As we get older, we tend to wander... from day to day, to project to project, and from what is important and what is not. In our case we also plan on doing some wandering around the country. I hope you will join us.
We have been planning a day trip to Clarksville, MO for weeks now. But it seemed every time the weather was nice one of us was working. So Wednesday, with the forecast of mid-30's and rain, we headed to Clarksville in search of Eagles. Even though we were warned not to...
Wednesday morning around 5:00 I sent an email to my friend Patti at Osage Bluff Quilter that we planned on finally going to Clarksville. She replied back that she recommended " pick another day, a lot of times antique store are closed on Monday." Then ended her email with "Have a great Wednesdy!" We scratched our heads at that one as we headed out the door. (Sorry Patti, but I had to rib you a bit!) When we got home there was an email from her about a "Senior Moment" and that she did know it was Wednesday. Boy do I understand those Senior moments!
It may have been cold. It may have been spitting rain. And yes, it was a dreary day. It was so much fun! There were a few Eagles to be seen when we got there, but not a lot. So we spent time going through the many artisan shops. Gorgeous stuff to be seen! I didn't take my camera inside the shops, but here are some links if you want to see the one of a kind furniture.
At the The Windsor Chair_shop, we watched the artisan stain one of the chairs he was making. He does all of the work himself with one young lad helping him. Special orders are backordered to September 2013!
We also enjoyed visiting The Bent Tree Gallery, where gorgeous bent tree willow chairs, leather purses, and so many more hand made items were on display. Stacy greeted us as she worked on one of her beautiful leather purses.
As we headed into another shop, a guy with a camera equipped with a lense that made me drool, poked his head in to say the Eagles were swooping where some dead fish had washed up. What?!?! And we are in shops? No way. Back outside in the misty rain we went. And we were not disappointed.
If you'd like to see more of our trip to Clarksville, click on the video below.
We've been wanting to go to Louisiana, Mo to visit the studio of artist John Stoeckley for quite some time.
Last Wednesday was tailor made for just such a short road trip. What a great day we had!
If you click on the link above, you can see some of John's art work - Reflections of Missouri. We live in a beautiful State, and it always makes me smile with pride when someone honors that beauty in works of art. Since we have visited many of the places he showcases, we stood and drooled for a very long time. John was the only other person in the shop and spent as much time as we wanted with us, just visiting, answering questions, and telling stories.
An extra bonus of this trip is Louisiana, MO itself. What a pretty little sleepy town. If you would like to see more, just click on the video below, sit back, and enjoy!
Monday, September 19, 2011
What a busy last few weeks it has been around here. This weekend was certainly no exception.
My late Aunt Jane and Uncle Ivo's estate sale was this past Saturday. My head is swirling with thoughts about that. We did come home with some things that are treasures to me. More about that in a post soon to come. I promise. Especially since I am pretty excited about some of my finds.
The Blacksmith had quite a crowd watching the embers fly as he hammered and pounded red hot mounds of iron into things like forks, dinner bells, crosses, and all sorts of things.
Patti had her hands full answering questions and selling the wares. I hope they had a successful couple of days.
My mind is still boggling at the amount of work that goes into making the period costumes, setting up shop, working all day, taking everything down at the end of the day and dragging it home, only to return the next day to do it all over again.
Patti & The Blacksmith
Jim bought this torture hook. He claims he will be using it to turn meat on the grill. Uh huh.
When we left the festival, we decided to head 15 miles or so up the road to Clark, MO. Patti was telling us there is an Amish community there that sells furniture, wonderfuol baked goods, and stuff. Even though we knew they would be closed on a Sunday, we decided to take the short drive before heading home. We were glad we did.
Scenic drive to Clark, MO.
We must have hit the returning home from church services traffic. Buggies were everywhere.
I'm pretty sure Ida and Eula didn't know these grass mowers were on the wrong side of the fence.
They didn't look like they planned on going past the green, green grass of home.
Children were playing in many of the yards. It looked like they were all dressed in their Sunday best, but as far as I could tell, not a single child had shoes on. I had to smile and shiver a little at this, since the high temperatures yesterday were only 65.
I'm pretty sure Mr. Stinkeye here is saying he hopes everyone has a wonderful week!
Our free Rural Electric monthly newspaper has a section advertising events around Missouri.
Usually we read it and lament over events we missed. We say to each other, "We could have gone to that!" or "That would have been a lot of fun."
So we were pretty excited when, as we sat drinking our coffee, Saturday morning we looked through the events and saw there was a Bluegrass Festival going on in Dixon. We're big bluegrass fans. Dixon is a tiny town of around 1200 located 60 miles or so from us. The scenic drive is along two lane, winding, hilly, blacktop highways. As we topped hill after hill we'd gaze off into the distance in wonder.
As we drove into Dixon we noticed the town seemed to be unusually quiet for a place hosting a Bluegrass Festival. After driving around like lost souls for a bit, we finally stopped and asked. .... Yes, we asked for directions!. Some local group was hosting a BBQ in a parking lot and a kind lady told us the Festival Park was back the way we had come. She had not been there before, but if there was a festival, that would be the place.
After we did a bit of backtracking, there it was - the bluegrass pickin' campground. But it was empty. Dead. Nada. Apparently our little free newspaper got the date wrong. We now know the festival is held on labor day weekend. From the looks of their website it is going to be a pretty big deal.
Our reaction to the mis-information
So how does that saying go? "When life gives you lemons, make...." We made fried chicken out of it. Defeated, we headed back the way we came. But with some little side trips. As we saw the road signs - this way to Crocker... this way to Meta... this way to Vienna..., Jim started reminescing about his childhood trips to extended family who lived in Meta. He finally saw the gravel road that lead to their old home place.
Driving slowly down the road we watched red tail hawks soaring on the breeze. A family of goats were open grazing in a farmer's garden. I'll bet they were grounded when their extra curricular activities were discovered.
Yea, big guy, you are soooo busted...
We drove through the water of several low water bridge crossings.
View from low water bridge crossing. Jim's childhood memory was just around the bend.
We finally stopped at Sugar Creek Restaurant in Meta. My friend Patti had recommended it on her blog a few weeks ago. The fried chicken dinner was really good.
A few years ago a friend and former co-worker told me she and her husband were refurbishing and opening a restaurant. Since my friend lives in St. Thomas, I always assumed her restaurant was in St. Thomas. But we had never visited her restaurant... Imagine my surprise as we sat waiting for our food, in walks my friend, Tiffanie, ready to work. Just by chance, we were in her restaurant. It took me a bit to get the answer of 4 as I was putting together the fact that Patti's recommended resaurant and my friend's place were one in the same. It was great fun catching up on families and happenings.
Here's my thinking. If the CoOp newspaper had not gotten their information wrong, we never would have taken the scenic drive. We would not have gone down a gravel road of Jim's memory lane across low water creeks. And we never would have happened into an old friendship at Sugar Creek Restaurant. I'm thinking I'm glad a mistake that turned into a nice day was made.
Maybe I should also mention that one other time this same newspaper listed a community-wide flower garden event in the beautiful little town some distance from us, Ste. Genevieve. We decide to take that drive, much like the drive of this past weekend, only to discover the flower show had been moved to another weekend.
Maybe this litte paper isn't the most reliable source of event information... Just maybe....
We went to The Lake this weekend. Locals to mid-Missouri who read my blog already know I mean the Lake of the Ozarks.
The weather was perfect. The skies opened up with large drops of rain just after we unloaded the car and got settled inside our friends, Patti and Gerard's, cabin. About an hour later... here comes the sun!
Patti is "the entertainer". I'd have to say her style is simple elegance. She always makes things look so easy when she entertains. Everything that can be done ahead of time, is. Nobody would guess all of the work that goes on behind the scene... but I know... and appreciate the relaxed atmosphere.
Dining at the Lake of the Ozarks - Patti style!
A Spanish dish of rice and seafood. Its official name escapes me - but it was oh so good!
A moonlit boat ride. Terrible photo. What can I say...
Breakfast of Baked French Toast and sausage links - once again overlooking the lake.
The french toast recipe can be found here. It is a Pioneer Woman recipe and we all know every one of her recipes are the best ever! Plus, it as easy to make!
You see everything on the Lake. Not a care in the world.
The lake boating activity by mid-morning was mind boggling. It was a much bumpier boat ride than the previous evening's late night cruise.
A friend of ours bought our son & DIL's trailer years ago for their lake home. After visiting with them for a bit, we headed back out. Jim snapped this photo as we were waving good-by. I was too busy trying to keep from passing out. It must have been the sun beating down on my head while standing on a swaying dock, but it was definitely touch and go for a bit. Fortunately a bottle of water and some cooling breezes soon revived me.
Maybe sail boats are more stable than they look. Personally I cannot imagine sailing on such choppy waters.
This little wood duck joined us as we basked in the sun. Life is good!
A week ago today we left the heat of Missouri - crossing over the State Line into the heat of Kansas and the refreshing coolness of the water park at Great Wolf Lodge Resort. Merry Christmas everyone!
I couldn't help speculate how things have changed for us over the years as we sped across the state in our Honda CRV - our nice and roomy, less than a year old CRV. There was a time when we barely limped to town and back home each day, all five us cramped in our little Dodge Omni. More often than not we had lumber or some other building material strapped to the roof top.
In the car with us was two of the grandkids, Dakota and Austin. Nostalgia took over when we about reached Independence. It took me back to a trip we took to the Ozarks. The kids had driven us close to insanity with their bickering as we topped a particularly scenic overlook. Jim finally blew his top and told them the only thing he wanted to hear out of them was "Oooh, Ahhhh, Look!". As Dakota and Austin jabbered away, I looked at Jim and asked, "Are we at the Oooh, Ahhh, Look! stage yet?"
Wow, as I am writing this, the skies have darkened and the thunder is rolling in. I hope this is not another case of mother nature once again teasing us. We will take any amount of rain she'll send our way. Jim took his 4-wheeler down the road to have it worked on. He is either going to be there a while, or he is going to get wet! (I hope...)
Back to our trip.
It was a wonderful weekend. Great Wolf Lodge (there are many around the nation) has a ginormeous water park and archade. This one happens to be within walking distance (we drove) of Cabelas, Legends Shopping, great restaurants, and Nebraska Furniture. There was something for everyone to do.
After playing for hours in the park the first night, we ate Pizza in the hotel room. Speaking of the hotel rooms, they were pretty cool, with two beds and a bath down and a third bed and bath in a loft. The eighteen of us fit in three rooms.
(It's raining~!!!! Yea!!!!)
The next morning was breakfast at I-Hop (kids ate free). I'm not a big I-Hop fan. It seems a bit pricey and the food is so-so. But they did it right for us, putting us in a room by ourselves. Was this for our privacy or did they sense a rowdy bunch and secreted us away to protect the other patrons? Maybe a bit of both....
Breakfast at I-Hop. Smile everyone!
Everyone split up after breakfast.
Nebraska Furniture was my downfall. This place is a vacation in itself... if you like shopping, which I usually don't. In a few weeks they will be delivering a new couch, kitchen range, and a gorgeous braided rug to us. In our defense, we left without buying the 48 in. flat screen TV. How's that for showing some constraint?
As luck would have it, the AC went out in the room where Greg and Alicia and their kids, and Jim and I were staying. The repairman was in and out trying to fix it until 3 am. Everyone else went to sleep while Greg kept watch. The resort gave us 10% off of one night's cost of the room.... not near enough for the inconvenience, but better than nothing.
The best part of the weekend was that we were together and yet on our own. Nobody's schedule depended on anyone elses. The very fact that we were at a water park, though, guaranteed we would be spending time together as a family.
As we were packing to go home, we remembered we hadn't taken a family photo. Since I forgot my tri-pod, the camera is perched on a ledge. The TV is a perfect back-drop for the picture, don't you think? I know.... but it was the best we could do.
In two years we hope to plan another family vacation Christmas Present. So far we have done a Branson Vacation, a Float Trip Vacation, and this one. We used to go camping at Alley Springs every year, but my camping days are over. Maybe our next vacation can be a rodeo, or concert, or..... who knows... but we'll come up with something!
I'll leave you with a video, for those who want to watch it!
We had noticed this house from the road years ago and hoped to someday get the chance to tour it.
So, last weekend when Jim was surfing the internet checking out interesting things to do, he noticed there was an annual Ice Cream Social and house tour at the Maclay House in Tipton. We thought “This is perfect! We’ve been wanting to see that house for ages!”
We headed up Highway 50, through Tipton, on to Highway 5, since we knew that is where the house is located. But when we got there, we were the only ones there. It didn’t take us more than two seconds (maybe only one) to figure out we had our homes mixed up and there really was a mansion IN Tipton, not north of Tipton, that really was giving tours and was having an ice cream social. But, there was an OPEN sign on the gate of what we now knew is RAVENSWOOD. What the heck. We were there and this is the house we’d been wanting to see, so we walked around until someone came out.
I will have to tell you it was a little bit like stepping back in time. The “tour guide” was apparently a caretaker who happened to give tours if someone showed up. After we paid the $14 admission (we let him keep all $20… just because…), inside we headed. I was occasionally put off by his wife-beater almost white t-shirt, and once white, very stained jeans. We held our nose (seriously) and pushed ahead.
Ravenswood was built in 1880, and six generations later, remains in private ownership in the same family. It and the 2000 acres that go with it is in a trust and cannot be sold. We’ve heard that in many ways the family consider it a bit of an albatross around their necks.
Over the years few changes have been made to the house. Electricity and indoor toilets were added at some point. My heart ached for the dismal state it was in. Some rooms were kept in the “period”, others were mostly junk, and yet others were a mixture of the past and present. It was all very confusing.
I think since we tipped George $6, he not only took us through the house, but also up the rickety stairs to the crows nest, and down into the moldy, damp, basement.
In the basement was a “gentleman’s room”, with a door only 18 to 20 inches wide. This is where the men went when they wanted to drink or smoke, since neither were allowed on any other floor of the house. The story is that the door was made narrow on purpose so that no woman in the full hooped dresses of that time period could get through the door into the men’s territory. Supposedly the room was very elaborate at the time. All we could see in the darkness was water/dirt covered floors and what looked like faded leather wallpaper.
Sometimes, mistakes are good. This was one of those times. But, next year we are going to try to make it to the annual Ice Cream Social at the Maclay house!
Last week we took a day trip to St. Louis to visit The Jewel Box in Forest Park and the Missouri Botanical Garden. It was a gorgeously HOT day. Since I took over 100 pictures, I thought I’d share a few with you. I hope you enjoy the photos of the beautiful gardens as much as we did.
The weather in Missouri has been dreary and cold for weeks on end, with an occasional brief show of sunshine. Our friends from Wisconsin were experiencing the same thing, only colder and snowier and drearier.
So Dennis and Kris headed out for a drive-about through Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas. We met up with them last weekend in Eureka Springs.
Eureka Springs is a “Victoria Mountain Village” built into the hillsides of the Ozark Mountains. The early 1900’s architecture, beautifully restored, is a site to behold.
We apparently brought the weary Missouri weather with us. The locals said it was in the 70’s and sunny earlier in the week, not the 40’s and rain of the weekend.
If you look closely at the center Old Towne building (I’m sure it has a name, but don’t know what it is) , you might be able to spot the fact that the red awning canopies the entrance to a Quilt Shop. In this shop we bought a beautiful quilt. It was the highlight of my trip… next to spending time with friends, of course. A photo of the quilt later. Ok?
As much as I love taking pictures, it is hard to get good photos with gloves on shaking hands in drizzling rain. Jim took most of the pictures on this trip.
We visited the Christ of the Ozarks, where the Passion Play is performed during peak season. If you do a Google search, I believe you will find tons of photographs of this statue – most much better than this one (you know, the rain, cold, etc…) It is one of the most photographed in the world.
I’m kind of fond of the eerie look to this distance shot of the Crescent Hotel. I can almost believe there really are ghosts in residence there, as promised.
Since the town is built into the mountains, there are undeveloped areas – and it was in such an area that we spotted a family of deer. Of the six or seven hiding behind the trees, these two ventured out to check me out. My fingers were clicking away as I walked closer and closer.
But the leader decided I was close enough. He stomped his hoof and challenged me. Since I was the visitor who had worn out my welcome, I retreated (quickly).
The dome of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church.
St. Elizabeth Catholic Church
St. Elizabeth’s from the inside.
Eureka Springs is beautiful – even when there is no sunshine. I want to go back and check out the sites better when the temperatures are a bit warmer and the sun is shining.
It may have been cold. It may have been spitting rain. And yes, it was a dreary day. It was so much fun! There were a few Eagles to be seen when we got there, but not a lot. So we spent time going through the many artisan shops. Gorgeous stuff to be seen! I didn't take my camera inside the shops, but here are some links if you want to see the one of a kind furniture. 
