Tuesday, July 30, 2013

A RIVER OF PURE WATER

Also in Missouri is the Meramec State Park. It's a beautiful paradise, only marred by the heat of the day we went. This picture below is where it all starts - the river. This is the place where it bubbles up from deep underground.


 
 
The river is used as a fish hatchery and there are tons of fish.
Nearby is the site of  the ruins of the Meramec Iron Works, built in 1829.

 
 
 


We didn't stay here very long, but I got some good pictures.
 
 

 
 
Who's this good looking couple?
The fish are thick in the part of the river behind us. There are feeding machines nearby.


 
 
Is this the house of one of the seven dwarfs ?


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

FANTASTIC CAVERNS!

While driving through Missouri, we kept seeing billboards for caverns. I love 'em. We had a few minutes, so we pulled into the Fantastic caverns. It's a drive-through cavern with expert tourguides.


My camera had run out of batteries, but they allowed me to charge my battery a little while we were waiting for the next tour. I thought that was very nice of them. But, because I only had a limited amount of battery use, I only took a few pictures.



It was first discovered in 1862, and was mined for its saltpeter which was used to make gun powder. It is a live cavern, meaning that there are still droplets of water making the stalactites grow.



During the prohibition era, it was used as a hideaway to make moonshine. There is a river in a deep crevice which has occasionally flooded the whole cavern. That's a lot of water. But, it has unique animal-life such as blind salamanders. The tour guide said that if we lived in the cave with no light, we would eventually go blind as well. Interesting.



Later, it was used as a type of night club where famous country stars performed. The natural stage is still there. These pictures were all taken toward the end of the cave, the stage is near the opening.


All in all, it's a beautiful cavern, and there's an equally beautiful park on the outside for picnicking and walking etc.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

ONE WILD SUMMER!

Bears! Lions, tigers, leopards! What can be more fun than a barrel of monkeys and a couple of grandkids?
I'm keeping the pics of my special cuties to myself, but I got some other interesting pics to share.
Peahen and chicks
When this mama took her babies for a walk, the peacock-daddy followed them around in his full-fan-glory to protect them.



Proud papa

 

What you talkin about?
I just love these little guys!
 
Hey, what's for dinner hun? Anything good at the bottom of the pond?

Burp!


A moving dandelion blossom.


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

JUNE & JULY SPECIAL

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t posted on my blog here since April. Well, it’s not because I’ve been on vacation. The opposite is true.

We put our house up for sale in order to serve a mission for the Mormon Church – and it sold in a day. Of course it took a month to finalize the deal. In the meantime, I was packing and cleaning, separating our things into piles – to keep – to throw away – for a yard sale – to give away. I was doing all this in between my job. Not the easiest of times.

By June 1, we were ready to serve our mission. Unfortunately, we didn’t get our call until this week. If you’re curious, we’re serving in St Louis, Missouri, at the employment resource center, and will start on July 22nd. We thought we would serve for six months, and were called to serve for a year. So, we’ll experience a cold winter this year. YIKES! And a muggy-hot rest of the summer. Double Yikes!!

 For the month of June, and part of July, we’ve been homeless. Not out on the street, but merely without a permanent home. We’ve had six-weeks of travelling around the USA visiting our adult children and a few other relatives in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Idaho.

Part of the time we’ve had Internet, and part of the time we haven’t. Nevertheless, I was able to get my book, Farewell, My Denmark, finished, and it is now available in e-format through Smashwords, Kindle, and Amazon, and is also available as a paperback. YAY!