I was a groupie. Yup. I attended 20 hours of BGU jams and enjoyed every minute. I got to hob nob with the band. And go home with a guitar player (ok, the same one) every night.
Memphis: The rest of the story
BGU/Memphis: “The Show”
We just spent three days in a basement in Memphis, TN. Had a great time.
Visits with Doug’s kin in Music City
I have two cousins who live near Nashville with their families. They don’t know each other, though.
Land Between the Lakes
It was time for a different kind of adventure for us – chill. In the past month alone, we’d been awed and inspired by the beauty of Roosevelt, Badlands and Rocky Mountain National Parks as well as the Black Hills of SD and high peaks area of CO. We’re still giggling about our serendipitous and crazy visits to Carhenge and The City Museum in St Louis. We thoroughly enjoyed visits with old and new friends and family in SD, CO and MO. We were thrilled to join two jam sessions in CO. And we were acutely aware that a major, 3-day jam in Memphis was just 2 weeks away. We needed to take a short break from adventuring and take some practice time.
Drawing a line on the (virtual) map from St Louis to Nashville, where we planned to visit Doug’s cousins, we saw a major splotch of green – the Land Between the Lakes (LBL) National Recreation Area. Sounds nice. And the old man (Doug) gets a senior discount! We laid a course.
30 Years Ago…
…this happened:
Missouri – Show Me Sue’s family
My dad was the fourth oldest of 16 siblings. Although most of the family settled and still live somewhere in the northeast and a few retired to warmer climes, two escaped when they were younger. Both moved around quite a bit, and both eventually made their way to Missouri.
Continue reading “Missouri – Show Me Sue’s family”Kansas
Kansas would be different. We don’t know anyone in Kansas. There are no National Parks. State Parks are all about fishing. It’s mostly flat farm country. Still, our memories of traveling through Kansas in 1984 is that every town has a town campground and that the locals are curious, fun to chat with, and friendly. We planned to drive back roads, reminisce and cross the state in whatever time it took, then visit family in Missouri.
Xscapers SoCo Convergence
The Xscapers SoCo Convergence was amazing!
First, a little background… Continue reading “Xscapers SoCo Convergence”
Leadville CO
From RMNP, we headed south to Leadville CO, the highest incorporated city in these United States, and the westernmost point on our journey. It’s two miles above sea level, and the temps dropped into the mid 20’s both nights we were there – our first encounter with sub-freezing temperatures since we left home. We woke up to snow at the higher elevations (above about 12,000 ft):
Rocky Mountain National Park
Based on a limited sample of 5, our impression is that our National Parks are located in gorgeous places worthy of a visit, well operated and maintained, and extremely popular. As we approached Rocky Mountain National Park (known by locals as Rocky Park) after the kiddos had gone back to school, we expected diminished crowds and lots of options. Ha! A few days before we expected to arrive, we checked the on-line reservation system and found that of the 3 campgrounds remaining open in September, there was exactly 1 site available, at Moraine Park. We booked it, not expecting much. Turns out… it may have been the most beautiful campsite in the park!
