Arma............whaaaaa?

See the rock in front of the tire?

Bella; who is blissfully unaware of her surroundings 90% of the time; noticed something out of place as we left for our walk this afternoon. 

Here he is, posing for me and my 2-doors-down neighbor.

This is the middle of Missouri.

WE DON'T HAVE ARMADILLOS HERE!

The neighbor swears she has seen an albino raccoon while walking her dog pre-dawn. Her husband corroborates the sighting. I anxiously await photos.

Rain?!

We finally had rain this weekend.

 A 1 year old's birthday party with 5o guests practically guarantees it, right?

We met Amber, Jeff and Coen in Pilot Grove, Missouri for Jackson Inskeep's party. Jackson is the grandson of my friend Brenda and the happiest baby ever. He's only upset if he's hungry and food isn't arriving fast enough.

Our daughter, son-in-law and grandson followed us home to Pomme de Terre with hopes it would clear up on Sunday. We wanted to get the boat on the water but had no luck. 

It was such a dreary, drippy day the kids went home after lunch.

Finally late in the afternoon the sun came out and 

TAH DAH!!!!

It had been so long since we'd seen a rainbow we were stunned.

We were even more shocked to realize the end of the rainbow was in our cove.

The park was almost empty this weekend. When the storm scared people off see what they missed?

Looking through the rainbow at the trees across the cove you can see what looks like fall color. It's actually the leaves dying far too early. This has been a brutal summer for mid-Missouri, the hottest and driest on record. We are currently 12"-17" short on rainfall, so none of the party goers complained too much about getting wet.

John really loves this place. Insert end-of-rainbow joke here.

John's Birthday

Will you still need me,

Will you still feed me,

When I'm 64?

The Pythian Castle

The Knights of Pythias built this amazing structure in Springfield, Missouri in1913. Fifteen thousand people came to the grand opening, more than Springfield had hotel rooms for. It was designed as a home for orphaned, widowed and elderly members of the fraternal order. Built to house 100 people, it was so over-crowded during the great depression that tents were erected on the lawn.

The home was still in use until 1941, when the US Military acquired the property as a service club for wounded soldiers of WWII. They also housed POWs. Some of the cells are in the basement, and since the one Japanese prisoner had a private cell he painted a mural of his home.

The two Whippets who live here are definitely not watch dogs. They could hardy be bothered.

The theater was used for the Knights' meetings, then U S O shows. Our guide assured us that Bob Hope performed here. The facility is now a popular place for weddings, with a ballroom and dining hall.

The original seats are still in great shape.

This shows what the unimproved part of the home looks like.

 In 1993 the Army decided to sell the property, but the highest offer was only $80,000. Considering how much work would be needed to renovate there was little interest. The house was put up for bid and only one person put one in. A homeless man bid $3,600 and wound up with the property after sweetening the figure to $4000.

The current owners are renovating one room at a time. They offer a wide range of diversions. Besides the wedding venue they have ghost tours, murder mysteries,comedy nights, dinner dances and in our case, a private history tour.

Gulf Shores........... Part Two

Amber has always wanted to take a dolphin tour, so she found and booked the trip on line before we left home. We put on our swim suits so we could parasail afterward and off we went.

That's Brenda and Jake; with Jaclyn , Billy and Jackson in the back. The tank-like thing in front is one of the four glass bottom areas of the boat. I don't have a clue as to why they're there because you certainly don't see any sea life through it.

Jeff, Coen, Amber,and me looking like a whale. I swear I don't weigh 200 lbs. It must be the swimsuit under the cover-up.

On our way to see the dolphins we passed "Party Island". This was taken on a Thursday. Our guide told us that on weekends the shore is filled with boats and other boats anchor 3 deep to the island. The sand is soft with no rocks so even fiberglass boats run ashore.

Farther back in the bay the dolphins show up. Don't expect photos. They're way to fast for that, and they will not pose. The dolphin population of the area was 700 to 900 before the oil spill, but no studies have been made since. The gestation period is a year and the baby stays with mother for 2 years learning the ropes. We did see plenty of dolphins. No babies, but I was assured they're there.

Most of the boats are privately owned, but a few were available for charter fishing.

The company that we were with also has diving and snorkeling tours.

In the same area near Orange Beach, Alabama

 Ono Island, a private and gated community, is filled with fabulous homes. The island is five miles long and can only be accessed by one bridge. Our guide assured us that many famous people had property there, but I only photographed one home. The green house in the background with the boat house on the left belongs to.............Dale Earnhardt Jr.

This little beach bum actually preferred the pool. I'm not sure if it was the waves knocking him around,  the sand, or the seaweed - but the pool was a clear winner.

One afternoon as Brenda and I watched the swimmers from the balcony of our condo, Coen looked up and said "I love you, Grandma!"

And that's why he's getting a car when he's sixteen.

Gulf Shores Alabama...... Part One

The view from our condo in Gulf Shores.

The last week in July I went to Alabama with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. We met my friend Brenda with her two daughters, son-in-law, and two grandsons.

It was a great condo for the 10 of us, right on the beach with a nice pool.

The beach is very nice here, with sand that's almost white. It's sort of "fluffy", very fine and soft.

 Jeff, Amber and Coen.

Ruffians in the pool.

From the left:

Billy, Jaclyn and Jackson, Charly and Jake, Amber and Coen and Jeff.

Both the pool and the gulf were so warm you could wade right in.

 The temperatures were in the low 90's during our stay. That's at least 10 degrees cooler than here in the mid-west where we've had the worst summer any of us can remember. I'd kind of worried about the time of our vacation, thinking it would be too hot to enjoy the trip but boy was I wrong. The weather was wonderfully comfortable to us.

One day we traveled inland to Summerdale, Ala. - the home of Alligator Alley. Not quite 20 miles from the coast but the comfort level plummeted. It was so humid you could hardly breathe.

Another pool full of shifty characters.

That's me holding the little 'gator for my grandson. He was leery but finally touched it. Poked might be a closer description. The alligator was dry as powder and air temperature, not cool and slimy like I expected.

Jake had no fear at all. I think he'd have taken it home.

This shy boy is Captain Crunch, the star of the farm. Check it out www.gatoralleyfarm.com/mythbusters.html

The boys look out for each other.

These things really do hide well, even when you know they're around they're hard to see. I'd recommend a visit, but not in July!

Microburst

Sunday afternoon ten days ago we had a little excitement here.

Our friends had left an hour earlier. At about 3 PM we were watching Dish TV (no local weather there) when the wind suddenly picked up. It was an amazingly rapid change. One moment the wind was calm and the next thing we knew the fifth wheel was rocking. Luckily John reacted quickly enough to put the awning in or I'm sure it would have been torn off.

We weren't as fortunate with our shade tent.

Sitting inside we saw the tent lift off for other parts.

The trailer shown behind us and across the road had a tree fall, blocking their door and breaking a glass top patio table. Their golf cart was narrowly missed.

The trailer on the left in the rear of the photo had its awning attached to 2 upright poles. That's a popular way to brace the awning and make a larger shaded area. The owner and her son ran out and held on to the support ropes, saving the awning.

When I bought the tent last August I didn't think it was really sturdy despite the fact it was "commercial grade". I figured we'd be satisfied if it lasted out the Autumn.

In this picture you can see the frame was actually torn in two. Looking at the flimsy bamboo torch you might notice that the silly little cap on top is still there.

A camp site down the road had a tent that wasn't damaged at all, and another neighbor had to track their patio umbrella down 200 yards away.

The marina just across the cove had serious damage when 3 of the 4 cables anchoring it in place were torn apart.

The whole "storm" lasted just a few minutes and we had no problems with the trailer.

I already have a new shade tent I like way better than the old one. 

The worst issue was the feral cat. Winston was extremely freaked out.

It was emotionally exhausting.

We won't be so lax in the future.