May 11, 2003 (2) - Carlinville, IL (4/23 - Silver Dollar City, Branson, MO; 4/25 St. Louis, MO; & 4/26 St. Charles, MO)

Now, this 75-second ride didn't look like the thing I'd enjoy, what with its upside down twisting spinning dropping action.

So guess who's waving at me from the second row there at the starting gate?  And who's just finished the second of the 4 upside down loops?

Yup.  That big grin belongs to none other than that conservative quiet little woman I call "The Bride."  The ride is called Wildfire.  Now one thing about taking pictures that I like so much is the surprises I get when I look at them later.  See that woman behind Barb in the picture on the left?  She's pulling her mouth into a grin with her hands, and I seriously doubt that she saw me with the camera.  And I for sure didn't see here when I shot Barb coming down the walkway after getting off the ride.  What fun.

(from Barb)  I did another thing without Dave.  I toured Marvel Cave (proclaimed a Natural Landmark by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior in 1963).  Dave doesn't do caves--you know, the claustrophobia.  What a wuss.   Anyway, it was a great tour.  The cave was first discovered by Osage Indians in the1500's, but became popular in 1907 with the publication of Harold Bell Wright's book entitled "Shepherd of the Hills," which we both highly recommend as reading.  Mr. Wright was a frequent visitor of the cave.  The main "Cathedral Room" of the cave is large enough to house the Statue of Liberty or a 20-story building. It was an amazing sight and the first room we entered.  The other areas were also impressive such as the Waterfall Room--a 50' waterfall which is 505' below the earth's surface.  There are some critters that live in the cave, none of which we saw.  For instance:  (1) there is a bat population of 60-70,000 (in fact, we couldn't enter a certain area because of nesting bats); (2) the Ozark Blind Cave Salamanders were first discovered here in 1885 and published in Scientific American; (3) cave crickets live both inside and outside the cave; and (4) Blind Cave Crayfish are also found there.  Caves are great fun!  Where's the next one?

As we were leaving for the day (after over 8 hours of pure pleasure), we were treated to some beautiful steel drum music (Barb in background).  And I could actually tell what they were playing!  And a couple of days later, we pulled up to son Doug's house in St. Louis.  They live at 1 Rutherford Lane.

The two Rottwiellers are Maggie and Penny, and here's Granddaughter Robin making them sit while the cat finds a warm safe spot by the heater vent on top of the kitchen cabinets.

Holly is 11 and Robin is 14, and Kerry is.....well, she's their mom and a great daughter-in-law.

Penny just thinks she's a lap dog, and with Robin playing with one of her toys, it doesn't take long before all kinds of action takes place.

Holly is shaking paws/hands with Maggie and then we're not sure who's rewarding who here.  What fun to just sort of hang out and get reacquainted.  It's been a couple of years since we've seen the family all together.  During my mom's last days, Kerry and Holly stopped by on their way to Stanford for music doings, but we'd not seen Robin or son Doug for quite a while.

We're in Alton, IL, at a community college there.  Holly is one of the featured soloists for the evening concert.  She's the youngest in the St. Louis Youth Symphony and tonight is sort of a recognition thing for winning a competition.  Both girls are quite advanced musically (Robin plays superb piano), and we can't keep all the competitions straight, but we sure do enjoy listening to them play.

Holly with her violin teacher, and the two girls together.  They're fun to be with and act more like best friends than siblings.  They're home schooled, and can converse on almost any subject we care to bring up.  Much like his dad, Doug isn't afraid to share his opinion on almost any subject, so both girls are adept at defending whatever views they may hold.

We were fussing around at home and these little cars began showing up.  I was immersed in doing something here on the confuser, and Barb wandered out to see what was going on.  We were parked in the Ameristar Casino parking lot in St. Charles, MO, and it turned out there was going to be a parade.  The local Shriners were having their annual circus, and this was the circus parade the weekend before the circus.

There were all kinds of these little cars messing around in the parking lot.  You can see Moby Dick and the Road Abode peeking around the bushes in the background there.  We left to run some errands, and when we came back, we couldn't park next to the rig there were so many other things around.  The parking lot was the staging ground for the parade, and it looked like mass confusion to us.

Well, we weren't about to go back into the trailer and take naps.  Not with all this excitement in our yard!  And how's that for a high-powered grocery cart?

The Corvette Club had snuggled up against us and we could hardly squeeze in to put the groceries away, and they were most concerned we'd move and they'd loose their shade.  The local Civil Air Patrol was there in force with a marching unit as well as this home-built plane.

One major advantage to being "stuck" in this area as opposed to the regular parade route was that I could walk up and get shots like this one of the grocery cart engine.  And there's Barb with the little car ambulance.  The array of these little cars was amazing.

Well, the little cars weren't the only thing I was interested in.  The local Harley club was well represented too.

Besides the little cars and shiny motorcycles, this old car has special meaning to me.  It's a Franklin, and those of you who know me well, know my first name is Franklin.  Yup, F. David Jenkins is what I use, but on my drivers license and some other government forms, there's this Franklin sticking out.

And like me, the car is pretty well preserved for its age!  And then one of our favorites.  The Budweiser Clydesdales.

Don't think it was on purpose, but it was fun to see this team in step with each other.  They'd had to turn around in the parking lot, and it was pretty exciting to watch the horses closest to the wagon side-stepping while the lead horses just made a normal turn.  Well trained and good looking too.

And of course, the police and fire departments were represented.  I don't think that fire truck was the only one the department has. I hope.

At one time, St. Charles was the main hub of things in this area, and Lewis and Clark began their famous journey from here.  And no remarks about the big guys on the little motorcycles, either.

From the ridiculous (note the bumper) to the sublime, eh?

Can't recall ever seeing a lassie among the bagpipers before, but there she was.  Right in the middle of them.  Take my word for it, OK?

The gang with the lawn chairs didn't quite have their routine down pat, but were having a great time anyway.