To Iowa, Alaska and Back to Iowa Again!

Time to head further north!  We left Branson, MO at 11:35 a.m. on Saturday, May 4 and drove as far as Eagleville, MO arriving at 5:30 p.m.  We have stayed here at Eagle Ridge RV Park before and enjoyed this nice, quiet park.  The owners are friendly and fun to visit with.  Left Eagleville the next day, Sunday, May 5 at 9:30 a.m. and pulled into the Doolaard farm at approximately 3:00 p.m.  Always nice to be back with Tony & Jane, etc.!

Spent the next day getting things situated and on Tuesday, May 7 we flew to Anchorage, Alaska to see my parents, etc. Of course, we had to make a stop at Cabela’s on the way up to the cities:)

Had a wonderful visit in Alaska!  Went to Bouncing Bears the next day with the grandsons Jacob & Jonah, great-niece Annika, daughter-in-law Kari, niece Danae and my parents.

 

On Thursday, May 9 we made our annual trek to Eureka Lodge for lunch with Mom & Dad.  Love that 25 cent coffee:)

 We all celebrated Mother’s Day at Kari’s – nice and relaxing. 

The next week we took care of dental appointments, did some shopping, had various lunches with Eric, Kari & the grandsons; Mom, Dad & sister Deb; and with son Vance (he was in town from Kodiak).  One afternoon we went to the Menard Sports Center with Eric, Kari, Jacob & Jonah.  Fun to watch them run and play!

What does she want??

 

On Tuesday, May 21 we returned the rental car and flew from Alaska back to Minneapolis.  We detoured to Wisconsin and stayed the night with friend Deanna in Menomonie WI.  The next morning we toured the college (University of Wisconsin Stout) where she teaches.  It was great to see her again and I even got some nice photographs…

Back to Iowa on Wednesday, May 22 after a stop at the Foster Cheese Haus in Osseo WI and then a visit to see south Texas friends Bill and Sandy in Tomah, WI.  Thanks for the hospitality, you Wisconsiners!!

The rest of the month we just hung around visiting with friends & family and exploring.  Did some shopping with friends, went to the Memorial Day events at the Steamboat Rock Cemetery, and hiked through Pine Lake State Park.

 

 

See the baby?

 

Missouri Adventures

We had stopped here in Springfield, MO at the KOA for the night yesterday so that we could try to find out why we are still having car battery problems when towing.  We were, once again, saddled with a dead car when we arrived at the campground.  Bless Mary's heart: she picked up some jumper cables for us when we discovered that we had left ours in the Cobalt when we traded for the Lincoln back in November!  The local Lincoln dealer here couldn’t find any problems this morning (Thursday, April 25), so we headed out around 11:50 a.m. and arrived at our original destination, Turkey Creek Escapee Park in Branson MO, at 1:00 p.m.  Nice short day!  We got settled in and then headed back up to Springfield for dinner at Steve & Mary’s.  Always good food at their house!!

On Friday, April 26, Steve took the day off and he & Mary came down to Branson.  We had a great time browsing around Dick’s 5&10, touring the fish hatchery and in the evening we headed over to the New Shanghai Theatre for the “Acrobats of China” show.  Pretty impressive acrobats!

Saturday, April 27: We took care of laundry & got the car washed in the morning and then drove up to Steve & Mary’s in the afternoon.  Went for a ride with them along some of Old Route 66 (this portion is now Missouri Hwy. 96), including an old-time Sinclair gas station named “Gary’s Gay Parita”. 

Had a pretty difficult time prying ourselves loose from this elderly gentleman (and his wife), but enjoyed visiting with them and seeing the antique cars etc. in a shed near the gas station.  Then it was back to the house for fajitas & cards.

On Sunday, April 28 we drove to Eureka Springs AR with Steve & Mary.  Beautiful little town!  We just wandered around, in and out of little shops and enjoyed a nice lunch outdoors. 

Don't know what I was doing with the camera, but the guys seem a little concerned about being in the picture...

Wonder if J. Emmett Harding (see photo above) had difficulty getting people to pose for photos without laughing!

Really neat old buildings here!

Time for something new and exciting!  On Monday, April 29, we drove a little way north and stopped at Branson Zipline Canopy Tours.  What fun! 

I somehow ended up being the first one to go and it was more than a little nerve-wracking to step off that edge, but what a blast!!  Didn't get pictures - I was way too busy hanging on!! 

Later we headed back to town and stopped at the Cedar Creek Dulcimer Store (and I got another native American flute…) and then had dinner at Panera Bread.  Fun day!

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 30: time to take care of some odd jobs
around the "house", but enjoyed the “Legends in Concert” at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater with Steve & Mary in the evening.  All of the impersonators (Jerry Lee Lewis, Diana Ross, Brooks & Dunn & Elvis) were pretty good, but I think we all enjoyed the Blues Brothers the most!

Mary came down for the day today, Wednesday May 1, and we had a wonderful 2 mile walk along the Table Rock Lakeshore Trail in the state park.  Sorry to bore you with more flowers, but I just can't resist: some of these were just gorgeous!

 

Steve came after work so we could all go to the Jim Stafford show.  Good show; funny performer!

We were planning to head for Iowa tomorrow so that we would have time to settle in before we head to Alaska to see my parents, but the weather does NOT look good there (Iowa, that is)!  And, guess what?  The forecast for here isn't that great either!  So we extended at Turkey Creek while waiting for snow to go away up north...

Thursday, May 2: Oh, boy - it's spitting snow out there!  In southern Missouri...  In May...

Soooo, we hung out indoors and got our airline tickets for our SE Alaska trip in August – woohoo!  We've waited a long time for this one!

End of the week (only we don't care anymore 'cause we're retired!!): Friday, May 3 and we finished up some reservation details for the FMCA rally and Escapade next month and got ready to travel again…

Missouri Bound

Time to head north.  We left Peach Country RV Park at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 21 and pulled into Wichita Falls RV Park in Wichita Falls, TX a little before 5:00 p.m.  Kind of a long day for us – nearly 300 miles.  

I did have time to take a little late afternoon walk and take some photographs...

Especially enjoyed the geese on the pond.

The little goslings were adorable...

...and usually on a mission!

The adults spent quite a bit of time fighting.  This one was apparently protecting her nest.

 And, don't you just love the dog walking area?  Cutest we've seen anywhere!
 

The next morning, Monday, April 22, we left Wichita Falls at 9:45 am and arrived in Chandler, OK at 2:15 pm.  Time for some family time!  Our niece Kelly and her family live here.  We enjoyed lunch at the Chandler Boomarang Diner with Kelly & the kids the day we arrived and then went to experience Pops with Kelly & Chris the next day – couldn’t resist picking up a variety of root beers – this place has some pretty unusual sodas!  And, darn good malts and hamburgers, too:)

I didn't get many photographs of Kelly and the kids, but did capture this moment with Kelly and Isaac at his archery practice.

On Wednesday, April 24 we left Glen Oaks RV Park in Chandler at 10:00 a.m. and arrived at the Springfield KOA a little after 3:00 p.m.  Time for our Missouri adventures!