8 Days, 8 States, 6 Rivers

Things have been busy with working, preparing for vacation, being on vacation and then home doing laundry so blogging was put on hold Oh and my nails had gotten so long that it made it hard to type. I had tips put on for the first time in years before we left for the trip so they'd look nice for the wedding. I was so happy to get them off this past Sunday. It was like getting 5#'s off each hand and I can type.  Well sorta.
This will be a multiple post to cover the 8 days we we're gone and whatever in between unless you want to sit and read a forever post. I mean this is like my journal and I'm gonna cover 8 days of travel. In those 8 days we drove through, ate in, took potty breaks, stayed in, visited, partied in and/or toured in 8 different states. Of course we travel through Texas which takes forever, we traveled through Oklahoma, we stayed in Missouri for my nephews wedding, we traveled through Illinois, Kentucky, stayed in Tennessee for fun and site seeing, traveled thru Arkansas, stayed in Louisiana for one night of gambling and back to Texas. 
And yes people there really is a city called Muskogee, Oklahoma like in the song "he's an Okie from Muskogee." A co-worker thought that was just made up. I missed the Welcome sign so this was the best I could do.

With all this driving we crossed at least 6 major rivers... the Red River, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Ohio and the Tennessee. Whew. Whirlwind vacation

We left on Thursday the 23rd to go to our nephew's wedding in Missouri but first we had to drop of our Lilley girl at the pet resort which was pretty sad. We've never left her this long before. I might have shed a tear or two as we drove away. There were tears behind those glasses. Then we drove to Bryan to pick up Pamela and the fun begins.

Not so sure our chauffeur thought so. He loves it when I take his picture well sometimes, mmmmaybe not.
Now we could drive straight through but we usually drive as far as Joplin, MO which is about 10 hours with pit stops and that's just about as much sitting and confinement we can all stand. We had dinner at the Texas Road House that first evening that was across the street from the hotel. Now the not so fun part of our hotel stay was that it was also the stop off for multiply soft ball teams in for a tournament in town. Yippee. There was a Mother who was a setting a great example..... She was tossing the ball in the hall to the kids and of course they missed and it hit our door at least once and then someone else's door another. Nice Real nice. Over all the night ended up quiet and restful.
Oh well Saturday was another day and we only had 3 1/2 hours left before we hit my hometown and see the family. This was the first time I'll have been home with out my Dad being there. Seemed kinda weird and sad. Plus I kept expecting Carolyn my step Mom to come into a room but that didn't happen either. It's hard believing they're both gone and weren't there to celebrate the wedding with us.
We weren't far outside Kansas City, MO when I posted on facebook that a peculiar feeling had come over me. I couldn't quite figure it out then I saw the sign. Dang it sorry I wasn't camera ready........ We just passed through................. are you ready for it................Are you sure?.......... Peculiar, MO..... LOL Sorry I couldn't help myself. My nephew Tyler replied to my post with "loser sound Wa Wa". I've been off my game lately and the camera has not been ready or handy and I just can't seem to take descent pictures with my phone.
As we drove down Hwy 36 and we got closer to our final destination I saw a sign. Yep a sign. Mmm only 23 miles to the hotel but wait Can we exit? Can I stop? Do we have time? 
What! Yes! EXIT Now. Missouri Star Quilt Company here I come. I can't believe it I actually got to visit some of the shops. For you non-quilters this quilting company brought life to a once dying rural town of Hamilton, Missouri by Jenny Doan (mother of 7). She started with just one old renovated building and a quilting machine with the help of a son and daughter and the rest is history. Hamilton, Missouri now has visitors from all over the US. She now has like 13 buildings. Hamilton is no longer empty. Other shops are starting to open store fronts because of the traffic the quilt company brings to the town. Thank you David and Pamela for letting me make that stop. MSQC is a big deal to us quilters and Jenny Doan as awesome youtube quilting tutorials. We didn't have much time because we had to get down the road to the hotel, checked in, cleaned up and meet everyone at the rehearsal but I was so excited to see what could in the time I had. I managed to find a few 

items and do a little damage. It was so fun. 

 
Here's a couple items. 
The perfect wine glass for wine and coffee cup for retreats or anytime.

And husbands/non-quilter travel companions have no fear MSQC has a place for you. David thought he would sit in the hot car and try to nap but first off he found J's Burger Dive and got a chocolate shake then before I found out he was told about "Man's Land"  It had AC for one thing, magazines, TV's, recliners, pool tables etc. That's where he ended up. He was just getting comfortable when I called to say we better get to the hotel. MSQC wants to make the quilter is happy and so is the non-quilter.

So we hit the road, got checked into the hotel, cleaned up and headed out to the rehearsal via google maps and Siri's voice guiding us. All we have to do is show up for the dinner but the hard part is finding the church. We're talking farm country and Siri was taking us on a wild goose chase (not our first time) and out into a corn field. Literally. Crap. And of course everyone is busy with the rehearsal or cooking so no one is answer their phone. Well after sitting in the middle of nowhere we took off in another direction but that wasn't right either then my nephew Tyler called. He had found the church. That makes one of us. He got us turned around and we made it before they were even done rehearsing. My little sister was in the church kitchen prepping.  She out did herself. Wow. She had salad, watermelon slices, deviled eggs, football sized baked potatoes, baked beans, and pulled pork with and without BBQ sauce. Then for dessert she had pink iced sugar cookie bars, blondies, a cheesecake with rice crispy treat crust and fruit salsa and what we in Texas call a Texas sheet cake. The girl totally nailed it. Everything was so tasty and she had plenty.
Yeah pictures would have been nice but like I said I'm off my game but I tried to describe as best I could. 
There was only a few more hours left before Zachariah and Bailey Jo tie the knot. Not sure exactly what Bailey Jo did but Zachariah and friends went home to party and then get up to go target shooting I believe that's what they told me. I forgot to ask how that went. LOL
His older brother got up after his night before the wedding party and went fishing. If I remember right he was a feeling a little weak for a while during his wedding. LOL
A few of us went to Washington on the Street a restaurant and bar in Trenton for a night cap and then called it a night. Wow Trenton got a bar. Moving up in this small country town. We had a few hours prior to the wedding Saturday morning and David had some paperwork to do and I went back MSQC to check out a few more shops with Pamela as my sidekick. I knew she'd find something to interest her.
2 days down. More stories to come.
Until the next day....Loving is never a waste of time. Astrid Alauda