Kansas City for 9 days

We arrived in the Kansas City area on Saturday evening, about 8PM. The thermometer on the car read 101, however, the humidity was not as high as St. Louis. Actually, the temperature was tolerable because the sun was not bearing down on us. After dropping off the Envoy that Betty drove from St. Louis, loaded with plants and pictures, we drove to Merriam KS to the Walnut Grove RV Park where we will be staying for 9 days.

Walnut Grove is the only in-town RV park in Metro KC and is located just off of I-35. It dates from 1933, and used to be a mobile home park. Today, all the mobiles have been removed and the park has 54 RV spaces with full hookups and 30 or 50 Amp sites. It is a typical in-town park with close neighbors on all sides. The pull-through spaces are narrow, but longer. Ours is a back in space with a greater width that accommodates our slide outs better. The daily rate is $27. No discounts are available. Wireless internet is included, so we have the LUXURY of not searching for a hook up somewhere. Another benefit is that it we are really close to most things. Downtown KCMO, riverboat gambling (we don't) is 15 minutes. Independence is about 30 minutes. Our old stomping ground at Lees Summit (Lakewood) is about 40 minutes. Overland Park, Shawnee Mission, Prairie Village are all next door. And of course, that GREAT Kansas City BBQ.

We will be here for several days seeing our friend through the receipt of her furniture and personal belongings. She prefers to do the unpacking however long it takes so that she can organize her things and know where everything is. Can't say we blame her at all, having just moved ourselves about a year ago. We will visit former neighbors while here then decide just where we will go next. All we know for now is that we have an appointment at the Excel factory in Smith Center on August 28th, unless I can get the date moved up due to a cancellation. Our intention is to be back in Colorado by the first week of September for my mother's 95th birthday.

More at a later date. That's if for now.

Off to Kansas City on Saturday

Hi Again. We are still in St. Louis today, but leave for Kansas City on Saturday morning. Today is cooler (but not much) with overcast and a spit of rain or two. Yes, higher humidity.

We spent yesterday at the Jefferson Expansion Memorial (Arch). Took the tram to the top, got out and took pictures through windows and then called my Mother to tell her where we were. Saw the BIG screen Omni view of the National Geographic Lewis and Clark journey of 1804 into the new Louisiana Purchase, the documentary of the building of the Arch in the mid 1960's and spent a lot of time in the NPS museum. We didn't get home until nearly 10:PM as we chose to drive around to see some evening sites. The parking garage at the Arch takes vehicles up to 7 feet, and the pickup is just under that. I had to take down the CB antenna and the Cellular antenna so that they didn't get banged up.

The day before, we toured Grant's Farm, an original place that was owned by President Grant, and later owned by the Busch Family (Anheiser-Busch). Boy, the Clydsdales are big animals. Some of the old carriages and wagons are interesting, too. This farm has several hundred species of animals from all over the world that roam freely on the farm..no preditors that I am aware of. And the elephants are in large compounds.

Tonight we go to the Botanical Gardens for an exhibit of hand blown glass by Dale Chihully in the gardens. We hope for cool and dry.

Tomorrow, we want to see the A-H Brewery and the History Museum in Forest Park. We'll see if we can get up and running in the morning.

The packing of our friend when quite well. We helped out for a little over two weeks, then her daughter arrived from AZ and her son from Kansas City. Today, the commercial packers arrived, and tomorrow the moving van will load. We will pick up pictures and flowers on Saturday AM to put into the fifth wheel and the rear seat of the pickup. Betty will drive her Envoy to KC, Shawn will drive his Range Rover and Bev her Jaguar. We will caravan to KC. Unloading will be on Wednesday.

Until next time, Hugs to you all...

St. Louis Weather

Well, you may have read that St. Louis was hit pretty hard with high winds on Wednesday evening, 7/19/06. Huge trees went down all over the central part of the city. Comfort index is 115 today. Power outages from the storm last night have 300,000 residents without electricity. One major area without power is the municipal water district which cannot pump water without power. Our friend Bev has friends in the core city area that are without both, electricity (air conditioning) and water. Out in west county, we avoided most of the damage. High winds, but not big tree losses and although power was off and on between 7-8PM we maintained electricty (and AC) through the night and into today. More winds forcast for today...we'll see. Weekend forcast is 15 degrees cooler. We'll take it. We try to keep the inside of the RV about 15-20 degrees cooler than outside. Can you believe that 80 degrees inside feels cold???

Betty and I went out at 11AM today to empty the holding tanks and take on fresh water. OMG! Just standing by the RV I soaked my shirt. Betty's hair was pinned up, but it was soaked. This is too much for anyone, and we really feel badly for those suffering without power.

Packing is going well. Basement and dining room are done. Kitchen will be attacked soon. Commercial packers will arrive on Thursday next week, and movers on Friday. Then we can head for Kansas City where is is cool.

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this is a day off from packing today, so we have to hit Wally World for supplies. Until next time...

Singin' the (heat) Blues in St. Louis

OMG. Comfort index exceeds 100. 96 degrees, light rain with sun. It is like a sauna outside. Now I remember why we moved out of the midwest. WHEW!

We spent two days at Bev's house setting up her garage for the moving sale. Then, on Wednesday we had the first day of the sale...yes, the comfort index has been the same uncomfortable "off the chart" reading. We did pretty well for the first day of the sale, but Bev wishes it had been more productive. We will have a second sale Friday afternoon, 5-8. then the final day on Saturday. After that, I think a charity will pick up the remaining stuff. We will begin the packing for the move next week. INSIDE. IN Air Conditioning!

When BC and I were at Weston Bend State Park last week (north of Kansas City) we picked wild black berries. The park limited our take to one gallon per person, per day! Needless to say, we could not eat that amount, but it was fun to pick. Now, we have chigger bites in all the tight places where elastic are tight to the skin. Cheapest Blackberries we ever ate, and also the most costly, if you know what I mean.

We are at the St. Louis Bread Company, aka Panera Bread Co. All stores seem to have free WiFi, so Betty ordered a Greek salad which is about the yummiest I have ever eaten. We each have our laptops screaming along doing our mail, paying our bills, and learning how to fight chiggers. No sightseening until next week after the moving sale is over. Then, there are lots of places we want to see.

Hope you are enjoying your summers!

Cheers from the Kellers.

Heading for St. Louis

Well, Betty went to a Physical Therapist in Lincoln this AM and we are now sitting at Panera Bread Co waiting for her aunt and uncle to join us for lunch. Then, we will head off toward St. Louis for the next several weeks. We will stop over in St Joseph or Kansas City for a few days of rest before heading off to our new "job" in St. Louis...helping our friend Bev get ready to move.

Lincoln has been cool the last few days, a refreshing change from the first few days of heat. We arrived at 101 degrees, with humidity. Oh my.

Will add to this in KC or St. Louis when I can.

Love to you all

Back on the Road Again (finally)

We planned to leave on the 28th of June but did not get away until the 29th. After a 10 day stay in CO, we are now in Lincoln NE for Betty's aunt's 80th Birthday. If you have not been to Lincoln, stop at a state roadside visitor information booth and get a Lincoln tour book. Boy, there is a lot to do here, and unusual things to see. We need to come back for more time.

It has been great fun to be in Lincoln for the birthday, and I have really enjoyed meeting her cousins and their families, some for the first time in 40 years. What a great mix of personalities. We laughed a lot, joked and teased, and or course, ate a lot. The birthday celebration was on the 2nd, served by grandson: Chef Joe, sous chef at upscacle VENUE restaurant in Lincoln. Prime Rib that melted in your mouth. I asked about the seasoning and his response was a kind, "well, I roll the prime in a Tuscan mix of seasoning and slow roasted 3-1/2 hours." Okay, Joe, what is IN the "Tuscan mix?" Outa sight! The meal served 34 people, and we met some of their long time friends from North Platte, Cozad and Omaha as well as Lincoln. We have spent several days enjoying a yummie wine and cheeze (PLUS other goodies) party at cousin Sue's home and lots of social time with aunt and uncle.

We have been staying at the Nebraska State Fair Grounds with full hookup and 50 amp service. $120 for 7 days. Grassy with paved internal roads and paved tire tracks in the spaces. Pretty close together, and no tables, but a good rate if you are just using this as a place to run the A/C and sleep. We are gone all day, so this works out fine.

On the way to Lincoln, we overnighted at Johnson Lake State Park (NE), 8 miles south of Lexington off I-80. GREAT park with lots of grass, gravel sites with large shade trees, 50 amp service, lake views, no water or sewer hookup (but available in the park). $10 camp, $5 elec, $3 state park entrance fee. This is a park to which we will return. Found it in Wright's Free Camp Sites (or under $10) book. Good source of reasonable camping sites.

We leave Lincoln on July 6th and head for St. Louis. This is a working leg of the trip as we will visit a long time friend who is moving back to Kansas City (where we first met her) to live near her son and his family. We will help with the garage sale, then assist with packing in preparation for her move the end of July. I hope we get to see her new home in KC this trip...sounds like a real delight (if you like "stick-and-brick" construction instead of the RV life on wheels!)

Sorry that I have not been able to post. Again, I have been without internet service since the last posting. Here, in Lincoln, I am using Uncle Bill's broadband cable. When we head out for St. Louis, I will see what we are able to find and will post by the end of the week, with luck.

Thanks for your faithful reading. Sorry if I don't get your emails answered, but often the limited time is used up in the Blog update when I can get online. I appreciate your understanding.

Until next weekend, Cheers from BandG.