Thursday morning, Sept 16, it's time to leave Sandy's home. Got everything packed up and loaded, but since I hadn't needed my car keys since we got there, I decided I had better locate them since I was driving the first half. Could not find my keys! I started back-tracking in my head - I knew I had them when we left Evanston, WY, because I was driving. We had stopped for a bite to eat and to fill the gas tank - did I leave them at the diner? Mike handed me his keys, and I continued to stew and worry while driving. There was nothing identifying me on the key ring, and I knew it would be pricey to replace the remote - rats! This would be stupid expense #2, since earlier in the week I had broken my sunglasses (came with my glasses) by putting them in my pocket. It only costs $80 to replace them - why they're so expensive is beyond me - you can buy a pair of clip-ons that are almost identical for $5.99 at the drug store. Time to stop worrying - just keep drivin' . . .
We drove south through Colorado, avoiding Denver (nasty traffic) and on into Kansas. Scenery? Lots of rolling hills and crops that look sort of like corn - no tassles on top, but some sort of brown cluster at the top. I found out later that this was sorghum, which becomes molasses for our cookies! Yum! We stopped at a Motel 6 in Salina for the night - we had been driving a little over 7 hours. The desk clerk was a little bit goofy, but helpful and gave us a room in the back of the motel. We drove back there, and it's dark, dark, dark - not an outside light to be seen! Motel 6 rooms are pretty minimal with only the absolute necessities - ours did come with a few houseflies, which was definitely not a bonus! We were just about to feel our way back to the front of the motel to ask about lights when they all came on. We felt a little safer after that. I made sure the internet was functioning and found my keys! For some reason I had put them in my netbook case when we were at Sandy's. Then I convinced Mike it was time for dinner at the next-door IHOP. We had a tolerable meal, but the young men in the booth on the other side of the wall from us were a bit of a distraction. Two of them were in and out more than a swinging door the whole time we were there - there was another one that was sleeping and snoring all the while, except when one of his buddies woke him up from time to time. They were still there when we left - maybe they couldn't afford a room.
Friday, Sept 17, we're on the road again - this time for a little over 6 hours. We needed to get to our motel in St Louis in time to shower and change for my great-niece's rehearsal dinner at 7 pm. We found our way to our Days Inn in Hazelwood, MO with plenty of time to get ready. I had made the reservations on-line before we left - it looked good and the reviews were fine. I have to say that we were hesitant when we first saw the place (it looked pretty run down) and went in to register, but the clerk seemed okay, although she complained the whole time about her family and family functions. We drove around to the back of the nearly empty parking lot and headed to our room. There was a very large common lawn between the buildings, personal BBQs, kids playing, adults hanging out (sample conversation "no - you can't smoke in prison!") - this was obviously a low-income, short-term residence for some "interesting" people. The room was okay - but as we talked about it, we decided that this was definitely not within our comfort zone. We went back to the front desk and informed her that we decided not to stay - we found out later that instead of a credit, she mistakenly (I think) charged us a second time for the room. Now I get to fight that one out! Off we went down the road to find another place to stay. We settled on a Super 8 that while not 100% better, was at least better. Unfortunately, we were on the first floor which was actually like the basement level - our window looked out onto the sidewalk where people walking by could look down into our room.
After we finally were able to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, we programmed Miss Aggie to lead us to the address. She did quite well, actually, and we were some of the first to arrive at this beautiful home. I think the hosts are the groom's aunt & uncle, and their house and grounds are fantastic. The groom, Doug, is from St Louis, and he has quite a lot of family and friends there. We were made to feel very welcome, and soon the wedding party arrived from the rehearsal. The bride, Kailie; her daughter, Faith; my niece Kerri and her husband Maury; the bride's father Jeff; my niece Lonni; Kerri's daughter-in-law Jen and granddaughter Melora Belle; Kailie's aunt and maid of honor, Tonya; and us were the extent of the bride's family. My sister, the bride's grandmother, was in an accident about 6 months ago, and is still unable to travel - we really missed her. The get-together was very nice - food was great.
The next day we went in search of a beauty salon or beauty supply to replace the hair gel I left at my sister Sandy's. There is only one brand that works for me, and I absolutely can't do anything with my hair without it - this is something only women will understand! This product allows me to have wash and wear hair - the less work the better. (Now back to our program.)
Kailie and Doug's wedding was at 6 pm at a country club - very nice venue! We boarded 6-passenger golf carts and were taken to the area where the wedding would take place. The ceremony was short, but very nice - we bombarded the newlyweds with lots and lots of bubbles as they walked back down the aisle as husband and wife. The reception was a sit-down dinner -the food and cake were outstanding! As we were leaving the reception, there was a huge electrical storm happening. Wow - I don't think I've ever seen that much lightning at one time. The thunder was really loud, too! We woke the next morning to rain - definitely not a great day for walking around, so we hit the road again, this time to Hannibal - Mark Twain's boyhood home.
Hannibal is only about 2 hours from St Louis, and the drive was rainy but uneventful. The sky started to clear as we got closer to our destination - just a few light sprinkles when we got there. We stopped at a Days Inn to book a room, but the clerk said we had to come back at 3 pm. We drove down to the riverfront - our first sighting of the mighty Mississippi! At first glance I thought - "gee, this doesn't look so muddy", but then after looking closer had to admit that the water is, indeed, brown. We wandered around the riverfront for a liitle bit, drove up a very narrow road to the lighthouse (did not climb those many, many steps) then made our way back to our motel. We had a new desk clerk by this time (shift change) who wasn't any more pleasant than the first one. Hmmmmmmm. We settled into our room - I was anxious to start adding to my new endeavor, this blog. Phooey! No internet! I tried and tried, thinking that maybe I was just inept, but I finally had to give up and call Susie Sunshine at the front desk. Apparently lightning had taken out the internet at least a week prior to this, and was still not fixed. I was bummed!
Armed with brochures about Mark Twain and other interesting sights, we headed back into town the next morning. We visited the home of Mark Twain's boyhood and learned about his friends and neighbors on which he based his characters in his books about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We boarded the Mark Twain Riverboat at 1:30 for a narrated cruise on the Mississippi - the boat looked much like the old sternwheelers and was a fun trip. After our "cruise" we decided to explore the Mark Twain Caves. Our guide was a very entertaining young man named Shaun, and the two of us made up his entire group. The caves are beautiful - narrow and winding passages - Shaun would turn lights on and off as we proceeded through the passages. We did not go through all of them - the total distance of all passages combined was over 6 miles long! There were places where it is rumored that Jesse James hid out, and there is a place where Jesse actually signed his name on the wall (verified by handwriting experts). It is definitely a worth-while tour - we enjoyed it very much. On the way back to the motel, we stopped at Lover's Leap, so named for a legend of an Indian princess and an Indian brave from warring tribes. Of course, they were in love - as the story goes, the princess's father was going to shoot her with and arrow rather than let this young brave have her. Before the arrow could strike its target, the princess and her brave held hands and leaped to their death! Ahhhh - young love!
Tomorrow we will ford the river - in our Honda. What pioneers we are - NOT!
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