June 11-15, 2023 Road trip from GA to SD via Lake of the Ozarks

 6-11-23. We left by car for South Dakota.  While driving, we had a water leak from under the dash on the passenger side.  There was brownish water that soaked the floor mat and would spray on the feet of the passenger.  It was especially bad when turning.  Dave thought maybe there was a gasket leaking.  We decided to take it to a mechanic in the morning.  We stayed at the  Fultondale, AL Holiday Inn Express, where we have stayed before.  That night, Dave researched what the problem could be.  A video came up right away when he googled it.  He watched a video that described it as “RAV 4 squirts water onto passenger floor when turning left”.  There is possibly a clogged drain hose from the air conditioner.  
6-12 We went out to the car in the morning.  Dave pulled back the carpet and found a hose under the dash that ran to a floor drain.  The hose didn’t seem clogged and he could see water in the AC reservoir.  He pulled the hose off of the reservoir.  Next he poked a pen into the hose nipple of the reservoir, and water ran right out onto the floor, and out the hole in the floor.  He replaced the hose and it appeared to be fixed.  We went to a car wash nearby and vacuumed the flore and floor mat.  Good work Dave!!

We traveled west towards Arkansas and had lunch in Tupelo, Mississippi at Clay’s House of Pig.  They had great ribs and brisket.  They had a map of the US with pins from customers.  We put one in for Rapid City.  It was the only pin in the state of South Dakota.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Morrilton, AR, west of Little Rock.

 

great smoked meats

 6-13 We talked to our niece, Sherri Zeller Hanson, because we were near their second home at the Lake of the Ozark's in Missouri.  They weren’t going to be there, but she offered us her place to stay if we wanted to.  So we headed north.  We stopped for a picnic lunch on the Buffalo River north of Marshall, AR.  There were lots of canoes and kayaks.  It was a beautiful rest stop for us.

 

 

We stopped in Camdenton, MO for pizza.  It was less that 30 minutes to there lake home.  We relaxed and stared at the lake for the evening.  We had been messaging with our friend in Perth, Australia about visiting her later this year.  We set up time to talk to each other, about 12 hours difference.  We talked for about an hour making tentative plans.  

 

 

6-14 We decided to stay an second night.  It was so comfortable and relaxing.  I spent the day making plans for visiting Australia and New Zealand in September and October.  We weren’t going to be back in GA until late July, and by then it may be too late.   This vacation has been in the planning stage for a couple months.  I booked our flights to Australia and New Zealand after lots of planning.  I made some additional reservations for flights within the country and tourist destinations.  We’re really going to do this!!  

Friends of Sherri and Bobby’s, Mike and Jennifer, picked us up on there triton (tri-hulled pontoon).  We went to Nautifish for dinner.  It was beautiful night on the water.  

6-15 Thursday It was hard to leave Sherri’s home.  It was so relaxing to just sit and stare at the water.  We finally left at 11:00.  I captured the sunrise that morning.

We had great BBQ on the east side of Kansas City at the Branding Iron.  We continued on to Sioux Falls, SD and stayed at a Super 8 on 41st street, which wasn’t too bad.  We found out that our friend, Rod Schneller had meningitis and is in the hospital in Brainard, MN.  It’s probably from a tick, but still being assessed.  His wife, Lori, was supposed to join me and friends for the weekend, but now won’t be able to make it.  Could be serious!