6-30-18 STL-KNOX

Wanted to be back in Perry by the 2nd---when the seller was moving out of the house (not really sure why the hurry, though, since we didn't even do a walk through with him).  We decided to leave on the 1st and spend the night at the kids' in Knoxville again.
Good bye St. Louis---again.

Mid America airport with 2 planes at it!!!!

6-29-18  around the house

Last full day here.  So we did more stuff around the house.  Like take our trash from the last few days to the dumpster in the condos behind us.  Wonder if they'll ever take care of the wild vines near our house.  Last year I had to pull a bunch of them off the lilac bush.  Took days to get it all off.  So far this year it hasn't hopped over to our yard---yet---but is growing all over the power lines still. 

Finished in time to have dinner at Stef's and visit with Ken's brother, Bill.  Too bad no one else was around to join us.
Later (about 9:30), we went to Fischer's and played Mexican Dominoes for a couple hours.  Game night with the Fischers, just like the good old days!  Only then it was cards

Back in Perry, someone was celebrating her 7 month anniversary today!

Angie's write up about her:

Layla is Seven Months old today!

Our little chunkster is up to 16 pounds now; she has TRIPLED her birth weight! She's still only in the 19th percentile for height, but she's now in the 37th percentile for weight. (Please stop growing, TuTu!)

Layla continues to amaze us with how well she's developing and we're so happy she loves the pool.

6-28-18 Grants house

Not really for a visit---just wanted to get my Senior National Parks pass.  The kids and I are planning a trip to Yellowstone in Sept., so I wanted to get it before then.  So Ken and I took a ride out to Grant's House.  While there, I walked the grounds  a little bit.

Not only is Grant's house here, but Grant's farm is across the street and it has lots of wild animals in it.  They even run a shuttle through the farm sort of like a safari.  Pretty cool!  But no time for that today---we were meeting my brother and sister in law in O'Fallon, Illinois for lunch.

So I paid my $80 (was $20, I think, up until a couple years ago), got my pass, took a few pictures.

Headed back to the car.

And we were off for a fun visit with my brother.
Also had a dinner date with our neighbors, but had to postpone it due to another big storm coming through.

Didn't get the effect of the storm here---it was really dark and only 6pm.

Fortunately it was a fast moving storm and we still made it to dinner at Massa's Italian restaurant.  Good eats and visit!

6-27-18  Cardinal Game with Becky, Allison and Paula

More running around.  Met Josh's Mom for breakfast.  Had a really nice visit.
Then Becky picked me up at 5:30 and took me to the Cardinal game.  Their sporting goods store splits season's tickets and she just happened to have tickets for a game while I was in town and invited me to go.  We made it a girls' night with her daughter in law and another friend of ours.  Great seats!  WOW---does that say the ticket is $151?!  Thanks Fischers!!!!

Great people.

Not so great game!

But it was still fun visiting with them.

it was a beautiful night for a ball game---unlike that last 2 nights when they had 1 1/2 hour rain delays before the start of the game. 

I still consider myself a Cardinal fan.  Although they haven't been doing too well the last couple of years.  Don't get to see many games anymore.  So it's a real treat to get to go to the game, especially getting to sit so close to the field!

6-26-18 running around north county

Ken had his Dr. appointment this morning.  So I messed around with my new computer for awhile.  Using my new phone as a Hotspot.  Caught up on a couple bills I thought were covered.  I thought our insurance bills were all being covered by the premiums, but turns out 2 of them aren't!  At least they're only due once a year.  Also got the MSD bills of our rental home straightened out---I hope!  Seems like there's always something stupid to have to fix whenever we're in town.  In fact, there seems to be something stupid always going on now!

We did head off to Pirrone's for lunch with a friend.  Company and lunch was great as always there.

Dropped our friend off at her son's house after lunch.  I got a kick out of the sculpture he has in his yard.

I headed off to run some errands in the afternoon.  That's when the storms decided to roll in---literally.

The roll clouds were pretty impressive!

and very wide

fast moving, too.

AFter a lengthy downpour, we headed out to Alton for dinner at Castelli's.  LOVE their fried chicken.  Also love that when we're heading back into Mo. from Illinois, we pass a great vantage point for catching sunset.  Looked like we might have a nice one, so we stopped and watched it. 
Looking back at the bridge to Alton.

checking out the migratory ponds before sunset.

The over to the river overlook and a pretty nice sunset.

The water level was lower then usual. 

But still made for a nice view.

A pretty nice day.  Sometimes I miss St. Louis.  But I would miss the kids more if we lived here full time.

6-25-18 on to STL

Monday rolled around and it was time for Tim to head to work and us to head to St. Louis.  We had Dr. appointments waiting for us---so we thought!  About halfway to St. Louis, I got a call from my electro cardiologist's office telling me my appointment for Thurs. was cancelled since the Dr. was going to be gone all week.  Really?!---Instead of confirming my reservation last week they couldn't have told me then???  At least Ken still had his appointment.
Heading away from Knoxville.

My favorite part of the ride---through the Eastern Tennessee mountains.

Another beautiful day for traveling.

Love seeing all the farmlands, too.

Usually we travel around Nashville on Briley Parkway, but today the navigator on my phone and in the car said staying on 40/24 through Nashville was faster---so we decided to give it a go.  There was more traffic and a bit of a slow down, but not bad.  Not sure we got through any quicker, but I always like seeing the batman building.

Just past Nashville this guy ran across the highway.   See quite a few of them in Kentucky---as road kill.  They must not have a policy for cleaning up road kill.

Back to barns

and farms

Not sure what was growing here.  Seems late for starting crops.

More interesting clouds. 

The good old yellawood barn

lots of corn this time of year.  Looked to be doing very well.

after about 6 1/2 hours, we were heading over the bridge in Paducah.

After a nice couple hours stop in Mt. Vernon for dinner with my brother and sister in law, we continued on.  Near Belleville is the MidAmerica Airport.  They built it thinking "they would come".  But they're still waiting for "them".

Our first views of St. Louis---right before cutting across to north of the city on 255 to 270.  It's a longer distance, but usually a lot less traffic.

Heading over the Mighty Mississippi in N. County.

These cranes have been there forever.  Not sure what they're doing.

Got back to our place in Florissant with a couple hours of daylight left.  So I gathered a couple trash containers of yard waste and set them out for pick up the next day.  Good thing, too.  With all the rain and 100+ temps, didn't get much of a chance to do much else around the yard.

6-24-18 running around Knoxville with Tim

We decided to spend a whole weekend with Tim.  So on Sun. we headed off to breakfast.  Forgot the name of the place, but breakfast was good. 

Then Tim took us for a ride downtown.

You know you're in Knoxville when you see the iconic sunshere in downtown.

Knoxville is another neat city.  Only about 186,000 population---about 30,000 more people then Macon.  Same tree lined streets and historic downtown.

Lots of little boutique restaurants and stores.

And today they were holding the Road Bike Nationals in downtown.  We happened upon the end of the women's race.  In fact, by the time we parked and got out to watch a little of it, all we saw was the last woman rider and the enterage of medical and chase vehicles.

So we hopped back in the car and continued on. 

Part of the city that was closed off for the race.

more of the city.

just outside the city is Fort Dickerson.  We had never been there before. 

Tim and I walked up and around the little hilltop earthen fort. 

The forts was constructed to prevent the Confederates from bombarding Knoxville to drive out the Federals.  Confederate cavalry attempted an attack on November 15  & 16, 1863 but retreated when they decided they couldn't take the fort due to the steep terrain and strength of the defending troops.

Tim did his own battle there----some game on his phone where he was able to "take" many spots within the fort.

Not much of a fort, but I guess it didn't need to be.

a wild flower growing along the trail

about the battle

one of the 3 replica cannons that stands there now---I think there were originally 4.

About the siege of Knoxville.  In 1863, Confederate General James Longstreet placed the city of Knoxville under siege. After two weeks and one failed attack, he abandoned the siege.

Near the fort is this lookout to the 350-foot deep quarry

Pinkish gray marble-like limestone was quarried from here up until the start of the Great Depression. 

Now it's a park with swimming and kayaking

Back at Tim's house, the sky opened up and poured on us. 

Still no mountains, but an interesting day none-the-less.