Ozark Land

We left O'Fallon, MO (just outside St. Louis) this morning and have traveled as far as Ironton, MO.  If you don't know about it, no surprise.  The surprise is that it is the hub of Civil War Battlegrounds and is ripe with lots of history of battle between Union and Confederate armies.  We will do a little sightseeing tomorrow to take in some of the sites.  Unintended pleasure, for sure, along with many others on this trip!  I think the next stop will be at the Lake of the Ozarks.  It is really beautiful hardwood treed, rolling hills, and limestone bluffs around every corner.

Today we went to a MO state park called Elephant Rocks.  Very large granite boulders and very many of them.  This was a major granite quarry some years ago, and part of the state capital in Jefferson City and some of the old brick paved streets in St. Louis are made from the granite mined here.  The elephant rocks are geologic formations formed by many years of erosion, but they are solid granite - very heavy!

So much for today's fun.  We are headed, generally, in the right direction - west and north now.  Still plan on arriving in Plains 10/14/15.

K & J

Mark Twain Country

Well, here we are in Hannibal, MO!  Of course, you all remember Mark Twain, right?  That is where we are, in Mark Twain country.  Since the last time I talked with you, we have been out and about visiting family and friends throughout the mid-west.  I think I did a short post from our first stop in Iowa, but if not, here goes.  We came from Saginaw (Joyce's brother) to Kalamazoo, MI to Prophetstown, IL (Joyce's cousin) to Dyersville, IA (Joyce's cousin) and stayed a couple of days, to Davenport, IA (Joyce's great niece) for one night, then to where we are currently located.  We were going to stop in Davenport and see Joyce's brother, but he is in MO - just outside St. Louis - so that is where we are headed.  When we get there, we will visit a day or so with Ron (nephew) and Don (brother).  From there, who knows where we will head.  We are thinking of going a bit south and seeing the Ozarks, or at least some of them.  Again, we are way ahead of the color changes, but that's life.

We did hear a couple of days ago, that Boston and surrounding areas received nearly 9 inches of rain from one of the hurricanes.  Maybe there was a reason we weren't in that part of the country!  I wouldn't want to be caught trying to avoid floods while trying to look at colored trees.  Of course, that would be made a little more difficult not knowing the country hardly at all.  It has been way too many years to remember any of that, but I am also sure it has changed somewhat the last 40 years! 

So, the trip wasn't what we intended, but we are really having a good time driving the back roads, seeing another part of the country and marveling at all the corn and beans being harvested!  The weather has really been good, but we have had wind since we left Saginaw!  Regardless of which direction we seem to be traveling, it has always managed to come from the side or front, never a trailing wind to help with the gas mileage!

Car is working just fine.

Love to all,

K