About That Making Lemonade Out of Lemons (June 5 - 11)

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you very much for your thoughts and prayers as we stay in Springfield, Missouri awaiting the repair work on the Tour. Actually we are learning patience and couldn't say enough about the great care we are receiving here at Camping World! Also we are now doing exactly what we wanted to do when we left Tucson and that is exploring our country.

Sunday found us touring the Civil War battle site of Wilson's Creek near Springfield. This battle in August of 1861 opened the Civil War in Missouri. For the next three and a half years, the state saw fierce fighting. By the end of the Civil War, Missouri ranked number three as the most fought-over state in the nation.

The battle on Bloody Hill near Wilson's Creek raged for five hours with 1,317 losses for the Union and 1,222 losses for the Confederates. The National Park Service operates a five mile tour around the different sites that were important to the battle.

John Ray watched the battle from the porch of his house as the battle raged in his cornfields.   His wife and nine children hid in the cellar. 

I like my sleep number bed better than this one in the Ray home.

Looking over Bloody Hill battlefield.

Springfield is the home of the Bass Pro Shops. The original store is 350,000 square feet with plans to add more. The pictures below say it all:

Sunday was barbecue day with this gigantic grill. Roger said the  chicken was delicious.

The entrance hall of the Pro Bass Shop. This place is gigantic. They loved having Bear visit.

We headed back to Parsons, Kansas (Roger's relatives live there) and had a great time visiting with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jud. Their friends included us in all activities.

Thursday found us back at Camping World in Springfield. We found out that things are slowly beginning to happen as far as the repair work goes on the Tour. Our best guess is that the RV will be here for several months.

We enjoyed meeting Roger's cousin for lunch on Friday and made plans to go to Stockton next week.
Saturday found us taking off for Branson and the Ozarks for a day trip. We thoroughly delighted in the beautiful green countryside of the Ozark hills that led us into Branson. Missouri is the home of many lakes including Table Rock which we saw from the road.
The following are pics from our day at Branson Landing!

Roger and Bear having a bite above the White River.

Bear posing with me along the White River.

At Camping World we share the pavement at night with some interesting creatures.  The moths are unusually beautiful and who could resist this cute turtle.

We are staying busy with day trips, reading, movies, games and mean games of Words With Friends  on the internet ( I have 7 games going and Roger has 5). We appreciate you checking in with us. Next week will find us back in Stockton and getting ready to leave for grandparent duty in Texas.