A riverboat ride, and back to the refuge

Yesterday afternoon, Pam, Stan, and I headed back to Hannibal to take a ride on the Mark Twain Riverboat for a short tour up and down the mighty Mississippi.

The Mark Twain.......

Going up....

and down the Mississippi River.

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After the tour, we went to the Mark Twain Museum that we had missed the other day and enjoyed seeing the original Norman Rockwell illustrations that were painted for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" book when it was re-published. I have always admired the work of Norman Rockwell, so this was a real treat.

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We planned to go out for dinner, and ended up at Lulabelles' Restaurant that was a working bordello until the 1950's. It is now a fine dining establishment that has an early bird special. Since we arrived at 4:00, we qualified. We had an excellent meal at only $11.00 a plate. Stanley and I ordered the prime rib, and Pam had the blue fin tuna. The meal started off with a shrimp appetizer, followed by salads and home baked bread, and then the main entree. We had more food than we could eat and took home doggie bags.

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We also stopped to see the bronze statue of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn while we were in town.

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Heading back to the campground, we were trying to outrun very threatening black skies and were able to arrive to take the dogs out before the rain began. It turned out that the campground was on the edge of the storm, so we were able to enjoy another campfire in the evening.

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What a great time we all had for the last four days. It was a very refreshing break from Swan Lake.

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This morning, I hit the road about 10:00 and began the 109 mile journey back to Swan Lake. The trip was uneventful, and I was able to get fully set up and go work at the visitor's center by 3:00. Only eight more days until I blow this popsicle stand!

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy