From the Prairies to the Ozarks

I really miss toonies and loonies.  For my American friends, those are the affectionate names for our 1 and 2 dollar coins.  Two reasons:  I dislike having to carry a huge wad and count out all those singles, and I can never seem to collect enough quarters to do more than 1 load of laundry at a time...aaargh!  Someone needs to talk to the US Treasury Department...soon!  End of my little rant.

On the up side...I have introduced Ted to the candy of my youth...Baby Ruths, Butterfingers, Bit-O-Honey, Tootsie Pops.  His fave is Baby Ruth...so far.  Oh, not to forget Blackjack and Beeman's chewing gum.  Just the scent of Beeman's takes me back to Leona Drive in Redford.  It was Grandma O'Neill's favorite and she always seemed to have a stick or two to share with me.  I love it to this day and it's hard to come by.  Of course there is no such thing as "sugarless"  Blackjack or Beeman's and my teeth really notice it.

It was refreshing to spend our first stay in a State Park last night.  After breakfast we headed south of town to see the site of the log cabin Pa built is Osage territory..."The Little House on the Prairie".  They have built a replica cabin on the site.  Right now Ted is watching a Disney mini-series based on the happenings there.  It remains to be awesome for me to see all these places where real people lived what they thought were ordinary lives without ever knowing what a legacy they left for us.

We visited the museum/gift shop before we left and met the most amazing woman, Liz Moore.  She works at the museum from April through October but she is also a writer and had her first book published this year.  Of course I bought a copy and she autographed it for me and we exchanged email addresses.  Her book is the story of a year in her life when she quit her job, left her condo and packed the trunk of her Honda and headed for parts unknown.  She crossed the US, stopping in random towns, taking jobs along the way to support herself.  It's called "Making it Home, My Life as a Middle-aged Runaway".

We left Kansas about noon and arrived in Branson this eve.  Pulling a trailer through the Ozarks was un-nerving, to say the least.  Along the way we saw an overturned RV with half of one of its sides torn off and emergency vehicles on site.  Needless to say this did nothing for my fears of missing a corner and leaving the highway.  When we arrived I could hardly get out of the truck I was shaking so!

This campground...our 2nd State Park...has wifi so I can sit in comfort without feeling rushed while I write. Tomorrow I will contact my brother who lives just outside of town and visit my sis-in-law who is in hospital here.  It will be GREAT to see them both.  We plan to spend a few days here visiting with my family, taking in some sites and...yes...an Andy Williams concert.

Good night for now.

Mom/Peggy