History Hound Travels

After visiting this schools in St. Louis site today, I decided to refresh my memory a bit. You know of course that this city was named for King Louis IX of France, and was part of the Louisiana Purchase made by President Jefferson. Did you know that Lewis and Clark launched their expedition from this city, and lived there after their explorations were over? In 1904 St. Louis hosted the first Olympics to be held in the US, and the World’s Fair, too! I had no idea that Forest Park dated from that fair. I have visited St Louis several times, and my children and I much enjoyed the “ladybug buses”, the Jewel Box and the Museums. They have a spectacular zoo there as well.

You can read more about St Louis at wikipedia.

Navtej Kohli has been gracious enough to sponsor a post about my favorite charity. In fact, he’s sponsored several across my different blogs, and I’ll be highlighting a different charity for each sponsorship. I’m having a hard time selecting the charity I want to discuss on this blog, because it’s the last one, and so I am going to talk about two, both of which are ranked four stars by Charity Navigators.

First up is the Blue Ridge Broadcasting Corporation, founded by Billy Graham in 1962. The am station reaches parts of three states and the fm station reaches portions of seven. The stations are noncommercial. 106.9fm plays contemporary Christian music and biblically-based talk shows, while 1010am provides Bible teaching and conservative talk.

Next is Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers. This organization offers a two-year program for offenders and substance abusers at no cost to the individuals. The therapeutic residential program only accepts those with a strong desire to turn their lives around. It operates several businesses through which it offers vocational training to program participants, so they are prepared to live productive lives after treatment.

I want to thank Navtej for the opportunity to talk about these organizations that are making a difference for people in my state.

Let’s talk a bit about Australia. This country has fascinated me since I first learned that there are species of plants and animals there that aren’t found anywhere else on earth. I’d like to go there and see them for myself, you see. Of course, like any thrifty traveler, I’d be looking for cheap hotels, so I could spend my money on seeing and doing instead of sleeping.

photo courtesy of wikitravel.
This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License v. 2.0

This panorama of the Gold Coast looks enticing, doesn’t it? Some of the best known Australian beaches are here. The Gold Coast hosts over 830,000 international tourists a year! In addition to the beaches, there are 5 theme parks, plus an Indycar race in October if each year. Each June, there is a WinterSun festival, too. That seems like a funny name to those of us In north America, but Australia’s seasons are opposite ours. You’ll want to go during our summer, though, because their summer is incredibly hot, even according to me North Carolina standards.Gold Coast hotels run the gamut from plain to fancy and there’s something for every travel budget.

I went on an overnight trip last week. As in, the 15th. I JUST unpacked on Monday form that. So, I have a question for you: when you come home from a trip, how long does it take you to empty your bags? Are you lame like me? Or do you unpack as soon as you walk in the door. And why do you do it the way you do it, however that is?

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