What a Fun Day

Dan was filling in for the bass player in the Lester Cloke Memorial String Band at their gig in Freemont at the Dutch Oven Cook off.  So Mary, Donnie, Katlin, Sue and I decided to go watch.  What a fun day.  The weather was wonderful.   The music was good and the dutch oven part was awesome!  I had never been to one before and wasn't sure what to expect.   There were three rounds of competition.  Deserts, Main Dish and Bread.  If you paid $5.00 for an armband you could try a little bit of each entry.   Man was the food good.  They made things in the  Dutch oven I didn't think was possible.

This is part of the desert table with the judges getting ready to judge. ( I gotta find out how to be a judge).  Mary and thought the "almost pumpkin pie "or the "Apple cake thing" were the best.  However that was not the judges opinion.   The three layer cake you see won that category.   We saw Amy's aunt and cousin and visited with them a little.  Every one was very friendly and nice.  It was just a fun day and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Labor Day Week End

 I picked Katlin up at school Friday.  They got out early at 1.  So by the time we got back it was time to get on the road.  Jeanine and Lloyd had started a little before and Mary's were going with us.  I was really hot that day.  Had been in the mid 90's.  By the time we got to Aledo it hadn't cooled off much.  They lead us to a place to park but the electric didn't work.  So they said we could move to the hog barn.  That there was enough electric for all of  us to run our air.  Didn't work.  We got all leveled and set up and Dan checked our plug in and it was hot.  So then they decided we could move to where we were last year. No one else was parked their and again they were sure we could run the air.  Again they were wrong.  They tried really hard to make it work but didn't.  Didn't think we could find a park to move to what with the holiday so decided to stick it out.  I was OK once we got laid down and laid still.  We all had a fan.  The next morning they came and told us they had an electrician come and wire up enough spots so we could all have air.  So we all moved to the place they wanted us to camp at to begin with.  The air worked fine, however about an hour after we moved a cold front came through and it cooled down and we wouldn't have needed it.  However Dan said we were going to run it even if everyone had to have 3 blankets.  It didn't get that cold  but we all slept better that night.  That said the music was really good.  Our two favorite groups were Monroe Crossing ( see picture above) and the Harman Family .  Monroe Crossing all dressed like they would have in Bill Monroe's day.   We had a good time.  When we got home Sunday I got ready and went to Cindy's for a couple of days to have some Kyann time.  She is getting so grown up.  Here she is making M & M cookies with mom. 

We played outside some.  She is drawing with chalk.  Cindy made her a hop scotch board and she can do it but mostly she would just run.   They have three different sizes of tins (like you get popcorn or candy in) and they play the drums and march through the house.  Kyann starts out the leader but she is so fast she is bringing up the rear before you know it.  She started preschool on Wednesday.  She is going to have fun with that.  She is almost too smart for her own good. 

Excitement in the neighborhood

They took the tornado warning siren down across the street from me.  They hadn't used it in years cause my quarter of town doesn't need to be warned I guess.  But it was pretty exciting to watch. 

Katlin's new do

Took Katlin to Iowa City for a hair cut and color today.  You just thought she looked that good naturally didn't you?  I'm here to tell you it took a long time to achieve this look.  I guess it didn't help that her hair dresser did another cut, color and style while Katlin was waiting.   It really irritated me cause I was meeting Sherri for supper and was an hour late.   But the end results were good. 

Indianola Bluegrass in the Park

Tuesday night we loaded up in two vehicles and headed to Indianola to see Daily and Vincent at their Bluegrass in the Park.  Jeanine,Lloyd, Dan, Sue, Katlin and I were in Jeanine's van and Mary and Donnie brought Connie and Dennis in their car.  We hadn't intended to meet for supper but the Mexican place Mary's were going to was closed or they couldn't find it and ended up at A & W with us.  We had good food ( I hadn't had a real root beer in a frosty mug for a long time and it tasted really good) and fun too.  I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out.  We were kind of noisy.  Then we headed up to the park for the music.  We were so afraid it would be so hot but it was almost cold.  Not for me of course but Katlin was glad she had long pants on.  The music was really good although the sound wasn't as good outside as inside.    What a fun ride home.  Haven't laughed that much in a long time. 

July with the Kofron's

Went to spend a few days with the Kofrons.  Hadn't been up for a while.  Here they are getting ready for a family bike ride.   Kyann loves this.  I think it's the speed.  Anyway it was very fortunate that I went that week end as Shane's grandma passed away early Saturday morning and I was able to take care of Kyann while they helped make arrangements.  She makes right up to me anymore and we had a good time. 

She is getting to be such a cutie!  And she has a winning smile.  Maybe I'm just a tad prejudiced.  She sang some songs for me and we played all over the house.   I wondered if I would have a hard time putting her down for a nap but she did fine.  Grandma needed one too!  If mama was around I was second best.  Here they are playing on the stairs.  Think mama might have found her tickle spot.   She is getting to be so much fun.  She is into the why stage now.  Why everything.  Brought back lots of memories of my own kids.                                          

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.