Day 22-July 30, 2008,

Crossing into Canada from Montana

July 30, 2008


Barns, barns and more barns!!!

























Looks comfy, huh?










Chuck checking out the back of his eyelids







Beautiful fields in Canada


We left the Lewis and Clark campground in Shelby, Montana this morning. We didn't have any trouble crossing the border. They just looked at our passports, asked a few questions and let us go on our merry way. When we first crossed into Canada at the Sweetgrass, Montana border crossing, it looked exactly like Montana. The further we drove, the greener it got. I loved it because there are a lot of barns and I LOVE barns. I took as many pictures of them as I could. A lot of them were too far from the road to be able to get a good picture of them. And, it's hard to get good pictures going FAST down the road. I don't understand why men don't think it's important to slow WAY down when their wives want to take pictures of barns!!!! :>)
I also sneaked a picture of Carolee and Chuck checking out the backside of their eyelids. I guess you can only look at so many big fields without getting sleepy!! I was sitting upfront with Merrell trying to be his navigator, but I'm not the best choice in the world for that position. I have absolutely NO sense of direction. I am learning how to read a map though. Slowly, but surely.
We went through Calgary, which is a large city and drove almost to Banff, which is supposed to be a really nice town with beautiful views. We stopped beside the road at a river and decided to camp here for the night. The wind blew really hard most of the day, even though it was sunny and beautiful. It was only in the 60's today, which was quite a difference from Wyoming and Montana. The wind is still blowing and it occasionally gusts and rocks the motor home a bit. I'm lying on the bed looking out the window at the river. What a life, huh???
Tomorrow we are heading on towards Alaska, but will stop if we see something we want to explore.
Catch ya later

Day 21-July 29, 2008

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Glacier National Park Montana awesome waterfall











Another waterfall











What a view of the snowcapped mountains above one of the many lakes in the park







Another view of the mountains and lake






Same mountain, different view








Snow on the mountain in July

Another view of the mountains










View of one of the many lakes in the mountains of Glacier Park





Driving down the road in the park









Chuck, Carolee and Donna when we stopped at one of the overlooks close to the top of the mountain range






Donna at one of the waterfalls









Carolee and Chuck at the same waterfall







Carolee and Chuck at one of the lakes near the bottom of the mountain range


Glacier National Park, Montana

I'm almost at a loss for words if you can believe it. Glacier National Park was undoubtedly the prettiest place I have ever seen. I hope you can at least get some idea of it's beauty from looking at the pictures I'm posting. Pictures just can't do some places justice and I think this is one of them. I took a lot of pictures and Carolee took more than I did. I was also filming with the camcorder. There were times I had the regular camera in one hand and the camcorder in the other trying to take pictures and film stuff at the same time. It was a hoot!!! I haven't looked at the camcorder stuff yet. Maybe tomorrow. I just got the pictures from yesterday and today loaded on the computer a few minutes ago. I'll be lucky to get the ones from Glacier uploaded tonight.
On the way from the campground in Shelby to Glacier, we passed through an indian reservation. It wasn't anything like I expected. I'm not sure exactly what I expected to see. Probably lots of teepees and horses. NOT!!!! Basically, it was hundreds of acres of fields. We saw one field of buffalo and a few fields with cattle, but mostly just huge fields. An occasional house and lots of trailers. There didn't seem to be a lot of farming or anything going on. Maybe we just weren't in the right place, but I sure did want to see the teepees. I did get to see some, but not on the Indian reservation. At some of the campgrounds, you can rent a teepee instead of a cabin!!! Wouldn't that be cool?? Of course, I'm sure the indians didn't have bright yellow teepees with bright blue trim!! Teeheehee
Anyway, the drive to the park was really nice, but when we actually entered the Park and started up the scenic route, we were just in awe. I think Merrell said it best. Something about being in God's back yard...................................
We drove the full circle around the park. I think we drove about 250 miles, but it was worth every bit of time we spent driving. They were doing some construction on top of the mountain. Building rock retaining walls (or replacing old ones?). We were sooooooooooooo high. I don't know if you all know it, but I have a horrible fear of heights. On the parts of the mountain that the retaining wall was on my side, I just held the camcorder out the window and aimed at "something" and kept my head turned away. Teeheehee I will be anxious to see what the film shows!!!!
At one of the places we stopped, we saw mountain goats. I got them on film and Carolee took pictures. Maybe she will post them later. The darn things just stood there and didn't CHARGE us or anything.............................................
It's hard to imagine snow that you can reach out and touch beside the road at the end of July and you're standing there in short sleeves and not a bit cold.
The waterfalls were breathtaking. The mountain was full of waterfalls. So many of them were so far away that I couldn't zoom the camera in enough to get a clear picture. The camcorder would zoom in more so I hope I got them on film. There were a few right beside the road and we got some good pictures of them.
There are lots of lakes there too. Beautiful blue water and the sky was so blue, especially on top of the mountain. I wish I was a poet. I would write a sonnet or something equally wonderful. But, since I'm not you will just have imagine how good it would be!! LOL
Merrell especially liked the one stream that he said was a "trout" stream. We stopped and he walked down to the water. He said it was COLD water. I'm sure it was from all of the snow on top of the mountain melting and running down into the stream.
It was such an amazing day that I can't begin to cover it all. Just look at the pictures and remember that it was twice as beautiful as the pictures show.
We were all tired when we got back to the campground, but it was so worth the time we took to go.
I hope you enjoy the pictures half as much as we enjoyed being there to take them.

Day 17, 18, 19 and 20-July 25, 26, 27 and 28, 2008

Friday, July 25, 2008
We left Whistler's Gulch campground in Cody, Wyoming today. We're heading towards Glacier Park in Montana and from there to Canada. We were going to go all of the way to the Shelby, Montana area, but we looked in some of our literature and we all decided we wanted to see Virginia City, Montana and and Nevada City. They are both old gold rush towns which were established in the 1800's. We stopped at Three Forks and spent the night in a Campground, can't remember the name???

Saturday, July 26, 2008

We drove to Virginia City, Montana from the campground. We took so many pictures it was hard to decide which ones to post. I just closed my eyes and picked the ones I thought were best. Teeheehee


View of the Mountains surrounding Virginia City, Montana








View of Virginia City from Boot Hill










Old original building in Virginia City, Montana










Merrell, Donna, Carolee & Chuck at tour bus in Virginia City, Montana










Old Log Cellar building in Virginia City, Montana








When we arrived in Virginia City, the first thing we did was take a tour on an old fire engine. Well, actually, that is the second thing we did. The first was locate a BATHROOM!!! :>)
The tour took us through oldest parts of the town and to Boot Hill, which is the cemetery where they buried "road agents". In other words, robbers and thieves. Virginia City is one of the few historical towns which are owned by a state. The town (or a major part of it) was originally purchased and restoration started by a private family. When they died, their heirs could not keep it, so the State of Montana now owns it. You can tell by the pictures that it's a very old town
and the buildings have been kept pretty authentic. They actually have not been restored. Just maintained. The only thing that takes away from it is all of the cars parked on the street. I personally think it takes away from the authenticity to see cars parked in front of the old buildings.

Boot Hill Cemetery headstones of "Road Agents" in Virginia City, Montana








Neat Old Wagon in Virginia City, MT









House with sod roof in Virginia City, Montana







We spent most of our time in Virginia City. We drove on to Nevada City, which is only a couple of miles up the road. It is much smaller than Virginia City, so we just took a few pictures and left.




Donkey and miner in Nevada City, Montana






We took another route back to the campground and saw some more beautiful countryside.
We saw the most amazing river. It was wide and shallow (at least it looked shallow because it was full of people just floating down the river on tubes and rafts) and such a beautiful shade of blue. It matched the beautiful blue Montana sky.


Mountains and river going from Virginia City Montana to Bozeman, Montana






Sunday, July 27, 2008

We left Three Forks campground heading to Shelby, Montana. We're staying at the Lewis and Clark campground. Once again we took lots of pictures and it will be hard to pick which ones to post. Talk about wide open spaces!!! I can't even imagine how the pioneers felt. We drove for miles and miles seeing nothing but wheat fields. Occasionally we would see mountain ranges in the far distance. Then suddenly, we would be back in the mountains for a few miles and then just as suddenly, it would be flat land again. We saw a lot of trains and train tracks in the one area we drove through. Lots of bales of hay and straw and lots of grain elevators. We would drive for miles in between houses. seeing more fields and an occasional herd of cattle. We're only about 30 miles from the Canadian border and about 58 miles from Glacier National Park.

Monday, July 28, 2008
We decided to hang around the campground today and catch up on some chores. Carolee and Chuck did laundry again and I cleaned "house". She has also been working on new curtains for the motorhome. She finished the bedroom ones today. We have material for new ones in the kitchen and living room. It looks so much nicer having some "color". The bedroom curtains are two toned. The valance is red checks and the curtains are multicolored, red, blue and green are the main colors. I LOVE them.
Merrell changed oil in the generator and did a few things that he thought needed to be done before we cross the border. We are going to Glacier Park tomorrow and then heading to Canada on Wednesday. After we cross the border, we will only have Internet service, no cell phone service except for emergencies. Supposedly our AT&T laptop connect card will work there and we will be able to send and receive email. We will probably be in Canada at least a week before crossing into Alaska. Can't wait. It's hard to believe that Canada and Alaska could be any more beautiful than what we have already seen, but we have been told that it is. We'll see.

For some reason, I couldn't upload the photos that I wanted to post. Will try again in a day or so.
Catch ya later.

As you can see, I finally got the pictures uploaded. We're in Canada, Merrell is ddriving around Calgary and I'm uploading photos. Technology is wonderful, isn't it? LOL

Day 15 and 16-July 23 and 24, 2008

CAN'T ROLLER SKATE IN A BUFFALO HERD!!!!

Well, we went to Yellowstone yesterday and what an experience!! Of course, I HAD to get up early, which as most of you know, isn't my strongest suit!!! It was still around 9 when we actually left. It took an hour to get to the park entrance. The drive up was beautiful. We took lots of pictures AGAIN!!! Thank goodness for digital cameras. Even the Clintons couldn't afford to have all of our pictures printed. :>)

We started out in Yellowstone just driving around and seeing the different sites. Lots of geysers, lakes, streams and animal areas. We got some good pictures of Buffaloes. And speaking of buffaloes.......... I have a story to tell about them. I was using the video mode on my camera to try and get some film of animals. We had forgotten to take the camcorder and I wanted some live shots. We pulled off at a "round about" and I was filming a buffalo who decided to swim across the river in our direction. Everything was going smoothly until he got almost to our side of the river. One of the other tourists decided to walk down the road to where the buffalo had planned to cross the road and go into the field on that side of the road. Of course, when Mr. Buffalo saw a human in his path, he decided to change course and where do you think he decided to go??? Right. We, meaning Merrell, Chuck. Carolee and me with my camera, were directly in his path. Now. mind you. I am standing there with the camera to my eye, trying to locate the buffalo in the view finder (he had gone behind some trees and I hadn't located him yet) so I have no idea what is going on. Well, Merrell and Carolee saw the buffalo who had decided he needed to run really fast (as in CHARGE) in our direction. They decided they need to run FAST and get behind one of the vehicles in the parking lot. I may have forgotten to mention that the parking lot was full of OTHER people too!!! Well, here I was with the camera stuck to my face, still not knowing what was going on, BUT I did hear Merrell start running and I heard a lot of screaming, well. maybe not screaming exactly, but certainly it was EXCITED LOUD NOISES!!! Well, I figured if Merrell was running, I probably should be too, right??? So, I started running. Totally forgot my camera was still on and it's picking up the sounds of people running and the picture was bouncing around getting shots of people's rear ends (running away), the parking lot surface and trees. I still wasn't sure why I was running, though by that time I had an inkling that it had something to do with the buffalo!!! Nothing slow about me!!! Chuck was somewhere around. I still don't know where he went to. Carolee was in front and Merrell right behind her. Now, remember. I am his wife, who he promised to love. honor and PROTECT and what does he do?? You got it!! When I asked him why he just up and left me, his answer was that sometimes in life, it's every man for himself!!! Teeheehee
You probably won't get the whole picture by viewing the video (I hope you can open it). I think you had to be there to get the whole picture. We all died laughing when we first saw it, because we were there and filled in the blanks. Anyway, that was our excitement for yesterday. I don't think we could top that if we tried.

After the excitement of the buffalo, Ole Faithful wasn't quite as exciting as it might have been. It was still a wondrous sight to see. Suffice it to say, Yellowstone will always have a special place in our hearts because we sure did laugh a lot the rest of the day.

Day 14-July 22, 2008

Carolee and I decided to work on our pictures today and try to get some printed. I brought a printer with me so we could print the pictures we want for our scrapbooks. I also wanted to get caught up on blog entries and maybe I can keep them up to date now. Other than that, we are going to play lazy and rest today. Merrell and Chuck went to WalMart and got a few things and I put a roast in the crockpot. I love crockpots. Lazy man's dinner. Roast with potatoes and carrots and throw a few biscuits in the oven and we'll have a hot dinner with minimal work!! My kind of meal.........................
I think Merrell is going to wash the motorhome today. It's 88 outside, so I think it will be this evening before it gets done.
Tomorrow, we are going to go to Yellowstone if the weather looks good. We are taking the car. I think Merrell said it's about 117 miles to Old Faithful from here. It will be a full day by the time we get back to the motorhome tomorrow night.
Not much else to tell, except everything is going well. The motor home is running well and we haven't killed each other!!! Teeheehee Seriously, we are doing great. The motorhome is comfortable and has plenty of storage space for our "stuff" and we are all sleeping really well. We all like seeing the same things and our food likes and dislikes (although, I can truthfully say I have met very few foods I didn't like) are about the same, so meal preparations are easy. We have everything we need to travel comfortably and the motor home rides really well, front and back.
We are averaging about 8 m.p.g. I think. I will post more on mileage and fuel consumption after Merrell adds it up. LOL
Catch ya later

Day 13-July 21, 2008

Stream on Big Horn Mountain, WY








Big Horn Mountain, WY









Bridge On Big Horn Mountain, WY










Beautiful Rock Mountains, Big Horn, WY









We left Whistler's Gulch Campground in Deadwood, SD around 9 this morning. We crossed into Wyoming and drove miles and miles seeing nothing but flat land with nothing but Wyoming Sage Brush to look at. I cannot imagine how the pioneers handled the solitude. I had a laptop and cell phone and I was lonely (no cell or internet service for most of the time while driving through the flatlands) Teeheehee
If you are asking yourself how a WV girl knew that it was called Wyoming Sage Brush (and I know you are) well................................... I went online and looked it up!!! Nothing slow about me, is there? LOL
After miles and miles of flat land, we began to see large snow capped mountains in the distance. THEN we started up the mountain on our way to Cody, WY. I cannot even begin to tell you how high we were. According to our GPS we were over 9,000 feet high when we reached the top. The views were breathtaking and I do mean breathtaking. I was holding my breath the whole way because it was a sheer drop over the side of the mountain ON MY SIDE!!! :>) We took lots of pictures, but they do not do it justice.
After we reached the top, we started DOWN. And, I do mean DOWN!!! It was a very crooked and steep, but totally beautiful. Carolee was snapping pictures galore standing in the back of the motor home looking out both windows. While she was taking pictures, I was holding on to my seat, holding the camera to the window and snapping without looking because it was so STEEP AND HIGH!!! And, on MY side............................... I wish I could have taken a picture of my face a few times. I know I was looking pretty pitiful and holding on for dear life!! I just know I was glad that Merrell had been a truck driver for 26 years and had driven over Gauley Mountain in WV for 12 of those 26 years. I wouldn't have missed the drive for anything, because it was one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. I don't want to go back across it today, but I know I would do it again just for the beauty of the drive.
On the way down, we saw a car burning. I guess it had overheated and caught on fire. Since we were too far away from a fire department, and there was no cell service on the mountain, I'm sure it burned up before anyone could do anything. It was half burned when we passed it. We met the fire department truck at the bottom of the mountain, so someone had called it in already. We were lucky. The motor home has an engine brake, as well as regular brakes and Merrell said they didn't get hot. On the way up the mountain, Merrell pulled over a couple of times to let the transmission cool, but he said the engine didn't heat at all.
Anyway, we had a great trip and we got to the Absaroka Camp Ground in Cody around 6 p.m.. We were all pretty tired, so went to bed early and watched the boob tube for awhile before our eyes wouldn't stay open any longer.
Catch ya later

Day 10, 11 and 12-July 18, 19 and 20, 2008

Saturday July 19, 2008 Carolee's blog

We were up bright and early on Saturday morning to take a tour of some wonderful sights. Yes, Donna was up too. We were waiting for our tour guide before 7:30. We are so happy that we took the tour. We could never have seen all the sights by ourselves in one day. Mt. Rushmore is absolutely unbelievable. We really got some wonderful pictures to post. Then we went to Crazy Horse and it is fantastic also. We drove lots of miles thru Custer State Park. Thru the town of Hill and to a wine tasting. A buffet lunch was included and of course we all enjoyed that. I'm sure Donna will be writing lots of things about this but wanted to write some while she is getting ready to leave to go see the cemetery where Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok are buried.

Carolee's Blog July17 & 18 , 2008

When we left the Wall Drug Store we had a small problem. Our motor home wouldn't start again. Donna and Merrell have insurance so after Chuck & Merrell worked on it for a while they called and a wrecker came out. The driver of the wrecker didn't know anything about mechanics and they set up an appointment for someone to come in the morning to check it out. We had everything we needed so no problem staying in the parking lot but..........the "boys" found the problem and we were on our way again.

We traveled thru so many miles of hay fields. Much like the corn fields that we left behind. We ended up at Whistlers Gulch campground at Deadwood, S. D. It is a very nice campground but it is between two hills. There is an old gold mine located a little farther up the gulch. Merrell and Chuck walked up to see what it was all about and thought they had found gold!!!! If it was it was very small flecks. Anyway,it was fun looking.

Donna worked on a video to send to Merrell's brother and wife for their 50th wedding anniversary and I (Carolee) with a little help from the boys, did all of our laundry. It took three hours at the laundromat to get everything done. Made us realise how fortunate we are to have all those things at home.. Especially having Chuck who keeps our laundry done at home. We were all tired so just rested up for the next day.

Day Nine-July 17, 2008

We had a great day today traveling through South Dakota. Of course we saw miles and miles of "nothing", well I guess it wasn't "nothing". It was miles and miles of bare land. Nothing but hay fields and hay bales as far as the eye could see. You could see for miles on each side of Interstate 90 and you could go for miles and miles without seeing any houses. An occasional barn and outbuildings, but very few homes. The reason you could see so far is because it was totally FLAT!!! Not a hill in sight. This afternoon as we got closer to Rapid City, the terrain started to change and become more hilly and by the time we got to the campground at Deadwood, SD it was very hilly.
On the way here, we stopped at Murdo and explored "1880 Town", which is a town created by moving original buildings which were built in the 1880's. The buildings were furnished in 1880's style. They had a complete town set up, including a saloon, school, livery and stagecoach station. I felt really old when I recognized most of the "antiques". Teeheehee After all, we went to a one room schoolhouse and a small country church. We didn't have a saloon though!!! :>)
I'll try to post some of the pictures after I get them downloaded on my computer. I still have some I need to post from the Hannibal area.
I almost forgot. We also stopped at the Wall Drug Store. It became famous in the 1930 for giving away free icewater!! Go figure. As a matter of fact, they still give it away!!! It's pretty commercialized now and covers around 20,000 square feet. Lots of touristy stuff, which isn't my thing. I much prefer the nature things. But, I'm glad we went and got a drink of their free water. We didn't stay too long. Just enough to get the water and take a few pictures. They did have some beautiful stained glass "stuff".
I think we're going to hang around here for a couple of days. Mt. Rushmore is withing driving distance in our car, so I think we are going to drive there on Saturday. We may just relax and explore Deadwood tomorrow.
Catch ya later.

Day Eight-July 16, 2008

We made it though Iowa into South Dakota and decided to stop and see the Corn Palace. A lot of people have told us we should see it. It is in Mitchell, South Dakota. It was well worth the stop. It is so amazing to see what can be done with different colored corn, grains and local "grasses". They totally redo the outside every year at a cost of around $130,000. They call it the world's largest birdfeeder because the birds just love to eat the corn!! LOL Admission is free, but they have a wonderful gift shop inside. Teeheehee We parked the RV in a special parking lot they have just for RV's and walked downtown for the tour. It was a HOT day. When we returned to the RV, it would not start. Merrell and Chuck worked and worked, but couldn't get it going, so they called a mechanic (we got RV towing insurance through Good Sam's Club before we left). It was late in the evening and they sent a tow truck, but they guy didn't know much, so said they would send someone out in the morning and we were just going to spend the night in the parking lot. Not a bit different than WalMart. Teeheehee Merrell and Chuck decided to work on it a while longer and being the wonderful mechanics they are :>) they got it running and we pulled out and went to an RV park for the night. We got up this morning and it was running fine, so we are on the road again and heading to Deadwood, South Dakota. We will be close to Mount Rushmore and several other sites we want to visit, so we may be there for a few days. That's about all of the excitement we had today (or actually yesterday, since I was too tired to post last night). Catch ya on the next go around!!

Carolee's Blog

1. After a good nights sleep in the Walmart parking lot we refueled and are on our way. We just crossed the South Dakota state line. Donna got a picture but I was too slow. The motor home is a fantastic way to travel. Taking all the comforts of home right with you. I have to watch out about looking down too long and I need to face forward. We all change places occasionally except Merrell. He is doing all of the driving. He is a retired UPS driver so he is good and doesn't mind. If he should get tired Chuck probably would drive some.

We will be putting some pictures in the blog at some point...maybe today. I need to download my barn pictures from yesterday. Donna got a really good one that she needs to put on the blog. We have the exact same camera. I got mine and she liked it so much she got her one and then our oldest brother got one just like hers.........
My camera isn't charged up so that presents problem. Chuck is plugging it into an imverter. So many things that I didn't even know existed. Technology is amazing.

Day Seven-July 15, 2008

We left Chilicothe around 9:30 this morning. Carolee and I spent a lot of time taking pictures of old barns through the motor home windows. We left Missouri and entered Iowa this afternoon. It's amazing how many miles of fields of corn and soy beans you can see in a days time. We are spending the night in a WalMart parking lot (are you surprised??) in Sioux City, Iowa. On days when we are just going to sleep and eat and get up and go again it's just easier to park at WalMart instead of having to register and hook up at camp grounds.
We are heading out in the morning and planning on going to Kadoka, South Dakota. We will probably spend a day or so there before heading out again.

Day Six-July 14, 2008

We decided to leave today, but went by Dale's to spend a few minutes and say goodbye. We hated to leave them, but we do need to get on the road so we can be in Alaska before WINTER. :>)
We didn't leave Troy until around 5 p.m.. It doesn't get dark until late, so we drove until around 9 p.m.. We spent the night in a WalMart parking lot in Chilicothe, Missouri.

Day Five-July 13, 2008

We met Dale at his house and he guided us to his church, the Troy Presbyterian Church. It is brick and was built in the 1850's and has some wonderful stained glass windows. The ceiling in the sanctuary is wooden and has huge laminated beams. It is a beautiful church and we felt right at home there. So many nice people. We sang "The Dream" for Dale. The church has some great singers and musicians. They sang several songs I had not heard before. The minister is young and does a wonderful job speaking from the heart. We really enjoyed our visit to their church. I wish I had taken a picture of it before we left, but I totally forgot. Jim and Linda also attend that church, so we were able to visit with them again. Chuck, Angie and Olivia also joined us.
After the service, we all went out for lunch at an italian restaurant that is in an old Catholic church. Chuck and Angie went to get Jen's Mom Charlotte and brought her to join us for lunch. We all went back to Dale's and Jen's sister Sandy came over to visit for awhile. Of course Merrell had to sing and play for Charlotte since she was unable to attend church this morning.
We invited them all to come up to the campground for a weenie roast tonight. Chuck and his family couldn't come, but the rest of the group said they would be there. I guess I have to tell you how tacky I am. We invited them for the cookout, but Jen ended up bringing the food. She said she already had it on hand and told me not to go buy hot dogs and all the fixings. We had a great time around the campfire with lots of music and food.

Day Four-July 12, 2008

We spent the day in Hannibal and even though you could see the evidence of the recent flooding, all of the shops were open and doing a thriving business. We walked around town and took pictures of Mark Twain's home (Samuel Clemens) and some of the other historical buildings. We watched the Mark Twain Riverboat go out on one of their excursions, but we decided not to go. It looked like rain and it did start raining shortly after it pulled out.
Carolee found a wonderful quilt shop and we spent quite a bit of time looking at the beautiful exhibits.
We made it back to Dale's around 5:30 and their son Chuck and his wife Angie and their daughter Olivia joined us for dinner. We had a wonderful time catching up on "stuff" and it was time to leave before we knew it. We are singing at their church tomorrow morning, so we have to be back in town early.

Day Three-July 11, 2008

We set up camp today and generally played lazy. I cooked a pot of beans and made cornbread and Dale and Jen came up and ate dinner with us. Jim and Linda Robinson, friends of theirs that we had met in Florida last year came up later and joined us. They were nice enough to bring us some wood for a campfire, but it was too hot to build a fire. We will save the wood for another night. Merrell got out his guitar and sang and played us some music while we all sat outside and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Cuivre River is a really nice campground and we would recommend it to anyone who is passing through this area. We are planning on going to Hannibal, the home of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), tomorrow. It's about an hour's drive from Troy. Dale and Jen have invited us to a cookout at their house tomorrow night around 5, but we will have plenty of time to tour Hannibal if we leave early enough!!!

Day Two-July 10, 2008

We spent the first night in a WalMart parking lot in Waddy, Kentucky. It still amazes me that you can watch satellite tv, surf the internet and have a homemade dinner sitting in a WalMart parking lot!! :>) We had planned on going slow and arriving in Troy, Missouri on Friday afternoon, but we made such good time that we drove all of the way to Troy today. We are staying in Cuivre River State Park Campground. Merrell's brother Dale and his wife Jen and their family live in this area and we are going to stay and visit with them for a few days.
Everything is going pretty smoothly. There are a few things we have found that need fixed and we're still trying to find out how everything in the motor home works, but other than that it has been an uneventful couple of days.

Our First Day-July 9, 2008

After months of preparation and anticipation, we (Donna, Merrell, Carolee and Chuck) have the motor home loaded and are ready to finally leave on our Great Adventure!!! We left Grassy Meadows, WV on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 in the early afternoon.