Lincoln, Nebraska

If you make a big "X" across a map of the United States, we are right about where the two lines intersect . . . smack dab in the middle or heartland of the country . . . Nebraska. We arrived on Saturday after a long, hot drive. The AC in the dash went out again. This time we decided to install a new compressor. That job has been completed, so now we feel confident about getting through the desert without dying on our way to California in August.

Gene's granddaughters, Crystal and Melissa, and grandson, Ben, live here. We stayed with Crystal, husband Ben and baby Addison (2-1/2 months old---see photo) while the RV was in the shop. The baby is adorable, and it was fun being able to spend time with Crystal. I went with them to their church on Sunday, Grace Chapel, and saw Crystal leading the congregation in song as their music director. Addison will be baptized into their community in September. Ben Taylor also attends this church and is a wonderful, capable uncle, taking charge of Addison at every opportunity.

Melissa and her dad, Dale, are in Mexico right now, and Gene's daughter, Lori, is in India with a church group. We will see all of them when we head to Norfolk tomorrow, the day they all arrive home from their journeys.

The photo of the flowers (above) is from the Lincoln Sunken Garden. The garden was rehabbed about two years ago and is just one of Lincoln's outstanding parks. Tonight we plan to take a picnic to another park to hear a concert and enjoy the outdoors. Hopefully, by 7 pm it won't be too warm. It's been in the 90's everyday this week.

Drove to Omaha on Tuesday and found a Costco. Gas was $3.56/gal. and they had Diet Snapple, which Gene craves and we can't find many places. We had lunch at Lewis and Clark Landing on the Missouri River at a new Omaha park and watched a river boat making its way up and down with tourists aboard.

Our plans are to be in Norfolk for five days with Lori and Dale, then leave for Arizona on Aug. 7th, arriving in Heber on Sun., Aug. 9. Hope everyone is finding a way to stay cool. Looks like the entire country is HOT!!!

Irish Tenors in Branson

Can't believe over 13 days at Lake of the Ozarks has come to an end. Today's our last day, and we plan to tour a cave in the state park and do some laundry (and blog).

On Tuesday, we drove to Branson, where there are over 100 musical shows from which to choose. Everything from Yakov Smirnoff to country to Andy Williams and Ann Margaret. We chose the Twelve Irish Tenors and were not disappointed. All of them had beautiful voices, were good looking and energetic. A great show! I'd like to go back and spend a week taking in two shows a day. And even that would not be enough time.

Yesterday, we drove to the south end of Lake of the Ozarks and found the New Tribes Mission grounds where Gene's daughter Lori went to language school. It sits on a cove on the lake with manicured grass, flowers and trees. A very inspirational setting for the 200 students studying for their mission work. These students will end up in various part of the world bringing the Bible to tribes who have never had the opportunity to hear the good word. We took lots of photos to show Lori. The housing of 30 years ago is still there, but there are also many new buildings as NTM grows to meet its needs.

Bombarded by Buns!

It was featured on the Travel Channel. Lambert's, home of the "throwed buns". One of the top ten restaurants in America to pig out. I checked the map, but it was too far out of the way. So we were totally surprised when on the road to Branson we saw a billboard . . . "Be prepared to be bombarded." There it was, a branch of Lambert's in Ozark, MO.

It was only 11 a.m., but we decided to have an early lunch. This was too good to miss. And it was. We were entertained by buns arcing across the cafe, waiters hawking free sides of black eyed peas, fried potatoes, sorghum molasses (to put on your tossed bun), fried okra and more. I ordered chicken and dumplings, but was disappointed. It was no where near as good as Mom's. Gene had a skillet sized slab of ham that was delicious.

Antique butter churns, hand-cranked wringer washers and even an old green outboard motor like the one Joe used to use on the Colorado decorated the rooms. The walls were covered with old tin signs, dollar bills and license plates from all over the country.

If you're ever in Missouri, this is a not-to-be-missed attraction. And, get there early. When we left at noon, there was a 45 minute wait and a front porch full of hungry people.

Back Into Boating

The offer was too good to refuse . . . $105 per week for the use of a bass fishing boat. We signed up and had a great time exploring Lake of the Ozarks where we are now camped. Bought a fishing license and even caught a few large mouth bass, catfish and white bass. Threw back a bluegill and a small catfish. It was fun! Drove over a swinging bridge too.

Lake of the Ozarks was created in 1929-31 through private funding. It created thousands of depression era jobs and a new tourism industry for central Missouri. The lake is beautiful, with over 1100 miles of shoreline surrounded by oak and cedar forests. We've seen deer and lots of birds, including great blue heron, green heron, summer tanagers, Carolina wrens, tufted titmouse, indigo buntings, red headed and pileated woodpeckers and lots of turkey vultures.

Next week we plan to explore one of the caves in the state park, do more birdwatching and try to find the New Tribes headquarters where Gene's daughter, Lori, went to language school when she was 20. We'll also take a day trip to Branson and try to take in a musical show.

We'll be here until July 25, then head to Nebraska to meet Gene's new great granddaughter, Addison Davy.

At Home with the Chris Browners

The 4th of July weekend came to a reluctant close, and we departed John and Beth Crabbs' farm and headed west. Our overnight choice was Lincoln Trail State Park, a wooded park with a lake and lots of birds: bluebirds, golden flickers, red headed woodpeckers and pileated woodpeckers. And of course . . . robins. Abraham Lincoln passed through here on his way from Kentucky to Illinois.

Next stop, the home of Lisa and Chris Browner (my brother Jack's son) in Edwardsville, IL. The family, including daughters Katie (11) and Rachel (9) moved here from Phoenix last August. They have now seen the four seasons, and the lot on which their house sits is perfect for enjoying them all.

The backyard is surrounded with towering trees, and when the leaves changed colors and dropped last Autumn, they discovered neighbors houses to the rear, as well as a friend for Katie. Winter on the sloping yard brought more friends over with their sleds. In Spring, Lisa planted a garden of tomatoes, cucumbers, broccholi, zucchini, peppers, and string beans, which is wildly growing with little encouragement. Their new house is already a home.

This summer has already brought visitors from afar. Jason, Mandy and kids were here last week, we arrived two days ago, and a few more groups are scheduled in July and August. Maybe they can take in one of Katie's softball games as we did last night. The game ended tied (15-15), and Katie got a hit!

We've played Scrabble and Boggle, gone out for Chinese, grilled chicken and made little cholocate pies with the girls, listened to a beatifully moving Debussy solo played on the piano by Lisa, and got a busman's tour of the town from Chris. We loved hearing Katie play several pieces on her violin. She is advancing quite rapidly with an excellent teacher to help her and will play in the school orchestra this Fall. Rachel will entertain us with her flute and a piano duet with Lisa before we head for Lake of the Ozarks this morning.

Final report: The Browners are happy and healthy and loving their new home and surroundings. And they welcome visitors with open arms!

Amish Country

Saturday was a "tourism" day. John and Beth took us to northeast Ohio where their son-in-law Rick had set up a booth at a Horse Progress Days exhibition. His booth promoted an upcoming plowing competition. Other exhibits sold farm products and held educational seminars. The day's finale was a parade of draft horses pulling surreys, wagons, stage coaches and buggies. There were beautiful teams of Percherons, Clydesdales, Morgans, Leopard Appaloosas, Friesians, Dutch Warmbloods and Spotted and Belgian drafthorses. Gene fell asleep.

The best watching of the day, however, was of the Amish families attending this event and the auctions taking place in a nearby town. These two annual events are social gatherings for the entire family, and literally hundreds of black buggies were parked at each location. All the women and girls wore their white bonnets and long dresses in varying shades of solid colors. The men wore home-sewn trousers, short sleeved shirts and suspenders. Married men had beards.

There were auctions underway all day hawking tools, Amish furniture and horses. But my favorite, and by far the largest, was held in the quilt barn. Hundreds of quilts were hung on rods for previewing, each with an identifying number. The Amish auctioneer described the quilt, including size, then opened the bidding. Most sold from $400 to $600. In a retail shop the best quilts would bring $800 to $1200. I'm sure many shop owners were in the audience.

We passed dozens of horse-drawn, black Amish buggies on the two-lane roads as we drove through the hilly farm country and made a few more stops . . . one for lunch at an Amish restaurant and another at a hardware store catering to Amish farmers. We stopped in Berlin and wandered through country craft stores, then hit a discount fabric outlet. Beth and her daughter Anne bought bolts of cloth to be used in making authentic shirts and pants for their Civil War reenactments. Beth and John's "Ezra Barnhouse Goods" business is gaining a good reputation as a source of supplies for this group. John's made a wagon they use for this purpose, and he and Beth have been featured in a documentary on the history of salesmanship.

The Horses are Loose!

It was 4 a.m. and I awoke to loud whinnying, a snort and banging sound. Next came the pounding of galloping hooves and a flash of white streaking past the RV window. More galloping. As I peered out the window, the white horse disappeared around the far side of the barn.

"Gene! The horses are loose." I fumbled for the cell phone and called John. After a sleepy "hello" and explanation, he and Beth were out the back door in two minutes flat. John approached the barn, "Guthrie, what are you doing?" The white horse was waiting patiently by the pasture gate for John to let him back in. Beth plodded across the back yard in pajamas and black rubber knee high boots (I wish I'd remembered to take a photo) and checked the inside the barn. Guthrie was the only horse that had gotten loose. He'd leaned against the west fence trying to reach the "greener grass" on the other side and in the process a board swung loose. Once out, the board sprung back and he was stuck outside the pasture and panicky since he was now separated from his herd.

By 4:26 a.m. John and Beth had settled the horses down, John had mended the fence, and they were back in bed. Another exciting horse story from the Crabb farm . . . one of many!

The Fourth of July

After a night at a state park in Fort Boonesborough, KY, where Daniel Boone set up camp in 1775 after fighting indians and trailblazing his way west, we headed toward Ohio. We got a bit lost trying to find the Bluegrass Parkway (which we thought would be scenic). Luckily, our meandering took us past elegantly manicured and white-fenced horse farms . . . Man O' War calibre.

We had lunch in Cincinnatti with Gene's granddaughter Jessica and her maternal grandparents, Ruth and Mert Gassert, whom Gene knew quite well. We then drove through heavy rain to Irwin, Ohio, and the Crabb homestead. Gene backed the RV close to the barn and plugged in. This would be home for the next five or six days.

The 4th of July was spent catching up on e-mail, baking pies, phoning the kids and grilling steaks. As we headed out to the RV that night, we paused on the port and John pointed out fireflies blinking their way across the fields of hay out back. It reminded me of childhood days in Illinois when we'd catch them and put them in glass jars with clumps of grass and lids with holes so they could breathe. Ah, the country life!

Thank You Colonel Sanders

Dateline CORBIN, KENTUCKY
We left the Great Smoky Mountains behind and headed north, quickly passing through Tennessee (it's a skinny state). Not far north of the Kentucky border, we saw a brown sign, "Birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Museum", next right. I looked at Gene. "This is it! The only place I've ever been in Kentucky. Want to go?" A nod of his head and we made our exit off I-75.

Corbin, KY, is just a dot on the map along Hwy. 25, once known as the Dixie Highway and the major artery for vacationers headed to Florida. When they built the interstate, they bypassed Corbin, and the gas station and restaurant that built its fame on Harlan Sanders' chicken dinners went bust. Col. Sanders began peddling his chicken recipe across the country, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC today, was born.

Today, the Corbin store is a KFC franchise. As the site of the first store, I had flown there from Phoenix to accept an award on behalf of Fr. Bill Wasson, founder of Friends of the Orphans. He had been named an "Amazing Senior" (along with John Glenn that year) and received the Colonel's Way Award and a check for $5,000. It was a big deal for this town. Tony Randall was there, they broadcast the event from a huge media tent, and Randall interviewed Fr. Bill, who was in Europe, by phone.

The museum has lots of memorabilia from the early chicken restaurant days. Gene and I took our photos with a Col. Sanders statue, bought a bucket of chicken for dinner and were on our way after our brief visit. Thank you, Colonel Sanders, for our fun little detour!