OHIO TO KANSAS

Travelled east to west across Ohio, we saw several Amish buggies as we lunched in Baltic, their lifestyles fascinate me.

The usual nail bitting drive around Cincinnati and across the Indiana farmlands into the prairies of Illinois (a new state for us to add to our ever growing map).

We had a slight disaster with our aerial on the trailer. Now, naming no names, but a certain person always winds it down when we have finished watching TV. So there we were happily driving along when I saw this placard for "Lawless for Sheriff" so Roy stopped so I could get a photo, as I walked back I spotted the aerial still up! We found a safe place to stop to get the ladder out so Roy could see the damage.
We had broken off a strut which must have happened going under a low bridge as we left the site. Needless to say the air was blue but I had to laugh as Roy said sheepishly "Well at least I didn't take the air con unit off like Terry" (Sorry Terry, but it was funny!) and for those who dont know Terry he is a great friend who travels  like us and of course we swap stories. That evening my amazing husband fixed the aerial for free.

GREAT NAME FOR A SHERIFF

DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS STILL ALIVE!

Many of the state parks have great hiking trails which we have used each morning before breakfast doing our Nordic walking, when we are travelling each day its good to have a 45 minute walk. I was a bit cautious one day as we set off to gun shots and shouting nearby, its hunting season and they don't seem to have any special rules, it just says on the trailhead that there is hunting in these woods! Great! I find it very difficult to condone hunting nowadays and I really didn't want to see any dead animal, luckily they went the other way.

 We stopped at Carlyle Lake in Illinois, the largest lake in the state and got a great site on a Corps of Engineers campground at the lake's edge for $8 including electric. Next morning we saw hundreds of double crested cormorants fly over the lake, lasted at least ten minutes, we have never seen so many before in one group, quite amazing!

never too old to play on the swings!

Into Missouri, through the grid locked city of St Louis which gave me a chance to photograph the 613ft Gateway Arch, the nations tallest man-made national monument which symbolizes the city's role as the "Gateway to the West"

ST LOUIS AND GATEWAY TO THE WEST NEAR MISSISSIPPI RIVER

We spent a pleasant couple of days lazing about and hiking at the Lake of the Ozarks State park
 with a superb site at the edge of the water.

Kansas at last - this was supposed to be our last state to visit but as we had a change of plan we still have three left when we return next year.

Lake of the Ozarks campsite

sign on the site!

bug on the table

Wizard of Oz state