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

We are now in Iowa!  Today we came from a small town in Illinois - Joyce's cousin - called Prophetstown.  Just a small little place, but kind of on our way to Dyersville (Joyce's cousin also).  We will be here for a couple of days, then will travel onto Davenport to visit with Joyce's other brother.  It has been fun traveling the back roads to visit relatives.  As a member of a small family (1 sister, 1 uncle), it is a totally different scene when you are talking about a family of 13, all of whom have large families! 

So far, the weather has held.  We have had a little rain and quite a bit of wind, but for the most part, nice blue skies and temperatures that are reasonable.  Night before last, we had rain, had to keep the windows closed on the RV, and the humidity was incredible!  That was a long night with the heat.  Other than that, it has been fine.

Will talk to you all again later.

K

We left Traverse City this morning - late, had a leisurely trip to Au Gres, MI (on Lake Huron).  Tomorrow we leave for Saginaw to see Joyce's brother.  Again, we will make the trip on the back roads as much as we can and stay off the interstates.  Much prettier and we only like to drive 55 mph (speed limit) anyhow!

Weather has been just wonderful.  Not too much color yet, but starting to see some more reds and oranges.  It will be beautiful in a couple of weeks - about the time we get home.  It has still been a wonderful trip.  We will spend a couple of days in Iowa with family, then we aren't sure where we are going.  We will let you know when we know.

K & J

Well, here we are in Traverse City, MI.  We have traveled through a couple of states, spent a couple of days in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, and are now at Joyce's friend's house in Traverse City.  We will be here for a couple of days, taking in the sites and visiting.  When we leave here, we will head to her brother John's house in Saginaw, MI.

After a rough start to the trip, things are going just swimmingly!  The rig has worked like a charm, averaging over 20 MPG, the scenery has been great, although the fall colors are just getting started.  Seems like the 'locals' think peak time will be in 2 - 3 weeks and we will be closer to Montana at that time!  There are some changes, so the pretty colors are getting started now.

I have some wonderful sunset pictures taken our over Lake Superior, but I am on Vicki's computer now and not mine, so you will just have to be patient and wait until I get our computer plugged in again.

We are off to some kind of an adventure today, but I'm not sure what all it encompasses - Great Bear Sand Dunes for one.

Until next time -

Thank goodness for McDonalds - it allows us to come in out of the backlands and meet with civilization again!  Right now we are in Ashland, WI headed for Copper Landing, MI.  Everything has been going just swimmingly - good roads, OK weather, great tail wind - super gas mileage!!  The trees are starting to turn color, but many of them are just brown and stressed as they are at home.  Once in a while, a splotch of red shows up in the middle of a bunch of trees, and that is just beautiful!

I think tonight is supposed to be clear, and folks have been seeing the Northern Lights, so we will make that attempt tonight!

Nothing exciting, like a moose or bear yet, but we are kind of in that country.  Last night, we were the only ones in a small campground, so it was really quiet -and we heard coyotes singing!  that was nice.

Until the next time - K & J

Different Route

Hey there!

Left Medicine Hat about 2:00 today, RV ran like a charm!  We are currently in Shelby, MT and will start east from here in the morning.  We will, for now, plan to take HWY 2 across MT, ND, MN, WI, then up to the UP, Michigan.  We will probably just not go as far east since we are a week behind.  That will be another trip another year.  The UP has pretty trees, so we will go with that for this year.  We will still get to see Joyce's best friend in Traverse City, MI and her brother John in MI also.  Then who knows where we will head!

I really must say that the folks at Southland VW were just wonderful.  We couldn't have picked another place any better if we had tried.  They paid for all 3 nights in the motel, made sure we had everything we needed and gave us coffee mugs and mittens when we left today!

Look to go all the way across the state tomorrow, stopping just short of Williston.  Will check in again then.