Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tues, Jul 20, 2010: A brief catch-up on the weekend.....

OK....I will be brief about the weekend....and will begin with the end: WE HAD A GREAT TIME!!!! (But, what would you expect.....eh????)

Thursday morning, the 1st Lady and I were both a bit worried about the heat and humidity and Howser.....the sagging hulk of Me after I came right up to the edge of having a heat stroke last Monday!!! Sooo, with some thought, discussion, we came to a decision by 8am that we would NOT take TheHowserHouse rv and just on up and stay 20 minutes from the The Cave Campground....at her mother's home in Monroe City. Soooo, scurried around as we had loaded everything into the RV and many items HAD to go with us: food for the meals at the rally, clothes, lawn chairs, etc., etc.......and, luckily by 10am we had lost 5 pounds each as we made the transfers from the RV to the car.......and then we had to change clothes AGAIN as they were soaked from the sun beating down upon us as we sliced our way through the walls of thick humidity that morning.

We drove straight up to Monroe City, put the cold things into the two fridges that her mom has in her home, made an appetizer for the Happy Hour/appetizer Welcome gathering, and then drove the 20 minutes over to the cg. And........soooo, great to see everyone. We did NOT go to any Cedar Creek RV Owners Club rally last year as we spent the summer working insurance adjusters, roofing contractors, tree cutters, RV repair shop, truck getting painted and all new glass put in, etc., etc ., etc. I look back now and shudder, thinking how did we survive that......and, if we had had the heat and humidity that we have had this summer, we wouldn't have.

Fun Times......yep, that's what they are when our Club members gather for a rally. Of course, not all Club members were there, but we did have members from New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Texas. Hope I didn't overlook anyone and their state from this list. We had several new couples with us......new members who have joined since the 1st Lady and I were there two years ago.

We returned to Monroe City after dark.....and then on Friday, we returned to tour the Cave....the infamous Mark Twain/Tom Sawyer cave. We enjoyed the hour's tour.....not many WOW moments as it is a cave that your follow your guide through the narrow channels of limestone that run beneath the hills close to the MO River........but we had a good guide and it was interesting.

Many of the members went on the Riverboat that makes an hour trip up and down the Mississippi, but since we have done that as an evening cruise with dinner on board, we had decided to not do it again. Sooo, the 1st Lady and I did some shopping and looking on the main street of Hannibal......and, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!! We then went to the restaurant....Fiddlesticks.....where we were to meet the rest of the group.....about 52 or so people...for a buffet dinner there. The 1st Lady and I went a bit early and enjoyed the cocktail lounge where we had a leisurely drink.....a pleasant way to end the afternoon.

Dinner was good.......not outstanding, but just some down home cooking with chicken, beef, mashed potatoes, beans, corn, etc., etc......the usual food for that type of a meal. Leaving the restaurant for the cg, we ran into the 1st Lady's brother and wife, his daughter, and her two children....so we had a short visit with them before they ate.

More fun, more laughter, more chatter, more just being together with friends was the menu of the evening as a VERY small campfire was built....and.....haha, we all scooted our chairs back to get away from the heat!!!!!

Saturday morning........those who wished to do so opened up their Cedar Creek 5th wheels for others to see how they were arranged, modified(if any), and this always gives others ideas about what they can do to improve and enhance their own rigs.

We did lunch downtown with two and a half other couples, then visited Riverview Park, a great little coffee shop down, and Lover's Leap as we returned to the cg. Then it was soon time to have our potluck dinner......which was really, really good as there were many different "pots" of food...including LOTS of baked beans......the dish of choice for many that day....haha.

After dinner, a sock hop was held and music from OUR era of music history was played....and several of us enjoyed dancing to the tunes we have sooooo many memories about. Great fun.....lots of laughs!!!

Sunday morning.....a huge rain front moved through and the 1st Lady and I decided this would be a great time to just enjoy being with her mother.......so we remained there for the entire day.
Monday, we decided to start on back to the sticknbrick......returning last night about 6pm.

As I said......a wonderful WARM...errrr, HOT time we had at the Rally. This morning at the cg and in all of Hannibal, they had a real Missouri gully washer....receiving 7-9 inches of rain in a very short time. The campground flooded and those who were there just barely got their rigs out, pulling them through 1-2 feet of rushing water up to the highway. Hannibal has never had a rain like this in recent history.......and soooo, for those of our friends who were still there, they had quite the experience to talk about!!!! SOOOOO GLAD THEY GOT OUT SAFELY!!!!!

Today......all day I have worked on things for the upcoming reunion....the HowserMusicFest which begins Friday evening at the Lake of the Ozarks. More to do......but, I have great help from some of my former students......many of them band directors themselves.

And soooo......that is the story of the past few days, and.....as always.......

LIFE IS JUST INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

No comments: