The Ray Adventures: Independence & St. Peters, Missouri and Memphis Tennessee Oct. 8

Greetings from Tennessee! We are finally headed south, getting closer to Rockport, only 900 miles to go. It will be nice to settle in a place longer than 2 or 3 nights.

Saturday, Oct. 8, We met Bob and Sharon, friends from Rockport, at a Wal-Mart parking lot near our park for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Originally from St. Peters, Missouri, they have been "full-timing" for 3 years, the same as us. They're stopping in Denver for a couple of weeks to visit daughter and family before heading to Rockport. Sharon is the activities director at Bay View and Bob plays guitar in the park ensemble. After lunch at Perkins we did a little shopping before heading back to the park. We watched the Oregon/Washington game until we couldn't bear it any longer, they lost BIG time. This doesn't look like their year to shine.

Sunday, Oct. 9, Wanting to avoid downtown traffic, we drove into Kansas City on a Sunday to take the Fountain Tour. KC has over 200, we managed to see 13 - our first stop was the JC Nichols Plaza, a wealthy developer with a vision, the plaza opened in 1923 in a swampy area used for pig farming. Basically the nations first shopping center, designed in Spanish architecture. You feel like you're in a European marketplace. More than 40 fountains fill the plaza intermixing with high end shops and restaurants. A beautiful area, the fountains are just the icing on the cake for your eyes. Across from the WWI Memorial at Union Station, the Bloch fountain has a black granite surface featuring a 40 foot circle of jets. The National WWI Museum and Tower is majestic with a sweeping view of the city. The fountains took a back seat here. We did not take the elevator to the top of the 217 tall Liberty Memorial Tower. A must see in KC! We crossed the street to the Westin to see their fountains and grab a quick lunch before heading to see the 5 downtown fountains and the firefighter fountain in Penn Valley Park, it honors the city's firefighters and memorializes those who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Monday, Oct. 10, Just a short drive from our park is the Presidential Library and Museum for Harry S. Truman, our 33rd president of the United States. A 2 term senator, a vice president for only 82 days before becoming president on April 12 upon FDR's death. Truman was a farmer with a high school education proving anyone can become president. He was a captain in the field artillery in France. The exhibits follow Truman from his childhood, through WWI, his political life from county judge, Senator, VP, his Presidency and his life back in Independence. He was responsible for updating the White House, literally gutting the interior to bring it up to modern standards. Both Truman and his wife Bess as well as their daughter and her husband are buried in the courtyard.

Tuesday, Oct. 11, We left Independence at 10 for our 217 mile drive to Lakeside RV Park in St. Peters, Missouri about 30 miles from downtown St. Louis. A beautiful city park, we can only stay for 3 nights because they are booked for the weekend. A beautiful day, I felt like I wanted to stay there forever. As per usual our first day here the weather is great but the forecast is nasty, wet, cold and windy.!

Wednesday, Oct. 12, No visit is complete in St. Louis without a visit to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Construction began in 1907, was completed in 1914. The Romanesque structure is ornately decorated exterior of granite walls. With massive twin towers and a distinctive green tiled dome. You enter through huge oak doors, the interior is a series of domes and arches with every square inch, 83,000 sq ft covered with 41.5 million (yes millions) pieces of glass depicting biblical scenes in both the Old and New Testaments, taking 75 years to complete. You just cannot believe how beautiful the Cathedral is! A short distance from the Cathedral is Forest Park, covering 1,293 acres, opened in 1876 and 30 some years later hosted the 1904 World's Fair. We took a lovely walk around the Grand Basin, we got back to the car just as the impending thunderstorm started. By the time we got up to the Art Museum of St. Louis, took a few pictures of the Grand Basin and the sculpture of the Apotheosis of St. Louis. and got inside, the skies opened up. For once our timing was perfect. We saw works of art and artifacts from as old as 8,000 BC. The museum features changing exhibitions as well as it's own 30,000 pieces. We were treated to a Monet and a collection of Picasso's. When we left the storm had passed and the sun was out.

Thursday, Oct. 13, We dropped Luci off at a doggie day care on our way to St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch, symbolic gateway to the West. Opening in 1967, it took 2 years and 8 months to complete. Quite an engineering feat, the span of the two legs at ground level are the same as the height of 630 feet. We watched a movie on the building of the arch, one interesting thing, none of the workmen were tethered and no lives were lost during it's construction. The trip to the top is very unique, you ride in egg shaped pods with 5 seats, overhead is so low even my head hit the top. It only takes 4 minutes to the top, the windows in the observation are very tiny but you still get great views of the Mississippi River and downtown St. Louis. On our way out of town we caught a glimpse of the former Rams football stadium, the last in our quest to see all the NFL stadiums. We picked up Luci from day care, only $10.00 a day. Wow! Before dinner we walked around the city park picking up 3 geo caches. This was one of my favorite parks that we've stayed in during our last 3 years on the road. Moving day again tomorrow so we put away the chairs and cactus.

Friday, Oct. 14, We left St. Peters about 10 for our 300 mile drive to Mid-South Naval Support fam camp about 20 miles northwest of Memphis. Another nice park, the manager of the park was quite a character. she came inside the coach and visited for about a half an hour. At last we are headed south!

Saturday, Oct. 15, We are both tired, our mad scramble through 10 states in 37 days, we decided to take some time off from sightseeing. We are catching up on housekeeping, I cleaned the inside of the car, what a pit. Gary is saving the job of washing the coach until we get to Rockport. Filthy, filthy!

Sunday, Oct. 16, Another quiet day for us, I worked on the blog and did some laundry. Gary "futzed" around, we both took short bike rides. Topped the afternoon off watching football, FOX didn't broadcast the Seahawk game but did show the last 2 minutes. Wahoo! Hawks won 26-24 against Atlanta.

That's it for this week. Enjoy the pic's!

TTFN

Gary and Pam