Apricity West 3

September 2022

 

Can’t believe my daughter, Shannon💕, turned 50 this month. (2nd in from the right). We had a wonderful dinner at Xicohtencatl (Chico’s to us) Mexican Restaurant. It was so nice to have the family together before we get on the road. 

Cake a la Kristie Driscoll

 

My grandson, Jacob (13), was injured in football practice the night of the Lee Founders Day. He was so excited to go to the high school football game and then visit the Taste of Lee festivities downtown, but first went to Urgent Care to find that he had a hyper-extended wrist on the same arm as was broken twice last year! He has a great attitude when these things happen and will continue to go to football practice… The X-rays showed a styloid and distal radius fracture - needs a cast and 6 weeks to heal. Dang!

Dinner at Firefly with Debbie, Monica, Rich and Davo was delicious and delightful. Wanda Houston, a popular local entertainer, was there that night.

Brian Z. joined us and we went for a cocktail next-door at Brava’s. Deb and I split an expresso martini! 

Another 80th Birthday - Johan DeVries (my brother-in-law) turns 80 this month. Leslie put on a very nice celebration at their summer place in Otis, MA. It was good to see friends and family members that I hadn’t seen in a long time. It's hard to pick from 120 pictures...

Mom (92) and Johan (80)

 

My son, Randy (left), and his friend, Mark, won the Member Guest Tournament at Greenock County Club in Lee. 

September 19, 2022, Monday 

6:45am and we hit Interstate 90 West on the first day of this year’s winter adventure. We have settled into the routine of Rich driving the 1st leg (2.5 hours), stop for gas, use the facilities, I drive the 2nd leg, stop for gas, use the facilities, eat lunch at the dinette, then he drives the 3rd leg. There was very light traffic for the first hour or so that I drove, and then it started showering sporadically. Until the skies opened up and visibility was bad - I could hardly see the car lights in front of me. Obviously I slowed right down and held on tight as the wind started blowing. Ugh! It didn’t last that long, but felt like forever. After we had stopped for lunch and Rich took over, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the wind continued to blow. With his experience over many years, he thinks nothing of it. 

 

September 20, 2022, Tuesday

6:45am and on the road again to Cloverdale, Indiana for one night’s stay. Follow the yellow and black pen line...

September 21, 2022, Wednesday

6am and we're headed to Lake of the Ozarks to visit Kibbie and Phil (and Louie the cat). We arrived early in the afternoon and visited for several hours before deciding to go to Build Your Own Burger (BYOB) at the Laurie Elks Club. It was a hearty meal amongst 100 other Elks. We topped the day off with a delicious brownie sundae a la Kibbie.  

 

Lake of the Ozarks (aka, Puff the Magic Dragon): According to my Autio app, this is a man-made reservoir which was built in 1932. Eight villages and towns were relocated before flooding the lake for the purely logistical reason of providing Union Electric with hydroelectric power. It was the largest man-made lake in the United States at the time and is a very popular recreational site. There are 1100 miles of picturesque shoreline. To put this in perspective, it is 1097 miles from my house in Lee, MA to Jacksonville, FL!

September 22, 2022, Thursday

Another delicious breakfast of homemade blueberry muffins, eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, coffee and juice. 

Later in the early afternoon we went for a pontoon boat tour of some of the million dollar homes on the lake…

Then docked at Backwater Jack’s and had lunch.

 

Somebody’s very happy to be on the water again...

A nice drink upon our return home… homemade Baillys Irish Cream

September 23, 2022, Friday

Kibbie and Phil are the greatest couple and the absolute best host/hostess! We had so many stories and conversations to share. They even gave us a goody bag (breakfast burritos, pulled pork sandwiches, pickles, homemade muffins, peppermint chocolates, Rice Krispie treats, a local magazine AND a pint of the home brew) for the road when we left early this morning… heading for Elk City, OK to put up for the night.