Movin' On

Our first mission today, after packing up to move, was to get our entire rig "smart weighed." We drove over to the large parking area where the Smart Weigh team was set up. They very efficiently weighed each axle and each side of the axle, ten weights altogether. We also have the weights from yesterday when we had just the truck weighed. They had two lines going, and their goal was to weigh four rigs each 15 minutes.

The results weren't quite as good as we had hoped. The overall weights were fine, but the front axle on the trailer is carrying less than its share of the load. They told us that this mal-distribution could cause uneven tire wear and poor handling. The suggestion is that we need to lower the hitch by an inch and a half, or else raise the rear by that same amount. We're planning to talk with Ken U. about this, but we figure that the long-term solution is going to involve changing out the truck bed.

We pulled out of Sedalia and headed west along US 50 toward Kansas City, where we picked up I-70. Our destination was Lake Shawnee Campground, just outside of Topeka. It's a city park, and the campground is one of the nicest city campgrounds we've ever been to. Most of the sites are along the lake.  We have a nice view of the lake and the setting sun outside our windows. Oh, and lots of contrails. The sky was criss-crossed with them. In the evening, they took on the pink cast of the sunset.

Of course we walked around the campground to check out our neighbors. We actually have an unusual New Horizons fifth wheel parked nearby, although we haven't seen anyone around it.

We're hoping to have some time tomorrow to get some chores done. We're also planning to get out on the bikes. There's a really nice paved multipurpose trail, which one reviewer said is an eight-mile trail around the lake.



We're in site #46, which is on the end of a row next to the lake. Unfortunately we're facing the wrong way to get the best view out of our curbside large windows. We like to look out of the large window over our dining table especially. The utility pedestal is on the "wrong" side, too, as is our picnic table. Each pair of sites shares a pedestal. We selected a site with nice trees and shade, but that means our rooftop dish can't find the satellites, so we're actually watching broadcast TV.