The Road Home.

Today is our last day here in the USA before the arduous trip back home. Already it appears that the arrival time of 5.30pm is not right so time will tell I guess.

Any way at the time of my writing we are here at a place Called Fort Madison in Iowa pictured right. It is a replica rebuild of the original which the soldiers burnt after leaving the area due to incessant indian attacks. Placed pretty well where the original was it shows what the original was pretty much like.

Also close to Fort Madison is a place called Nauvoo which surprisingly was one of the early homes of the Mormans and the place its founder (Smith) was shot "trying to escape" from Prison.
According to Jerry, Jim's Cousin, at one stage it was a big as Chicargo  in the 1840's. After the founders death they moved west and founded Salt Lake City except for some who remained behind. Today it is still a strong Morman city/town and they pretty much stick to them selves much to the locals discust

Pictured left is their new "Temple". They brought up a complete block of housing and then demolished it to built the temple there. They have tried to purchase the nearby "Catholic" Church so they can demolish it, just to get rid of it away from their temple.

Many of the old houses from Smith's time still exist such as those pictured right.

Still very surprising to have come across this settlement as I, just like many, thought that Smith had led them out to Utah and founded Salt Lake City.

I sure as Hell would like the concession on Black Pants and White shirts as you'd make a killing in that town. Not to mention straw hats, a tradition that they have recently copied from the local Ahmish and Memonite(?) communities. They sure do have their fair share of "Religious Oddities" out here.

The previous day we travelled from Kirksville to Fort Madison via a town called Hannibal. You may have heard of this town as it was the home of Mark Twain the writer. Here he served as a Steam boat pilot and started his most famous writings such as Tom Sawyer ect.

We did a 1 hour cruise on the Mississippi  and a quick tour of the town by foot. Seen here are some of the photo's of the town and the "Paddle boat" that we took the cruise.

In all a nice interlude of two hours.




Yesterday we  also went to Burlington, did a quick tour of the town and then spent the afternoon at the Casino which as we all won was a very good time spent by us. Oh I played the blackjack, still don't like the Slot machines.

At the end of the day we all met up with Jim's relatives for supper and photo's which are below.

So our days here are now at an end. The next post will be a summary of our trip but will be done from home. Thanks for all those who followed the trip and posted comments, especially Bob.

Cheers

Neil W

Home Sweet Home.

Today we spent the day looking around Kirksville, which was Jim's home town.

Now better known as a University town,  home of the  Truman University of Missouri.

Much has changed since Jim lived there and much is still the same.




We found Jim's old House (left) and his old school (right). The old school is no longer in use and soon to be renovated for offices by the University.

We also found the Thousand Hills Lake where Jim had spent time as a lad. Very much changed since it is now is home to many who enjoy the water sports.

Also had a good look around the old town square. 






The Poto's left and right are of buildings that surround the city Courthouse.





Tomorrow we leave for Fort Madison for our last three nights before returning back to Australia.

Cheers

Neil W

St.Louis to Kirksville.

Today we traveled to Kirksville. Some 203 miles away. Pretty easy  drive through fairly flat terrain.
Pretty good time at St.Louis with the Baseball and excepting for the heat which for the first three days was pretty unbearable. I didn't attend the last night game as I simply couldn't take another 100 + day in the crowd even though the sun was setting sitting there in oppressive heat is no fun. Just as well as I cheated and watched the game on Fox on the Hotel's TV. I turned off after 9 innings and the game went till the 12th innings when the Cards won the game.

The next day the Sun took a holiday and it was overcast with the temperature hovering around the 90 degree mark. this was a God Send as it was a day game starting at 12.45pm. Good game but the Dodgers, excepting in the 4th when they scored 4, looked a spent force after their extra innings effort. Felt a lot better after that game than the previous one's I had attended.

Talk soon.

Neil W

Another hot one.

Last night we went to the second game of the Series versus the LA Dodgers. At 102 degrees at game time it was hot. The sun had started setting and our seats were in shade, but it was still pretty hot. I must admit that the heat is taking its toll of me and I am having some physical difficulties in the crowds with the heat. At 10pm it was still close to 94 degrees with no relief in sight.

As far as the game went we saw a great pitching effort by Number 20  for the Cardinals with both ball and bat. He came in with a .061 batting average and left with a .103 after the game. As for the game the Cards beat the Dodgers 8 - 2 on 8 hits. They didn't score a Home run for the night. We sat in what they call a dugout box and had a good view of the game. No foul balls came our way though. Also these seats come with the right to visit the Dugout bar which is under the ground level seats. It has a bar and toilets which was very handy, especially as it was Air-conditioned.

Tonight's game is game three in the series and as I write (6.15pm) it is 104 (40 C). I don't think that I'll go tonight as I simply can't take another night of oppresive heat. Jim has been out touring all day and will go straight to the game. I hope he enjoys it.

Neil W

A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight in St. Louis.

Since the last post we have traveled from Vicksburg through Memphis (Nothing like Egypt) and now find ourselves in St.Louis. The torrential rain which had followed us through the South has now left us, though it did rain in Memphis but it didn't have its heart in it unlike New Orleans, Asheville and Vicksburg.

 Nothing much to report from the two traveling days, there's only so much cars, roads and signs you can photograpth. However left is the state line and the right yet more road signs.



We did however eventually arrive in St.Louis where a mean 102 Degrees met us there with the full might of its blast. The outside temp gauge of the Toyota climbed from 82 degrees to 102  degrees in the space of about 40 miles (64 Km) with no rain in sight.

 There was a night game starting at 7.05 pm which we attended. We had chosen the Hotel which is a Sheraton because of its closeness to St.Louis's light rail system which takes you right to the Baseball Field "Busch Stadium" for the Princely sum of $4.50 return. We cover 9 stations and we are there and it takes about 15 minutes on the 3 car tram-like train.

Thankfully the cars are very well airconditioned because it was about 102 still when we arrived at the ground. Jim took off into the merchandising shop and that was the last I saw of him for over a hour. This didn't mater all that much as we had over a hour and a half till game time. Thankfully for me the seats we had brought were shaded and so while the air was hot we were not in direct sunlight.

 As can be seen from these shots the field is fairly modern and built to simulate an old fashioned Ball Park.

A crowd of 42,000 went last night and thats not a sell out by any means. Unfortunately the Cardinals went down to the Dodgers 7 - 5 but both teams are pretty close and I expect a closer result tonight as both sides have arguerably their best pitches starting the game.

Here the Dodgers are taking batting practice before the game.







Today we also went shopping for Lois and finally got her 5 quart mixing bowl and paddle that I've been chasing over six states with no luck until now. Tommorow I'll organise with FED-EX to ship it home.

We also took a tour of  Busch Stadium and got to stand behind Home plate. The tour lasted one hour and was well worth it as we not only got to go onto the warning track but into the Cardinals Dug out.

As you can see Jim got to sit in his beloved Cardinals Dugout.


Tonight we are off to Game 2 of the series against the Dodgers and once more expect a hot time in the old town. we have different seats each night so that we can appreciate the ground from different areas. Last night we were along 3rd base line. Tonight we are more behind home plate than last night.


Will Probably post soon.

Cheers Neil.

Vic's Vapour rub? No Vicksburg

Sorry bad pun.
Left New Orleans this morning and guess what... No rain. Also no Navigator! My faithful servant has gone on strike! Was working in the Hotel but simply refused to run when we were in the car. Luckily it was a simple drive after we got out of New Orleans. It was simply getting out that was the problem. But out we got after some tricky driving and a bit of luck combined with Jim's road atlas.

Once on the road it rained for some of the way but gradually the rain eased and we had a sunny entrance into Vicksburg Mississippi. Sunny, in fact it became quite hot after a while and it was hard to take after being cool and wet after the last few days

Finally arrived at Vicksburg, about 2.30pm with plenty of time to take the driving tour of the battlefield. Here was the site of the Union Army's besieging of the town of Vicksburg in 1863.

 Seen here are several of the sites located around the battlefield.

It is difficult to envision today how the troops of the day saw the Battlefield as it is now covered by trees.





Historically the Confederates denuded the landscape completely for 700 yards in front of their defences so that they had completely clear approaches in front of their trenches. Unfortunately for the Confederates they had little artillery during the siege which allowed the union forces to attack with their artillery at will.

Whilst we were visiting the National Battlefield the re-en actors were showing how the Confederates gun crews manned their guns and fired them.
I was able to get some good video of the drill and the resultant firing of the 12lb Napoleon Gun.

Over-all a great day made complete with the sudden return to life of the Navigator at a time when it was much needed to find our Hotel. Unfortunately  for us the Hotel had lost its power. By the time we had returned from dinner the power had been restored thankfully.

By the way for all the "Porky's" crew I brought this at New Orleans


This is a HOT CHOCOLATE!


Called a Grand Hot Chocolate.



Tomorrow we head to Memphis Tennessee where we have an overnight stay before we head to St.Louis for a four night stay. Our time here is coming to a end.


Neil W

PPS I did forget to mention that we also in our tour of the battlefield see the USS Cairo Iron Clad Ship. She was suck by three torpedoes (Mines) and left sunken for aver 100 years. She was then raised and restored to as good a condition as could be. Below are some pictures of her.

Cheers.

Neil W

Its Raining, Its Pouring and No I'm not Snoring

Yesterday we traveled onto New Orleans from Birmingham. Guess what, another huge storm hit us and we had to drive for 3 hours in the deluge. Travelling at times as low as 50 MPH  (80 KPH) and back to 65mph when the rain allowed. Arrived in good time though at around 3pm only to learn that the Hotel valet parking service would take the car away to park it some 15 blocks away. So we had to unload all our gear before they whipped the car away. We have to give them some 30 minutes notice when we want the car.

We met up with Jim's family who are vacationing here and had a very good night with them. Terrific people who made me most welcome. I had to leave them early as I wasn't well, something that I drank I think. Jim says that the rest of the night was great and a good time had by all.

Today as if right on queue the heavens opened up once again and we had another majestic Thunderstorm complete with heavy rain and lightning. Much too heavy to go out into and it lasted over 2 hours. That's now over four days in a row we have been dumped on during the day with heavy rain.

Jim was due to go out for another walk but had to stay indoors and sit it out in the Hotels Foyer.

Seen extreme left there's Jim patiently waiting for the storm to abate.








Some others unfortunately not so lucky and having to load their cars in the rain as there is not a lot of parking for the guests cars.

Jim is taking a city tour later today and I will just stroll around the precincts close to the Hotel as I am a little off color today so won't stray far. Still photo's don't do the intensity of the storms justice. I have shot some Video which does show it more than does the still shots..

New Orleans or "Norleans" as the locals call it, especially in the French quarter is very seedy and run down, which is exactly like they want it to be.

Just a few more shots of the storm and the area around our Hotel. The hotel is perfectly situated in the heart of the French Quarter of  New Orleans and one can walk just about anywhere around the area.
Off to Vicksburg on the Mississippi River tommorow, lets hope that it doesn't rain yet again, especially when we are loading the car.

Right on cue as I sit writing this at 12.50pm or 3.52am your time, the Heavens have opened up yet again and its raining. Its not cold about 72 Degrees (21) which is just as well as the Hotels airconditioning has broken down. Not in the Hotel but in the rooms, ours included. Got the handy man up but he doesn't know what the matter is except it affects the entire guest rooms. Just as well its not humid at the moment.

I did pop out later in the day to look for some Jazz CD's just as the next big thunderstorm struck and got drowned, despite my buying a umberella which was a steal at $3.00 Like their more famous "Italian" cousins this one at least hung together until I returned to the Hotel after having quite a time finding it in the monsoon that was raging here in Norleans. According to the weather forecast they say this will last until Sunday. I hope not as we have to pack the car in the weather!!!!

BTW the air con is back on which is rather mixed blessings.

Will post soon Cheers

Neil W