10/21 Friday

We have arrived home - about 2PM with 3,461 miles under our belts over 3 weeks and a couple days. We stopped on Wednesday just south of Birmingham (I think we stayed at that rv park before)after going through terrible city traffic. We still needed our electric blankets. Thanks to Jack for that great idea. Our last night was Valdosta GA, then an easy ride home today with typical heavy FL traffic.
I must say it was an adventure in several ways. Highlights were family and friends in Dubuque and Minneapolis. You already know the low points. Oh well, all circumstances beyond our control. My theory is that we should not start a trip with a date to be somewhere. That never seems to go well for us. Had the weather been better, we might have been able to salvage some of the trip home. We covered a lot of familiar territory in our path of least resistance to get home. Good news is that mean there is still a lot of uncovered territory to explore.

10/18 Tuesday

Well, another one of those days. We did make it through Missouri. We are at a casino along the Mississippi in that little tag of Missouri that hangs off its southeast corner. It would have been a great ride EXCEPT heavy, heavy, dark gray clouds the entire way. Needless to say accompanied by rain and wind. UGH. Enough already.
We were so close to getting to the rv park - 20 minutes which took us almost an hour on the interstate! Learned when we got here that someone was transporting some huge equipment that had the interstate slowed down to a crawl. What a mess. Picture is through our new windshield and we were going so slow I did get a picture of the white "flowers" ie cotton in the fields - through the rain of course, and yes it was that foggy here along the Ole Miss.
Too bad, we passed several things we would have normally stopped to see and the leaves would have been beautiful with just a little bit of sun. I would go out of my way to get back to Hermann, MO which is between St Louis and Columbia. Old Missouri River town fantastically done. Looked like a fabulous winery, shops, b&bs, etc. My kind of place. But we were there about 8:30 AM and nothing open. Seems to be my theme this trip.
We were hoping to get back to Wind Creek State Park in AL and spend a couple days. We stopped there on our way north BUT looked at weather and high for the rest of the week is 50. Not enough for pleasant camping so we are going to make a bee line for Tampa.

10/17 Monday

We were headed to Lake of the Ozarks but such a dreary, icky day that we checked the weather there. High 60 and low 30. Soooo, decided not worth it and headed towards Cape Girardeu MO instead. However, it kept getting darker and darker so we stopped just in the nick of time near Columbia MO. Terrible thunder and lightening. We are just not having any luck. But settled nice and cozy -- and dry.
However, on our way out of Kirksville, MO, we made a stop at the "motherhouse" of osteopathic medicine. Really a nice little museum, so not a total waste. It's the A.T. Still (the father of. . ) School of Osteopathic Medicine. Having trouble uploading photos, slow connection.

1/16 Sunday

Yeah, we feel we are finally back into the rv groove. Essentially spent the day traveling south through the midpoint of Iowa. Did Mason City (as in Masons of historical meaning who founded it). Home of Music Man, Meredith Wilson (closed on Sunday of course) and, believe it or not the Park View Hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Looks wonderful but how it ended up here, not sure. Onward to Ames, IA to see Iowa State. Not too impressed, but I'm sure there is more to it than we saw.
Continued south to Pella, IA which is home of the tulip festival. Obviously, off season and everything closed on Sunday. Strong Dutch and religious influence here with 4 religious bookstores around the town square and a Luthern high school. Also a guy reading his Bible on bench along the sidewalk. I would have had a great time on Saturday with all of the boutiques, bakeries, etc.
Continued south through Amish country. Saw several horse drawn carriages and a group of guys playing some game to the amusement of a group of young girls. They were all attired in white shirts, black pants, and suspenders -- the guys. Would have been a great picture.
We crossed into Missouri where fireworks sales seem to be the big thing. Ended up in Thousand Hills State Park which is near Kirksville, MO. Home of osteopathic medicine so I hope we get to museum tomorrow.
Had dinner at the marina in the park. Great view, so-so food. Deer was at the edge of our rv site. Unable to post pictures, I will try later.

10/15 Saturday

Yeah, on the road again! I missed it. Left Willmar, MN about 11 and made it to Clear Lake, IA which is not far from Mason City. Some sprinkles when we got here, otherwise a good ride throlangeugh miles and miles and miles of agriculture. Stopped to stock up and found landjaeger sausage! This is a big deal to Jack. Apparently made for hunters to nosh on. And, we saw a few hunters along the way, walking in the fields, pheasant hunting. The guys at the blackjack table told Jack the pheasants are imported from China. Big laugh about that.
Anyway, tentatively, we are headed south through Missouri, hang a left along the southern border of TN, through AL and then home. Low in the 40s and high in the 60s so FL is looking good. We don't know when we will get home.

10/13 and 10/14 Thurs/Fri

Well, good news is that Jack and I are all caught up with our work. Semi-bad news is that truck driver called our repair guy who reported he was running 2 hours behind. Good news is we expect to pick up the rv around 10AM and be on our way tomorrow.
Casino is crowded tonight. $19.95 seafood buffet (only the second time they have offered it) seemd to be a huge hit. Mediocre really but it was, hopefully, our last hurrah. I do like the hubbub in a busy place.
I expect to be writing from a new location tomorrow.

10/12 Wednesday

Absolutely nothing to report. I tried to take a picture to post but too rainy and dark. Everything is ready on the rv so just waiting for windshield delivery. Installment should be relatively quick.