Christmas in St. Charles

We drove up to St Charles on Sunday, the 22nd.  We were worried about an earlier ice and snow storm, but the storm was past and the roads were clear, getting better all the way to St. Charles.  We stopped at an Apple store to pick up another charger for my 'puter, as the original, due to a faulty design is slowly dying.  We had picked one up in Florida when there last winter, but the "genius" who helped me pick it out chose the wrong one.  Naturally I didn't realize this until we got home, but after talking to the store manager they agreed to pay my shipping charge to return it.  They did give me credit for the charger, but never did come through with the shipping.

The new charger cost $79, and Apple says they don't have any issues with the product.  The newer 'puters come with a redesigned charger.  Hmmph why did they change the design?

Enough complaining about Apple.

As per usual we stayed at Susie's and Bill brought clothes and slept in the basement.  As favored guests, we got Susie's bedroom.  Most of the time was spent with the three siblings reminiscing and catching up on news of old friends/classmates.   Bill and Susie treated us to prime rib on Christmas day, and it was delicious.  Snacks were abundant throughout our stay, and both of us are setting records for weight now that we are back home and using our trusty bathroom scale.

Christmas day we attended Mass at St Charles Borromeo Church.  This is the Church that Ginnie and all her family attended as they were growing up.  I've included a few pictures of the Church.  The place has lots of meaning for all, including me.  It's a beautiful and historic Church.  Originally, the Church was a Jesuit Mission, and sent Missionaries to the banks of Lake Michigan when Chicago was just getting established.   St Charles is also the place where the Lewis and Clark expedition began it's westward trek.  Lots of history in St. Charles.

St Charles Borromeo

Orange Poinsettias!

Taken from the East side, not our usual view

Thursday night our hosts took us to Ethyls for dinner.  This is a place that's been around since the 1920's and is in O'Fallon, Missouri.  I asked why we hadn't been here before and there were only lame excuses offered.  Ginnie, who grew up in the area, hadn't heard about it before, so maybe it's a new discovery.  Food was good, and I would go back again.

Bill, Susie and Ginnie

Friday we drove home, stopping in Joplin at a Cheddars, quickly becoming a favorite food stop.  We both had chicken pot pie, which is not only good to eat, but bargain priced as well.  The only downer to report is that as I pulled in to our garage, I heard a loud noise.  I followed my ears only to see that the noise was coming from our new heatpump, installed earlier this year.  Inside the house, the temperature was below what it should be, and we have no way of knowing how long the darned thing has been running.  I called the contractor who unfortunately had turned loose all his employees for the weekend.  I might or might not get someone to look at it today (Saturday), but in the meantime we are heating with the heatpump's "emergency" heat which uses lots and lots of electricity.

I'm becoming leery of short trips as when we came home from celebrating the September birthdays in Salina we found a large limb had fallen out of one our big Oaks in front of the house.  It was a huge limb and fortunately had hung up in the tree, not falling all the way, as it would have hit the garage roof, causing damage, I'm sure.

Now that we are home, with all the Holiday celebrations behind us we are going to have to get serious with the food intake and take full advantage of the Adult Fitness Center in Rogers.  I'm really enjoying the pool, and it's enough incentive all on its own to get me out for some exercise.   

That's enough about our recent ventures, except to say that  many of the Christmas cards from Florida friends tease us about the weather.  Ha very funny.  I guess we are getting a dose of what we did when we lived in Fl, so I shouldn't complain.

Winter!

Actually, I'm pushing it on the season.  It's still officially the Fall.  Looking out my window, it's easy to see how I was confused.

Last Thursday, (12/5) we started getting sleet and then snow, temperature well below freezing.  Today, Monday the ninth, the temperatures have gotten close to 32 degrees, but not much above or for very long.  As a result we still have a blanket of snow, some 6-8 inches.  Our little city has been taxed way beyond it's ability to remove snow from the roads, and travel is pretty hazardous.  Our Church cancelled services both Saturday and Sunday and is not having mass during the week.  Fortunately we can get out because our Honda Ridgeline has all wheel drive.  Today I had a Dr's appointment in Springdale, some 24 miles south and we got there and back with no problems, other than driving slow and carefully as all the roads, including 71 highway and Interstate 540 still have packed snow and ice on their surfaces.

I've made two "rescue" runs for a disabled Church member who has put his truck in the ditch twice, trying to navigate on our roads.  He was once an over the road trucker, and driving on these conditions shouldn't be a new experience for him.  This morning he called and asked if I could pick up some things for him at a local grocery.  Thinking he wanted food, I agreed.  Then he told me he wanted two bags of ice, two packs of cigarettes, and a newspaper!   If I hadn't once been a smoker and know what it would be like to be out of smokes, I would have turned him down.  In any case, I did the run and without any difficulty with the roads.  Love the all wheel drive.

Our back yard

Looking across the street

Our front

Looking north to our neighbors

  The pictures were taken Friday morning, and the scene has changed very little since then, still covered with snow, and getting out only for necessary items.  Thursday morning we went to two groceries and spent $200 on food.  We shouldn't go hungry.

A good thing happened on our way home from the Doctor's office.  After living  here for more than a year, I stumbled on an Adult Wellness Center for those 50 and older, located in nearby Rogers.   We stopped at the facility on our way home and were so impressed with the facility and all it's amenities.  There is a full gym, indoor walking lap lanes, two swimming pools, a social lounge, pool tables, a library and more.  The best news is that our "Silver Sneakers" membership through our health insurance gets us free membership.  We signed up on the spot, and now have a place to go for a little exercise when the weather would discourage outdoor activities.  I'm really excited as I've missed swimming more than I would have thought.  I haven't swam a single stroke since we left Florida last year.  I'm really stoked that we have found this facility and I plan to use it a lot.

Thanksgiving visitors

Scott brought Alex and Adrian all the way from Salina.  Bill and Susie arrived with tons of snacks.   This was on Wednesday, and I am now five pounds heavier than when all arrived.   We had fires in the fireplace, lots of good cooking, and entertainment provided by the little guys.  Alex did much better than we anticipated, seeming to adjust to Bill and Susie and new surroundings very well.  Adrian was a pill, on a completely different sleep schedule than the rest of us.  Susie and Bill brought Tonka trucks for the boys, and Adrian was up at 2am on Thanksgiving day, playing with the trucks, pushing the siren button time after time...  I will let the few pictures that I took speak for themselves.

Boom-Bada-Boom-Bada-Boom

These guys love Ginnie's keyboard

Watching Netflix

Alex and Daddy Scott

Alex 

Ready for Christmas

Just before Bill and Susie left, I pulled the Christmas tree out of it's closet and plugged it in.  We are now ready for Christmas, as far as decorating is concerned.

Near Future

Thanksgiving is not far off, and we are anticipating company.  Susie and Bill, plus Scott and the boys.  I would love to be a fly in the car to see how Scott can manage 5-6 hours with a six and two year old.

Ginnie is busy thinking about cooking for the crowd, making grocery lists and checking recipes.  I got an email from the aliner group, and a spring rally near Pella, Iowa sounded good.   I've made reservations for that, so we have a destination for late April.   We also are hoping to hear about a possible Spring rally in Louisiana.

We talked about a winter trip to Florida, but we wont be camping if we do that.   Ginnie's craft group at Church has had their annual Bazaar, so she get's a break from that for several months.   She wanted the DVD player hooked up so she can do her Zumba exercises, and I've found a bicycling club that rides three mornings each week.  Temperatures need to be at 40 degrees or higher, so here's hoping for a mild winter.  I also need to improve my conditioning before I ride with the group.  I try to ride every day when it's above freezing, and am riding only 9 miles taking about an hour to do that.  I need to improve on the distance and increase my average speed.   Thinking back, my shortest ride used to be 24 miles, and averaged 15-16 mph doing it.   A doctor, just last week, reminded me that I am 74, not 25 any more.  Sheesh.  Doesn't mean I have to accept senility.

Petit Jean State Park

We got to Petit Jean State Park on Sunday, set up camp, had dinner, read and turned in listening to the Cardinals and Red Sox.  We didn't stay tuned until the end and didn't know the results until Monday morning.   Sorry Cards....

Monday we got out hiked, and ate a nice lunch at the Mather Lodge.  The dining room has large windows with an expansive view.    They had a nice buffet, with excellent food.  A bit pricey for a lunch, but well worth it, due to the quality of the food, and the views from the restaurant.

We then went to an auto museum  located just outside the park, and saw old cars.  They had a Ford Fairlane pickup once owned by Elvis and a Lincoln Continental convertible that Ford loaned to JFK for his personal use.  The car was kept in Hyannis Port and Kennedy drove it when on holiday.

We took a nice hike as well,  which was rated as easy to moderate.  Ginnie thought that was a bit understated, as she really doesn't like climbing, and there were quite a few ups and downs.

After consulting the weather, we decided to cut our stay short and head home Tuesday, which we did.  I am typing this up from home.  We've unloaded the camper, started laundry, turned on the furnace and water heaters,  picked up our mail, polished off some chocolate and had a beer.

I passed one of these as I walked to grade school many years ago.  I thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen.

Willys Jeepster

 This is the coolest car in the Museum, and might  be one of the coolest cars I've ever seen.  Certainly better than the Jeepster... what I didn't know when I was 11 years old.

Mercedes Benze 500-K Cabriolet

Auburn Boat Tail.  A real speed wagon

On the trail in the Park

Trick or Treat II

Here are a few pics from the Trick or Treat goings on Saturday night.  As we were camping we were able to walk around before the general admission began.  Everyone was having a good time.   This is the second time this event has been done.   Last year, the first, they tell us they were overwhelmed with the response, making runs to Walmart 20 miles away for more candy.  They had 1,000 kids and were overwhelmed.  They claim to be prepared this year and from what we saw they were prepared and had some great looking spook houses for the kids.

Knights of Columbus offering dogs and brats. 

Super Hero

Pretty good Tin man, Cowardly Lion staying back

Duck Dynasty is everywhere this year

Here they come!

After touring and watching the gates open at 6pm, we retreated to our camper and spent our usual quiet evening reading and I turned in early, way before 8pm.  I slept until 6 the next morning.  We went to Church in Wynne, AR and saw a couple of the Knights that were doing the dogs and brats.  All in all, Cross County, AR and Wynne, AR are pretty nice places, friendly folks and great for families.

Now we are in Petit Jean State Park for three nights, then we head home on Wednesday.  It seems like a nice park and I get three bars of 4G lte.  So, all is well with the world, we can keep up with that's going on.  The Chiefs won again 8-0!  Go Chiefs.    Also the Cards are doing great.  7pm game tonight, and don't know if we can hear it on our radio or not.   If we can't hear it, we'll be checking the internet for updates.  That's all for now.

Trick or Treat?

We arrived at Village Creek State Park in Arkansas on Wednesday.  We chose this park largely because they advertised hiking trails and also had sites that we could reserve over the weekend.  That's a rarity, as families come out on the weekends.  We felt lucky to get in at this late date.

When we arrived we learned that the campground where we are going to be is hosting an annual Halloween event, somewhere between 1 and 2 thousand attend each year for the Fun, Fun, Fun!!!  We'll see how much fun it is as we are completely unprepared for trick or treaters.  Ginnie says they wont find anyone home as we will be out trick or treating ourselves.

I'll try to take some pics during the event.  In any case our plans for concluding our trip have finally gelled.  We leave here after Church Services in Wynne, AR (The City with a Smile) on Sunday and drive to Petit Jean State Park for three nights.  Then home on Wednesday.

Moving West

Tuesday morning and we plan on taking two days to drive to a park in eastern Arkansas.  I looked at a map, checking the route through Nashville. Past experience driving north from Florida has taught that NV is a bugger to drive through. The reason became clear when I realized that the major routes, north/south and east/west actually merge and in one short mile those going west must exchange lanes with those going north who want to move in to the lane you are trying to leave.  Of course impatient drivers only want to pass every one. I'm getting tense just thinking about it. If we survive the drive today we likely will spend the night at a Walmart in Jackson, TN.

Sam's Club Parking Lot, Cheddars nearby

We survived the drive, Navigator Ginnie suggested we take 840 which we did.  It was great, almost no traffic so we breezed along.  Taking the loop added17 miles to the trip, but according to Miss Garmin, we lost no time.  We passed by Bucksnort, Tennessee, but didn't stop to check it out.  According to Wikipedia a few professional wrestlers might live there... we don't know as we weren't that curious.

Now we are parked on a level site at a Sam's Club, as the picture attests.  Shortly we head for dinner at a Cheddars.  With thanks to Nancy for introducing us to this great chain restaurant.  Tomorrow will find us back in Arkansas, which is only 82 miles west.

Lazing in Tennessee

It's Monday morning, the Chiefs are victorious once again, by the skin of their teeth, and we are enjoying Tennessee. We are scrapping our plan to play tourist in Nashville and are staying an extra day where we are, Cumberland Mountains State Park. The park has some nice trails for hikes, a restaurant, and a nice laid back ambiance which suits us very well. Today is for more walks, soaking up sunshine, reading and making a "plan" for where we head next. Maybe I will add some pictures to my posts. I have been taking pictures but they are on my camera and I am using my tablet instead of the Mac for blog posts.  I keep thinking that I will get out the Mac and upload some pics, but I never get around to it. Am I lazy or what?

I wonder what this will be?

T

Typical of the trail

A little fall color

Fishing, Quiet, Shhhh

Big tree growing on top of a rock ledge...

Suspension Bridge

Cumberland Mountain State Park

We are here for two nights, leaving for Nashville on Monday morning. We spent one night at Black Panther State Park, getting a load of laundry done. Otherwise the stay was a waste, better spent at a Walmart as we did nothing except eat, read and spend the night sleeping.

Tennessee parks, judging by our limited experience feature small campsites close together. The bath houses are older and showers suffer from a lack of hooks which always makes for fun hanging your clothes and towel.  Its cooling off and windy as I write this.  Our weekly church service will be at 5pm today,  only 15 minutes away.
We are talking about playing tourist in Nashville as we have only driven through before as we drove between Florida and Kansas.  I'm searching for parks now and there appears to be an Army Corps Camp close to Nville.
Nashville is only about 100 miles further west and would make for a short drive on Monday.  Sounds good to me.

Stone Bridge and Dam

Face of the Dam with spillways

The stone bridge and dam were constructed by the CCC.  The arches remind me of the Roman Aqueducts.   A restaurant overlooks the bridge,  a nice restaurant within the park, and thronged on Sunday by the local Church goers.  We skipped lunch with the mob and came back for dinner.  They have a decent buffet,  typical homestyle cooking, and had beef ribs which were very tender.

Along the trail in the Park

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Eagle Scout Project crossing small creek 

MOVING WEST

We had a nice visit with Jane. Sunday we attended her church, which I look forward to because of the Priest, Father Jim. Father Jim is so full of energy, just in constant motion, never pausing for a breath.  He conducts the Mass and simultaneously narrates,  pauses, does "timeouts" to explain, and then returns to the familiar structure.  Its magic to see and I love every minute of it. If only I could say that about our services at home.
Sunday was football and I followed the Chiefs as they won again.  The cardinals also were watched as they won two at home, dropped the third game in LA.

We left Wednesday for Hanging Rock State Park in NC.  Just 100 mile drive so we had plenty of time to set up camp and take a short hike.  Ginnie almost stepped on a copperhead snake, but saw it just in time to avoid it.  The snakes coloration blends perfectly with the leaf litter. She really was lucky to avoid stepping on the snake.
Thursday was mostly drizzle all day so we spent most of the day reading and taking naps. We found a spot where we could get internet and caught the results of the Cardinals game. Now leading 3-1. Go Cards.

Friday morning we hitched up and headed for Tennessee. More later.

Nice Snake, just catching some afternoon sun!

Nice waterfall, after a short hike in the rain

Rainy and Wet Virginia

Here we are at Jane's place.   She has such a comfortable home now.  The construction/remodeling that we first saw two years ago has mellowed into a great and comfortable personal space.  Kudos to Jane on a job well done.

We arrived here on Saturday, and found our Nephew Wally, Niece Ellen and Mark along with Tyler and his buddy Dillon.  Mark invited us to attend an annual extended family affair that was going on later Saturday afternoon.  Mark told us that we were invited to partake of Brunswick Stew prepared by his Mother's Cousin Leonard Brown.  Sounded good to us, so at the appointed time, off we went.

I was completely unprepared for the scale of this event, as I'm sure that over 100 "family" were fed over the course of the afternoon.

Friends and Family enjoying hospitality

Being from a small family, I can only say how envious I am of Mark and Ellen and their large extended family.  Lovely and warm people who made us feel welcome.

Backing up a bit, we had a nice visit with Herb and Caroline Jukes in their new home in Bowling Green.  Having some experience in moving, we were pleased to find that Herb and Caroline survived the move with something approaching ease, and are in the midst of becoming comfortably settled.   Caroline, an Alzheimer's victim, maintains her sense of humor.  Good to see.

Friday, we pulled up stakes and decided to drive until we were tired, and then find a Walmart to park overnight.  We did this, spending the night at a a Super Walmart in Bristol, Virginia.  It was easy peasy.  We checked with the greeter for permission and were told to park out of the way by the automotive center.  We walked around the store, bought a new Atlas and picked up dinner from the Deli.  A few hours reading and we turned in early.  When we woke up Thursday morning, we had two other RV's snugged up beside us.  Free camping, the convenience of a full service Walmart steps away beats $45 at a KOA hands down.

We are spending a lazy Sunday afternoon with football games on.  I followed the Chiefs game on the internet.  6-0!  Go Chiefs.

Rally at Devil's Den and beyond

Today is Thursday October 10, and we woke up in a KOA in Bowling Green Kentucky. Our trip timeline was five nights at Devil's Den, two at Lake Charles State Park in Arkansas, and one at the Bowling Green KOA.

The rally, Aliner and Chalet owners, for the LOKAT region, was lots of fun, with most attending being of the outgoing and friendly type.  It appeared that first time attendees like ourselves were in the vast minority, with lots of friendships already in place and lots of catching up.  Food and good times were in abundance.  The organizers, the Picards and the Colglaziers, plus region director Richard Larson and Betty are big fans of Dutch Oven cooking.  They demonstrated their skills and fed us well at the afternoon high teas.

Cinnamon rolls in the dutch oven

Jeanne, Roy, Ginnie and Dan

Gwen, John and Dick in foreground

John, Gwen, Jeanne, Dick and Ginnie

Plotters

Good stuff cooking on the fire tables

Aliners

More Aliners

Following the rally we headed east, with Jane in Virginia being our ultimate destination.  We spent most of Monday driving east and north to Lake Charles State Park in Arkansas.  The little park was perfect, with only a couple tenting as company in our camping loop.  It was quiet, and peaceful.  The weather was perfect and we spent two nights.  We walked trails for a couple of miles and attempted to make french onion soup in the crockpot.  Jeanne Colglazier had prepared the onion soup for us in her dutch oven.  It was marvelous and appeared very simple to prepared.  Our variation in the crockpot was good, but not up to the dutch oven variety.  We will try again at home in the oven.

Thursday finds us in a KOA in Bowling Green Kentucky, after deciding not to camp at the "campground from hell" Kenlake State Park.  Tiny campsites, crowded, with kids riding around on ATV's.  I heard banjos in the background.  We made a quick lap, looking for a campsite and got out as quickly as we could.

We made contact with Herb and Caroline Jukes who recently moved to Bowling Green and will visit with them a bit today.  Laundry also raises it's head, needing attending to.  KOA's are good for laundry if not much else.