we have arrived...

We arrived in Kansas at noon today...

and as we crossed the state line we cheered.

'We did it!'

We have now driven in every one of the fifty US states.

That was always our plan...

but we never knew if we could really make it happen.

When we started this leg of the road trip...

almost two weeks ago...

we had eleven states left to visit.

Kansas was the last one on that list.

And here we are.

We headed to the Hillsboro area...

and paid a visit to the Mennonite Heritage Museum over there.

It was most interesting...

and I'll take you there in another post.

This afternoon we discovered we had an issue with the RV that needed to be dealt with.

The kind lady at the museum sent us to the nearest RV repair place...

and that brought us to Hutchinson, Kansas.

They RV will be repaired tomorrow...

...and in the meantime we are exploring Hutchinson.

Hutchinson is a town of over 40,000...

and is situated along the old Santa Fe rail line.

It has the longest grain elevators in the world.

Hutchinson is also the site of some old salt mines...

600 feet below ground...

which are now a museum.

We noticed that the Farm Supply store and Hobby Lobby are right next to each other...

so we might just go shopping tomorrow while the RV is in the shop.

(His and hers!)

So...we have arrived in Kansas.

Now we will just have to wait and see how long we are staying!

By the way...

it is warm here.

Warm and windy.

Does that sound like Kansas?

fun and food in the Ozarks...

We have spent the last few days in Branson.

What a great place to visit!

Since their Christmas shows are all starting on November first...

it's looking a lot like Christmas over here already.

We took in a bunch of shows...

and they were all great!

Our favorites?

Pierce Arrow ...

and the Haygoods (5 brothers and 1 sister).

And in one of the smaller theatres...

we saw James Garrett who does a tribute to John Denver.

There was no glitz and glamour at this concert...

just a down-home tribute to John Denver by a man who was a good friend of his.

Most every show included some gospel songs...

and ended with a tribute to the veterans and the singing of an all-American patriotic number.

We were told that we couldn't leave town without trying fried green tomatoes...

and deep fried okra.

We tried!

Anything tastes good fried, right?

Since we left home most of our meals have been enjoyed right here...

...at the table of our little RV.

And we are still enjoying the flowers that began this leg of the journey with us over a week ago!

And (thanks to my friend Vee)...

we are brewing good Canadian coffee from Tim Horton's as we go.

Today we are headed for Arkansas.

Thanks for stopping by...

and have a wonderful day!

a postcard from Missouri...

We had a leisurely drive through the Ozarks yesterday...

working our way west through Missouri.

The sun was shining...

the leaves are turning...

the company was good!

We stayed off the main highway...

and enjoyed the old homesteads and barns along the roads less traveled.

It seems everyone is into hunting in this part of the country...

and camouflage clothing is the fashion of choice.

We plan to spend some time in Branson...

where we are camped out at the KOA.

Of course!

a postcard from Tennessee...

Greetings from Nashville...

where we took a tour of the city today.

We saw the Grand Ole Opry...

from the outside only.

And then we toured Ryman Auditorium...

which housed the Grand Ole Opry for over three decades.

It has an amazing history...

and is now a museum.

The building was originally built by Nashville businessman Thomas Ryman...

as a permanent building for travelling evangelist Sam Jones in 1892.

It was called the Union Gospel Tabernacle at that time.

After the Opry left for the new facilities...

the auditorium was renovated and Ryman Auditorium was named a National Historic Landmark.

It is a premier concert venue and open for daily tours.

The acoustics are incredible...

comparable with those of the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.

Who knew that Nashville has a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Greece? 

It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Expo.

It is located in Central Park is is now an art museum.

We saw the newly opened convention center in downtown Nashville...

the most expensive publicly funded project in the history of the state.

It covers four city blocks...

and is longer than a dozen football fields.

They are hoping that if 'we build it...they will come'!

That remains to be seen.

Next door to the convention center is the Country Music Hall of Fame...

a museum of country music.

Most interesting!

A large rotunda has the words...

'Will The Circle Be Unbroken'  inscribed around the perimeter.

Underneath are the plaques of all those who are members of the country music hall of fame.

We found familiar faces on the wall...

many who we had heard in concert over the years.

We actually looked for Kenny Rogers and couldn't find his face among the others.

As we left the building...

a red carpet was being laid at the entry.

We wondered who they were expecting...

and learned that Kenny Rogers is being inducted into the hall of fame tomorrow.

Just down the road from our campground was an interesting Macdonald's...

the only Mac's with a broadcasting tower on the roof.

For many years WMAC broadcast live from this location.

Only in Nashville!

And where did we stay?

At the KOA in Music City!

We will now be winding our way westward across the states.

Since we have good internet access tonight...

I'm posting a rather lengthy 'postcard'.

Enjoy the weekend!

a postcard from the blue ridge parkway...

For the past few days we have been traveling south on the Blue Ridge Parkway...

through Virginia and North Carolina...

along the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains.

The speed limit is 45 mph...or less...

so we have been taking our time...

and taking in the scenery.

We had no idea we would have snow in North Carolina...

but we did along the crest of the ridge today.

The foliage is amazing!



in charlottesville, virginia...

We spent the night at the KOA in this area...

and found out that right nearby was Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

We've seen it many time before...

but always as an image on the back of the American nickel.
 

 

Now we saw it in colour...

so much better!

 

I tried 'mailing' this postcard this morning...

and had problems with blogger and Wi-Fi...

so let me try this again.

 

PS. We are now in the mountains of North Carolina...

where it might snow tonight!

 

a postcard from Virginia...

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.
Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze.
Country roads, take me home to the place I belong.
West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home, country roads.

I've been singing along with John Denver.

We are enjoying the journey...

of fog, flights, frustrations and flowers...

Yes...

we have been reunited with our motorhome and are back on the road.

It didn't happen quite that quickly though.

Let me tell you!

Why did it not occur to us that if the sun is shining beautifully where we live...

 areas near the water are experiencing fog?

Thick fog...

that makes it impossible for planes to land or take-off.

We showed up at Bellingham airport on Saturday morning in plenty of time for our scheduled flight.

There were no planes coming or going.

The airport was blanketed in fog.

We waited...

hoping the fog would lift.

The flight was delayed.

And finally...

our flight was cancelled.

Everyone scrambled to re-book.

There were no other flights that would get us to Harrisburg that day.

Eventually we took a shuttle bus to Seattle and tried our chances from there.

In Seattle the fog had lifted somewhat...

planes were coming and going. 

At long last we flew Alaska Air to Las Vegas...

and from there we caught the red-eye flight to Philadelphia.

We cancelled the car we had booked in Harrisburg...

and booked another in Philadelphia.

By mid-morning today...

we were back at the beautiful White Oak Campground in Strasburg.

It was right where we wanted to be.

We just arrived a little later than planned...

and got there by a totally different route.

Oh...and a little tired!

We felt like we had run the Amazing Race...

and won!

Especially when we found a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for us at our campsite.

Our camping table has never looked so good!

Somebody knew that flowers have a way of brightening the day.

Thank-you so much!

Tomorrow we are driving south...

en route to the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway.

The sun is shining.

The leaves are fabulous.

It's a very good day!

on the road again...

Our 'Road Trip USA' has been on hold for the past two months...

while we looked after things on the home front.

Tomorrow we will be flying back to Pennsylvania...

where our motorhome is waiting for us...

and we will carry on where we left off.

The plan is to head south on the Blue Ridge Parkway...

a scenic route along the Appalachian Mountains that connects Shenandoah National Park in the north...

to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the south.

 

There are 11 states that we have yet to visit...

and we are hoping to do just that on the next leg of our journey.

We may just have to do a little zigging and zagging to hit them all!

We won't be spending much time in Pennsylvania now...

but I am still in the process of un-packing photos from our time spent there in August.

I'll leave you with a wee glimpse of Philadelphia...

where we did a hop-on/hop-off tour on a beautiful sunny day.

It is the largest city in Pennsylvania...

with a population of over six million.

It is known for its arts and culture...

cheesesteak and soft pretzels.

(Yup...we tried them both!)

 

We toured Independence Hall...
and learned all about the Liberty Bell.
The iconic symbol of American freedom was once housed in the steeple of this building...
and is now on display across the street for all to see.

We visited the Assembly Room...

where both the Declaration of Independence 

and the Constitution were drafted and signed.

Tickets for the free guided tour are available at the Visitor Center...

located in Independence National Historical Park.

Most educational...
time well spent!

Benjamin Franklin...
Philadelphia's famous founding father has not been forgotten.

There are sculptures and  museums...
bridges and streets named after him.
We visited his print shop and saw where he was laid to rest.

Elfreth's Alley in the Old City...
is the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in the country.
 

Memorial Hall...
now the art museum.

City hall...

the nation's largest municipal building.

It has over 700 rooms...

and a 37 foot statue of William Penn presiding over the clock tower.

Quite impressive!

And with that...
I'll end my tour of the city of Philadelphia!

After tomorrow...
things will be quiet here at 'my front porch'.

As we are leaving...

it seems an army of birds is taking up residence.

 

I'm sure things will be well looked after on the home front!

I may just send a postcard from time to time.

Until then...

cascade falls and wayward pines...

With the turkey dinner behind us...

we decided to get out and enjoy the sunshine on our Thanksgiving holiday Monday.

Some 45 minutes away is a lovely park...

Cascade Falls Park.

I may have lived here all my life...

but had never visited the falls.

It was time!

We put on our hiking boots and drove to the parking lot...

envisioning a good afternoon hike.

And it was good!

It was just short.

After a ten minute trek through the forest...

we arrived at the viewing platform.

The falls were impressive...

dropping about 100 feet into a beautiful clear pool. 

We decided to hike a little further up the mountain...

just to make it worthwhile putting on the hiking shoes!

And then we took the scenic route home...

the one along the north side of the Fraser River.

It took us to Wayward Pines.

Who knew the neighbouring town across the river had a new name? 

Wayward Pines is the name of a made-for-TV series being shot in Agassiz...

and the store fronts you see above are just that...

a facade only.

Behind the facade lies the city park.

In front is a brand new sidewalk...

made for the movie.

We chatted with the guard on duty...

who said we were welcome to walk around the back.

And so we did.

This is what the store-fronts looked like from the back side.

Impressive...

the expense and energy that goes into the making of a movie set.

 

We strolled along the new sidewalk...

and peeked into store windows.

And had a good chuckle or two.

How fun to see Pioneer Park in Agassiz transformed into the main street of an Idaho town.

I may never see the movie...

but I can always say I walked the main street of Wayward Pines (British Columbia, that is!).

With friends...

on the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.
 2013.