Vacation!

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted.  Guess we've been having a busy summer!!

And this past week has been the busiest one we will have all summer long, I am sure.  Marty and I went on vacation, and the boys went with Gram and Grandad on their vacation!

Marty and I started out planning a three day vacation to Arkansas, to go fishing on the White River.  That morphed into tacking on a trip to Kentucky at the end of the week because Marty was asked to photograph the NASCAR race there.  That left us with a couple of days in between the two events, which we decided to fill by sightseeing in Missouri!

First off, Arkansas:  HOT.  Steamy.  But what a nice place we stayed---Gaston's Fishing Resort.  Super duper wonderful, peaceful, quiet, and well oriented to non-fussy, non-fancy, first rate fishing. 

That's the dining room.

Saw this racoon through the dining room window.  She came to the back door and was given a loaf of bread by the cook.

We stayed in this cottage.

Had this lovely sitting area in the back, overlooking the water.

Lots of blue herons nesting along the treetops.

Fishing was fun.

We caught mostly rainbow tout, brown trout, cut-throat, and one brook trout.  We released everything back into the water.

We spent a night in Branson and happened to catch a fountain show at the outdoor mall.  It was hot and steamy in Missouri, too.  But I felt like a secret celebrity the whole time because my book is nominated for a state book award in Missouri!  (The Truman Award.)

We moved on to St. Louis the next day.  They have a beautiful baseball stadium, all done up in red.  Most of my pics did not come out, though, so I only have these two:

the view from our room.....

We got out in the evening when it cooled down a little.

A small Lewis and Clark museum in the entrance to the Arch. (The gateway to the West!)

And then, the arch itself.  You travel up it inside these little stony, egg shaped things,  pulled along by a chain.  It's claustrophobic-inducing.  Also, the egg-shaped pod and its rattling ascent feels like ancient Flinstones technology meets Aliens movie prop. 

The view from above!

We had a great time.  We went on to Kentucky the next day and I didn't take any more pictures the rest of the trip. (And actually most of these pics were taken by Marty.)  In Kentucky Marty photographed the NASCAR race and did a great job!

Then it was home to steamy Georgia.

Lots of fun and lots of activity.  Can't wait to hear all about the boy's vacation!