feet long, 32 foot long, and up to 60 feet long) making a verticle ascent of 100 feetup exposed cliff face, crawling through a tiny tunnel, and using a series of stone steps.
I do not like ladders! Can I even fit into a tiny tunnel? And… what was it about exposed cliff faces? OH MY GOODNESS! I tried very hard not to show it, but these were the questions running through my head all day long.
We toured Balcony House first and as I stood at the base of that large 60 foot ladder my heart pounded. We had to ascend it two by two and I found myself with Meeghan’s husband, Mr. Calm Cool and Collected. The guide told us that we just needed to keep three points of contact with the ladder at all times, which I repeated over and over all the way up the ladder. Maybe I even said it outloud. This is probably why Mr. Calm kept looking at me like “I can’t believe I got paired up with this crazy lady!”
As freaked out as I was, with as much anxiety as I entered touring these dwellings with, it all melted away. I challenged myself and I felt the growth because of it. Isn’t that what a vacation is about? Stepping outside your normal routine and doing something new. For me, it is and I find that I return from my travels a little stronger than I was before.
I found out the ladders were super sturdy. They were no were near as wobbly at the ladders we use at home to hang Christmas lights. You know the ones you threaten your children with their lives if they leave the bottom rung while you are on it. (Oh wait, maybe that is just me?) As far as the tunnel, well it was tight, but we all made it, and maybe had fun doing so. The tour guides (park rangers) are pretty specific about not touching the walls of the dwellings as it will leave oils on the rock. So, we did a great job of balancing and I am happy to say, no one fell off the cliff face.
The tours are well attended. They are quick, you only spend about an hour on each tour, but we learned a lot about kiva’s, corn, and the Puebloan people. It is amazing to see dwellings that have been around for centuries still standing (yes, some of them may have had a little help being rehabbed but who does not need a face lift after a few hundred years).
As we would soon learn, this National Park is alive and exciting but most of that excitement is below the canyon. If you are willing to take a walk, descend down the canyon you are going to see some amazing things.
Mesa Verde was a joy to visit. We crammed a lot into the three days and two nights we were there. To recap our trip we:
Stayed at Morefield campground
Toured Balcony and Cliff Palace
Obtained Junior Ranger Badges
Hiked the Petroglyph Trail
Learned a lot about Puebloan history and the plants they harvested.
In case you have been following along, this stop was the third stop on the Betty and Roxy Desert Vacation of 2018.
It all started with a photo on Pinterest of Zion National Park. It morphed into an epic seventeen day road trip that would cross four states, make eight stops, travel three thousand mile road trip. We were nervous about visiting the desert in the summer, so we went early in the summer. We were excited to see so many national parks and places we had been visiting on Pinterest for years; Monument Valley, Four Corners, Mesa Verde, Zion, The Grand Canyon. I was nervous because it was a lot of moving, a lot of exploring, and even though it did not seem like it, a lot of editing.
Betty and Roxie, as you may recall, went on another grand adventure together to Wyoming in 2017. Our friends the Rockwood’s decided to decline this adventure because they were saving up days for a 2019 adventure east to Gettysburg. Roxie’s owners invited their extended family to join us so Papa Gary signed up to be our third camper on the Desert Vacation.
We decided to meet at the Paxico Rest Stop just west of Topeka at Mile Marker 336 on I-70 as we were all coming from different places. Together we continued traveling west. We had no reservation for this first day, but landing where we could. We wanted to push ourselves to get a full six hours in so we could make the driving on Day 2 as comfortable as possible.
We ended up making it six and half hours the first day and landed in Seibert, Colorado, approximately 50 miles west of the Kansas/Colorado border. We checked into Shady Grove campground.
Meeghan and I had researched every campground from Wakeeney Kansas to Colorado Springs as part of preparation for this trip. We had “hoped” to reach Shady Grove because it had a wonderful pool and thought it would be a treat to the kids after a long first day of traveling. Well, sadly the lady who checked us in told us there was no pool at Shady Grove. Meeghan and I jumped on our phones and realized we made an error in planning: the Shady Grove Campground in Seibert Colorado does not have a pool but Sandy Grove Campground in Pennsylvania has a pool (and a nice website that we apparently looked at instead of the one in Colorado)!. So lesson learned, when researching on the internet make sure you are in the correct state.
We secured three camping spots for the night and settled in. We pre-planned for a quick dinner of BLT sandwiches and made ahead side salads then we set out walking the small town of Seibert. As we walked around town, we speculated about living in such a small out-of-the-way place. We found a city park where the kids could burn some pent up energy. Meeghan’s youngest decided to jump off the slide and literally caught himself by the throat and gave himself a clothes-line injury. Poor little man spent the rest of the vacation with a massive friction mark on his neck!
Shady Acres had a variety of tenants. Some bikers on their way west tent camping, a girl camper on an adventure, and a few others stopping for the night. It was comfortable and quiet.
The next morning we left Shady Grove and Seibert to head towards Colorado Springs. Our goal for Day 2 was to reach Base Camp Family Campground in Alamosa, Colorado. Before we reached Alamosa, we stopped for a road side lunch just past Colorado Springs and met up with Meeghan’s sister, her husband, and their baby. They joined us for part of our Colorado visit.
Our newly expanded group continued south on I-25 turning west once again on Highway 160. The drive from Walsenburg to Alamosa was scenic and wonderful. We checked into Base Camp late in the afternoon ready for some adventure and exploring…..
Every year we have a goal of visiting 5 different Missouri State Parks, which earns us our Missouri Camper Award. Some of those five are parks we visit every single year: Watkins Mill State Park, Weston Bend State Park, and Wallace State Park. But, we also like to explore and try new things (isn’t that part of the love of RV’ing?) so I also look for a couple of new parks we want to visit. Knob Noster State Park has been on our list of places to visit for the past couple of years and we finally made it there Memorial Day Weekend 2018.
Located an hour east of Kansas City in the small town of Knob Noster, we found ourselves arriving just about the time we felt like we left home. Knob Noster is home to Whiteman Air Force Base so by coming here, I really hoped to catch a glimpse of the B-2 Stealth Bomber, which is permanently housed at Whiteman AFB.
This trip came days before we departed for our two week family vacation, so we were really hoping for a quiet weekend before we sat off on an adventure. As we rarely roam without a friend or two, this weekend was no exception.. Our friends Josh and Vickie and their two children joined us.
Camp Life:
The campground loop is long and weaves between completely shaded sites to full exposed to the sun sites. Primitive sites are sprinkled throughout the loop and next to electric sites. There are 70 total sites at Knob Noster SP.
In addition to the campground, there is also a special use area with two group campgrounds that are available to nonprofits, weddings, family reunions, and other approved groups. One of the parks even has an in-ground swimming pool!
Each night and day that we were visiting KNSP there were ranger led activities. We attended an owl program Friday night after settling into camp. We attended a ranger led nature walk the next day and on our last evening we attended a ranger led program that discussed the history of the park.
Interesting History:
Knob Noster State Park actually started off as part of the National Park Service. Construction began on the future state park in 1936 as part of the employment relief service and with a goal of turning marginal land no longer suited for agriculture into a recreational area for Kansas Citians and nearby residents. Ten years later when construction was completed in 1946, the National Park Service transferred control to the Missouri State Board.
Our Time:
As we prepared to come to Knob Noster State Park for the first time we heard from many people that the hiking at this park was exceptional. We ended up hiking the Buteo Trail and the Discovery Trail. We found wild plants, animals, cliffs, streams, and lakes. The Buteo Trail has a fun water feature to cross and it takes you around the Buteo Lake. We heard that the Buteo Lake is home to fresh water jellyfish and beavers, but we found no evidence of jelly fish.
We heard that the town of Knob Noster had a farmers market on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, there were only three vendors at the farmer’s market so we finished in like six minutes. Fortunately, we decided to wander around downtown and found ourselves a few antique shops and a few other cute shops. We even found an ice cream place and Josh proved to everyone that it is never too early in the morning for ice cream!
One of the evenings during our visit we traveled over to Clear Fork Lake to catch the sunset and do a little bit of fishing. We did not catch any fish but the sunset that night was beautiful! I added returning to Clear Fork Lake to my next time list. I think this place would be beautiful space for an evening picnic.
Sunday afternoon we welcomed visitors, my brother and niece arrived. One of the small pleasures in life is to enjoy a grilled hot dog and the company of loved ones. As we sat around our campsite, following the shade from spot to the next we actually had a B-2 fly overhead. By the time we heard the noise, the bomber was long gone but man, it was so loud! Maybe next visit we will actually get to see a B-2 fly over. Maybe, but they are stealthy.
Down and Dirty Details: Dates of Stay: August 2 – 6, 2018 Lakeside Campground Site Number 131 We traveled with 6 families and a total of 24 people.
Eugene T. Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Nebraska brings all of the amenities of a private resort to a state park. Campers at Mahoney State Park can expect to find spacious sites, beautiful scenery, a low price point as well as hiking, biking, mini golfing, a driving range, horse back riding, paddle boating, arcade, zip lining, organized activities, and even a water park all at discounted prices! Eugene T. Mahoney State Park is what Nebraska calls an Adventure Park and if adventure is what you seek, you sure do not have to look hard to find it. I am sure it may come as no surprise to hear that Mahoney State Park was our favorite campground of 2017.
Our visit to Mahoney started a year prior to our arrival. Meeghan is originally from Nebraska and she told us about this state park thirty minutes west of Omaha. The park books a year in advance and from our experience it books quickly which made booking seven sites together challenging.
We traveled to Mahoney State Park on a Thursday to enjoy a long weekend before school started for our children and grandchildren. The drive to Mahoney was short, less than four hours and that included some unfavorable road conditions. We arrived before the 4:00 p.m. check-in so we decided to spend our time at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum (also known as SAC), which is right outside the entrance to Mahoney State Park.
The SAC Museum provides ample park for RV’s, which allowed us to have a parking lot picnic before we entered the museum to see the collection of military airplanes and spacecrafts. If you are a history or military buff you will love their collection of planes and helicopters from World War II, Vietnam, Korea, the 70’s, and the 80’s. And, if you are really lucky, you will encounter a veteran visiting the SAC on the same day as you and you can wander the exhibits listening as the memories come back and the reminiscing flows freely.
Camping fees at Mahoney are $25 a night for electric sites and $30 a night for premium electric. In addition to the camping fees guest have to purchase a daily parking fee which cost $8 a day for nonresidents. There are two campgrounds and a total of 149 camping sites at Mahoney. Most sites are 30 amp but we did find several 50 amp sites. There are even a few full hook-up sites but they are very limited and half are reserve-able. In addition to a large number of camping sites, this park has other types of lodging available; like a lodge, cabins, and even houses for rent. So, if you are traveling with non-campers they can be close by and enjoy the fun as well.
Family Aquatic Center
Open daily from noon to 5:00 p.m. and then from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m. Memorial Day to Labor Day, this is honestly one of the biggest draws to Mahoney State Park. The cost to enter the Aquatic Center is $10 per adult and $8 per child, children under 2 years old are free. The water park has a splash area with buckets of water falling over you, a wave pool, slides, and a giant swimming pool with diving boards. Outside food and drink are not allowed in the Aquatic Center but hungry swimmers will find a full service snack area or they are allowed to leave and return as many times as they would like for the entire day.
We visited the Aquatic Center on Friday, hoping to beat the weekend traffic, and we arrived right at the opening. We easily found enough chairs for all of us and the kids did not stop moving until we drug them out of there before the dinner time closure. The wave pool was a mass of people and the wave patterns changed every time the bell rang. The lines to the slides went by quickly and we all had a good time racing each other down the slides. The splash area was a favorite part of the youngest members of our group but even the big kids enjoyed a big water dump on the head.
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
Thirty miles due east of Mahoney State Park is Omaha’s highly acclaimed Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, which we decided to visit on Saturday of our trip. We all upgraded our entrance fees to the zoo so we could take advantage of the train and Skyfari. We spent the day wondering from habitat to habitat. We enjoyed the desert dome, the Kingdom of the Nights, the Jungle, the Gorilla Valley, and the Butterfly Pavilion. But my absolute favorite part of the Henry Doorly Zoo remains the Scott Aquarium and all of those jellyfish. I could spend hours watching them. During our visit, we were able to visit the traveling Stingray Beach. Not only did we enjoy touching stingrays but we loved having the opportunity to feed them.
By the end of the day, we walked our feet off and left tired and happy. We returned to the campground exhausted.
Ice Cream at Owen Marina
Owen Marina was a nice easy walk from our campground. The marina has a convenience store, an ice cream parlor, fast food service, paddle boat rental, and an arts and crafts room, The crafts room has a variety of activites from leathercrafts, bird houses, ceramics, and even woodworking. Unfortunately, we visited late in the day and there were no organized activities. But no worry, ice cream was on the brain and there was no shortage of cones, sundae’s or floats. Sadly, there were no non-dairy options for those of us who are lactose intolerant.
Walter Scott Jr Observation Tower
This tower is open year round and has no extra cost to enjoy it. We rode our bicycles from Lakeside Campground to the observation tower. Bike riding allowed us to really see the entire park. We biked past the cabins, the nice homes, the aquatic center, the tennis courts, the ropes course, as well as the family children’s activity center, the stables and disc golf course. It was amazing to see everything this park has to offer.
As far as the observation tower, it is a 70 foot tower on the bluffs above the Platte River. The view is pretty; trees, a railroad, a river, crops.
Trail Riding
Our Sunday planned activity was to trail ride. Reservations are made on a first come first serve basis at the Park Administration building. When we arrived (fifteen minutes before the office opened) there was already a line forming, so we ended up with afternoon rides vs morning rides. Trail Rides cost $18 per person for an hour ride. Riding horses is one of those things that sounds really fun but the reality is I have not been on a horse since I was a child. My last memory of riding a horse is my six year old self freaking out as soon as the horse started galloping. I had kinda forgotten that until I was placed on top of a huge, fourteen hand horse named Cash.
Trail riding should be smooth, the horses are trained to walk the trail, follow a specific horse, and respond to basic commands. That was all well, until Cash decided to do some fancy footwork and we found ourselves slipping. I am not sure from what hidden skill drawer I was able to pull out the skills needed to keep this giant horse under control. Technically there is no photographs allowed on the trail ride, so the staff allowed us to linger afterwards, on the horses and with the horses, to take as many photos as we wanted. Again, all was fun until Cash decided to get upset with another horse for drinking our of his water trough. With me still on his back, he reared up on his back legs. Man, I am just not sure horses are my thing. As soon as all four of his hooves hit the ground, I tapped out.
If trail riding is not your thing, or if you are too young to ride a big horse, Mahoney also has pony rides for $7 per child.
18 Hole Mini Golfing
After dinner Sunday night at a local restaurant, we decided to try and squeeze in a round of 18 hole mini golfing. We arrived at the rental office five minutes before closing but the staff did not care how long we played as long as we left the clubs outside the front door when we were done. We broke into family groups and had a blast deciding who in the family was the best mini golfer. These simple, easy moments are what make a family get away perfect! Mini Golfing was a fun way to close out our time at Mahoney State Park.
Paddle Boating
Paddle boats can be rented at Owen Marina and paddled around Baright Lake. The boats cost $8 for a half hour or $16 for an hour. This was a fun activity to do in between other activities.
SKUNKS!!!
Now, we are accustomed to sharing our space in a state park with critters. We have become very skilled at picking up any food and locking down the trash bags, like literally, we lock that trash can inside of our truck at nights. Raccoons can no longer get over on us! But, Mahoney threw us with a loop when it comes to critters; skunks. From our very first night to the last morning we learned to pay extra special attention to the black and white critters that roamed the campground loop. Skunks are sorta like bears. I can appreciate one from a far but no way do I want to see one close and I absolutely do not want to scare one.
Every evening around dusk we could see the critters lurking around the campers, then the vehicles and then all over the campground loop. Taking the dog out to do his business became an ordeal that involved headlamps and flashlights.
The Community Around Eugene T Mahoney State Park
A few short miles east of Mahoney is Nebraska Crossing Outlets, which is a great place for shopping, With stores like Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Coach, Bose, Oakley, Nike, Le Creuset, North Face, and Steve Madden there is a store for everyone. I was excited to find a perfect pair of Chaco’s while shopping at the Crossing.
Across the street from the entrance of state park is the Wildlife Safari Park, a four mile drive through wildlife experience. We did not drive through Wildlife Safari Park, but others in our group did and they loved it. So, if you are seeking an animal experience but do not wish to visit Henry Doorly Zoo, this wildlife safari might be ehat you are looking for.
Another great way to spend some time outside the state park is by visiting local vineyards. There are three local vineyards near Mahoney. We visited Cellar 426 which is name after the exit off of I-80. We visited Cellar 426 on a Sunday afternoon before trail riding for a wine tasting. I brought home a bottle of their Blue Jay Edelweiss and I have regretted every day that I did not bring home more. Cellar 426 has a lovely deck, which was a beautiful place to pass some time away. Besides the Edelweiss, I also recommend their white sangria. I am pretty sure they put Peach Schnapps in it and it was delish!
Final Reflections
Outside of our family vacation, this was our favorite camping trip of 2018 and I am sure it is easy to see why. There were so many activities and things to do in the park and around the park that we could have easily spent an entire week. It is trips like this, with our friends by our sides, that I love our group camping experiences.
This was the first and only camping trip that my entire family made together. It was so much easier when we all lived in one roof and the only full time jobs we had to coordinate with was mine and Wayne’s. But now that our son is gown and living on his own and not only has a girlfriend but also their full time jobs it just gets harder. As a mom, my heart was full and happy this entire camping trip.
So, if you have hung with me through this entire post, then I say, THANK YOU! I want to say that several of our friends had to make last minute cancellations and could not join us. We missed them and hope to return with them to this location again soon.
According to The Short Chic she has two camping trips that are her most favorite camping trips of the year. The first is our Annual Halloween Camping Trip and the second is our Annual Family Camp-Out. We started the Family Camp-Out six years ago in 2012. It started as a desire to introduce our kids to camping. We thought it would be “funner” if we could convince a friend or two who also had kids to join us. To our surprise, that first year we had about 35 campers. That is 35 people who wanted to go camping or introduce camping to their family as well. We have continued to gather every year since then. Some come for the day, some spend a night, while others have graduated up to three nights of camping.
In September 2017 we had our Sixth Annual Family Camp-Out at Smithville Lake. For the past several years we have camped in the same spot and this year, we moved the camp-out to Loop F. Moving to this loop gave us beautiful views of the lake and easy access to the playground, bike trail, and restrooms/showers.
This year we fought with the elements. It was super windy Friday night, which prevented us from showing our outdoor movie. It rained Saturday afternoon, which pushed us all inside our campers and threatened our Glow Party. I know now the maximum kid capacity of our camper, or at least the number that will lead me to uncorking a bottle of wine.
We ended up with an extra spot from a cancellation so we found out how nice it is to have a “party” spot. We also learned that total strangers will pilfer your party spot when they think no one is watching. Thankfully in a large group camp-out someone is always watching.
I personally learned that I am over tie dying t-shirts. I learned that walking taco’s are always a hit and everyone loves a glow party. Okay, maybe I love the glow party the most. Allen learned not to bet money on my Family Camp-Out knowledge or maybe he learned not to place a bet over Friday evening cocktails.
Each year we still entice someone new to try camping. Beth, Ken, and Martin joined us this year. The rain did nothing to woo them over. I do hope they know it has only rained once before. Two rain storms in six years is not bad, huh. Please try again, Beth! Not new to camping but new to the family camp-out was also our college friend, Joy and her family. There are three families who have attended every single camp-out: us, The Todd’s and The Bell family. We affectionately call ourselves the OG’s.
Each year the Glow Party inevitable draws a total stranger to the fun. Meeghan found this out during a game of Simon Says. Some random little girl just joined in the game. I wish everyone could have seen Meeghan’s face when the little girl told her she had no parents there. That same little girl proceeded to cover every inch of her body in glow paint during the glow party. I should make a mental note that I need more glow paint before the 7th Annual Family Camp-Out!
I am happy to say that our friends Jaime and Aaron made a return visit. Neither Dawn or Mary needed urgent care and no one was hospitalized during the camp-out. And I think no one was happier that Nikki was able to make it than Mary!
Plans are already under way for our 7th Annual Family Camp-Out. We are leaving the month of September as I heard so many tell me how busy that month is.
As I reflect back on the six years of our family camp-out and really look at that first year, I realize this was truly the beginning of our love of group camping and our Roaming With Friends.
As an adult I developed a love/hate relationship with Labor Day Weekend. I loved the long weekend. I loved the extra paid day off from work. I hated that it symbolized the end of summer. I hated the realization that soon the days became shorter and the temperatures would start dropping. I even hated that the pools closed. However, as a camper, I don’t so much hate Labor Day Weekend any longer. Many of our favorite camping trips occur in the fall. So, instead of seeing it as the end of summer, I see it as a transition from summer camping to fall camping.
We selected to spend Labor Day at Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville MO. This was a new state park for us, it was within the 3 hour radius limit we set, and there is a lake to play in. Our friends Mike and Marnie were already booked to be there and they offered no loud objection to the Master’s and Taylor’s joining them.
GETTING THERE
We left Kansas City late, late afternoon with plans to stop along the way to eat dinner. Wayne took a new job and his early release Friday’s went away so we had to wait for him to fight traffic to get home. The restaurant we selected was in Hamilton MO and while it had ample parking for the trucks and campers all their wait staff had returned to college leaving the small restaurant running very slowly. The slow service allowed the Taylor’s to meet up with the Master’s for the remainder of the journey.
As we approached Kirksville, our GPS directed us in. We found ourselves on a dark, gravel road. The map app showed we were by the lake but we were no where near the campground. The map showed us that we were on the backside of a giant loop road and that we should theoretically be able to follow it around and find the campground. After many jokes about Keith Morris narrating our final trip, we contacted Mike and he lead us to the campground. Ironically, his GPS did the same thing to him the day before only he was not driving down the gravel road at night. This is the second Missouri State Park that we know of where the GPS is not connected to the state park.
We arrived at dusk. By the time we filled up with water, we found ourselves backing into a shared site at night. Backing up and parking by flashlight is no joke. Getting in your camper after you have traveled down a bumpy gravel road to find that you have lost all power to your first slide, is also no joke. Unfortunately, we experienced both.
SHARED SITES
We booked site 39, which is a family site. This was our second experience with a family site and the Master’s first. The site is wider than a regular site (in fact it is double the width of a regular site because it is virtually two put together). A family site comes with two of everything; two electrical boxes and two picnic tables and a much larger side yard. Family sites may work great for tent campers or even smaller units but they are pretty tight when you have two 32 foot campers with a combined total of five slides.
Thousand Hills State Park
There are two campgrounds at Thousand Hills State Park. We were in campground 1 but we did visit campground 2. I think there are decent spots at both. Campground 2 appeared to be the smaller of the two.
Ironically, we found the entire park unsupervised. When we arrived there was no campground host Thankfully we brought our own firewood because there was no one to purchase any from the entire weekend. There was no one working the office. Sometime on Sunday a brand new campground host arrived. And when I say brand new I mean she had never been a host before, so we had to walk her through signing our camper award.
Park Activities
Thousand Hills State Park is one of two state parks with petroglyphs or Native American rock carvings still visible in the park. The petroglyphs are inside the Interpretative Center just off of the swimming beach. We had a great time stretching our imagination to see the carvings, and then to decide what they meant. It was sad to see so much graffiti. People had carved their initials over the carvings. I would like to think that is the reason for the interpretive center was built but given it was completely unsupervised I am not sure.
We encountered a lot of people hiking at Thousand Hills. From short .6 mile hikes to long 10 mile hikes, from day trips to overnight trips there seems to be a trail for everyone. We hiked portions of the underdeveloped Forest Lake Trail.
If hiking is not your thing, or it is your thing and you feel the need to cool off after a hike, you can head to the swimming beach. The kids enjoyed the beach. We enjoyed the beach. Until that moment when the unsupervised child starts throwing rocks at your kids. And while the unsupervised child’s parents never see him throwing the rocks at your kids they sure see you asking him to stop throwing the rocks and they get all mad at you for addressing their child. Swim at your own risk.
The marina rents boats. We rented a TriToon boat for an entire afternoon. We had looked forward to spending our time anchored up in a cove but we learned that you are only allowed to anchor at designated swimming docks. There are four docks total on the lake and they were all busy as we approached. It felt very intrusive to join an group but we finally found a group who welcomed us to the dock and we anchored up. We spent the afternoon swimming, tubing, and just generally enjoying the lake. For a holiday weekend, the lake was really empty. We were able to do loops on the tube in the main channel with no worries of other boaters.
I should note that on this trip I faced one of my fears. I have an absolute phobia of putting my face in water. I know it is ridiculous but it real to me. Panic attack real. Watching the kids and everyone have such a fun time, I decided to give it a go. I think it is so important for me to keep trying to tackle this phobia. I think it is so important to me for my daughter see me keep trying. I got on that tube. I got splashed in the face. And I had a great time. Meeghan and I shared the last adult beverage as a celebration of my accomplishment!
We enjoyed spending time animal watching. Wild turkeys and deer visited our campground and camp sites. Mike and I got up early and drove around the grand loop oohing over dozens of deer all over the place. Friday and early Saturday we were able to watch helicopters trim the trees from the power lines. The deer loved the fresh cut tree limbs. Have you ever seen a helicopter trim trees from power lines? Pretty amazing!
Of course, we also just enjoyed activities at our campsite. Meeghan made giant bubble wands and we threw together a solution for making large bubbles. The kids practiced and practiced to make giant bubbles. They also got a kick out of painting rocks and watching outdoor movies, from eating home made funnel cakes, and just from hanging out with friends.
On our last morning at the park, we attended a ranger lead program called Hug A Herp. What is a herp? We learned all about herptiles. There were even live examples. We noticed the day was foggy and the park ranger was the first to tell us how the fires in Canada were impacting our skies. I am not gonna lie to you all, we thought maybe the park ranger was a little off. She ended up being right on.
We saw a lot of new types of snakes. Including a pug nosed snake. Mid morning we packed up and headed home. Our ride home was way less eventful than the ride there. After this trip, we had to put Betty in the shop to fix her lack of electricity to the slide.
So, we bid summer farewell. It is not a time for sadness because we have the fall and I am pretty sure fall camping is my favorite. So long summer; see ya next time around!
Campers believe that camping is magical. Noncampers might disagree; but we aren’t really hanging out with noncampers so their opinions do not really matter to us. What makes camping to a camper so magical? I don’t really know the formula. I would suggest it differs from one person to the next. Maybe it differs from one camping trip to the next. I think the magical formula has to do with the company, the setting, the activities, or maybe even the weather. While I can’t pinpoint what exactly makes a camping trip magical, I can recognize a magical trip. It is one you walk away from with a big smile on your face. It is one that reaffirms your love for camping.
The weekend we spent at Big Lake State Park last August was one of the most magical camping trips. I think each of us walked away feeling like we had just had one of our favorite camping trips of the year. Even now, in the dead cold of winter, my heart is warm just thinking about our time there. I am going to try and breakdown the component of this magical weekend.
The Company:
Meeghan organized this camping trip in order to bring back together a trio of friends. Several years ago, one of our really good friends (Jen and Glen) moved to the East Coast. Jen and Glen send their children back to the Midwest for a month each summer to stay connected to extended family. Meeghan came up with an idea to camp with the extended family when they had the kids so we all could reconnect; especially giving our children the opportunity to spend time together. Unbeknownst to us Jen and Glen had to make a unexpected trip back to the Midwest and they were able to surprise their children and us with a face to face visit!
In addition to the three families, we also had a few others decide to join us. In the end we had five families with around 23 people camping at Big Lake State Park.
The Short Chic and I got the last second chance to go up to Big Lake a day early. We enjoyed a mommy/daughter evening in the camper and enjoyed waking up leisurely at the campground. The Short Chic made new friends while I worked from home that Friday morning. It was not until after lunch that I realized Jen and Glen’s extended family arrived a day early like us. Any time you can get an extra day at the campground is a good day. Spending the afternoon with friends is a great day!
The Setting:
Big Lake State Park is in the far northwest corner of the state of Missouri near the Nebraska/Iowa/Kansas border. It is 87 miles north of our home in Kansas City and took us under one hour and thirty minutes to arrive.
Big Lake is the largest remaining oxbow lake in the state of Missouri. An oxbow lake is one that is created when a river ebbs and flows and cuts itself off and fills in with water. It is suspected that Big Lake was formed in the 1800’s and was documented in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Recently the park was closed from 2011 to 2014 as Big Lake State Park was closed due to flooding.
There are only 76 camping sites at Big Lake, making it a fairly small park. The sites closest to the lake are basic and the rest is electric sites only. The loops are narrow. The weekend we were there it seemed as if there were a lot of group campers enjoying the weekend. This is a campground that would be perfect if you have campers and noncampers as Big Lake also has eight sleep cabins available for rent.
There are showers on both ends of the campground. Most of the bathrooms are shower/bathroom combinations and then they have a few single stall bathrooms. All weekend it felt there was a line to use the bathrooms, so i think unfortunately, they might have missed the mark on the number of bathrooms needed.
There are two playgrounds at the state park; one near the campground and one near the swimming pool.
The Activities:
The lake is the biggest draw at Big Lake State Park. The park rents canoes and kayak’s at a rate of $20 a day which makes it easy to for visitors to get out and enjoy the water. Of course, you can also bring your own water toys to play with.
There are areas to swim in the lake but if lake swimming is not your thing, there is also a public swimming pool at Big Lake State Park.
Bird watching is a nice thing to do at this park. We have spotted our share of Bald Eagles.
Big Lake also has a beautiful night sky. During the weekend we camped here there was a meteorite shower occurring. Of course, we did not know anything about the shower until our campground neighbors so rudely asked us to shut off our outside lights so they could watch the meteorite shower. Funny, we sat out under that dark sky and saw numerous meteorites that night and I am not sure our neighbors saw any.
Hiking is a standard activity we enjoy participating in at state parks. However, there is no hiking at Big Lake State Park. In the place of hiking, bicycling became an important part of this weekend. Specifically, an epic bike race between Meeghan and Jeremy. Through the course of the summer, Meeghan had been riding on an old green Huffy she picked up for $30 at an auction. Way back in May on our first bike ride of the summer, Wayne aired up Meeghan’s nearly flat tires. However, we soon found out that fully aired, the tires rubbed against the bike frame. The gears would not shift so her 21 speed was limited to pretty much two gears: peddling or not peddling. We all knew Meeghan needed a new bike. But Jeremy was less than convinced. So he struck a deal with Meeghan, a head on head bike ride and if Meeghan could beat Jeremy then a new bike she could have. Jeremy would take the green Huffy and Meeghan borrowed my bike.
Meeghan and Jeremy took off on a three mile race. We all gathered to watch the dramatic conclusion. I will say, the race was much tighter than I expected it to be. I know Jeremy pretty well and he was not going down without a fight. But, I also know my bike and just felt like even with a novice on it, my bike alone should have smoked that green Huffy. In front of all his family and friends, we watched Jeremy fall to Meeghan in the home stretch of the race.
Other activities we participated in while we were there include: the playground, an outdoor movie, and a giant water balloon fight.
The Weather:
August in Missouri should be melt your face off hot. It is not uncommon to experience triple digit temperatures. However; we had some of best weather of the summer. Sure it was super warm during the day but a cool dip in the lake and then the pool took that edge off. The evenings cooled off and were perfect for sitting around a campfire or watching an outdoor movie.
I hope for a second you get a glimpse of how magical this weekend was for us. We left there planning to make it a yearly experience. Want to see more of Big Lake? Check out our short video.
We purchased tickets to tour both the Balcony House and Cliff Palace. Tickets were $5 per person and we purchased our tickets the night before at the ranger station by Morefield Campground.
Roam With Friends 