Good Morning, All!
Got back from my trip late, late Thursday evening - and yes, Journey is correct, we went to Branson, Mo; but I thank you for the invitation, Moldy; and will certainly remember it if I can get Hubby to take a vacation next year!! We had an enjoyable trip, contributed to the local economies, and pretty much dealt with each other's eccentrities in a calm and pleasant manner - enough so that we are ready to plan another trip. I'll admit to getting a little tense once when I discovered that the gas gauge was down below a quarter tank - we took my van but friend did the driving and I couldn't see the gauge from my seat. On her part, she accepted my flat-out refusal to go anywhere near St. Louis - let alone through it! - which added a few hours to the driving; and she quickly learned to go back to sleep and ignore the crazy lady that was tip-toeing around in the dark pulling on workout gear at 5am to go hit the treadmill - she thought Branson's hills were enough exercise! I'm used to traveling with Hubby - tank filled when it gets to half empty, the understanding that I'm a much more pleasant person if I have coffee, lunch from supplies packed in the vehicle and eaten in roadside or small town parks, quick stops every couple of hours to walk and stretch, and almost never driving after dark unless it's just a few blocks....
I'm a bit hesitant to post this, but Branson was interesting in one way that was a bit surprising to me - the lack of umm... diversity, for lack of a better word, in both the locals and the visitors. I don't know what it's like in high season, but while we were there, the visiting population was 99.9% older white folk; and while I did see a few Hispanic ladies, I saw almost no foreign or black people. There was a great deal of very overt patriotism in all of the shows, which was nice to see.
I slept in a bit yesterday after getting home so late, but my friend called and wanted to walk, so we put in our usual 3 miles. Then I remembered that I hadn't paid grandson's monthly pre-school fees yet - and saw that the bakery had cherry pie on their menu
- so I ran in to town and took care of that. I was pretty draggy the rest of the day, took a nap, etc..., but did rouse myself long enough to walk down to the persimmon grove and pick up a large bowl of persimmons; had to hold myself back from eating too many as I walked back up the road to the house - must have needed the vitamins! I saved all the seeds from the ones I ate (looked like a chipmunk with my cheek full of seeds
) so that I can plant them a bit later; but did open up a few to check the weather signs - every one of them was a spoon, so I reckon I'd best polish up the snow shovel!!
Today, Hubby left early to go to an IDPA match and I will soon be headed to a local festival - there is a hot air balloon launch with a fund raising breakfast that I plan to go to around 7:30 this morning. That will be followed by a parade at 10, kiddie tractor pull, beauty pageant (son-in-law is the MC), older grandson's last soccer game of the season, and a few other activities. Don't know if the grandkids will follow me home or not. No major plans for tomorrow as yet, but there is plenty of garden clean up, a couple of bushels of black walnuts to pick up out of the side yard, and plenty of winter preps to get done around the house and outbuildings. Good thing I have next week off work as well!
The temps cooled down signifcantly since yesterday afternoon - low was supposed to be 44*F last night; but it's currently 39*F! The high is forecast to be 68*F; we'll see if it gets there... Good weather to sit around a fire outside!
Guess I'd better get in gear if I don't want to miss the biscuits and gravy at the balloon launch! You folks all take care out there; stay safe!