Our Little Vacation

My husband and I went on a little vacation this past week. We flew to Kansas City, Missouri. We stayed there over night then drove the next day to Branson.

We stayed there for two nights. While in Branson we ate at Fuddruckers. We hadn't eaten at one in a very long time. It was a great hamburger. While down in the south central portion of Missouri, we drove through some very beautiful country side. We visited Thornfield, Gainesville, Dora, Drury, Vanzant and Ava. About five hours after we left Dora, a tornado roared through.

We experienced a little rain while other parts of MO were experiencing tornadoes. Here is the driveway in front of our motel room. Within a very short period of time it was completely dry and you couldn't even tell there had been a river running down the parking lot.

A water and fire show on the Boardwalk in Branson, played to music

A water wheel on one of the back roads

Some of the beautiful country side we enjoyed

We then went to Springfield. We stayed at the BEST Best Western hotel we have ever stayed at and we have stayed at quite a lot of them over the past 30 years. It was the Best Western Coach House Inn. I would recommend this for anyone who stays in Springfield. The service was awesome (thank you, Davita for the great service you gave us). While we were in Springfield, we visited a battle field, Wilson's Creek. It was the location where the third battle of the Civil War took place.

Ralph next to a civil war cannon 

(he would have liked to take it home, but it wouldn't fit in his suitcase)

A small cabin built over 150 years ago on the grounds of Wilson's Creek

(we didn't know the civil war was fought that far  west). We attended the Baker Creek spring festival. There were people selling all sorts of things, such as homemade soap, (even demonstrating how to make it), plants for the garden, trees for the orchards, there was a blacksmith demonstrating his trade, canned foods for sale, and LOTS and LOTS of heirloom seeds for the garden. There were speakers who spoke on such topics as GMO's and how to avoid them. We picked up a book by Doug Oster called "Tomatoes Garlic Basil". He even signed the book for us. It was a lot of fun. We also visited Seymour, Mansfield (where the Laura Ingles Wilder museum was supposed to be, we never found it), Macomb, Mountain Grove, Hartville, Bucyrus, Raymondville and Licking. While in Springfield, we ate at Chick-fil-A. This is the BEST fast food chicken ANYWHERE! The food is great, the service is better than some non-fast food restaurants. We had very lovely young ladies come to our table asking if we wanted our drinks refilled, cleared our table and even opened the door when we left. We also ate at Buckingham's BBQ. It was finger licking good.

Here is what a plate of food looks like at Buckingham's BBQ

After our time in Springfield, we drove back to Kansas City, not the high point of our vacation, then flew home the next day. After the flights home I was reminded of one of the reason's I really hate flying. We had a LOT of turbulence on both of our flights. I was a nervous wreck and poor Ralph's arm probably has permanent indentations on it. God reminded me when we got home that I didn't need to worry, all I had to do was trust Him. I sure wish I had been listening when He was trying to tell me that while we were experiencing the turbulence.

We really enjoyed ourselves and look forward to returning some time real soon and bringing our girls with us..

Vacation Day 9

Well, this will be the last official full day of our vacation. (tomorrow we fly home). We went to Sea World Orlando today. It was a WONDERFUL time had by all. It is unbelieveable what they can get whales, dolphins, seals, walrus', etc. to do. I will put in a couple of videos so you can get an idea. Here are some photos too.

A saw fish flying over our heads, there was a walk through aquarium
Ralph and I waiting for the Shamu show to start

The girls at Sea World, not sure if they are ready for our vacation to end

Vacation Day 8 part 2

The second half of day eight was spent at Disney World Hollywood Studios. It was very interesting, especially for Ralph who likes all the behind the scenes "stuff". We saw how they did some of the stunts for Indiana Jones, we went to a sound studio, we took a tour of the back lot and saw some of the props and experienced an earthquake and flood, we went on a Star Wars ride, among other things. Here are a few photos of our experience.

The girls and I at the Indiana Jones part

A fire starts here (I think it is hard to see though) in the back lot because of an earthquake (the tram we are on is shaking and feeling like it is going to fall of the tracks)
Here is the flooding caused by the earthquake breaking water mains (Ralph was getting wet, at least he was able to keep the camera dry)

One of the space craft from Star Wars

A miniature of the New York skyline

Vacation Day 8 part 1

We started day eight at the GatorLand park. You read it right, they have an alligator park in Florida. It was, shall we say, VERY interesting. We watched some gator wrestling, feeding frenzies, and people having tarantula's and snakes put in their hands unexpectedly. Here are some photos and a short video clip.

Here we are at the opening to the park

Here is Ralph saving the girls from the "killer" gator

This guy was really keeping an eye on us

A sign by an area with parrots in it

Either a very brave or very stupid bird


A gator wrestler

Grandpa Noa, Grandma Tonita and Alicia on train ride around the park

Ralph, Hannah and I on the train
Ralph wrestling the alligator

Some people from the audience holding a Burmese python (as you can see none of us volunteered)

Some gators trying to get out of the sun, it was a very hot, humid day

Here we are leaving the way we came, back through the mouth of the gator

Vacation Day 7

On day seven we went to the Epcot Center. It was a very good experience, for the most part. We have found a LOT of animal rights/environmental "wacko" stuff at all of the parks so far. We just keep telling the girls that they can't believe everything they hear and that there are a LOT of misinformed people. Anyway we flew to Mars, a lot of fun. We toured France, England, Mexico, Norway, China, Japan, Germany, Morroco, United Kingdom and Canada. We also went on some other attractions. Here are a few photos (we took the least amount of photos here for some reason. Maybe because we were doing SO much!)

The girls and I while still in the parking lot

Ralph and the girls in front of one of the many fountains at the park

The Ladies in front of something called a "telephone booth" in Great Britian

Ralph and I in Morocco

The Ladies in Morocco, "Knock, knock, is anyone home?"

Ralph and I in front of a Viking ship in Norway

Vacation Day 5-6

Well, day 5 was the day of rest, so we went to church with Ralph's father and step mother. It was very interesting. It was a catholic mass in Spanish. It was a very up beat service though. The girls and I enjoyed the music and picked out the words we knew in Spanish. It was a two hour service.

On day 6, we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We went on an African Safari and to a presentation with a lot of different kinds of birds, as well as other activities there. Here are a few photos from that.

Rhino

Giraffe

Elephant

Gorilla

The Ladies with a rhino

Here are the girls and I at the Birds of Flight presentation

Kimono Dragon

A large bat hanging upside down (I didn't know they could get this big!)

The Ladies in front of a tiger painting