October 7, 2018. Rain, A Movie, Mexican Food and a Rainbow.

October 7, 2018.  Rain, a Movie, Mexican Food and a Rainbow.  Yes, I still have a pulse.  It rained here most of yesterday.  At times, there was a deluge.  There are two boats in the first picture above.  The rain was so heavy at the time, you can barely discern their form.  They were about a quarter of a mile from our deck.

In another picture, you see a man and woman in a bass boat, wearing rain gear.  They disappeared shortly after I took the picture, seeking shelter in an empty slot in the boat dock.  In yet another picture, you can see water rushing off the roof of the dock and splashing into the lake.

Today, we saw “A Star is Born.”  The movie is getting a lot of Oscar hype.  It stars Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.  Both deliver outstanding performances.  Cooper doubled as the movie’s director.  I was surprised by Lady Gaga.  Not only is she a talented vocalist and instrumentalist, she is an excellent actor.  Cooper is not only an excellent actor, he has a distinctive, well-trained singing voice.  I didn’t know that about either of them.  The only negative is the overuse of language many will find objectionable.  That said, it is not my kind of movie.  I am more of a cowboy/comedy/history kind of movie-goer.  

Tonight marks our seventh night here.  We move on to Table Rock Lake on Friday.  I am not sure what else we will find to do here between now and then.  Annie doesn't want to rent a boat and go out on the lake.  I am not sure I do either.  We didn't bring fishing gear or the bicycles.  This area is too hilly for recumbent bikes, anyway.  And, I finished the only book I brought with me.  Here's an idea.  We could go to a bookstore.  That would give us an excuse to get off the island and it would provide me something to read when we return.  Yes.  That's a good idea.  We will do that.  

Goodnight. 

October 5, 2018, Two, Going on Five, Days of Nothing.

October 5, 2018, Two, Going on Five, Days of Nothing.  Yesterday, it rained most of the day, so we stayed in, watched the news in Washington and read.  Neither of us could think of anything we wanted to do today, so we repeated yesterday.  This is a holiday weekend and the parking lot of the condo is full.  So, we may stay in, out of the Lake traffic, over the weekend.  Gee, I am starting to feel old.

I am not complaining, mind you.  These two days have been very relaxing.  That is what a vacation is supposed to be.  But, if I get much more relaxed, check me for a pulse.  

We did take a walk around the Isla Del Sol this evening.  There are three, four story buildings here with plans to add two more.  The lake comes up to the buildings.  The main channel of the lake passes by the island and there is a cove which intersects the main channel from the north.  It is a lovely view.  

We noticed the boat traffic picked up considerably this afternoon.  I expect it to be even busier tomorrow.  One of the pictures above shows you the traffic from our deck.  You may get a lot of those pictures if we can't think of something to take us off the island.  

Sorry that this isn't very imaginative or exciting tonight.  But, then, Annie Farkley has accused me of making up a lot of the stuff which appears here.  It has to be clear to you, gentle reader, that there is nothing made up in this entry.  Maybe I should start earlier with the next one.     

Goodnight.

October 3, 2018 - Two Big Events at the Lake.

October 3, 2018 - Two Big Events at the Lake.  It doesn't get much more exciting than two Big Events on consecutive days at the lake.  There may be people on the Lake on jet skis, pontoon boats and bass boats.  There are probably people hiking the trails at Ha Ha Tonka.  There are likely people swimming in heated pools at condos and hotels all around the lake.  But, not us.  No sireee, we had two Big Events the last two days, both displayed in the pictures above.  We went to Walmart yesterday and to the Outlet Mall today.  Where do you think we spent more money?

Yesterday began with a nice sunrise over the boat docks below our bedroom and deck.  We had lunch at Panera Bread, one of Annie's favorites - not mine, but we make sacrifices in relationships, don't we.  We spent the next hour pushing a progressively heavier shopping cart.  It wasn't too bad until we added the 36 bottles of water and the 16 liters of Diet Pepsi.  Of course, there was no room in the cart except in the front.  A front-loaded shopping cart is hard to steer.  I learned that the hard way by pushing the loaded cart into the end-cap of the pickle aisle.

Today, we drove back to Osage Beach to the Outlet Mall.  We walked nearly two miles and saw seven other shoppers.  Many of the store spaces are vacant.  There were cars in the parking lot, but they had to belong to the sales people in the stores.  There are still a lot of open stores, but no one was shopping.  

That is a common occurrence at brick and mortar sales outlets in this era of Internet shopping.  The store manager at Ralph Lauren's store said they were expecting a large crowd of shoppers this weekend.  She said people will be storing their boats for the winter and it is a holiday weekend.  The lake will be busy.  Good.  We'll stay off the streets.  

And, that is the plan for tomorrow as well.  We will sleep til past the sunrise, then sit on the deck and read.  Sounds good, doesn't it.  

Walmart, $233.00.  Outlet Mall, $0.  Were you right?

Goodnight.  

October 1, 2018. Fall in Southern Missouri.

October 1, 2018.  Fall in Southern Missouri.  When you aren't traveling very far, you don't have to leave early.  This morning we left home about 10:00 AM.  We stopped for lunch in Sedalia.  It was a barbecue place, wouldn't you know.  Kehde's is part MKT railroad diner and part restaurant  The ambiance was different, the food was good and the prices were very reasonable.  We arrived at the Lake condo about 2:00 PM and loafed the rest of the day.

The condo is located on a small island, Isla del Sol.  It may be the best VRBO we've rented.  It has three bedrooms, two of which we don't need.  But it is open and nicely appointed.  The deck overlooks the boat docks.  The best thing is that this is a slow time at the Lake and it is quiet and peaceful.

It has been a while since I've shown you barn pictures, so I started with a picture of our barn.  Actually, we no longer use it as a barn.  The horses are gone, so it is storage for the mower, the ATV and the trailer.  There is some other stuff stored there, but I don't know what it is.  Every year or so, I take out everything, sweep the floor and put everything back in.  Most of the stuff stored there hasn't been moved, except for cleaning, in twenty years.  I should get rid of 90% of it.  But, if I did that, there wouldn't be anything for our children to do when we are gone.  At least, while they are cleaning up my junk, they will be thinking about me.  They won't be good thoughts, but they will be thinking about me

The stately courthouse is in Versailles, MO.  There are a lot of really nice looking courthouses in outstate Missouri.  Many of them are 100-years old or older.  The county commissions have maintained them well over the years.

Tomorrow's Big Event is a trip to the grocery store.  How can that be a Big Event, you ask.  Well, when it is the only thing you have to do, it becomes more important.  Maybe tomorrow night, I will tell you about grocery shopping in southern Missouri.  Brace yourself.

Goodnight.

June 3, 2018. Final Blog From Saint Simons Island.

June 3, 2018.  Final Blog From Saint Simons Island.  This is the final installment from SSI.  Yesterday, we traveled north on the island to visit the Wesley Gardens.  The gardens were established next to a Methodist church constructed to honor the Wesley brothers, John and Charles.  Both preached on SSI in the mid 1730s.  I mentioned to you earlier that John Wesley founded the Methodist movement after returning to England.  The gardens are small, but feature live oaks, ferns and several varieties of hedges and bushes.  Interestingly, there were not a lot of flowers.  There is a columbarium next to the gardens.  It reminded me of the columbarium at Estes Park Center.  This one is fairly new, too.  There were but a few residents, most of whom relocated there in 2015 or thereafter.

We have a pet lizard who hangs out on our patio.  Neither of us knew what kind of lizard he was, so I asked Google.  Google told me that he is a red-throated anole.  They are also known as green anole lizards and they are indigenous to the southeast United States.  The pink bubble under its head is a "dewlap."  It can appear in different colors depending upon the lighting conditions.

The dewlap is inflated to frighten off competitors or potential predators.  It is also used during mating season to attract partners.  Annie now calls my cavalcade of chins a dewlap.  That isn't very nice, is it.

We made one last stop the the Southern Soul Barbecue.  The pulled pork was good, but not as good as it was the first time.  I think the difference is that we sat outside the first time and the smoke in the air transferred to the meat.  This time we were inside and couldn't smell the smoke.  The restaurant is located in an old gas station.  Does that sound familiar?   That's the way hometown Joe's started, too.

We will leave in the morning and hope to avoid the traffic snarl in Atlanta.  The plan is to arrive home sometime Wednesday.  That should be doable.  That will allow for frequent stops to keep the blood moving and the eyelids open.

That's it from here on Saint Simons Island.  Goodnight and goodbye. 

June 1, 2018. Quiz Results and Beach Pictures.

June 1, 2018. Quiz Results and Beach Pictures.  The results of the quiz are in.  The Cobbles and Tourtillotts correctly identified the date of each of the cutouts from pictures appearing in the blog.  The Thurmonds have been traveling, so I have extended the deadline for them.  I am pretty sure that each set of grandchildren will win first place money.  I am not surprised.  They are the smartest and best-looking kids in the universe.  Congratulations to all.

Today's pictures were taken on the East Beach here on Saint Simons Island.  It is hard to get a lot of variety.  Annie won't allow me to publish pictures of bikini-clad beach goers.  She scans the photographs with a magnifying glass to be sure there are none in the background.  I think that violates my First Amendment Rights, don't you.  She says it has nothing to do with my rights.  She says it's about her right not to be associated with a nut job.  I say, yes dear, you are right.

There is a picture of a young woman lying on her belly taking a picture of a potato chip wrapper with the sea in the background.  I was tempted to ask why.  But, I just concluded that maybe she is one of those avant garde photographers.  Maybe she was trying to illustrate the horror of trash on the seashore.  And, maybe she was just trying out the camera feature on her new phone.

We have a couple more days here before starting home on Monday.  I will do one more blog before we leave.  That will be it for this trip.  We don't have plans for a fall trip yet.  Annie keeps saying how pretty home is in the fall.  Who knows, we may just travel within a several-hundred mile radius of the midwest.

Goodnight.