St. Charles, MO The Greatest Camping Trip Ever

Yesterday we began our Lewis and Clark Trip here in St. Charles, MO. This has been said to be The Greatest Camping Trip Ever! We had orientation in the afternoon with our 35 guests and Bill & Carol Hamilton, our friends since 1972, who are going to be our tailgunners. We have a total of 21 RVs and 39 people. We have 3 single women!

That evening we had a delicious dinner in the banquet room here at the campground and had two guest speakers in full costume. They were from the Discovery Expedition for the Bicentennial Reenactment of the Lewis & Clark Expedition from 2005 – 2006. It was hard for us to believe that a band of men in their 50s (the average age for the original expedition was 27) reenacted the entire L&C trip! It was exciting to hear their stories! Each person in the expedition portrayed someone from the original expedition. They stopped at schools all along the way to educate children about L&C.

Today a trolley came to our campground and took us to downtown St. Charles for their Heritage Days Celebration. We started with a tour of the first State Capitol of Missouri with a retired school teacher who took us back to the 1800s. At 11 the Parade started down Main Street with people dressed in period costumes.

We then toured the L&C Boat House and Nature Center where we saw replicas of their boats. We walked along the river to the encampment that had 100s of people in period costumes living in tents as they did in the 1800s.

From 5-16 St. Charles, MO

Florida to St. Louis, MO

We arrived back in Florida March 21 and visited with friends at our RV Park, Deercreek, until the 23 when we went back to Oliver’s house in North Port, FL, to pick up our RV which he repaired making it better than new! His house is near completion – YEAH!!! When you go to the photos from here, there are several photos of his house.

We were only at Olly’s house a few days then we returned to Deercreek so Bobby and I could work a little at Disney. Spring is a beautiful time to be in Florida, it’s warm during the day yet cool at night and everything is in bloom (but it always is!). Disney had its Flower Power Concert series that ties in with their Flower & Garden Show at Epcot. We just love these concert series because we can see groups from our generation for free! They have all developed a wonderful sense of humor about getting older! We were able to see Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Turtles, Herman’s Hermits and The Ventures.

The end of April Bobby bought a 2007 R1200RT Silver BMW. This has been his dream bike ever since it came out. It is more of a touring bike so it is extremely comfortable, has lots of carrying capacity and is 40 lbs. lighter than his other bike. Bobby’s brother Harry and his wife Theresa visited with us April 26 on their way to Alaska on their motorcycle. While they were there, we went to Bike Fest in Leesburg, FL. As with any bike event, you have more than your share of “interesting” people.

May 5 our “nephew”, Eric Moore graduated with an Engineering Degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona. The day before we took his parents and grandparents to Animal Kingdom for the day and feasted at Cape May buffet for dinner. Tuesday we got up early and drove to Daytona for his graduation, returned to Deercreek for the RV and headed west at 5 pm.

Wednesday evening we arrived at our friends Harry and Barbara Breece in Smyrna, TN. Friday and Saturday we took the motorcycle to Crossville to visit with Bob & LuAnn who went on the cruise with us. Sunday and Monday were spent with the Breece’s. Today we left at the ungodly hour of 5 am so we could miss Nashville’s rush hour. We drove all day and arrive in St. Louis at 4:45 pm.

From Olly's House

March 21, 2009 San Francisco & Assorted Photos

We went under the Golden Gate Bridge around 4 am this morning – we slept right through it. We had our last breakfast with friends and then had to go to the Spectacular Lounge and wait about 45 minutes for the ship to be cleared and the buses to arrive. We can’t believe 50 days have come and gone! It was a fabulous trip!

We didn’t find out what airline we were flying home until a week or so before the cruise was over. We were THRILLED when they told us South West because we were each allowed to 50 lb suitcases and a carry on. Lots of our friends had to pay for their luggage. I was prepared either way – I brought two good suitcases and two disposable ones and I told Bobby most of his clothes might be disposable too (was going to give them to someone working on the ship). He was very happy we didn’t have to do that!

By the time our bus left the ship terminal we had our doubts about making our noon flight out of San Jose! When we arrived at the airport, there was a very long line to check in but a kind lady at the front of the line let us in front of her (there are so many good people in this world!!!). After we checked in and were ready to RUN for the plane, he said, “Oh, your plane is running 20 minutes late!” Thank Goodness!!!

It was a beautiful flight over the mountains to Las Vegas where we had to change planes. I was lucky enough to get a window seat – we flew over the Grand Canyon and the Hover Dam; you just can’t believe how incredibly beautiful it was. I was so upset I didn’t have my camera!

From San Franciso & Assorted Photos