Since they’re in the City of Columbia, we can’t shoot off fireworks there. Guess we’ll just have to risk setting the barn on fire at Tracy & Guy’s!
 
1:00 PM lunch at mom & dad’s sounds good. We’ll bring side dishes. How about games, bar-b-q and fireworks at T & G’s afterward? Guy will lead the lake tours (in his pink tights).
 
For the trivia game, let’s call it the “Not-So-Newlywed Game.” Good idea about general trivia questions. Eric, do you want to organize this? We can e-mail you the questions we already have. Let us know if you’re too busy, and we’ll work it out.
 
How about doing a “The Year Was 1967…” thing? We could tell what the popular songs were, price of gas, etc…
 
Also, here’s a big idea. Does anyone have a computer scanner that will scan photographs in color? If so, I would like to get a bunch of pictures of mom and dad and the family (from them and from anyone else in the family) and create a DVD slide show with music. I have some good music already picked out if this will work. This could be a real tear jerker!
 
Let’s make this really special for them. 40 years is a quite a milestone!

A large clear plastic ball that allows the user to roll down a steep hill/mountain without getting injured. There is a smaller clear plastic ball inside that the user actually is in, with external oxygen holes that lead to the outside of the aforementioned larger ball. Internal ball rotates/pivots to keep user from violently turning around and upside down.

Good for kids and adults alike. Safe, bouncy. 

Share your potentially big, little ideas.  Here are some of mine:

·         Car pooling for students:  private info kept confidential
and used for security, rating system for security as well.

·         Education kiosks at parks (theme, state, national, etc.) –
kids/adults win prizes for answering questions approved by education
council.  Wrist band barcode provides identity and system serves up
next question/answer.  Educational wait times. Kiosk at start and end
of lines.  Optional activity where brains are engaged, conversations
lifted to higher plain.  Additional opportunity for growth.  Band
color could represent kids progress or level – status symbol.  Prizes
redeemed at shop or mailed to homes.  Option to sign up for book
reading program were books are supplied at shop or mailed w/ return
envelope.

·         PO Box notification – little device in each PO box reports
to device in my PO Box which allows me to notify people that they have
mail in their box.

·         Solar/battery-powered mosquito catcher/fogger.  Runs
automatically for an hour at dusk/down or at specific time set by
user.
We all learn by sharing what we know and together we may make this
world a little better.

Woke to another overcast, rainy and cold day.  Used courtesy car to go into town for lunch at the Blue Owl (very crowded with bus groups).  Went to local grocery store and picked up some food.  Made pot roast and boat smelled just like home.  Worked a little more on making curtains.  Gased up and plan to leave in a.m. for Angelo’s Towhead at the confluence of Ohio and Mississippi rivers, an inlet off of the river where we will anchor out, hopefully less eventful than our first anchoring out.  There are no marinas between St. Louis and Kentucky Lakes so we may encounter two nights of anchoring out.  Several boats here of all sizes heading south to Florida or making the Great Loop.  A few of these boaters were with us at Alton.

Departed Alton 11:30 went through Ray Price Lock and Dam a 1200’ lock, one of the longest we have encountered.  There was a drop of 28’.  Went on down to Lock 27 and had a quick lock through but upon exiting found a traffic jam of barges due to river being closed due to dredging.  Both locks had bollards to tie to – we tied on at mid ship to a bollard which moves down with the boat.  This made for an easy lockage.  It was quite interesting to see the dredging process and the spews of sand/dirt spouting out into another part of the river.  We treaded our way around the barges and got permission to make a narrow pass around the dredges and continued on down river past the St. Louis waterfront and arch.  Went under the bridges of the well traveled Interstates 270 and 55.  Overcast day.  Arrived at Hoppies Marina 3:00 p.m. and met by Fern and Hoppie who tied us up.  We took a walk into town late afternoon.  Ate at a restaurant which looked like an old fort.  When returning to the boat it was pitch dark and we made a few wrong turns and had to back track.  We could have used our GPS.