1 May 2026 - Arrived at Meadow Campground & Coffee Shop - Hannibal MO area

 

Well, the Schellhase's have launched on our 2026 RV travels!  I had intended to post a couple times as we made preparation to depart but simply too many irons in the fire and too much going on.  A lot has been happening since the last post:  

    - On 17 Feb we got the RV out of the winter storage facility because we had no snow and everything was super dry so the ground was solid and it seemed like the right thing to do.  

    - From 17 Feb-22 Mar we stored it outside 

    - From 22-25 Mar our RV was at our dealer for it's annual inspection, wheel bearing clean/lube, suspension lube and annual inspection

    - On 29 Mar we towed our RV to the Alliance factory for some TLC.  We had a few issues we need to have addressed and from 30 Mar-20 Apr Alliance got everything squared away.

    - Right after our grand daughter Hailee's wedding, on 20 April we headed to Elkhart IN and picked up our RV.  Again, Alliance exceed0ed our expectations.  Their service department is second to none!  They fixed stuff we did not even know needed fixed!  While there they replaced two of our air conditioners with the latest "chill cubes" which are super efficient and ultra-quiet.  

    - On 22 Apr we brought the RV home and set it up in our launch/recovery campground Griff's RV Park, which is only a few miles from home..

    - We spent the next week un-winterizing, cleaning and reloading the coach in preparation for our departure today.  Simultaneously we prep'd our "sticks and bricks" home for our departure.

So today at 0745 hrs we pulled chocks and headed south and east to Hannibal MO and the Meadow Campground and Coffee Shop, our home for the next four nights.  We consider this stop# 2 since we camped at Griff's the past four nights to make sure everything was working OK.  

The trip was uneventful today with all of it four lane divided highways.  Traffic was light and weather was clear but cool.  It was about 37F when we departed Griff's but sunny.  We stopped once to stretch and download coffee in Batavia IA and then rolled into the Meadow Campground at 1224 hrs after driving 252 miles and traveling 4 hrs 39 minutes.

On the way down, Doreen was researching what was to see and do in the Hannibal area and since today was  Friday we decided to break one of our own rules about not scheduling anything to do on our arrival day.  By the time we break camp in the morning, load up, travel 4-5 hours or more, set-up the coach, etc I am usually toast and so a long time ago we mutually agreed we would not schedule any sightseeing or  friends visits for our travel days.  Today would be an exception.  Since it is early in the season there are venues that are only open Friday and Saturday.  We found availability on the Mark Twain Riverboat Dinner cruise in Hannibal tonight at 1800 hrs so we scheduled it.  

Back to the Meadow Campground, we have been here twice before but just for overnight stays in route home.  This time we decided to stay four nights and take in what Hannibal has to offer.  We also have a high school classmate that lives south of here so we made contact with him and have set up a lunch get together on Monday.  More to follow on that.  So check-in was quick and setup was uneventful.  We have a nice long pull-through site without neighbors on either side. 

  After setting up we were able to have a late lunch and relax a bit before heading out to our dinner cruise on the riverboat. 

The two-hour dinner cruise departs from downtown Hannibal at 1830 hrs with a show-time of 1800 hrs.   We loaded quickly and were escorted to our reserved table.  

There were several groups of folks on the boat including a Tiffin RV group, an Army military reunion, and others.  They served a buffet dinner and offered a cash bar.  We were entertained by a saxophone soloist supplemented with some digital assistance including background music.  We were encouraged to explore the boat while our food was being prepared, so we headed to the upper deck and looked at the Mighty Miss and surrounding area. 

Our meal was a buffet style beef and chicken with baked potato, green beans, salad, biscuit and dessert.  It was filling but nothing to write home about...  

It was a nice, relaxing cruise and Doreen and I decided this was our 52nd anniversary celebration from 30 Mar!

On our way off the boat we stopped for a picture similar to the one we took at Knoxville last summer!

Tomorrow we will explore downtown Hannibal.