St. Louis, MO

We arrived safely in St. Charles, where we stay when we visit John and his family, and got settled in. We bought a couple of pizzas and packed up our pizza maker and headed for John's home. The St. Louis traffic wasn't too bad and we didn't have any problems. It was good to see John, Florence, and Christine as it has been almost two years since we have been together. Florence is growing like a weed and maturing just as quickly. She is very intelligent and catches onto stuff very quickly. She is also a self starter, like John, and played and constructed stuff on her own in her play room, aka the living room. She has loads of paper, crayons, markers, stickers, glue, etc to make whatever is on her mind. She seems very creative! We had a good time talking and catching up a bit and headed back to the RV park before it got to late, plus it was a school night for all of them. On Friday we had planned to have dinner with our friends Bart & Dee but Dee wasn't feeling well so those plans were canceled. Instead, Bart came by to see us on Saturday morning and we were able to talk a bit and do some catching up. Bart is still active with golf in the St. Louis area and still plays a bit himself. That afternoon John and the girls came over to see us and have a cookout. We grilled steaks and hotdogs and Tippy made sliced cucumbers and twice baked potatoes and everything was delicious! On Sunday we went to their home for lunch and who did we meet as we pulled in by my niece Danielle and her boyfriend JR. They had flown to St. Louis from Nashville to see a concert and Danielle sent John a text just after they left us for the evening on Saturday. John thought it would be a good surprise for us, and it was, so he didn't tell us they were also coming for lunch. So we had a great time catching with with Danielle and meting JR. He seems to be a very nice man and was very interested in John's work and the restoration of the house. Danielle just started a new job with a different dentist in Nashville, more money and more positive working conditions. It sounded like they had a great time at the concert - "Foo" something - guess I am out of the loop here. I forgot to mention that as we were leaving for dinner one evening in Columbia I saw a friend of ours from our Alfa Club walking in the park. I stopped the car and sure enough it was Abe Racine on his was to Colorado. He had his motorhome repainted this summer and it really looked great. We would love to do that as well but can't afford it right now. On Monday we drove to Branson, MO where we will stay for five nights to see some shows and for me to play golf at Branson Creek Golf Club. They were in the Top 100 Public Courses until this year and they are still in the top ten for Missouri. I enjoyed the course and the beautiful scenery I saw. We saw deer and wild turkeys in addition to the spectacular views and vistas. Hopefully you will get an idea from the pictures above. Last night, Tuesday, we went to see the Mickey Gilley Show and it was excellent! Mickey hurt his back a while ago and is still in the process of regaining movement of his legs, left arm, and his hands. He wasn't able to play the piano as he usually does and he needed to do most of his singing while sitting in a chair. We were thoroughly entertained for 2 1/2 hours and came back to the coach very happy. Today we will see the Gaitlin Brothers at 3:00 this afternoon and then the Acrobats of China at 8:00 this evening. Tomorrow night we will see the Oakridge Boys and that will be our last show unless something else comes up. Enjoy the pics and be safe.