St. Charles, MO

Thursday - What a rainy trip we had today from Mount Vernon, IL to St. Charles, MO. It was raining so hard at our departure time that we way laid it for another half hour. As we got on I64 west, Larry and Mem were in the lead and it was hard for them to see the road. Of course, all the rest of us had to do was follow their tail lights! How fortunate we were!

We are camped at the Sundermeier RV Park in St. Charles, MO for the next 3 nights. Tonight we decided to try out the Beef Eaters restaurant across the street, but we opted for a light dinner as we would be eating here again tomorrow night too and having their prime rib.

Friday - Chuck and I and Bob and Nance (our IL friends that we met in Crystal Lake, Naples, FL a few years back) drove down to old town St. Charles and went in the shops there. My favorite stores were the Knit & Caboodle (what beautiful yarn they had!) and I found a stained glass shop (The Glass Workbench) where I found a book of lamp patterns--I hope to make one this coming winter while I am in Crystal Lake. We all had fun reminiscing looking at antiques at an antique store there in town.

Our friends (also from Crystal Lake), Larry & Patty Hellrung from Alton, IL across the river, came over for a visit, margaritas and dinner. There were 14 of us that went across the street to the Beef Eaters restaurant for dinner again tonight, but tonight most of us had their prime rib and will have it again probably on Sunday because we had so much left over!

What a LONG walk across the street from the coaches to get dinner!

Saturday - This morning 8 of us (Roths, Mathenys, Parsons & Tolsons) headed out for the AmeriStar Casino for a couple hours of slots and then lunch. Chuck and I played slots for an hour and a half on our original $10 where we were up to $20 at one point and then began to loose. We stopped when we were back down to $10 again and cashed out--loosing no money, but winning none either! After lunch, we headed over to the mall for a small RV show. No, we didn't see anything that we just had to have. When we got back to the coach, we had our usual happy hour at our coach before going to dinner at Fratelli's--an Italian restuarant that Bob and Nance had recommended here in St. Charles.

AmeriStar Casino Fountain (It was fascinating watching this fountain and I will try to upload a video clip of it that should appear at the bottom of this page.)

Happy Hour
(Larry, Jim, Linda, Mem, Mary, Rhodes, Janice and Bob)

Fratelli's Ristorante in St. Charles, MO
(Up left then down right) Janice, Donna, Nance, Linda, Jim, Rhodes, Mary, Mem, Larry, Bob, Chuck & Ralph

Video of Fountain at Ameristar Casino

Camping at the Mount Vernon Wal Mart in IN

Today we headed west on I64 thru Huntington, WV and into KY passing Lexington and Louisville. Continuing on I64 west in IN, we decided to drive a little further than our planned stop at the Wal Mart in Corydon and stayed at the Wal Mart in Mount Vernon, IL. As usual, we shopped in the Wal Mart, but this store was being renovated inside and there were a lot of new empty shelves. They are calling for rain here tonight and tomorrow. A few hours drive tomorrow and we will be in St. Charles, MO for 3 nights and looking forward to seeing our Alton, IL friends.

Heading to the Wal Mart in WV

What a beautiful morning with a beautiful blue sky. The turkeys were out in the field catching grasshoppers at the Halsteads "campground" as the sun came up. This morning we all hooked up and headed out for the first leg of our trip to St. Charles, MO (north of St. Louis). We took I64 west thru Charlottesville and Lexington in VA and then into WV where we passed Lewisburg and Beckley and then turned northwest on I64/I77 to Charleston and then into Cross Lanes where we camped in the Wal Mart parking lot for our first night. Of course, we did some Wal Mart shopping and got chicken wings for supper. Later in the evening, Linda and Mem and I took a short walk over to the Goody's store to checkout their clothing sale. I had never shopped in one before.

Halstead's House, Louisa Co., VA

Today, Labor Day, we gathered at the Halstead's house for a campout and cookout before we start our journey west tomorrow morning to St. Louis and then Branson, MO and back home with a stop in Nashville, TN. The Parsons and Mathenys are here too. The 8 of us enjoyed the beautiful afternoon and cool evening and getting to visit again and, of course, there was lots of food! The guys went with Larry down to his pond and fed the fish, including Walter the catfish! We got to see JimM's half shaved/half hairy chest and hear about his recent gall bladder surgery. We talked about our upcoming trips and future plans for the rest of this year and winter. And we certainly enjoyed looking out over their field and watching the mother deer and her fawn.

Here's our camping spot at the Halstead's barn and their backyard.

Here we are all lined up and ready to hit the road!

Guess Who's Half Harry Chest

Check out our friends Blogs of this trip and others:

http://larmem.blogspot.com/ Travels of the Big "A" Bus (Halsteads)

http://jimlinmat.blogspot.com/ Mathenys On The Road

http://rwpjdp.blogspot.com/ Eagles in Flight (Parsons)

Traverse City (Aug 1 - 3)

We left the "Yoopers" in the UP this morning and are now "down state". We are camped at the Traverse Bay RV Resort in Traverse City for the next 3 nights and then we will start our 2-day trek back home. The WiFi internet service is great--now that Chuck has gone down to the office and had them reset it! Where are we anyways--at Crystal Lake in Naples where Chuck is always working on our WiFi internet service there?

Saturday, Aug 2nd

Today we drove north up and around the Leelaneau Peninsula. We saw miles and miles of cherry trees and many winerys. What a beautiful sight they must be in May with all of the cherry blossoms. Who needs to go to Washington DC with it's traffic to see cherry blossoms!

It is not a good weekend to visit Traverse City. It is Film Festival weekend and Madonna will be here tonight!

We did some grocery shopping after at a new store (for us) - Meijers. It's like a Super Wal Mart. They even sell liquor and wine and I found a large bottle of Piesport wine on sale!

Cherry Trees Laden with Ripe Cherries

Oh! So Sweet Cherries
Yes, we bought a box and have been eating them ever since!

Fields of Purple Wild Flowers, a Beautiful Blue Sky and Barns

Traveling up and down the peninsula, we passed the 45th parallel several times

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Lots of folks were climbing up the dunes

Sunday, Aug 3rd

I spent hours this morning uploading pictures on this blog and I'm still not finished! Chuck did some hand washing on the coach. This afternoon we drove north up the Old Mission Peninsula. There is a lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula with many, many cherry trees and grape vines along the way. There are about 5 winerys along this peninsula too. Traverse city would be a great place to have a Wine Tour Rally!

Old Mission Lighthouse

Grand Traverse Bay is very very shallow here and folks were enjoying wading

Beautiful Green Grapevines Along the Bay

St. Ignace, MI (July 29 - 31)

Due to lack of WiFi or even much cell phone access, I hope to continue this blog sometime in the future; probably after we leave the UP!

Tuesday, July 29th

Kewadin Casino breakfast
We are camped at the Lakeshore Park Campground in St. Ignace.

Wednesday, July 30th

Old Mill Discovery Park



Pic

Chuck & Lois Ready to take the Zip Line thru the forest

Michillmackinac Fort

Thursday, July 31st

Shepler's to Mackinac Island ($22 each round trip per person)

Carriage Tour of Island

Grand Hotel Main Dining Room

$45 buffet


$10 to tour hotel (deducted from buffet cost)

Sault Ste Marie, MI (July 26 - 28)

Due to lack of WiFi or even much cell phone access, I hope to continue this blog sometime in the future; probably after we leave the UP!

Saturday, July 26th


Soo Locks


Sunday, July 27th

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Whitefish Point Lighthouse



Bushplane Museum, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario



Monday, July 28th