- Galena, Illinois... (Dec, 2005) Just Us

Galena, Illinois... Saw U.S. Grant's Home (decorated for Christmas), took historic town bus tour, wanted to go in a One-Horse-Sleigh, but no snow... drove thru Christmas light displays in park, and much more

(COMPLETE STORY DETAILS TO FOLLOW SOON AS POSSIBLE... SO MANY GREAT TRIPS... SO LITTLE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT THEM)

- Indianapolis, IN Children's Museum (April, 2007)

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Indianapolis, IN Children's Museum (April, 2007) Great kid's museum with dinosaurs, climbing on stuff, Chihuly glass displays, hands on stuff,... went to Superheroes Museum downtown... and the Indiana State Museum... also visited our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter (who live in Indy).


(COMPLETE STORY DETAILS TO FOLLOW SOON AS POSSIBLE... SO MANY GREAT TRIPS... SO LITTLE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT THEM)

- Lawton, Oklahoma (June, 2007)

Lawton, Oklahoma (June, 2007) Us with grandsons... Kathy flew out for a week long stay and Austin, Colby and I drove down to pick her up. We stayed for 2 days longer and saw buffalo, longhorn cattle, buzzards, armadillos, prairie dogs, oil wells and more on our way up to top of Mt. Scott. I golfed one day and saw JB's garden and trees... free home-made wine too. Also stops at Bass Pro Outdoor Shops in Springfield, MO going and coming... the aquarium and stuffed animals museum next door.


(COMPLETE STORY DETAILS TO FOLLOW SOON AS POSSIBLE... SO MANY GREAT TRIPS... SO LITTLE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT THEM)

- City Museum of Downtown St. Louis and STL Zoo

City Museum of Downtown St. Louis and STL Zoo (2007)... Unbelievable ! there are mazes, climb-on sculptures, tunnels, hidden slides that go from one floor to another or farther, St Louis Zoo

(COMPLETE STORY DETAILS TO FOLLOW SOON AS POSSIBLE... SO MANY GREAT TRIPS... SO LITTLE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT THEM)

- Biltmore House, Asheville, NC, Gatlinburg, TN and Gem Mining

Biltmore House, Asheville, NC, Gatlinburg and Gem Mining (November, 2007)--- Just Us for a change, saw Biltmore Estates (hundreds of rooms and architectural marvels inside and out on the tour), Drove on Smoky Mountain trailway, Sifted for tons of semiprecious gemstones and panned for gold flakes, Visited Gatlinburg, and much more... A GREAT TRIP !

Garden side of the Biltmore House...

Cool turtle statue water-spigot along a walkway...


Backside of the Biltmore House...
Entering the Biltmore House upper garden & greenhouse areas...
Lovely Kathy "framed" among the garden colors...
More garden colors, they're everywhere you turn...
Caught Kathy relaxing in the greenhouse... calming waterfall sounds in the background...
View of the Biltmore House backyard... thousands of acres like this surrounding the mansion...
Kathy showing off how strong she is... look she's picking up that whole sightseeing bus !
Super cool details all over the mansion structure...
And more copper, glass and stone details... (photos not allowed inside)
Scary, but cool, gargoyles around every corner !
Flower gardens everywhere...
The Biltmore House's own winery... a couple miles away but still on the estate grounds !
The Biltmore House Hotel is huge too... and on the estate grounds near the winery & farm !
Inside the fanciest McDonald's in the USA... just off the grounds in the Biltmore Village...
Pretty classy for inside a McDonald's, eh... ? Somebody actually comes in and plays the piano later in the evening !
Leaving the Biltmore House estate grounds for a Blue Ridge Parkway scenic drive...
Wild turkeys just a few feet from the Blue Ridge Parkway road...
Pretty high up there... 4,602 feet...
Schnazzy, colorful views everywhere you looked...
A misty rain fogged over this old tunnel entrance cut through the mountains...
An old country shack in North Carolina... with a new roof !
Weeee-Hawww ! We went panning for semi-precious stones, gold, & other minerals at Gem Mountain in North Carolina...
Awww-Ohhh ! She found something cool in her screenings... (she actually did find some valuable little garnets, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, tourmaline, citrine, rose quartz, amethyst, topaz, aventurine, and much more)... she was HOOKED ! We ended up having a cool blue star-sapphire she found professionally cut... and it really is pretty darn PRETTY !
More great views along the Blue Ridge Parkway...
Country streams and waterfalls all along the winding roads...
Some guy fishing... I guess he had a license... at least he had a cool fishing vest on...
More Blue Ridge Parkway scenery on the way over to Tennessee...
Then we spent a night or two on the other side of the Great Smoky Mountains in gorgeous Gatlinburg, Tennessee...
We wanted to go white-water rafting but all the rivers were too low because of a recent drought... it looked a little too lumpy and rocky to try it in this stream... don't you think ?
Another tunnel cut into a mountain as we headed back home to south-central Illinois. Another great vacation in the books !!!

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(SO MANY GREAT TRIPS... SO LITTLE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT THEM)

- Dinosaur World and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky (2008)

Dinosaur World and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky (2008) ...Us with Grandsons, beat the cold get a way--- didn't work, saw Lincoln's Birthplace cabin in KY, tour in Mammoth Cave, and more...


(COMPLETE STORY DETAILS TO FOLLOW SOON AS POSSIBLE... SO MANY GREAT TRIPS... SO LITTLE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT THEM)

- Niagara Falls Family Trip (2005)

Niagara Falls Family Trip (2005)...
Drove up there entering at Windsor Ontario and going to Toronto, saw great Toronto Zoo, drove to the Falls, stayed on Canada side, saw the Flower Clock, took Cable Tram ride over whirlpool, Falls museum, Omnimax 3-d, and much more...

(COMPLETE STORY DETAILS TO FOLLOW SOON AS POSSIBLE... SO MANY GREAT TRIPS... SO LITTLE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT THEM)

- Grand Canyon Family Trip (2006)

Grand Canyon Family Trip (2006) - Flew to Las Vegas, Drove over Hoover Dam, Drove on old Route 66, Stayed at Flagstaff, Old West Train, Grand Canyon, Indian Ruins, Painted Desert, and more...

(COMPLETE STORY DETAILS TO FOLLOW SOON AS POSSIBLE... SO MANY GREAT TRIPS... SO LITTLE TIME TO WRITE ABOUT THEM)