August 31st - Lazy Day in Hot Springs

MA was in the mood for a fat, juicy cheeseburger for lunch. Tony said he knew the perfect place, very close to our camp. He took us to The Burger Place and it WAS great! Sloppy and tasty!

We did some laundry at Tony's apartment and I watched the golf tournament. Later, we met Tony at Players, his new bar. We met the co-owner and several of the regulars. Tony has many ideas for renovating and enhancing the bar. The racing season begins mid January for three months and they want the place fixed up by then.

We introduced Tony to Cracker Barrel DINNERS. He had only been to CB for breakfast. Sadly, we said goodnight and goodbye, for now. Tony is going to meet us in Austin for Thanksgiving at Berri's.

Thursday, August 30th - Hot Springs

We started out the day with a hearty breakfast at Jack's Steaks and Pancakes. This is a favorite of Tony's. It WAS interesting, getting an up close and personal look at the local culture.

Later, Tony and I went over to the "Games of Skill" at the Oaklawn Racetrack. Arkansas is SUPPOSED to have laws against gambling, probably a drawback to their days of renown as a Chicago gangster vacation spot (Al Capone, et al). Well "Games of skill" do not count as gambling. BUT, somehow, I lost $20 on Digital Black Jack. Tony, won $20 on the same game of skill.

Tony bought chicken and we grilled at his apartment. He lives very near Lake Hamilton, just around the corner from our camp. We watched the Cowboys last preseason game - 1st half only. Tony has a very gregarious neighbor, Jaime, who is the finance manager at the local Jeep dealer here in Hot Springs. I mention to him that SOMEDAY, we MIGHT want to get a Jeep Wrangler 4-Door. Well, before the evening was over, Jaime had a co-worker drive their last remaining Wrangler 4-Door to Tony's apartment. MA and I took it for a drive - VERY impressive! AFTER we get settled in a "stick" home, we will address the 2nd car issue. First things first!

Wednesday, August 29th - to Hot Springs & Tony!

We packed up and left our wonderful campsite on the banks of the Mississippi River and drove 195 miles to Hot Springs, Arkansas, Tony's home since Katrina ran him out of Pass Christian, Mississippi in 2005.

En route, we stopped for lunch at a rest area on I-40 east of Little Rock. MA heated up the leftover carne asada and Spanish rice and black beans from Monday night's dinner with Rita. It was a nice break from driving.

We got to Lake Hamilton RV Resort around 3:00pm and set up camp. This park is on the shore of beautiful Lake Hamilton, one of three big lakes around Hot Springs. We are parked along the small boardwalk that goes along the park's shoreline.

Son, Tony, arrived at 4:30 bringing three huge rib-eye steaks! We sat outside and visited (not as insufferably hot now days) and drank a beer or two. Then I grilled the steaks and we ate inside the coach. It is GREAT to see him doing so well! Tony has just bought into a bar across the street from the famous Oaklawn Park thoroughbred horse racing facility. He is continuing with his latest creation chesslecture.com which is prospering quite nicely.

Tuesday, August 28th - Northern Mississippi Trip

When we settle into an area for several days, in this case, seven days here in the Memphis area, we tend to use our camp as a "hub" and take trips out from the hub to really see the area.

Today, we left our camp around 11:00am and drove to Oxford, Mississippi, the home of the hated Ole Miss Rebels, traditional enemies of MA's school, LSU. We drove thru the Ole Miss campus. Thousands of students were changing classes and it was fairly intense trying to avoid cars AND students. But, we made it thru the campus. It is a very pretty setting with lots of trees.

MA wanted to see Rowan Oak, the home of William Faulkner. So she toured the home while I napped in the Jeep. Then we drove thru the very quaint downtown area, around the courthouse square.

Then we drove over to Clarksdale, Mississippi, self named "Birthplace of the Blues". It is in the Mississippi "Delta" region, amidst huge cotton plantations. For several months, MA has had her eye on having dinner at Madidi, a restaurant co-owned by actor, Morgan Freeman and a local businessman. We arrived over one hour early (reservations at 6:00pm) so we walked around a bit and went into the Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art shop. It was a very interesting collection of CD's and pictures from local artists and musicians. W.C. Handy, Big George Brock, etc.

We went into Madidi and sat at the bar for one hour waiting for the restaurant part to open. MA ordered rib-eye steak and I ordered the filet with spinach and rizzoto. The dinners werewonderful! Full of flavor, excellently prepared - REALLY fine dining!

Monday, August 29th - Carne Asada with Cousin Rita

I got to Wal*Mart early this morning to get the oil changed in the Jeep. I do the procedure every 5,000 miles, not the 7,500 that the manufacturer recommends. I also bought a radiator flushing kit and installed it in the Jeep's cooling system. It took me about 15 minutes to totally flush the cooling system into the sewer system here at the campsite.

Cousin Rita Dahle came from her home in Tunica for dinner here at our camp. It was great to get to visit with her, once again! I grilled Carne Asada, a thin skirt steak that we bought last month and frozen. MA sauteed onions and peppers, prepared Spanish rice and black beans. It was a really enjoyable dinner!

Sunday, August 26th - Cousin Rita and Tunica

Today, we drove down to see my cousin, Rita Dahle, at her new home in Shorehaven, Mississippi. It is a VERY nice, quite comfortable home and we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon visit. Rita is employed by Harrah's in Tunica, a gaming mecca in northwest Mississippi. We followed Rita for the thirty-something mile trip to the Horseshoe Casino where we ate a terrific steak dinner at Jack Binion's Steakhouse. Rita has "connections" and the entire meal was "comped" by the Casino. WHAT PULL she has!

Rita will be joining us at our campsite in West Memphis, Arkansas tomorrow afternoon for dinner.

Saturday, August 25th - Mud Island

After breakfast, we drove over to downtown Memphis, parked the Jeep and took the tramway over to Mud Island. Originally a sandbar that was threatening to block river access to Memphis, it has been developed into a beautiful historical and geographical park.

We walked thru the Mississippi River Museum. This pic is of model of a "showboat" barge being propelled by a tug boat. The showboats would visit the towns along the river and put on entertainment productions inside the barge.

Later, I walked the length of the "Riverwalk", a representation of the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois to where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico at Head of Passes, Louisiana. It is about five blocks long and graphically contours the various depths and heights of the river, sandbars, channels, levies, etc.

This pic shows the part of the Riverwalk representing the area of West Memphis, Arkansas, where we are currently camped. The gray area is the city of West Memphis, complete with major streets. We are camped above the gray area, inside the levee, along the bank of the channel of the river. We actually see the sandbar on the opposite side because the river is SO low now. As I mentioned in previous posts, the barges, small to VERY large in number, pass just in front of our campsite.

Friday, August 24th - Graceland - Elvis Lives!

Yes, it's true. Elvis Presley Enterprises is alive and well in Memphis, Tennessee! We arrived at 10:30 and bought tickets for the "Platinum Tour" which got us into the Mansion, the Automobile Museum, Sincerely Elvis (mostly costumes worn by Elvis in his MANY shows), and the Lisa Marie Convair 880 4-engine personal jet. We passed on the VIP Tour(@ $68 each was more than 2x the cost of the Platinum Tour) which included "go to the front of the line" privileges and a "backstage pass" souvenir.

The tour started with a short shuttle bus ride across Elvis Presley Blvd. to the mansion. We had electronic headsets to give a narrative at each stop in the mansion. The pic on the left is the living room decorated just as it was when Elvis last lived there, 1977. We saw the entire main level and then the basement. The upstairs bedroom area was not included on the tour.

Outside, in the rear, Elvis added a workout building that included the racquetball court. It has been converted to display many of his gold albums, platinum records, etc.

The next pic is the Serenity Garden where Elvis, his parents and several other relatives are interred.

After the Automobile museum, we walked thru the Lisa Marie airplane. Gold sinks and seat belts!

Today, they expected a crowd of approximately 3,000 visitors. Last week, especially on the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis, August 16th, they had 75,000 visitors in one day!


It was VERY hot outside and the tour was exhausting. We both really enjoyed getting to see Graceland!

Thursday, August 23rd - More Country Cookin'

As I wrote yesterday, we are right on the banks of the Mississippi River. I took this pic from beside the coach with the barge in the background. As you can see, the river is VERY low. It normally extends to the base of the trees on the far (Tennessee) bank.

This morning, we drove to Graceland to see what we wanted to do. We agreed that we would go "early" Friday morning to try to beat the heat.

We ate lunch at The Cupboard in Midtown Memphis. This was another recommendation from the Roadfood book that we purchased last year. Once again, the meal was outstanding! They serve the entree (chicken fried chicken for MA and beef tips & noodles for me) with your choice of three vegetable sides from a list of about 20. The vegetables were absolutely fresh, having been bought at the farmers' market twice a day. MA had corn pudding, turnip greens and fried green tomatos - I had Italian spinach, carrot & raisin salad and sliced tomatos. We topped this off by sharing a lemon icebox pie.

Wednesday, August 22nd - Planted for a Week

We drove the coach over to the Riggs Caterpillar here in West Memphis, Arkansas. I had a "Check Engine" light occur when we left Louisville last week. My own on board diagnostic monitor (VMSpc) said that it was an injector sensor problem. I pulled to the side of the road and it went away and never happened again. In talking to Caterpillar Customer Service, they recommended that I take it to a Cat service center and have it looked at. The tech at Riggs Cat believes that it is a minor pump problem that can wait to be replaced when we get our next oil change, etc. performed. That will be in Texas in October.

We moved in to the Tom Sawyer Mississippi River RV Park, smack on the banks of the Mississippi River. Literally, we are about 100' to the river, unobstructed view! We watch the river barges go be at all hours of the day and night. We are here for a week.

We drove in to downtown Memphis for ribs at the famous Rendezvous. It is a walk-down from street level. VERY interesting and GREAT ribs! We read about The Rendezvous in our Roadfood book plus many other RV'ers have recommended it. It was worth the trip!

Afterwards, we walked thru the Peabody Hotel. We did not see the ducks marching top the water fountain - 11:00am and 5:00pm. We'll have to come back for that. Then we walked up and down Beale Street, famous as the Home of the Blues. There is a motorcycle rally here in Memphis and there were hundreds of bikes parked along Beale Street.

Tuesday, August 21st - Leaving Nashville Area

We were not in a big hurry today - only 250 miles to Memphis and I really did not want to hit Memphis at the height of the rush hour traffic.

So, we left Nashville at 11:00 and stopped in Hurricane Mills, TN to eat and see country singer, Loretta Lynn's family home. We ate lunch at the Loretta Lynn Country Buffet (pretty good), parked the coach at the Loretta Lynn Ranch and took the tour. It was interesting. If you saw the movie, Coalminer's Daughter, you know that she (and sister, Crystal Gayle) came from very humble beginnings (what country singer doesn't?). This is a short video of the area around the house.

We hit Memphis around 6:15 and are parked at the Cracker Barrel in West Memphis, Arkansas. Tomorrow morning, we take the coach to the local Caterpiller service center to get an injector sensor looked and and, hopefully, replaced. I got a warning light last week, leaving Louisville and do not want to take any chances.

Who is this Man?

A little test here -

1. Can you identify this man?
Initials: J.D.

2. Where did he live?
Lynchburg, TN

3. How did he die?
Gangrene from infected toe injured when he kicked his safe

4. What did he produce ? Hint: only two companies in the world produce this product.
Tennessee Sippin' Whiskey filtered thru 10 FEET of white oak charcoal

I will start dropping hints tomorrow in this same posting.

e-mail your answers - Shopper1@heinz57family.com

Sunday, August 19th - Nashville, TN

This morning, after a dose of Krispy Kreme, we drove around Nashville, starting with the Farmer's Market downtown. We walked thru the three buildings, one dedicated to vegetables and fruit, one primarily for eating and the third building selling fleas. I bought nine pair of white, low cut athletic socks for five dollars - what a deal! MA bought a ring and a piece of pottery.

Then we made a quick drive to Athens, Greece to photograph the Parthenon. Actually, that's a lie - we photographed the REPLICA of the Parthenon, built to the same specs as the original, for the Nashville Centennial.

After a drive thru the Vanderbilt University campus, we passed by Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry, and then out east of town to The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home. We ate dinner at the visitor's center but, since the tour was mostly walking outside, in 102 degree, humid air, we opted to do a quick drive-by.

We had a quick visit with Joe and Trisha Mangin at their home in Hendersonville. Then we returned home, stopping at Wal*Mart for supplies.

Saturday, August 18th - Into Nashville

This morning, we left Cave City, Kentucky and drove 75 miles to our home for the next three nights, Nashville Country RV Park, just north of Nashville, Tennessee. We stopped for diesel fuel at the Flying J in Franklin, Kentucky. At $2.65, it is among the lowest prices in the country for diesel fuel. We ate a late breakfast at Bob Evans in Bowling Green, Kentucky and pulled into Nashville around 1:00pm.

MA contacted long-time family friend, Joe Mangin who lives in nearby Hendersonville with wife, Trisha and daughter, Julia. Son, Anthony is studying at Belmont College in Nashville. Joe invited us to meet them at a local mall and we all drove to Gallatin, Tennessee for dinner. It was a great evening at Oliver's Restaurant. They specialize in New Orleans-style dishes and they were VERY good! Reminded us of several local restaurants when we lived in Louisiana. As you can see, Julia was enjoying the Mountain of Chocolate dessert.

Friday, August 17th - Mammoth Cave

We drove from the campground to the Cave, about five miles and signed up for the 12:30 "New Entrance" cave tour. We had a couple of hours to spare so we drove into Glasgow, Kentucky to the Wal-Mart.

The cave tour was cool - literally! 54 degrees cool. That was refreshing. The tour lasted about two hours, including the shuttle bus time. There were 120 participants. Ranger Bobby was our leader and ranger Lance was our tail gunner. To start off, we descended 280 steps into the cave. Many places were quite tight and low clearance. The cave was interesting but not beautiful. Luray Caverns in Virginia is beautiful. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and Bennett Springs Caverns in Arkansas are beautiful. Mammoth Cave is, well...BIG!

Thursday, August 16th - To Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

After stopping at Cracker Barrel for lunch, we drove the 90 miles to Cave City, Kentucky. I was running down to my last 10 gallons of diesel fuel so I stopped near Louisville and bought 20 gallons. I am aware that the Flying J in Franklin, Kentucky has diesel fuel at $2.62 so I am waiting for that stop to fill up.

The Singing Hills Campground was recently purchased by the new owners, Beth and Eldon. They are trying to build up a nice RV park. We wish them much luck in their efforts! MA and I used their swimming pool to escape the 100+ temps. It was very refreshing!

Eldon recommended the El Matzalan Mexican restaurant in Cave City. We tried it...pretty good!

Limited Internet Access

We are in Cave City, Kentucky and have VERY limited Internet access. We toured Mammoth Cave today - tomorrow we will have good Internet access and will publish the story and pix.

Wednesday, August 15th - Two Museums

This morning, MA slept in while I drove into Louisville to visit the Muhammad Ali Museum. It was very nostalgic watching videos of Ali's bouts in the 1960's and 1970's. He was the best heavyweight boxer of all time IMHO. The museum can be described as equal parts fight history, political activities, religious conviction and personal characteristics (dedication, perseverance, endurance, etc.).

After lunch, MA and I drove around the Ohio Riverfront on both the Kentucky side and the Indiana side. On the local map, I saw "Howard Steamboat Museum" in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Both of us are fascinated by steamboats so, we took the museum tour. The location was the family home built by the Howard family. Howard Shipyard built over 3,000 boats in 107 years. While looking thru the research archives, I found that the Bob Blanks steamboat was built at Howard Shipyard. The Bob Blanks was the riverboat that MA's great grandfather, John Faye Gomellon, piloted 1903 - 1912. One of the docents found a old photo of the Bob Blanks and a copy for MA.

Tuesday, August 14th - Louisville Slugger Museum

For several years, I have loosely followed the full-timing RV travels of Norm and Linda Payne thru their web-site See ya Down the Road. Norm updates his site several times a month and I have gotten many tips on campgrounds from Norm documenting their experiences and opinions. This morning, I was scanning his site to see if he had any comments on the campground we are currently in, Louisville Metro KOA. Turns out that he has stayed here MANY times and highly recommends it! He dates his stays and it said that the most recent was 07/07. Knowing that he sometimes stays a month in this location, I wondered if Norm and Linda might be here now. I looked at the web pic of their Newmar Dutch Star motor home and while I was walking Gypsy, saw their coach parked about 50' away. Being the quiet, shy type, I introduced myself to Linda who was sitting outside. Norm came out and we talked about various RV topics of mutual interest. It was very cool crossing paths!

Around noon, we drove into downtown Louisville to the Hillerich and Bradsby bat factory and the Louisville Slugger Museum. H & B is the world's largest maker of baseball bats. After touring the museum, we took a 30 minute walking tour of the factory. It was very interesting! Afterward, I took a turn in the batting cage...10 pitches, 4 foul balls and 5 solid hits...not too bad for an old man.

Later, we took a drive around the Ohio Riverfront on the Indiana side. I took this pic of downtown Louisville. We finished off the day by splitting a BBQ plate of ribs and brisket at Famous Dave's, a chain out of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It featured St. Louis-style ribs, Georgia-style pork and Texas-style brisket. These Minnesotans know their BBQ, even if they have to steal it from other parts of the country!

Monday, August 13th - Louisville, Kentucky

This morning we left Indianapolis and drove 115 miles to our camp for three days, the KOA in Clarksville, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. We stopped for lunch at a cafeteria in Greenwood, Indiana. Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria was spotlighted in our Roadfood book. It has an 88 foot-long food line! Around twenty choices for entrees! And - it tasted great!.

Once we got set-up in our Louisville area campground, we drove to the south part of town to Churchill Downs and visited the Kentucky Derby Museum and took a walking tour of the racetrack. It was intolerably HOT!

Sunday, August 12th - MA Comes "Home"

I set the alarm (cell phone) for 6:00a in order to get on the road to Indianapolis by 6:30 and pick up MA at the Indianapolis Airport at 10:24am. I actually woke up at 5:00am and got on the road at 5:40. Uneventful 150 mile drive. Set-up at a K-Mart near the airport and Picked up MA right on time.

We drove out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and toured the museum and took a bus trip around the racetrack. After lunch at Cracker Barrel, we settled in for the afternoon. MA took a nap and I watched Tiger Woods win the PGA Tournament in Tulsa.

August 10th - back to Goshen, by Gosh!

I enjoyed the County Seat in Goshen, Indiana so much that I invited myself to go with Ken and Jan for breakfast. Once again...wonderful. There was an elderly Mennonite couple waiting in line behind us, also waiting for a table. When we got our table, which easily sat five, we invited Katie and her husband to join us. They we a delight! They have traveled all over the USA and shared several stories.

We returned to the Newmar parking area and I worked on cleaning the inside of the coach while watching the PGA Golf Tournament.

Later, Jan fixed us Italian sausage, pepper and onions on a roll. Delicious! Afterwards, I gave them tips for driving, and camping in New England. They plan to head there in September.

Friday, August 10th - A Restful Day

All of the warranty work has been completed - I needed to settle up with the Newmar Service Department for the replacement of the bedroom sink, bedside table door and the sewer hose storage door which I agreed to pay for.

Dick and Linda, two very nice people I met here, invited me to join them for breakfast at their favorite place, The County Seat in Goshen, Indiana. The homemade bread and strawberry jam were outstanding!

I did cleaning chores around the coach until friends Ken and Jan Tilton arrived. We first met Ken and Jan in Yuma, Arizona in January. Along with Terry and Sylvia Hix, we all traveled to Quartzsite, Arizona and Puerto Penasco, Mexico over the next two weeks. MA and I spent quality time with them in their home area, Spokane, Washington and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in late May.

After watching Tiger Woods obliterate the competition at the PGA Golf Tournament at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa, Ken and Jan and I went out for Italian food at Mancino's here in Nappanee.

Thursday, August 9th - Gypsy Comes Home

The Newmar service technicians finished up with the coach this morning. I had two items that were not working properly. The techs came and got the coach and fixed them while I ate breakfast. Around 10am, I took the tour of the Newmar manufacturing plant. MA & I took the same tour last year but, I had nothing better to do and it IS very interesting. Around noon, I picked up Gypsy after her three night stay at the Nappanee veterinary Hospital. Of course, she was VERY excited to see me.

This afternoon, I washed the exterior of the coach and watched the PGA Golf Tournament. Tonight, I am watching the Dallas Cowboys play the Indianapolis Colts in the first pre-season game of the year.

Wednesday, August 8th - Still at Newmar

I got to sleep last night around 9:30pm because I had to get up and drain the holding tanks before the tech came to get the coach at 6:00am. At 3:30am, I was awaken by a TREMENDOUS thunderstorm. I laid in bed and remembered that I had left the Jeep windows down about 3" on each door. The wind was howling. I put on MA's yellow rain slicker and headed out to roll up the Jeep windows. Got fairly soaked, anyway. But, I DID get back to sleep.

Got up and drained the tanks - the storm was over, thank God! Mark came promptly at 6am. We discussed yesterday's work and what was planned for today. Mark asked if I would drive to Elkhart, Indiana to get the two day/night shades restrung by the manufacturer. After breakfast, I drove the 23 miles and waited for the shades to be restrung. Then, a quick stop at Camping World in Elkhart and back to Newmar in Nappanee.

Tuesday, August 7th - MA Flies to Greenville, SC

Several weeks ago, Ashley called MA and asked for a "Mommy Fix". So, using Javi's SkyMiles, MA flew from Detroit to Greenville, South Carolina at 8:00am this morning. We got up at 5:00am, showered and said goodbye to Sharon and Joel, then drove to the Detroit airport in driving rain. I kissed MA goodbye and headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I really took my time returning to Nappanee, Indiana. There was no hurry, the coach was in the technicians' hands, plus, it was raining for the first 100 miles or so.

Back in Nappanee, the tech's returned the coach at 3:00pm with some 20+ items fixed or replaced. They will come again tomorrow morning to take the coach back to the service bays. Meanwhile, I have my own bed once again.

Monday, August 6th - Blaze in for Servicing

The Newmar technician, Mark, came to the coach promptly at 6:00am this morning and got to work right away. I have a list of 34 items on my punch list. Mark patiently went over all 34 items, understood my complaints, drove the coach to the service center and got to work. There were three items that we caused the problem and he was going to get back to us regarding the cost to us to have those three items replaced (sewer hose storage door, bedside table cabinet door and bedroom sink that had several porcelain chips from falling objects).

We went to breakfast at The Country Table, here in Nappanee and then took Gypsy to the vet's for boarding for the next several days.

We then drove 220 miles to the interim home of Joel and Sharon Eidsness in Northville, Michigan, just west of Detroit. Joel had been our pastor in Danbury, Connecticut and are great friends. Joel (supposedly "retired") has been interim pastor at Ward Presbyterian Church in nearby Livonia. He and Sharon have been in Michigan since early January and might well be here another year or so, until a full-time senior pastor can be selected.

We ate lunch at the Senate Grill at the golf course near their condo. Later, Joel grilled chicken and Sharon fixed corn, cheesy potatoes and a nice salad for dinner. Tonight is the first night away from Blaze (our coach) since early May when we flew to Greenville, SC.

Sunday, August 5th - Into Indiana

We left Ankeny, Iowa at 7:20am for the 445 mile trip to Nappanee, Indiana. The route took us along I-80 thru the southern Chicago area. The trip was long and boring but necessary.

We are camped in the Visitor parking area at the Newmar factory and are getting ready to turn the coach over to Newmar for warranty items. The three-year warranty expires August 20th.

Saturday, August 4th - Seeing Des Moines

After a nice breakfast at Ron & Susan's home, we headed out to see the Des Moines area. It is a very clean, faIrly modern city. We stopped at a local bluegrass festival in the community of Johnston Station. Later we ate lunch at Cactus Bob's.

Susan and Ron prepared a dinner with steak, corn and jalapeño break from the outside grill plus German Potato Salad. Delicious!

Friday, August 3rd - Leaving Kansas City

We have thoroughly enjoyed our 2 1/2 weeks here in Kansas City. A whole lot of great family time plus, catching up with old friends. Great!

We leisurely packed up the coach and drove 230 miles to my cousin, Ron Heinz's home in Ankeny, Iowa, just north of Des Moines. Ron and his wife, Susan, welcomed us and we set-up the coach in front of their home. We ordered in pizza and caught up on family news.

Thursday, August 2nd - Missouri Wine Country

Bob and Janet Sherman joined us at our campsite this morning for MA's Belgian Waffles. Then the four of us piled into their car and drove 100 miles to Rocheport, Missouri, a very cute town on the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. We did some wine tasting at the Les Bourgeois Winery and then ate lunch at the Bistro above the river.

After a little shopping at the antiques stores in the town, we returned to Blue Springs and enjoyed a couple of beers and margaritas.

Wednesday, August 1st

This morning, we drove up to Tanya (MA's cousin) and Morton Mallory's home, met Debbie (another MA cousin) and we drove to Bates City, Missouri for BBQ. This is a favorite haunt of Tanya and Morton. It WAS very good!

Afterwards, we drove over to the Lake Lotawana home. As mentioned in an earlier BLOG entry, the house is undergoing major renovations and MA wanted pix. This is a short video of "Jack's Folly", the floating platform that serves as a swim platform and party barge. The Yeldells have been known to tow the platform to the middle of the lake and have parties on the platform.