Our stops on the way to Minneapolis

We got up this morning heading as far as we could towards Minneapolis to see Victoria and Michial.  We were about to pass an exit when a sign caught our eye.  It said this was the exit for the Madison County Bridge, the bridge in the movie. Well, Van and I just love covered bridges and we especially loved that movie and decided that even though we knew we had a long drive ahead of us that we were going to have to stop.  So we exited and found the Welcome Center.  It was in an old church in St. Charles, Iowa.  The lady behind the desk told us that we should probably unhook the car and leave the motorhome in the parking lot because the bridge was about 28 miles in the town of Winterset.  So that's what we did.  As we entered the town of Winterset, we discovered the home place of John Wayne.  It was a little white house that was as cute as a button.  We did not buy tickets to get inside because we really were running short on time.  We then headed to the Madison County Bridge, which is called the Roseman Bridge.  In fact, this area had several covered bridges but we just didn't have time to see the others.  The last 4 miles was on dusty gravel roads.  There was a gift shop by the bridge and we had hoped to  buy some trinket  but unfortunately it was closed, so all we came away with were some beautiful pictures of the area along with a dirty car.  The backside of the bridge had been closed so there was no longer a road through the bridge.  The setting was as beautiful as the movie made it out to be.  The trip took us a total of a bout 2 hours for our little excursion but we both felt it was well worth it.

Finishing up Kansas City

This morning we went to the WWI Museum.  Everything we read was true.  This is probably the best museum we have ever seen.  We would encourage anyone that comes this way to definitely make it one of their stops.  We both learned more about WWI than we ever remember hearing or learning.

From the movies, to the exhibits and the many, many artifacts, all we can say is that it is extremely well done.  Apparently the designer of the museum is the same person who designed the Holocaust Museum in Washington.  What was particularly interesting to us were the films and the way they explained how the world was situated at the time and how the various countries/parties were involved.  The dynamics of the whole process were very interesting.

 

 

Kansas City

What a wonderful day!  It started out a little rainy but by early afternoon it was clear and beautiful.  We started out with seeing Harry Truman's Presidential Library and Museum, and his home which was not far away. 
They had two movies.  One showing his childhood and upbringing and the other showing his military service, political career and his  Presidency.  He is known for having a Presidency requiring probably the toughest decisions of any modern day President.  It is always interesting to see how the oval office is decorated for the various Presidents.  They sell plaques that say "The Buck Stops Here" for $60 but didn't get one.



Our next stop was the Boulevard Brewing Company.  It is one of the largest craft beer breweries in the United States and got its name from being located on Boulevard Street.  We took the tour and learned how the process works and, of course, we went to the tasting room at the end of the tour.  They gave each person 4 bottle caps to use in the tasting room.  Since I don't drink beer, Van got to use mine.  He didn't buy any beer but got a beer glass from there to add to his collection.  One of the original employees has an old Volvo station wagon with a surf board on top like you would see in the 60's. 

Michial (our son in law) had recommended that we go to a barbeque restaurant called BB's Lawnside Barbeque.  What a place!  It was a hole in the wall joint with great barbeque but more than that, a fantastic blues group.  They were Trampled Under Foot.  It's 2 brothers and a sister and wow, can she sing.  I would encourage any of you who love blues to pull her up and listen to them.  One brother is the drummer and the other brother and sister both play the guitar left handed.  They have a new CD coming out in July called Badlands and the Baldlands tour has stops scheduled all over the US, Canada and Norway.  They are as good as we have ever heard.  Whenever they are in town, they always play at this place on Tuesdays because that is where they started out. 

Van in heaven with lead singer of Trampled Under Foot


 

All in all we had a perfect day.  Sending hugs and kisses to all.

Stopping to visit Kansas City

It's Monday late afternoon and we are staying in Walnut Grove RV Park in Merriam, Kansas.  It is about 9 miles to Kansas City, Missouri, where many of the things we want to see are located.  We have had an adventurous trip today.  When Van checked the car last night, it would not crank.  So we knew it was time we went ahead and got it fixed.  Matt (our son) had previously told us how to release the car from park to put it in neutral so it could be hauled.  Thank you Matt because it came in handy today.  We found a hitch place close to Kansas City.  They had instructed us to turn in between the two blue buildings.  We did and as soon as the entire coach and car were off the street, there was a great big downward slope leading to the work area.  Needless to say, that big drop down scared us to death because the car was still attached.  The service man assured us we could make it down without dragging.   Before moving the coach down the hill, Van went into the office to check in and he was told to wait and someone would come talk with him.  Van had tried again to crank the car before going into the office and had left it in park.  Unbeknownst to Van, the service man got into the motorhome and drove it down the hill with the car attached....and still in park!  Yes, that's right, still in park.  If Van had not gotten thirsty while he was waiting on the service guy, he would still be up the hill in the office (hahaha)  You can just imagine his surprise when he walked out to get a coke from the coach and there was no coach on the hill and he could see the car tire marks all the way down the hill from the car being in park.  Turned out there was no damage to the brakes as best we could tell.  They did fix our wire problem and, in fact, helped me with the washer/dryer unit.  Apparently our spring in the door which locks the door and allows the washer to begin is broken.  The service guy helped me "rig" it until I can get it repaired. 

We have set up at the campground and it's really too late to go do anything so I began a load of laundry.  It took me a little more rigging than he did, but I got the door to lock and the washer started.  Now what concerns me is if I can open the door.  You know how you get that funny gut feeling when something might not be right?  Well, I kindda got it.  I'll know in an hour or so when it's through.  I have put out a service call to the Splendide people (that's the brand) and waiting to find out how to get it fixed and/or release the door if necessary.

While I was trying to get the washer "rigged," Van was setting up the coach and unhooking the car.  He had finished and came inside and I asked him what the noise was I was hearing.  We had just had neighbors pull in right next to us (and that means about 6 inches from our slideout).  Van could tell that the noise was coming from the bathroom and noticed that there were bubbles coming up from the toilet.  He decided to try to flush the toilet and when he touched the flush lever, blue water flew out of the toilet about 6 feet high.  He went outside and discovered that he had hooked the water hose to the black water tank rinser instead of the water supply.  You know this made him soooo happy because he had cleaned out the tank at the last stop and I had just scrubbed the bathroom down this morning so I was not happy.  He drained the black water tank and everything is fine now.  We are thinking about watching the Robin Williams RV movie tonight just to check to see if we are in it.  We swear we must be.

If any of you have suggestions about things we definitely need to see while here, let us know.  At this point we are planning on seeing the WWI Museum, the Jazz Museum, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, the City Market and Michial (our son in law) recommended a barbeque/jazz place that we might see tomorrow night. 

Hopefully the car cranks in the morning after all this.  Talk to you soon.

Leaving Houston heading north

We left Kristin's and Chris' this morning and it just about broke my heart.  I think all parents have a time accepting the fact that their children are grown and independent.  We had so much fun with them.

Before I forget to mention this, Texas has the most amazing interstate system.  Atlanta has nothing on Texas as far as the spaghetti junctions go.  In fact, even in the areas where there is construction, the roads were pretty good.  Also, Kristin told us a bout "feeder roads" that local people use.  We call them frontage roads but ours are not like this.  These feeder roads run parallel to the interstate system and you can hop off and on to get around in traffic stops on the interstate.  These roads ran from Houston all the way to the Oklahoma border.  Quite amazing.

We stopped in a rest area around Richland, Texas and when Van went to crank the car as he always does periodically through each days travel, the car wouldn't crank.  He had put it in park to try to crank it from the neutral position and there she sat....nothing.  Because it wouldn't crank he could not put the car back in neutral, so we couldn't move the motorhome with the car attached like that.  Van assumed that the car battery was no good and called 3 different roadside assistance companies that we have coverage with, but none of them would bring a new battery.  They each offered to send someone in about an hour to try to jumpstart the car and if that wouldn't work they were going to tow the car to have it repaired.  He did not want that.  Finally he found someone in a truck that was about to leave and that person was kind enough to get us started.  We thought we might go ahead and replace the battery so we hunted for a Wally World.  Before we left the rest area Van had double checked the wires that go from the coach to the car, which is supposed to charge the car battery while
 you travel.  He reconnected one of the ends of the wire and secured it with electrical tape and off we went.  When we arrived at the Wally World, the car cranked again, so we took the gamble to not get a new battery and headed on up to our stop.  Once we arrived at our campsite, the car did indeed crank again.  Yea!!

At the rest area where we stopped, there must have been zillions of bumble bees.  You couldn't walk anywhere without them swarming around you and they landed on the windshields of the vehicles parked.  We could hardly see out of our windshield!

We stopped for the night near Ardmore, Oklahoma in a nice campground called Hidden Lake.  We are hot and tired from the problem solving today and are trying to finish laundry that we were too busy to finish at Kristin's.  Pretty said, huh?

Tomorrow is just a drive to the next point day.  We'll shoot for around 350 miles again and we are hoping the car cranks again in the morning.  Keep us in your prayers.

Kristin's Entry Table

Couldn't fit a 5th picture on previous blog.  This is her new table and accessories.  I think they are painting the walls a light taupe color soon and adding side chair.  I think she needs to get pictures in the picture frame! LOL

Visiting Houston

We arrived at Kristin and Chris' Friday night.  Because they installed 50 amp service for us we are able to park right in front of their house and haven't had to unhook the car.  It also has allowed Monet to have a place of her own to go to.  Kristin and Chris have 3 dogs of their own so you can just imagine the chaos that we've had.  Most of you know that Monet doesn't play well with others, but after a day or so of wearing her muzzle, she has decided that maybe, just maybe, she could like dogs.  She really has done a terrific job of adjusting to all of this.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Kemah Boardwalk about an hour away.  I've never been to Coney Island in New York but to me, this is what I'd imagine it would look like.  Had great appetizers and margaritas at the Cadillac Bar.

For Father's Day Van got to watch golf and eat steak and potatoes.  Boy was he a happy man!  Unfortunately, Van couldn't get an American to win the US Open. 

Chris was kind enough to take off work on Monday so we all headed to NASA and the Space Center. The initial computers were about the size of a bedroom and one app on a current iphone has more capability than the entirety of that original computer. It is hard to imagine that these astronauts entrusted their lives to such a seemingly inadequate system. 

Since Kristin had taken off work all week to be with us, she and I had set aside shopping time on Tuesday and Wednesday, and boy did we shop.  Since she and Chris had just moved into their new home (Van calls it a mansion) our goal was to decorate her entryway.  We succeeded!  Their style is modern traditional and what fun that was to shop for.  Most of you know that I absolutely love decorating and arranging houses.  Poor Chris!  He's been so good to tolerate all my ideas and suggestions.   Van had some great ideas for decorating also, so Kristin and I begged him to go all over Houston today with us to look. 

Begging turned to bribing, so we took him to the  Beer Can House and the Art Car Museum.  The Beer Can House was right in the middle of houses and it was the strangest thing we'd seen in a while.  But, was pretty cool at the same time.  Then we headed over to the Art Car Museum.  In Houston there is an Art Car parade every year and the Museum houses these cars.  They are working, drivable cars that are adorned with everything from skulls to pool balls, including various types of jewelry and animals.  The animals included, buffalo, alligator, foxes, fish and snakes.  Kristin then drove us through The Heights, which is a very, very popular and eclectic area.  Then we went through River Oaks, where George H.W. has (or had) a home, or should we say where all the mansions in Texas are!  Everything really is bigger in Texas.  Had to eat, of course.  Van had been talking about wanting to try boudin balls and Kristin knew the place.  We went to Ragin Cajun restaurant.  The food was great but Van decided that boudin balls or boudin links were not his thing.

We plan to go to the Miller Outdoor Theater Friday night to watch the Houston Symphony.  Can't wait.  We will have to head out early Saturday and I'm not certain I can leave my girl.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.  We send our love.

People need to move to Florida where it is cool.....

If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior you need to accept him now because Hades must be hotter than Louisiana. 

Today we traveled from the panhandle of Florida, to Alabama, to Mississippi and are in Louisiana.  Between Baton Rouge and Lafayette we passed over the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge which carries two spans of I10 over the Atchafalaya River and swamp, the largest swamp in the United States.  It is 18.2 miles long, measuring from shore to shore, which makes it the second largest bridge in the United States measuring from shore to shore. 

It is interesting to note that the longest bridge is the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway which measures 23.87 miles and is a popular draw for New Orleans' tourists.  Obviously, this is also in the State of Louisiana.  This all sounds glorious except that the highway from west end of the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge to Lafayette is like an ole timey washboard and whoever constructed it must have had way too much Cajun juice!

We stopped at Frog City RV Park in Duson, Louisiana, which is a Passport America campground and is very nice. It is right next to a Casino, which we might go to if it doesn't cool down around here:)  We had requested a pull through site so as to avoid unhooking the car since we are only staying the night.  Everything was fine and we even have cable so we can try out the new televisions installed by our friend Ron Rhodes.  The only problem is our water hoses would not reach to the spigot and Van went to the office to purchase an extra hose.  Unfortunately, the office does not have supplies, nor the adjoining truck stop.  However, the office manager was so nice that she loaned us one of her personal hoses from her RV. 

Did we mention that it is hot here!!  By the time Van had the coach set up and I walked Monet, we both looked like we had been swimming.  Did we mention it is hot here!!!

We have settled in, have watched the U.S. Open, until it was stopped for weather there.  We will have supper soon, hopefully cool off and get to Kristin's and Chris' house late tomorrow afternoon.  If it's going to stay this hot in Texas, we might have to call  Kristin and tell her will wave to her as we go by on the interstate.  LOL!

Talk to everyone soon. 

Another test

I'm trying another setup to see if this will go automatically to everyone. Thx

First Stop

Our first day was relatively uneventful having traveled approximately 360 miles from home to Holt, Florida.  I decided to start back driving the motorhome again but only drove it about 75 miles.  As many of you know, Monet sits on my lap most of the time while Van is driving.  So when I got behind the wheel, and while Van decided to go potty, Monet jumped onto my lap.  I, of course, panicked and moved Monet over to the side which made Monet panic.  Monet scrambled under the steering wheel, getting stuck, all the while I'm screaming for Van to come get Monet.  I had traffic all around me and trying to get the steering wheel to lift away from Monet's head.  I couldn't decide fast enough to either chance wrecking or strangling Monet under the steering all the while Van is in the potty being tossed left and right.  We stopped at River's Edge Campground in Holt, Florida which is approximately 40 miles east of Pensacola.  It's a Passport America campground only costing us $14.50.  What a deal!  Will talk to everyone soon. 

Back in the saddle again!

Heading Out

Well we are all packed and ready to go first thing in the morning. We ask that all our friends and family pray for us during our travels.  Our first (real) stop will be Houston, Texas to visit with Kristin and Chris.  We are so thankful that we are able to take this trip.  Will talk to all soon.