Day 61, We're Not in California Anymore

As we drove towards Kansas City, we kept seeing billboards for businesses in the Ozarks. I knew about Ozark Mountains, but there weren't any mountains around us. Turns out there is a 47, 000 square mile plateau which is also known as the Ozark Highlands. It sits between two mountain ranges.

Being here made us think of the Foxfire books. The first one was published back in the 1970s. It began as a high school English class project where students interviewed Appalachian people about their crafts and customs. It was so successful that they went on to publish a total of 14 different books over the years. The school's business classes also got involved in marketing the Foxfire books. This model was copied by an English class in the Ozarks, however it was never as successful as the Foxfire books. Being a teacher, these projects were really interesting to me because they are project-based and involved authentic learning.

We are staying at a county campground outside of Kansas City. The original reason for picking this campground was the Katy Trail. Instead of riding on the gravel trail, Denis found a loop trail. It was on the road but the streets had wide bike trails, something that's been missing many other places we've been.

I had spoken with my friend, Diane, telling her that we were on the hunt for good Kansas City BBQ. She said that when her son lived here they'd gone to a lot of different barbecue places but the one she remembered was Joe's BBQ. So, off we went.

We were warned that Joe's would probably have a line. Amazingly, the people in front of us and behind us had masks, as did the people who worked there. We ordered and found a spot on the outdoor patio. Denis had brisket and I had pulled pork. Both were delicious and we liked the barbecue sauce so much we bought a bottle. 

If you're reading this blog, you probably know my politics. That said, I am closing with observations from today.
Probably only 5% of the people we saw today wore masks.
We saw kids, I'm guessing under 10, riding in a truck bed.
There was a sign on the freeway saying 66% of last year's traffic fatalities involved people who weren't wearing seatbelts.
And these:
Location: Longview Campground, Lee's Summit, MO 64081, USA

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