Monday (7/27)  Spent the day at the air show with Monica and Paul.   There are many booths and activities to see at the air show.  We spent some time looking at the Warbirds and the Vintage planes.

The air show was to start around 3:30 pm but it rained so hard they had to cancel it.   There was to be a concert with the Doobie Brothers at 6 pm but we did not feel like sitting in the rain for an hour and a half waiting so we headed out and had dinner in a Bavarian restaurant.

We went swimming at the hotel that Monica and Paul are staying at.  It was a very nice evening with great friends.  

Sunday (7/25) More time spend just relaxing.  After months of days that were long and full of new experiences, it feels very good to just relax.  

Later in the day, we met up with Monica and Paul, friends of our from Albany, NY.   They were out here on vacation and we met them for dinner.  

Saturday (7/25)   We had a very relaxing day again.   We volunteered to help set up chairs in one of the pavilions.   The air show does not start until Monday, so there is not a whole lot going on other than setting up for the various booths. 

We are just chilling and getting the layout for the event under our belt so that we can find our way around.  Including the campground, the event covers an area that is about 2 miles long and about a mile wide.  

Friday (7/24)  We were awoke early as Cece, Bunny (Sue's brother), Rick, Mary and Austin (friends) arrived at about 7 am.   They proceeded to get set up and went for breakfast as they had been awake and on the road from 8 am Thursday morning.

We spent the day just hanging around and relaxing.  It was the first full day that we just did nothing but relaxed - boy did that feel good.   The three of us girls did go out and hit the Goodwill Store and Hobby Lobby - we got some good buy.  I did get some southwestern fabric to make curtains in our motor home.

Thursday (7/23)  We left Governor Dodge State Park this morning for Oshkosh, WI.   Along the way we stopped at the Circus World Museum and Circus.  This museum has a large display of the highly carved and colorful circus wagon that used to be drawn through towns when the circus arrived.   They have all been restored and are beautiful.   They also had a demonstration on how to train a tiger.   It was very interesting to learn that they have to train them in 15 minutes segments each hour as that is as long as their attention span is.   The trainer said he looks for the tiger cub that is getting into everything - that is the one that will train the best.   It take two years to train a tiger for a show.  They had a small circus and the performers were excellent.   They displayed amazing strength and talent.  

From there we drove on to Oshkosh to get set up for the air show.   We were quite surprised to see at least four to five times the campers already here over last year.  The actual air show does not start until Monday but this place is getting busier and busier by the hour.  There is a motor home from the 1950's and it has been completely restored.  It is absolutely beautiful (see picture.)

Wednesday (7/22)   Today we had no special plans.   We headed out and decided to go to Cave of the Mounds.  This cave was discovered in 1939 when workers were blasting limestone in a quarry. The cave has a constant temperature of 50 degrees.   It is rich with stalagmites and stalactites. The attached pictures is a great example of a stalactites that is thousands of years old.

Next we decided to ride to New Glarus which is known as "Little Switzerland."  It was established as a Swiss Colony in 1845 and retained its Swiss charm in everything from the Alpine-style buildings with their colorful flower-filled window boxes down to its gourmet food. Even the cows dress in Swiss clothing (see picture.) We had lunch at the Glarner Stube which is known for its roesti - a potato and cheese combination that looks like a large pancake.  The food was good and the atmosphere was great.  

While there we saw an ad for the Green County Fair about 20 miles from New Glarus.  We decided to go since we will be missing all of the fairs at home.  The fair was smaller than we are used to but it was fun.  They really know how to grow corn out here (see picture.)  They appear to have very active 4-H clubs and FFA (Future Farmers of America) clubs.  It was nice to see you many young people involved with the animals at the fair. Sue even got to pet some bunnies and visit with other bunny owners.  In the evening they had a rodeo.   The grounds conditions were very muddy and it made catching the animals or staying on the animals very difficult.  Very few contestants even completed their events due to the mud.

Tuesday (7/21)   Today is our 19th Anniversary and we just wanted to share this over-the-top anniversary day. (Actually, we had other things planned but it was raining all day so this was Plan B.)

We headed out for Madison, which is the capitol of WI.  Along the way we stopped in Mt. Horeb to see the Mustard Museum.  In this very yellow museum they have mustard pots, tins, advertisements, a record with the title "Too Much Mustard" and 5,058 different kinds of mustard on display.  The museum was started by Barry Levenson, who went to the grocery store after his beloved Boston Red Socks had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the 1986 World Series.  Crushed by the loss, Barry sought solace in the condiment aisle at the grocery store.  He heard a voice as he stood before the mustard say "If you collect us, they will come."  Well, he did , and they have!   The museum is just a hoot with quirky signs and t-shirts.  There have to be at least 500 kinds of mustard you can buy.

Well, after that exciting museum, what could we do to top it.  On to Madison and as we got closer and closer to the center of the city, there it was, the State Capitol!!   Be still my heart - another state capitol!!!  This is the third capitol building and was started in 1906 and completed in 1917 at a cost of $7.25 million. It was designed by the New York Architect George B. Post.   There are 43 kinds of stone from six countries and eight states. The stone in the building is really beautiful, so many colors and textures.   When you look up the 200 ft to the top of the dome, you see the largest dome by volume in the world.  The "Wisconsin" statue on the exterior top of the dome was done by Daniel Chester French of New York.  A 14-year renovation of the building was completed in 2002 so every detail in the building is just perfect.

But all joking aside, this has been the most wonderful 19-years of of lives.  We love retirement and we are having more fun than ever.    We both feel lucky to be together, to be healthy and and to be enjoying every minutes of our lives.  

I almost forgot, we are going to see the new Harry Potter movie tonight - the excitement never ends!!!!

Monday (7/20) 

Oops!  pictures got posted twice - too hard to remove - sorry.

We went back to the House on the Rock to finish our tour.   There are three separate tours - the house and two museums.  Today we did the house and the second museum.   Alex Jordan, the architect and owner, got his money to expand House on the Rock by charging admissions.   His first admission was charged in 1960 and generated so much money that the was able to amass an unbelievable collections of "things."   Mr. Jordan died in 1989 and had turned the management of the home over to friends of his in 1988.

The House on the Rock begins with the Gatehouse which was opened in 1961.  The Gate House was where you first entered to get to the main house.  Unlike a normal gatehouse, at the edge of the property, this gatehouse is well within the property and very near the main house.  It is built into the rock and has about 1500 sq. ft. of living space.  From there you progress to the main house which sits high on top of the 60 foot chimney of rock called Deer Shelter Rock.  It was built in the early 40's and it was his father who suggested that the house needed to pay for itself and he should charge admissions to see it.  The furnishing in the House include oriental art, stained glass, bronze statuary, numerous Bauer and Cobel lamps and a three story bookcase filled with rare books.  The last room built on the house is called the Infinity Room and it was opened to the public in 1985.  The room projects out over the Wyoming Valley 218 feet and contains 3,264 windows and is 156 feet above the ground (see picture.)  Impressive to look at from the outside but not too functional from the inside - but the rest of the house isn't very functional either.  It is, however, extremely interesting as it incorporates the rock and trees throughout the house.

Next was the second museum on the House on the Rock property.  This museum is made up of several distinct areas. The areas include the Organ Room, the Doll House Building, the Circus Building, a series of galleries with the following collections:  Weapons, Oriental, Armor and the Crown Jewels Collection.  There is a Doll Carousel Room with two carousels displaying over 500 bisque dolls.  One could spend many hours just trying to absorb all that is contained in these areas.  Even the bathrooms in one area did not escape use as a place to display items (see picture.)

In the afternoon, we headed to the Frank Lloyd Wright Complex.  The complex is made up of four areas containing structures designed by Mr. Wright.  They are the Visitor Center, Taliesin (his home), Midway (a series of barns) and Hillside (a boarding school and then it became a studio for Mr. Wright.)  Hillside was built in 1902 for two of Mr. Wright's aunts who wanted to run a boarding school.  In 1917, they retired and Mr. Wright took the property over building a large studio on it.   That studio today is the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.   It admits about 25 to 30 students each year - very exclusive!!!

Taliesin is really the third home Mr. Wright had on the property.   The first two homes on this spot burned to the ground - one in 1914 by arson and the second in 1925 by lightening.   The entire property called Taliesin has 37,000 sq. ft. of space but a major portion of that is a studio and out buildings.  The actual house is approx. 3,000 sq. ft.  It has a wonderful formal living room that has unbelievable views of the Wyoming Valley.  Unlike some of the homes designed by Mr. Wright that we have seen, we felt this was a very warm and inviting home.  In typical fashion, they are problems with leaking roofs and shifting foundations.   Mr. Wright's structures are known for leaking roofs and his own home was no exception.  One item of note is the use of plywood throughout the house.  Mr. Wright felt that everything was temporary and would be changed at a later date so there was no need to use expensive building materials.  The setting for this home is on the side of a hill which was incorporated into the placement of the structures.  Mr. Wright's style of architecture was to incorporate nature into his structures and use local materials.  This has become known as organic architecture.

Sunday (7/19)  We left Amana Colonies this morning for Wisconsin.  We are staying in the Governor Dodge State Campground for the next four nights.  It is a very nice campground that actually has trees and shade and fire pits - we feel like we are really camping.

In the afternoon we went to The House on the Rock.  This house was the vision of Alex Jordan who built it as his home.  He was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright but they parted ways.  This house is Mr. Jordan's crowning jewel just like Falling Waters is Mr. Wright's.  We have not toured the house yet, we will do that and the second museum on the property tomorrow.   Today we did the first of the two museum.

This museum houses Mr. Jordan's collections of things.  Some of the items are a huge fireplace, music boxes, doll collections, victorian Main Street recreated, a car with a heart-shaped tub in it (see picture), 200 model ships, a boat swallowing 200-foot sea creature (see picture) to the world's largest indoor Carousel (see picture.)  

The Carousel has 20,000 lights and 269 handcrafted animals and not one of them a horse.  The Carousel and the related items are valued at $4.8 million.  It is hard to think that this is just one man's collection and this item alone is worth that much.  

Saturday (7/18)   Well today is day one of week 14.   We cannot believe how fast this trip is going. We spent the day in Amana, IA.  The members of the Amana Colonies came from Germany in 1843-44 to get away from religious persecution and economic depression. They lived in New York State prior to establishing the seven villages of the Amana Colonies. They lived a communal life where everyone worked for the good of all the members of the community from 1855 to 1932.  The seven villages have been declared a National Historic Landmark.  The  buildings and the landscape are very quaint and there are many flowers around the home but these wonderful buildings are filled with your typical tourist gift stores. There is a very small museum but beyond that it is all about shopping.

This evening we went to a performance at the Old Creamery Theater in Amana.   Today, in the seven villages, events and a certain percentage of all sales in stores is being donated to cancer research.  The performance tonight was by the McPunk Bros. and Gregg Brown.   The McPunk Bros. played bluegrass and were very enjoyable.  Gregg Brown was the headliner and has written songs that have been preformed by Willie Nelson, Michael Jackson, Carlos Santana and Mary Chapin Carpenter. 

Friday (7/17)   We left the International T@B Rally this morning for Iowa.  It is always so sad when the T@Bbers have to leave and go their separate ways.  It was a great rally!!!

We stopped in West Branch where the boyhood home of Herbert Hoover is located.  It is a very small town and the only real point of interest is the Federal Park which is comprised of his boyhood home, a few buildings that were there when he lived there and his Presidential Library. The two-room home is a very, very small.   This parents both died when he was young and he had to live with various relatives. He was separated from his younger sister and older brother at a young age.  

We then continued on to the Amana Colonies in Iowa for a couple of days.  We had dinner in Amana at the Ox Yoke Inn which was homestyle and was excellent.   After dinner, we went to a play in the Inn called The Queen of Bingo.  It takes place in a Catholic Church basement and is extremely funny as the two women who are the main characters set up to play bingo - it looks like they are moving in!!!!!   Part of the play includes the audience playing a game of bingo - need I say we did not win.

Thursday (7/16)  We have had a very full day here at the T@B rally.  There were a number of seminars and a great deal of information being exchanged.   Of issue with a lot of the owners is greasing their "zerk" valves on their brakes.   Sue spent a fair amount of time greasing six T@Bs for their owners.  She did it until, she ran out of grease in her grease gun.

We had the closing event for the rally at which many prizes were given away.  Sue got a bird house that looks exactly like our T@B - very cute!  Rich won a dozen cinnamon rolls.   It looks like Sue got the better end of that deal.  

We leave for Wisconsin in the morning.  It will be very sad to leave all our old and new T@B friends.   This has just been great fun - so many laughs and so many great memories.   

Tuesday and Wednesday (7/14 & 7/15)  We are still at the rally.   I know that I always say that T@B people are great, but being around so many of them the last few days, is just a wonderful reminder of that.   The resident "gurus" are such a great group of guys (Jeremy, Dale, Bob, Jim, etc.) and an invaluable resource.  It is so much fun see all the different solutions for the same idea.  Diversity is a wonderful thing.  

Today, I conducted a seminar on all the modifications that I have done to our T@B.  It was well attended and there was a great deal of discussion.  It was fun as I have not done anything like that since I retired.  

The variety of T@Bs and screen rooms is unbelievable.  Again, diversity is great.  I have attached a couple of pictures of some of the T@BS.  Ours is the one with the blue screen room and a bit of orange showing.  Don't you just love the lime green and turquoise T@B!!!

Sunday and Monday (7/12 & 7/13)   We arrived at the T@B rally in Hillsdale, IL.   There are about 50 T@B trailers in attendance.   We are having a great time meeting up with old friends and making new friends.  All of the last two days have been spent socializing with everyone.  It is great fun to see all the modifications that people have done to their T@Bs.  Tomorrow seminars begin on everything relating to a T@B.   Can't wait to attend!!!!

Saturday (7/11)  We got up and headed to downtown Hannibal.  Our first stop was the Mark Twain Interpretive Center.   The Mark Twain Complex includes a reproduction of Tom Sawer's home, Mark Twain's boyhood home (see picture), the office where his father practiced law, the drug store of the local doctor, Becky Thatcher's home (currently closed for renovations) and the Mark Twain Museum.  All of the buildings focused on Mark Twain's writings as they have very few artifacts. 

We took a wagon ride through the streets of Hannibal.  The ride was okay be not very informative.  We stopped in a very cute ice cream parlor for ice cream.   It has a 1950's Crosley car out front for advertisement (see picture.)   It was quaint and the ice cream was great.

From there we went to Terrible's Mark Twain Casino in Taylor, IL.  We only stayed a little while but that was long enough to loose.

Right now we are in the local Java shop using the free wifi as the signal at the campground is not good.  It has been a very relaxing day.

Friday (7/10)  We arrived in Hannibal, MO.  We are here to spend a couple of days seeing sites related to Samuel Clemens better known as Mark Twain.

We drove west from Sringfield, IL and stopped in a small town that was having a festival in the town square.   The event was Pig Days.   Rich waited on line quite a while for a butterflied pork chop which he said was very good.  

We checked into the campground at a reasonable hour and got set up.  Then back into Hannibal to get some dinner.   Hannibal has a prospect league baseball team called the Cavemen who were playing that evening.  We went to the game and had dinner in the park.  It was a great evening for the game.  The couple next to us starting talking to us and we spent the entire game chatting.   They lived in Quincy, IL and are corn and soybean farmers.  What an added bonus to the game to visit with such nice people.

Thursday (7/9)  This is our last day in Springfield, IL.   We spent the morning at the State Capitol. It was begun in 1868 and finished in 1877 at a cost of $4.5 million and we can see why.  It is perhaps the most ornate of all the capitols we have been in.  It has a painting of the indians and the early settlers painted right on a wall that is 20 ft wide by 50 ft high and is in excellent condition (see picture.)  There are many bronze statues and frescos of famous people and events in Illinois history.  The exterior has the look of a church rather than a government building and is in the shape of a Greek cross.  The inside is beautiful but the outside is in need of a good cleaning.

Our next stop was Lincoln's New Salem Historic Site in New Salem, IL.   This small town was started in 1828 and was deserted by 1840.  It is significant because Lincoln arrived there in 1831 and stayed six years. During that time he broke into politics and was elected to the Illinois legislature.   Lincoln had actually been a partner in a general store in the town (see picture.) Although the actual town is gone, they have one original building and have reconstructed the remaining buildings.   This is the town where Lincoln met Ann Rutledge who is suppose to be his first love.  She was engaged to someone else and Lincoln pined for her for a few years until her engagement was dissolved.  Before Lincoln really had a chance to develop a relationship with her she got sick and died.  They say he went into a deep depression after her death.

We had dinner in Petersburg near New Salem at a restaurant that was nothing more from the outside but a cinder block wall with a door in it - not much to look at.  If it has not been recommended to us, we never would have gone in.   Inside it was a very busy Italian restaurant and we had a great meal at a reasonable price.

We went back to New Salem in the evening for music and a play.   There was a pre-play music concert and then a play in the amphitheater.  The play was Forever This Land about how the town of New Salem was started and how one man, John Rutledge, struggled to keep it alive.  It also focused on Lincoln's role in the town.  It was amateur theater and there were about 30 actors who did a very nice job in putting this play on.   We really enjoyed it.

Wednesday (7/8)   We ate breakfast out today at a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurant called Charlie Parkers that is  know for it's 16 inch pancake.  What a hoot - it is served on a pizza pan and only cost $3.95.  If you can eat four of them, they are free.   Rich and I shared one and left about 40% of it.  

We then headed to see the Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site (see picture.)   This 12,000 sq. ft. Prairie-style home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright  in 1902.  The radical designed of the home, located in the middle of Victorian and Italianate homes, must have caused quite a stir among the neighbors.  It was built for Susan Dana who used it for extensive entertaining from 1904 until 1928.  It was sold at auction in 1943 and used as offices by the Thomas Publishing Firm from 1944 until 1980.   Then the state acquired it and did a complete restoration.   This was not too difficult of a project, since the publishing firm respected the integrity of the building and did little to damage it architectural features.  The house rambles on and on and has beautiful architectural features but does not have the feel of a home at all (at least in our opinion.)

Our next stop was the Lincoln Museum and Presidential Library.   The museum is fairly new and has many innovative displays that show the life of Lincoln from his childhood until his death.  They have a small collection of items actually owned by Lincoln as well as many paper items signed or written by Lincoln.  Also, there is a replica of Lincoln's casket as it was laid out in the Capitol Building - kind of erie but also neat.

A few blocks away, is the law office of Lincoln and Heardon.   The actual section of the building that the office was in is gone but there is a display showing what the office looked like and it is on the appropriate floor in the remaining section of the building. Lincoln was not a neat man and it is said that his office was a mess.  It had piles of paper everywhere and it is said to have had a pile of paper on a desk with a note on it that said "if you can't find it anywhere else, look here."  

Our last stop of the days was back to the old Capitol Building.   We took a tour of the building and saw the desk where Lincoln sat in the Representatives Chamber.  A stovepipe hat sits on the desk (see picture.)  He gave his House Divided Speech in that room and that is also the actual room in which his casket was displayed.  This is a building in which Lincoln spent much time in many different roles in his life.  

Tuesday (7/7)  We had a lazy morning and did not get out until afternoon.   We headed right to the Lincoln Home National Historical Site.   This is the site of the only home that the Lincoln's ever owned (see picture.)  The home has a number of items that belonged to the Lincoln's.   When they went to Washington they sold much of their furnishings and the rest they stored with a neighbor.  They never came back for it and over the years the people who ended up with it, have given it back to the home.  They know what the house looked like because drawings were made of it for one of the publications of the day to dispel the notion that Lincoln was back woods and lived in a log cabin his whole life.   This home reflected the finer things of his day. 

This National Historical Site is comprised of a four-block square.  They have restored or rebuilt the appropriate homes that would have been there in Lincoln's day.  If the park service cannot find enough documentation about a home, they have left the lot vacant.  This four-block area has a very pleasant feel about it.

The fifth State Capitol is still standing in Springfield.  It was used from 1839 to 1876.  Lincoln's body lay in state there and was the stage for Lincoln's House Divided Speech in 1858.  Lincoln served in the State Legislature from 1834 to 1842, part of that time in this building.

We ate supper at a place called Sammy's.   They only reason we did this is because Sue over heard a woman say her son had never had a "horseshoe" and where could they get a good one - the response was Sammy's.   A "horseshoe" is an open face sandwich with texas toast, meat of your choice smothered in french fries buried in melted cheese sauce.  It is more calories and fat than any one person should have in a day BUT boy is it good.  Thanks heavens we shared it.

We were lucky that it was Tuesday because this is the only evening of the week that they do a flag ceremony at Lincoln's Tomb.  The 114th Regiment re-enactor's do the ceremony and award to some lucky family the flag that has flown at Lincoln's Tomb for the week.  They then open up Lincoln's Tomb so that people can go in in the evening.   There is something about looking at the tomb of such a great man that gives you goose bumps (see picture.)  Somehow, you feel honored.

Monday (7/6)   Well, today is going to be a shocker.  We went to Van City RV in St. Louis and purchased a very small motor home.  It is a Class B  2006 Roadtrek RS Adventurous.   It has 22,000 miles on it and looks brand new inside and out.   It will sleep two and at 22 ft long will be easy to park.  It looks like the new UPS trucks except that it is longer.  We think that on long trips like this one, life would be easier in it.   We will not be picking it up until sometime in Sept.

For all our T@B friends, the T@Brific is going nowhere - we will keep her and use her mostly in the summer to go to rallies and camp with our other T@B friends including Sandy and John Lubowitz, our T@B neighbors.  Sue is not prepared to let her "doll house" go.

On to our next city - Springfield, IL.  We arrived late in the afternoon and went to a Springfield Sliders baseball game.   This is a prospect league and the players have to have one year of college baseball under their belt to play in it.  The manager is Jack Clark, a former major league player.  These types of ball parks are fun to go to because they are so family oriented and there are many activities that are cute for the kids.    

Sunday (7/5)  We had a very relaxing morning.  How nice to sleep in a real bed.  With such a great rest we were really up for a bike ride.  Nearby, was a section of the Katy Trail and we rode for nine miles ending at a busy biker bar for an outdoor lunch.  

Across the street was another bar.  This bar had fastened to the ceiling in glass cases mounted squirrels in various poses.  One squirrel was golfing, another was dancing with Marilyn Monroe in her white dress, and another group was a band.  It was very fun to see and we have no pictures as we forgot our camera - Sorry!!!

We then went along the same area by car and visited a winery.   To say the setting was perfect does not do it justice.  Just think of an outside deck with an unbelievable view, music, laughter, wine and food and you are close. There are many wineries in this area and most seem to have live music.

Back at Faye and Don's home we grilled salmon for supper and sat out on the deck.   What a nice change from the T@B and so nice to be with family.

Saturday (7/4)  We got up and left the campground because we went to stay a couple of days with Rich's cousin.  Faye and Don wanted to show us some more of St. Louis.

We went to St. Charles, a quaint historic little town with many very old and well kept buildings. This was the first Capitol of Missouri. It is a great place to walk around, look at buildings  and go into nice gift shops.  

Right down by the water is the Lewis and Clark Museum.   This where the full continent of the Lewis and Clark Expedition started their journey. In the museum are three replica boats of the ones used by Lewis and Clark.  Since 2004 was the centennial anniversary of the journey, a group of 320 re-enactors duplicated the trip.   There were so many re-enactors because people have to work and they could not take off two years to do the trip start to finish, so many people did little segments of the trip.  We spoke to a man who did 95% of the trip and he told about the trip with great enthusiam.  It is so fun to see someone who had done "the trip of a lifetime" and just can't contain his excitement.  The museum is very small and does not have a lot of artifacts but it does have the re-enactors which was even better.

From there we went right next door to the Ameristar Casino.   As usual, Rich won a little and Sue lost.  In fact, the combined amount that Sue, Faye and Don lost equaled what Rich won.  He was having none of giving our money back even though we tried.

We went back to Faye and Don's house to relax a little before driving to a great vantage point to see fireworks.  It was such a pleasant day.

Friday (7/3)  This was a day that Sue has wanted for a long time - a down day - no sight seeing. We were to dedicate the day to looking for a conversion van for taking very long trips in.  We had found that this area had a couple of dealers who specialize in what are called Class B Motor homes.  Don't let the word motor home fool you - it is really just a long van - not wide and not big.  We found a couple we liked.

Well, that took until about 3 pm, so we then went sightseeing!!!   We went to the City Museum in St. Louis - the quirkiest museum we have ever seen.  What a ball we had being kids again.   This museum is loaded with thing to climb on, over, through, around and under - what a blast. There are many things in this museum that are outside and on the roof.  Everyone would love this museum - even Bruce!!!  It is very hard to describe what this museum is about, so, the best that I can do is give you the email address and urge you to get on and look at it for yourself.   www.citymuseum.org  If you ever are in St. Louis, put on your knee pads and go to this museum.

Thursday (7/2)  Today, we took our time getting out - we did laundry.  We did not have any special plans for today as we visited Rich's cousin and her husband in Wildwood, MO.  This cousin is the daughter of Rich's father's brother.   They have known each other for 40 years.  We had a pleasant day and a wonderful home-cooked meal.

Wednesday (7/1)   Well, today we did something that we have not done yet on this trip - we did NOT take a single picture.  To date, we have taken about 7,000 pictures.   We spent the morning organizing the car and the T@B.   If we don't keep things organized, we will go crazy with so much stuff in such a small space.

In the afternoon, went to visit Rich's cousin Faye and her husband Don.   We have not seen her since September of 2007 and we have not seen Don since the day we got married (19 years ago this month.)  We spent a good deal of time getting caught up on family and talking about the things we have done on the trip.   Tomorrow, they are going to give us the "nickel tour" of the city.

Tuesday (6/30)  We packed up to leave Kansas City, MO, for St. Louis, MO.   Along the way, we stopped in Jefferson City to see the State Capitol.  That now makes eight capitol buildings on this trip.  Just a note of interest, the real name of the city is the City of Jefferson, not Jefferson City.  The Capitol Building is really quite beautiful.  It has many arches and all of the stucco relief is painted in vibrant colors. After the was built, there was a million dollars left over so the money was used to have several wall paintings done during the 1930s.  These paintings are very illustrative of the work and lives of the people of MO.  One room in particular has a wrap-around mural that depicts the history of the state from the early 1800s to the 1930s.   It is a very real depiction of what was going on in life and as a result of its accuracy, many of the politicians did not like it and butted their cigarettes on the wall in protest.   When it became apparent that the mural was not going to be removed, they stopped and the mural was restored.

We continued on to St. Louis arriving late afternoon.  This gave us time to set up and head out for a St. Louis Cardinals game.   The park is relatively new with an unobstructed view of the field from anywhere in the stadium.  It fits very nicely in the downtown area.   We especially enjoyed seeing how loyal the fans are - the stadium was a sea of red cardinals shirts - on everyone from one to 90 years of age.  When you sit in the stands and look to the outfield, the backdrop is the St. Louis Arch.   A really pleasant way to spend an evening.