The Last Leg

I have had good intentions of completing the last posting of our trip home.

As Willie says:

Onward.

Doing this helps us remember our

It was a long one!

We moved from Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park to Meramec State Park for our last stay in Missouri.

This destination was determined by our obligation to judge BBQ in Washington, about 30 minutes north from where we stayed.

We had a nice spot in the river bottom campground.

We hiked in the park

enjoyed the spring flowers,

and checked out a few of the local caves.

We poked around the nearby wine country

and tasted a few to decide what we "needed" to bring home.

We toured Daniel Boone's Missouri home, 

where he lived during the last years of his life.

They told us after this picture we weren't supposed to take pictures of the interior. Oops.

Washington, Missouri, where we judged BBQ, is the "Corn Cob Pipe Capital of the World. So, of course, we had to visit the Meerschaum Corn Cob Pipe Factory. The factory has operated in the same building since the 1880's. How many chances does one get to view pipe art? 

We spent a fantastic day at Washington's Main Street BBQ & Bluesfest. We heard some good music

and although we couldn't visit with the cooking teams,

we met some great people and tasted some fantastic BBQ.

We made one last overnight stop in Iowa and enjoyed one last sunset view from Bauxite Betsy.

It's good to be home. I can't tell you how good it was to see our kids.

We'll talk to you sooner or later....