We had intended to head down the East coast so the next stop was Portland where we found the Polar Express waiting out "summer"...
...in the rain. The weather and forecast are not looking too promising.
It doesn't dampen the enthusiasm people have as shown in this queue outside (yet) another Titanic exhibit.
So we make a decision to head West to somewhere drier and warmer.
Good-bye Atlantic Ocean ...
The Mustang assumes the long range driving position...
Coffee, donuts and other sugar treats ... (note the jeans for the colder weather) ...
Emergency pit breaks and we are in Buffalo that day.
(Wow - jeans, jacket and Ugg boots - must be summer)
The hotel we are staying at is run by a family from Queensland. Their son has published four books about the area and kindly gives us a signed copy of one...
They also run a business allowing Australian investors into the property market here. They provide a management service for the properties. It is really cheap to buy a property here compared to Australia. But we had other things to look at other than real estate...
Squirrel.
Guess where we are. We caught about 16 tourists who asked what we had caught... The money shots...
Getting her BOF on. Notice the designer prescription sunglass on the top of her head?
Full BOF
Only BOF
Timed BOF
Even a rainbow isn't BOF safe.
We took a walk across the border into Canada to get a proper cup of Tea.
The service cost us about $50... and I'm still smiling? I'd actually just returned from the rest room...
The moose get in everywhere here.
Then is was down to some serious fishing below the rainbow bridge...
Still see the Sunglasses?
Now you don't.
I did have a dive in but couldn't find them. The current was pretty strong and the water was deep.
Well that was our day at the falls. Not a bad story to tell how you lost your glasses. She's bought a pair of clip-ons for her last pair of scripts..... and a neck chain.
We had a quick look at becoming slumlords on our way out of town the next day...
These 12 two bedroom units that take up an entire block are for sale for what you'd pay for a house in Perth's outer suburbs.
Then it was on to Pittsburg... formally known as Steel City, it has become a place for Fortune 500's to have their headquarters. An investigation into the Warhol Museum was the highest priority...
The only true painting on display. Cats.
A silk screen of his mother. It's beginning to make sense now...
This is what it was all about.
Reality meets "Enter through the gift shop."
As if we hadn't of pummeled our cultural senses enough, the next day was a biggie. On to Kentucky for the Creation Museum...
And Dinosaurs!
They let us in the door but we high tailed it to the gardens...
Which were just like the Garden of Eden. No cross pollination or selective breeding here.
And dinosaurs!
All right. Let's be honest here. Most Christians think that Ken Ham and his take on the documentary nature of Genesis is a bit out there. I just thought it was pretty crass. But while we sat and contemplated our visit in the cafeteria and the end of our visit...
I wondered where they found the recipe for Noah's Chili.
I wondered how come no one had ever told me before that coal was the result of all the animals and plants killed in the great flood.
I wondered why no one had told me that The Flintstones was a documentary.
I wondered why it hadn't been explained to me how dragons were just really another type of dinosaur.
I wondered why there was a car park full of cars with people shelling out $30 each to have these truths reinforced. But most of all,
I wondered why the parking guy and the floor walkers carry 9mm Glocks...
Are they scared of an attack by some religious fundamentalist?
We did however draw the line at paying the $100 Ken is charging to see his latest exhibit...
A full size Noah's Ark.
It took us a while to find it as Advisor shows it off the coast of West Africa...
Someone in Google Maps has a sense of humour. Or a knowledge of geography that matches the Mustang's.
This was the end of the madness for us. After stopping at the car park and seeing how many people were prepared to be bussed to the Ark we just couldn't bring ourselves to give Ken another $100.
The Babel metaphor...
It sort of matched our visit to the Warhol Museum the previous day....
On a lighter note...
Close, but not a squirrel.
"heat" may be present in food .
Fun Guy.
Great neighbourhood. Under the interstate and next to the baseball stadium.
Top notch venue...
View of the power plant from the bar.
68 year old local hero Roland Johnson struts his stuff with the tightest backing band I've ever heard. They were seriously that good... There is a big music scene in St Louis and these familiar looking guys were in the car park as we headed back to the car...
St Louis BOF Brothers by another Mother?
Nature pictures...
Four butterflies. One frame.
Green on Blue
Up close and personal.
Shooting her gun...
Instinctive practice.
Don't mess with grandma while she reloads. (Ten hits out of twelve shots - I'm proud of that one, but he wouldn't let me keep the can to take home. Probably have a hard time explaining it to Customs officials at the airport in Sydney).
Blowing up stuff...
Rockets
Fancy sparkles and the moon
You can still see her smile from this side.
And finally some fishing...
Fish 3, Mustang 0
After all our complaining about the weather in Maine, Missouri has been nice and hot, but not nice muggy. We gave in and headed for a hotel and chose to do day trips to touristy things on the way to Kansas City. Arrow Rock is a living history state-run park that has all of the buildings preserved. You just walk around the town checking out all the old stuff. Some are just for display like the courthouse....
Checking out the statutes. (Actually I was looking up the sentence for bad Dad jokes)
Check out the hands.
A final walk through the Big Muddy Forest to get to the Missouri River ...
Because we just didn't have enough Mozzie bites.
Ask the Mustang what she thought of the creepy smiling guide.
Much more informative..
A real building with real artifacts and a knowledgeable guide. However we couldn't resist our own Hollywood moment...
The first ever recorded bank robbery netted the James gang $60,000 (equal to about $4 million today).
Chicken! (just for you Julie)
Grist to the mill and this guy was...
mooching around keeping an eye the place.
Well that's it. The Mustang flies out of Kansas City and takes the computer with her. Meanwhile there is always time for one more crispy thin wafer biscuit...
So it's time for me to say farewell to the good old US of A. This trip has been great, we've seen so much, but at the same time not really much of it. It's such a big country and there is so much to see, especially if you go off the Interstates and take a chance on some of the minor roads. The company has been great (of course), the sights have been in-sight-ful (sorry, my attempts at dad jokes are never funny), I think the BOF has learned some things here (I know I have, but mostly about him), and I hope you've all enjoyed sharing some of these moments with us. I'm off home now to get back to family and friends, and the BOF can carry on for another few weeks on his own. He has to return the car to Los Angeles in early September, so he has time to see the Rockies (Rocky Mountains to the unfamiliar), Yellowstone and Yosemite Parks, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, and probably lots of points in between. I'll try and talk him into adding another section to this blog when he gets home so you can all see where he goes, what he does and (maybe) where and why he finally gets arrested (frankly I'm surprised it hasn't happened already, but I've tried to keep him away from the boys in blue so he doesn't say something inappropriate). At least I'm hoping he just gets arrested, and not shot, and not necessarily by the Police, but by some random nutcase (there's no shortage of those here). So it's farewell from me, and it's see you soon from him. Thanks for the memories!
