Best Kept Secret

Neither Jim nor Shirley (Carole's cousin) had been in the Kansas City area before. So while they are visiting from California, I chauffeured them on my usual grand tour of Kansas City.

We drove to downtown Kansas City, Missouri, stopped at the Lewis & Clark Memorial overlooking the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers as well as the Downtown Airport, then we drove around the downtown area and stopped for lunch in the courtyard across the street from the new Sprint Center.



After lunch, we drove through the Hallmark Crown Center Complex, by the World War I Liberty Memorial, the renovated Union Station, the Country Club Plaza shopping area, and then through the suburb of Mission Hills to gawk at all of the huge big beautiful homes. We drove down many tree-lined boulevards past numerous fountains.

Kansas City is, indeed, the country's "Best Kept Secret".

Sam is 13!

John & Becky's youngest, Sam, my grandson, reached the teenager status today. Sam turned 13!

We gathered at John & Becky's for pizza followed by the traditional birthday cake and ice cream.



Sam blew out all of the candles in one breath. Happy Birthday, Sam.

Pasture Bedtime

While we were at Cabella's yesterday, Carole went wandering off. Today she modeled her big purchase . . . a new nightshirt.



Now isn't that cute . . . "Pasture Bedtime".

KCK

Jim and Shirley are both NASCAR fans, so the first place they wanted to see in the Kansas City area was the NASCAR Track. So, off we went to Kansas City, Kansas (KCK), about a 30 minute drive from our house.

Of course, the track is closed up except for race day, but we were able to see much of the track from outside the fence . . . at least enough to satisfy the NASCAR fans with us.

We then took them to Cabala's Outfitters where they have an awesome display of mounted wildlife . . . fish, birds, and animals. Jim and Shirley are pictured here in front of a portion the African exhibit, a couple of elephants nuzzling each other.


The most awesome display at Cabala's is the Mule Deer exhibit where a very large number of mounted deer, probably a hundred or so, many of them world class specimens, are displayed in natural settings.

















In this exhibit is the #1 Typical Boone and Crockett ranked Mule Deer in the World . . .



Isn't that some rack?

I'm amazed at how many highly ranked world specimens included in the Cabela's display. They certainly have more than their share . . . but it makes for a wonderful exhibit.

From there, we drove through much of the area around the NASCAR track and stopped for lunch at a micro-brewery in the Legends Shopping area. A nice lunch and a cold brew . . . then we headed for home.

Back Home Again

We left Indiana on Wednesday along with our guests, Carole's cousin, Shirley, and her husband, Jim, who are visiting from Lake Elsinore, California.

We had an uneventful drive in "The Bus" across South Chicago and stopped at the Moose Lodge in Iowa City, Iowa. They have a nice family area with a few RV parking spaces, a nice Lodge Building, and a good menu from the kitchen, where we ate dinner. The members at this Lodge are also very nice people, very enjoyable.

On Thursday, we drove to Terrible's Casino in Osceola, Iowa, where we stopped for the night in the RV Park at the casino. Of course, we partook of the buffet spread and then settled into the Casino where I donated (as usual) and Carole won a few bucks (as usual). Neither Jim nor Shirley admitted to their losses.

On Friday, we drove the rest of the way to our home in Kansas . . . which still has not sold. Jim and Shirley will stay with us for a couple of weeks, giving us an opportunity to tour the Kansas City area again as neither of them has previously been to Kansas City.

Fish Lake

On Sunday, we were invited to spend the day with long-time friends of Carole's, Lee and Loraine Borntrager, at their summer home on Fish Lake in lower Michigan.

Loraine served a delicious dinner after which we sat in their living room watching the boats and water skiers out on the lake. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing afternoon.

Pictured below are Carole, Loraine (with her back to the camera), Carole's cousin, Shirley, and Lee.


Following an enjoyable visit, we returned to "The Bus". We will probably leave for Kansas in a day or two and need to do a few things to prepare for the trip.

Schmuhl Family Reunion

Carole's mother's family, the Schmuhl's, held their bi-annual Family Reunion at Studebaker Park in Elkhart, Indiana, on Saturday, August 14. Of course we attended and shared good food and fellowship with some of Carole's family.

Shown below are some of the family swapping childhood memories and pictures after dinner.



On the left below is Carole, her Aunt Delores, and her cousin, Shirley (from California).

On the right below is Shirley's brother, Bill, Carole's Aunt Jane, and Bill's wife, .

















It was an enjoyable day at the park. Of course, Carole had to explain all of the relationships to me all over again. I have trouble remembering all of her family.

Oh well, as long as Carole will keep explaining her family tree to me, maybe I'll get it one of these days.

Carole's cousin, Shirley Denk, and her husband, Jim, flew in from California for the Reunion and will be staying with us in "The Bus" for the rest of our time in Indiana, and then will be riding back to Kansas with us. They will then spend a couple of weeks with us before returning home to California.

The Girls

Carole has been a very close friend of Helen Angelo for many, many years. Helen, a retired opera singer, is a very interesting person with a lot of stories to tell. Carole and Helen talk on the phone frequently, but when we are in the Elkhart area, we always get together with her.

Carole's daughter, Brenda Stafford, joined us and we drove to Helen's, then all of us walked to the nearby Hacienda Restaurant where we had a Mexican lunch. After lunch, we returned to Helen's condo where "The Girls" talked away the afternoon while I sat and listened . . . for the most part.

In Helen's living room, Helen, on the left in the picture below, and Carole are shown listing to Brenda (not in the picture) . . .


Helen's condo is heavily decorated with memorabilia from her days in the theatre. It is such an interesting place . . . everything has a story behind it. However, Helen will likely be downsizing in the near future and will have to dispose of much of her collection. One of the items she will be selling is the beautiful bronze statue pictured here. I would guess it to be about 24" tall. The glass bauble hanging from her outstretched hand, however, is not a part of the statue.



You can enlarge the photo by simply clicking on it. If anyone is interested in this piece, let me know and I'll put you in touch with Helen.

I enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon at Helen's, listening to "The Girls". Helen is such an interesting person with a fascinating background. Carole is fortunate to include Helen in her list of many friends.

Following an afternoon with "The Girls", Carole and I drove Brenda home, then returned to "The Bus" at the Goshen Moose Lodge.

Time To Shoot

One of my great passions is shooting. It doesn't make any difference whether it's skeet, trap, bench rest, or pistol . . . hunting waterfowl, upland game birds, deer, antelope, or shooting prairie dogs. However, I haven't had much opportunity to take "Time To Shoot" in the past several years.

So when Larry Westgate, husband of Carole's long-time friend, Nancy Goepfrich, invited me to shoot on our next trip to Indiana, I was excited to bring my rifle and a couple boxes of ammunition. On Sunday, I grabbed my rife and a pistol along with some ammo, and Carole and I went off to the Westgate's just across the border in Southern Michigan. They live out in the country where Larry and I went to an old nearby gravel pit and set up some targets. We had a great time shooting.

I shot my varmint rifle, my 'baby', a pre-64 Winchester model 70 in cal 220 Swift with an 8-32x scope. It still shoots very, very well. Larry also shot my 'baby', as pictured below, and loved every minute of it. He agrees that's a fine rifle.



Larry also shot his cal 243 rifle then, after a number of rounds, we moved closer and touched off a few rounds with my S&W Model 59 cal 9mm. I think that's a really sweet pistol. Larry doesn't care for double-action in a semi-automatic pistol . . . but he tried shooting it anyway as shown below.



Today was one of the most enjoyable days I've had in a while. We didn't shoot a whole lot, but it was really nice to be able to take "Time To Shoot". I really should do this more often!

Michael

Today was the birthday of Carole's youngest son, Michael Krallman, who she lost three years ago. In Michael's memory, we visited the cemetery where Carole laid a large bouquet of flowers on his grave and said a quiet prayer.

Rest in peace, Michael. You are missed.

Goshen Moose Lodge

We left Big Long Lake this morning and moved "The Bus" to the Elkhart, Indiana area where we logged in at the nearby "Goshen Moose Lodge". We have stayed here before and were surprised at all of the work this Lodge has done recently to upgrade the grounds and make it more family friendly.

New sand and and a new float at the beach on the small lake on the property and exceptionally nice new horseshoe pits . . .













New sand and equipment in the kids playground area and a new fence enclosure . . .














A new miniature golf course is not yet finished, but is nearing completion . . .


















A brand spankin' new concrete tennis court and two basketball courts . . .














A new softball diamond is nearly completed including a new backstop . . .













And, of course, we have a nice, quiet, grassy parking space for "The Bus" with full hookups along the back row of the RV parking area next to the woods . . .












I am amazed by all of the improvements that have made in only one year. They also added over 50 new members last year and have set a goal of 200 new members this year. They are trying to attract members in the 30-40 year old age group and make the Lodge more family friendly. It's apparently working as I'm told this Lodge has recently been named #1 in the State of Indiana.

Congratulations to the "Goshen Moose Lodge". I'm sure we'll enjoy our stay. We plan to be here two weeks or so giving Carole an opportunity to visit her family and friends as well as attend the Schmuhl Family Reunion (on her Mother's side) in Elkhart on the 14th.

Corn Toasties

We were driving to Marge's home this morning to spend another day with Ron and Marge as Ron is leaving the area tomorrow. On the way, we detoured through the town of Lagrange, Indiana, to stop at the Foltz Bakery.

Foltz has been in downtown Lagrange for many years baking and selling delicious donuts, rolls, cookies, pastries, pies, and cakes. But the best is their "Corn Toasties" . . . a flat, round, slightly sweet cornbread. Just pop one into the toaster, lavishly butter while hot . . . and you have a wonderful treat . . .


We picked up some "Corn Toasties" to enjoy with Ron and Marge . . . and we also loaded up with a supply to stock the freezer in "The Bus" so we can enjoy hot "Corn Toasties" for weeks to come.

After we had our morning fix of "Corn Toasties" with Ron and Marge, we hung out at Witmer Lake for the day, then said our goodbyes to Ron and Marge as tomorrow Ron is leaving the area and we plan to move "The Bus" to the Elkhart, Indiana, area (Carole's hometown) so we can spend time with Carole's family and friends.

. . . but we'll take the rest of the "Corn Toasties" with us!

Whittmer, No, Witmer Lake

My brother, Ron, from California is still in Indiana staying at our sister-in-law, Marge's, home. So today we drove over to spend the day with Ron and Marge. Marge lives on Witmer Lake and was wearing a humorous t-shirt.

The Lake Association had t-shirts printed, but the printer messed up . . . he mis-spelled 'Witmer'. Instead of incurring the expense of re-printing new shirts, the printer sold the Lake Association on correcting his mistake at a discounted price . . .



We spent a quiet day hanging out with Ron and Marge at "Whittmer, No, Witmer Lake".

Annual Davis Family Reunion

For the first time, the "Annual Davis Family Reunion" was held at Dean & Sue Polly's lakefront home on Big Long Lake in Northeastern Indiana. They graciously opened their very nice year-round home to the family. Dean set up a shelter in the side yard with tables and chairs for outdoor seating in addition to seating inside the house.

All of the attending families brought main dishes, side dishes, and desserts. Coffee, tea, and soft drinks were furnished. As usual, the food was all delicious . . . and, as usual, we all ate too much. Everyone voted for the best main dish, the best side dish, the best dessert, and the best overall.

Carole had cooked pork shoulders for three days in the crock pot, then spent a half-day pulling it (removing the fat and manually shredding the lean), and then slathered it with The Sauce from the Hillsdale Bank Barbecue Restaurant near our home in Kansas. She set it out with slider buns purchased from Applebee's so everyone could put together a Pulled Pork BBQ Slider. Her sliders were voted the best main dish and the best overall. Congratulations, Carole!

Following dinner, several games were set up including a watermelon seed spitting contest. One of my nieces, Shelly Albertson, is pictured below in the left photo giving it her best shot. My son, Steve, is on-deck. In the right photo below, my nephew, Mike Davis, is shown about to spit the winning shot, 31 feet, I believe.
















Then Tom Zeissig, husband of one of my nieces, helped some of the kids in a coloring contest.


After all of the the fun and games, we sat around talking and reminiscing . . . about old times.

Here is Michelle Davis (Mike's wife), Tiffani Soares (my brother, Ron's, granddaughter) with her back to the camera, Carole, and Marge Davis (my sister-in-law).











My nephews, Mike Davis (with his back to the camera) and Larry Davis, talking with one of my nieces' husband, Bob Frey, and my niece, Kay Frey. In the background is Kathy Davis (Larry's wife), Maria Davis (Jeff's wife), and Jeff Davis (my brother, Ron's, son).










Four of the daughters of my brother, Bob, and his wife, Joan, are shown here in Dean & Sue's living room: Claudia (standing) and Marcy, Julie, and Shelly.












My brother, Bob's, fifth daughter, Sue Polly (our host) looks awfully happy considering she's cleaning up her kitchen and loading the dishwasher.












My brother, Ron, is on the left in this photo with most of his family, all of whom flew in from California.












My nephew, Mike Davis, had to try on my party hat as the 'hair' on top matched the color of his beard. This picture is sure to become a classic.













My younger brother, Ron, on the right, and I are the oldest living members and direct descendants of our branch of the Davis family. Yes, we both attended the "Annual Davis Family Reunion" . . . Ron came from California and I came from Kansas.

No, we did not color coordinate our shirts in advance. I guess we just both thought we looked good in orange.







The Reunion was a roaring success. Attendance was 62, better than last year. Those who attended enjoyed a day of great food, good fellowship with family, fun & games, and many also enjoyed a boat ride and/or a swim in the lake. Those family members who did not attend missed a super family get together. I hope they make it the the "Annual Davis Family Reunion" next year, which will again be held at Dean & Sue Polly's lakefront home on Big Long Lake in Northeastern Indiana.

Thanks to Dean & Sue Polly for opening their home to the family. All of us had a wonderful time and Dean & Sue were such gracious hosts. Thank you, Dean & Sue.