Day Three
Starting mileage: 1579.0
It seems that long days of travel are good for my sleep and the alarm jolted me awake.  We went for a short walk around the motel and as the dogs ate their breakfast, I turned to Yelp to find mine.  There were two highly recommended places and after getting a little lost, I finally found myself in front of Hometown Bakery (902 State Highway N, Warrenton, MO).  In fact it would have been difficult to drive past it as I could smell the sweet aroma of baking from inside my car.  When I walked inside I was brought to a sudden and immediate halt as I faced not one but three display cases of baked goods.  Two it seemed held nothing but donuts.  My ordering of breakfast became a shameful display of pointing at various donuts and then, almost as an after thought, I ordered the egg, bacon, and cheese breakfast sandwich.  I had been so consumed with the donuts that I didn’t ask about the sandwich.  I doctored my coffee and giggled about the sinful box of donuts sitting on the counter as I waited for the wrapped sandwich.  I was a short distance and several deep sips of coffee away before I unwrapped the sandwich and found that it was on a croissant!  I destroyed that and two donuts in no time.
Now I wasn’t too far down the road when I started to see signs for KC Baby Back Ribs. Â Apparently, according to the signs, they were voted the best ribs. Â So even though I was still feeling quite full from breakfast, when I saw the exit for ribs, I had to take it. Â I was a little perturbed by the lack of smoke coming from the building, which I had learned from my trip to North Carolina, was one of the calling cards of an old school BBQ pit. Â I did not let that stop me from ordering the six rib platter with BBQ beans and green beans. Â Hey I needed some vegetables of some kind. Â The ribs were meaty and flavourful and came with sauce on the side. Â The beans were outstanding and even the green beans had meat in them! Â The dogs enjoyed the samples that they had so you know it’s a good spot.
As we continued west we passed by the stadium for the Kansas City Royals. Â But we had not crossed the border into Kansas yet. Â I thought we had missed signs for the border but it seems as though Kansas City stretches into Missouri, a fact that had me quite confused.
It was hot in Kansas. Â We stopped at a rest stop to stretch our legs and walk off some of the breakfast and ribs. Â There was a tall hill at the back of the stop and we climbed to the top to see the view, finding a large statue called “Guard of the Plains” at the top. Â I did not expect to find anything when we emerged from the trees and I let the dogs sniff around before making our way back to the car and the road.

Now initially I did not pay much attention to the signs for Wamego but then I started to notice the “Wizard of Oz” pictures on the signs. Â I wasn’t planning to stop but somehow the car made the decision for me and I ended up in downtown Wamego. Â I would have kicked myself if someone had asked if I had stopped and I had told them that I did not. Â I drove up the Oz Museum and found it…under renovation. Â And then I saw the Oz Winery. Â With it still being quite hot out and nowhere to tie the dogs up, I rolled the windows down and ran inside.
“I have 30 seconds to buy wine what do you have?”  The women behind the counter seemed to be stunned at this crazy-looking person who just launched herself into the middle of their storefront ranting about wine.  I left in mere minutes with a bottle of Muscat called “Fraidy Cat”.  It would have nice to sample all the Oz-themed wines but I left with the bottle untasted.
A short time later I saw signs for coffee and gourmet foods at Grandma Hoerners Foods and with the dogs safely stowed I tasted samples of everything and left with a jar of marmalade and a coffee which went really well with another two donuts.
It was getting late and I was happy when I saw a sign for Cedar Bluff State Park.  By this time, the staff had left so I had to do the self-registration.  Now when I skimmed over the signs, I missed the part that said “designated sites” so when I went to pick my site, I only saw some with marking posts.  I was surprised by all of what I thought were picnic sites but after I had set my tent up in the area where the only other campers were (all in trailers) and went back up to submit my money, I realized that all those spots were other possible campsites.  Part of the confusion was because there was only one campground  with a sign.  Oh well.  It was a nice campground with very spacious sites and a reservoir right in front of my site.
It wasn’t until I had poured food out for the dogs that I realized that I hadn’t eaten since the donuts several hours before. Â Oddly, I was not hungry. Â At all.
It was still very hot out and the tent soon heated right up with the three dogs. Â I soon had the screens open and the vents on the fly unzipped but it made almost no difference. Â I ended up kicking out of my sleeping bag and was trying to figure out a way to create some space from the boxer that kept snuggling up to me without hurting her delicate feelings. Â I failed and ended up with her head resting on my shoulder as I tried to get to sleep.


