My plan was to visit St. Louis Harmony Chorus on Tues., and Gloria was interested in seeing them, too. She and Pam (you may remember that she was my high school “big sister”) came over early afternoon so they could check out my “home” since they had never seen it. Dana showed up, too, and we hung out chatting, munching, and viewing some of the photos on my laptop that I’ve taken along our journey that aren’t on the blog (can only post so many!) We ate dinner at El Nopal Mexican Restaurant, sharing a half pitcher of margaritas, and then headed t
o the rehearsal (all except Dana who had a prior commitment). St. Louis Harmony Chorus (http://www.stlharmony.org/) has nearly 80 members, placed 1st at last year’s Regional contest, and will compete in the International Competition in Hawaii this Nov. They are directed by the very talented Master Director, Sandi Wright, who has directed them since 1982 (that's her in the black slacks center in the photo at right).
She is a chorus and quartet coach, specializing in presentation skills and vocal production, a certified judge in the showmanship category, a two-time Queen of Harmony (International quartet champion) with Tetrachords and Ambiance, and a member of the Region’s educational faculty. Sandi has a great rapport with her chorus and was very gracious in wanting to include me in their entire rehearsal. But they were 
preparing for a performance the following week and the Intl. contest, so I confined myself to only participating in the physical and vocal warm-ups. They have been perfecting several Bob Fosse numbers complete with Fosse choreo….wow! After seeing this front row perform, auditioning for it might be a little intimidating even for me! But it was very entertaining, and they have a wonderful sound. Gloria and Pam enjoyed it from an audience perspective even though the repetitiveness of rehearsal can become a bit tedious at times. But that’s all part of the process and how champions are made! Though I missed out visiting them last year, I’m really glad I did this time around, and wish them all the best in Hawaii.
Wed. morning I met Rosemarie for breakfast at a little place called First Watch (http://www.firstwatch.com/). Rosemarie worked with my mom and was one of her best friends. I think the last time we saw each other was 24 years ago when Russ and I had come back home for a visit though I keep thinking I visited at her house when we returned for a high school reunion 15 years ago. We didn’t get to connect last year, but I was determined to not to let that happen again this year. We had a great visit and tied up the table for a little over 3 hours. Had she not had an appt. at 1pm, we probably would have been there even longer! S
he’ll be in Florida next March, and we’re hoping to be able to catch up again. That night we met Michelle and Randy at Rich and Charlie’s Italian Restaurant not from far the campground as we did last year. After dinner we sat outside so the three of them could smoke and chatted until the restaurant was ready to close. We’ve had a strange noise coming from the car, and they walked over to it so Randy could listen and see if he could determine its origin (he’s in that line of work). Then we proceeded to stand in the parking lot and chat for another hour! It’s amazing how time flies when you’re having fun!
As planned for a couple weeks, I met Gloria at DuBowl Lanes where she bowls every Thurs. I know all the gals on the team, and this year Mary Ann was also there and we kept trying to determine just how many years it had been since we last saw each other! (L to R - Mary, Gloria, Pam, me, Mary Ann, Lynne) As I watched them bowl, we caught up on each other’s lives, and they had lots of questions about our travel
s and where we've been (obviously they haven't all been reading the blog!) Gloria’s son manages one of the local Cecil Whitaker’s Pizzerias and that’s where we went for lunch. This place has some of the neatest and prettiest murals on the walls, all St. Louis scenes, so we had our picture taken in front of one of them. Pam couldn’t make it since she had to go to work, but another friend of theirs, Gina, joined us. I always seem to have such a great time with this group of gals!
Fri. it was time for another visit to the American Legion Fish Fry. Scott joined us, and we all agreed that for some reason it tasted even better this week than it had at our visit a few weeks ago! Afterwards we headed to the SanBar Tavern again to pay Bob a visit. Kenny, another high school friend of Russ’, was there, and while we watched the Cardinals game on TV, the guys reminisced and talked sports.
We met John and Deborah for breakfast at Denny’s on Sat., and then John came over to listen to the Mizzou game on the radio since it wasn’t on TV today. Sat. night it was Girl’s Night Out! Six of us went to That One Place Bar & Grill, where we went last year that's only 15 min. fro
m the campground for dinner, drinks, and dancing. Diane couldn’t stay long, but Gloria’s daughter, Jeannette, and her friend, Jennifer, joined Gloria, Mary, and me for a night of dancing to the music of Macks Creek (and to the DJ between sets!). 
It's hard to believe we only have another week here before moving on. Time has flown by, and we've so enjoyed spending time with friends and family.
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