I'm off!

I recently returned from a trip to Brazil, Paris, Versailles, Lebanon, Canada, Mexico and Palestine.

 Well, actually I took a road trip and did not go to the places you think of when saying those names...

Other places I went to were Detroit, Charleston, Madison, and Kansas (Illinois), and Louisiana.  Again, not the cities we think of.  Also 3 Hillsboros! 

My assumption is that I also drove through Assumption!

 The first "city" I stopped in was Florence.  

(Not Italy - wouldn't that be nice! - but KS, population around 2,290.)  

 They have a pretty wonderful bakery in that town and the owners are very special young women!  I grabbed a little breakfast to go and continued on my trip.   I had my camera with me to take pictures along the way of course!



My first pull off for a picture happened shortly when I saw a heron sitting on top of a post!  I'd never seen that before.  I have seen them in the lake behind our house and in the tree, but never on a pole!

I was headed to a True Woman conference in Indianapolis and on to Ohio to visit my uncles and their wives.

 I had hooked up my Tom-tom but had studied my good old trusty road atlas ahead of time and sort of had decided the roads I might take.  I was going to travel on many 2 lane roads, a few dirt roads even.  Back road-ing it to Ohio!


I avoided Kansas City (sorry brother Dave, a couple of nephews and a cousin).  I DO NOT care to drive through big cities.  Nope.  For me that is stressful and scary!

 2 lane roads are much more relaxin'!  

It is THE WAY to travel!  Give me tractors and grain trucks in front of me and going through podunk towns.    No traffic except for mailmen and a few farm implements.  Really, so very little traffic!!  I could stop mid road if I wanted to grab a picture!  (I was always careful to make sure I could see a good distance and no one was coming from behind!)

  No knotted shoulders and having to get uptight about all the fast traffic!  

I drove through a little town called Freeman, population under 500.

 I didn't believe my GPS at Harrisonville (it looked like it was taking me into a residential neighborhood) and ended up going further east.  I was pretty much in the boonies.

 I was on dirt road for awhile.  

SO FUN!

This road took me into a little town of Bates where I joined onto Highway 70 for awhile.

Rest stop.  Highway 70 wasn't so heavily trafficked, but I needed to stretch.

I walked on the sidewalk for a couple of loops to get the blood pumping.

 Next stop:  Curryville and Pittsfield.

Good-bye Arkansas!

On Sunday morning, we went to church with Josh's family.

 What a  Soo-ie...eet time we had with them!

After church, the kids had plans for a "Fakesgiving" with their friends.

Their friends love Thanksgiving so much, they have to do it more than once!

We went to Rogers' Applebee's to meet my dad's youngest sister, my Aunt Betty and Uncle Bill.

 We tried French onion soup at their recommendation.  It was really good and cheesy!  We noticed that the gas prices had gone up, but Uncle Bill knew where we could get it cheaper.  So when we were done eating, we followed him into Bella Vista.  Drove by the

This is Walmart country!
  

 On July 2, 1962, Walton opened the first Walmart Discount City store at 719 W. Walnut in Rogers, Arkansas. 

Gas was cheaper here for sure!  Uncle Bill knew!

 Uncle Bill lead us back to the highway and then we waved goodbye until the next time!

 The trees are just beginning to turn color and when we come again, I am guessing they will all be in full color and just beautiful!!

A Saturday fun day

Last Christmas I gave Eli a bunch of rubber bands in his stocking.

 My Dad and Josh used to shoot rubber bands at each other a lot and I thought it would be fun to get Eli into it too.

 The kids played Mario too.

 Since it was Al's real birthday, he got calls from Jill's family and from Mindy.

 The kids played nerf guns with the neighbor kids.

 We also played a new game.  A Bob Ross game that Jill had given Josh.  The rules were a little complicated but once we began to play it, it ended up being a really fun game!!

 For dinner, we decided to go to Market Place.  That was a place we first began going to back when Josh and Staci began to date.

 We asked Staci's parents to come too.

And he got a complimentary birthday cake and ice-cream 

that we shared all around!