Friday, July 20, 2012

OHIO....FAMILY AND FRIENDS

 
Finally "home" to see my Uncle Bill and Aunt Jean!  They were doing so well and looking better each day.   and...what visit is not complete without some fun with the poodle dogs?


Jake
 and Max

We were also so happy to see Aunt Dot, Joyce and Rich.  Everyone was looking great !



It was hard to say adios but we were on our way back to MI for a short visit. 

I've traveled up and down I 75 hundreds of times visiting Mom and the rest of the family, but I've never stopped to see the Neil Armstrong Museum.  So....we finally have the time to stop and take a look.


  
Boy, my friend Dorie was wrong...we really did land on the moon.

  
Of course, if you're going to stop in Wapakoneta, OH               don't you have to go to ...

"Indian Lake, it's the scene you should make with your little ones."  

It was hot, hot, hot, but..we had fun.




                                                             

Illinois, National Swine Show and a REALLY BIG EVENT !!!

DO NO MISS THE BIG EVENT POSTED AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE.

Illinois...another place stricken by this severe drought.  I've seen field corn all my life, but I've never seen corn look like it does in 2012.  I didn't even recognize it as corn.  The ground is rock hard and in some areas the cracks in the ground were so large that I was afraid the dogs legs would go into them when they were walking/running across an open area.  The heat followed up from CO through Ohio.  Many of the days were well over a hundred.  The rest were in the 90's.  After a week of seeing sites in 100+ degree weather, a day in the 90's felt like you should have a jacket with you.

We visited Lincon's home and his tomb...but....no pics...they've disappeared into my hard drive so you might see them in the future on this post.  Here are a few I stole from the internet.

        

We found a tiny spot of shade at the Illinois State Fair grounds and "camped" there for a couple of days so we could visit Lincoln's home and tomb.  While we were there, there was a national swine show and we couldn't miss that!  But....the poor pigs.  They were so hot.  We felt so sorry for them and their owners/handlers.  There were not enough hoses to go around.  Pigs were dragging their hot bodies out to the hogwash (ha ha thought I'd get that word in there) so they could have someone hold a hose on them and cool them off.  DON'T FORGET TO SCROLL TO END TO SEE REALLY BIG EVENT.


 

ahhhh a cool shower
 


It was so hot the bacon was almost done.

How could you eat anything this cute.

REALLY BIG EVENT !!!!!!

Happy 7th Birthday to

Tooie

 

ICE CREAM !!!!

It's always  nice to share with your brother.

HEY..that's an old toy!

She did get some special gifts, but she had to wait til we were in a town with a pet store!
  

Not in Kansas but still in Kansas City, MO Vaile Mansion

ok...yeah...now I've got you confused too.  There was a lot to see in the Kansas City/Independence area so here's some more "stuff."

The Mormon Church is very active in the Independence, MO area.  I had to share this pic of the steeple on their church.    Now that is just too cool!

Vaile Mansion:   Built by Colonel and Mrs. Harvey Vaile in 1881. The 31 room mansion includes 9 marble fireplaces, spectacular painted ceilings, flushing toilets, a built-in 6,000 gallon water tank, and a 48,000 gallon wine cellar. This mansion is one of the best examples of Second Empire style architecture in the United States.


oh yeah....scary....doesn't it look like the Munster's home?  Oh... is that Morticia on the front porch?

   
Herman Munster???


 This place was beautiful.  but it eventually became a nursing home and mental institution.   According to our guide, the lady who built the house committed suicide here and a mental patient hung herself in her room from the light fixture.  Now the light fixture will not hang straight anymore.   True or false, this place as a mental institution must have given the town kids something to do on Halloween!

Petticoat table.  It had mirrors so women could check
 to see if their petticoats were showing
 

 

Lawyers would travel from town to town and carry this huge desk/office with them.  Like a laptop??

Ghost of Vaile Mansion.

 
This place is bigger than it looks .  It had a lot of nursing home residents.  The basement was finished too, but maybe it was just for the mental patients???