Rehearsal Dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse, Denver, June 17

It might be corny to tell you all about the rehearsal dinner but it was so much fun and I was able to get a few nice family photos. So for those who have not seen these family members for awhile, this might be interesting for you. For others, just pass this blog! :-)

Joseph Chevrier, our oldest grandson from Susan, is marrying Katie Sargent on July 23rd at the Orlando Temple.

This is Chris Chevier, the oldest son of Carole & Clayton Chevrier. Clayton is the brother of Alan Chevrier, married to our daughter, Susan. Next to Chris is Susan's youngest, Steven.

Here is daughter, Janet Robinson, with her neice, Susan's #4, Laura, showing off their bracelets.

Here are all five of my children: Janet Robinson, Susan Chevrier, Rusty, Tracy Roberts and Katy Ellsworth.

Here is Jim with Janet, our second oldest.

This is Katy, our #4, with her son, Reed. Reed was there to be the ring bearer in the ceremony.

Laura joins brother, Joseph, & his fiance', Katie Sargent.

The "soon to be" groom, Michael Chevrier, Susan's second oldest, & bride, Aubrey Ames. We all had special ballon sculptures added to our attires. What a lot of fun!

Another shot of Michael & Aubrey. Note the hearts at the top of Michael's headdress!

Look at Rusty, a vicking warrior!

This is one of the rare moments when I get my children together and they all laugh at jokes & each other. This is Rusty, Tracy from Boise, and Katy. It was so good to see Tracy, since she often is not here for family gatherings.

Tracy & Katy grew up together since they are #5 and # 4. They are two years apart, so they were close while growing up.

Here we all are: Janet Robinson, Jim, Susan Chevrier, me, Rusty, Tracy Roberts & Katy Ellsworth. Susan is the oldest, followed by Janet, Rusty, Katy & Tracy.

I-70 West from Saint Louis to Denver, Colorado, June 15-17

We left Saint Louis on Tuesday morning, June 15 heading west. We took 2 days plus a couple of hours to get to our RV spot in Golden, a suburb of Denver. Since the weather was so hot, in the 90's, we elected to stay in two Passport America RV parks, one in Kansas and the other in Colorado. Passport America, for a small annual fee, gives you a directory of half-price RV parks. We really like them for the overnight stops. That way we had electricity to run our air conditioner! Yea!
This is a Missouri barn on I-70 west of Saint Louis. I do love old barns.

This was a unique sign for Nostalgiaville, USA. Maybe one day we will stop there. We are sure old enough to have experienced the latter 50's in high school.

This is another old Missouri barn.

Missouri road scene mile 166 east of Kansas City, Mo. Notice how small the cars are on the distant hill.

Here in Georgia & Tennessee, we have barns painted with "See Rock City" but in Missouri this is their barn painted sign. Also ours are only painted on the roof.

One more Missouri barn.

This is the bridge crossing the Missouri River going west toward Concordia, Mo.

When we drove through Kansas City, to avoid the toll road, we detoured south and west on US 40 for awhile. We drove through Lawrence, Kansas, right through part of the University of Kansas.

We passed this old abandoned school on US 40. We would have missed this & U of Kansas if we had taken the toll road. Toll roads can be very expensive for us since we have 4 axels, two on the motorhome & two on the Jeep.

Here it looks like this is a "healthy Kansas farm".

This is a view on I-70 west of Kansas City, Kansas. Again, you can see a long way and enjoy the rolling hills here. They were beautifully green, from recent rains, I guess.

This barn is quite different from many I have seen. Again, we are still in Kansas.

These yellow wildflowers were growing all over the place in Kansas. They were quite pretty to see but I am sure the farmers did not think they were pretty. They look like they can take over an area quickly.

Kansas, the bread basket of the world, has these grain elevators quite often as you cross the state. One Kansas farmer feeds lots of people each year.

This is a cool Kansas Barn.

This is another Kansas barn that is very large.

Phew, we finally made it into Colorado! Kansas is a big state.

This barn looks abandoned. It sure doesn't look like the Kansas barns.

This is an unique Colorado barn near mile 371 on I-70 heading west.

This museum was advertised for miles as a "do not miss". There are people on the top deck but we decided to pass this one up!

Here we have a transition between the old metal or wooden snow fences and the newer, green, natural snow fences of trees planted in a line. There were places where they only had the trees as snow fences. What a great idea!

This Colorado barn looks abandoned.

This is a realll......ly old barn.

But this is probably the oldest barn. Maybe high winds have torn off the roof. I think it is always sad to see barns (and houses) abandoned and falling into bad repair. I always think about how much work it was for theowners to construct these buildings. I love to see the various styles of barns we see across the country.

June Trip to Saint Louis Area

We took a trip to Denver with our RV to be able to attend our grandson's wedding. On the way, we spent four days with Jim's brother, Dean, and his family in the Saint Louis area, specifically Fenton, Missouri. While there we visited a covered bridge, a wildlife park and a Cardinal's game, as well as visit family.

This is the Sandy Creek Covered Bridge about an hour or so from St Louis. It is a Howe Truss Bridge, for those "covered bridge experts" out there! This is Dean's wife, Lonie, looking into it. It was built in 1872 on the road from Hillsboro to St Louis. The bridge was washed away in May 1886 but salvaged & rebuilt in August, 1886.

Jim, Lonie & Dean are standing in the interior by the wrought iron brace which is found between each of the X's in the structure which adds great support and strength.

Two young boys were jumping off the base of the bridge and swimming in the creek. It was a hot day in St Louis!

This side view of the bridge makes me think of old american photos. Isn't it beautiful! The mother of the boys is sitting in the chair on the right, watching them.

This is another view of the bridge.

The day of the Cardinal's game wew were able to drive through a nature park near Fenton called Lone Elk Park. While enjoying the beautiful scenery we saw wonderful wildlife. This is a bull elk.

Now, a full sized view of the bull elk.
This cow elk was eating grass in the woods.

We also saw these wild turkeys, right up close to the road!

Who would have thought you could see buffalo in the Saint Louis area? They are also indeginous to Missouri.

And here we are at the Cardinal's game! This is Dean, Lonie, Me and Jim. Cardinals won 10-2 over the Seattle Mariners. Note the red in the stands. The Cardinal fans are among the best in the world!

Chevriers Visit us & Manatees, April 7-8, 2010

Our oldest Daughter, Susan, and her family of two children and husband came to kayak & hopefully see some manatees.

Alan Chevrier, our son-in law, and Jim are just relaxing in the Three Sisters Springs while the kids play & look for manatees. How relaxed can you get???

Here are Alan & Jim again, only this time looking more lively. Look how clear that spring water is!

Steven & Laura are either snorkling or putting on their masks. Since it is April, there were only two manatees in the springs.

Here they are both intently using theoir equipment to see what ever they can!

Laura, Susan & Steven each had their own kayak and loved paddling!

This is a close-up of Laura as she lifts her mask.

This is Laura again, this time getting the snorkle ready.

Steven is about to swim off with his mask & snorkle!

Susan is thoroughly enjoying kayaking!

Susan and Steven head out of the spring toward the river.

The next day, we all went to the Homosassa State Wildlife Park to see birds and animals indigenous to Florida. These are not statues from someone's yard, but real flamingoes!

Here we were able to see more manatees and even see them eating.

This manatee swam away before the attendant got there to feed her. I guess she wanted "fast food"!

And what is a picture of Florida like without an alligator! Fortunately, this one was behind big fences.

This wood duck was in the wild outside the park. We saw him as we were leaving.

This is a wood duck family, minus the mother.

Here is the whole family! They were outside the park, but great to see.

Somehow they were able to snatch some of the manatees lettuce. Dad watches while the youngsters and Mom eat. That's what Dad's do... protect the young. Hoorah for Dads!