Living in the US

Art of Disney.

2010-08-22T20:28:00.002-05:00

As well as the usual Disney souvenirs, there are more expensive ‘collectors items’ available for purchase at the Disney Parks. We had a quick look around ‘Art of Disney’ at EPCOT, which had some very cool pictures & figurines for sale. We didn’t buy any, but it was fun to look.

Imagination!

2010-08-22T20:22:00.002-05:00

This was originally called ‘Journey Into Imagination’ & had been updated from when I originally went to Disneyworld. Back then (in the early 1990s) it there was the pavilion) & the Captain EO 3-D film created by George Lucas & starring Michael Jackson as the title character. When Cheryl & I returned on our Honeymoon, Captain EO had been replaced with another 3-D film, Honey I shrunk the Audience, staring Rick Moranis as Professor Wayne Szalinski & Eric Idle as the Imagination Institute chairman, Dr. Nigel Channing. There was also a cameo role by a 3-D snake, which tries to attack the audience after they have been shrunk. This film was still playing, & to be honest, was a bit past its sell-by-date with the numerous 3-D movies that you can see at any ordinary cinema (although the close up of the snake’s fangs was still pretty realistic).

There was a new ride about imagination with Dr. Nigel Channing & Figment, the Dragon, & a ‘hands-on’ interactive area at the end of the ride. This included a gift shop with some cool items for Cheryl & Beth (as they both like scrapbooking). We bought a few Disney themed paper punches & photo albums & had them delivered directly to our Disney Hotel so we didn’t have to carry them round with us all day – Result!

The Seas with Nemo & Friends

2010-05-11T21:21:00.005-05:00

When I first visited Disneyworld, this attraction was called ‘The Living Seas’. When originally completed, in 1886, it was the largest manufactured underwater environment in the world. You entered the attraction at ground level & after watching a short film about how the oceans were created, you travelled to ‘Sea Base Alpha’ in a simulated ‘Hydrolator’ (underwater elevator). You then rode through an underwater, glass, tunnel to the main exhibit area where there was free access to the aquarium.

This has now been revamped as ‘The Seas with Nemo & Friends’. You still enter the attraction at ground level but now take your very own ‘Clamobile’ to the aquarium. The clamobiles take you through the ocean with Marlin, Dory, & other Finding Nemo characters that are all searching for Nemo (who has got lost again). You travel through the coral reef where Marlin the Clownfish is searching for Nemo. Towards the end of the reef, you meet up with Mr Ray & his students before coming across a group of jellyfish. Then a crazy Anglerfish comes out of the darkness & chases you down towards a huge submarine wreck in the middle of a minefield with Bruce, Chum, & Mako the sharks swimming about, reminding Bruce that, "Fish are friends, not food! The clamobiles the get swept up into the EAC with Nemo, Crush, & Squirt, before arriving at the aquarium.

We had a walk around, looked at loads of fish & other sealife in the huge aquarium & then lined up for ‘Turtle Talk’ with Crush the turtle. To pass the time, the entrance to this attraction was next to an open topped tank containing stingrays that you could pet & watch swim & jump. Turtle Talk was really cool (&, I think, Cheryl’s favourite attraction)! All the children sat on the floor in front of a huge screen (which looked out into the animated Ocean) with parents on the bleachers behind. When Crush arrived, he taught the children how to talk turtle – it’s like radicaaaal duuude. He then asked them some questions & would describe the child that he wanted to answer to the assistant in the room. After a while, he swam off & came back with a red & white striped bikini top around his neck as if he was wearing it. He then asked the children what it was, as he seemed proud of his find! When none of them answered he asked the parents & a woman told him what it was, to which he answered, "so it’s a totally chick thing?" When everyone chorused yes, he turned bright red & quickly swam off only to return looking really embarrassed! The most impressive thing about Turtle Talk was that despite Crush being animated, and not knowing who was going to answer or what they were going to say, there were no delays in his voice & his expressions matched exactly what he said – very interactive & totally cool!

Test Track

2010-05-03T18:38:00.002-05:00

This is another simulation ride, but this time instead of being a computer simulation like ‘Mission Space’, it is an actual ride around a vehicle test track.

This was originally the ‘World of Motion’, which was a ride through various animatronic displays showing how travel had developed. At the end of the ride you exited in a GM based ‘Autorama’ car show complete with vehicles on stage that were revealed similar to when a new car is unveiled for the first time.

Test Track is completely the opposite of the original attraction, being a thrill ride where you actually get to experience the different aspects of vehicle pre-production testing. As you enter the attraction, you are directed through a workshop with evaluation tests, e.g., seat wear resistance, door testing, impact tests, & suspension testing. There is always a long queue for this ride, so we used the ‘Fastpass’ ticket option to miss most of the line.

When you reach the briefing section you are shown a video of the test track controller specifying what aspects of the vehicle will be tested – traction control, ABS, chemical & heat resistance (which a video showing what each aspect chosen consists of). He then tells the operator to choose a certain option (which she questions as to whether this is a good idea) while the video display shows a vehicle crashing (as the option is chosen).

You then pass through to the staging area where you enter the test vehicle. These are futuristic styled, open top cars, which seat six. Each row contains displays showing vehicle status & speed. The ride starts in the building where you undergo the series of tests. The vehicle first accelerates through a hill-climb, travels over different road surfaces to test the suspension, & then brakes with & without ABS. It then travels through the environmental testing areas – heat (110F), cold (10F), & corrosive chemicals (in this case just water, spayed through Mickey Mouse nozzles). The vehicle then starts to accelerate towards a huge crash test block which, at the last minute, opens to reveal a long straight outside the building where you accelerate to 65 mph before riding around a banked curve attached to the main building above the entrance.

As you exit the ride, you pass through the GM ‘Autorama’ with the latest GM cars on display (the new Camaro looked cool) & a Test Track & GM themed gift shop.

Mission: Space

2010-04-15T21:44:00.004-05:00

This ride simulates astronaut training for the first manned mission to Mars on the fictional ‘X-2 Deep Space Shuttle’.

There are two versions of this ride, ‘The Green Team’, which is less intense training (Cheryl went on this one), & ‘The Orange Team’ which is more intense training (which Beth & I went on). Disney started to offer the two versions after a couple of people died after riding the simulator, although they died due to unknown, pre-existing conditions & not while on the actual ride itself. We didn’t know this before going on the ride & due to the significant number warning signs throughout the attraction cautioning that, "people who do not like enclosed spaces, spinning, or are prone to motion sickness should not ride", & other signs warning, "that this ride may cause nausea, headache, dizziness or disorientation, and that people prone to motion sickness, or who have a headache or an inner ear problem, or who have a history of migraines, vertigo or elevated anxiety also should not ride", Cheryl chose the ‘gentle’ version. I just thought that these signs were the usual overstatements for something that wouldn’t be that bad – after, all this was EPCOT, a Disney ‘family’ theme park?

The simulator starts with the usual pre-ride & video where the four riders in each group are assigned a role (navigator, pilot, commander or engineer) and given two tasks to complete during the ride (probably to take your mind off the nausea, sickness, & other general uncomfortable feelings during the ride). The ‘Autopilot’ will complete these tasks if the rider can’t – eek!

You enter your shuttle through a small door on one side, squeeze into your seat, & strap yourself in, tightly! At first, you can’t reach the buttons for your tasks but then the entry door is closed & no sooner are you plunged into darkness when the entire front of the ride swings towards you so that you are now practically jammed into the ride! The mission starts with liftoff, a slingshot around the moon for a gravity-assisted boost, a brief period of simulated hyper-sleep (to pass the time to travel to Mars) & the landing descent on the Martian surface. Since this is a training exercise, the mission contains, of course, contains several unexpected situations to add to the drama.

This sounds tame but OMG! The ride is actually a huge centrifuge, which spins you around at 2.5G! Since your capsule is totally sealed & all you can see is the massive screen in front of you (which displays the animation for the ride) you can’t appreciate the fact that you are crazily spinning around & just feel the huge positive G-forces when accelerating & negative G-forces when landing. Your capsule also tilts & pitches during the ride. I’m glad that I rode the full version of the simulator with Beth, but it took me about two hours to recover from the ride. According to Cheryl, when I came out of the ride I was sweating profusely & looked green, whereas Beth was jumping about & wanting to ride the simulator again! Still, I could have been a lot worse – when using the restroom after the ride, one of the other riders came in, went into one of the stalls & proceeded to be sick for at least five minutes.

Innoventions

2010-03-31T21:45:00.002-05:00

Innoventions is a pavilion (comprising two buildings, Innoventions West & Innoventions East) which is based on technological advancements & their application in everyday life. The first time that I visited EPCOT, one of my favorite things in Innoventions was having my picture drawn by a robotic arm (this was 20 years ago). When Cheryl & I visited EPCOT during our Honeymoon, Innoventions was being refurbished, but we were lucky enough to get a sneak preview. This time we were able to fully explore the pavillions.

The first attraction that we visited was a simulation of a severe weather outbreak (storm/tornado). We were sat in a house looking out at the surrounding houses & watching how they were damaged by the weather. This was all in 3-D & was supplemented by light sound & rind/rain effects. The simulation was interactive with the audience selecting various different building materials to rebuild the house with, before the storm was re-run to see what effects this had on the damage (it was sponsored by an insurance company).

We visited Innoventions on more than one occasion when we were in EPCOT. There was a section on waste disposal & recycling where Beth got to make her own paper – cool!

Spaceship Earth

2010-02-14T10:30:00.006-06:00

Spaceship Earth is EPCOT’s iconic structure & the first ride that you see after entering the park. It is an 18-storey tall, Geodesic Sphere which contains a time-travel themed ride showing how advances in communication have helped to shape today & the future.

The structure is nicknamed the ‘golf ball’, due to its similarity in appearance, but geometrically is actually a Pentakis Dodecahedron (made up from 11,520 Isosceles triangles, if it were a true sphere with interruptions due to doors and supports). Being a Water Engineer, I thought it was really cool how the sphere is drained by 1-inch gaps in the cladding (that you cant really see) which direct rainwater to a drainage system discharging to the World Showcase Lagoon. This prevents rainwater from pouring off the structure (& it really rains in Florida, so capturing all the water is pretty impressive).

When you enter the ‘golf ball’ you step on to a revolving platform which moves in time with the ride cars so that you can easily step into the cars (this method of embarking/disembarking is used for most of the Disney ‘ride’ attractions). As you make your way up through the structure, there are a number of animatronics scenes depicting communication through the ages (e.g., Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel, the first printing press, & the first message using the Internet). I have been to Disneyworld twice previously, & every time I have been on this ride it has been slightly different. There were now touch screens in front of each passenger in the car which were used towards the end of the ride when you inputted your choice for how you would like your future to be. A video was then played with your choices & your face superimposed on the character in the video – cool. Even cooler was that when you got off the ride there was a massive video screen in the after-ride activity area showing the world & you were shown on the screen depending upon where you said that you were from during the ride.

There were some other pretty cool attractions after the ride. Beth & I both had a go at a racing game before playing a game where you had to move ‘power pills’ into areas that needed power. This might not sound that interesting, but the game was motion controlled. It was projected onto the floor where you used metal detector shaped sticks to push the power pills around into areas needing the energy. Cheryl & Beth then played a game where you had to transform a talking skeleton into a ‘human’. This was done using a joystick to select the appropriate body part & then to control a crane which you used to lift each part into the correct position. Nothing out of the ordinary there except that the game was a ‘virtual reality’ style simulation on screen in full colour 3-D!

EPCOT

2010-02-07T11:52:00.013-06:00

EPCOT was the first Disney Park that we visited & was probably my favourite park (just) from previous visits (due to the more ‘Techy’ nature & rides like 'Test Track').

EPCOT stands for ‘Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow’, or more realistically ‘Every Person Comes Out Tired’!

EPCOT was Walt Disney’s vision for a model community, home to 20,000 residents, which would serve as a model for future urban planning. The community was to have been built in the shape of a circle, with businesses & commercial areas at the center, community buildings, schools, & recreational complexes around it, & residential neighborhoods along the perimeter. Vehicular traffic would be kept underground (to separate residents from the potential dangers & environmental impacts generated by cars, trucks, etc) with transport for residents by travelators & monorails. Unfortunately, Walt Disney was unable to obtain planning permission & funding for his new Floridian community until after he had agreed to build the Magic Kingdom. He died before the Magic Kingdom was complete & so EPCOT (the city) never got built.

When the EPCOT Disney Park originally opened in 1982, it was called EPCOT Center as it was constructed based upon the visions that were proposed for the City of EPCOT. The Magic Kingdom is a ‘traditional’ Disney fantasy park (all princes, princesses & Disney characters), but EPCOT didn’t have a particular purpose. Disney ‘Imagineers’ were undecided on what the park should be so it ended up being a multi-purpose venue, exhibiting future technology (Future World) & international cultures (World Showcase).

Future World contains pavilions which explore science & technology related aspects & associated rides, such as: Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Mission Space, Innoventions, Universe of Energy, The Land, Imagination!, & The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

World Showcase contains authentic pavilions which represent 11 countries from around the World (in alphabetical order): Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, UK, & USA.

Disney ‘All Stars’.

2009-12-28T11:58:00.004-06:00

One of the reasons that we were able to go to Disneyworld on vacation was the good deal that we got for accommodation. If you stayed ‘on-site’, when you purchased four nights you got three free! Although it would have been really nice to stay in one of the deluxe resort hotels, we figured that since our vacation was fairly short we wouldn’t have time to use all the hotel amenities so one of the ‘value’ resorts would be ideal for our ‘base camp’.

We stayed at Disney’s ‘All-Star Movies’ resort hotel which is a 1,920 room hotel that forms part of a three hotel ‘All-Star’ complex. The movies hotel is Disney movie themed & includes giant icons (e.g., a 30 feet tall Woody & 47 feet tall Buzz Lightyear) from Toy Story, The Love Bug, Fantasia, The Mighty Ducks, & One Hundred & One Dalmatians. We chose a standard room which not only saved more money but also meant that we were further from the entertainment, food, & shopping complex (but it was still only a five minute walk). However, it also meant that we were in a quieter part of the hotel, were next to the smaller, less busy, swimming pool (shaped like an ice-hockey rink & themed after the Mighty Ducks film, the same as our room) & were much closer to the park transport bus terminal at the hotel next to us.

2nd Honeymoon?

2009-11-22T10:51:00.005-06:00

After leaving Ocala we did some ‘mythbusting’ to pass the time on the way to Orlando: 1) Florida’s toll roads don’t have any services (petrol stations) on them (confirmed) &, 2) your car runs out of petrol when the red light comes on telling you that you are out of fuel after the fuel gauge indicates less than ‘E’ (busted, by at least 30 miles).

When we arrived in Orlando we drove along International Drive to show Beth where we visited during our Honeymoon, 10 years earlier. We had already looked into staying at the same hotel that we stayed in while on Honeymoon, but we found out that it had closed in February. When we stayed at the Wynfield Inn it was a Virgin Flagship hotel & was quite nice but recent reviews on the Internet were all pretty much the same – very run down, but cheap to stay at. We figured that the hotel would have probably have been demolished by the time we were on vacation, but to our surprise it was still there, albeit fenced off. However, The Village Inn (the restaurant next to the hotel) was still open & when we ate there later that evening I ordered the same burger that I enjoyed while on Honeymoon!

We stayed at the Hotel next to the Wynfield Inn & as we walked over to the I-ride stop across from the hotel we had a nose over the fence & saw the remains of the room we had stayed in - cool! We subsequently found out that the site had been bought by the Hilton group of companies & that they were planning on building a new hotel on the site since it was really close to the huge new conference center under construction.

We spent about two hours on International Drive, but weren’t really that enthralled by it since we were all really excited about starting our vacation at Disney the next day. After eating a huge meal at The Village Inn we decided that we couldn't wait any longer & drove to Disney’s Shopping Village in Lake Buena Vista (which was about 15 minutes from the hotel) to have a look around one of the huge (& very busy) Disney stores. We spent about two hours in just one shop & then headed back to our hotel for an early-ish night to make sure that we were up as early as possible in the morning.

Don Garlit’s Museum of Drag Racing

2009-09-19T21:58:00.002-05:00

Don ‘Big Daddy’ Garlits is considered to be the ‘Father’ of drag racing & is an inductee in the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Not only was he the first drag racer to officially pass 170, 180, 200, 240, 250, 260, & 270 mph (terminal speed at the end of the 1/4 mile), but he was also the first racer to top 200 mph 1/8 mile. Also, thanks to racing accidents and near misses, he pioneered numerous safety improvements. These included the rear engine top fuel dragster after Garlits lost part of his foot when his transmission exploded. He moved the engine behind the driver so that the driver was no longer sitting on the transmission & if the engine catastrophically failed, the driver was no longer engulfed in the ensuing fire. He retired from racing in 1992 due to a separated retina (caused by the 4g deceleration forces generated when stopping Top Fuel dragsters).

The museum is located on the grounds of Don Garlits’ Ocala home (which you can see from the highway). Although Big Daddy is often at the museum we had probably passed him on the way down since he was attending the Musclecar Reunion at Gateway Raceway across the river from St Louis in Illinois!

The museum is split into two, with the main building containing about 100 racecars & Garlits’ engine collection (including the late Smokey Yunick’s engine dynamometer – very cool). The second building contains a number of vintage and musclecars, motoring memorabilia and antiques. The museum is somewhere I have wanted to visit since the first time I visited Florida back in the early 1990s & I had a great time looking at all the race cars (including a number that I had seen in US magazines as a child), and although I don’t think that it was Cheryl’s & Beth’s idea of fun, I think that they found it interesting to see some of the crazy machines that people strapped themselves into to go as fast as possible in a 1/4 mile!

Florida here we come (part 2)

2009-09-19T21:51:00.006-05:00

The hotel breakfast was almost the best that we have had (except for the chef cooked personal hot breakfast in Las Vegas) & after filling up on sausages, sausage gravy & biscuits (savoury scones), waffles with fresh cream & strawberries & cherries, melon, toast, muffins, pastries, cereal, fruit juice, & coffee, we were ready for the off.

In less than 2 hours we had made it to Florida & stopped at the first Florida Welcome Center we came to. Here we were able to browse through & take copies of promotional literature for hundreds of Florida attractions (all sorted by region), were served with complementary freshly squeezed Florida Orange juice, & took the obligatory photos under the ‘Welcome to Florida’ sign. Next stop – Ocala.

Florida here we come!

2009-09-19T21:45:00.004-05:00

According to Google Maps, it would take us approximately 16 hours to drive from St Louis to Orlando. Cheryl & I decided to share the driving, with Cheryl opting to go first. Our route took us west through Missouri & Illinois to Mount Vernon & then south (past Metropolis) to Nashville, Tennessee. This took about 5 hours & the sight of the Nashville skyline combined with our new navigator ‘Tom’ (our GPS) showing multiple roads converging on the highway was enough for Cheryl to decide that she was now out of her ‘comfort zone’. This wasn’t actually a bad thing as we needed petrol & it seemed like a good time to stop for lunch. One quick Big Mac & fuel stop & we were back on the road with me at the wheel.

We continued heading south-ish through Tennessee & Kentucky (through Chattanooga & the Smoky Mountains) towards Atlanta, Georgia. This is where we hit our first traffic hold-up, arriving in the city just in time to hit the Friday afternoon rush-hour. It took about an hour to make it through the city but we decided to continue driving as we really wanted to make it to Florida. Some of Cheryl’s work colleagues suggested purchasing a book which lists all the available facilities (hotels, restaurants, petrol stations, etc) at each highway exit so we decided to stop in Cordele (about 100 miles north of the Georgia/Florida border) as it seemed that there were lots of things to do. Also, as it was getting late & we hadn’t eaten, we didn’t really want to be wandering around a strange area late at night. We ate at a local Italian American restaurant & stayed at a Best Western hotel (which was excellent value at less than $60 per night). The staff were really friendly & mentioned that there was a really good complimentary breakfast served from 6:00am, so now we knew what time we would have to get up to continue our road trip – very early!

What lasts....

2009-08-11T22:12:00.002-05:00

....12 days, uses 90 gallons of petrol, & covers approximately 2300 miles? Our first 'real' US vacation!

The day after Beth broke up from school we drove to Florida to spend a week at Walt Disney World. Due to a good deal from Disney where we paid for four nights but got seven, & finally (!) getting our stimulus cheque that we were owed from 2008 we were able to able to stay in one of the Disney World 'All-Star Resort' hotels so that Beth could experience the Magic of Disney. We also stopped off en route at Don Garlit's Museum of Drag racing in Ocala, & came home via Clearwater Beach (on the west coast of Florida) & the Weeki Wachee Mermaid Park.

Busch Stadium Field Trip

2009-05-23T22:29:00.002-05:00

Beth's spring school field visit was to Busch Stadium (the home of the St Louis Cardinals MLB team) - Go Cards! Since the stadium is just a few blocks form my office, I met Beth at the stadium & accompanied her on the tour.

Our first stop was to look at a plaque that showed how the old & new Busch Stadiums overlapped. The old stadium was originally a multi-purpose venue that was used for both football & baseball, which after renovations in the mid-1990s was used exclusively by the The Cardinals. It was a fully enclosed (circumferentially), 'cookie cutter' style stadium, that was designed by the consulting engineering company that I now work for & opened one year after the Gateway Arch was completed (which is what the 96-arch 'Crown of Arches' roof was designed to reflect). The tour guide noted how the new stadium was built around the old stadium (the first base line of the old stadium is painted on the new stadium concourse) & that it was originally planned to demolish the old stadium at the end of the 2005 season. Unfortunately (for the construction schedule) The Cards made it into the playoffs so work on the new stadium was halted. When I first arrived in St Louis, the playoffs had just finished so i didn't get the change to go in the old stadium, but I got to see the stadium being demolished. Lots of items from the stadium were auctioned off (e.g. bleacher seats) & I remember some of my co-workers coming back all excited one lunchtime because they had managed grab some of the stadium concrete from the demolition site!

The new stadium is a much more open-air design. Not only does this provide a panoramic view of Downtown St Louis & the Gateway Arch, but it also provides ventilation at pitch level. Apparently, the pitch was four storeys below ground level in the old stadium & for one of the playoff games although it was 'only' about 110 degrees F outside, at Home Plate it was almost 130 degrees F. The new stadium architecture also includes references to The Arch & other significant St Louis landmarks, for example the Gate 3 entrance on the west side of the stadium includes a large truss resembling Eads Bridge (the first bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Missouri & Illinois).

The tour lasted about an hour. We visited the various 'club' party rooms, the pre-game show TV 'studio', the press room (where radio commentary is broadcast from & is probably the best seat in the stadium), & The Cardinals Club, which includes a high-class eat & drink as much as you can buffet service & the best public seats in the stadium (all for a mere $14,000 per ticket, per year, but you have to buy two). We then went out to the Cardinals' Dugout where all the students (& Beth's teacher) not only got to sit where The Cards do for their home matches, but also got to sing 'Take me out to the Ball Game' (which is an early 20th century song & is the unofficial baseball anthem which is traditionally sung by fans during the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game) from the dugout - very cool!

Blast Time Again!

2009-05-23T22:25:00.001-05:00

Beth's school once again held their summer fair in early May &, this year, Beth invited her friend Hope. Similarly to last year, there were displays by the local emergency services, raffles, games, inflatables (including a huge slide & assault course), carousel swings, snacks, & competitions (including the 'cake walk' which Beth & Hope both won a box of cakes on). Also like last year, it looked as if the weather was going to wash out the event, but by the time it started the Sun was brightly shining & the temperature was in the low 70's - absolutely perfect weather! The same balloon modeller was there again with an apparently increased repertoire of balloon models & even more jokes. It was really funny watching some of the parents being completely serious (because they couldn't tell if he was being serious) when he asked them what class they were in & what their favourite part of school was. We had just found out that afternoon that Beth had Pneumonia (after a mis-diagnosis by the local urgent-care centre earlier on in the week) so she was on prescribed medicine & was having issues breathing, so her & Hope didn't do too much running about (as this made Beth breathless), but she was still able to enjoy the fair, including the chocolate pie eating competition. Unfortunately, Beth's plate fell on the ground, so she didn't win the competition, but she had fun taking part & I was able to take the obligatory 'Beth covered in chocolate pudding' photo!

Pharaoh's Car Show (Culver's, Arnold)

2009-05-23T22:13:00.004-05:00

One of my co-workers (Don) is a total petrol-head to the point that makes me look like I have no interest in cars whatsoever. I think he was so used to me replying 'nothing' to his almost daily question, 'so what car have you bought then?', that he didn't believe the screensaver of the car on my computer at work was actually my car. After the shock & the allegations of me copying him (he has a Shelby Mustang that is black with red stripes & also has the red interior package), he mentioned that the Pharaoh's car show (at Culver's in Arnold) was on at the weekend & that he would be displaying one of his cars there. There is no age limit for vehicles (unlike the local Memories Car Club shows where the vehicles have to be 1979 or older) & he suggested that I should bring my car along as well - so I did! I ended up driving into the car park behind Don (he was in his Viper GTS Coupe) & there just happened to be two parking spaces next to each other at the front of the restaurant (the prime parking spot apparently). This worked out well since there was outside seating right next to where we were parked. This show/cruise is very relaxed & included music, a 50/50 drawing, & free attendance prizes (which Don had mentioned were really good at this particular event). I put my name in the drawing & won the first prize - a $10 gift coupon for pizza, two free concretes at Culver's, & two free movie tickets (total value about $40). The weather was great & the attendance was really good with probably at least 100 cars on display.

Hello Mustang

2009-05-23T22:05:00.003-05:00

......Mustang! A black, convertible, Mustang GT, manual, with red leather interior & matching red racing stripes, no less. I have had to totally change my driving style as this is a car that wants to be driven, but is also a car that screams 'shoot me with your radar gun, Mr Police Officer', so I am driving it with kid gloves. It is quick though, 0-60 in just over 5 seconds, although I haven't had the opportunity to test this out yet (it does feel like it could be quick when you accelerate). There is a dragstrip fairly close by in Illinois, so I am thinking about attending one of the 'test & tune' events so that I can see what my new 'boy toy' can do in a safe environment. Driving with the roof down is a new experience that Beth seems to especially enjoy. It was raining on the day I was scheduled to pick up the new car, but as soon as I got to the dealership, the Sun started to edge out from behind the clouds & when I got home we were able to drive with the roof down - totally cool!!

Goodbye Focus

2009-05-23T22:02:00.001-05:00

When Cheryl & Beth first moved to the US, I bought Cheryl a car - a bright yellow Ford Focus. It was a cool looking car & with a 2L engine it was fairly quick whilst still being fairly frugal on petrol. When living in the UK I always quite liked the idea of getting a Focus & as I started to drive Cheryl's car on a regular basis I really liked it. However, I was always going on about getting a new car & Cheryl often joked that I never would because I would have to get rid of her car. Anyway, I was getting our compact SUV serviced & whilst browsing the Dealer's used vehicle lot I took a test drive & guess what - I traded Cheryl's car for a......

Poetry Slam

2009-05-23T21:59:00.003-05:00

Jeff Foxworthy is a stand-up comedian with the Blue Collar Comedy Tour (which also includes Bill Engvall, Ron White, & Larry the Cable Guy; the latter played Tow Mater in Disney Pixar's Cars movie) & is currently the host of 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader'. He has also written a number of books including the 'You might be a Redneck if .....' series, & his latest venture is the 'Silly Street' book series for children. To celebrate this, there was a poetry competition for 3rd Grade classes held by the local Barnes & Noble bookstore. Students from each 3rd Grade class (there were 29 classes in total) had to submit a poem about their street. The winner of each class would move on to the final at the bookstore poetry slam. Beth was the finalist for her class & did a really good job of reading her poem at the Slam. There were three runners-up prizes (a $10 bookstore gift card) & three winner's prizes of a signed copy of Jeff Foxworthy's new book. Beth did really well & won a runners-up prize!

Dance Recital

2009-05-23T21:55:00.004-05:00

Beth has been continuing to take Ballet, Tap, & Jazz dancing lessons & we went to watch her perform in her end-of-year dance recital. Unlike the previous location, where Beth was in the older age-group, she is now probably somewhere mid-level. Similarly to the previous recital there were two events; an evening dress rehearsal, where photos & videos were allowed, & the main 'matinee' event where no photography was allowed. The recital venue was also a lot larger (with a much bigger stage) which meant that more people could watch with an unobstructed view. Beth, did a really good job, putting on a great performance in all her routines.

Spring Local Competition - Poms

2009-05-23T21:53:00.002-05:00

Beth took part in the locals competition which, as usual was another 'well' organized YCOA event. Actually, it wasn't that badly organized this time, but then the improvement wasn't difficult based upon the total disaster that was the Fall Regional Competition. This year YCOA were promoting pre-registration as a way to reduce waiting time prior to the event. We decided that if everyone pre-registered then the 'on the day' registration probably wouldn't be that bad. Almost everyone else must have agreed with us since the registration lines were as long as usual & the pre-registration 'booth' was empty. Other changes included a new judge specifically for technical compliance (although you knew that this probably wouldn't make any difference when the MC announced that there was this new judge with this specific role but none of the judges knew who was doing it) & new scorekeepers & checkers. Beth's team did a great job with their cheer & dance routine & placed 3rd - great job Beth!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-05-23T21:50:00.003-05:00

Our neighbours kindly invited Beth to an Easter Egg hunt at their church. They also brought their nieces, Megan & Natalie, who Beth gets on well with. Firstly, all the children listened to some stories & sang some songs before splitting up for rotation between craft activities, snack time, & the egg hunt. There was a limit on the number of eggs that could be collected, but the organizer's forgot to mention this so Beth very kindly gave up some of her eggs so that other children had a few more (all the eggs were filled with candy or special prizes).

Memories Car Club show April '09

2009-05-23T21:46:00.001-05:00

The weather this spring has been somewhat of a repeat of last year's with rain, flooding, & cool temperatures. However, for the first Memories Car Club show of the year it was bright sunshine (although still quite chilly) which brought out the cars in big numbers - the parking lot was full (about 400 vehicles) & cars were continually lining up to get in. Some of the more memorable vehicles were an MG Midget, MGB GT (both with their steering wheels on the wrong side!), a pair of 'General Lee' Dodge Chargers, a really cool Corvette that had some very nicely executed body modifications & perfectly straight black paint, & some late-model musclecars (parked outside the show as this particular car club has a pre-1979 rule).

AWANA Pinewood Derby

2009-05-23T21:42:00.002-05:00

Beth attends an AWANA club at a local church. One of the many events that they do is the 'Pinewood Derby', which originally started as a racing event for the Boy Scouts of America, but which has now spread to other organizations to the point where there is now an entire industry dedicated to the supply of tracks, timers, car accessories, etc. The car kit comprises (as a minimum) a block of wood (usually made of pine) with two slots for axles, four plastic wheels & four stub axles. The finished car must use everything in the kit (with the exception of the decals), & must comply with certain geometric parameters (e.g. width, ground clearance, & weight. The car can be decorated however the racer wants, but the emphasis is on the racer (i.e. the child) doing most of the work (unless not safe to do so, e.g. cutting the wooden block to initially shape the vehicle). I helped Beth to cut & shape her car & to decorate it, but she came up with the design. The entire car was covered in glitter (purple) with a gold glitter racing stripe, her number (43) on the roof in silver glitter & silver glitter for the windows. We tried to just make this event fun for Beth, but it was obvious that a lot of the parents take it very, very, seriously to the point of bringing tools & weights to the event so that they can alter the vehicle so that it is close to the maximum weight as possible (our car was dead-on the weight limit with no modifications). Call me a cynic, but I think that a lot of the cars were built by the parents (which is not really in the spirit of the event) with young children (5 or 6) having perfectly shaped, perfectly painted cars, that run really fast. The racing was set out in brackets to ensure that each car had multiple opportunities at making it into the final, & as the cars actually pick up quite a bit of speed on the track, a digital timing system is used to ensure that the winning car really is recorded as the winner. We had great fun & perhaps next year we will get serious about trying to win the cup!

Brandon Mull Book Signing

2009-05-23T21:38:00.002-05:00

Beth loves reading! Her favourite book series (other than Harry Potter) are Fablehaven & the Candy Shop Wars (both written by Brandon Mull). Beth has the entire series of these books & was thrilled to hear that Brandon Mull was visiting our local Barnes & Noble bookstore for a book signing. The book signing started at 6:00 pm & although we arrived nearly half an hour early we still had a two-hour wait (I actually managed to completely read a book whilst we were lining up). It was worth the wait, though. Brandon Mull was a really nice guy who seemed genuinely excited about his books & all the people reading them. He spent some time taking to Beth whilst he signed all her books & then gave her a signed poster & bookmark. He also gave her a heads-up about his upcoming book & that the rights to Fablehaven & Candy Shop Wars have been acquired & that they will be made into films.

Talent Show 2009

2009-05-23T21:36:00.002-05:00

This year the talent show was held in the main auditorium at the local high school. This was a much better arrangement than previous years (the show is usually held in Beth's school gym) because not only were there many more seats (so no-one had to stand), the seats were tiered so that you got a great view of the stage from wherever you sat. This year, rather than perform with her friends, Beth chose to showcase her piano playing skills. She played 'Part of your World' (from The Little Mermaid) but since there was a strict time limit of two minutes per act she had to do some editing, but you would never have realized as she did a great job - well done Beth!

Friendship Party

2009-05-23T21:33:00.001-05:00

Beth's Grade had a friendship party around Valentine's Day. All three classes took part with different activities set up in each classroom. One class was game based (e.g. bingo with 'Sweethearts' candy), one was craft based, & the final class was where the students could make their own snack (ice cream with chocolate syrup, sprinkles & Oreo cookies). All the students brought in Valentine's for each other. These ranged from candy to miniature Valentine's cards & everyone had previously decorated bags which were used to collect all the Valentine's gifts.

Daddy Daughter Dance

2009-05-23T20:57:00.001-05:00

Beth & I went to a 'Daddy Daughter Dance' organized by Beth's dance teacher. We hadn't booked any tickets (& neither had Beth's friend Hope) as, according to the recreational centre where the dance was to be held, there was no cut-off date for ticket purchases & they never sold out - except for this year :( Luckily, Beth's dance teacher was able to persuade the centre that there was just enough room for us - yay! The girls had a great time at the dance, which included portraits with Daddy, Italian food, bingo (where everyone won a cuddly toy), craft activities, & lots of dancing!

St Louis Auto Show 2009

2009-05-23T20:52:00.003-05:00

Despite the bad weather, I made it to the St Louis Auto Show, this time on opening day. Unfortunately, the Toyota Off Road On Site Adventure was not complete (they were still bulldozing the 1000 tons of dirt & 20 tons of gravel) so I didn't get to drive a new Toyota. The most noticeable thing about the Auto Show this year was the space (& lots of it) between the various displays. No doubt this was due to the pretty dire economic situation (especially for vehicle manufacturers), but there were still some notable cars & trucks on display. There were three production Dodge Challengers, the new Dodge Ram pickup, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (complete with clear bonnet panel), the new Ford F150 pickup (including the F150 based SVT Raptor) & two new Camaros (one of which had been featured in Hot Rod Magazine the week before the show. The car I was most looking forward to seeing was the 2010 Ford Mustang which had been formally launched in December '08 (even though it was promoted as a 2010 model). Unfortunately, Ford was doing the same thing as all the other manufacturers & promoting their more fuel efficient cars (including the new Fusion Hybrid which is more fuel efficient than Toyota's Prius), so musclecars were somewhat thin on the ground. There was one 2010 Mustang on display which looked pretty cool, although the colour that this car was painted in (Grabber Blue) probably wasn't the most flattering!

First Snow 2009

2009-05-23T20:29:00.003-05:00

We had been predicted snow for the beginning of the week & the weather forecasters were correct with their predictions. I made my way into work as usual, but it was noticeable that although there was only a couple of inches of snow (which had been predicted for about a week previous) the roads were in really bad condition, almost as if they hadn't been plowed. We were predicted more snow overnight & true to form at about 8:00pm sleet started falling (sleet here in the US is small dry pellets of snow, rather that the wet sloppy stuff that we get in the UK). I thought nothing of it but when I got up at 5:30 am the next morning, there was about 8 inches of snow on the ground. I cleared the drive but chose to leave for work late to try & miss the chaos on the roads. I think that I made the right choice as even with a four-wheel drive it was really difficult to make it up our road (which still hadn't been plowed). The highways were in an even worse mess than the previous day so it was a slow journey into the office but on the way I saw a couple of snow plough convoys clearing the highway, & behind these it looked like it hadn't snowed at all! Normal service was resumed by the commute home with all the roads that I travelled on being clear.

Poms Fall (Winter) Regional Competition

2009-05-23T20:25:00.003-05:00

The Fall regional poms competition was held in Kansas City again. Since Beth didn't have to be there until 12:30 pm we decided to drive to Kansas on the day of the event & then drive back straight afterwards. The event was held at the Kansas Community College again, but this time the organization was absolutely disastrous. Last time the organization wasn't very good, but we gave Young Champions of America (YCOA) the benefit of the doubt since this was their first time at this different venue. This time, however, YCOA had no excuse. At 12:30 pm Beth should have been registering, however, the morning session (which should have already finished according to YCOA's schedule) was still taking place. The venue was apparently full, so campus police were charged with preventing anyone from entering the building (except for those people that either ignored them or argued with them). This wouldn't have been so bad except the temperature was very cold (partly due to the snow still on the ground), which combined with the windchill, made it a decidedly unhealthy place for all the cheerleaders waiting to perform. We were near the head of the line outside the building & were assured that we would be in the building in a couple of minutes as the late-running morning competition was now over, so were reluctant to go back to the car (as the line was now considerably longer than when we arrived). YCOA weren't very helpful (or particularly tactful) by sending people out to apologize & make excuses that they didn't know that this would happen, even though they organized the event, knew what teams had made it to 'regionals', & also knew how long the cheer routines take. After being told for the third time that we would be in the building in a minute or two & that they couldn't let anyone in as the building had reached capacity, & that it was just as bad for all of them in the warm building (as there were so many people in there that it made it difficult for them to move around), I decided that enough was enough, so made my feelings known (in a firm but calm manner) to the unfortunate YCOA representative that was telling everyone how bad it was for them. There was somewhat of a silence as I said my piece & asked what YCOA were going to do to about this totally unsatisfactory situation & was basically told that there was nothing they could do & that I would have to speak to one of the regional managers. We eventually got into the building 45 minutes after registration was supposed to have started. Beth was really upset at being made to stand outside in sub-zero temperatures for nearly an hour, during which time her legs had turned blue. Luckily, she soon warmed up, but there were plenty of other upset cheerleaders (& parents) so it seemed that YCOA were really adding insult to injury by making such a big deal about the most important being that the girls should have fun & enjoy themselves at the competition! As usual, Beth put on a great display & her team was rewarded with a runners-up position (which was pretty good since they were competing with 20 or so other teams).

Christingle 2008

2009-05-23T20:19:00.003-05:00

When we are back in the UK, we always try to attend at least one service at the church that we used to regularly attend. This year, because we went back before Christmas (for some reason the air fair was considerably less before Christmas than when we usually fly back over the festive season) we were able to attend the Christingle Service.
A Christingle is an object typically used in advent services held by Christian denomination churches & comprises the following:

An orange (which represents The World)
A red ribbon wrapped around the orange (which represents the blood of Jesus)
Fruit pieces &/or sweets which are skewered on 4 cocktail sticks pushed into the orange (which represents fruits of the Earth & the four seasons)
A lighted candle pushed into the centre of the orange (which represents Jesus as the light of the world)

Before the children at the service were given their Christingles, the story of the Christingle was told with the assistance of some of the children (including Beth) who were dressed up as 'the world's biggest Christingle'!

New Arrival

2009-05-23T20:15:00.002-05:00

In early December, Cheryl's Niece, Karis, gave birth to her first baby, Karl. Cheryl's sister, Clare, kindly picked us up at the airport, & we also went out with her during our stay in the UK, so we had plenty of time with the new arrival!

Christmas in the UK

2009-05-23T20:10:00.003-05:00

We kept up with our 'family tradition' & went back to the UK for Christmas. This year we really did go back for Christmas as we usually travel on Boxing Day, but for some reason this year the air fair was significantly less before Christmas than when we usually fly back over the festive season. As usual, we spent most of our time trying to see everyone that we had missed over the past year & catching up with what has been going on. Work schedules & the limited time we had in the UK meant that we didn't get to see everyone that we would have liked to, but we managed to see most of our close family & friends.

Winter Party

2009-05-23T20:07:00.002-05:00

Beth's Grade had a winter party at the end of the 'Winter' term. The students had to wear their pyjamas, & all three classes took part with different activities set up in each classroom. One class was game based (e.g. pin the arms on the snowman), one was craft based (e.g. snowman picture frame), & the final class was where the students could make their own snack (a festive cookie).

Winter Musical

2009-05-23T20:04:00.002-05:00

The theme of the Winter Musical at Beth's school was how different holidays are celebrated across the world. The event started with a composition played by the 5th Grade Strings Orchestra, followed by the various stories which were partly narrated by the students & partly shown on a video screen. The video stories were pre-recorded & had been acted out by the students before the musical. Beth was selected to play Senora Freida which meant that she had to learn her lines in Spanish. Beth did a great job acting & also took part in the Special Chorus which sang the songs related to the stories. Due to Beth's performance in the chorus she was selected to audition for the Kirkwood Children's Choral society.

Cheetah Girls - One World Tour

2009-05-23T20:00:00.002-05:00

Occasionally, I am lucky enough to get tickets for the work's box at the Scottrade Centre (although I had been really lucky of late & managed to get tickets to see the circus & now The Cheetah Girls). The Cheetah Girls are a girl-band created by Disney & were made famous by the movie of the same name & their subsequent movies 'The Cheetah Girls 2' & 'The Cheetah Girls - One World' (the latter film being the basis for this concert). In addition to singing & making films, the group also has a line of clothing, a perfume collection, toy dolls, room decor, books, & video games. So far, they have grossed over $30 million from touring & $20 million from merchandise!

The Clique Girlz were the opening act & they are, apparently, the youngest Disney international act. They had a couple of catchy songs, but to be honest, their singing wasn't really that good (more like shouting). However, on the CD that Beth bought they sounded pretty good & they have opened for some fairly famous acts such as Billy Ray Cirus, the Jonas Brothers, Drake Bell, & Demi Lovato, so I guess they can't be that bad (although the band has subsequently split due to 'personal issues' & reformed as a duo).

Ice Skating

2009-05-23T19:55:00.004-05:00

Beth wanted to go ice skating, so we thought about taking her to the Steinberg Rink in Forest Park (which is an open air, seasonal ice rink) but with sub-zero temperatures we decided to stay a bit closer to home & take her to the Kirkwood 'Recreation Station' Ice Arena. Cheryl & Beth both went on the ice, but I just watched from the heated entrance/viewing area.

Thanksgiving Day Parade

2009-05-23T19:49:00.002-05:00

The St Louis Thanksgiving parade takes place in Downtown St Louis on Thanksgiving Day morning. I watched the parade the first year that I moved to the US (as I was living Downtown) but Cheryl & Beth have never seen the parade so we decided that we would go & watch it in person. I have a parking pass to a car park (which I use for work) & since this wasn't on the parade route we decided to park there & walk to the parade. Unfortunately, I hadn't planned on the parade organizers shutting off most of Downtown so we ended up parking on the street (at least the parking meters weren't in operation as Thanksgiving day is a public holiday in the US) at the far end of the parade route. One of the main common features of Thanksgiving Day parades across the US is giant helium filled balloons. These are dragged along by a team of 'balloonists' & when the crowd shouts 'spin, spin', the team runs around in a circle to make the balloon spin around.

This year's parade had a 'spacey' feel to it with the Honorary Grand Marshal being Major Robert Behnken, who is a St Louis native, NASA astronaut, a Major in the US Air Force & was on Space Shuttle Mission STS-123 to the International Space Station. The giant helium balloons included: Buzz the Astronaut, the Space Shuttle, Blue Angel fighter airplane, Louie the Lightning Bug, Rudolph the Reindeer, Father Christmas, Felix the Cat, & the Little Drummer Boy. Other parade participants included numerous marching bands from area schools, car clubs, parade floats, & the Moolah Shriners (in their mad go-carts). It was really cold for the parade (temperatures were around zero), but it was very sunny & there was no snow this year!

Beth's Birthday

2009-05-23T19:45:00.002-05:00

This year, Beth wanted a roller skating Birthday party, so we booked a private party session at the local roller-skating rink. We had been to this rink before & it seemed more relaxed than some of the other roller-skating rinks in the area, for example, letting parents walk on the skating area to help their children & not making an issue about what people wear (one rink we went to stopped a parent from skating & made them take their hat off as one of their rules was no hats!). Beth had a great time & had invited lots of friends who also seemed to be having fun, but this meant that it took Beth longer to open her Birthday presents that the rink had allowed for, so they kept pushing Beth to speed up with her presents (which was a shame). Other than this, the party was great fun & Beth really enjoyed herself, which was by far the most important thing!

Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus

2009-05-23T19:39:00.006-05:00

The Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey circus usually makes a stop in St Louis at the Scottrade Centre in the The Fall. I was lucky enough to get tickets for the company box so Cheryl, Beth, myself, & one of Beth's friends, Jessica, were able to watch this years circus (the 137th), titled Bellobration with a great view. This year, the theme of the circus was based on a story about Bello who is a clown-daredevil (with tall, orange hair) who is, apparently, one of the most popular & recognizable personalities in the history of Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus. In addition to the stunts performed by Bello, such as skipping on top of the spinning Wheel of Steel or balancing on top of a 7-story high sway pole, there were a number of other acts including; 'Tabayara', who's act uses 12 Royal Bengal & white Tigers, the Palazovi teeterboard troupe (who perfored a five person tower), the Aguilar brothers who's act included running, dancing, & skipping simultaneously on parallel high wire cables, & Brian & Tina Miser who were Human cannon balls (both shot out of the same cannon at the same time). The circus acts normally took place in three fixed circus rings, but this year the rings were diamond shaped (with embedded LED lights) & constantly changed shape between acts.

Delmar Gardens Halloween

2009-05-23T19:35:00.002-05:00

Delmar Gardens is a 'chain' of senior living establishments (i.e. residential 'care homes' for the elderly). These can range from shared, almost hospital style, rooms in huge complexes with 24/7 care & nursing staff to assisted living complexes with individual apartments that have a high-class hotel feel to them. Irrespective of the type of accommodation, many events are put on during the year that benefit the residents & give the local community the opportunity to get involved. We went along to the Halloween festival & met up (unintentionally) with one of Beth's friends, Jessica. There were plenty of Halloween activities & both girls entered the costume competition. We thought that Beth was going to win after Cheryl heard one of the judges choosing Beth as the winner, but one of the other judges was adamant that their chosen winner was better & started arguing until all the other judges agreed with her. It was a shame that Beth didn't win, as in my opinion (& yes I am biased) the winning outfit was just someone wearing a leather jacket & hat, whereas Beth's outfit was homemade (even though most people thought that it was shop bought, so kudos to Cheryl for her needlework skills) & fully co-ordinated. Maybe Beth will win next year?

Grafton Ferry

2009-05-22T23:57:00.002-05:00

Grafton (Illinois) is a popular location for Eagle spotting &, since October 2002, it also provides a crossing of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. After driving the Great River Road & seeing the totally (un)spectacular Fall colours we thought that we would take the ferry across the river(s). We initially missed the turning for the ferry as it wasn't actually a road but more of a gravel track. We were looking for something like the Woolwich Ferry in London with big a big gantry to drive on & off the ferry (especially considering that the river is approximately a mile wide at this location), so we were even more surprised when the ferry turned out to be a small looking tugboat connected to a flat barge with vehicles on (maximum capacity 12 cars). To get the vehicles on & off the ferry, it literally 'drove' into the riverbank & access ramps were then unfolded directly onto the bank. We got a great view of Grafton from the ferry & it only took about 10 minutes to get from Illinois to Missouri.

Piasa Park, Alton, IL

2009-05-22T23:52:00.002-05:00

We had a very wet, cool spring this year. This usually means that the fall colours are a lot more intense. Our neighbours suggested driving to Graffton, Illinois, along the Great River Road as this is tree-lined on one side & borders the Mississippi river on the other, so you have an unobstructed view of the trees. Rather than crossing the Mississippi at Alton, we crossed at St Louis & drove north through Illinois. Just north of Alton there is a small park with Limestone Bluffs called Piasa Park, due to the mural of the legendary Piasa Bird.

The Piasa Bird is an Alton legend which started in 1673 when Father Jacques Marquette (who was travelling down the Mississippi River with Louis Joliet), described the Piasa Bird as a 'birdlike monster' painted high on the bluffs adjacent to the Mississippi River where the City of Alton is located. Farther Jacques' journal described the painting as showing this bird that "was as large as a calf with horns like a deer, red eyes, a beard like a tiger's, a face like a man, a body covered with green, red, & black scales, & a tail so long it passed around the body, over the head & between the legs." The creature was named by native Piasa (bird that devours men) by American (Illini) Indians.

The legend of the bird was written on a stone tablet in the park & is basically as follows: Many moons ago, there existed a birdlike creature of such great size, he could easily carry off a full grown deer in his talons. His taste, however, was for human flesh. Hundreds of warriors attempted to destroy the Piasa, but failed. Whole villages were destroyed & fear spread throughout the Illini tribe. Ouatoga, a chief whose fame extended even beyond the Great Lakes, separated himself from his tribe, fasted in solitude for the space of a whole moon, & prayed to the Great Spirit to protect his people from the Piasa. On the last night of his fast, the Great Spirit appeared to Ouatoga in a dream & directed him to select 20 warriors, arm them each with a bow & poisoned arrow, & conceal them in a designated spot. Another warrior was to stand in an open view, as a victim for the Piasa. When the chief awoke in the morning, he told the tribe of his dream. The warriors were quickly selected & placed in ambush. Ouatoga offered himself as the victim. Placing himself in open view, he soon saw the Piasa perched on the bluff eyeing his prey. Ouatoga began to chant the death song of a warrior. The Piasa took to the air & swooped down upon the chief. The Piasa had just reached his victim when every bow was sprung & every arrow sent sailing into the body of the beast. The Piasa uttered a fearful scream that echoed down the river, & died. Ouatoga was safe, & the tribe saved.

Crestwood Halloween

2009-05-22T23:48:00.001-05:00

Beth is now taking dance classes at the City of Crestwood recreation centre (since the classes local to us are now 'too young' for Beth). The recreation centre was holding an indoor 'Trick or Treat' & Halloween party which Beth wanted to go to. Her outfit this year which was a '50s Rock 'n' Roll girl which Cheryl made from scratch. In addition to all the candy on the trick or treat tables, there were plenty of other activities (most also with candy) that Beth took part in, including Jingo Bingo & the costume parade.

Fall Festival

2009-05-22T23:43:00.003-05:00

This year, Beth invited her friend Hope (who is home-schooled), to the Fall Festival at her school. In addition to the usual bean bag toss, pig racing, hair colouring, Zorb Ball racing, & cake walk, there were some new attractions including a 'reptile petting zoo' (which included a huge snake). The girls spent about two hours playing games, doing crafts, & petting snakes (!), & both had a great time!

Laumeier Sculpture Park

2009-05-22T23:38:00.004-05:00

Laumeier Sculpture Park is about 15 minutes from where we live & is unique in the fact that it is effectively an open-air museum showcasing more than 70 sculptures. It also has an indoor art museum (which was displaying artistic items not suitable for children when we visited), & is accredited by the American Association of Museums. Being outside, most of the sculptures are fairly large, with 'The Way' by Alexander Liberman probably being the largest (it is made from disused oil storage tanks). Another one of our favorites was 'Eye' by Tony Tasset, which is, as it's name suggests, an eye, although this one has been super-sized & is about 12 ft diameter!

Hoover Dam (2)

2009-05-10T22:37:00.007-05:00

After our guided tour of the Hoover dam was finished, we were free to explore the rest of the dam. We visited the viewing platform (in the visitors centre) & walked across the entire dam (for our second visit to Arizona). One thing that was really noticeable was the drastic reduction of water level behind the dam (at least 20 ft). This has been attributed in part to climate change & also the huge development & subsequent increase in water demand for the surrounding area. It really made you realize how important water is (especially in this desert environment) & the problems that are likely to occur is water isn't available.

A few other interesting Hoover Dam facts:

Construction duration: April 20, 1931 – March 1, 1936
Construction cost: $49 million (approximately $750 present day cost)
Deaths attributed to construction: 96 (if a death occurred away from the dam site it wasn't counted, so the total death toll is probably considerably higher)
Dam height: 726.4 ft
Dam width: 1244 ft
Dam thickness: 660 ft (at the base) & 45 ft (at the crest) - the dam base is thicker than the Gateway Arch is tall!
Concrete used: 4.36 million cubic yds
Maximum instantaneous hydroelectric generation: 2.08 GW
Approximate total power output (yearly): 4 billion KWh

Hoover Dam (1)

2009-05-10T22:19:00.010-05:00

The technical visit to the Hoover Dam (originally called Boulder Dam), was in my opinion an excellent activity. Being part of an engineering institution meant that we were able to get the full tour of the dam rather than just the 'public areas'. One disappointment was that we didn't get to wear the bright yellow Hoover Dam fake hard hats :( as we needed to wear proper safety headwear, but we all got a book about the dam at the end of the tour, which was a bonus! Our guide was very knowledgeable about the dam & commented that he often took film crews around the dam so his voice is on numerous documentaries but he hasn't actually been seen on TV. Another interesting fact was that when a film was being shot shortly after the dam was constructed the concrete face of the dam was too bright so thousands of nails were hammered into the dam face so that the rust staining 'dulled down' the reflectivity. Fast forward quite a few years & a James Bond film was being shot at the dam which included abseiling down the face of the structure. After the first repel the stuntmen were stuck to the dam & couldn't move - the nail heads had rusted away & the stuntmen's shoes were impaled on the nails, so cue removing thousand of nails from the dam face! Not to sure if this is just folklore, but our tour guide seemed pretty sincere & it sounded pretty cool anyway!

The dam is located in the Black Canyon on the Colorado River (approximately 30 miles southeast from Las vegas) & spans the border (& time zone boundary) between Nevada & Arizona. The technical term for the dam is a 'concrete arch gravity dam' & when it was completed (1936) it was largest electric-power generating station (the dam was actually built for irrigation purposes but the power generation capability was a bonus by-product that actually paid for the construction of the dam & continues to pay for dam maintenance; however, even today irrigation needs have priority over power generation) & the largest concrete structure in the world. It is named after Herbert Hoover who was instrumental in its construction, firstly as the US Secretary of Commerces & then as the President of the United States. The dam & hydroelectric power generation plant are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation & it is a designated US National Historic Landmark.

Originally, the dam was going to be constructed in Boulder Canyon (which is how it got its original name) but the site proved unsuitable so the dam site was moved downstream eight miles along the Colorado River to Black Canyon. To protect the construction site from flooding, two cofferdams (temporary walls) were constructed. To enable the river water to pass around the construction zone four diversion tunnels were driven through the canyon walls (two in Nevada & two in Arizona). The tunnels were 56 ft in diameter (with a combined length of more than three miles) & then lined with three feet thick concrete (making the finished internal diameter, 50 ft). When the dam was completed the entrances to the outer diversion tunnels were sealed at the upstream opening & half way along with concrete plugs. The downstream tunnel sections now act as spillway tunnels. The inner diversion tunnels also have two concrete plugs in them; one is half way & the other about three quarters of the way along. The section sandwiched between two plugs is used as part of the tunnels which water travels along from the outer intake towers to the generators (the inner intake towers have separate tunnels). Part of our tour included one of the water supply tunnels where we got to stand on the Arizona side generator water feed header pipe. Since our visit was on a Sunday, power requirements were low & the tunnel wasn't supplying any generators. When water is flowing you can apparently feel the flow through the pipe!

An interesting aspect of constructing such a huge concrete structure that needs to be water retaining is the need to prevent cracking of the concrete (get ready for some interesting civil engineering). Concrete doesn't harden by drying (otherwise how could you use concrete underwater?) the cement actually chemically reacts (hydrates) with the water in an exothermic reaction. Exothermic reactions create heat & due to the massive size of the dam, if it had been continuously poured (ignoring the logistics of providing that much concrete continuously) the temperature differential would be so great that stresses created would lead to severe cracking & probably dam failure. To resolve this issue, the dam was constructed as a series of interlocking trapezoidal columns approximately six inches deep. Sacrificial cooling coils were also used to circulate river water through the curing concrete to regulate the temperature. The cooling pipes were disconnected & pressure grouted when each pour had cured sufficiently.

Boulder City

2009-05-10T22:14:00.002-05:00

As part of the conference that I was attending in Las Vegas, a technical tour of the Hoover Dam & meeting with the management team for the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (currently under construction adjacent to the dam) was organized for Sunday. The coach journey to the dam probably took about 45 minutes & we passed through Boulder City en route. Boulder City is located in Clark County, Nevada, & is approximately 20 miles from Las Vegas. It was originally built in 1932 by the US Bureau of Reclamation as housing for all the workers (who previously lived in a 'tent city') that were constructing Boulder Dam (for The Bureau) close by in Black Canyon on the Colorado River. Boulder Dam was subsequently renamed Hoover Dam, but Boulder City's name remained. In 1958 The Bureau handed over control of the city & it was officially incorporated on January 4, 1960. As with when The Bureau controlled the city, the city council decided that the city's charter should continue to prohibit gambling within the city limits. Boulder City is now only one of two cities in the state of Nevada that have outlawed gambling (the other being Panaca).

Red Rock Canyon

2009-05-10T22:10:00.002-05:00

Beth wanted to see a Cactus plant in its natural habitat, & as Las Vegas is located in the Mojave Desert we were in the ideal location for her to be able to see naturally growing cacti. The hotel concierge suggested driving to Red Rock Canyon which is a 195,819 acre 'Protected Natural Conservation Area' approximately 15 miles west from 'Vegas. One of the most striking aspects of the journey to the canyon was that one minute you would be in a heavily populated area (i.e. residential & commercial) & then all of a sudden just desert & wilderness. Unlike St Louis, there was no gradual transition whatsoever! We didn't get to the canyon until about 6:30 pm & so weren't able to drive the scenic loop as it was beginning to get dark, but we were able to see some of the area features (including the 'Keystone Thrust' mountains) & Beth got to see some cacti!

Hard Rock Cafe

2009-05-10T22:06:00.002-05:00

Another Las Vegas tradition is buffets, since gambling all day probably works up a big appetite, a big meal is needed! Most of the resorts offer buffet meals & we considered eating at one (just for the experience), but after looking at the prices (up to $85 per person) & the 'exotic' foods on offer (not so child-friendly), we thought that we would play it safe & eat at the hard Rock Cafe (just across from our hotel & within walking distance). Good food & cool memorabilia - 'nuff said!

M&M World

2009-05-07T23:56:00.002-05:00

Cheryl & Beth were on their own while I was in the conference, so they took advantage of the free hotel shuttle bus & visited the Strip for some retail therapy! First stop was M&M World in the Showcase Mall next to the MGM Grand Hotel (south from where we were staying). This was the first M&M World (which opened in 1997) & is four storeys of total M&Mness. The shop includes a 3-D movie theatre which (Beth & Cheryl both said that the movie was really good), the 'My Colour' wall which displays every colour M&M available in huge tube dispensers so you can mix 'n' match your M&M's gifts, novelties, clothing, & other M&M merchandise, a replica of the M&M's race car driven in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series & a timeline showing how the M&M characters have evolved over the years.

New York, New York

2009-05-07T23:51:00.004-05:00

The New York, New York hotel is a replica of popular New York landmarks including several towers configured to resemble New York City skyscrapers (including the Empire State Building & Chrysler Building), a lake representing New York Harbour (complete with a 150 ft tall, half-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty), & replicas of the Brooklyn Bridge, Soldiers & Sailors Monument, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Ellis Island, & Grand Central Station. The hotel also has its own roller coaster which travels around & through the buildings. The coaster is approximately 200 ft tall, has a maximum drop of nearly 150 ft & uses cars that are are painted to look like traditional New York yellow (Checker) cabs which reach speeds of up to nearly 70 mph!

Luxor

2009-05-07T23:45:00.003-05:00

The Luxor is a 4,407 room hotel & casino owned & operated by MGM Mirage. It was one of the city's first fully-themed megaresorts & was built on the site of the old Pyramid House (opposite the airport). The Luxor was the hotel that I was most looking forward to seeing in Las Vegas, due to the futuristic look of the 350 ft tall very dark bronze glass pyramid (which appears black on clear days & a dark, golden-bronze on overcast days). This looks even cooler at night with the Starlight Lighting System, remote control light show along the edges of the pyramid & the vertical spotlight at the tip of the structure. Apparently, this is the brightest beam in the world, is visible from anywhere in the Las Vegas Valley at night, & can be seen at flight level from above Los Angeles (over 275 miles from Las Vegas). The light is generated using 39, 7kW lights that are rated at 41.5 Gigacandela or 30.2 billion Lumens (total). Supposedly, it is also possible to see this light beam from space! Another cool feature of the hotel is that since the guest rooms are located outer walls of the pyramid you can't access them using a normal lift that moves vertically since the rooms are at a 39-degree angle. The Luxor uses 'inclinators' that travel along at this angle & it feels pretty weird when going up & down in them.

The Stratosphere

2009-05-07T23:36:00.005-05:00

The Stratosphere is a 2,444 room,tower, hotel, & casino owned by Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds (an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co). The most striking feature of this resort is the 100+ storey, 1,149 ft tall Stratosphere Tower, which is the tallest free-standing observation tower in the US. It is the tallest free-standing structure in Nevada. As if the tower wasn't enough of an attraction, just to make it that little bit more interesting there are a few extra features for those that don't suffer with Vertigo!

Observation Deck - An enclosed deck with views of Las Vegas
Big Shot - Thrill ride which shoots passengers straight up another 160 feet on the top of the Tower at 45 mph.
X-Scream - A giant teeter-totter ride that propels you 27 feet over the edge of the Tower.
Insanity, the Ride - A huge mechanical arm which extends 64 feet over the edge of the Tower & then spins you with a force of 3G.
Stratosphere thrill rides photo montage courtesy of the Stratosphere Hotel

Mirage

2009-05-07T23:32:00.001-05:00

The Mirage is a 3,044 room hotel & casino owned & operated by MGM Mirage. The Mirage was built by developer Steve Wynn on the site of the old Castaways hotel & casino, & was (at the time) the most expensive hotel & casino in history, with a construction cost of $630 million. Other interesting construction facts include that the marquee in front of the hotel is, apparently, the largest free standing marquee in the world, & that the gold tint to the hotel windows was created using actual gold! The Mirage is the sister hotel to The Bellagio, so it is only appropriate that the Mirage also has an outside display to complement the Bellagio Fountains. The Mirage has an artificial volcano that "erupts" hourly between 5 pm - 11 pm. The volcano is natural gas powered which is, naturally, odourless. To make natural gas safer, 'thiols' (pungent compounds containing sulphur & hydrogen atoms) are added so that the gas can be detected if there is a leak; however, to avoid the odour of unburnt natural gas, the odourant is scrubbed from the gas stream & replaced with a Pina Colada fragrance!

The Venetian

2009-05-05T21:32:00.001-05:00

The Venetian is the largest AAA Five-Diamond rated Resort in the US with 4,049 suites & is owned & operated by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. This is a Venice themed resort built on the site of the old Sands Hotel, & when combined with the Sands Expo Convention Center & The Palazzo hotel & Casino Resort it forms part of the largest hotel and resort complex in the world (with over 8,100 hotel rooms). Since the Venetian is a replica of Venice, there are plenty of canals outside where you can take a short boat ride in a gondola. The resort also has a shopping mall on the second floor of the building called the 'Grand Canal Shoppes' which is also a replica of Venice with canals gondola rides inside. While at the Venetian we saw three 'statues'. Two were 'real life' statues that seemed to be collecting a lot of money just standing still. We figured that with the amount of $$$ left next to the statues that we would get a good reaction, but after placing some money in front of one of the statues,all Beth got was a 'thumbs-up' - pah, what a rip-off! The other 'statue' was really a wax figure since The Venetian hosts the Las Vegas Madame Tussauds wax museum. The very, very, realistic figure was of Nicholas Cage & one of the funniest things that we saw was when one of the group of women (from a Bachelorette party?) had her photo taken whilst grabbing Nick's privates & announcing this at the top of her voice to the World (& probably most of the Solar System)!

Treasure Island

2009-05-05T21:29:00.003-05:00

Treasure Island is a 2,665 room, 220 suite hotel & casino owned & operated by Phil Ruffin (he bought it in March 2009). It is connected to The Mirage by a tram & to the Fashion Show Mall shopping centre by a pedestrian bridge. The hotel used to be somewhat family friendly with nightly pirate shows in "Buccaneer Bay" in front of the casino entrance on the Strip. We made our way to see what we thought would be the first show only to find out that the shows didn't start until 7:00 pm. Unfortunately we didn't make it back but it probably wasn't such a bad thing since, apparently, the show was no longer family based (since the resort abandoned its 'family' pirate theme to create a contemporary, adult venue). Now the adult orientated 'Sirens of TI®' show includes a battle between a group of beautiful, tempting sirens & band of renegade pirates. The pyrotechnics are meant to be good &, apparently, the pirate ship outside the resort is sunk during the show so it would probably have still been interesting to see.

The Forum Shops

2009-05-05T21:25:00.002-05:00

The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace has more than 160 boutiques & shops as well as 13 restaurants & specialty food shops. The mall is designed to simulate ancient Roman streets & like with the other malls that we had been in, the ceiling was painted to look like the sky outside. The Forum is considered to be a high-end mall & the lavish shop fronts, facades, & fountains seemed to reinforce that impression. At the far end of the mall there was a circular, Atlantis themed 'hall' with shops around the perimeter & a huge fountain in the centre. When we looked up towards the ceiling, there were 'windows' looking out under the sea! We made our out via the mall entrance (instead of the entrance through Caesars Palace. This showcased the three-storey plaza which apart from seemingly being carved from solid marble, included replicas of the Trevi & Triton Fountains, & (my favorite) a spiral escalator.

Ceasars Palace

2009-05-05T21:22:00.002-05:00

Caesars Palace, is a 3,348 room/suite, luxury hotel & casino owned & operated by Harrah's Entertainment. It is located on the west side of the Strip, between the Bellagio & Mirage & the rooms are located in 5 towers: Augustus, Centurion, Roman, Palace, & the Forum. The guest suites in the Forum tower are larger than our house! This hotel is probably unique in the fact that it was the venue for a Formula One World Championship race (Caesars Palace Grand Prix, in 1981 & 1982). The track was laid out in the parking lot of the hotel & was, apparently, a good course (for one that was temporary) with sufficient space for overtaking, lots of run-off areas filled with sand, & a really smooth driving surface. Alan Jones (Australia) won in 1981 & Michele Alboreto (Italy) won in 1982. 'Caesars' was the first casino that we had been in & one of the first things that we noticed were that there didn't appear to be any signs showing the exits (other than emergency signs). We figured that this was to ensure that you spent your time walking around the casino becoming more tempted to spend a few $$$! Eventually we managed to find our way out of the casino & into The Forum shopping mall (which is part of Caesars).

Bellagio

2009-05-03T21:45:00.007-05:00

The Bellagio is a AAA 5-Diamond, 3,933 room/suite, luxury hotel owned by MGM Mirage which was constructed on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel & casino. This particular hotel is probably most famous for the dancing fountains (in the 9-acre artificial lake between the building & the Strip) that are synchronized to music & light. The fountain performance was one of our 'must see' things at Las Vegas & the shows take place every 30 minutes from mid-afternoon & throughout the evening (which we only found out after waiting 25 minutes for the 12:00pm show). You can see the fountains from numerous locations on the Strip, including at street level & surrounding buildings. We rushed back from The Venetian to see the 3:00pm show only for it to be cancelled due to 'technical' reasons :( We finally managed to see a short part of the show later in the evening when we got caught in the gridlock that surrounds the fountains when performances take place.

Miracle Mile Shops (at Planet Hollywood)

2009-05-03T21:41:00.001-05:00

Our first experience of The Strip was the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino (where we were dropped off by the hotel shuttle bus). The Miracle Mile Shops are part of the Planet Hollywood development & since we were on a mission to get some souvenirs, we thought that we would take a quick peek inside the mall. The first thing that I noticed was the Dodge Challenger SRT-8 parked at the entrance to the Mall (you could win it at the casino), followed by an Aston Martin (inside the mall entrance). The next thing that struck me was the mall ceiling - it was painted to look like the sky outside & the upper portion of most of the 170 shops were generally constructed to look like older buildings. As we made our way through the mall, we came upon the 'free rainstorm'. Intrigued, we waited for the 10 minutes or so until the next show to see if anything would happen. The (indoor) sky started to darken, mist started to form on the 'lake', followed by thunder & lightning. The show finale was a torrential downpour in the mall!

Embassy Suites

2009-05-03T21:37:00.004-05:00

We chose this hotel since it was the one used for the conference activities (other than the conference itself, i.e. event reception, Gala Dinner, etc). Although it wasn't on the strip, it was only a 5-minute walk (or 30 second drive) from the conference venue & was so much easier to park at & travel to & from (there were traffic jams on 'The Strip' whenever we drove on it irrespective of the time of day). There was also a free shuttle bus to & from The Strip. We had a three room suite (lounge, bathroom, & master bedroom) overlooking the pool & facing the city. There were two large flat screen TVs (one in the lounge & master bedroom) & Beth had the sofa bed in the lounge all to herself.

The hotel is based around a 6 storey Atrium with Palm Trees, Koi Pond & Swans! The Royal Swans that live in the Atrium are named Elvis & Priscilla. They receive a lot of attention from guests & apparently know many of the staff members on sight. Their favourite food is spinach, & Beth was lucky enough to get to feed them one morning. In my opinion, one of the best aspects of the hotel was the complimentary, cooked to order, breakfast. Omelettes (with cheese, ham, bacon, mushrooms), Hash Brown, Sausages, Bacon all cooked while you wait & if that wasn't enough there was a room off the Atrium that included cereal, toast, bagels, cakes, fruit, juice, tea, coffee, milk, & other breakfast related items. Just the thing that you need before a long walk around 'Vegas.

Las Vegas

2009-05-03T21:27:00.002-05:00

I was lucky enough to be able to attend a conference hosted by the UK institution that I am Chartered with (it was actually their inaugural conference in the USA). It was a 3-day event (mostly over the weekend), with the initial festivities on Friday, main conference & Gala Dinner on Saturday, & a technical tour of the Hoover Dam on Sunday. Las Vegas is one of the locations on my 'wish-list' of places to visit in the US. It seemed logical for Cheryl & Beth to accompany me, so I paid for an extra night at the hotel, two extra flights, & two extra tickets for the conference activities (i.e. the dinner & tour) so that we could all go.

Las Vegas is located in the Mojave Desert & has a population of approximately 2 million people, although approximately 40 million people per year visit 'Sin City'. A couple of other interesting numbers associated with Las Vegas include: 5034 (the number of rooms in the MGM Grand hotel), & $39,713,982.25 (highest ever slot machine jackpot). 'Vegas is definitely a place of excess &, unsurprisingly, not particularly child friendly (although there were attractions suitable for younger people such as: M & M World & the Treasure Island Show). I think what surprised us the most was the huge number of people walking about, the continual traffic gridlock on 'The Strip' (irrespective of the time of day), & the way that 'adult' services were openly advertised (trucks with billboards & 'gangs' of people standing on the pavement flicking cards at you with personal service contacts). I'm really glad that we were able to make it to Las Vegas & see the hype for ourselves (it really is crazy); however, since we don't drink, don't gamble, & don't need adult services (hmmm, I think I may just have turned into a grumpy old man), there isn't that much in downtown 'Vegas that would make us want to go back!

Aerial view coutesy of The City of Las Vegas

STL Rams

2009-04-29T23:09:00.001-05:00

I was lucky enough to obtain a pair of tickets to see the Rams play at Edward Jones Dome in downtown St Louis, so I took Beth to watch her first American Football game. Although the Rams were doing pretty bad at this point in the season (they fired their head coach after this game) the seats were at Club level which meant that you were reasonably close to the pitch & could actually see what was happening (I had previously only watched the Rams play from the 'nosebleed' seats at the top of the stadium where the match looked like it was being played by teeny, tiny, people). Predictably, the Rams lost (despite two good quarters), but Beth & I enjoyed the game & Beth got to see the Rams' Cheerleaders.

Volleyball

2009-04-29T21:29:00.004-05:00

One of Beth's friend's Mum coaches a volleyball team in a local school league, & Beth's friend asked if she wanted to join the team. The league lasted for about 6 weeks, with multiple games being played on a Saturday morning at various local schools. The league comprised 3rd & 4th graders, but Beth's team was mostly 3rd graders who had not played volleyball before, so they were at a significant disadvantage. Beth really enjoyed playing & also got to attend a volleyball clinic at the local high school, which included watching the high school team play & then playing with the team. Beth's ability increased significantly with the regular coaching sessions & she became a high points scorer!

The Great Forest Park Balloon Race (Balloon Glow)

2009-04-29T21:25:00.002-05:00

The Great Forest Park Balloon Race is preceded by the Balloon Glow. The race is sponsored by Energizer® (2008 was the 36th anniversary of the Race). The Energizer® Bunny balloon is the first balloon to leave the park with the other 'hound' balloons (72 this year) chasing it. The Balloon Glow takes place the night before the race & starts at about 7:30pm, before it gets dark. The weather was really great this year so the event was absolutely jammed with people (we had a 20 minute walk from the car). You could, however, still get 'up close & personal' with the balloons as they were inflated. By about 8:30pm, all the balloons were up & it was getting dark so you could really begin to see the balloons light up when the burners were turned on. Periodically a horn would sound & all the balloons would turn their burners on at the same time (which looked really cool). Fireworks were scheduled for 9:00pm, but since we thought that the real event was the balloons, we decided to leave early & try to miss the traffic (year, right!). We needn't have worried about the fireworks as the event was shown on the local news just after we got home.

Fashion Bug Fashion Show

2009-02-16T20:33:00.001-06:00

Fashion Bug is a nationwide chain store (approximately 900 stores in 44 states) selling clothing for women, teens, & girls. They are part of Charming Shoppes, Inc, which was formed in September 1940, when Morris & Arthur Sidewater opened their first store on a busy neighborhood block in Philadelphia. The first Fashion Bug store opened in the 1960s, in Audubon, New Jersey. Our local store showcases the new Fall & Spring fashions with an in-store fashion show. Beth signed-up to be one of the fashion models & so got to choose two outfits to model. As a 'thank-you' for taking the time to model the clothes, we were able to purchase Beth's oufits at a discounted price. There were about 40 different models in the show & Beth did a great job modelling her outfits.

Founder's Day 2009

2009-02-16T20:29:00.004-06:00

The Founder's Day Parade theme for the year was 'Sports & Recreation'. We missed the parade (which was, apparently, really good this year - probably better than last year due to the sunny weather), but we made it to the Musical Sunset in the Park. Beth met some of her friends there & she had a few goes on some of the inflatables, rode a pony, petted some animals at the petting zoo, got her face painted, & spent quite a few dollars at one of the church stands playing a game where you won a prize if you pulled out a lollipop stick with a coloured end from about 100 sticks in a piece of foam. There were a number of displays, including: police resources, police 'Safety Town', the local fire department (which were assisting with a number of 'rooms' that were being constructed to show the importance of smoke alarms - yes, they were apparently going to be set on fire to show how quickly fire spreads throughout a room), local EMTs, & the city recreational centre. The 'Z Band' were also performing live for most of the evening playing a good selection of music (most of which was from the 60's & 70's).

We took a break from the festivities at about 7:00pm & went home. The fireworks were scheduled to start at about 9:00pm so we came back at 8:30pm only to find that the local police had blocked off the entrance to the park. Apparently, due to the significant rainfall that we had been experiencing, the grassed areas that were usually used as overflow car parks were closed. A shuttle bus service (using school buses) was provided from a industrial park about a mile away, but this meant we might miss the fireworks. I decided that we had just enough time to walk to the park if we parked on the road that runs beside the golf course next to the park. The golf course is a lot lower than the road & we noticed that quite a few people were sitting on one of the fairways waiting for the fireworks. In previous years, we had watched the fireworks from the center of the park which meant that our view was partially obscured by the surrounding trees. We thought that the other people wouldn't be on the golf course if you couldn't see the fireworks from there so we set up our chairs at the top of the bank next to the road which gave us a clear view of the park &, hopefully, a clear view of the fireworks. At 9:05pm the fireworks started & our hunch was right! We had a great view of all the fireworks (except for part of the Roman Candles, which was still better then when we had been in the park) & the slight breeze in our direction meant that we were able to hear the music accompanying the fireworks as well - result!

JAG Summer Picnic 2008

2009-02-16T20:24:00.002-06:00

The summer picnic clashed with the Founder's Day Parade this year, but we chose to attend the picnic since we always have a great time! We definitely made the right choice as the weather was great, there was good food, plenty of drinks, fun party games, & the opportunity to socialize with friends & meet co-workers that you work down the 'hallway' from but have never met! As with past years, the picnic was held in Tower Grove Park at the Carriage Pavilion. The park (which is the second largest in St Louis) was first authorized by a state law passed on March 9, 1867, & came into existence on October 20, 1868, when Henry Shaw conveyed his lands to the City of St. Louis, by deed of gift. The pavilion is close to Main Drive & was designed in 1873 by Henry Thiele. Originally, the 'Carriage Stand' included hitching posts so that park visitors had somewhere safe to leave their horses &/or carriages.

The JAG event was, as usual, really good. The theme for the picnic was the 'Jag Olympics' which meant that there were plenty of party games for both the children & adults. Beth took part in all of the events, some of which included washers, bean-bag toss, sack racing, three-legged race, water-balloon throwing, balloon shaving, & pie eating. Although Beth only won one event, consistently placed high in all of the others & ended up wining the gold medal for the children's events - well done Beth!

Wabash, Frisco, & Pacific Railroad

2009-01-24T20:28:00.009-06:00

The Wabash, Frisco, & Pacific Railroad (WF&P) is a miniature (12 inch gauge) steam railroad is located in Glencoe, MO & operated by volunteer members of the WF&P Association which is a non-profit, educational organization. The WF&P was originally formed in 1939 when a group of railroad enthusiasts obtained a 12 inch gauge steam locomotive. The railroad was was originally located at the corner of Brown Road & Natural Bridge, (close to St Louis Lambert International Airport) on a 30 acre plot of land. In 1961 the WF&P moved to its current location in Glencoe which is close to Wildwood & Eureka. The railroad was continually improved to the point that when it relocated, there was a mile of track, four steam locomotives, a telegraph/telephone communications system between stations, & an electropneumatic signal system.

When we were living in the UK, we were fairly close to the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch (RHD) miniature railway. To give you an idea of scale, with the RHD you are able to sit in miniature carriages whereas with the WF&P you sit on small 'carriages' (that are really more just like wooden benches on wheels). The railroad runs through a park & travels (for part of the journey) parallel to & above the Meramec River at the base of the adjacent river bluffs (cliffs). The majority of the line is within woodland, although there are a few locations where the railroad travels through the park & crosses some of the cyclepaths/walkways. There are also a couple of bridges where the tracks cross over creeks (although in the summer these are just dry beds). We were pulled by a diesel locomotive for the 30 minute journey, however the WF&P has a variety of engines (the locomotive pulling the train before us was steam) which are housed at the terminus. The current site now exceeds the length of track form the original location (but is still being increased) & the WF&P has built a number of buildings (including the car barn & roundhouse) & a turntable for the engines. While we were waiting for our train we were chatting to one of the volunteers & were apparently quite lucky to be riding the railroad since the floods from earlier on in the year had completely inundated the station & most of the track. The engines were moved off-site but silt from the river covered the site completely. Apparently, even the signal control boxes were full of silt, but after a hosing the electrics down with a jet-washer (crazy!) the signals were all OK!

Columbia Car Show

2009-01-24T20:23:00.001-06:00

The City of Columbia, is just across the Mississippi River in Illinois. Since it is south of St Louis, (& where we live) we can use the southern most metropolitan river crossing (Jefferson Barracks Bridge) form where it is only about a 10 minute drive. The car show is an annual event, but rather than being held in a car park or other purpose designed venue, the city closes the town centre for the day so that pedestrians can safely walk on the main street where the show vehicles are on display. The show was really good, partly due to the sunny, hot, weather (possibly too hot), the relaxed atmosphere, & the variety of cars & trucks on display. The local humane society was also in attendance which meant that Cheryl & Beth could have a good look at the homeless animals (mostly dogs) available for adoption whilst I looked at the cars. On our way back to our car, we stopped at the Columbia Sno Cone 'shack' so that we could cool off. So far, the snow cones that we have had in the US were made with crushed ice (with flavoured syrup) which were generally quite nice at first, but you end up drinking the syrup so that all you are left with is hard ice. However, at Columbia the snow cones were made with shaved ice. The ice is very finely shaved so it has a texture more like ice cream & it melts the instant you eat it (so you don't get any ice left over). Also, as the ice is so fine, the syrup almost becomes absorbed by the ice which means that the flavour remains throughout the entire cone. Very cool & very refreshing!

JAG Swing-around Fun Town

2009-01-23T21:45:00.002-06:00

Swing-around Fun Town is an entertainment complex about 5 minutes from our house which has both indoor & outdoor amusements/activities. We briefly visited it once before, but the seemingly high prices for individual items put us off buying any tickets. However, the JAG social group arranged for an excellent wristband offer which meant that all the outdoor activities were included & unlimited for a 2-hour period.

Despite choosing the early morning session, the weather was hot & sunny so our first stop was the bumper boats. Unfortunately (for me) Cheryl snagged one with a lower pointing water cannon so she was able to drench me from both far away & close up, whereas I (& everyone else) could only soak other people from a distance. Needless to say I would have probably been drier had I just jumped in the lake (& it would have been less embarrassing)! Beth then went on a few of the spinny type rides before we all played a game of crazy golf. This was followed by some time in the batting cages, successfully returning the slow, medium, & fast softball pitches, but only being able to return the odd fast baseball pitch. Cheryl & Beth then finished our time off with a few races in the dual engine go-carts. Since there were two-seater carts available, both of them could race together in the same cart.

Walters Family Dining, Belle, MO

2009-01-23T21:39:00.001-06:00

On the way back from Branson, we took a detour via Jerry' Nephew's restaurant. This is in a town called Belle, which is really out in the country (approximately 2 hours from St Louis). The scenery surrounding Belle reminded us of that typical to the south of England, namely green fields divided by hedgerows, rolling hills, & lots of trees. The restaurant wasn't the typical sort of place that we get to eat at since we mostly have 'chain' restaurants close to us, so it was a real pleasure to have the opportunity to try a real 'mom & pop' type eatery. The food was excellent (I had steak with gravy) & great value for money (although Jerry kindly paid for us). Jerry's Nephew (the owner) is obviously a great cook but he likes to try different things, so for desert we tried his latest - chocolate truffles & ice cream. This may sound pretty normal, but he deep fries them so the outside of the truffle becomes crispy & the inside melts - yummy!

We're still here!

2009-01-22T22:47:00.002-06:00

It is easily understood if you thought that we were no longer here due to the total lack of activity over the past few months, but you would be wrong! We are still here & I will be updating this blog anytime now (really!). However, seeing as it was a New Year's resolution of mine to keep on top of blog updates, & it has taken nearly four weeks to write this short post, I'm guessing that it will be a while before anything else new is posted!

Ride the Ducks (DUKWs)

2008-10-19T20:57:00.002-05:00

The final 'must do' attraction for us at Branson was 'Riding the Ducks'. We had seen plenty of these amphibious vehicles on the streets of Branson & in Table Rock Lake. Although the 'Ride The Ducks' vehicles are new vehicles built from the ground up (in a factory just outside of Branson), they are still based upon the famous World War II DUKW amphibious vehicle design. To date, during the 29 years that the DUKWs have been operating over 10 million people have travelled on more than 500,000 duck boat tours!

Ducks were first built by General Motors in 1942 & were effectively a truck enclosed in a water-tight shell. DUKW is a military acronym which stands for the following: designed in 1942 (D), utility/amphibious purposes (U), front wheel drive (K), & two rear driving axles (W). The first operational use of the DUKW was in March, 1943, when the US landed Army troops on Noumea, New Caledonia. Later during the war the DUKWs showed their versatility by carrying ammunition directly from anchored ships to shore. The use of the DUKWs kept American casualties to a minimum, but a bigger purpose surfaced as some of the DUKWs were modified to carry 4.5-inch rockets. Generals Patton & Eisenhower realized the DUKW was an invaluable war tool with over 1,000 DUKWs used in the Sicilian landings of 1943 alone. Operation Overlord, the Normandy landing was the most crucial operation in history with circumstances that made the DUKWs virtually indispensable. Approximately 2,000 DUKWs brought to shore 40% of all supplies landed between June 6 & September 1, 1944.

Upon boarding our DUKW we were all provided with a bright yellow, duck-bill shaped quackers & given strict instructions by our driver that we were not to be out-quacked by any other enemy DUKWs! Loud rock music, diesel fumes, lots of wind, & out nutty (in a good way) driver made our journey along the Branson Strip to Table Rock Lake (near the Branson Belle for our entry into the water) very entertaining. There was a DUKW in front of us that drove into the lake at high-speed sending water everywhere. Our driver radioed back to base to see if this was allowed & apparently it wasn't. I thought that this was just part of the entertainment & that we would suddenly speed up just be fore we hit the water, but we just creeped in. This was somewhat rougher than I expected since as the vehicle was only partly floating the ground must have dropped away causing the side that I was sat on to lurch into the water!

After we drove(!) around the lake for a while our driver got fed up with use quacking him (this was another rule - we had to quack if we thought he was not being entirely truthful) he jumped up from the driving seat & let the boat go around in circles until one of the children on board came up to drive the DUKW. All of the kids had the option to have a go at driving on the water & Beth did a really good job of steering our DUKW towards the shore. On the way back we went via the fishery & power house at the bottom of Table Rock Dam which really helped us to appreciate just how tall the dam is.

Shepherd of the Hills car show

2008-10-19T20:49:00.006-05:00

We passed The Shepherd of the Hills Homestead, outdoor theatre, & Inspiration Point (a 230 feet tall, precast concrete tower & viewing platform on top of the hills) whenever we went to Downtown Branson or back to our condo. On Thursday we noticed that the Branson Strip was covered with tyre marks & that there were literally hundreds of chairs placed on either side of the road combined with a dramatic increase in the number of 'cool' cars cruising around Branson. It turns out that there was an annual car show (held at Inspiration point) & cruise in Branson (which I new absolutely nothing about, no really I didn't). On our last day everyone let me have a quick look around (we would have all looked around the show but it was $13 per ticket) so that I could get my car 'fix'.

As well as some very cool cars, there seemed to be an abundance of Dukes of Hazzard related vehicles including four (!) General Lee Dodge Chargers, Daisy Duke's Jeep & one of the Hazzard County Sheriff's patrol cars. Rick Hurst (who played Deputy Cletus Hogg in the show) was also there & I had my photo taken with him in front of the Sheriff's car - definitely the highlight of the show!

The Shepherd of the Hills area was made famous by the book of the same name (first published in 1907) by Harold Bell Wright’. This became an immediate best-seller & one of the first million-selling books by an American author. It was translated into seven different languages & made into four movies (one starring John Wayne in his first colour film). The book helped to start tourism in Branson & the Ozark Mountain region of Missouri. The book was based upon actual people & events during the end of the 1800’s telling the tale of the complicated lives led by the Ozark pioneers, including the Baldknobber gang's on their quest to control the region.

Shorty Small's

2008-10-19T20:46:00.001-05:00

For our evening meal we chose Shorty Small's barbecue restaurant (which isn't part of a chain - yet). Instead of just serving slow-smoked barbecue meats they have a larger variety including ribs, chicken, catfish, shrimp, & burgers (I had a catfish combo). Just like Famous Dave's, the restaurant was decorated country style & the food was really good!

Tangers Outlet Centre

2008-10-19T20:43:00.001-05:00

When we left the Titanic, it was like we were in the North Atlantic with the amount of rain that was falling (this was the only time it rained during our vacation) so we though that we would use the opportunity to see if we could pick up a bargain or two from some of the 65+ stores at the Tangers Outlet Centre. Stanley Tanger developed the idea of factory outlet shopping centres to sell-off manufacturers' overstock in 1981 & began construction 50,000 sq feet Burlington Manufacturer's Outlet Center (BMOC) off Interstate 85 in Burlington, NC. In 1993, Tanger became the first outlet centre developer to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange as a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust & in 1995 he implemented a money-back low price guarantee program for customers where they receive a difference in price cash refund if a consumer finds the same brand name product for less anywhere other than Tanger.

Titanic

2008-10-19T19:22:00.004-05:00

Our second day in Branson commenced with a visit to the Titanic Museum. The travelling Titanic exhibition was on show at the St Louis Science Centre when I first moved to the area but I didn't get the opportunity to visit it (which I regretted) & so this exhibition was on our 'must do' list. This is a permanent exhibition which opened in 2006 & contains over 400 items (including personal artifacts retrieved from the Titanic wreck), models of the boat, interactive displays & recreations of the boat interior. The exhibition was housed in a building constructed to look like the Titanic (complete with fountains to simulate the bow wave as the boat moved forward & an iceberg) which towered above the surrounding buildings & gave an appreciation of the size of the boat, even though the building was reduced in size compared to the actual boat!

As you lined up to enter 'the boat' you were given a boarding pass with a name on it & a brief description about the person that you now were. We had some of the most notable people (including the richest & youngest person on board) & as we passed through the museum there were some exhibitions about these people. We were 'checked in' by one of the crew who was supposedly English but it was immediately obvious to us that she wasn't & this was confirmed when she found out that we actually were - guess not that many people from England choose Branson as their vacation destination! At the end of the exhibition (after seeing how long we could keep our hands in a bowl of water cooled to the temperature of the North Atlantic on the night of the sinking - a chilly 28 degrees F) we got to check out if we lived or died on the Memorial Wall.

There were a number of interactive sections to the exhibition including touching the frozen surface of an 'iceberg', standing on the ship's bridge & operating the boat's controls before walking out & feeling the chill of the night, sending an SOS signal from the ship’s wireless room, & walking up the boat deck at different stages of the sinking. There were also a number of room recreations (with actual pieces of the Titanic) including a First Class Stateroom & Third Class cabin, & Grand Staircase (which was used to get between the upper & lower decks of the the exhibition. It was a really interesting exhibition & surprising to see how many people from places that we know in the southeast were on board.

Showtime on 'The Branson Belle'

2008-10-19T19:03:00.002-05:00

There are many shows (over 100 daily) in Branson, but the Branson Belle Showboat is unique since it's show takes place on Table Rock Lake. The show package includes a 2 hour cruise on the lake, a three-course meal, & variety acts during your meal & then a main show after the meal is finished. There are two cruises daily, one at 4:00 pm & one at 8:00pm. We chose the 4:00 pm sailing which (as well as being cheaper than the evening cruise, although still not cheap but definitely good value for money!) meant that we had a great view of the lake for the entire cruise. We arrived just before the meal was due to start & so only had a few minutes to look around 'up deck', but this, & the very hot weather, worked to our advantage since there was hardly anyone around & so we could explore everywhere. We were also lucky enough to meet The Captain who very kindly invited the girls to have their photo taken in his cabin in front of the tiller - cool!

The tables were arranged in long rows around a central walkway & all faced forward with seats on one side only, providing everyone with a great view of the stage. The compare for the cruise sang a couple of songs & introduced the boat's resident band before we watched a short film about the boat & its unique launch from the 'dry dock' (if you could really call it that - more like an area beside the lake) which used a few thousand bananas to provide biodegradeable lubrication that didn't pollute the lake as oil/grease would have done. Apparently, the launch speed (12 mph) was the fastest that the boat will ever travel! Some other facts about the boat include: Christening date: April 13, 1995, Length: 278 feet, width: 78 feet, height: 112 feet (to top of stacks), weight: 2,500,000 lbs, speed: 11 mph (peak) 6 mph (average), draft: 7.5 feet, capacity: 700 passengers, & two paddle wheels (16 feet wide & 24 feet diameter each).

Our meal comprised three courses, starting with a salad which was followed by a main course which included steamed vegetables with beef, & Chicken Cordon Bleu, (to make sure that we got beef, chicken, & ham!) & then a really nice Raspberry Torte desert. After a short break whilst the tables were cleared, the boat's 'house quartet' performed a number of songs (including a composition that included more than 80 songs in 5 minutes). They were followed by a Russian husband & wife acrobatic team that performed an impressive routine which at one point included the husband jumping off the stage & spinning around in a huge circle whilst hanging from a 'silk' sheet attached to the top of the stage with his wife clinging to him & being thrown further out over the audience! The headlining act was hilarious! It was a guy called Todd Oliver & his talking dogs. Obviously the dogs didn't really talk (hope I haven't ruined the illusion) but were rather used as live ventriloquists dummies. It looked like the dogs may have been wearing a muzzle with a movable, false, lower jaw so that it looked like they were talking, but they could also have been trained to open their mouths when given a signal. It was difficult to tell from where we were sitting but the dogs looked like they could talk, the guy was very funny, & when one of the newly trained dogs didn't want to participate as trained it was made to look like it was part of the act.

Cakes 'n' Cream Dessert Parlour

2008-10-19T18:53:00.008-05:00

This is a 1950s themed dessert & burger bar on the Branson 'Strip' that is fully decorated with 1950s Americana, including an original Wurlitzer jukebox. The menu contains a huge variety of desserts, including pies, cobblers, & cakes made with fresh fruit. There is also a soda fountain with dozens of different flavors of soda & over 50 different flavours of ice cream. Beth had a hot fudge sundae, whilst Cheryl & I shared a loaded Funnel Cake. Normal Funnel Cake is made by pouring batter through a funnel into hot oil in a circular pattern & deep frying it until golden-brown. It is then usually covered with powdered sugar. However, our loaded cake also had chocolate syrup, powdered sugar, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, & glace cherries on top just to ensure that we definitely managed to consume our recommended daily sugar intake :)

Famous Dave's

2008-10-19T10:07:00.003-05:00

We stopped off for a light lunch at Famous Dave's which is a fairly new barbecue restaurant. This type of restaurant is fairly common in the Mid-West (Kansas City is well known for its barbecue) & typically serves slow-smoked barbecued meats. The food was great & judging by the number of trophies & awards (over 300 for best ribs, best new restaurant, best music, best take-out & best barbecue) plenty of other people think so too. The decor was also somewhat unique, including a variety of stuffed animals (which were once real) hung up on the walls & other hunting/outdoors related 'stuff'!

Branson Landing (shopping & entertainment district)

2008-10-19T09:57:00.003-05:00

Branson Landing is a recently opened shopping & entertainment district (which includes apartments & a hotel above the shops) in downtown Branson. It is anchored by the Belk outlet store & the Bass Pro fishing store, & the development also includes a new state of the art conference centre. We spent a while in the Belk store since Sandy had previously shown Beth a watch that she bought there during her & Jerry's last vacation to Branson & so Beth had been saving her pocket money so that she could by one as well. The mall reminded us of outdoor, high-street, shopping centres back home (Fremlins Walk in Maidstone sprang to mind as did Kingston Upon Thames) with two rows of shops separated by a pedestrianized area. The district has a number of free trolley-buses that take you from one end of the mall to the other but we thought that we would be healthy & walk the relatively short distance.

One of my favorite stores was Ridemakerz. This was like Build-a-Bear (but for boys) since instead of stuffed animals built & customized your own model car (which you could also make radio controlled). There were a number of stylized bodies (including a Dodge Ram pickup, Dodge Viper, 1930s hot rod, & a Ford Mustang) in a variety of colours which (much like Build-a Bear) included all the 'standard' accessories (wheels, tyres, & sound module). For an additional cost you could upgrade your parts to make a seriously wild ride. After choosing all the appropriate parts, you assembled your car at a mechanics station with mini air-wrench & then registered the VIN so that you could login to the Ridemakerz website & see you car online!

The Landing includes a boardwalk along the 1.5-mile Taneycomo Lakefront, & at the centre of the complex there is a town square that includes a performance area & small water feature with fountain. At this location there is a break in the riverside shops & apartments & the square extends down to the $7.5 million riverfront water attraction. This features moving fountains (which shoot water up to 120 feet high) & fire cannons which are all choreographed to music & light. This was created by Wet Design who are also the producers of shows for Downtown Disney marketplace in Orlando, Universal City Walk in California, & the Bellagio hotel & casino in Las Vegas.

Big Cedar Lodge

2008-10-19T09:43:00.011-05:00

This is a resort owned by John Morris who also owns the Bass Pro Shops chain of fishing & outdoor shops & Tracker boats. The lodge was opened in 1988 & is a luxury vacation destination which includes a variety of different types of accommodation ranging from rooms in the Adirondacks-designed lodge (that reflects the grand lifestyle of early 1900s wilderness retreats) to individual multi-storey log cabins constructed from rough-hewn logs located within the woodland surrounding the lodge & lake.

The lodge is fishing & outdoor orientated (signs are in the shape of a Bass, as are the dividing lines between parking spaces). Jerry drove us around the lodge grounds so that we could see what the premier Branson resort looks like. We also had a quick look around the lodge itself & whilst driving down to the lake we saw a Skunk wondering towards the tennis courts! Unfortunately, the photos of this didn't come out too well since it was getting fairly dark & I didn't want to get too close in case it sprayed me. Having driven along highways where Skunks have been hit by vehicles & experienced their odour, getting sprayed by one would be very, very, bad!

Hard Work U

2008-10-19T09:39:00.002-05:00

The College of the Ozarks (otherwise known as 'Hard Work U' after an article in the Wall Street Journal in 1973) is a private, Christian liberal-arts college located between Branson & Hollister at Point Lookout (which overlooks Lake Taneycomo). There are approximately 1600 students on the 1,000-acre (4 km²) campus, who can study over 30 academic majors. The unique feature about Hard Work U is that is exactly what the students have to do. Instead of paying for tuition (which is normal for higher education here in the US) students that are unable to pay for there studies can apply for entry to The College of the Ozarks & 'pay' for their tuition by working on campus. There are over 80 campus workstations including the cafeteria/restaurant (which is open to the public), landscaping, laundry, dairy, farm, powerplant, computer lab, alumni, library, & financial aid.

Table Rock Dam

2008-10-11T22:38:00.001-05:00

The US Army Corps of Engineers designed & built the Table Rock Dam across the White River, creating Table Rock lake in August 1958 when water from the White River was impounded. It was designed as a flood defence for the properties downstream along the White River with the secondary benefit of providing hydro-electric power generation for the surrounding area. The dam is 6,423 feet long & consists of a concrete section & two earth embankments (the concrete section is 1,602 feet long & the earth embankments total 4,821 feet) with the highest point 252 feet above the riverbed. There are approximately 1,230,000 cubic yards of concrete & 3,320,000 cubic yards in the earth in the dam. There are four, 18 feet diameter tunnels that convey water to four 50,000 kilowatt generating units in the powerhouse below the dam. The first two units were ready for generation of power in June 1959 with the remaining two turbines & generators coming on-line in August 1961. The Dam cost approximately $65,420,000 to construct.

We crossed the dam on a few occasions during our stay in Branson (there is a main road running across the top of the structure), mostly in Jerry & Sandy's day van but also a couple of times in a DUKW (more on that later). There is an overlook at high level on the downstream of the dam which we briefly stopped at. We had a great view of the dam (which really allowed you to appreciate how deep the lake actually is), powerhouse, & fish hatchery, & also of the White River in the valley below.

Table Rock Lake

2008-10-11T22:29:00.002-05:00

Our condo overlooked Table Rock Lake, which is one of the main Branson attractions for those that don't want to go to all the shows. It covers more than 43,000 acres & has over 800 miles of shoreline. It is, apparently, one of the top Bass fishing lakes in North America, with Bass, Crappie, White Bass, Catfish, & Bluegill all living in the lake. The lake was created in August 1958 when the US Army Corps of Engineers built Table Rock Dam across the White River & was named after the surrounding, flat-topped rocks. Construction of the dam began in October 1954 & by June 1959 hydro-electric power was being distributed to the Ozarks (the surrounding area). The area had already established itself as a prime fishing & recreation area in the 1930s, but needed protection from devastating floods on the White River which was achieved by the dam construction. The water temperature in Table Rock Lake varies, but on the other side of the dam in the White River the temperature is constant & the water ideal for Trout breeding. To take advantage of this, there is a Missouri Department of Conservation fish hatchery on the downstream side of the dam which is used to stock trout in Lake Taneycomo.

Treehouse Condos

2008-10-11T22:23:00.003-05:00

We stayed at The Treehouse Condos which is located on Indian Point. This is a lakeside resort area that is just up the road from the Silver Dollar City theme park & is fairly close to all the Branson attractions, but is far enough away from 'The Strip' that you don't really feel like you are staying in a tourist area. We were in a really nice, two bedroom, top floor condo that overlooked Table Rock Lake. Since this was our first time at Branson, Jerry & Sandy very kindly let us have the bedroom with the lake view. As well as the great view, our bedroom also had direct access to the full length balcony that extended the entire length of the condo. The complex had a reasonably sized swimming pool that the girls swam in on a couple of evenings & was higher up the hillside than our condo so you got an even better view of the lake. This looked especially pretty at night with all the lights from the surrounding area (& the Branson Belle as it cruised on the lake for the evening sailing) reflecting & twinkling on the water at night. There was also a direct track/walking path from the condos to a lakeside mooring/small marina that Jerry & I walked along one evening whilst the girls were swimming.

Lambert's Cafe II

2008-10-11T22:19:00.002-05:00

When Cheryl found out that there was a Lambert's cafe close to Branson & that we would be passing by it just about lunchtime she decided that we just had to stop there. Lambert's Cafe II is the second cafe in the series of three & was opened on March 7, 1994. As with the other cafes their gimmick is throwed rolls. There was a plentiful supply continuously being lobbed at people from across the restaurant & they tasted real good! This restaurant also has the free 'pass-arounds' & we had numerous helpings of fried Okra & potatoes before & during our main course.

Lambert's ensures that no-one leaves the restaurant hungry. I had a 1lb ground sirloin burger with mashed potatoes & vegetables & as soon as I finished it (which wasn't that easy probably due to the rolls, pass-arounds, & soda consumed during the meal) our server asked if I wanted another one! I though that she was joking but if you ask for more the you get it! Suffice to say, this was our only meal of the day & we still weren't hungry at breakfast the next morning!

Maramec Spring Park

2008-10-11T21:54:00.004-05:00

On the way to Branson we stopped at the Maramec Spring Park. This is a Registered Natural Landmark under the provisions of the Historic Sites Act & contains the fifth largest spring in Missouri with an average daily water flow of 100 million gallons. This is the first spring to feed the Meramec River. The river is one of the longest free-flowing waterways in Missouri, at approximately 220 miles long & flows through the following MO counties: Dent, Phelps, Crawford, Franklin, Jefferson & St Louis. It also passes through Valley Park & Fenton before joining the Mississippi at Arnold. Spring water appears from a 17ft deep 'cave' under a huge bluff. The daily temperature of the Spring water is 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Since the spring water quality is good, & the temperature constant, the water is ideal breading ground for Trout. To take advantage of the excellent breeding conditions, a Trout fishery is located within the park.

Our first US vacation - Branson, MO

2008-10-06T22:00:00.006-05:00

Our neigbours, Jerry & Sandy, kindly invited us to go on a short vacation with them to Branson. This is a popular resort destination for Missourians & now the English as well!. It is located in Stone & Taney counties in southwest Missouri (approximately 4 hours from where we live) & was named for Rueben Branson, who was the postmaster & owner/operator of a general store in the area in the early 1880s. Branson has a number of attractions which include over 100 shows each day. It now holds the record for having the most shows in the US, beating places like Broadway & Las Vegas. Jerry & Sandy have a conversion (day) van (which is very comfortable & seats up to seven - imagine driving in a comfortable armchair & you get the idea) so we all travelled together. Since they visit the area quite regularly, they were able to show us all the really good bits of the resort in the four days that we were there.

Branson was founded in 1882 when Rueben Branson opened a general store & post office in the area. It was formerly incorporated in 1912 when construction of the Powersite Dam nearby on the White River was completed & created Lake Taneycomo (one of Branson's three lakes). In 1894 William Henry Lynch bought the Marvel Cave & charged visitors to see it. In 1950, Hugo & Mary Herschend bought the cave & began hosting televised square dances. The Herschend Family modernized the cave with electricity & concrete staircases, & in 1960, opened Silver Dollar City. This was a recreated frontier town of five shops & a church, featuring a log cabin with actors playing out the feud between the Hatfields & McCoys. Silver Dollar City is still open but is now a large theme park & was just up the road from where were staying.

In 1958, the White River was dammed again with the completion of the Table Rock Dam which created Table Rock Lake. This is the largest of the Branson Lakes & our apartment overlooked one of the 'coves'. In the late 1960's, Branson shows started. 1967 saw the Presley family move their show to the Branson 'Strip' & in 1968 the Baldknobbers also started to put on shows. In 1983 Branson started to become a major tourist attraction with the completion of the 7,500 seat Swiss Villa Amphitheatre in nearby Lampe, MO. This was later renamed the Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre & started out as a rock band venue for acts including Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon & Ozzy Osbourne. Country music fans were not left out when Roy Clark opened his 'Celebrity Theatre' (also in 1983), & in 1987 Boxcar Willie became the first entertainer with a permanent Branson schedule. The number of Branson Shows snowballed as more & more larger venues opened & along with this came many other types of entertainment (e.g. museums, shopping malls, restaurants, waterparks, golf courses, wineries, & luxury spa resorts) to keep you busy between shows.

Sharks Awards Ceremony

2008-09-14T21:21:00.002-05:00

Beth's swim team came 3rd in the league (they narrowly missed second by only 30 points!). The entire team was invited to an awards ceremony where each team member received a trophy & those who completed in the finals also received their medals. Well done Beth for your excellent performance this season!

Fords Unlimited car show

2008-09-14T20:51:00.002-05:00

Since I particularly like Ford cars (especially the late 1960's musclecars) I thought that I would pop along to the 22nd Annual 'Fords unlimited' Car Show. This is held at the 131-acre J S McDonnell Park in St Louis County & is open to all factory Ford-powered vehicles, vehicles that were originally Ford powered, currently Ford powered vehicles, & vehicles with Ford or Ford replica bodies. There is no vehicle age limit so as well as classic cars there were also brand new vehicles such as Mustangs (including a few Shelby GT500s). The park is located close to I-270 in St Ann (St Louis County) & is fairly picturesque with fairly hilly terrain & lots of trees. The park has a circular access road which was completely full with parked show vehicles.

After finding a parking space away from the main show area I walked around the park a few times checking out the vehicles. Vehicles were grouped by class which made it really easy to compare different vehicles of the same model. The weather was sunny & very, very, hot. The organising club provided a 'cooling booth' at the main shelter but it looked like the heat was too much for some people & the emergency services were called. When I left there were still cars arriving (I had looked at over 200 cars) & earlier on during the morning the host club announced that the previous attendance record for the show had been broken. There was a great variety of vehicles present (even though they were all Ford related) with some really obscure, rare vehicles (e.g. a 1965 Ford Mustang T5 fastback export model - one of 30 worldwide), modified & custom cars, replicas, & concours restored musclecars.

Tractor pulling at the Monroe County Fair

2008-09-01T21:56:00.003-05:00

One of the main events that provides evening entertainment at the various rural county fairs around the region is the truck & tractor pulling competition. Monroe County, Illinois is just across the river from us & so we thought that we would go & watch a competition held by the Illinois Tractor Pulling Association (which is one of the oldest sanctioning bodies for truck & tractor pulling in the US) at the County Fair in Waterloo.

Truck & tractor pulling is, as the name implies, a competition using tractors & large trucks to pull a heavy 'sled' along a prepared dirt track. The sled can be loaded with different weights (up to 65,000 lbs depending upon the pulling category). At the start of the pull the weights are positioned over the sled's rear axles & as the tractor travels the course the weights are moved forward along the sled increasing the effective weight until the tractor is no longer able to overcome the force of friction generated by the sled. At the end of the run, the pull vehicle is unhitched from the sled, the weights are moved back & the sled front axle is hydraulically lowered (so that the sled nose is lifted clear from the ground) to enable the sled to be driven back down the course ready for the next run.

There were a number of different classes pulling at this event including 8,200 lbs. Super Stock, 8,200 lbs. Limited Pro Stock, 10,000 lbs. Pro Stock, 7,500 lbs. Modified Tractor, 6,200 lbs. 2-Wheel Drive Truck, & 9,300 lbs. Super Farm Stock. One of the most popular makes of tractor is John Deere (always painted green & yellow) & this brand seemed to be the most popular at the event, although there were also a number of International & Ford tractors. The types of pull vehicles varied from stock looking diesel tractors (which accompanied their pulls with a massive plume of sooty smoke), multiple turbocharged, alcohol fueled tractors, & 2-wheel drive 'trucks' (which included a number of pickup trucks, a 1930s van, & '34 ford hot rod) powered by the same type of supercharged v-8 engine typically found in top fuel dragsters.

We arrived for the start of the competition at 6:00pm & left at 10:30pm before the racing had finished. Typically, these events can go on well past midnight. The 2-wheel drive trucks seemed to be somewhat more fragile than the tractors (probably due to their highly-strung, very high horsepower engines) but it was actually the last tractor that we saw pull that provided the most excitement of the night. Just as it came to the end of it's pull (just past where we were seated) the alcohol powered engine blew up & sent a huge ball of fire skyward. The driver jumped (literally) off the tractor through the flames, but the emergency services soon had the fire extinguished.

Swimming with the Sharks!

2008-09-01T21:47:00.009-05:00

Our local recreational center has a swim team (The Sharks) that competes in the local swimming league during the summer vacation. Since Beth loves swimming so much & is really good at all the different competition strokes, she joined the team. Practices were on a daily basis during the week with 'swim meets' typically held on a Tuesday night against various local teams including: Shrewsbury, Kirkwood, Ballwin, Sunset Hills, & Chesterfield. Beth usually swam in the following races: 25 yds breaststroke, 25 yds freestyle, 25 yds backstroke, & 100 yds relay. Although she only placed in a few of the races (she was one of the youngest swimmers in her age range & so was at a disadvantage), Beth swam every race without getting disqualified at all throughout the entire season. Good job Beth!

School day at the ballpark

2008-09-01T19:26:00.003-05:00

Beth's school district organized a day at the ballpark to watch the St Louis Cardinals play baseball (against the Pittsburgh Pirates). We were sat at the very top row of the ballpark very close to 'home plate' which meant that we had a great view of the entire stadium. The weather was great for watching baseball (warm & sunny) & our tickets also included a free hot dog & soda each (which otherwise would have cost almost $30 for the three of us) so we were well fed & watered during the game as well. Unfortunately, The Cards were unable to continue their winning form against the Pirates & ended up losing 14 to 4 :(

AAA NASCAR day

2008-08-23T23:58:00.001-05:00

As well as providing breakdown services, the AAA (US version of the Automobile Association) was the association that helped pioneer & officiate motorsports in the US until 1955. They are still involved with motorsports & our local office was hosting the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion NASCAR Sprint Cup car driven by David Ragan in advance of the NASCAR racing over the river in Illinois at the Gateway racetrack. The vehicle is prepared by Jack Roush Racing (Roush are famous for modifying new Ford Mustangs & F-150 pickups that can be bought directly from Ford) which in February 2007 became Roush Fenway Racing. This is now NASCAR’s largest team operating 13 motorsports teams, five in NASCAR Sprint Cup, five in the Busch Series, & three in the Craftsman Truck Series. Roush Fenway Racing is one of only four teams to win a championship in all three major NASCAR divisions, including the 2003 & 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champions.

One of the actual No. 6 Fusion race cars was on display (not just a mock-up) along with a matching transporter trailer & F-350 pickup tow vehicle. There was also one of AAA's NASCAR racing simulators that both Cheryl & I had a go on to see if we could get the fastest lap time & win a prize. Although this just looked like a PC & large screen with a steering wheel & pedals in a fancy enclosure, it was actually considerably more sophisticated with the sound level in the driver's seat is being the same as a NASCAR driver would experience, force-feedback steering, & seat vibrations to simulate what you would feel in the real car. There were also plenty of activities & sweepstakes inside the office which Beth took part in & just for attending the event both Cheryl & I got a free aluminium travel mug each which means that we can now enjoy our coffee or other drinks on the move without wearing them!