First Post from Trip

Hello All!

After months of planning, prepping and waiting, we finally began our trip on June 4.  By the way, June 4 is Mattie's parents wedding anniversary (#67 this year) AND Dad's birthday (#90 this year).  Kudos to you both!!!!

Back to the trip.  Our first stop was at the Hawthorns Golf and CC in Fishers, IN.  Jim played golf and I played awful.  But it was a beautiful day and a lovely course as seen below. 

 

From Fishers we headed on to Terre Haute to spend the night at a KOA there.  We did have time to stop at the Chateau Thomas Winery just after Indianapolis where I did a quick wine tasting and Jim stretched his legs.  On Wednesday morning we headed to Kansas City via I-70 which took us through St. Louis.  The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers converge here and it was obvious the water was high and still flooding some areas.  We had planned to stop at the Lewis and Clark Center on the Missouri River but we ended up taking a detour around some construction and when we emerged from the detour we had passed the exit.  It may not have even been open since it is right on the river and the water was quite high.  We did get a good look at the Arch in St. Louis before we were diverted as seen below.

 

If you look close at the bottom of the photo you can see how high the water is in the river.  I've been to the top of the Arch and the museum at the base is a wonderful source of information about the construction of the Arch and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  In fact, it is from their expedition that this blog gets its name - the Mattie and Jim Expedition (abbreviated to mjexpedition to save space).  Since we missed the Lewis and Clark center we stopped at another Winery to make up for it.  (Me tasting, Jim walking)

 

After St. Louis we headed to Kansas City, MO to stay at a KOA there just off of I-70.  At one time I was a platinum reward member for two airlines and two hotels.  Now I am a VIP Member of KOA.  My, how things change.  We like the KOA's for two reasons.  First, they are widely represented around the US and particularly near National Parks and Monuments (which we frequent).  Second, almost all of them have Kamping Kabins which offer a step up from a tent.  We especially appreciated that Wednesday night since it was raining when we arrived. 

 

Thursday was also set aside for golf (clearly, I am a glutton for punishment).  This time we played a Greg Norman course called Stone Canyon in Oak Grove, MO.  The course was quite wet from the all the rain the day before which made for soggy conditions but the weather had cleared and the temperature was in the mid 70's which was quite pleasant.  It was (at least for me) a difficult course but it was also quite pretty.  The shot below is of Jim on a par 4 hole.



 

I continued with my awful play until Marlin (a fellow from Tennessee who, with his friend Darryl, was paired up with us) gave me a quick lesson.  Suddenly, I was actually hitting the ball straight and for some distance (more often than not, at least).  To be fair, Jim had tried to tell me the same thing but in a slightly different manner so it didn't quite register.  No, he didn't yell at me!  Just said it differently.  Anyway, the last 7 holes were "better" and my mood greatly improved. 

 

We will stay at the KOA tonight and tomorrow head for McPherson, KS via the Santa Fe Trail.  The next day we head to Dodge City, also on the Santa Fe Trail.  We are looking forward to visiting the Longbranch Saloon and ordering sassparilla.  The next post will come after that.  Until then!

 

Mattie and Jim