On the Lewis & Clark Trail/ St. Charles, St Louis, Missouri.

We left Asheville, tearfully since we were leaving family and friends for about 3 months, on our quest to follow the Lewis & Clark Trail to western Montana. We had done the trail through Idaho and  Oregon before.

The first night we stayed at a KOA park at Prizer Point, Kentucky. This excellent RV park is on such a beautiful setting. The water in the picture is part of the Kentucky Lakes National Recreation Area. Across the water is the Land Between the Lakes. On nice thing about KOA RV parks is that almost all of them have an enclosed dog park which Rosie appreciates.

The view from our campsite. Later on this evening we went outside and were able to see thousands of stars.

Next stop was St. Charles, Missouri. This is the place that Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery finally took off from "civilization". They had wintered in St. Louis and gathered all of the men, the supplies, and the boats in St Charles, a small town of about 100 homes at the time. St. Charles is on the Missouri River, 10 miles upstream of where the Missouri enters the Mississippi River. When L&C set off from here they were basically in the wilderness. They expected to see a few Americans, Englishmen, and Canadians but only small groups mostly hunting and trapping, and trading with the Indians. The Missouri River had been previously charted and mapped up to the Mandan Villages, near present day Bismark, ND.

Downtown St. Charles is quaint with brick sidewalks and streets.

The statue is of Daniel Boone by Harry Weber. http://www.harryweber.com/ Daniel spent his last twenty years living in St Charles. Thanks to twobikes for the info.

We ate at the Lewis & Clark's American Restaurant and Public House. Excellent.
This was the view from our table on the balcony

The Katy Trail hugs the Missouri River in St. Charles

The Katy Trail is named for the "MKT" train, The Missouri Kentucky Tennessee, shortened to Katy by locals. The Katy Trail is 220 miles long and is used for pedestrians and bicycles. In most areas the Katy Trail is in the "Katy Trail State Park" Thus this state park is roughly 220 miles long and a few yards wide, with many designated larger areas as well.

The old train station

This statue  of Lewis and Clark (and Seaman, the dog) sits right near the spot where the Corps set off. 

We also visited St. Louis and went to the Museum of Western Expansion, under the Arch. this museum has exhibits on the Lewis and Clark exploration as well as The Oregon Trail, The Mormon Trail, The California Trail. All of these trails followed the same route until they branched off in different directions further west.

The Arch, the Gateway to the West, is spectacular even on a cloudy day.

One of our friends (we don't remember who) advised us to go to Rigazzi's on the Hill, which we did. Thank you, Michael, James, or whoever, because it was great. Mostly locals in an Italian neighborhood.

Al Capone was captured in Rigazzi's.

Turkey meatballs and spaghetti made me feel like I was back at home!
This is what was left after I finished eating. I got two more meals out of this.

Next stop Columbia, Missouri.

Ciao, Frank.