Sad Goodbye

Our friend Aya has relocated to Memphis. We miss her but we felt it was the best thing for her. She is a high energy dog living in a low energy home.
We wish you all the best Aya in your new adventure!

And it continues...

Sorry to have left you all hanging, I didn't have an Internet connection for a few days.

Early the next morning Willa and I made our way to the Chain of Rocks Bridge and for some folks who didn't know this is part of old Route 66.

I unloaded the bike, set up the trailer got the water bottles and Willa into the trailer and made my way across the old bridge(which is 1 mile across).

The day was sunny with a slight breeze. We made our first stop after the bridge  at the Rt 66 Rest Area, we took a quick picture and then headed towards  the Arch.

The entire trail was paved. We made a few stops for rest breaks and photo ops.

  After three hours we made it to the Arch.

We took a 30 minute break then made our way, very,  very, very slowly back to the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

I had started this little adventure at 9 am we made it to the Arch about noon and we got back to the car at 4 pm. The cool breeze had left me somewhere between the Arch and the bridge and it had become hot!

For someone who road the bike a couple blocks to the store and back, making the the trip to the Arch was a great  accomplishment!

So after the 25.6 mile round trip we made a run to WalMart for some aspirin, we made it back to the KOA.

We had a good dinner and turned in early. We needed to get up early to head for Hannibal, MO.

Friday, Oct 8:

We headed out  about 9 am headed to Hannibal MO. We took route 79 out and ended up with a detour back to the road I wanted to avoid, Highway 61. I followed it on into Hannibal caught the exit that took me to down town Hannibal and very easily found  Mark Twain's boyhood home.

 We took a quick tour of the outside of the home which took 10 minutes. We then walked down to the water front. We found a statue of Mark Twain and a plack that talked about his time on the river.

Willa put her paws into the mighty Mississippi and then took a few laps of the water.
We walked on down and and took pictures of the Paddle Wheeler called the Mark Twain.

Leaving the water front we then walked back to downtown. We took a moment to take in the architecture of the old buildings and to appreciate the details of the workmanship.

Loading up we headed out and across the bridge into IL and to our destination in

Colchester.

Oct 9:

We made it! Now we are heading out with my friend to do the Spoon River Scenic Drive.
Teresa drove because she knows the roads better than me. Our first stop was at London Mills. There were allot of crafts, food and my favorite, junk! There was also a Civil War encampment.

 I of course had to go to the camp. I chatted it up with a couple of the soldiers and they explained camp life and the artillery. I was allowed to hold a hand gun and then a rifle, with and without a bayonet. I had inquired about the balance of the gun with the bayonet and he let me feel the difference first hand. I gave the rifle back and he then asked if I would like to shoot it off! I was so suprised I wasn't sure he had been speaking to me! YES I wanted to scream, but just gave a quick nod of my head. I watched as he loaded it then handed the gun back to me.

 "Pull the hammer back so that it clicks two times." I heard him say, "Then squeeze the trigger." I pulled the hammer back the required two clicks and gentle squeezed the trigger. The butt of the rifle nudged me in the shoulder, the hammer hit the cap which fired off the wad.(I hope I got that all correct) It was so cool!

But poor Willa, didn't think it was so cool and was ready to hit the road!
In all my excitement I only got one picture!

Civil War encampment

Oct 10

Day two off the Scenic Drive! We are off to Elisville then down to Lewiston. We chatted it up with a blacksmith, listen to some karaoke, had lunch and took some fun pictures of Willa.

Willa at the Old Post Office

Willa in front of a tepee

A view of Elisville, IL

Next stop Lewiston.

 We caught site of a sign on the highway and followed them out to Marigold Farms. There was a little log cabin and a food vendor but what caught our attention were the three teams of draft horses. We soon got to see the big drafts doing what they do best, work. They plowed a field(ok part of it, ok ok one row!) folks were allowed to walk around them and ask questions. Me being a hands on kinda person wanted to get my hands on the reins. However one fellow wanted to work the plow so the demonstrator allowed him to work the plow while he handled the horses. He did a good job for a bit but couldn't keep up with the team. Just shows that farming back then was real hard work!

The team plowing

Throughout the entire two days Willa was a celebrity! Everyone thought she was a great dog or they would say how cute she was and Willa being the kinda dog that doesn't let popularity go to her head took it all in! She loved everyone!!

One tired Corgi!!

Oct 11
We are now in Lacon, IL. We are visiting with my cousin and talking genealogy. In the morning we are planning on going over to Pontiac to a cemetery. All for family heritage. 

On the Road

We left at 6 am on a foggy Arkansas morning. The first stop I made was to top off the tank in Gainsville, MO. Then we were set! Off up Highway 5 to Lebanon, MO.

Here we caught the coolest of all roads, Route 66. I stopped long enough to get pictures of the Munger Moss Hotel and off we went.

We made a side trip into Devil's Elbow(finally, another story) and took picks of the Post Office, the bridge and the BBQ place.

We made a stop in Cuba to get the best doughnuts from Casey's which I shared with Willa!

We stopped outside of St Louis to stretch our legs at the Route 66 State Park. We couldn't drive over the bridge because it was closed. MoDot closed it down because it was unsafe and the park is hoping that they can get enough money to get it repaired by 2012 or it will be destroyed.

We left there and into IL were we are camping for the evening. I have meatloaf cooking in the dutch oven and corn on the cob cooking in the pot. I am getting hungry!!

In the morning we bike across the Chain of Rocks Bridge and go to the arch!

Road Trip Ready

Everything is loaded and ready to go when we roll out in the morning. The road map has been highlighted with the out going route, reservations have been made at the KOA.

The bike that pulls Willa's trailer

I am so excited and more than ready to hit the road! We are going to run Route 66 on the way to St. Louis. We will spend one full day in the city then head up the river to Hannibal, where we will stop and see Mark Twain's boyhood home. I have seen his home in Connecticut so I must see this one too!

After leaving Hannibal I will catch Highway 61 with one stop then off to Quincy. We will cross the Mississippi into IL.

A couple of hours drive time and I will be at my friends house.

The weekend will be filled with flea markets and yard sales as part of the Spoon River Scenic Drive and of course my friend's companionship!

Willa read to go!

House Sitting Continued

We have three more days of house sitting left.

Willa has taken it like it was a vacation, she sleeps in in the morning instead of going to the barn with me. When she is out she manages to find the greenest pile of horse or cow dung and rolls in it! You would think that after three days in a row of having a bath that she would start avoiding the manure, not true!

I think her herding instinct is coming out too! Anything that moves is cause for a chase, no matter what it is, big dogs, horse, birds(vultures), bugs etc.


The other afternoon we were lounging on the deck when I hear Willa give a yelp! After a thorough investigation I can not find the cause, so I go back to my book. A few minutes later she yelps again, and moves over under my chair. That is when I get buzzed! I look around and see a hummingbird. Willa had been laying under their feeders and they had been attacking her to get her away from their food! I truly had to laugh at the fact that these little birds got the best of Willa.


We will be leaving for St Louis, MO on Oct 6. I am getting excited! Camping out for two nights, biking to the Arch, fun!!

Such a lazy pup!

House Sitting - Day 5

There hadn't been anything to exciting to report...until today!

I went out and fed the horses and checked them over for any major scrapes. Everyone was aok!

About 2 pm I am sitting at my computer typing away on a story, when I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I look up and there is a gray horse grazing in the yard. I lean forward and count an additional three more horses chowing down on the yard. I take that back three where eating the lawn while the fourth was busy dumping the bird seed out of the feeders and licking it up!

Don't panic!! So I tell myself as I walk out to see where they had made their escape. All gates are closed and locked except the one in the barn and I was the last one through it! But I know I closed it and locked it, I swear on a stack of bibles!!

Round up time! Let's see if I open the gate that is behind them then walk around and get in front of them they will turn and go straight into the field, right?

 WRONG!!

They headed for the open gate, then at the last moment the made a hard left, running in front of the house across the drive and into an open field. My saving grace is that the entire property is fenced and unless they jump the cattle guard they were not going any where.

Well, by now I knew that I needed help. Willa!! Nope she isn't helping she is on the porch rooting for the horses!!

I jumped into the Artic cat and rounded them up. I pushed them towards the still open gates, but they all split and went back to the little field.

Plan two: open the other set of gates to the field they seem to want to get into! Gates open, driving them forward, two went in two stayed out and went into the other field!!

Sigh, of course the weather isn't helping. The wind is blowing and all four horses are doing half rears, tossing heads and bucking!

I make a quick descion and lock the gate on two of my runaways. Buy the time I get to where the other two are they have come back out of the field and are now grazing peacefully next to the barn. I park the Artic cat and walk slowly to the gate. I just know Baily is going to turn tail and run but I step aside and in she goes with on last squeal and buck. Her partner, Traveler seeing that the gig is up kicks up his heels and gallops into the field. I shut the gate.

 No one was injured during the romp!

I then went back through to make sure that all gates were latched. Closed the gates that needed to be closed open the one that need to be open.

And where is Willa? Happily rolling in a fresh pile of manure!!

Willa Playing with one of the Big Dogs, Zip.

House Sitting - Day 1

This is day one of the House sitting adventure. I brought Willa with me and little Aya stayed home with grandma.

Our first duty was to see the happy travelers off and after a couple of stops in the drive they finally hit the road.

At 7 pm we headed out to the barn to feed the horses. While everyone was happily munching on their grain, I made my visual checks and doctored any wounds that needed any attention.

 I then took some hay out to the pasture and checked the water.
Rosie was the first one done(she's my girl!) and headed out to the hay.

 Birdy is the oldest and it takes her a bit longer than her stablemates. When all were done they headed out to the hay.

Lights and fans off I headed to the house to take care of LD, a Great Pyrenees, and Zip, a Husky mix. Willa got her dinner too!

It sure is beautiful out here!