We found out today that our little boy needs surgery on his back right leg to repair a torn ACL. So he’s scheduled for surgery on Monday, September 27th. Please keep him in your prayers. Due to this our arrival on the west coast will be delayed by a couple weeks. Hopefully, we’ll all arrive sometime in November happy and healthy.
Last night Barbara and I took a sunset, dinner cruise on Table Rock Lake aboard the Showboat Branson Belle. We were treated to a magic act, a live music show, featuring music from the 60’s to today and a fantastic dinner. The meal was comprised of a green salad, roastbeef, chicken, garlic mashed red potatoes, greenbeans, a dinner roll, our choice of beverage and dessert. After dinner and before the show we took a stroll around the deck and enjoyed the moon light reflecting off of the water.
When the Branson Belle was first constructed, it was moved into the lake on ramps lubricated with bananas. Yes bananas! That means before the Branson Belle took float on the water it slipped and fell, into the water, on banana peels, over 1,000 of them. Again, I did not use my good camera. I used my pocket size point and shoot, 6 megapixel camera, so please be kind.
On Friday, after we finished our golf cart tour, Barbara and I toured the nearby natural history museum. The museum focused mostly on the Indians of the Ozark Mountains, but also had information on most of the major tribes in North America. Please be kind when you view these photos as I did not have my good camera with me so I used my cell phone camera, and I am terrible taking photos with my cell phone. In addition, Barbara took some of these photos so we can blame her. LOL!
On Thursday Barbara and I traveled south to the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri. Today Barbara and I enjoyed a 2.5 mile trail through the mountains, over bridges, some covered, and past many waterfalls in a golf cart. Yes a golf cart. I chose this trail so that Barbara could enjoy the scenery too. Usually, Barbara stays behind and just enjoys my photos. She really enjoyed the trip. There is even a bar (The Bat Bar) inside of a limestone (CaCO3) cavern along the trail. Both of us enjoyed a cold strawberry lemonade. Barbara thinks that the rocks here look like large Lego blocks snapped together.
Yesterday Barbara and I traveled from Indiana to St. Louis so that we could visit the Gateway Arch one more time before we head back to the west coast. The arch is truly an engineering masterpiece. It does make me wonder if we will be able to excel in engineering and science, in the future, with educators now lowering the standards to accommodate some students. One of the things that we really like about the arch is their visitor’s center. They provide a movie that chronicles how the arch was constructed, from the design to final construction, why the arch was built in St. Louis and the adventures of Lewis and Clark. All in all it makes for a great time in St. Louis. And for those of you who are baseball fans, the Cardinals play just a few blocks away.
For the past three nights Barbara and I have been staying at the Kentucky Horse Park campgrounds. Yesterday we visited the horse park. This is a beautiful park. When I first saw it I thought of the Kentucky Derby. While at the horse park we learned a lot about horses, got to meet some former champions and got to see different breeds of horses perform. It made for an enjoyable day.
Today Barbara and I traveled north to visit the Ark Encounter and study ark-e-ology. This is supposed to be a replica of Noah’s Ark. Of course the exhibit focuses on theology and Barbara and I learned a lot. However, it provided more questions than answers. I don’t agree with a lot of what they’re teaching, but I do believe in God and evolution. Some believe this is not possible, but if you think about it logically, it’s not that hard. It was very interesting and we had a wonderful time.
On Saturday, with the rally over, Barbara and I headed north, 22 miles, to the Twin Mills RV Park for the Labor Day weekend. On Sunday, after breakfast I grabbed my sling pack and hiking pole and took a hike. Now what most of you would call a walk, I call a hike. In this part of the country there are no mountains or even hills to climb. When the glaciers last receded, approximately 11,000 years ago, it left this part of the country “FLAT”. In fact, in most places you could lay down a carpenter’s level and 90% of the time the bubble would be in the middle. Yes it is that flat here. So due to the fact that I carry my sling pack, hiking pole and usually walk several miles, I call it a hike. On Monday morning I hiked the south side of the RV park.
On Sunday Barbara and I landed in Goshen, Indiana at the Elkhart County Fairground for the Grand Design (GD) National Rally. At this year’s rally there are 617 RV’s, the largest in GD history. We are looking forward to attending the many seminars and checking out the many vendors with products for our RV. Due to the number of RV’s here, the RV’s are spread out over a large area, so GD has provided golf cart UBERS (GUBERS) so we don’t have to walk everywhere. There are GUBER stops all over the fairgrounds. Last evening we enjoyed watching cornhole toss while enjoying cheese, crackers and our favorite drink with our fellow GD owners from our section. This morning we had a nice breakfast, compliments of GD, and enjoyed the opening ceremonies featuring the GD CEO Don Clarke.
My cousin Rick’s place is truly “Wild Kingdom”. He has multiple bird feeders, hummingbird feeders and birdhouses in his yard. In addition, as I indicated in my previous blog, he assists in the birth of Monarch Butterflies. While staying with my cousin I took advantage of the many opportunities to capture nature with my camera. While traveling this year I have tried numerous times to capture a photo of a male cardinal. They appear to be camera shy. At Rick’s place I was successful.
RV There Yet? 