2015 the conclusion of our five year tour

Well it's August 2015 and we are concluding our 5 year plan of visiting every state in the USA and playing golf in every state.

We have been slow to get the blog going this year as there has not been a great deal of good scenery to take photos of but we need to get it going, So here goes.

We started this year in Atlanta, Georgia and fortunately our truck and 5th wheel were in good running order and only required battery charging and oil and filter change to get things going. Our friend Monika picked us up from the airport on our arrival and took us to her beautiful property in the rolling hills of Chattahoochee Hills. That made it so much easier for us to get on the road - being able to chill and get the rv in order before hitting the road.

Our trip this year takes us from Atlanta to Memphis, on to Branson, Missouri, on to Kansas City, Kansas and then to Des Moines, Iowa before heading east to Chicago to visit friends who we met,on  our very first cruise in 2011 to Alaska. From Chicago we head further north to Wisconsin and Minneapolis/St. Paul in Minnesota and onward to North Dakota. From there we track west to Cody and Yellowstone National Park. From Yellowstone we head to Salem, Oregon where we will spend two weeks visiting friends and then head south to Reno and Death Valley before turning east to Las Vegas. We plan to go south to Phoenix, Arizona where we will complete our tour at a place called Pirates Den in Parker Arizona.

I'm(Tom) actually writing this from a place just outside of Chicago as we have been on the road for 22 days so far without incident.

Our first 22 days.

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I've(Betty) never come across Blue Orchids before...but these little beauties were at a Kroger's supermarket in Newnan, Georgia. We had stopped there to pick up some groceries .

8th August - Saturday - Beale Street, Memphis

We were actually parked in West Memphis, Arkansas and it was only a short drive to Memphis, Tennessee where we had a scrumptious dinner at the well known BB King Blues Club. There was a $2 per person cover charge for the live music.

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Food was pretty good, portions were generous - we ordered the Buffalo Wings to start with,whoa...those wings were mighty vinegary....our lips shore were puckered!! As we were there before the Saturday night crowd, parking was quite easy. We chose to pay $5 at a parking lot rather than risk the side street park.

10/8 - Monday - Branson, Missouri

The Box Office to the Little O'Pry Theatre  in Branson. I like George Strait and there was a tribute show to George Strait.

This gentleman was a whiz on the Keyboard at the George Strait Tribute show.

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A member of the band at the GS Tribute show...we were 3 rows from the stage...apparently August is a slow month for Branson.

Branson appears to be a great place for family fun if you have the money...lots of places to keep the kids amused. This is the Ripley's Believe It Or Not venue.

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11/8 - Tuesday - Branson,Mo

The Acrobats of Shanghai show...well worth going to. Amazing human feats of strength and dexterity!

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One of the acts from the show...a human ladder. I can well imagine the bruises and probably some broken bones before this act was perfected. The crew were out front at the end of the show but whether it was due to a language or cultural barrier their people's skills were virtually non existent.

12/8 - Wednesday - Branson, MO

Okay, by now you are thinking...gee these people like shows!! Well actually the tribute to Neil Sedaka was better than the George Strait show. Not only were these guys good at Neil Sedaka songs, they were good with The Captain and Tenille and the Carpenters songs.

It is a hard gig when you have to be bright and perky at 10am in the morning and doing a show for only a handful of people but these folks were real troupers...go see them!

Prime Rib...Tom's wet dreams come true. He loves his horseradish - check out the number of pots of horseradish he's gone through! we found  prime ribs at Buckingham's - food was good...decor was weird...it was like dining in the African display of Night at the Museum. They gave me Horseradish instead of Salad Dressing for my salad, the Maitre'd had the personality of an ant, they had no flute glasses for sparkling wines - just concentrate on the prime rib if you do go there.

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20/8 Thursday - Des Moine, Iowa

 The Iowa State Fair in Des Moine is like the equivalent of the Brisbane Ekka only much bigger. Entry is $8 per person but they get you on the parking. $10 and you walk about 3 blocks to get to the Fair, or you get a ride on a golf cart which is run by Shriners which is a charity organisation. I parted with $10 as I didn't have anything smaller.

Okay this is a day when you want to forget about those tips from Dr. Oz...most things are either battered (breaded) and deep fried (even gherkins) or smothered in tons of bbq or cheese sauce.

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Well...you could have knocked me over with a feather -Gluten Free Corn Dogs?? I must admit, I was very tempted to try one.

An aerial view of the fair from the Sky Rail...$4 per person for a one way ride..a good way to rest those weary tootsies and get from A to B.

The Agriculture Building hosted the biggest vegies competition - this wall featured all kinds of corn.

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The Butter Cow - one of the most sought after exhibits at the Fair. Frankly we couldn't understand the hooplah over this.

This magnificent beast is Sampson - he is a Red Angus and weighs 2,893lbs. ..which is a hellavu lot of prime rib.

Okay - this is one of the reasons why we extended our stay in Iowa. Tom's favourite country band Alabama was playing at the State Fair.

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They sounded amazing just like their CD's but unfortunately we didn't get good seats. 

Well on to our next destination early in the morning, a place called Union just outside Chicago, Illinois.