32/50: Missouri
As cold and damp as the weather was in Nebraska, we got better luck with a handful of crisp, sun-filled Fall days in Iowa and now in state 32/50. As with many other bigger cities, there weren’t many campground options near Kansas City, so we had to stay at our first KOA (Kampground of America), the KC East KOA in Oak Grove.
To my knowledge, KOAs are essentially campground franchises that each require a certain amount of “amenities” for their guests that may include full hookups, pools, playgrounds, cabin rentals, and, luckily for us: a basketball hoop.
While Noel sunbathed in the front door, cheering us on, Kendra and I took to the court to play a game of H-O-R-S-E. There was some debate about who won — one of us claimed the other person had a certain number of letters while the other person didn’t think so. Nonetheless, to this day, the winner is debatable. Either way, we both enjoyed Kendra’s cinnamon banana bread cake to help settle our differences and squash our (vegetarian) beef — ya know, because Kendra’s vegetarian.
Speaking of good food, look at these irresistible pretzel bites and cheese.
The beer sampler from Boulevard Brewing Company was also really good, as was their branding, outdoor patio, and overall customer experience that even included a lifesize interactive beer infographic with the priceless quote by Martin Luther,
“Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep: Whoever sleeps long, does not sin; Whoever does not sin enters heaven. Thus, let us drink beer!” I’m not 100% sure he actually said that word for word, but nonetheless, it was a creative way to sell some fermented barley and hops.
What we didn’t realize about Kansas City was its connection to Walt Disney. We learned that Walt’s family moved to the KC area when he was nine years old. After he worked for the Red Cross in Europe during World War I, Walt returned to Kansas City, where he eventually got a job at a local advertising agency. In 1920 he started “Laugh-O-Grams,” making animated shorts for regional movie theatres.
They struggled for a couple of years before the business shut down in 1923, essentially forcing him to move to California. There, he Walt started working with his brother, Roy, where the beginning of Disney slowly started. Legend has it that living in his desk drawer in his Kansas City studio at 1127 E. 31st Street was a mouse that eventually became Mickey's inspiration.
There must be something in the water because KC has an active creative community that has helped transform the city through its public art, specifically throughout the Crossroads Arts District.
Our STATE 32: MISSOURI project was incredible. Our designer, Matt Wegerer (owner of Whiskey Design), pulled his friends at AWS Studio to document our Veteran, Joe Hall’s story and the powerful two-day design process. Through that project, we met photographer Travis Young who offered to bring us to their studio office — Noel included.
She wasn’t thrilled to be woken up from one of her many daily naps in the Airstream, but she perked up once we got back into the city. It was the weekend, so Noel had a complete run of the office while Kendra got in a couple of games of Duck Hunt in between shoots.
Not that it’s a huge deal, but after driving by the Chiefs and Royals stadiums a few times when we’d travel back and forth from our campground to downtown, the sports fan in me wanted to check out the stadiums. One day in the future, for another cross-country tour, I’d love to visit different stadiums across the country (preferably when they’re playing games).
Add that to the bucket list. Until next time. KC-ya’later.
