From Missouri to Kentucky via St Louis

Aloha Everyone,

Last night our beautiful RV park was located within a private compound about 17 miles from an interstate highway. We had no access to cellular phone or wifi. Our family were a little concerned about our lack of evening communication, but we spent a quiet night in the wooded area of Missouri.

Saw this charming home-made tractor sitting on top of a mail box.

J.J. had to be extra cautious tracing our way back on Highway O and D as we came across two white tailed rabbits, two squirrels and three land turtles with long necks all trying to get to the other side of the divided road.

These country stores were the first and last commercial establishments on Highway D.

Approaching St Louis downtown, we had another glimpse of the now familiar Missouri River.

Gateway Arch in St Louis is a 630 ft high stainless steel monument, completed in 1965, it is world's tallest arch. It is a monument to the westward expansion of the USA and the center piece of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

Today, being the Memorial Day holiday, park alerts were in effect. J.J. and I decided on a return visit to the city on non-holiday and enjoyed the arch from a distance.

We drove over a bridge spanning the Mississippi  River just before reaching a Kentucky visitor center.

Verdant and spacious and well manicured too inviting to pass up as to practice yoga.

Approaching bridge over Ohio River.

Cracker Barrel is a chain of "Southern Comfort food" restaurant. J.J. had chicken dumpling, mashed potato, boiled beans and side dishes of fried okra and corn bread.

I stayed with safer choice of mixed garden vegetables. Grape tomatoes were exceptionally sweet and crunchy.

The Cracker Barrel restaurant we stopped was located in the town of Paducah, Kentucky. The noon time temperature was 91 degrees F.

We were invited to a crawfish boil gathering by a group from Louisiana. They brought back 100 pounds of live crawfish. JJ said it was spicy, but very good. I enjoyed the boiled corn and potato they prepared along with crawfish.

We have a pond frontage setting for this evening.

One of the invitees of Crawfish gathering was Kevin Myers, an artist. Here Kevin is showing us a couple of his paintings.

Go to: www.newfresco.com to see Kevin's work.

Aloha -- Cathi

Driving from Northwest to Central Region of Missouri

Aloha Everyone,

Per the Missouri Official Travel Guide map, the state is divided into 5 regions each offering unique and distinctive experience for visitors. Our route today was from St Joseph to outskirts of Kansas City on I-29 then to 435E and to I-70.

We were on the road by 6:28 am. As soon as the light morning fog lifted, we were greeted by the glorious sky.

Gentle reminder found at one of the rest areas.

We noted noticeable changes in topography from flat grazing lands of the south-eastern plains of South Dakota to flat farm lands of Iowa and now to rolling hills with more developed farms of Missouri.

Another encounter with the Missouri River after Kansas City made me happy.  It was like seeing an old friend.

Sometime finding the RV Park is an adventure in itself. In the Passport America guidebook, it clearly stated that it's 13 miles to Highway D, then 4 more miles to Highway O.

When you are going on unfamiliar country roads with occasional vehicles coming from other direction, it's easy to feel perhaps this was not a very good idea.

After what feltlike an hour, J.J. and I finally came to a junction of Highway D and Highway O. Big cheers and a high-five as we drove on.

The Wildwood Lot Owners Association is a private lot owners association. You may purchase a lot and build a cabin or park your RV. It seem that most people come for weekends and vacations. Should one decide to live here full time, one must be a owner and have owned the lot for a minimum of 10 years & must be 50+.

Just out of curiosity, I asked for the price sheet. Lot prices vary from $3,760 for 2,400 - 3,600 sq ft lot size to $6,750 for approximately 5,000 sq ft size. When one of the other visitor overheard my conversation with the office clerk, he pulled me aside and told me to check in the local paper for resales. He winked and proudly confided that he purchased his lot for  $2,300 and it's was large enough to build a cabin and park his large RV.

At the entrance to the private compound, we saw a target shooting field. The property is huge though I haven't been able to find specifics . Among the amenities they offer include swimming, tennis, horseshoes, ten lakes with boating, fishing with Missouri Fishing License and turkey shoot.  I don't know if they actually hunt for wild turkeys.

Perfect for multiple-generational family vacationing together.

It was hot during the mid-day and the pool was attracting lots of children.

Because this is a private complex, ATVs (all terrain vehicles) are permitted. We saw a little girl who appeared to be about 8 years old driving one with two passengers.

Perhaps AOAO (association of owners) fees are insufficient to pave the road. Riders were covered with dust, but were having a great time.

Here is one of the two lakes we saw on the property.

Aloha -- Cathi

The "Big Muddy", Missouri River

Aloha Everyone,

Nicked named The "Big Muddy", the Missouri River is the longest river in North America. The Missouri River begins at the Brower's Spring in the Centennial Mountains of Mountain. It traverses a total of 2,300 miles through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and joins the Mississippi River which flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

All seven states that share the Missouri River imply through their tourist publications that the river is their own. The many lakes and tributaries along the Missouri River offer camping, fishing, boating, scuba diving, swimming, kayaking, hiking, hunting and bird-watching recreational activities throughout the year.

No man-made monuments or geological wonders, but today J.J. and I walked around our immediate neighborhood and found joy and beauty in small, ordinary things such as fire logs stacked along a fence:

Bucolic scene of cattle grazing:

Wild flowers blooming by a gravel footpath:

Siberian Iris trying to soak the sun light between rain clouds:

"In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous." - Aristotle

Aloha -- Cathi

From Iowa to Missouri on I-29

Aloha Everyone,

From flat farm lands of Iowa to the lush, green, hills of Missouri, today's drive was very relaxing as we were only on the road for less than 3 hours.

The large mosaic at the Missouri Welcome Center's mosaic caught my eye.

We were welcomed by Judy and Bev, who worked at the Missouri Welcome Center:

They provided us with useful information on RV Parks and gave us maps and guide books on St. Joseph as well as the state of Missouri.

Our friend, Shelley, had warned us of the importance of having quarters when you are. RVing. We learned it the hard way when one occasion we had to ask a fellow RVer to change $1 bill as we required additional quarters for dryer. Typically, it's $1.50 to $2.00 per load in the washing machine or dryer at an RV Park.

We are staying at a RV Park in St. Joseph, Missouri. According to the brochure we received from Judy and Bev at the visitor center, there are a long list of things to do in this county with population of a 89,700. The topography is rather flat, but we are 823 ft above the sea level. The current temperature is 76 degrees F.  The coldest month, January, has an average temperature of 24.9 degrees F while the hottest month, July, has an average temperature is 87 degrees F.

There is a couple with three school age children are occupying the "pad" adjacent to ours. The wife confided to me that they live in Iowa but are looking to relocate here to avoid severe winter weather.

This RV Park has many mature trees. Though it does not offer modern amenities, the manager, Jack, is friendly and helpful.

We also spent nearly an hour exchanging information with Linda & Adrian who are on their way to Alaska and with Bob & Ruth who are on their way to Michigan. Since JJ began his blog site, www.rvdoggies.blogspot.com we've had additional opportunities to meet people who are traveling with dogs.

Have a safe and Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Aloha -- Cathi

Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Council Bluff, Iowa

Aloha Everyone,

Our first destination this morning was the Falls Park in the city of Sioux Falls. According to one of the signs at the park, an average of 7,000 gallons of water drops over 100 feet every second over the falls. Unfortunately for us, today wasn't one of those average days, and the water was just trickling over. On a positive note, this meant that I was able to practice some asanas on the slippery rocks.

This is a picture of the Livestock Exchange building. Here are some couple of interesting facts about South Dakota livestock: Every year 1.75 million calves are born in South Dakota. This means that South Dakota ranks 6th in the nation in production of cattle and calves. Approximately half the farmers in South Dakota raise cattle and calves.

"Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do." - Emmanuel  Swedenberg

Sandy and Terry at Salem Information Center on I-90, South Dakota

Geri, Kim and Brendan with the South Dakota Highway Patrol at Vermillion Information Center.

Below, Linda, Mark and Ronnie at Sgt. Floyd Welcome Center in Siouxland, Iowa.

Tomorrow is our one-month anniversary since moving to our RV home. Honu has met all our expectations and more. In celebration, we are treating ourselves to a Snickers Ice Cream bar to go along with our meal of toast turkey roll on flat bread, strawberries, and Caesar salad.

The RV Park we are staying is called Country Club Acres RV Park in Council Bluff, Iowa.  After we crossed Murdo in SD, we are now in Central Time Zone. This means it is still light at 8:00 pm.

Aloha -- Cathi