Travel Tuesday

Yesterday was a super busy day. We left Carthage, MO at 7:30 a.m. and didn't get to Oklahoma City until 6 p.m. I can't even get in to it all! But let's suffice it to say that we made over 45 stops! By stops I mean, just getting out of the car to take a photo. We did go inside a few places, but for the most part, it's just interesting-- original businesses and attractions as we traveled along Route 66.

Some of the highlights were:

Standing in 3 different states at the same time (Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma). 

Visiting the apartment where Bonnie and Clyde lived in Joplin, MO until they had a shootout right here--killing a lawman. I realize now that I should have edited out the trash can! I'll do that before printing.

Mickey Mantle's childhood home in Commerce, OK.

This one was quite a surprise.

The RAF Memorial in Miami, OK. 

Apparently, the RAF sent boys over for training and these boys were killed in accidents. Since it was Memorial weekend, there were flowers on each grave.

We stopped by the Paul McCartney sign. I had made the "Phlash Phelps" sign before leaving home. Butch has been emailing back and forth with him about the George Harrison billboard in Benton, Illinois (a little town where his sister lived and he visited). Phlash Phelps is Butch's favorite DJ on the 60's channel on Sirius Radio. We are listening to it our entire trip. I told Butch that I might be sick of 60's music by the time we finish and I might not want to ever listen again!! We'll see about that! It's comfort music to me! 

More about Paul McCartney:

He and his girlfriend stopped here while on his own road trip on Route 66 in 2008.

We decided to skip lunch as all our stops took a lot longer than we thought. Plus, we wanted to go to the Cattleman's Steakhouse in Oklahoma City--the oldest steakhouse--over 100 years old. By the time we got to the restaurant at 6:30, I was pretty "hangry!" I wasn't happy that we had to stop and check in at the hotel so Butch could change out of shorts--which turned out to be totally unnecessary as the restaurant was super casual. I was certain that we would have an hour wait at least. Instead, we walked right in and had a fabulous meal! Everything about the place is super old and not necessarily in a good way. But we were there for the food and it was so good. Butch got a steak, I got the cat fish. The homemade salad dressing and croutons were amazing too. 

Tomorrow, we leave OK and head to Amarillo, Texas. There won't be as many stops along this leg.

It's now 9 p.m. and I'm "pooped!"  

Me on Monday

So, we had a fabulous few days! We left Nashville in a rented car on Thursday morning. First stop--Bloomington, Illinois to see the new baby! Our first great-granddaughter. Sorry, I'm not allowed to post pictures. But trust me when I say that  she is the most beautiful baby ever!! Even Butch said, "She is cute as hell!" He has never said a baby was cute--even our own! And he is right. Cassidy is darling! 

We stopped at the broom capital of the world, Arcola, Illinois. That's also where Raggedy Anne and Andy were invented by Johnny Gruelle. It was a cute town with a hippie memorial too! A fun stop. 

After visiting Morgan, Olly and the baby, we headed to St. Louis for a Memorial party with family. We visited Walter and Chris. My brother, Matt had a fish fry at his house--I requested it--he makes the best fish!! Fresh caught, crappie!! So delicious. He and Sharon had quite a spread: Cole slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, and Jennifer brought mostaccioli. Jeanne and Jim, Zachary, Allison, Reese and Nolan came too. It was such a fun evening. The next morning,  I visited my sister, Janice with my sister, Jennifer. Then it was on to Jeanne's for the party. We had about 36 family members there. So much fun!!

The weather wasn't supposed to be good, but luckily for us, it was perfect! 

Jim, Greg, Lauren and Patrick.

Just hangin' out!! Lots of activities!

The kids: from the front, Theo, Annie, Rosie, Nolan, Reese, Nathan, Josie, Evie, Travis.

Rosie gave me a tattoo!

It was Evie's 14th birthday!! 

Nieces, Andrea, Allison, Jackie and my sister, Jennifer.

Madison and me! She's a sweetheart!!

It was such a fun weekend!! We left St. Louis on Sunday morning to start our 3rd leg of Route 66. 

Our first stop was Meramec Caverns! So beautiful. 

We went on to stop in Uranus, MO and finally Carthage where we checked in to the Boots Court Motel--original Route 66 lodging.

Little did we know that when it says, "Radio in every room, it means "No tv!" Still, we made the best of it. We had our gin and tonics in those red chairs out front. Such a beautiful evening. We sat there for about an hour and a half. 

Our first day has been so much fun. Tomorrow we progress through Kansas and on to Oklahoma! 

Scrapbook Saturday

I do a lot of my scrapbooking on my laptop in front of the tv. I design all of the titles for my Cricut and do all the journaling for several layouts. Then, I'll cut all the titles at the same time. I add them to the photos and papers. That way, when I'm ready to sit down and do the page, I don't have to stop and do the title and journaling--it's done and ready to go! I keep preaching this method to my friends, but I don't think anyone is listening. Basically that's how I pre-plan which makes it easier when we go on our retreats. 

Friday Funnies

Ten Things Thursday

Today is all about porches, a pool and sunrooms.

I love everything about this pool setting--the woodsy background, the fence, the fringed umbrellas, the loungers with those cute pillows and fringed---towels? I also like the color of the pool tile and water. Just everything about this looks so inviting.

I always love these porch scenes. But I also know how unrealistic it is. Any outdoor space require a lot of cleaning--a lot--if you want it to look pristine like this! There is always a thick layer of pollen, dust, leaf debris--on a daily basis. It's not like you can clean it once a week and be done. It's every day!! Every day!

All I can say is OMGosh! So beautiful!! That hanging moss means it's somewhere in Mississippi or Louisiana. Which also means, it's hot, hot, hot!

Okay, come on! I do not believe that you can have climbing roses inside. But it sure is pretty.

Another beautiful sunroom. Love the furniture and that ceiling! It looks like it might have been added on to an exterior wall. Love the shiny tile floor too.

Love this pink and green so much!!

All that white!!! Totally love it! That ceiling, all the light and windows (which only look good if they are perfectly clean which is kind of hard to maintain), the view which is also perfectly clean. I'm no convinced that it would look like this ALL the time with a lot of work. 

Can you tell I am tired of working? It's all too much! I have so much to clean out of our house. It's overwhelming, but I swear, I'm going to get on it! I have been getting rid of books since I plan to move all of my scrapbooks to the library. 

Okay, that's enough for today.

What I Buy Wednesday

My granddaughter, Morgan had my first great-grandbaby on May 5th. Sorry, I am not allowed to put pictures of this beautiful baby on social media. Her name is Cassidy Luna (Luna is the tiny village in the Philippines where her other grandma grew up). I immediately ordered flowers to be delivered.

This is the bouquet that was to be delivered. Morgan & Olly live in a small town in Illinois.

         

The flowers were to be delivered on Wednesday. I texted Stephanie to see if they had arrived. They did not. They didn't arrive on Thursday either. On Friday I called. They promised that they'd be delivered that day. But, no, they didn't arrive until Saturday. Steph sent me this picture. 

Considering it was not one bit "girlie" nor what I ordered, I called to complain. Right at that moment--before anyone answered--Steph texted me that these flowers came from someone else!

The flowers didn't arrive on Saturday or Sunday--which was Mother's Day. First thing Monday morning, I contacted the company to cancel my order and get my money back. I told them it was too late. They told me that I would receive a refund in 24-48 hours. Instead, I got it almost immediately. Okay, I was happy with that.

Later in the day on Monday, Morgan texted me that the flowers had arrived. I asked her to take a picture. Here is what they sent:

Although it's sort of pretty, it's still not at all what I ordered! I told Morgan it turned out to be a "win/win" as I got my money back and they delivered some flowers. 

This is the second time that I've ordered flowers and they have not been what I ordered--at all! You can read about the other arrangement here.

I get that maybe they don't have every flower, but it seems to me that--that's the reason they use basic flowers--daisies, roses and carnations. And, there's nothing particularly special about the colors. In fact, if I was ordering mauve colored roses, I would have thought that might not be possible. But regular pink? Come on, baby pink is what you want for a baby!

Travel Tuesday

I'll be traveling this week, so don't have anything new to report. So, instead, I thought I'd share this information for anyone planning to come to Tennessee anytime soon.