Vacation to Starvy Creek

We left for Starvy Creek Mo about 8:30 Saturday morning.  This was a very different vacation from any I have taken with Dan and Katlin.  We took the camper  and met and Jeanine and Lloyd at the Packwood turnoff.   Usually with Dan we stay in motels and eat out all the time.   We did eat out some but also cooked.  Jeanine and I took every other night  which made it nice.    Dan decided we didn't have lights on the camper so pulled into a Caseys in Bloomfield in the rain and he got it fixed.  it wasn't too long after  we left Bloomfield we ran in the one of the worst rain storms I have ever been in. And it rained like this till we got to Kirksviille.  We kept thinking it has to stop soon but it would just rain harder.   I wanted Dan to pull over but he just kept going slowly.  We didn't have any trouble but it makes me nervous.  In Kirksville it was so flooded we had to drive down the middle of the street.  The rain finally did let up and we stopped in Columbia for lunch at Bandana's.  Had some good Bar-B-Que pork.  We got to Starvy Creek about 4 and pick out our camping place in the sun.  Got set up and Jeanine had supper that night.  Really good Lasagna. 

Sunday Dan and Katlin took off for Tulsa.  They were going to see a friend of Dan's who was not doing well.  He bought some of her leather tools and her sewing machine.  It was a pretty emotional day for him.  Mary was pretty weepy.  Katlin played for her and she enjoyed that.  They got back to camp about 9:00.  While they were gone Jeanine and Lloyd and I went into Springfield to the Bass Pro shop.  It was the biggest one I have ever been in.  They had a live 6 foot alligator and lots of live fish and ducks.  All kinds of stuffed animals and birds.  We had a good time looking around. 

When we came out we were looking for a place to eat lunch and Lloyd spotted this place called the Whole Hog.  It was probably the best Bar-B-Que I have had since Memphis.  They had all kinds of trophy's lining the walls.  As you can see from my plate there wasn't much left.                         

Monday we let Dan and Katlin sleep in and then decided to head for the Fantastic Caverns.  It is advertised all along the interstate as the only ride in cave.  There are little wagons pulled by a Jeep. 

In this spot you were allowed to touch the ceiling.  It was very cool (temperature wise) and drippy.  But Katlin was the only one who wore a coat. 

In several places it was kind of low and the taller people (Dan) had to duck as you can see.  Our guide was very interesting and informative.    There were some amazing formations.

And we all enjoyed it a lot.   Back to camp and grilled some brats for supper.  Tuesday was a big day.  We were meeting an old childhood friend of Jeanine's who works at Springfield Leather Shop.  It was like a candy shop for Dan.  I got very tired of standing.  But Dan did get some things for his leather work and some ideas too and they were free!                                                                                                                  

We went to lunch at Lambert's and had a really good meal and a lot of fun too.  They give you way too much food but  it was yummy.  Everyone caught their roll but Lloyd.  The kid throwing was really good .  Got it right to you.   Also had one kid who's job was to go up and down the isles and hand out fried okra.  Which was good and not slimy.  One kid did macaroni and tomatoes (which I did not like it had green peppers in it) and one did fried potatoes and onions.  They were awesome!  Wished I had not ordered and just had them. LOL.  As we were driving to Lambert's we kept seeing signs for Smallins Civil War Cave and decided to try to walk off some lunch there.    It was very interesting and totally different from the one the day before.

This is the entrance which was 55 feet tall I think she said.  It was very pretty with a creek running through it. It was  not how ever very cool because of all the water I guess.  My glasses kept fogging up.  and I was wiping sweat the whole time.  It was only a half mile walk to the back of the cave.  And we saw several different "wild life" .  The most interesting was the white crayfish.  She didn't call it albino but that is what it looked like.  She said lots of scientist never get to see one  and we saw two.  Also saw a  wolf spider and a baby bat.                                                             

This rock was pretty interesting.  See where is is even with the big rock.  The Indians used this (I can't remember the name of it) rock for arrow heads and knives.  But they only went so far back in the cave. Superstitious lore says there was moaning or sounds coming from the back.    The tree below was strange as well as it was bent over and had grown that way for a while.  It was intentional as a maker for the Indians.  They said during the civil was supplies were stored in the cave.  And it was also owned by a church later and used for a camp and for picnics in the supper when it was hot before air conditioning.                               





 

We had to stop for some groceries at Walmart and while we were in there this little frog (Shane tells me it is a common tree frog who it turns out is not so common) attached himself to Jeanine's door handle.  He rode all the way back to camp right there in that door handle.   I'd say he has some sticky feet!  65 miles an hour for 30 miles.     I guess he just wanted a change of scenery.                      

The shows started Thursday night and  were pretty good.  Jr Sisk (seen here) got sick and couldn't perform but had some people stand in for him and he was very apologetic (as much as his voice allowed) for not being able to preform.   All the acts were good  some we enjoyed more than others.  Our favorites are Nothin' Fancy.  and they were wonderful..  The weather was really hot kept getting hotter every day but there was a breeze and if you were in the shade it was bearable.  Saturday was the worst.  There wasn't much of a breeze and I finally had to give up and go back to the camper and cool off for a while.  Katlin preformed at the Russ Morton Youth Fiddle Jam on Saturday morning and did very well.  She played Festival Waltz and the announcer knew how hard  a piece it was and really gave her credit. 

We started home around 9:30 Sunday morning and this is what it looked like before we got to Kirksville.  They had only had a few sprinkles in Springfield.  It didn't rain as hard as going down but was still annoying.  All in all we had a good time but I'm not going South any more on vacation in the summer.  Too old and fat for that.                                                                                                                                                  

Fiddle Camp 2011

Fiddle Camp 2011 is over.  We took Katlin down on Sunday and helped her get settled in her room.  She got the room mates she wanted and had a really good time but not a lot of sleep and she needs a lot of sleep.   We took the trailer and the Thornbergs and the Grimms on Friday and went to Jimmy Linseys where we were camping.  Got set up then went to get Katlin and her stuff and see what they call the showcase ( what they have learned through the week).  I have tried unsuccessfully to upload some video.  For some reason it just doesn't work anymore.  Each group played a couple of songs and then  as a total group they played a couple more.  Then they received their certificate and medal for attending.

This is Katlin getting her stuff.  Camp T-shirts were red this  year.

Here they are square dancing.  Notice how short Katlin's partner is.   They actually did a very good job dancing.  It was so hot and humid I felt sorry for them.       We went home and jammed a little at Jimmy's and then put Katlin and I and I guess Dan too to bed.  It had been a long week for all of us.                                                                



Here are Zach, Katlin and Jeanine practicing before the contest on Saturday.  Must have payed off as Katlin took first in her division and Zach second in the open class.                                                            



Zach with the group he played with.





Katlin an her 1st place trophy

It was a long afternoon and we headed back to Jimmy's for a wiener roast and to play some music.   He had more humming birds at his house than I have ever seen in one place.  There were probably 15-20 at a time flying around the feeders. This doesn't show it very good.  I tried to get pictures of the humming birds themselves but they are too darn fast!

Here is some of the jam going on.  We had some listeners too.  It was a fun evening with some good music.

Sunday morning was kind of lazy we had another community breakfast about 9:30 and then just visited or relaxed.  Katlin and Dan did some fishing.  I didn't even know Katlin or Dan for that matter liked to fish.  The fish were really biting but most were too small to keep.   But they had fun. Dan said it was too much work.  He likes  to fish when they aren't biting. Even Zach got into the spirit of things and did some fishing too.  You can see Jimmy's house in the background.      It has a nice porch for sitting and relaxing.  We left for home about noon and the others were not far             behind.                                                                                                                                                                                          

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday and it has been a good one.  Woke up way too early but have had a lot of fun.  Mary and Connie and I met Doris Jean at Bonaparte for lunch.  We took a slight detour through Lacey Park but water was over the road so we went around to back way.  Mary needed to  get some pictures for Barbie of the Lodge  for the rehearsal supper.  The first picture is of Ely Ford.  It is totally under water!.  The river is also very high.  Wasn't sure if Ben's would be open or not but it was and the food was good and the fellowship even better. 


Taken at Bonaparte.



We hadn't been home very long when the door bell rang and I got flowers from Sue.  Very sweet.  I had just shut the door and sat down and the door bell rang again and I got flowers from Cindy, Shane and Kyann.  At first I thought the delivery man forgot something but it was a different place.  I got several cards in the mail and  Dan took me out for supper and gave me some flowers in a planter.  And I got put on call for work so all in all a good birthday!

Meet Jolene

Meet Jolene Isabelle Ruiz.  She was 5 weeks old at her shower.  Look at that red hair!  She takes after her momma and her Grandpa Mike.  She was very good for her party and slept through most of it but woke up for pictures.

Here she is with momma.  See the resemblance.  I think she is one proud momma.                             

Miss Haylee and Miss Marley were a hoot.  Miss Haylee kept wanting to give Miss Marley hugs and kisses and Marley wasn't sure what was going on.  We had some good laughs with their antics.   They are only 3 weeks apart in  age.                                                                                                                          

Connie had the best games.  This one is smell the diaper.  No one did very well but we had a good time.  We also played Price is Right and Pass the Pascifer.   Good job Connie!                          

Jolene got lots of nice things.  This is the quilt I made for her.  I called it "Swim Said the Mama Duck".  She will be the best dressed little girl.

This is a four generation picture.  Great grandma Mary, Mom Jill, Little Jo and Grandma Geri.  We had lots of good food (when don't we) and a cake made by Amanda Campbell.  Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can really see.  Everyone thought it was cute and it was also very yummy!  Welcome Jolene to a crazy family!

Chicago

 Cindy decided she wanted to take Kyann to Chicago for a couple of days while Shane was fishing in Canada.  She asked me to go along.  We took the train.  It was only an hour and a half late going.  Here they are in Mt Pleasant waiting for the train.  Kyann was really good and liked looking out the window. We took a picnic lunch and eventually Kyann got tired.  She fell asleep watching a movie and slept until we were almost to Chicago. 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel.  It had two rooms and two beds.  Cindy got a crib for Kyann.  We weren't there very long before Kyann started rearranging furniture.  She liked our room.  She also liked the cab rides and eating in restaurants.

This was the view from our room.  It was a very nice hotel with a cooked to order breakfast.  It was only about half a mile from Navy Pier and Millennium Park.  Looking back we definitely should have taken a stroller because that was too far for Kyann to walk and Cindy ended up carrying her a lot.

After we got settled we took a taxi to Rain Forest Cafe for supper.  Kyann liked the animals.  I liked the volcano we had for desert! 

We went back to the hotel for a swim.  They had the strangest pool I have ever encountered.  It was like a lap pool.  Only about 10 foot wide but 30 foot long.  Kyann had a good time but look at Cindy's face.  There were some other kids there that had a beach ball and she couldn't understand why she couldn't play with it.   We stopped and got her a ball the next day so she would have one to play with.  She has no fear this child.

The weather was great while we were there.  It rained a little while we were in the Rain Forest Cafe but the rest of the time is was sunny and pleasant.  Wednesday morning we went to Navy Pier.  Kyann had a good time chasing the ducks.  Don't know what she would have done if she had caught one.

Next we went to the Children's museum.  She wasn't quite sure about all the kids. But she liked different parts of it.  Here she is playing in the water part.  They had raincoats for everyone. Each size was a different color.  She wanted a yellow one but purple was her size.                                          



Picnic with Cindy



One of her favorite things was the puppet show.  She was very happy putting on a show for me. But then some other kids discovered the puppets and it didn't go as well.  They were a little bossy and she is just learning to share.   Her favorite thing of all and where we spent the most time was the store and kitchen.  They had shopping carts and baskets.  She would fill a basket with food and take it upstairs to the little house kitchen and play with it.  Then she would load it all up in the basket and take it down to what she called the cave.  It was a place for construction under the little kitchen.  Again not every one was well behaved and i think that confuses her.  Their were several schools there for a field trip I think and it got pretty noisy.

We went to Bubba Gumps for lunch and it was really good.  Cindy got a frozen strawberry drink with flashing lights at the bottom.  Pretty cute. and tasty too.                                                                  

After lunch Cindy and Kyann rode the Merry-Go-Round and the Farris Wheel.  Kyann asked Mar Mar if she was coming on the Farris Wheel.  Mar Mar did not go. But she liked it  Silly girl! 

Our last stop of the day was Build A Bear.  Kyann picked out a cat and we named him boots.  She did not like the noise of the filling machine and would not step on the  peddle, but she did all the motions with the heart she put inside.  She also did not like the bath because of the noise it made.  We were going to go swimming that evening but by the time we had supper she was pretty tired so we decided to get up in the morning and hoped there would not be many people at the pool.

After breakfast we headed to the pool and had it too ourselves for over an hour.  Then a few more people came but it was not crowded. As you can see Kyann had not forgotten what she learned in her swimming lessens last year.  About ten we decided to head to Millennium Park.  It was about a half mile from our hotel. Again a stroller would have been an asset.  This is a picture of me under the Cloud Gate.  It was pretty cool and I have a picture of me taking a picture of me.  We headed over to the tower fountains and wadding pool.  Kyann loved that.  We took off her shoes and socks and shorts and she just ran through the water.  Cindy said she wanted to take off her shirt too and go swimming ( in 1/2 inch of water).  At each end are two towers that have pictures on them and every so often the pictures change.

We had a really good trip.  The worst part was waiting to get on the train at Union Station.  By that time Kyann was tired and didn't want to walk and we were trying to hurry so we could get seats together.  But we made it and made it home mostly on time.  This is the end of this adventure.