My Vacation in Bullet Points

Tuesday, 6/29 Through Wednesday, 7/7

The only thing special we did this time around was try to go to local restaurants (or to chains that we don't typically have where we live). By the way, I haven't even looked at the pictures I've taken. Those will have to wait until a later date.

Tuesday:
• Took off earlier than planned. Departure: Tuesday, 6/29, around 1 pm
• I exclaimed to Dan that “sound isn’t all that cracked up to be” after talking with Mother on phone which hurt my ear something awful. (Sometimes, certain sounds will cause my ear drum to vibrate in an awful painful way.)
• Met my youngest niece, who is also my Goddaughter, and her husband in Dallas. We had a wonderful visit with them!
• Dinner: Taco Tuesday at Rosa’s Café. Two words: Good Eats!
• I forgot to take pictures! :-(
• Crashed at La Quinta for the night in Sherman, TX

Wednesday:
• Continued on down the road early in the morning.
• Crossed “Clear Boggy Creek" in OK. Isn’t this an oxymoron?
• Soon crossed “Muddy Boggy River” in OK. Too funny!
• we had a fun diversion in Eufaula, OK. We had to find a car wash due to sludge / oil being splashed all over the vehicle. (we had passed a truck carrying sludge/oil).
• Had lunch at “Amish restaurant and Country Store” in Muskogee, OK. We both had Chicken Tetrazzini with two sides. It was delicious – almost like have home cooked food.
• We found it interesting that Missouri has decimal points on the mile markers, which is in increments (or decrements) of two-tenths.
• Crossed "Pond Creek" in MO. So, which is it?
• Arrived at our destination, Springfield, MO, around 4 pm and relaxed for a bit.
• Visited and had dinner with Dan’s Mom.

Thursday:
• Went to a Farmer’s Market. Now, this was what I considered to be a true farmers market – most of the vendors were selling food. I did get a beautiful pendant from a lone vendor selling jewelry. And, another vendor got us interested in going to their little restaurant, which we did go to later in the week.
• Visited with Dan’s Mother most of the afternoon.
• Dan’s youngest brother, Billy, and his family came over and we all visited awhile.
• Dinner with Billy and his family along with Dan’s Mom at Buckingham BBQ – It was okay; but, not as good as Texas BBQ. :-)

Friday:
• Went to Big Surf Water Park. We choose this park because it was cheaper than Branson’s. It was a nice little park – loved the wave pool. I almost drowned in it though – the water came up over my head and entered my sinuses and up my ear canals – hurt my ears and sinuses. Anyway, we decided we will be going to Branson’s water park next time we go to MO because this park was just a little too tame for us.
• Dressed up and went to Friday Night Farmers Market in Downtown Springfield – a huge disappointment.
• Dinner at Big Whiskeys Pub & Grill. Food wasn’t great and both of us forgot that smoking was allowed in bars. I was fine until a lady lit up and smoked right next to us. (The smell of smoke affects me something awful.) The food wasn’t all that great either.

Saturday:
• Eureka Springs, AR
• Historic Downtown Branson
• Went next door to Branson Landing. This was not here the last time we were there. A nice little shopping strip right along the river.
• All day trip / outing. I was so tired that I snoozed a little on the way home…
• Dinner at a Steak N Shake. Delicious! Old Timey feel. At the time we went, there was a car show in the parking lot – lots of cool old cars including a beat up old rusty truck with a brand new engine – made us laugh! Too cute.

Sunday:
• Met Dan’s brother, Newt, and his family, at Linda’s (Dan’s Mom) place. His young son is precious.
• Lunch at Zio’s Italian Kitchen with Newt and his family along with Dan’s Mom. Food was delicious.
• Visited with Dan’s brother, Mike, and his family (his wife along with two younger kids) in the afternoon – a very nice visit.

Monday:
• Quilt Sampler Inc. which was a very good store. The front is unassuming; but, when you step inside, it’s a wonderful shop full of fabrics, quilts on display that also have kits.
• Merrily We Quilt Along also has an unassuming store front. In fact, we had a hard time finding this place. I liked Quilt Sampler better. But, it was nice. And, this place also has a tea room next door.
• Springfield Leather Co., which also had a bead store. I saw this store and wanted to stop. It was unplanned. If I see a bead store, I most likely will want to stop and take a look. This place was very nice and unique. One half is an all leather store and the other half is beads. I had a good time roaming the bead portion of the store.
• Lunch at Honey Heaven and The Bee-stro Café. We found out about this place at the first farmers market we went to. It sounded fascinating.
• Met with Dan’s brother, Darby and his family. The kids were too cute. Their oldest is very active young boy and the twin babies are absolutely adorable.
• We had dinner with them along with Dan's Mom at a Mexican restaurant (which I can't remember the name of). Food was good. It was cute watching Darby and his wife struggle to get their oldest boy to eat.

Tuesday:
• Since we had no obligations for today, we decided to leave early.
• Lunch at Lambert’s Cafe.
• Visited with Dan’s Mom one last time and then headed on out.
• Went through a funky interchange, the first one in the USA.
• Arrived in Sherman, TX around 9:00pm.
• We were very happy and pleased with the hotel we stayed at in Springfield, MO. We decided to stay at the same hotel (chain) in Sherman – never, never, never again will we assume that it’ll be the same kind of place. I guess it all depends upon the owner/manager. Since it was very late, we decided to just crash in spite of issues. It was the most horrid experience ever!

Wednesday:
• Woke up early feeling pretty sick. I made Dan get up and we got the heck out of that place. Never again. Did I say that before? I struggled with feeling like I had smoker’s lungs all day.
• We stopped in Waxahachie, TX. I fell in love with a house on the way in. I explored Common Threads Quilting shop and we both explored an antique store. It’s a very nice little “town” and the square (downtown) is in good condition. I believe I would like to come back here and explore as it looks like it has plenty of antique stores and the “town” has character.
• We had lunch in Italy. Now, we can claim to have eaten in Italy. Ha!
• We arrived home a little after 3:30pm. We more or less crashed; but, we had to go out and get a few supplies to survive on (such as bread and milk).

Overall, we had a very nice vacation. Our stay in Springfield was trouble free and very nice. I loved meeting and visiting with everyone, especially the young kids and babies. The only bad experience was our last night in Sherman, TX. Never again. I keep saying that, do I not?