Lewis & Clark Adventure: Columbia, Missouri

Well, we were supposed to camp at Cooper's Landing Campground near Providence, Missouri.  It is situated in a beautiful location, right on the Missouri River, near a spot where old Lewis and Clark themselves camped and right on the Katy Trail. It was indeed a beautiful location, etc, but the campground itself looked so trashy and I swear I could hear banjoes playing. We decided to abandon this place and quickly found a nice campground right in Columbia, Mo, about 15 miles away. We are so happy we did.

We stayed at Pine Grove Village Campground. It was well groomed, full service except for cable TV, and very convenient to everything in Columbia that we wanted to see.

While in Columbia we watched the local TV station tell about the thunderstorms and a tornado heading or way. The first prediction was that it would pass far south of Columbia in about two hours. Then they predicted it would hit Columbia in one hour. We love Diva, our Airstream, but we left her to face the possible tornado on her own. We left Columbia around 8PM, gathering only a few medications, some important papers, and of course, my MacBook Pro, and drove east, away from the thunderstorms and tornadoes. We hung out at a truck stop, 30 miles away, under the canopy, for about 2 hours and then returned. On our way back we saw a huge tree blown over and one telephone pole turned over with electric wires on the ground as well. When we got back to Diva there were only small twigs and leaves strewn all over but not a scratch on her. We got lucky!

Downtown Columbia made us feel like we were back in Asheville, NC.
A Yellow Dog Book Shop right next to a Hookah lounge. And a Prius parked out front!

We loved they way the downtown is laid out. There is an about eight city block by eight city block district, named by some coincidence, "The District" filled with shops, restaurants, coffee cafes, hookah lounges, ice cream places. This district is surrounded by three colleges: 1)University of Missouri, which just had one its' football stars, Michael Sam, become the first openly gay man to be drafted into the NFL,  2) Columbia College, and 3) Stevens College .This is a great arrangement allowing students for the three colleges to walk or use bicycles to get around. We went to a fantastic production of RESPECT! The Musical, produced by the theater department of Stevens College. 

A student basks in the sun at the University of Missouri.

The University of Missouri is a gorgeous campus and a great school

Rocheport, MO, is a small town about 30 miles west of Columbia. It is on the Missouri River and Lewis and Clark camped near here. The Katy Trail is also here and we walked some of it. We were going to bring our bikes but it looked like rain for sure. As you can see, the sun was poking though while we were here.  Pretty nice for a US Post Office to have hanging baskets with flowers.

And here is a Black & White.

The Arch From Below

Next stop: Council Bluffs, IA where the Corps of Discovery pow-wowed with several Native American tribes, but not the largest tribe, the Omaha who were away hunting.

Ciao, Frank

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.

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville, North Carolina is our new hometown. We lived for 30 years in Aiken, SC and love it. We love our friends and colleagues there but we want to be near family. Debbie's mom and brother live here. Our daughter, her husband and two children also live there. 

So far we are homeless in Asheville, if that can be said of a couple who own an Airstream. We just don't have a house yet. We sold our house in Tryon, NC, about one hour from Asheville and are now living in Diva! Early in May we will be taking off for The Missouri River to follow the Lewis and Clark Trail. So, no rush to get a home.

The French Broad River. This was our campsite at Wilson's Campground. In our last wee here there were thunderstorms and 6 plus inches of rain. The river rose but never got near the bank. Our spot, however, was flooded from rain water. The surge protector worked!. It tripped but nothing in the camper was damaged. I had to go out and stand in 5" of water to reset the surge protector. Was I scared? You'betcha!

Canoes and kayaks were passing by all day. The Asheville Outdoor Center is right next to the campground.  There you can rent canoes, kayaks, or rafts. They will drive you to a spot 7 miles upriver and you can paddle with the current the seven miles back to the center.

Debbie and Rosie survey the French Broad River.

We celebrated Easter at our campsite on the French Broad River. Kelley, James,
Peyton, Galen, Jean, and Sean were there for a cookout.

West Asheville is the funky part of a funky city. 

West Asheville Cafe on Haywood Ave.

This pickup truck was decorated entirely with bottle caps. It's called Art.

Cap Man. The artist.

I didn't know that.

You will be hard-pressed to find any non organic, non-local produce in Asheville

The line is always long at Biscuit Head, a great local place for breakfast & lunch.

Also a long line at Sunny Point, a full service diner.

Standard pizza is housed in an old "Standard" gas station and kept the theme.

Debbie and her brother, Sean, waiting for a table at Sunny Point.

French Broad River Park has a nice dog facility. Rosie didn't like it. Too many dogs!!

Carrier Park was adjacent to the campground.

Streaming Together Again

We're back! On the road again, well nearly. Right now we are camped out at Wilson's RV campground in Asheville, NC, one of the great addresses in the world. We will be heading out to follow Lewis and Clark in a few weeks. We sold our house in Tryon, NC and have not yet bought a replacement. I guess we're homeless, if that can be said of anyone living in an Airstream.

A few weeks ago we took Diva to the Petersburg State Park campground on Lake Thurmond. What a great public campground. Nearly every campsite is waterfront and very large with lots of privacy.

Annabelle and Peyton practice a dance step under a horizon to horizon rainbow.

We camped next to our daughter, Stacey and her husband, Scott. They are new to camping and very excited about it. Here Peyton and Annabelle pose before setting the table for breakfast.

Scott's dog, 'Mater, a Labradoddle, not enjoying being leashed up. Rosie didn't think he was that cute.

Asheville will be our home because it is such a great town and because much of our family lives here.
Sean, Debbie's brother, has lived here for two years. He needed some dental work and we brought him.

Sean never misses an opportunity to hug an attractive woman.

It is also so nice to live near our daughter, Kelley and her family. Here, Peyton gets a pointer from a soccer coach.

Kelley fixes Peyton's hair for the game.

Peyton advances the ball toward the goal.

Diva sits at our campsite on the French Broad River surrounded by ornamental pears (Pyrus calleryana).
During our stay here the pears began losing their flowers making it look like snow.

The view of the French Broad River as the sun rises from Diva.

West Asheville, the section of town where Wilson's RV Campground is located, is a happening section of the happening town of Asheville. The West Asheville Cafe is a great place for breakfast.

Well, we will be here for about 3 more weeks, doing domestic chores, looking for permanence and preparing for our extended journey. We hope to see some of you on the road.

Here's the Black & White for this blog.

Ciao,  Frank