I'm Still Standing

 As a kid we always looked for license plates on our road trips and I think I encouraged my kids to do the same.  So of course, I did my tracking.   First of all, why doesn't every state have a single look anymore? Why do so many people have the vanity plates that spell a name, or some cute thing? On the road I saw all but 12 of the states.  I did not see:   Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. New Mexico has beautiful plates, in Oklahoma there are plates for each tribe, the Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana basic plates are easy to recognize as they pass you.   Anyway it was a fun exercise.........

 I have no idea why I shout out "Honey, I'm home" when I go places.  Typically it is when I go to Sally and Jerrys, and here I was actually saying it yesterday when I drove in the driveway.  And I actually was glad to get home.  I was 10 hours in the car, albeit some of that was sitting in traffic jams due to road work and accidents.  I think there were 3 accidents along I-55 and all had emergency vehicles there.  At one of the slowed traffic spots it took 55 minutes to go 5 miles.  There was a semi turned and flipped and a couple of other vehicles.  Needless to say, I was extra careful and observant.  No looking at the map wondering if I should stop or go somewhere.  I decided to just trudge it out and get home.  While I thought a night in Chicago might be nice, I think I was ready for some normalness.  As normal as my mess is right now. I left St. Louis and was able to have a great phone call with Marilyn.  She is someone I do miss hanging with and feeling her positive

 Here I am in St. Louis watching basketball after having a good dinner and staying at the Drury Hotel.  Life is good.  Really....Life is good. My day started finding the Grand Rover Falls in Joplin.  I have to say it was a great experience.  The damn that created the falls was in an area that was like the rock walls you see along the highway.  I sat down on a ledge and just relaxed and listened to the water sounds.  In some ways I wished I had a pillow so I could just lay on my side and spend hours there.  I used my "peace" oil this morning and I really did feel I was at peace.   From there I headed to Springfield, Missouri.  It was on the way home and I had no idea what there was to do.  Luckily I saw on some website that there was a Japanese garden, and remembering how much I enjoyed the one in Oregon, it became my destination.  And yes.......it was a worthwhile destination.  It is part of the Springfield Botanic Gardens, which are free and expansive.  I got in a 2.5 mile w

 Writing about the day before the following morning, has some advantages.  I will probably be less verbose as I am not so caught up in the emotions. My first adventure of the day was to visit the First Americans Museum.  It was very impressive: from the building structure and design itself to the displays, the visuals and the artifacts.  However much of it was another reminder of how our ancestors were not the best people in treating others.  Again, Native Americans were forced out of their lands for the profit of others, were put into forced labor or camps. were denied so many things.  Reminiscent of my feelings at the Civil Rights Museum.  One of the things that I really loved and want to explore more is the creation stories that the different tribes had.  They seemed to connect the elements, the stars, the land, the animals and how they harmoniously came into being and existed.   The next stop was the Cowboy Museum.  I should have read more about it.  I was expecting to see Cowboys.

 Random thoughts......... getting them off my mind. I smile when I remember Grady telling me to take my passport in case I met my perfect man and he wanted to take me to Cuba.  Haven't hardly seen any single men on this trip.  Of course I haven't gone to bars.  May need to change that. I never knew sleeping in a king size bed was so freeing........I sleep on an angle and don't worry about messing up the other side.  Maybe it's just because I don't have to make it. It must be the hotel bathroom lights, but I am now questioning growing out my hair.  I didn't think it looked too bad, and Sally agreed......but now the brownish blonde and gray is not so pretty.   I think I mentioned before that I need to learn to dress for my body shape.....I think I also need to put age in that grouping.   Pretending I was in Hot Springs still, I took a bath today and it has been years since I did that.  It was relaxing at first, but then when I had to shave my legs it reminded me o

 The morning was fantastic. I actually felt little pressure to meet a checklist and decided to just let the morning happen.   I got up early, had breakfast and then set out to walk Bathhouse District to get the the place where I could see the 'waterfalls".  On the way I asked a National Park worker, Nick if I was on the right track, and he informed me that I had to back track a bit and that he is not sure why people say waterfall when it is really just a "cascade"  I did turn around an followed his direction and now have a good understanding why they are called 'hot' springs.  Damn, my hand was red after just immersing it into the water to feel it.  As I headed back towards town, there were also other 'fountains" that were around.  I tested several of them and they were all "hot".  Interestingly, Nick the National Park guy shared with me the temperature that the water comes out of the ground, the way that the rocks around are formed and hav