Day 16, Saturday, October 6, Touring St. Louis

Beautiful 24.3C (75F) morning as we boarded the coach bus at 7:30 and headed off to St. Louis.

Our first stop was at the "Old Courthouse Museum". Construction began in 1839 and continued through several transitions until 1862 and was Missouri's tallest habitable building from 1864 - 1894. It has four wings and a beautiful three storey cupola dome at the centre. It has a storied history related to slavery.  It was a public forum as well as a courthouse. Slaves also were auctioned on the steps. Abolitionists and slavery advocates held rallies in the courthouse to debate the slavery issue.













An interesting fact that the Park Ranger told us was that there is no echo in the immense centre hall due to the fact that the floor is limestone, which absorbs sound.

This pic shows a model of the building. It was hard to take a pic outside!








After touring the Courthouse, we walked across the street to the Visitor Centre and the Museum at the Gateway Arch. It is the world's tallest arch, a 630 foot monument clad in stainless steel and was built between 1963 - 1965. It is built in the form of a weighted catenary arch.  Beneath it is the fabulous museum which traces the story of the Native Americans, Explorers, Pioneers and Rebels who made America possible.

The Museum has a "mock-up" of the capsule to give you an idea of the size.








We rode the five seat capsule up the north side to the top where we got out to admire the views and take some photos on this beautiful day, then rode back down the south side. What an experience!

At the top!

View if the Old Courthouse on the right and Busch Stadium upper left.














Then it was lunch time and Bill directed the bus driver to take us to "Fast Eddie's Bon Air" in Alton which was founded in 1921. It was an interesting place with 400 seats, a 'dive bar' which serves an assortment of grilled burgers, shish kebabs, Bratwurst and shrimp, all sold at the same low prices as when they were added fifteen years ago. We had a 1/2 pound burger for $1.99 and fries for $.99. Noisy but quite the atmosphere. 
As we exited the "bar" after lunch, a sudden thunderstorm developed and we had to run to the bus!

The 27 lock system on the Mississippi River


That concluded our day of touring

Our next stop was the Melvin Price Locks and Dam, which is Lock 27 of 28 on the Mississippi River. We watched a movie "The Power of the River" which explained the construction and operation of locks, which allow the passage of shipping vessels. We toured the National Great River Museum but were not able to descend into the dam due to the weather (which has turned sunny). 

Day 15, October 5, Hannibal to Sundermeier RV Park, St Charles, Missouri

There were thunderstorms in the night, but hopefully have cleared out now. Woke up to 14.7C at 6:00.
Breakfast was provided by the staff this morning - omelette in a bag, which we prepared ourselves, sausage patties and pancakes. Excellent!

All the fixins are ready! Eggs, chopped ham, chopped onions, and more. We cracked 2 eggs into a zip-loc bag, and added  the desired fixins. Sealed it up and dropped it into a pot of hot water.

 Meanwhile, there were pancakes & sausage patties being cooked.













The finished product has salsa and shredded cheese added. Delicious! It was cloudy with showers and 66F, but at least we were under cover.











After breakfast, we pulled out of the park at 11:00 with Terry leading. We made a quick stop at the Missouri Welcome Centre to pick up some maps. By noon the sky was clearing and it was sunny and 74F.
Half an hour later it was 84F. Just what we have been waiting for!
We arrived at the park at 1:05 and ended up backed up on main street since several of us arrived at the same time.
Finally got into our site, which was cozy - they are putting 2 rigs on a site.
Once set up, I went shopping with Gus, Joan, Terry & Sharon. We stopped at Steak and Shake for lunch, then on to Aldi's for groceries. It is now 82.6F, a hot day!
We enjoyed sitting outside with Glen and Carolyn on a beautiful evening, capping off a great day.

Day 14, October 4, Mark twain Cave Campground, Hannibal, Missouri

It was 15.2C this morning, quite comfortable.
Today was a cave tour of the caves that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) explored as a child. These are dry caves, there are no stalagmites or stalactites.

Mark Twain Cave and Cameron Cave instead have a multitude of narrow, winding passages.The caves are made mostly of a soft limestone called Louisiana Lithographic Limestone and found only in a 35-mile (56 km) area around Hannibal and Louisiana, Missouri. The limestone has been estimated by geologists as around 350 million years old, while the cave passages were formed some 100 million years ago. Mark Twain Cave covers some 6 ¹⁄₂ miles (10.5 km) consisting of four entrances and 260 passages, maintaining a year around temperature of 52 °F (11 °C).

One of the four entrances

"The Parlour"

The extent of the cave system is amazing!


Once out of the cave, we went to Hannibal, the boyhood hometown of Mark Twain. We visited his boyhood home and museum, Becky Thatcher's house, Huckleberry Finn's house and the J.M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office. 

After Lunch, we all met at the Planter's Barn Theater for a presentation of "Mark Twain Himself" performed by actor Richard Carey. This acclaimed show has been staged in over 40 states, Canada and Bermuda' It is a show complete with comedy, satire and drama, all in the author's own words.
Personally, we found it to be too political, but perhaps that was how Mark Twain was.........

Day 13, October 3, Moving on to Mark Twain Cave Campground, Hannibal, Missouri

It was a very pleasant 20.0C at 6:30 this morning as we packed up.
Shortly after starting out we crossed the Mississippi and entered Iowa. Half an hour later, it was back across the Mississippi into Illinois, which was very flat with corn fields as far as the eye could see.

We stopped at a rest area which had information maps explaining highlights along the "Great River Road".













Once back on the road, we encountered a detour. The road was closed at Dallas City and we went left instead of right. Eventually found our way back onto the planned route. Getting very warm as we go south, 84F.
Continuing on we crossed the Mississippi yet again and entered Missouri. By this time it has warmed up to 90F.

At 1:30 we arrived at the campground in Hannibal and got settled on our site.

The Wagonmasters and Tailgunners hosted a Happy Hour at the shelter and one of our group had a margarita machine.












 He was whipping up margaritas for everyone!

Needless to say, it was a great ending to a frustrating day after the detour!

Day 12, Oct 2, Touring the Amana Colonies and John Deere Pavilion

Early start this morning. 14.5C as we boarded the bus at 7:30 and departed for the Amana Colonies, which are similar to the Mennonites.

The Amana Colonies are seven villages on 26,000 acres (11,000 ha) located in Iowa County in east-central Iowa, United States: Amana(or Main Amana), East Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana, South Amana, West Amana, and Homestead. The villages were built and settled by German Pietists, who were persecuted in their homeland by the German state government and the Lutheran Church. Calling themselves the True Inspiration Congregations (German: Wahre Inspiration's Gemeinden),^[3] they first settled in New York near Buffalo in what is now the town of West Seneca. However, seeking more isolated surroundings, they moved to Iowa (near present-day Iowa City) in 1856. They lived a communal life until 1932.

For eighty years, the Amana Colony maintained an almost completely self-sufficient local economy, importing very little from the industrializing American economy. The Amanians were able to achieve this independence and lifestyle by adhering to the specialized crafting and farming occupations that they had brought with them from Europe. Craftsmen passed their skills and techniques on from one generation to the next. They used hand, horse, wind, and water power, and made their own furniture, clothes, and other goods. The community voted to form a for-profit organization during the Great Depression, the Amana Society, which included the Amana Corporation.

Today, the Seven Villages of Amana are a tourist attraction known for its restaurants and craft shops. The colony was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

Marcel was anxious to check this out! Unfortunately, by the time we got in, everything was sold out!











High Amana was the 4th Colony to be built in 1857. We visited the High Amana General Store, the Meat Shop & Smoke House and the Arts Guild Centre.

Meat Shop and Smokehouse

 All kinds of good stuff!




We all went to the Ox Yoke Inn for lunch, which is a quaint, storied restaurant serving hearty German and American food since 1940.

We were served "family-style" coleslaw, cottage cheese, chicken, pot roast mashed potatoes, corn and rolls. Delicious!

This was topped off with apple pie for dessert. 

After lunch we walked around the shops until it was time to get back on the bus.

We went back across the Mississippi to Moline to the John Deere Pavilion, where you can climb into a cab, sit in the driver's seat and test your skills in state-of-the-art simulators. Explore some of the biggest John Deere machines - from combines and dozers, to excavators to swing machines. It was amazing to see these machines up close and realize how BIG they are!

Marcel is trying to operate an Excavator - didn't make any money!

WOW! This is HUGE when you see it up close and sit in the driver's seat!

That concluded our day and it was back to the campground to start packing up to move on tomorrow. It ended up being a beautiful day, warming up to 18.8C

Day 11, October 1, Rock Island, IL

We had a free day today (meaning no touring but catching up with laundry and grocery shopping)
After finishing the laundry, we found the Walmart in nearby Davenport. It had a Murphy USA fuel station so we filled up with diesel for $3.089/gallon.
 It has warmed up to 66F, so changed into shorts on returning to the campground.

At 5:15 everyone gathered at the pavilion for a campground cookout (provided by the Wagon-masters and Tail-gunners). It was wonderful , lots of fun. Open a small bag of Corn Chips or Doritos, add some taco meat mixture and top it off with any or all of the fixins - chopped onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, olives, sour cream & salsa.

Dinner was finished off by a dessert of Sopapilla Cheesecake bars. Delicious!



We broke up at 8:00 when it started raining lightly. However, it remained a very pleasant 24.4C.

Day 10, Sept 30, Touring the Area

We boarded our coach bus this morning at 9:15 under grey skies and light rain. It was 10.8C (52F) as we set off to visit the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa. During the hour-long bus ride, we watched a fascinating video which described Hoover's life.

He was born in 1874 in a simple two-room cottage in West Branch.
With two adults and three children, there was not much room for furniture.

His Quaker family had helped settle the town. Their principles of honesty, hard work simplicity and generosity guided Hoover throughout his life of service to the nation and the world.
He was educated at Stanford University, earning a degree in geology. Throughout his life, he travelled extensively around the world.

I could go on & on describing his accomplishments, but don't want to bore you! in a nutshell, he was a fascinating, self-made man who embodied the ideal of individualism.








Fortunately the weather improved for us.


At 11:30, we were back on the bus. Our next stop was the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum (which I thought would be boring) However, it was quite interesting, with over 100 very unique restored trucks, dating back as far as 1910.   

This 1939 International  D-15 armoured truck was purchased  new by the Minneapolis Police Department. It features a 1/4 thick armoured steel body that boasts 2-inch thick bullet proof  glass windows with gun ports. The steel plates mounted on the front bumper are bullet deflectors for the front tires All doors are made of armour plate. The D series was introduced in 1937 and was discontinued in 1941 This was the only truck of its kind produced.






This 1930 Ford A Snowmobile paved the way with its innovative skis and mechanical brakes. It was frequently used to get the mail through when the heavier trucks were stuck in the snow. The frame was also used as a Model A car. It consisted of a Ford 200.5 cu. inch 4 cylinder engine, 3 speed Ford sliding gear transmission and had a top speed of 45 mph with tires.

For anyone interested check out the website:
iowatruckingmuseum.com

We returned to the campground for a quick lunch, then it was back on the bus to attend "Circa 21" Dinner Playhouse presentation of "Mama Won't Fly". This is an outrageously hilarious race against the clock which begins when Savannah Honeycutt agrees to get her feisty mother all the way from Alabama to California in time for her brother's wedding. Savannah's only problem: Mama won't fly.
Prior to the production we enjoyed an excellent buffet dinner of Orange Dijon Pork, Santa Fe Swiss Steak, Texas BBQ Chicken, Louisiana-Style Cherry Snapper, Vegetarian California Lasagna, mashed potatoes, rice and a seasonal blend of vegetables.
With our tummies full and our sides sore from laughing, we returned to the campground for an early night.