Patriotic Display

One of our trip stops was in Brandon, MO. What a fun place for shopping and musical entertainment. During the morning, we headed for the Historic Downtown area. There were shops, lots of them. The men were really excited about this. The women were really excited about this.

I will admit to almost being on overload with this whole shopping thing. I do enjoy an occasional shopping outing, but have lots of sales resistance.






I will confess to one purchase in the street of Historic Downtown Branson.

My life at been set on hold at 6:00 A.M. the day before. That's when the dreaded moment we all face.... the demise of the watch battery... occurred.

I'd found myself checking my watch a million times, and it was always 6:00 A.M. It's funny what creatures of habit we become. I'd asked my travel mate a million times for the time. Actually, I hadn't asked that many times. I'd really tried not to ask. I had. I didn't want to be an annoyance. I'd paced myself and only asked a few times when I just HAD to know for some unexplained reason. (Okay... I'll bet if you've EVER had a watch battery die on you... you KNOW what I mean!)

There in the street I saw a kiosk of watches! Just my thing! I purchased two. Well.... they were not expensive, and they had a 2 For sale. For only a few dollars more... really just a few.. I could have 2 watches. My sense of economics wouldn't let me pass up such a deal.

Getting around to the title of this little posting, which you probably decided I wasn't going to do, I will now tell about the patriotic display.

In the heart of the downtown area were water displays. One was the fountain area in the second picture, and the other was by the river or canal area. (Oh, my gosh, I'm not sure now if that is river or canal! I'll check later.)

The water by the R or C rises and falls to various tunes being played over the loud speakers. It really is pretty. We were told to hang around a bit as there would be a show shortly.

Soon the water shut off for a bit, then the strains of our National Anthem began to play and the water show began. With our Flag showing in the center, the water shot higher and higher. On cue with 'Bombs bursting in air' the fire stacks starting firing. It really was a wonderful sight.



Everyone stood and put their hands over their hearts as they should. My camera has a swivel LCD screen. (I don't know why all cameras don't have this feature as I LOVE it!) Anyway, I turned the screen up so that I could see that I was pointing towards the display. I just kept my hand over my heart and kept clicking the shutter. 'The bombs bursting in air'... click... 'Gave proof through the night'.... click.... 'That the flag was still there'..... click.

I must say that I LOVED this beautiful display and the show of patriotism on the streets of Historic Downtown Branson. Yea them!!

Pictures Here, Pictures There

The pictures I' d uploaded to Kodak arrived. There were five folders of them. It was a pretty good size package, and I couldn't wait to see how they turned out.

I opened the packages and pulled them out. It was then that it dawned on me.

I've kept my photos organized on my computer. They are in the order they were taken, of course. That helps me identify some of them.
I loaded them in the same way to Kodak... in order.

Oh, come now! I didn't seriously think that they would come back in the order I sent them. That's not going to happen!

The fact is, I didn't think about it at all. I've been working trying to get pictures uploaded to Flickr and writing about those. I've been busy trying to put them into my blog. I've been busy doing a dozen or so other things as well. I'm not sure that I haven't actually sprung my brain.

I pulled all 286 photos out of their folders and just spread them out on the table.

I believe I need to take a short break. I get focused on doing something, and I can't seem to ration it out at a comfortable and steady pace. I seem to go at it like there is no tomorrow. I need to chill... relax... let it go for ten minutes at least.

I've worked on them a little off and on today. At the end of the day, I have piles. Some are really sorted and in order, but most still have to be sequenced. I've had it with pictures. I'm going to put that off for another day.


I really do need to whine occasionally. It does a body good... I think. Addition! Crafting Ida just wrote to me telling me that her photos had numbers on the back, and hoped mine did too. I looked. DAH! There they are! My high tech brain hadn't thought about looking for a run number. Yes, it is indeed in need of fixing!

The Grand Hotel

The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan gives a whole new meaning to the word 'grand'. I couldn't begin to get all the porch area in my photo. It goes on forever and ever. What an entrance to this plush grand place.

The movie 'Somewhere In Time' staring Christopher Reeves was filmed on the Island. We watched it again after visiting and recognized many of the places. Cool! It was certainly a perfect place to film.

The flowers which line the walkway are lovely. There are lots of pansies mixed in, and they do add lovely color to the place.





Let's take a look from on the porch. It does seem to go on and on.

We were scheduled for lunch at the hotel's buffet. Our driver, John, kept telling us how long the buffet was and that we wouldn't believe it. Actually, I think the buffet turned out to be about as long as this porch. Not kidding!

Since we had business in the hotel, we didn't have to pay to go inside. Tourists to the island can go inside for $15. Seriously. I can't imagine the crowd if they didn't have that little fee in place.






Once inside, I just had to act like the tourist I was and snap photos. I knew it would be my one chance. I just had to capture those memories. I don't think I'll be converting my living room to anything like this soon, but I like the colors and the look.









Yep, just looking the other direction. There is Sam, smiling at me. He is happy to sit down for a bit. I don't know what he thinks about this decor.

Check out that carpet! BIG geraniums!












The other day I posted pics of our crossing the Mackinac Bridge. From the edge of the property, I caught sight of the bridge in the distance. I was pleased to get this wider view shot.










Walking uphill from the hotel, I'm thinking that I'm back somewhere in time as well. It is quite a feeling to be in a world where cars do not exist. Actually, I rather liked it. I will say that no one gave me a horse to tend, so that might have a bearing on the whole thing. It was an unrushed place. There certainly were NO noisy cars with music blaring and bass so intense that it made your body pound in rhythm. What you heard was a gentle clip clop of hooves against pavement. Lovely, really.










Of course the hotel had shops. On the lower level was another world of really neat places. I wandered into this shop when I spied a darling teapot sitting on a shelf. It was made of cast iron and really was cute. I do love teapots and it crossed my mind that I should have this one. I considered the prospect of carrying a cast iron teapot around the hotel and into lunch. I also turned it over and viewed the almighty price tag. It was as grand as the hotel. I left it there for some other soul who didn't have as much will power as I'm blessed with.


I did take a ton of pictures in the hotel and around the area. Once again, I will send you off to the entire bunch as I've put them on Flickr. I do hope you enjoy the rest of them there.

The Grand Hotel

Mackinac Island

Mackinac At Last

I took this picture on our second day on the Island. I popped it at the top as realized there are very few pictures with anything but gray skies.

Most of us living in the middle of our country will remember this spring. It has rained and caused all kind of havoc. Before leaving on the trip we had experienced tornadoes all over the country and massive rains. I will admit to reminding God over and over again that we needed safe travel, and good weather would be appreciated. I'm not going to complain as we had a safe and fun journey. We did have to contend with some gray skies, but I'll not complain.

Downtown was a quaint and busy place. Remember that no motorized vehicles are allowed on the island, except emergency vehicles.

Here you see carriages and bicycle. Many use the good old fashioned walking method. Here must be tourist row. There are tons of shops selling shirts and all kinds of clothing with Mackinac Island plainly visible. There are also fudge shops.... everywhere. Fudge is a big product of the island.



Just check out all the bicycles. I know a person or two who might just think this is Heaven. They are great bicycle enthusiasts and would be SO at home here. Bicycle speed limit is 20 mph. Police use radar guns at times and tickets can be given. If too many tickets are acquired by a happy speeding cyclist, they can forfeit their drivers license on the mainland. Really.







I just had to shoot the carriages going down the street. It was strange to see delivery wagons and trash being picked up... all the things we have cars and trucks for... all being done with either bicycles or horse drawn wagons.

It is rather like being dropped off in another time.





Walking from the town area back toward our hotel. Sky color... well, it isn't raining. I kept telling myself that. The birds were happy and there were lots of gulls around.

I'd lined up a wonderful close shot of gulls sitting on a ledge. I'd been so quiet and was ready to shoot when a probably 10 year old boy came by on his bicycle and shooed them away. Grrrr!





Our hotel, The Island House is the large white building at far right.












Ohhh.... here comes another taxi.













A closer view of The Island House. My room was on the first floor on the left. It wasn't in one of the round rooms. When I was in my room, I could hear the horses clip clopping by on the street. I closed my eyes and imagined that I was living long before the time of automobiles. I realized that I was hearing the street sounds of long ago.






It was the 2008 Mackinac Island Lilac Festival. We saw many many beautiful lilac bushes and trees... yes, trees.











During a stop to change from a two to a three horse carriage, we waited in a building complete with... you guessed it... shops.... and a few displays. I asked someone later about this hearse and the last time it was used. I was told that it had been used the week before. This isn't just an antique on display. It's what is used on the island.

What was I thinking?... I keep forgetting about the no motorized vehicle law.



A look from inside our three horse carriage. Drivers kept making jokes about the front seats being the greatest odor zones. Now.... let's think about that a moment. Hummmm.... Fortunately, I don't think I saw any elimination problems during the trip. Worked for me.








This three horse drawn cart is lovingly referred to on the island as the 747. Ha!

These horses are large!!! They aren't Clysdales, but they are still huge animals. We were traveling some hills, and they needed to be strong to get us there.

I was impressed with all the care given the animals. They are valued and well cared for.

I'm providing a link to my Flickr pictures of Mackinac Island. Later I'm going to post pictures of The Grand Hotel. It is some swanky place!!!

Head off to see more of my Flickr pictures of Mackinac Island. I hope you enjoy them!

You may be thinking that you would like a trip to the island. It is great fun!
If you are intrigued and have an irresistible urge to see more... or you might be ready to plan your trip here... just pop on off to the following and check it out: An Official Site

Afternoon Entertainment or Men At Work

Friend Grace called and told me to get over to her house and see what was going on at the neighbor's house. Actually, I'd asked her to call as knew there was going to be a little something going on there. Remember, we are easily entertained.

I arrived just as the truck was backing into the driveway with the neighbor's new storage. I took 35 pictures, but just can't load them on here at the moment. Believe me, I have a play by play in pictures. You see the sign! WIDE LOAD! I held my breath as it just cleared the area, and I was thankful it wasn't my responsibility... or my storage. I was glad I could just sit and not have to chew my nails. I don't chew my nails, but I might have started if this were my unit, or my house. I was only a tad nervous. I just kept taking pictures and put nervousness out of my mind.


An angle and tight quarters kept them from being able to drive right up on the slab. They had to work with those wheels, but 'Where there is a will, there is a way.'










Okay, we have to do something about this level thing, so let's put some concrete under this side before we take this off the trailer.














Now the building can be removed from the trailer. Easy.... easy....













Good grief, man.... I hope you ate your spinach!













Now for the reinforcements. Bring that tractor on in here and lets see what you can do! You gotta get er done.












With a few directions, we can get this building up high enough on one side and pushed onto the slab. Lift gently... up... up. Now push... easy.. easy.. Way to go!











Okay, now push that building on back a little further. Easy... easy... Way to go!













Well, that was easy. Or not! Actually, it didn't look too hard. Of course, I was sitting at Grace's house snapping the pictures. I don't think I had the hard part to do. I just loved seeing them do it.










Look at all this storage room.. it even has a 'loft' or something. Cool! There are big plans for all the things that can go into this new place. Ah, the man's place. I mentioned to him that he had quite a dog house. He laughed.

It was getting pretty hot, and I was ready to head home and get back in my air conditioned house. I noticed that he didn't have any electricity in this yet, but I'm sure he is going to take care of that soon. He has a new toy, and I imagine he will spend some time getting it all fixed up.


MORE Vacation Pictures Tomorrow!!!

Locking Through

This day our wonderful bus tour took us across the Mackinac Bridge.

I loved this bridge. It is around five miles across the water. It links the communities of Mackinaw City and St. Ignance. Want a little bridge information? Click Here









This day we would cruise the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. We experienced 'locking through' from Lake Huron to Lake Superior. I knew about locks and how they work, but it is a great experience to actually do it. Of course, I learned a few things.


Here we are approaching the lock which would raise us from Lake Huron to Lake Superior.




After the water level is raised, we are released into the higher Lake Superior.


Okay folks... I've spent a ton of time on Flickr trying to put all my lock pictures into a show with captions. It took a ton of time. I want you to head on over there now and check it out. You can view it as a slide show if you like. Step by step going through the locks. There is also some great pics as we go past a large steel manufacturing plant in Canada.

Okay... go on... head on over: Locking Through

Our Holland Stop

Our first major stop in Michigan was the lovely Dutch town of Holland.... sound Dutch? We spent part of our day exploring Dutch Village. All the things you'd expect to see in the Netherlands are in Dutch Village... or at least I thought they were. I was in the Netherlands years ago, and I enjoyed this as well.

This picture is the entrance to the village. It is quaint, but you have no idea of the real charm until you enter.




This street organ is huge!Look at the pipes exposed in the openings! I included a picture of the sign beside it as it gives great information. I sometimes fancy that if items could talk, they would have a lot to say. This authentic organ was used at fairs and on market days. It was too large to be pulled through the streets. They do have a smaller street organ which was pulled through the streets and looks like this one.





Do take time to read the sign and be impressed!


























Several times during the day, you can be treated to dancers demonstrating typical Dutch dances. Of course... the street organ is playing like mad.

Audience involvement... certainly. There is that moment after the dancing that the audience is asked to join in... you know... volunteer. I did. Several of our group joined in and we had a good time. We were rewarded with Honorary Dutch Dancing stickers. A prize!


I'm going to share a link to my Flickr pictures of Holland. Do take time to check them out and you can view them as a slideshow. Just click and you will be off to more pictures: My Holland Flickr pics

I hope you enjoy them. Also, you might like to learn more at the Dutch Village Web site.

Oreo Cookie Cows

We made a short rest stop in Cadillac, MI. One of our tour members had a friend who lives in the area, and they met up for a brief visit. The friend suggested a scenic way out of town, and we were treated to driving past some beautiful dairy and farm land.

We noticed some cows in the pasture that look a lot like Oreo cookies. Well... Oreo cookies are great with milk, and these are milk cows.

It was nice to have a dairy man and farmer aboard our tour bus. You get more information that way. It turns out that these Oreo cows are Belted Galloways, an English breed that is rather scarce around here. I don't think I've ever seen any before. They are rather cute, wouldn't you say?

Small Town Girl

I'm a small town girl... whatever that means. I can drive across our town in five minutes, if I don't hurry. It's wonderful!

On our trip, we passed through Chicago. I was so tickled to be on the bus and not one of those cars. I was so thankful that I don't have to deal with this traffic on a daily basis. I was EXTREMELY glad that I didn't have to deal with it as we drove down the street. Our very capable driver doesn't mind, and I was happy to be letting him handle all this mess. It doesn't bother him. It bothers me.


I will say that it was fun to see the sights of Chicago. We had a great step-on guide, 'Big Julie', who took us on Chicago's Original Gangster Tour.. the Untouchable Tour. We heard historically accurate accounts of the exploits of Capone, Moran, Dillinger, and the rest of the boys.

I know these weren't nice people as we view 'nice.' It was amazing to listen to their stories and wonder how they managed to continue at what they did for so long. There certainly were lots of enemies made and scores settled. It was interesting to hear their stories and connections. Hey, it is part of Chicago's history.

Like I said earlier, I'm a small town girl. I really don't think I'd like gangsters, and I know I don't like traffic. It is just too much of both.

I've often thought about the phrase 'Bloom Where You're Planted', and I think I like my small town just fine. I'll be happy to bloom here.

Uploading Vacation Photos

Yesterday in the early evening, I decided that I didn't want to print all those vacation pictures myself. Neither did I want to drive to Nearby City to leave them to be printed. The alternative was to upload them from my computer. I thought that was a rather bright idea. I've done it before, but not so many at once.

Feeling rather pleased with myself, I opened a folder and selected all the pictures that I simply must have in the album I'll be making soon. It took awhile, but I finally had a nice 'To Order' folder and was ready to connect and get the process going. So, I clicked 'order prints' in my iPhoto program.

I love how they just send me off to Kodak and we are in business. All the pictures I'd selected appeared and I was ready to check the sizes and amounts of each. I realized then that I'd selected 268 pictures. I was relieved that I'd not be printing all those pictures myself.

I then double checked what I was ordering and clicked 'buy'. I was finished with my part.

It was then it dawned on me.... Clearly, I knew this was bound to happen, but I'd forgotten. I took a look at the size of the file I was sending and realized that I'd be uploading for a good long time. Yes, I have DSL. That didn't mean uploading 268 pictures wasn't going to be time consuming.

I'm not the kind that could just head to bed and sleep well while the computer carried on uploading. I had to be there. I finally crawled into bed, leaving on the light by the computer . I'd wake up once in awhile and head for the computer to see if the pictures were all gone. Finally, at a little after one o'clock in the wee hours, I saw the last of the pictures being loaded and the 'finished' sign appear. I felt rather finished as well.

I spent some of today getting those photos loaded to Flickr and will be putting them on my blog when I finish. Trust me, I'm not loading them all at once. I do try to learn from past error. I'm sorry that I didn't get to posting until almost tomorrow, but I've been busy. All this photo stuff takes time.... sometimes more time than one would think.

Too Much Water

Water Water Everywhere!

Surprise! It is raining again. I was sleeping soundly when the phone rang before five o'clock this morning with the great news that a severe thunderstorm was headed my way. I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of Weather Call.


I decided to share these two pictures that I took on our trip to Michigan. The night before we arrived in Holland, Michigan, they had one of those nasty nasty way too much water storms. If you click on and view the top picture in larger form, you can see a car's roof in the water. I'm sure that it ruined someone's day.

Here is another sight no one wants to see. It's not a good place to exit at the moment. We were fine on our part of the road, but I don't think heading off to the left would have been a good thing.

At this point, we were definitely wondering what we would find when we arrived in town. Thankfully, things were much better in the city.

I had really been a tad concerned about the weather, but we were blessed to have very few occasions when it was a problem. Several times I turned on the TV at night and saw all the severe weather going on around us, but we were fine.... thankfully.

Great Flower Pic

Is this not BEAUTIFUL!! I just had to put it on my blog and share. I took it in front of The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. I was thrilled that it looks so luscious.

I'm busy trying to organize all those vacation pictures. It's a job. I just had to quit a moment and add this one for you to see.

I'm Back

I'm pleased to say that I have arrived safely back home after a wonderful ten day bus trip to some wonderful places in Michigan. I loaded my pictures into my computer last night and have lots of good ones to share with you soon. I'm sure I'll be spending some time organizing today.

Of course, there is a pile of clothes waiting for me to do the laundry today. It is nice to unpack the suitcase and know that I don't have to use it for awhile. I didn't even have to set my packed clothing outside my door to be picked up this morning. I'm happy to be doing things at my own pace today, so am just sipping some coffee and typing a bit to tell you I'm back.

I knew I shouldn't do it, but I stepped on the scales. There has been much food in my life these past ten days, and the scale is showing it up nicely now. Naturally, I'm going to have to hit the old diet trail with a vengeance. I do not know why happy eating must equal fat. It seems to be how it works, so will just have to deal with it.

Please come back tomorrow as hope to have a good start on my writings by then. I'm really looking forward to sharing some of the neat places we've been this month.

Be Back Soon

I'm having to take a small break from my posting. I WILL be back, and hope you will too. I promise you lots of pictures and worthwhile items when I return. Expect me back around June 18th.

I Need Products Too

That Bed Head isn't working right!

This is the way I felt in the morning when trying once again to create a new 'do' with all those products that I bought. I'm not getting the hang of this upscale city look. It just isn't working yet.

Actually, this is one of those photo attachments that is going around the Internet. I have no idea where this poor little critter originated, and I certainly make no claims to this being anyone I know. I just had to laugh when I saw it. Yes, I saw something familiar in the little fellow's eyes. I'm not a hundred percent sure what it is yet, but I'm getting there.