Sightseeing Day:
- Cahokia Indian Mounds
- Lewis & Clark's Camp Dubois
For those of you who have already read Day 4, you may want to scroll down and view again because I have added a picture of our RV at the St. Louis KOA.
Today we woke early again to get going before the rains come. We again had breakfast at that nutritional restaurant (Mickey D's).
We drove to the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site to view the largest mounds north of Mexico. The displays were very-well presented. They have a comfy theater that presented a good overview of the Cahokia Indian village and lifestyle.
Then, you get to walk through a re-created village. I had always thought that these ancient cultures lived inside the mounds. Wrong. They build them up and then put the chief's home on top of the large mounds. Some mounds are for burial purposes. The dirt used to create the mound is dug from pits. These pits fill with water and become sources of drinking water and fishing.
The pictures show a far view of Monk's Mound--the largest mound for the chief's home to sit on top of. There is a close-up view of the stairs that some crazy maniacs determine they should climb. Also note the second set of stairs for the upper level in the back hill of the mound. YIKES! The final mound picture is of a burial mound.
We then drove over to the Lewis & Clark State Historic Site in Collinsville, IL. It was their first place of encampment before departing up the Missouri River. It is called River Dubois, which means "Wood River."
As you can see, we saw a replica of the boat that they used. On one side, the replica shows the boat itself. On the other side, it shows how they packed their gear and supplies for the trip.
The attraction had a video presentation to explain what they did while waiting for the Louisiana Purchase to go through so that they would have permission to venture westward through the territory owned by the French (Napoleon).
I have included a picture of the replica of the fort because it's fascinating how close these buildings are to each other. The actual recreated fort that is located at this site was closed due to the rain and muck outside.
When we returned to the campground, we had about an inch of water under the entry steps to the RV.
I made lunch for us; then, Dave took a nap; and after 2 hours, I woke him to go out and get our hair cut. We look better, but I feel a bit scalped. We have a couple of weeks before the Navy reunion. So, hope my 'do will be more managable by that time. Dave, of course, looks as handsome as ever!!
We returned just in time to avoid the horrific thunderstorms. So, we snuggled in for the night and rode out the storms. We were on a tornado watch. We were trying to figure out how fast we could run to the car and drive to the office in case we heard the sirens. Fortunately, we didn't have to do that.
I fixed some leftovers from Applebee's restaurant and as we dozed off for the night, I prayed our RV didn't turn into an ark!
No comments:
Post a Comment