Lake of the Ozarks Camping and Bagnell Dam Area
A five day trip spent at Lake of the Ozarks State Park, and enjoying the Bagnell Dam area. We stayed in the campground at the State Park, while the kids enjoyed one of the park's cabins…
Propane Accessories for RV Camping
We wanted to provide a look at all of the propane accessories that we use when we are camping. These include our fire pit, heater, generator, griddle, and more…
Teardrop Camping in Extreme Heat - Alley Spring Campground - Eminence, MO
In late August, we traveled to SE Missouri, (near Eminence), to stay at the Alley Spring Campground. We quickly found that the extreme heat and humidity were more than we were willing to endure…
Towing with a Subaru Outback / New Tow Vehicle
After 10,000 miles of towing with our Subaru Outback 2.5i, we give our thoughts on how capable the Subaru is as a tow vehicle, and if we would recommend it…
Weekend Camping at Cedar Ridge Campground - Stockton Lake
We spent a weekend in July camping at Cedar Ridge Campground on Stockton Lake, near Aldrich, MO. We were met there by our daughter and her family, and enjoyed their company…
Weeklong Stay at Thibaut Point Campground - Truman Lake
We spent a week in mid-July camping at Thibaut Point Campground, near Warsaw, MO. Tammy was in the area for work, so I brought my work with me, and had a productive week at the campground…
Holiday Weekend at Beaver Lake
Just a quick look at a fun 4th of July weekend at Starkey Campground on Beaver Lake. We always love camping with family, and we had some great surprises this weekend as well…
The Trip that Wasn’t Meant to Be
Not all trips go as planned, and this one definitely did not. However, everything happens for a reason.
Dam Site Park Campground - Beaver Lake, Arkansas
Since we started camping at Beaver Lake back in 2019, Dam Site Park, near Eureka Springs, has piqued our interest. This is primarily due to the fact that most of the campground sits on an island (ok, peninsula), and can been seen as you are crossing the dam. We finally managed to book a reservation there, and while we weren't on the island, we still had an enjoyable stay…
Aunts Creek Campground - Table Rock Lake
We spent our second week in a row at Table Rock Lake, but this time was at Aunts Creek Campground, near Reeds Spring, MO. Part of the weekend was spent finding geocaches in the area, and the rest of the time, we just enjoyed our time at the park. We would definitely recommend this campground if you are looking for a place to camp around Table Rock…
Campbell Point Campground - Table Rock Lake - Memorial Day Weekend Trip
This year, we headed to Campbell Point Campground on Table Rock lake for the Memorial Day weekend. Campbell Point is a COE campground, located in Shell Knob, MO. During our stay, we encountered the typical Memorial Day crowds, but also unseasonably cold temperatures. However, we would not let that keep us from having a good weekend, and we took the opportunity to get in some hiking and geocaching.
Hawn State Park & Pickle Springs Natural Area
Hawn State Park has been on our list of places to visit for quite some time. However, it has always proved to be about impossible to get camping reservations there. So, when the State Parks opened up their reservation system in 2020 to allow reservations for a year out, we jumped on the opportunity to finally get reservations at Hawn…
T@G Boondocking on Private Land
Finally, the first trip of 2021 has arrived! When the weather is not too hot, we like to try to boondock as much as possible. And since we were coming off of a year of not seeing family, why not go camping at Grandma’s?…
Installing the Froli STAR system in our T@g
Through this winter, we have been looking for a solution to make the T@g bed more comfortable. We debated on options such as completely replacing the mattress, or getting a thicker pad on top of our current mattresses. After much debate, we ended up getting a Froli STAR sleep system…
Hiking at Parkville Nature Sanctuary - Parkville, MO
The weather so far this year has been a little, let’s say… unpredictable. Mother Nature hasn’t seemed quite sure whether she wants winter to continue or spring to begin. Therefore, we have tried to take advantage of those times that lean toward the beginning of spring…
Who are we?
I have had this post in the back of my mind since we started Midwest Journeys. However, I struggled with what to share, and if anyone would even care. Then there is that line of what to put out there for the entire world, and what to keep to ourselves. We initially wanted to build this community around outdoor activities, although there are many other “journeys” in everyone’s lives. All of that being said, we are going to work on opening ourselves up a bit more to our Midwest Journeys family. Hopefully, some of our other “journeys” can help inspire, or possibly even just spark a thought or conversation. So, here we go…
Devil’s Den State Park - 2020 Vacation Finale
We chose to stay at Devil’s Den State Park for both weekends of our 2020 vacation. The location was conveniently located about halfway to the Lake Ouachita and Hot Springs areas from our house, and was a short drive from Natural Falls State Park. We had also heard good things about this park…
Hot Springs National Park - 2020 Vacation pt3
After camping in the rain for two days at Lake Ouachita, we finally got a dry day so we could go check out Hot Springs National Park. Knowing that dogs are not allowed at many National Parks, we did some research and found that Bagheera would be allowed in much of this park. Other than that, we really did not know what to expect…
Lake Ouachita State Park - 2020 Vacation pt2
After our first weekend of vacation was finished, we packed up and headed toward the middle of Arkansas. Our destination for the next five nights would be Lake Ouachita State Park. We had never explored that area of Arkansas, and we were looking forward to it…
Natural Falls State Park - 2020 Vacation pt1
Natural Falls State Park has been on our list of places to visit for quite some time. We had seen several pictures and articles online, that showed the waterfall(s) in the park, and it looked amazing. We knew that since we were camping so close by, that we would have to make the trip there…