Captains Log - StarDate 080411

Thursday, Aug 4 was supposed to be a day on the road from Chateau on the Lake, Branson, MO to Paducah, KY.   We knew we could not plan many side trips and still make it to Kentucky in time to see what Paducah had to offer.

As we headed North to Springfield we saw the sign to Wilson's Creek Battlefield.   One of Dave's hobbies is collecting park stamps for his National Park Passport book.  With our ever evolving plan we had not realized we would pass this close.    We were hungry and thought we would stop at Lambert's (home of the throwed rolls....yep they literally throw them to you) before heading to the battlefield.   We pulled into the parking lot and it was jammed full with people spilling out the front.   Dave could not see the point in standing in line to have someone toss you a bisquit.   I had to agree.   We found a wonderful place across the street..Grant's.  We were glad Lamberts was busy because Grant's was awesome.   Dave claims to have had the best chicken sandwich of his life.   We must have gushed appropriately, because the owner gave us a 2 foot long baguette for the road.  Excellent road munching snack!

We followed the GPS to Wilson's Creek and promptly arrived at their locked back gate.   A little winding around and we finally found the main entrance.  I would love it if someone could twitch their nose and fill my brain with all of the Civil War information.   It is so fascinating, but hard to remember who was fighting who when and why.   The National Parks are a wonderful asset to our nation.   We should visit more often.

Mid afternoon and we are 260 miles from Paducah.  Hwy 60 is a beautiful drive across Missouri...until we start seeing signs about the bridge being closed.   First sign said that I57 to Illinois would be closed the next week for repairs.   It was a little confusing when the next sign said the bridge to Kentucky was closed.   A few more miles and another signs confirms the bridge to Cairo, IL is closed ahead.   Nothing to do but head back to I57 and go north to another bridge crossing the Mississippi and the Ohio.   Dave finds a nice shortcut back to the Interstate.   Hwy K.  Well, Hwy K is a little better than a gravel roadl.....more like a pot hole strewn crumbled blacktop....right thru the corn fields....for miles and miles....I wasn't too concerned until we stopped seeing farm houses...only fields for as far as you could see.   AND it's getting dark.  I'm driving and Dave reminds me to slow down.  He said all we have is this car and if you damage it on this road, we will never be able to describe to anyone where we are.    I'm thinking drive fast before it gets really dark and those children start coming out of the corn field to get us.....did you see "Children of the Corn"?  
After zigzagging thru the fields we can see the interstate ahead only to find out Hwy K does not intersect but runs parallel the wrong direction.   I can tell you for sure I had no interest in going back thru the crops, so we backtracked several miles to where we could finally get on the highway.  

Paducah came into sight about 9:00.....I didn't kiss the night clerk at the Marriott Courtyard, but I thought about it.

Captains Log - StarDate 080311

How things change when you travel without a plan.    We checked out of the Crescent without any ghostly encounters (other than the message light thing).

Beautiful flowers from the garden at the Crescent.    For a haunted house, the grounds were beautiful!

We stopped for a short visit at the site of the Eureka Spring Passion Play.   They have a section of the Berlin Wall.   How's that for history??????

 A beautiful statue of Christ........3 stories tall!    We had to take a little hike to get in front of the statue for the picture.....and it was 106....needless to say, we did not linger.


Back on the road and trying to decide where to spend Tuesday night.   We are a little road weary from short overnight stays hauling all that luggage in and out and think it may be time for a little R & R from our cross country excursion.    We find a beautiful resort/spa on Table Top Lake outside of Branson.  

A couple of days of pampering here should rejuvenate us!



We were not planning to be this close to Branson.  Took advantage of the opportunity to see a wonderful show....The Haygoods!   Wow, are they a talented family and put on a great performance.  

www.thehaygoods.com 

It's time to hit the road....Paducah, KY here we come!



Captains Log - StarDate 080111-1

About that Grave Danger thing....well, you know how Dave and I like to Geocache...  (www.geocaching.com) .   After exploring Pea Ridge, we popped up the website to see if there were any quick geocaches we could grab.    It was a little too warm to interest us in walking very far.   Well.... there was a "fun sounding" supposedly easy to find cache not too far out of our way.  

I entered the coordinates into my DeLorme handheld GPS....asked for driving directions to get us close.  It pointed us towards this pasture road.   Since the hint had indicated the "owner" had given permission for this cache to be hidden on his property, we were not too surprised that we were entering private property, but being a little wary none the less.    As we approached a house in the middle of this pasture, we could not tell if it was occupied or not....there were no vehicles but the tall pasture had been mowed about 10 feet around the house.  Dave and I look at each other and decide to get out of the car. 

I switched the GPS to hiking mode....According to it, we are still 120 feet from the hiding location in the direction of the left end of the house.   With no cars visable, we were feeling pretty confident that we were alone.    We began picking our way thru the tall grass, circled the end of the house and two BIG dogs started barking their heads off.   They appeared to be tied up about 50 feet away but were raising a huge ruckus!   Still not feeling that comfortable standing on someone else's property, not knowing where we were really going or if we were even in the right place, we retreated to the car post haste!   Ha! 

I was ready to forget the whole idea.   Dave said he could see a road that ran behind the house.  We got back in the car, drove down the highway a quarter mile, found the entrance to the dirt road and followed the GPS back to the area.    Coming in from that direction, we climbed over the bar ditch and thru a wooded area trying to avoid the poison ivy.  We were still very close to the back of the house and the dogs started barking again.  When we heard one of the dogs hit the end of their chain, we decided the elusive geocache was not worth the medical bills for the potential dog bites.  

The road was narrow so our 3 point turn ended up being a 9 point turn.   On our escape to civilization, we met a car just turning down the gravel road that seemed to be unsure of where they were going.   Dave decides they may also be searching for this same geocache and he should warn them about the dogs.    We pull up and Dave rolls down our window, looks into the eyes of two shirtless bearded guys straight from "Deliverance" and says, "Are you guys Geocaching?"   The toothless driver says "Huh?"   Okay, to be fair...he had 3 teeth.   Time for us to go!

We put the GPS in the glove box where it should probably stay until we recover.   We enjoy the rest of our drive into Eureka Springs.  

With our "Drive About see where the road take us" plan, we did not have hotel reservations in advance.     We remembered our niece, Kerry had an internship at the Crescent.   The hotel that is considered one of the most haunted hotel's in America.   It was once a cancer hospital operated by Dr Baker who was scamming the patients and their families out of large amounts of money.   Luckily they have a room available.    We have a delightful dinner in the Crystal Dining Room which was a 2 hour 5 course meal.  Yummy!   The haunted house tours start just down the hall from our room on the 4th floor.   We skip the tour and go to our room around 9.  Now for the Intrigue!   Our message light is on.   I call the message center, we have no messages and the light goes off.   I wake up this morning and the message light is back on.   I call the automated service, no message for us and the light goes out.   Well, the light is steadily flashing right now.....don't think I'll bother to check.

Time to get rolling and see what America has to offer today!

Captains Log - Stardate 080111

Today was a combination of fun, awe, silliness, grave danger and intrigue!

We found our first Roadside America oddity.....a Popeye statue in front of a cannery.   Popeye was in Springdale just outside of the Bentonville/Rogers area

 The FUN!

The AWE - We spent 3-4 ours at the Pea Ridge Military Park.  Fortunately, our National Parks are still open and not forced to close by the shenanigans going on in Washington, DC.  It is difficult to imagine the battles that took place here.  The Visitor's Center has a great movie about this battle that secured Missouri's status as a Union State.

The Silliness - Second "oddity" of our trip.   This rabbit is in a private yard but they invite you to stop and take pictures.   "Jack" used to adorn the front of a Hillbilly restaurant.   This family rescued him when the restaurant closed.

The Grave Danger....You will have to wait until tomorrow for the rest of the story.    I'm fading fast and my pillow is calling my name.....

Captains Log - StarDate 073111

Today was Dave's actual birthday although the celebration has been going on since last weekend.  I let the little prince sleep in until 10:00am.  Then up and at 'em and off to Seminole.   Bill, Kaylene and Zach treated us to Mexican food for lunch.  

 Bill and Kaylene

Zach....so handsome!

Dave was a great sport and wore the birthday sombrero.  We had a great time and then headed to NW Arkansas to meet Amy.

  



We worked with Amy in Duncan and had not seen her for 9 months....we met at a wonderful seafood restaurant "Crabby's".  Friends are SO special!   She is just as sweet as ever and we were so glad we got to spend time with her.

12 days until blast off!

I wrote this earlier, but failed to hit post so it is out of order.   :-(  

 Dave and I have decided to get in the car and drive cross county......first time either of us have had the opportunity to just go where the wind blows....no hard and fast schedule....no vacation destination to be reached.   What will guide our path???

Goals:
See friends
See family
Geocache  (www.geocaching.com)
Visit National Parks  (www.nps.gov)
Check out tourist "oddities"   (www.roadsideamerica.com)
Stay off the Interstates

Woohoo!   Let's do it!

It has begun!

Dave and I left Granbury, TX Saturday morning for a two week Roadside America tour....heading to Virginia and back with tons of stops in between.   First stop was Ardmore, OK for lunch with my sister Karen.   3 hours at Applebees helped us catch up!     We drove on to Ada and checked into our hotel.  After hauling all of our suitcases into the hotel, we realized what a pain this is going to be.  You need lots of "stuff" for a 2 week cross country tour.  2 suitcases each, lots of electronics (laptops, gps for geocaching, cameras, Xooms, Kindles).   The kind gentlemen at the front desk took one look at our cart and asked, "did you just say ONE night?"    Yep, the Narducci's do not travel light.
After settling in, we went to Rob and Steph's for dinner.   Had a great time with James and Brittany.  Took turns swapping stories making everyone laugh.  
Today we are off to Seminole for lunch with Bill and Kaylene and dinner tonight with our friend Amy in Arkansas.   (Are you starting to see a theme here?....lots of food!)