Sunday, October 13, 2013

Show-Me Missouri!


 
From Nebraska to Missouri the adventure continued. We left Omaha and headed down the road hugging the Missouri river trail.


From Nebraska to Missouri

Here We Come Missouri
Catfish Anyone?

Our first stop in Missouri was in Weston Missouri. We stayed at the Weston Bend State Park. Izzy liked this place and I bet you can guess why! Yap, swimming was possible!

Our View at the park

Hurry Up Slow Pokes

Here I Come Get Ready to Throw It Again

The Missouri River

The Overlook of the River at Weston Bend State Park
 


There’s quite a bit of history in this area and the town of Weston is quite quaint. They also have wineries and distilleries not that we went to them.
 
We were able to find a nice golf course so we played a couple of times. Izzy came along so she could get a nice nap in!

From Weston we headed to Columbia Missouri which is only about 30 miles from Jefferson City the capitol of Illinois. The RV park we stayed at wasn’t near the river but it is next to fairgrounds so Izzy had a good time running and sniffing.

We spent some time walking around down town and I was able to get a few pictures. There are many buildings from the late 1800’s around along with several colleges. Steve also wanted to try a pizza place he read about so after he got his haircut we went to Shakespeares’ Pizza. It was pretty tasty!

Calvary Episcopal Church Founded in 1855

First Christian Church
 
We headed to the capitol on Friday since it was voted the most beautiful capitol. We have seen several capitol buildings so we thought we should check it out.

The Church near the Capitol
 
The grounds are beautiful and the building on the outside and inside is pretty amazing. They have the Missouri Historical Museum within the capitol so we spent some time walking and learning. The one thing we didn’t learn was why Missouri is called the show-me state. Hmm, guess we’ll have to figure it out some place else.
Along the Back of the Capitol Grounds
Big Red Goes to Jefferson City

At the Capitol
 

History of the Territory
 
Missouri Became a State

 
The City's Namesake
 
Beauty Inside
 
 
The Dome

Amazing Art Work
The Museum Inside the Capitol
 
The USS Missouri - Steve Could Relate well sort-of
 
From the USS Missouri

 
The Governor’s house is pretty spectacular as well. We were able to wander around on the outside but they didn’t invite us in! Maybe if Izzy had been with us they would have!


I was able to get in touch with Susan who works for the USGS and who I worked with for many years dealing with our fire chemical program. She and Ed (works with Susan and I worked with as well) met us for dinner Saturday night. We had a great time and the food was excellent.

 
Susan dropped us off at the trailer and we spent a bit of time talking. We asked her if she knew why Missouri was called the show-me state. She said it was because of Truman and that he also had to have something proven to him so it was dubbed the show-me state. Now you know!

We headed out Sunday for the St. Louis area. We decided to stay in St. Charles since it was fairly close to St. Louis and the RV park was near the Missouri.
Close to the RV Park - On the Missouri
 
It seems Izzy never gets tired of finding swimming locations!
Maybe a smaller stick next time
St. Charles is where Lewis and Clark started their expedition and returned so we headed to the museum and the river to begin our stay.
 

The Bull Boat
Wildlife in the Museum

Deep into Learning


Native American Story


Where it started - of course the bridge wasn't there then!

 
We never get tired of finding golfing locations. Too bad my golf game doesn’t stick with me the way Izzy sticks with swimming! Oh well it’s not like I am trying to get into the LPGA!
Digging for a Tee

Going for it

We hit the Zoo one day and the Gateway Arch. Steve’s first choice wasn’t to go see the zoo but I was able to convince him to come since it was done by Marlin Perkins and he could see how I can talk to the animals. I bet you didn’t know that about me did you. Well I really can’t but needed some ammunition so Steve would come!
The zoo was nicely done and not too crowded. The weather was just right and most of the animals were out and about. I took a few pictures since that’s what I do! Also wanted to be able to show everybody what our friends are looking like! Unfortunately Izzy had to stay back at the trailer which I think was a good idea since she would think these were her friends too!

The Great Hornbill

 

Colorful

Don't Think He Wanted His Picture Taken Since he stuck his tongue out at me

The Giselle and Giraffe Getting a Snack 

Good Thing Izzy Didn't Come

Just hanging out

Hi There!

I'm Not Happy with That Hump Day Commercial

Hurry-up Mommy

Taking a Peak
The Fish and the Hippo
Will you play with me?

Sorry I'm a bit sleepy

I'm not happy about this

Let's Party!

Getting a bite to eat with her child

 

Red River Hog

Steve's Friend
 

Too Cute

Tory Found a Friend
 
Steve had not been to St. Louis so he was pretty amazed at the arch. It is closed since it is part of the National Park Service but it is so impressive to just stand at the bottom and look up. Trying to figure out how it was built is like tackling the Rubix Cube! Which, by the way I don’t think I have ever solved.

Before we were leaving this part of Missouri Steve wanted to see the confluence of the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers. Plus we needed to say Izzy got to swim in both rivers within minutes of each other! I thought about contacting the Guinness Book of World Records people but it probably isn’t a category!
 
Getting ready for the Mississippi

Can we stay with the Mississippi - this current in the Missouri is strong

The Point at the Missouri and Mississippi rivers

Missouri on the left and Mississippi on the right
 
 
We didn’t bring our fishing poles but did run into this gentleman fishing along the Mississippi. He was having luck catching some small channel catfish and Izzy wanted to go lick them for him!

We stopped at a golf course on our way back to the trailer to play nine holes. I think we were both glad we stuck with just nine that day since our games decided to stay home and read a book!

We left Thursday, October 10th to head down the Mississippi to continue our trek toward the Gulf Coast. Stay tuned for the next best thing to a slice of bread, SITs adventure!

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