Travel Tuesday

Okay, I'm going to share some pictures from my trip last week.

1. First stop, Springfield, MO.

Chrissy, my cousin and the purpose of the trip-- me and Janet.

2. Second stop, Rolla, MO.

Their replica of a part of Stonehenge was a bit disappointing. Considering I've been to the real place in England, this is pretty lame. I did not like the manufactured concrete blocks--nothing like the real thing. We had planned to visit the vacuum museum, but it has permanently closed. 

3. Third stop, Salem, MO.

Jennifer and Parvez's farm in beautiful. This view is from Janice's cabin porch.

Janice and Matt.

From left--clockwise: me, Jennifer, Matt, Sharon and Janice.

Janice, Sharon and me.

4. Fourth stop, Defiance, MO.

Jeanne and Jim's house. We spent a lot of time sitting here gabbing. I only got one picture of us, but it wasn't good, so the garden will have to do.

5. Fifth stop was Lake St. Louis, MO.

We went to Matt and Sharon's for dinner and a poker game. We sat on the porch and talked before dinner. Matt got this hand during our poker game--6 of us were playing and it was "5 card draw with jacks or better to open." Quite a feat to get 4 of a kind with that many playing. Oh, and did I mention that I won $21.70?? That's always fun!

6. Sixth stop (after a brief stop at Matt's since we rode together) was Cottleville, MO.

Matt and I were going to our high school reunions--55th for me, 46th for him.

A couple of my really good friends--Chris (what we called her in grade school, but known as "Fig" in highschool) and Jane. More about her a little further down.

I got this picture early on. This is Paul from the neighborhood. Even though he was in my class all through grade school at St. Aloysius and then high school, he was Ronnie's friend. This was the first picture I got.

After the few pictures here, I didn't get many more--too busy talking!

Pam and I were not really close friends, but it turns out we have BOOKS in common. She was a librarian for her whole career. We talked about our favorites and had a fun conversation.

I'm so glad we had name tags. Many of the girls I knew right away, but there were also several I didn't recognize--and a few that I didn't even recognize their names. This is Marilyn. I don't think I knew her well, but she came up to me very enthusiastically, so we had a nice convo. We were not in any classes together.

And now for these girls! On my left is Ellen and my right is Karen.

They are the sisters of Jane above in the pink striped shirt. Jane, my BFF, Reenie and I were really close friends. Here's the story:

On our very first day of school, Freshman year, I approached Jane and asked, "Hey, didn't you play softball for St. Jerome?" She did and we hit it off. I found out many years later--like my 45th reunion--that Jane did not want to go to Rosary. She didn't know anybody and her friends were going to the public school. When I approached her the first day, she said that I invited her to sit with my gang at lunch and she was "in" from then on. I had no idea, but we were really close friends. Reenie and I used to ride our bikes to her house about 2 miles away. The girls above where her younger sisters--5 & 6 at the time. We were 14/15. 

So, at our last reunion, Jane told me that her sisters used to pretend that they were "Reenie and Barb" all the time. She told me that they couldn't wait to see me again. They sought me out and we had so much fun. They were crazy excited and treated me like some sort of celebrity. Karen, said I was her "rebel" hero. Not sure what she really meant except that our school was the Rosary Rebels. Turns out, she was in my brother Matt's class. So now, we were on the hunt to find Matt. She wanted to know if he was still cute and I told her that he is! Go back to the top and see if you don't agree!

My reunion was great fun--we stayed the entire time and another half hour after it was over--4.5 hours! It was soooo hot! Full sun. I was standing on concrete for 2 hours--even though Matt brought us chairs. No one else was sitting, so I didn't either. After the 2 hours, my back was hurting--and I don't even have back problems! I convinced some people to sit down. 

I loved seeing so many old friends. Plus talking to some who I barely knew at all. It wasn't a single bit awkward. Just the situation made it all familiar. 

I have to admit, I was glad to get home on Sunday. I had so much to do to get ready for my scrapbook retreat tomorrow!!!