HitchedUp4Life, Fredericksburg, TX (2026)

09/30/2026

We just pulled into Hickory Creek RV Park in Neosho, Missouri, after a relaxing week at Papa Chubby’s Lakeside Resort on the Lake of the Ozarks.

With a name like Papa Chubby’s, you never quite know what you’re getting into. 😂 But when we rolled in late last Wednesday, managers Daniel and CJ greeted us with warm smiles and gave us our choice of available sites. After we settled in, they even delivered firewood and a fire pit.

Naturally, s’mores were had. It would’ve been rude not to.

The kids caught the last few days of pool season, and just across the street was a beautiful white sandy beach in front of Papa Chubby’s Food & Booze.

A beach, bar, and marina within walking distance of an RV park? Papa Chubby knew exactly what he was doing, I’ll tell you what. 😂

With deer greeting us most mornings, great hosts, and food and drinks just a short walk away, it was an easy place to slow down and enjoy the week.

We did venture out for some exploring, too. Saturday started with doughnuts—apparently a requirement for our family outings now—before heading to Ha Ha Tonka State Park to walk around the castle ruins.

Kansas City businessman Robert McClure Snyder began building the European-style mansion in 1905 but died before it was finished. It later became a hotel before burning in 1942, leaving the stone walls standing above the lake.

Quite the place. And here I thought I was fancy having a bedroom that slides out. 😂

Sunday we took a drive around the lake area and across Bagnell Dam. Built to generate electricity, it created the Lake of the Ozarks by holding back the Osage River and has been producing power since 1931. Pretty wild to think that the lake we’d spent the week enjoying started with that project.

A big thank-you to Daniel and CJ for making us feel welcome from the moment we arrived. The lake was beautiful, but the hospitality made the stay.

Today we hitched up and headed for Neosho, with two very important stops along the way: a gas station candy factory and another huge Buc-ee’s.

Sorry, no pictures from the candy stop. You’ll just have to trust us on that one. And Buc-ee’s? Well, they’re awesome. Somehow that beaver can turn a bathroom break into a shopping trip every single time. 😂

Now we’re settled in at Hickory Creek and ready to see what Neosho has in store!

Thanks for following along as we roadschool the kids and explore the country with Kimber. If you’re enjoying the adventures, please share a post or our page with a friend. We appreciate you riding along! ❤️

09/23/2026

Well… apparently the Montana realized we’d been having entirely too much fun lately and decided it was time to bring us back to reality. 😂

Ever since having our hubs replaced in Duluth, our trailer brakes have been acting up — or, in some cases, not acting at all. Not exactly a feature we’re interested in testing while dragging a 40-foot, 16,000-pound fifth wheel through the Ozarks.

So before heading out today, we made a stop at Region Welding of Missouri Inc. to have them take a look and figure out what’s going on.

Sometimes I swear the Montana and PAWG are in some kind of secret competition to see which one can drain our fun-money account faster. Every time one gets fixed, the other one is like, “Oh yeah? Watch this.” 😂

But I guess this is part of what we signed up for. Full-time RV life isn't always campfires, sightseeing and pretty views. Sometimes it's sitting in a repair shop wondering which expensive chunk of metal is going to betray you next.

Thankfully, the last couple weeks gave us plenty of fun before the Montana threw its latest tantrum.

We had an absolute blast having Mimi and Pops here with us in St. Louis. Sadly, yesterday we had to take them to the airport and say goodbye after packing A LOT into two weeks — adventures, sightseeing, laughs and, of course, a ridiculous amount of food.

This past Saturday we squeezed in another adventure at the Saint Louis Zoo. First of all, it was FREE. Second, it was an AWESOME zoo.

And did I mention IT WAS FREE?! 😂

For a family traveling full-time, that's pretty much our favorite admission price.

Sunday morning, Mimi and Pops hung out with the kids while Tera and I actually managed to sneak away for a few hours by ourselves. We had plans to check out a flea market, but that ended up being a bust. So we did the next best thing…

We got pedicures. 😂

Yes. Both of us.

Road life is hard on the feet, people. Don't judge.

Then Monday, Mimi and Pops took the kids shopping, because apparently spoiling the grandkids one last time before heading home is somewhere in the grandparent job description. Judging by some of the outfits they tried on, I’m not entirely sure there was enough adult supervision involved. 😂

Then came Tuesday, and unfortunately it was time to take Mimi and Pops to the airport and say goodbye.

A huge THANK YOU to Mimi and Pops for flying out to spend these last couple weeks with us, for choosing to spend your 52nd anniversary on the road with our crazy crew, and for jumping right into all of our St. Louis adventures. We explored, laughed, ate entirely too much and made some pretty incredible memories together. We’re really glad you came along for this part of the ride. ❤️

And just like that, today it's back to the four of us, Kimber, PAWG, the Montana… and apparently another repair shop. 😂

Now we wait to find out what's going on with the Montana's brakes. Once she's stopping like a 16,000-pound trailer probably should, we're hitting the road again and heading to Papa Chubby's Lakeside Resort at Lake of the Ozarks for a week!

And to everyone following along with us — THANK YOU. Whether you've been here since the beginning or just stumbled across our adventures recently, we appreciate every comment, like, share, recommendation and message. You guys have introduced us to places, food and people we never would've found on our own.

If you're enjoying following this crazy roadschooling, RV-living, food-eating adventure of ours, give this one a share and invite somebody along for the ride!

Onward to Lake of the Ozarks…

Assuming the Montana cooperates. 😂

09/19/2026

After our St. Louis food tour post, we had quite a few locals reach out with suggestions for places we needed to see, things we needed to do, and — most importantly — food we needed to eat.

But one person in particular went WAY above and beyond.

It all started when Nathan Smith stumbled across our post and sent me this message:

“Hey there! Somehow your post popped up on my feed and I’m an Uber driver who learns a lot about food during my time and I’m a big time foodie!!! I’d love to give you some insight if you don’t have all of your food already planned out!!!”

Well... he wasn't kidding. 😂

Nathan is a local Uber driver who knows the ins and outs of St. Louis like the back of his hand. And he doesn’t just recommend places because somebody told him they were good. The man EXPLORES. He eats everywhere. He loves his city and makes a point of knowing where to send his passengers so they can experience some of the best STL has to offer.

Since that first message, Nathan has probably sent me dozens of recommendations. There’s absolutely no way we could hit them all this trip, but the ones we HAVE tried have been phenomenal. He has single-handedly given us multiple reasons to come back to St. Louis.

Yesterday, I messaged my new friend because I was craving a sandwich.

I expected a list.

Nathan sent ONE.

“The best sandwich shop is in northwest St. Louis in a town called Maryland Heights and it’s called Vivola Express. They are only open 10–2 Monday–Friday.”

Well... that sounded pretty damn confident.

Then I checked the map.

50 MINUTES AWAY.

For a sandwich.

Alright, Nathan. This thing better be good. 😂

So we loaded up PAWG and headed to Maryland Heights to find Vivola Express.

From the outside, you’d probably never guess what’s hiding inside. It’s a little family-owned sandwich shop tucked into a strip mall.

And sitting right next door?

A Subway.

That just seems unnecessarily cruel. 😂

Vivola Express has been family-operated since 2001. Steve and Mary Kay Lauck started the shop and named it after Steve’s mother, Rose Vivola. Joey and Brett joined the family operation in 2008, and more than two decades later they’re still turning out some seriously ridiculous sandwiches.

Even better, Grandma Vivola’s meatballs are still made from the family recipe. This place isn’t trying to be fancy. It’s a family making big, creative sandwiches and doing it REALLY freaking well.

We each ordered something different.

And every. Single. One. Was fantastic.

These aren’t little “I could probably eat again in an hour” sandwiches, either. We were STUFFED.

Barrett apparently found the sandwich equivalent of true love because he would NOT stop talking about his.

Eventually the rest of us had to politely and lovingly tell him...

WE GET IT, BEAR. SHUT UP AND EAT YOUR SANDWICH. 😂😂

Nathan absolutely nailed this recommendation.

Amazing sandwiches, huge portions, and an awesome family behind the counter. This is exactly why we love asking locals where THEY eat. Sometimes the best parts of traveling aren’t the places on the tourist brochures — they’re tucked into a strip mall 50 minutes away because some Uber driver who randomly found your Facebook post told you to trust him.

Thanks, Nathan! Keep the recommendations coming... although maybe quit sending us places that make it harder to leave St. Louis. 😂

Afterward, we ran a few errands and picked up something we’ve been waiting on — our new HitchedUp4Life bumper stickers for the trailer!

What do you guys think?! 👀

And seriously, THANK YOU to everyone following along with our crazy little family as we roadschool two kids, drag our home around the country, eat entirely too much food, and see what we can find along the way. Every comment, recommendation, follow, and share helps our little page reach somebody new. If you’ve been enjoying the adventures, please give this post a share and invite somebody along for the ride. We appreciate every one of you! ❤️

09/18/2026

How well do you know your tow rig? 😂⛽

Pulled up to the pump, prepaid $260, and called my shot.

PAWG took the whole $260 and landed right on FULL. 🎯

When you’ve put this many miles behind the wheel, apparently you develop a very specific and completely useless superpower. 😂

Now if only I could make the diesel last as long as I can predict the fill-up…

09/15/2026

Today Tera played hooky from work, so we loaded up PAWG, grabbed Mimi and Pops, and headed into downtown St. Louis to finally do THE thing — the Gateway Arch.

And somehow, in downtown St. Louis, we practically parked underneath the Arch… FOR FREE. I’m pretty sure that was the biggest accomplishment of the day. 😂

We didn’t get nearly as much time in the museum as we would’ve liked, but we did get to listen to some great local stories from one of the park rangers before it was time to head 630 feet up.

Getting there is half the experience. The little tram pods that carry you up inside the Arch are part elevator, part Ferris wheel and part “apparently personal space is optional.” 😂 Cramped? Absolutely. But also ridiculously cool.

The Gateway Arch was completed in 1965 as a monument to St. Louis’ role in America’s westward expansion, and standing at the top looking out over the city and Mississippi River definitely gives you a different perspective on just how big this place is.

Although apparently not everything looks big from 630 feet up…

We could actually see PAWG parked below us, looking like somebody left a little white Hot Wheels truck on the street. 😂

The views were incredible. Downtown St. Louis in one direction, Illinois in the other, Busch Stadium below us and the Mississippi River winding between it all.

Once we made it back down, there wasn’t much time to admire our accomplishment because we had another reservation to make. We hustled straight over to the riverfront and boarded our riverboat for an hour-long cruise on the Mississippi.

That gave us a completely different view of the city while we learned a little more about St. Louis, the river, its islands and the three different styles of bridges crossing the Mississippi. After seeing everything from 630 feet above it, cruising along at river level was a pretty cool way to finish it off.

And because apparently sightseeing around here also counts as school, Bear and Mikenna each knocked out two of the three Junior Ranger badges available at Gateway Arch National Park. They still need the courthouse badge, which sounds suspiciously like the National Park Service figured out how to make sure we come back. 😂

By the time we were finished, it was 101° outside, and nobody needed much convincing that it was time to point PAWG back toward the campground, find some air conditioning, relax a bit and start thinking about dinner.

St. Louis has been a blast so far, and the best part is we’ve still got another week here with Mimi and Pops to see what else we can get ourselves into.

Thanks for following along with our crazy little roadschooling adventure across the country. ❤️

09/15/2026

Today we celebrated my parents. 52 years of marriage!

Fifty-two years is a hell of an accomplishment. A testament not only to time itself, but to commitment. Through thick and thin they held fast, built a life together, raised three boys, and somehow made it all look a lot easier than I'm sure it actually was.

And since Mimi and Pops came all the way to St. Louis to spend a couple weeks with us, we figured celebrating just one day wasn't enough.

Saturday we headed to Six Flags for a day of roller coasters and questionable decisions. Pops took the kids under his wing and showed them how the big rides are done. Bear seems to be a seasoned veteran these days, but this was Mikenna's first real experience with the big coasters.

She loved them.

Tera loves them.

Pops apparently still loves them.

I absolutely do not. 😂

So Mimi and I spent some quality time together safely planted on the ground, waiting for everyone else to finish being thrown upside down at highway speeds.

Today, while Tera was stuck working, the kids and I took Mimi and Pops to the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site and White Haven, the home where Grant lived with his wife Julia and her family.

Of course, when you're roadschooling your kids across the country, a stop at a National Historic Site means there's probably a Junior Ranger booklet involved.

This one paid off big.

Bear and Mikenna each earned two more Junior Ranger badges, and even Kimber got something out of the deal. The kids completed the requirements to make her an official B.A.R.K. Ranger, complete with her own bandana.

Apparently we're roadschooling the dog now too.

After exploring the site and learning a little more about Grant and his life in Missouri, we headed back to the campground to pick up Tera and get on with the anniversary festivities.

We started in little Labadie, Missouri, with a couple drinks and hors d'oeuvres at River & Rail Tavern before heading across the street to The Hawthorne Inn for a nice dinner together.

No giant food tour this time. No trying to cram six restaurants into one afternoon. 😂 Just a good meal and some time together celebrating 52 years of Mimi & Pops.

Happy 52nd Anniversary, you two. ❤️

We're pretty damn lucky to have the example you've given all of us.

And tomorrow the adventure continues. We're heading into St. Louis itself for the Gateway Arch, Old Courthouse, museum, and a riverboat ride on the mighty Mississippi.

Apparently their anniversary present is exhaustion. 😂

09/10/2026

⚠️ WARNING: Another long post! And apparently we eat entirely too much good food. Again. 😂

After leaving Monona, Iowa, we made our way toward St. Louis, with a night spent along the Mississippi River before rolling into Pin Oak RV Resort on Monday.

Then Tuesday, Mimi and Pops flew in to spend a couple weeks with us. Wednesday was spent gathering provisions and getting settled, and today we set off on another food adventure.

After seeing our Chicago food tour, I’m pretty sure this is the real reason they came to visit. 😂

We started bright and early this morning.

And yes, 8:00 AM is bright and early for me.

🍩 STOP #1 — DONUT DRIVE-IN

Doughnuts were the first mission of the day, and what better place to start than an old-school little doughnut shop sitting right along historic Route 66?

No fancy dining room. No trendy décor. Just a little white building, a giant DONUTS sign, and racks full of the important stuff.

Unfortunately, they were already out of the famed apple fritters, but somehow the six of us managed to persevere through this tragedy and put together a sampler of their other pastries.

We’re survivors.

🍕 STOP #2 — IMO’S PIZZA

We were literally the first ones through the door at 10:00 AM.

Because apparently doughnuts are just the appetizer to pizza now.

Imo’s has been part of St. Louis since 1964, when Ed and Margie Imo opened their first little pizza shop. Today, their cracker-thin crust, square-cut pizza, and Provel cheese are pretty much synonymous with St. Louis-style pizza.

We’d been warned that Provel is one of those things people either love or hate, so naturally we had to find out which camp we belonged in.

We ordered a medium sausage pizza with Provel along with some Provel Bites for everyone to share.

The pizza looked fantastic...
..except apparently people out here cut their pizzas wrong. 😂

Squares?! Come on, St. Louis.

Having never tried Provel before, I’ll say this: it’s definitely different. But different in a good way. We all enjoyed the pizza, and those Provel Bites disappeared pretty damn quickly too.

🇮🇹 STOP #3 — ANTHONINO’S TAVERNA

Next we headed into The Hill, St. Louis’ historic Italian-American neighborhood, because you can’t come to St. Louis on a food tour without eating toasted ravioli.

Nobody can seem to completely agree on exactly who invented toasted ravioli, but the famous St. Louis specialty has been associated with The Hill since at least the 1940s.

Breaded ravioli. Deep fried. Parmesan. Marinara.

Whoever did it first deserves some kind of monument.

We were told the toasted ravioli at Anthonino’s Taverna were some of the best, so we ordered two plates for the table.

And they were freaking fantastic.

I could probably eat a five-gallon bucket of those things, which is saying something because I don’t even like pasta that much.

Tera and I also decided this was an appropriate point in the day for a Bloody Mary.

In retrospect, two would have been better.

🥪 STOP #4 — OLD ST. LOUIS CHOP SUEY

Then came one of the strangest things on our St. Louis food list:

The St. Paul sandwich.

Despite the name, this thing is pure St. Louis.

Picture an egg foo young patty — egg, bean sprouts, onions, and meat — fried until crispy, then slapped between two pieces of plain white bread with lettuce, pickles, and mayo.

It sounds like something somebody invented at 1:30 in the morning after losing a bet.

We split one.

We probably should have ordered two.

I think every one of us was surprised by just how damn good it was. Sometimes the foods that make absolutely no sense on paper are the ones that work the best.

At this point, any reasonable family would probably stop eating.

We are apparently not a reasonable family. 😂

🍰 STOP #5 — GOOEY LOUIE GOOEY BUTTER CAKES

We needed something sweet again.

Conveniently, along historic Route 66 on Chippewa Street, we found not one but TWO of St. Louis’ legendary desserts practically next door to each other.

First up: Gooey Butter Cake.

Gooey butter cake is another St. Louis creation, dating back to around the 1930s. The legend goes that it began when a baker screwed up the proportions of a cake recipe and, rather than throwing it away, sold the delicious mistake.

We can respect that level of commitment to not wasting dessert.

Some of us thought it was WAY too sweet.

Some expected it to taste more buttery.

I thought it was pretty damn yummy.

🍦 STOP #6 — TED DREWES FROZEN CUSTARD

Then we basically walked next door to another St. Louis institution: Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.

Ted Drewes has been serving frozen custard in St. Louis since 1929, and its Chippewa location has become one of those iconic Route 66 stops.

Was the custard good?

Yep.

Was eating gooey butter cake immediately followed by frozen custard a smart strategic decision when we still had one more restaurant to go?

Absolutely not.

Which brings us to...

🔥 FINAL STOP — HWY 61 ROADHOUSE

By the time we reached Hwy 61 Roadhouse in Webster Groves, our ambition was significantly greater than our available stomach capacity.

The Roadhouse mixes BBQ, Cajun flavors, Southern food, and live music into one pretty cool place. It’s also been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, so naturally it had to make our list.

And naturally, we ordered more food.

Barrett was the only one brave enough to tackle the St. Louis-style ribs. He managed about half of his half-rack before surrendering, but graciously allowed me to assist with one.

Tera and Mimi split a smoked pork steak.

Mikenna went with a kids burger.

I ordered the Cajasian Potstickers.

And Pops apparently looked at everything we had eaten throughout the day and said, “Hold my beer.”

He ordered a HUGE bowl of smoked spaghetti. 😂

We brought a LOT of boxes back to the trailer.

We didn’t get to see nearly as much of the city today as we originally hoped, but that’s okay. We’ve still got another 10 days around St. Louis, and I have a sneaking suspicion this won’t be our last adventure into the city.

Maybe next time we’ll actually see some sights.

Or maybe we’ll just eat again.

Probably the second one.

One thing we can definitely say already: St. Louis is treating us pretty damn well. Everyone we met today was friendly, welcoming, and happy to share a little piece of their city with us.

And getting to experience all of it with Mimi and Pops along for the ride made this one even better.

Thanks for following along with our crazy little family!

If you know somebody who loves road trips, RV life, local food, or simply watching six people make questionable nutritional decisions across America, share this one with them and follow along. 😂

We’ve got a lot more St. Louis left to explore!

09/05/2026

Today started like most Fridays around here…

Tera working, the kids getting their schoolwork finished and wrapped up for the week, and me doing whatever it is I do around here that apparently keeps this circus moving. 😂

Like most Fridays, Tera got off a little early, so we did some cleaning, reorganizing and all the other glamorous stuff nobody puts in the full-time RV brochures.

Then lunchtime came.

And we did something new.

Something crazy.

Something I honestly never thought I would willingly do in my life.

We ate boiled hamburgers.

Yep. BOILED. HAMBURGERS. 😂

Pete’s Hamburger Stand in Prairie du Chien has been serving burgers since 1909, and they've definitely figured out a thing or two in the last 117 years.

The story goes that Pete Gokey started adding water to the griddle to keep burgers from drying out between rushes. Turns out people liked the juicy burgers even better, and more than a century later they're still cooking them in water with a huge pile of onions.

Ordering is refreshingly simple, too.

With onions or without.

How many do you want?

That's pretty much it.

Then comes the condiment selection, where things get downright complicated:

Red.
Yellow.
Or a little horseradish.

No 14-page menu. No fancy aioli. No artisanal whatever-the-hell. Just burgers, onions and condiments. 😂

And I'll be damned…

Best damn boiled burger I never knew I needed in my life.

After Pete’s, we knocked out a little grocery shopping before heading across the river to Spook Cave & Campground for the Spook Cave Underground Boat Tour.

We've seen quite a few caves over the last several months, but we've never explored one by boat.

And this one quickly became one of our favorites.

Spook Cave got its name from the strange noises early settlers reportedly heard coming from a small opening along Bloody Run Creek. The cave was eventually explored and opened to the public for boat tours in 1955.

Today you climb into a little boat and head straight into the side of the hill.

And when they tell you to duck…DUCK. 😂

There are spots where that rock ceiling gets close enough that "keep your head down" stops sounding like friendly advice and starts sounding like a pretty important life decision.

Our guide, Wyatt, was funny, engaging and made an already cool experience even better. Between squeezing through the narrow passages, ducking under the low ceilings and seeing a cave from the water instead of walking through it, this tour was completely different from any of the others we've done.

Then we came back out of the cave…

…to torrential rain, thunder and lightning.

Because apparently Mother Nature thought emerging from a place called Spook Cave wasn't dramatic enough on its own. 😂⛈️

We got absolutely dumped on, but honestly, it just added to the experience.

Tonight we're finishing the day with even more local flavor.

We picked up a couple beautiful bone-in ribeyes from Driftless Cattle Company we picked up at the farmers market that was held yesterdayconfidentlyat out campground, raised just down the road from where we'restaying. They look absolutely fantastic, and after a day involving boiled hamburgers, underground boats and thunderstorms, we're keeping dinner pretty simple.

Salt.

Pepper.

Weber.

That's about all beef like this should need.

Okay…maybe that spicy garlic-herb butter jus I made too.

We aren't savages. 😂🥩🔥

Days like today are a big part of why we wanted this life in the first place.

It's not always the huge bucket-list destinations that end up being the most memorable. Sometimes it's a 117-year-old hamburger stand serving something you would've sworn sounded terrible, a little boat disappearing into the side of an Iowa hill, a guide who makes the experience even better, getting absolutely soaked on the way out, and some locally raised beef waiting for the Weber when you get home.

Those are the little places and experiences we probably never would've found if we weren't wandering around the country dragging our house behind us.

Thanks for following along with this crazy adventure of ours.

And now we've gotta know…

Would YOU eat a boiled hamburger? 😂🍔

HitchedUp4Life

09/30/2026

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09/19/2026

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