Up, Up, and Away!!!!!

Working in my adopted flowerbed at the Dewey Short

The trolley heading out

some of the fragrant sumac in my flowerbed -- wildlife love this stuff

bugs ate nearly all the leaves off this one, but the berries still came out

7-2-13:  July already?!! Doesn't seem like it because it's not 300 degrees like last summer!  I took advantage of the manageable temps and worked in my adopted flowerbed this afternoon.  Mine is supposed to consist of fragrant sumac only.  So I remove anything else that pops up. Doesn't usually take too long, but today I was engrossed in watching a Scissortail family!  Nature is so fascinating.  David and Rocky came along and got some great pix!

spent most of my gardening time watching this Scissortail Flycatcher family -- the baby hollered for mom and dad constantly.  They spent their time chasing crows away from their baby!

One of the parents happened to fly in as David was snapping a shot of the baby

Whatcha got for me, huh, huh?

David walked up on this Killdeer -- looks dreadful

he was rolling around on the ground and possibly playing dead

He hopped back up when he saw David approaching.  It's all good.

nuthatch near the camper

Bluebird at the Dewey

Cattails in one of the Dewey's bioswales

the Cardinal Flowers are popping out

So nice! And so different from last year

7-3-13:  Very cool temps!  Breaking records from the late 60's in this part of the country.  50ish degrees early this morning.  I can live with this!

On Gala's birthday, a few of us got together at Hook and Ladder for pizza

Today is Gala's birthday!  She and Allan have been at Mt Magazine all weekend, but we got to see her for a bit this evening. :)

Interesting vessel on Table Rock just before the fireworks

fireworks from the Chateau

purdy

David and I always think the lights from the hundreds of boats in the water are as pretty as the fireworks.  Just happy we're not out there with them when the fireworks are over!

boom

boom, boom

finale

check out the traffic on the dam afterwards

7-4-13:  David, Barry, Lynn, and I watched the Chateau's fireworks from the Dewey Short tonight.  Pretty, but we got a glimpse of another show in the direction of the strip that way outdid the Chateau's!

tiny, baby armadillo today

7-5-13:  A visitor brought in a baby armadillo today that he'd found in his yard.  I'm learning enough about nature to know that he probably should've left the little guy alone and let nature take its course.  But, we directed him to the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery.  It's part of the MDC, so they will know how to handle it.

had to make a stop at Andy's in Springfield

Y.U.M.

the invasive Knapweed is all over the highways and pastures now

tons of wild blackberries (or dewberries) on the hill behind the driving range

David working on that swing

7-6-13:  Did a little shopping in Springfield today and stopped in at Andy's.  Made us think of our friend Joshua who worked with us last year and also worked at Andy's in Branson.  Love their peanut butter concretes!  Came back on the backroads and stopped at Valley View Golf Range so David could hit a few.  I explored the Knapweed and the thousands of blackberries growing out there.  The hill was too steep for me to get to the them.  Enjoyed talking with the owner who is a retired cop from Little Rock.

Sherryl and me ready to fly!

7-9-13:  My friend Sherryl and I had talked about wanting to try parasailing.  We get to watch others doing it every day from the VC.  The owner of American Parasail walked into the center one day while she was working and she asked if we would get a discount since we send people his way.  He said we could do it for FREE.  ($79 value) Sooooo, no excuses now!  Today is the day!  What a blast.  

I'm making the mistake of asking Cap'n Sam how high we go -- Sherryl said she did not need to know that

getting buckled up

no backing out now

weeee, wee, wee, wee, weeeee!!!

so quiet up there

we supposedly got up to around 200 ft, give or take

Gala got this shot of us from the back of the COE offices

seems like we are coming in a little far back from boat

Just giving us a surprise dunk in the water

heading back up again

took me awhile to loosen up, but once I did it was a great ride

Helloooo, down there!

So much fun!

Is it already over?

one more dip

Splashdown!

up again

and reeling us in

such acrobats

Awesome!!

Cap'n Sam, me, Sherryl, and deckhand, Shannan

We did it!  Not too bad for a couple of grammies!

Sooo happy we did this.  I'd definitely do it again.  I did have to kinda analyze everything when I first got up in the air.  But once I relaxed and quit hanging on so tightly it was great.  Super quiet up there.  Couldn't hear boats, etc.  We could have a normal conversation.  We could holla at boat riders.  Enjoyed flying over them and having them ask us all about it. The duck riders snapped a lot of pix as we went over them.  Cool day.

Love reading about this man

Mary was bought around the age of 13

the only pic of the cabin GW Carver was born in, is a drawing he did in later years

He even knitted!! And, being a conservationist at heart, he only knitted with leftover materials

replica of one of his old classrooms

this was at every seat

wish rules were so simple now

replica of a lab in which he taught

this is about the size of the cabin in which he, his mother, and brother lived on the Carver property

Ranger Doug telling us some stories

Carver with his thoughtful expression

pond on the property

This spring fed creek is called Carver Branch

Ebony Jewel Wing dragonflies were all over

they have a fluorescent green body

the ceiling was as cool as the floor in Moses Carver's homestead

a look at the Carver prairie through the kitchen window

this is the Carver home

Moses, Susan, and many of the Carver's were buried right on the property

some folks weren't fortunate enough to have head and footstones, only rocks with no names

Compass flowers

they actually turn throughout the day to follow the sun

probably some sort of milkweed

7-10-13:  David and I took a daytrip over to the George Washington Carver Nat'l Site today. Such a fascinating man that I really wish I'd known.  He overcame more than most of us can even imagine having lived through and contributed much to society.  He truly made it a better place for us all to live.  He taught 47 yrs. at Tuskegee after teaching at Iowa State for a bit. In all those 47 years he made $1500 per year, refusing all offered raises.  He wanted them to spend their money on the school and not him.

the oldest federal fish hatchery in the US

Hey, David!

proximity to the stream and the railroad were the 2 leading reasons the hatchery was located here

the Hearell Branch stream

one of the several hatchery ponds 

transporting fish from the pond to the runway -- possibly due to heat or they just needed the space in the pond

like the Dewey Short, the Neosho Fish Hatchery Visitor Center is Leed certified

They raise trout and the endangered Pallid Sturgeon (among a few other fish) here

They get these sturgeon from the Missouri River

they hang on to the brood fish for a  year or so, then release them back into the river

the small fish is simply trout dinner for the sturgeon

Bruce gave us a guided tour through the sturgeon hatchery and the trout hatchery

this baby sturgeon, about the size of a large tadpole, is about 2 mths old

teenagers

trout being raised -- they are about a month per inch in age

Bruce showed us where they keep the eggs until a certain point

After our tour and visit of the GW Carver site, we drove over to Neosho.  (Which, btw, GW Carver moved to when he was 12 or 13 -- no birth cert -- to attend a school for black children). Visited the National Fish Hatchery and learned a lot about the endangered sturgeon and the raising of trout.  Their trout eggs come from Montana.  When they reach a certain age and size at Neosho, they deliver them to Lake Taneycomo and stock there.

after a long day alone, Rocky was treated to a swim when we ret'd home

Wonderful day full of education and history.  A tad anti-climatic after parasailing, but a great day!!
On the way back, we drove around Marionville, MO in hopes of seeing some of their infamous white squirrels.  But to no avail. Probably, because it was in the heat of the afternoon.  Maybe we'll try again in the fall.

7-11-13:   Went to see Lone Ranger this afternoon with David.  Great movie.  Funny!  Johnny Depp was awesome.  A must-see.

7-12-13:  David and I decided we aren't movied out yet, so we went to see World War Z.  We now know what to do about zombies.  Not a must-see.

Morgan at Campfire Story night at the Dewey

nice crowd

from the 2nd floor deck

the campfire is getting ready for roasting marshmallows

kids and adults alike enjoyed the s'mores!

7-13-13:  Ended our day today with Morgan's campfire stories and s'mores at the Dewey.  Fun idea and perfect temps for it.  Rocky got to enjoy a few minutes of it, too!

Thoroughly loved the first half of July!!  I know it's going to start getting warmer, but still no comparison to last year.

Hoping to hear from you all and looking forward to seeing some more of our family and friends this summer!

Love to all,

Moses, Susan, and Diamond