Saint Louis West KOA, Sculpture Park, Kirkwood Station

 Camping at the Saint Louis West KOA. 

 The campground is on Historic Route 66 in Eureka, MO just down the road from Route 66 State Park.

 It is a nice campground with fun things for kids like a little train ride that goes around the campground often and bikes to rent, a bounce pillow, a swimming pool. 

Our site was on the side next to the horses, which we loved.

 Awbri watched the horses, the squirrels, the birds, all day.

We drove down Friday afternoon and it was good timing. The traffic wasn't bad and the campground wasn't full. 

On Saturday...

Using Bring Fido.com we chose to go to Laumeier Sculpture Park. 

 It was easy to find and less than 20 miles from the campground. 

 Love the towering Sun Flowers.

 The park is really big... too big for me to walk around the whole thing.

 So we walked a little...

 Rested a little...

 Walked a little more...

 And I was done. But it is a great place to take the dogs and walk around, have a picnic, take pictures...

Then we went to Kirkwood, which was just a few miles away...

And found the Kirkwood Station Restaurant & Brewing Co.

We were welcomed with our dogs and they have water dishes for them at the tables.

 We just had to try the "Train Tracks" which are fried pickles. And they were delicious!

It was a perfect afternoon/evening... the weather was perfect...

The food and beverages were delicious. And the service was great.

We had a very good experience and highly recommend it. 

Rock Island KOA in the Quad Cities

Last weekend we went up to the Quad Cities. We stayed at the Rock Island KOA.

 We had the campsite on the end with the large "yard". It is a nice campsite, but it is next to the road so everyone walks and drives by constantly. 

 There are 2 fishing ponds and a creek that connects them. The campsites are between the ponds so we were surrounded by water. 

 We were told we could not use our outdoor patio mat. It is in their rules. 

Which was a bummer!

 The campground is full of trees and in the spring I'm sure the flowers are beautiful. 

 Richard did a little fishing... Awbri kept a close eye on him. You can see him through the tree. 

When the sun went down the mosquitos came out! If you have sweet California blood they will eat you alive!

The next day we drove to the "Quad Cities"...

Rock Island and Moline, Illinois/Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa

 The first thing we saw was The Centennial Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River tying together Rock Island, IL and Davenport, Iowa.

 We didn't take the Centennial Bridge but drove further up into Rock Island...

And took this other bridge...

 On the other side of the River, in Davenport, Iowa...

 There are parks all along the edge of the River. 

 There was a "Floatzilla" going on and the parks were full of vendors. There is a carnival there too but we were looking for a less-crowded park. 

 We drove up to Bettendorf, Iowa.

 We were so shocked that the trees were already turning. This is the middle of August! The trees think it is the beginning of Fall.

 I love that I got this picture of the little boy watching the boats on the River. 

 Here comes the Channel Cat...

 They like art here in Bettendorf...

I like the scenery...

 Look at the tree across the street that has completely changed to red... 

 The houses here are pretty amazing...

 Bettendorf, Iowa looks like an affluent town on the Mississippi River.

 Wings... 

 Even the light poles are unique...

 We had read there was going to be an Antique Autos Show here someplace but we didn't know where... we just happened to be in the right place...

 So, of course, we had to check it out.

 The ground was really hot on Awbri's paws so Richard carried her. And I had Buddy in his bag.

 We are used to going to car shows with our fur kids and usually there are plenty of other fur kids there also. We don't get a lot of attention normally. 

 But in Iowa... we were approached by so many people and we were a really big deal because we had our dogs with us. Especially Richard carrying Awbri! (That was our first hint) 

 One guy commented that Richard must really "like" his dog. And Richard's response was "I LOVE my dog!"

 There was only one other dog around. 

 We thought it was strange...

 I had found several dog-friendly places on Bring Fido.com in Davenport, Iowa. We planned to go to a brewery and a restaurant on the River. 

 So we didn't stay very long at the Antique Autos Show...

We turned around and went back to Davenport...

There is the Centennial Bridge from the Northern side looking back from Bettendorf to Davenport and Rock Island.

We drove around Davenport looking for the Front Street Brewery and the Drift Wood Restaurant.

This is City Hall...

I do love the architecture...

We were back at the park, driving in a circle... 

We finally found the Front Street Brewery and that is when we learned that there is an Iowa Law being enforced now that Dogs ARE NOT ALLOWED! The whole county is NOT DOG FRIENDLY. In fact, it may be the whole state. So, we left Iowa.

We went back to Illinois and drove all over Moline til we found a Mexican restaurant on a corner with outdoor patio seating and they let us have our fur kids there. 

La Rancherita 2 in Moline, IL.

They were great to us! 

~

Back at the KOA...

They have tractor-pulled hay rides in the evening.

We watched the sun set on the fall leaves in the middle of August...

And saw one plane fly over.

Sunset on the Day Lilies...

 Sunset on the West Fishing Pond...

It had rained the night before so our firewood was too wet to burn and I had so many bites all over me... we went inside when the sun went down and watched pre-season football.

Our next trip is to Saint Louis.