Photo by The Joneses A look at the skyline of Kansas City in this photo taken from atop the National World War I Museum and Memorial. — — — E-mail Gisela — — — SLIDE SHOW: From K.C. to Montana, beautiful sites all the way
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

Today we drove to St. Mary,which is the main Eastern entrance to the Glacier National Park. We took the "Going-to-the-Sun" road, however we're not able to follow it all the way to the western part of the park — the road was not totally cleared from the snow yet. We also drove to Many Glacier, another entrance (a bit further north) to the park, and had lunch at an old Hotel build like a Swiss Chalet.

The scenery while driving through the park along St. Mary Lake was absolutely breathtaking. The mountains still have snow on the top. The water in the lake was very clear and looked very, very cold. We saw one elk, an osprey sitting in the nest, and lots of mountain goats. Ralph was having a ball with his new camera and was clicking away.

Before we came here we spent six days in Sedalia, Mo., at the annual Escapees Rally. Sedalia is a rural town the middle of Missouri. It was founded in 1860 and achieved fame as a railroad town and gateway to the Southwest when the Pacific Railroad arrived in Sedalia. Today it is home of the Missouri State Fairgrounds with all types of activities, such as our rally, throughout the year.

Rallies are a lot of fun. We meet old friends and make new friends. We also met up with Marty and Peggy who will travel to Alaska with us.

As always we attended several seminars with good information pertaining to RVers. Ralph was able to find items in the "market place" he needed for maintaining our motor home and that are usually not available at regular hardware stores.

We finished our last classes (CPR and First Aid) required for being a member of the DOVES — Disaster Operations Volunteer Escapees a special interest group working with the American Red Cross.

While in Sedalia we drove one day to Kansas City and visited the National World War I Museum and Memorial. The exhibits were very impressive and we learned a lot about World War I and the U.S. involvement.

At the Golden Ox — the famous Kansas City steak house — we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with steaks cooked to perfection. The Midwest definitely has the best steaks. I don’t think I ever had steaks anywhere better than the ones in Omaha or Kansas City.

On our way north we stopped in Omaha again to have another steak dinner with my grandson Oliver, his fiancé Laurie, and June Culling. This time we ate at Gorat’s Steak House, one of Warren Buffet’s favorite restaurants. The steaks again were wonderful. I am getting hungry just writing about them and remembering these dinners.

From Omaha we drove to Rapid City, South Dakota with a stop at Mitchell, S.D., the place of the famous Corn Palace that we visited last time we were here. We stayed a few days in Rapid City at Hart Ranch, the wonderful RV Park I wrote about last year.

From there we traveled into Montana to Great Falls. The "Great Falls of the Missouri" were discovered by Captain Meriwether Lewis in June 1805 when he left the Corps of Discovery Camp to explore the area. We went to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center that houses many exhibits of the expedition that was planned and sponsored by President Thomas Jefferson. We found this exhibit very interesting and informative.

Since the discovery of the falls, five dams have been built that provide the area with needed electricity. We were told, however, that much of the Missouri River is just as it was when the Expedition came through and steps were taken to keep that way even when the dams were being built. We visited the Ryan Dam and the Great Falls. The falls were spectacular.

Tomorrow we will cross the border into Canada.