Farmington, MO

August and I were up and going at a good hour this morning, motivated by the breakfast buffet where we were planning to meet Janet and Sam! Matt had found a place called Reid's Smorgasbord along their route with a $6.50 all-you-can-eat breakfast. I have eaten at more buffets in the last two weeks than I have in the last two years I think! Anyway, word from the guys who ate there three hours before us was that it was tasty. So we headed from Murphysboro to Chester to see for ourselves.

Chester sits along the Mississippi River in Illinois and was home to the creator of Popeye. It takes about two seconds of being in Chester to figure this out.

The breakfast buffet was actually pretty good, and I couldn't believe how cheap it was. It had poached eggs, which you don't see on many buffets. Poached eggs with a side of biscuits and gravy is one of my favorite country breakfasts. Sam, who is heading into his freshman year of high school, got two full plates of bacon and two plates of french toast. My kind of kid! August was happy with some scrambled eggs and strawberries.

After eating we pointed the caravan towards Farmington and took off. Matt ended up cramping too much to make it all the way to Farmington, but he did put in a good 30 miles or so. It was really nice visiting the Craigs! Janet was so thoughtful she brought a bag full of road snacks for me and The Augster. Sam often helps take care of our dog when we are out of town, mow our grass and things like that, and we are happy to have his good help nearby.

This afternoon August and I found a nice little town park while we were waiting for Chris, and then took off to the Farmington Family Center water park. We were glad to cool off and it's always nice finding kid-friendly places. We thought the brakes on the RV might need some work, so we took it to Meineke and ended up getting the rear brake pads replaced. Chris, of course, is kicking himself for not replacing them himself before we left at a fraction of the cost. He had replaced the front but hadn't thought about the rear needing it. As I told him, you can't win 'em all! If a brake job is the biggest RV expense we have on this adventure, we'll be lucky.

My dad is in town visiting too, and took us out for Thai food at the Pad Thai Kitchen tonight. It is a house converted to a restaurant, and the food was excellent, though spicy. Hopefully he didn't feel too taken as we tend to order a lot when we find a delicious Thai place. Tonight was no exception, we finished an appetizer sampler, mussaman curry, red curry, pad thai, and a dessert of mango and sticky rice. Thanks, Dad!

Tomorrow we are taking a rest day in observance of Flag Day. Chris is excited about sleeping in and we are excited to have him around all day.