http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Missouri , St Louis en-us Sun, 08 Nov 09 22:57:47 +0000 Sun, 08 Nov 09 22:57:47 +0000 One of the best places to watch Fall splendor is a drive on the Great River Road hugging the Mississippi starting from Alton all the way till Pere Marquette State Park. The drive is really exceptional if it happens to be a Peak Fall color weekend as was this last week end. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-448487.html The rush of life often leaves me wondering Why is it that I fill my schedule up to the brim Why do I stay too busy to enjoy this wonderful creation Words cannot convey the much needed serenity you experience while traveling down Route 66. For me it's the ultimate disconnect from the rest of the world. The moment we pulled onto the Mother Road just outside of the Chicago hustle I was insta http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-444854.html Before we began to pack up our home in St. Louis. I had one place I needed to cross off my list of Must do before I move list. So my friend Helena and I drove south from STL to Johnson's ShutIn state park. It was a perfect day or as perfect as a day can be for me. I was with a friend the sun was shining and I was walking in a beautiful place. Plus Helena bought lunch which again for me http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-441546.html Well st. louis is technically in missouri as well as Illinois anyhow... We had no luck finding work there and kept running into snags with people and police plus I lost my I.D one drunkin night so we decided it was time to go home. We start walking towards the most obvious eastern highway to hike when some dude stops and asks us where we are headed. We told him east and he told us to hop in he http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-436316.html JOhnny had told some of his friends that we were coming down so we had a place to crash.. it was all fun best dumpster dive town ever... mountains of fresh packaged scores. Yet nooo work what so ever this was bad. So after three days in carbondale we decided to pack up and start hitching north for St. Louis. After three hours of walking we got picked up by a dad and his daughter.. we hoped in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-435541.html The bus journey to St Louis has some good and bad sides. The good side is meeting Stefan who I have coffee with at the station before he heads on to Kansas City. The bad side is not getting a whole lot of sleep due to snoring copassengers and the unfriendly Greyhound woman who will not keep my backpack until the evening bus leaves hence forcing me to either walk around hot St. Louis with my back http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-432885.html Cape Girardeau where we stayed last night is the largest city between Memphis TN and St Louis Missouri along the River. It has evolved from a tiny trading post to a frontier settlement governed by a FrenchCanadian commandant to a thriving culturallyrich community of 37000 residents on the worldrsquos only inland cape. A teaching university was founded in Cape Girardeau that is now Southeast http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-432260.html Saturday We packed up and headed north for St Louis. Along the way we stopped at a Cafe that the lady from Michigan had told us about. Lamberts Well what a place.The line was standing outside where you take a number. We only waited about 14 hr before getting a table. They had a piano playing and its all set in an old barn with number plates from all over America on the walls. We ordered our d http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-431210.html DO NOT TAKE THE VICTORY III. Owner and CAPTAIN is a HOT HEAD who mistreats customers and does NOT deserve your business. We have filed complaints about the Captain Micheal Usina with the BBB and City of St. Augustine. Here is whyhellipOn August 1 2009 a group of us ventured out on the Victory III from St. Augustine Marina. As we boarded the boat we were met with some harsh comments from the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-427760.html Melisse and I are doing all those bits of minutiae one has to do before embarking on a journey. We have lists and lists to do. Some things are simple like picking up an audio cable so I can plug my first generation iPod into my car stereo. Others are more daunting such as making out a will in case... So the house is starting to be partially shut down. We are fortunate that our niece and her husb http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-424274.html Its taken 3 years of training to get to this point and I've finally completed the 4 hour exam to finalise my qualification as a...wait for it...its a mouthful... Listening and Spoken Language Speicalist Certified AuditoryVerbal Therapist or LSLS Cert AVT. I told people back home that from what its taken to get this far you'd surely be able to hear my WOOHOOOOOs from the other side of the pl http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-422755.html Doges and I had an early start this morning check out of the hotel and on the road by 545am. A stop at a Dunkin' Donuts with WiFi let me do some necessary checkins. One donut half a lukewarm coffee and Dogan's brekkie later we were back on the road. It was strangely peaceful driving so early with no cars on the road. I turned on some tunes thanks to everyone who contributed to Beth's xco http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-422429.html One of the things that I hate about driving crosscountry is dealing with the Plains. No offense but Kansas is so boring so imagine my surprise as I pull into the first rest stop and see that it offers free wireless internet. It worked great and I was able to make the requisite post to Facebook but little did I know that it must have been the only wireless equipped rest stop in the State becau http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-416577.html Well it is raining pretty good. I was hoping to see Melina one last time before heading to Alaska. She is in the Parade today with her mom. If the rain keeps up maybe no party tonight... http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-415117.html Well I completed my first class at UMSL in my quest to complete my IMBA. I did well got an A and decided since I had really nothing to do after class to take my mom and my nephew Nick for a little drive across the country to see the sights and to visit my sister Kathy and my brother Tim in California. Our first stop was Meramec Caverns where the floods ahd hit. Nick had never been there. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-414192.html Well this was ours. We decided not to do St. Louis as a stop along the way since we spent a day at Yellowstone. Little did I know that you have to go through St. Louis to get to Memphis but oh well We got up this morning and we headed out after another complimentary hot breakfast in the hotel. We have been pretty spoiled with nice hotels so far. We aren't staying in luxury 5star bu http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-413973.html Saturday June 27 Elkhart KOA to St. Louis West KOANot much to write about today. We left the ElkhartMiddlebury KOA this morning just after 8am and stopped at a KFCTaco Bell along the way for lunch. Wersquod reset our watches to Central Time just before that and were trying to adjust our routine by eating a later lunch than usual but didnrsquot expect the KFCTaco Bell place to help us http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-413075.html Wersquore inhellipa parking garage at our hotel. Well I knew about it when I booked the place so we checked in and took some things to a cart before I punched in the code and maneuvered my car to a space in the singlestory garage. The GPS which we narrowed down the names for I think Sylvia will stick wonrsquot work in there so we had to ride out from under the roof and start our day a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-412415.html Today was my last touring day on this leg and it went out with a bang. This morning I went to the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica which replaced the original Cathedral over 100 years ago. The Basilica is located in an older part of town with tree lined streets large brick and stone homes and countless churches. The structure didnrsquot appear particularly large from the exterior I drove past on http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-409324.html The trip up to St. Louis today was about as uneventful as they come. It was only a few hours plus a quick stop at Fort Campbell on the TennesseeKentucky border. I didnrsquot realize that Irsquod be driving by Fort Campbell home of the Screaming Eagles. Therersquos supposed to be a museum that I tried to find but never did. So it became a brief detour.Along the way I got to thinking how pea http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Missouri/St--Louis/blog-409104.html