Somewhere In The Middle

The Badlands, South Dakota

2009-11-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

A few of the locals we seen as we drove thru the park. The weather was perfect and the drive was amazing. We finally came across the buffalo at the end of the drive. We had seen some off in the distance, but too far to get pictures of until we came upon a small herd right along the roadside.

This hawk had just caught a prairie dog for his lunch. The rest of the prairie dogs were chattering so loudly. There was another hawk in the area, but it wasnt to interested in hunting.

We came across a herd of big horn sheep. This was the oldest, largest ram in the herd. One of the younger rams walked right along the side of the truck so close that I could have reached out and touched him, but instead I was busy taking pictures.

Today of part two of vacation

2009-11-22T19:39:00.000-08:00

We opened the day in Mitchell, South Dakota, home of the World's Famous Corn Palace.

We then traveled down Interstate 90 toward The Badlands. We came across lots of wildlife there. Here is a picture of a beautiful buck standing by the side of the road wating for us to take his picture.

Will post more tomorrow, internet is REALLY slow here. :-(

Week one of our vacation

2009-11-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

To start off our 2 week vacation, we took off for Branson, Missouri, and Eureka Springs, Arkansas on Monday November 16th. The first day in Branson we went to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Christmas Show. The food was amazing as always, and way too much to eat in one setting. I always seem to end up with a doggie bag to go, but room for the warm apple turnover they serve for dessert.

The next day we drove around Branson sight seeing at all the new additions, and then that afternoon we went to the Sight & Sound Theater to watch The Miracle of Christmas. It is a remarkable theater with the wrap around stage and live animals. There were horses walking between the aisles to go up on stage, and even one of the camels that carried one of the wise men! It draws you in to the performance, and makes you feel as if you are all part of the story being told. We had seen Noah performed earlier, and it was fantastic also.

After we got out of the theater we headed south to Eureka Springs. It was dark so we didnt see much on the way down. The next morning we went to the War Eagle Mill, located halfway between Rogers and Eureka Springs. This is one of very few water powered working grist mills. It was such a quaint little place. The first flour is where the grist mill is, and grain products they have for sale. We bought blue corn meal, thick oats, buckwheat flour, and a pecan & wheat flour blend for making waffles with. :-) The second floor is a gift shop and the third floor is the restaurant called the Bean Palace. The mill is well known for its lunch of Beans and Corn Bread. We got there in time to partake of some biscuits and sausage gravy. YUM!

We drove a very scenic route back to Eureka Springs to get a massage at the Ancient Healings Spa, then we went exploring the downtown area of Eureka Springs. Keeping in mind that we were there during the "off" season, some shops were closed on Wednesday, but it was still nice to see the old buildings and read the history of the place. We even drove by the "haunted" Cresent Hotel.

I seen this fudge shop advertised in a tourism magazine and just had to find it. Love the name of the place. Yes, we bought some fudge also. A small block of creamy Turtle Cheesecake Fudge, and a small block of Tiger (chocolate & peanut butter swirled) fudge.

We left Eureka SPrings Thursday morning and headed to Harrison in Boone County. We got married at the courthouse there 12 years ago, and never got a picture of the courthouse, so we went back to get a picture. We then drove to the Ponca Elk Reserve area to see if we could spot some elk, and then finally headed home. We had time to wash some laundry, go to see New Moon with the girls before we headed out Saturday on the next leg of our vacation.

I turned 50 today

2009-11-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

Today is my 50th birthday. We went to Sybil's in St James for Brunch, and then drove to Meramac State Park. While there we spotted over 30 deer, like these here in the picture. I was able to walk up pretty close to them to get their pictures.

I also spotted this Bald Eagle in a tree, so I quietly walked toward the tree she was in, and took her picture. Unfortunately I didnt have my camera with me so these were taken with my cell phone. I was about 12 feet away from her, before she flew to tree a bit further away.