Our Last Post - The Best and Worst

At the suggestion of our sister-in-law Jeanne (and it is a good one) we have compiled a short Best and Worst list of our vacation - we hope that you enjoyed reading our Blog and thank you for letting us share our vacation with you.

Best

Visiting with Family and Friends - all of us!
Grand Canyon - Shirley, Pat
Being with Les - Shirley
Ice Cream - Shirley
Crater Lake - Pat
Skype with Kathy - Pat
Zion National Park - Les, Pat
Columbia River Gorge - Les
Missing work - Les

Worst

Inaccessibility to the Arch in St. Louis (no handicapped access) - Shirley, Pat
No enough stops at fast food restaurants - Shirley
Las Vegas Heat - Les, Pat
Leaving Liz - Pat
Les’ jokes - Pat
Les Missing work - Pat
Missing work - Les

Asheville, North Carolina

August 16 - 17. Arrived in Asheville, NC Saturday in time to settle in so that Les could watch the Busch and Cup races. We have been reduced to scheduling our traveling around our sporting events! If it’s not racing it’s the Red Sox Baseball games. We stayed at a nice KOA in Candler, NC just outside of Asheville. Unfortunately the pool was a lovely green and the staff were beside themselves trying to figure out why. Apparently they lost the phone number for the professionals, but the owners were very nice. The park happened to be right next to the highway and we can vouch that it is a noisy and busy road or at least Les can as he was unable to go back to sleep. We are posting a couple of photos that give credence to why they named this part of the country Smokey Mountain Region - they weren’t kidding.

We are winding down our vacation and are sad that we have only a little more time. If nothing else this experience has us convinced that we can full-time RV later in life. There was no blood shed and I only pouted a few times!

We are headed for Charleston South Carolina for a few days visit with family then off to Savannah, Georgia and then back to Florida.

August 12 - 15 Kentucky to Nashville Tennessee

August 12 - Our stop this day is Paducah, Kentucky, camping by Kentucky Lake, which has 2380 miles of shoreline. We can’t help but think of our friends Tress and Doug as we enter this area as Kentucky is one of their favorite places (second to No. Carolina, home of Duke University). The campground did have baby ducklings the day before and caged them for protection...the mother duck never left their cage side so I am adding that photo...We did not have time to stop by for a tour of the Museum of American Quilters Society but wanted to mention to both Vicki O and Laura L that we were thinking of them when we drove by! Of course we weren’t going to stop, I can barely thread a needle in under a ½ hour never mind actually use it! Have to give Illinois a thumbs down on the condition of their roads…so bumpy Shirley could hardly nap! We were lucky enough, however, to be the only ones to take advantage of the pool at the campground and Shirley joined us after her afternoon siesta (are you sensing a theme?) It was fun to relax all together.

August 13 - 15 - So much for Kentucky…pretty place but Western Kentucky not as nice as some of the more “urban areas”. On our way to Nashville we traveled on the road by Land of the Lakes in Kentucky with a stop at the Buffalo and Elk Preserve. We did get to see 1 buffalo and a few wild turkeys so all was not a bust. There are 51 Buffalo and 31 Elk on the preserve which is recreated on official Prairie Grassland that was discovered in the 1970s proving that the plains extended to the edges of Western Kentucky. So we head out to camp for a couple of days in Nashville, Tennessee. We stopped at the KOA in Nashville on Music Valley Road. Our first day was just one to hang out by the pool and relax (another theme). Tonight was one of our "eat out" nights and we dined on everything fried at Cock of the Walk Restaurant - check out the photos of the extra large rocking chair (no I did not get smaller on this trip!). Because it was quite warm here we decided to take the early morning tour. We had a great little mini-bus and Shirley was awarded the front seat. We toured the City of Nashville with stops at the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman Auditorium (the original home of the Grand Ole Opry) and a local honky tonk named Legends. Legends is located next to the famous purple building and honky tonk Tootsies where many country stars hung out and performed before they became big country stars. After our tour, lunch and pool time we were able to get together with our former neighbors Rob and Jenn Parker who now live in Nashville for dinner. It was so good to see them and break bread with them (okay maybe a cup or two of cheer too!). This morning, Saturday, we stopped at their new home on the way out of town. If anyone knows Jenn they would be surprised to see their country address. Reminds me of the Green Acres television show actually, with Jenn being the city sophisticate and Rob a convert to the simpler life! It is a lovely home and very impressive work by Rob on wiring the house as a Mac house…your new nickname will be MacBuddy…now I will have to attend iphone and MAC school to understand you when you speak! You will not believe how spry and young looking Maggie is. She is now 9 years old and looks to be in better shape than ever - running around the yard, hopping off the stairs! I suppose I should clarify that Maggie is Jenn and Rob’s beloved dog. In any event we enjoyed our visit with them and hope we can convince our friends Gary and Nancy to return with us to visit them in the future. Off we go now to Asheville, North Carolina.

Nebraska to Missouri

August 7 - 11 - We continued our journey in Nebraska and stayed at Camp-A-Way RV Park in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was here that were that we all had buffalo for dinner quite an accomplishment for my picky eaters. Les had a flat tire on his bicycle so he rode a girls bike until we could get to Walmart for a new tube and repair. I think some of his co-workers might have fun with that little trivia. We then headed into Missouri via Iowa for 2 nights at Basswood RV Resort. Then it was off to St. Louis to see the Arch. We stayed at the Queens Casino RV Park across the river from the Arch in Illinois. We decided to skip the MetroLink and rent a car for a couple of days to make it easier to get about for Shirley. Monday night Lady Luck shined on Pat at the casino. Dinner was at the Outback we were all craving. Tuesday we all were up early and headed out to the world famous (okay maybe not world) St. Louis Zoo. Admission was free although parking was $11 it was still a great bargain. We had a grand time and the weather wasn’t too hot so we all enjoyed ourselves. Les got quite a workout pushing the wheelchair uphill most of the day but the Zoo was quite nice. After lunch we decided to go directly to the Arch. Again a really uphill push for Les and I must say that this particular National Park Exhibit was not wheelchair friendly and we were disappointed that Shirley would not be able to actually travel to the top of the arch with us as there was no access and 96 steps. She people watched while Les and I went up into the Arch, a little scary for someone not fond of heights. When you get your ticket they ask you specifically if you are claustrophobic and/or afraid of heights. Oh come on, who isn’t afraid of a height of 630 vertical feet and do you really want to spent 5 minutes in the tram we have shown? It holds 5 people and takes a little over 4 minutes to get to the top. We spent all of about 5 minutes peering out the windows at the top, snapping a few photos and boom, back in line to take the tram back down. Off to the casino to try our luck again tonight. Even Leslie is going to break out the $20 bill!

Nebraska - Great Platte River and Pioneer Musuem

August 5 - 6 - We traveled through the rest of Wyoming and into Nebraska today and stayed at a Country View Campground which turned out to be very nice. The RV next to us had 2 black cats that they put on harnesses outside and it made us miss our kitties. They were very friendly and seemed to want to be inside instead of out. On our way to our next stop in Minden, we stopped at the world famous Archway Monument. Interstate 80 was the first interstate constructed in the United States and to commemorate this a huge arch was constructed over the highway. Inside of this arch was an elaborate museum of the wagon train route. All of the employees were dressed in period and it was quite neat. The price of admission was more than we cared to pay to see the exhibit further so we continued on our way. We decided to go to Minden, Nebraska and visit the Pioneer Village, an historical village that outlined the history of the wagon trains as well as depiction of the early transportation system, including early 1900 vehicles and trains. The complex had an RV Park (of sorts) and one free admission to the complex. After a quick peek, Les was the only one that was really interested in seeing the artifacts. I mean, really, how many tractors can you look at? Other than Fred and Patrick I don’t know anyone that is really that interested in antique farm equipment. Apparently Leslie has the same interests. We both agreed that we would only stay one night instead of two because it was a little, let’s say, rustic.

Nebraska Chimney Rock

August 4 - Left Wyoming (finally) today and headed into Nebraska. Before we did that we came across a Curves in Wyoming so I couldn't resist posting this photo. Try as we may we could only find a few things of interest on the route we chose, one being the Chimney Rock National Monument. They had a great parking lot for us to have lunch in - but other than that the photo tells the tale. Not much else in Nebraska. I am posting a photo of a couple of beautiful horses specifically for Vickie because of her love of animals and really you can only take so many photos of deer and cattle! We are headed to Ogallala Nebraska for the evening to check out the “authentic cattle drive” on the main street. Next we’ll head off to Minden, NE to stay for a couple of days at the Pioneer Village to re-live the Oregon Trail ride (or not). It is supposed to be quite hot so we probably will leave Shirley in the comfort of the air conditioned RV!

Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

August 1st - 3rd - we traveled to Yellowstone National Park on Friday, July 31st and landed in a lovely campsite for the evening. On the way through Montana we ran into a "Cattle Drive" literally up the road and around our RV. Those cows were very unhappy and moo'ed all the way up the hill as well as had a drool fest - yuck! Thought you might like the photo. Les barbequed out and we enjoyed the cool summer air. In the morning Les wanted to go for a bike ride, but when I saw that the temperature outside was 39 I pulled the covers over my head and bid him a goodbye. He ended up having double layers of clothes on and traveled way too far for this altitude. He probably biked almost 12 miles with the elevations ranging from 7000 ft. to 7500 ft. He was exhausted when he came back and admitted having freezing hands because he had no gloves. We had a good hearty breakfast and headed up to Mammoth Springs, a part of the park we had not previously been. We returned back to our campsite in the early afternoon and all three of us conked out for a nap. We will be heading to the Grand Tetons National Park tomorrow, but we have decided to stay at an RV Resort because after 2 days of no cell service and more than that of no internet service we really feel the need to be connected. I think the pool and the hot tub is a draw also! Drive through the south end of Yellowstone and through the Grand Tetons - unbelievable! They are gorgeous with their snow capped majesty. Arrived at the campsite overlooking Grand Tetons - fantastic views, although the pool was not heated and the hot tub was not on so we skipped that. We did take some photos of the these odd little creatures that resemble tail-less squirrels/rats. Not really a prairie dog but not a squirrel either, weird. Monday we headed down to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to check it out. We are originally planned on taking a white water rafting trip (okay Shirley was going to watch the ballgame!) but Les and I both have colds, although his is worse, so we skipped that and opted for a shopping excursion - we took the city bus downtown and had a good time exploring. It’s very touristy (is that a word?) but it was a welcomed sight after such seclusion for a few days. We also biked to the post office to mail some postcards, K-Mart to buy some RV t.p. and to Napa to pick up some transmission fluid. Today is Tuesday and we are headed to our last stop in Wyoming on the Platte River near Ft. Laramie. We have been in Wyoming over a week and it seems like it’s time for us to move on. We miss all of you and especially our little kitties! Bonus question? Guess who was driving when the plates came out of the cupboards and smashed all over the floor?