We left this place two years and two months ago to begin our full-time RV life, and haven’t returned. It was exactly a year after the Covid pandemic began. Cal was happy to finally be leaving the Midwest. I was happy to be off on our new adventure. Life has taken us elsewhere, but a special wedding brought us back.

The RV park in which we stayed in for the week, 370 Lakeside Park, is one that we visited many times when we first purchased our RV. It was close to our apartment. As soon as we received a wedding date, I was on the phone and booking my coveted spot.

This is in the back row of the park closest to the lake and the bike path. Score for me! I had never been so lucky as to be able to book this when we had previously stayed.

As always, the geese are here in plentiful numbers.

The wedding was for our godson, Chip, and his bride Jessica. It was held at our former church in Florissant, and the reception was in downtown St. Louis. We had a great time and wish them well in their new life.

Chip and his siblings, Shannon and Megan, grew up with our daughters.

Chip’s parent’s, Kris and Rusty, are our good friends and we were happy to see them again.

As it got dark, the lights in the reception room reflected outside the window, together with the full moon, for a surreal picture.

After the wedding events were over, we spent time with my sister Diana, my brother-in-law John, and their daughter Melissa and her family. We met Diana, John and their granddaughter at Blanchette Park, where there are some pretty gardens.

From Austin to St. Peters, we experienced spring over and over!

And then…my blogging world met my real world. We had a lunch date with Betty and Dan Chambers. Betty has been one of my best followers on this blog, usually leaving thoughtful comments on what she has read. She also writes her own engaging blog, Chambers on the Road. I enjoy reading that, and in the past few months she has gone a step further and written an an e-book: RVing with Bikes.

We met at a little lunch restaurant, Lady Di’s, and were still visiting when the place closed for the afternoon! There was so much to talk about. We were on the patio, so we were able to stay long past their closing time. Although we had just met in person, it felt as if we had been friends for a good long while. They have kept their home in the area, but they like traveling with their RV and enjoy their e-bikes.

The week was a whirlwind of many family and friends to visit. One day I ate all three meals in restaurants or had carryout with three different groups of people. We saw many old friends from our church, and I also had a lunch with my former colleagues.

We decided to take one day out on our own to visit the aquarium and wheel at Union Station in downtown St. Louis. Both opened back when Covid was just beginning, so we were not able to go there before we left.

When our kids were young, we would often visit Union Station downtown. In the early 1900’s and in war time, it was a busy rail station. Fast forward to the late 1900’s when we were often visiting, it was a shopping mall with interesting one-of-a-kind stores, train memorabilia and a fun fudge shop where the workers had a whole “makin’ the fudge” show. The historic adjoining hotel had some pretty cool architectural features that even the kids found fun. They could stand in one part of an archway, whisper into the wall, and someone on the other side of the archway could hear them.

It’s exciting that St. Louis has an aquarium finally, and it’s not large, but I think they did a good job. The old mall went defunct and this is an excellent alternative. I just think it’s a little overpriced, and there is no price bundling with all the other attractions outside.

We did pony up to ride the wheel, though. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed seeing a different kind of view over St. Louis.

This is St. Louis’s brand new soccer stadium, which wasn’t finished yet when we left.

On our last evening, Diana, John, Cal and I brought Chinese dinner over to Darlene, who is a mutual friend of all of us. She lives just two doors down from our old house. We looked around our old neighborhood and it felt strange that we no longer call it home. Our house now has play toys in the front yard, and I’m happy to hear that there is a child growing up there.

Darlene was excited. She had the Corvette refurbished that she and her husband had dated in long ago. He passed away before he could begin his retirement dream to work on it. After a year in repair, she had just received it back and was proud to show it off. It’s a beaut!

It all happened so fast, and then we were gone. I have much to blog about regarding the rest of our journey to Denver. We’ve had busy lives since we arrived, and family obligations are now calling me.

I’m going to finish my Europe blogs, mostly without interruptions, till they are finished. Already it has been over a year since we arrived in Ireland so, while I’m writing, I figure that I can relive those memories at the same time of year as they happened. What is the next country we visited? Hmmm….

Next time – back to Europe