St Louis...friends forever

We pulled into St. Lou-wee on a hot, sultry Wednesday afternoon and checked into the Westport Sheraton Chalet hotel.......wait.......what?  Yep, thank you Donna Ellis for 2 wonderful nights of pure heaven in a real bed & bathroom in a class hotel.  Donna is not only a dear old high school friend of Tim's, she's also the executive assistant to the head coach of the St Louis Ram's football team.....she's damn good at it and has strings she pulls all over town for ol' friends.....memorable margaritas at poolside.

Donna was Tim's girl when he left for Vietnam in 1969--the inspiration that gave him hope while so far away....and she re-shared these photos he had sent her while in the Navy 

Tim at 20 yrs old

Tim's SEAL Team squad

There's a wonderful bike trail in Missouri that follows along an old railroad line..called the Katy Trail.  It starts in St Louis and ends 237 miles later across the Missouri in Clinton, MO.

We rode bits and pieces of it along our way.....gotta get exercise....keep that Roadtrek mid-roll under control.  

Katy Trail--Lewis and Clark were there too!

Giant Hibiscus

After spending an afternoon in St Charles (charming STL suburb) on the Missouri River....did I mention how hot it is yet?.....we caught up with more high school friends, Joe and Jan Dittmeier.  

On the Mississippi River

Life has been generous for them and we visited their incredible 450 acre farm north of St Louis...cows, corn, ponds, hunting fields and a stop on an Amish honey farm...yum!

Happy 250th B-day STL!!!

Then we completed our "old" friend circle with 2 fun nights at Bob and Francine Case's historic 1910 house in south STL. Not only is Bob a born and raised STL native musician, he's also well known as St Louis' Mardi Gras King.  He cooked up an Italian-mama-grande-size pot of marinara sauce complete with the "Cajun holy trinity" of veggies---onions, peppers & celery---all home grown from his wealthy back-yard garden....it doesn't get any better (watch for a new cooking video on Tim's youtube channel!)  

We also enjoyed a day at the Japanese Festival at STL Botanical Gardens.  

Chihuly's Walla Walla onions in koi pond

 St Louis is celebrating it's 250th birthday this year.  There are 250 of these artistically decorated cakes in historic places all over STL....Francine is actively documenting and marketing them----really cool idea!










One of our STL highlights over the 6 nights, was the 2 huge storms that passed thru---torrential blinding downpours and tornado sirens! one night.....ya gotta understand this is very exciting for two dried up New Mexicans.

Our deepest gratitude to our 5 life long friends----it's like we were never separated by miles or time.....we luv ya all!

Now we pass through the famous St Louis arch---Gateway to the West--- except it's to the EAST for us....onward across the I's---Illinois and Indiana.....to Ohio!