On Stage in Branson, Mo. May 2010

I could not figure out how to get this picture turned around. So here it is. This is me on stage at the Star Theater in Branson, Mo. singing the YMCA song. I was the cowboy. I am expecting a contract in the mail any day.

Our Trip To The Midwest - May 2010

We left home on Sunday May 9, 2010, Mother's Day. We traveled to Nashville, TN. We arrived there about 300PM and started sightseeing. We went to the First Center for the Visual Arts. We saw the masterpieces of European Painting from Musco deArte de Ponce and also art by Chihuly. Quite impressive. Look this up on the Web. Can't begin to describe it. We then had dinner with our nephew Kevin Ramquist who lives in Nashville. He is a chef at a fine dining restaurant there. Two days later I discovered that I had left all my long trousers in a hangup bag at the motel except for one pair of jeans. That's life!! But we recovered them on our return trip.

We then headed for Memphis. We were determined to see Graceland. It is well worth the look. We spent 5 hours there. Had a great time. If you aren't an Elvis fan when you get there, you will when you leave. We also went to the National Civil Rights Museum, the Pink Palace Museum, the Memphis Rock n' Soul Museum, and the Mud Island Park. Plus we rode the trolley around Memphis. We even ate at the oldest diner in town, the Arcade Restaurant. And then we had ribs at Neely's BBQ. Mr/Mrs Neely have their own show on the Food Channel. Never in our 32 years of marriage have we ever acted like such big tourists. Jan normally doesn't care for many museums. But here we had a great time. She was a good trooper.

The rest of our trip is described below. Hope we did not bore you.

Memphis TN - May 2010

The outside of the National Civil Rights Museum.The old Lorraine Motel where Dr king was shot is now apart of the museum. The museum tells a powerful story. Memphis was right in the middle of the civil rights movement.
The two cars here are replicas of the cars that were in the parking lot that day.

Jan is standing in front of the cars and the upstairs room where Dr. King was shot.

The two rooms where Dr. King and his friends stayed are a permanent part of the exhibit.

A picture of the mighty Mississippi River from the TN side. The bridge leads to West Memphis, Arkansas.

We visited the Mud Island Park which is right on the river.

Jan is a good egg!!!

This is taken from the back of Graceland - home of Elvis Presley.

Behind me is the pasture for Graceland.

Elvis, his dad, mom and grandmother are all buried here. This way they can control what the visitors do at the gravesite.

A message from a dedicated fan.

Jan in front of the mansion.

I asked this German fellow if he would take our picture. When we looked up, we saw our camera bouncing on the road. He had dropped it. He was so embarrased. Of course the camera would not work at first. But I changed the batteries and every thing was OK. He was about 50 and he had his hair fixed just like Elvis had his - a true fan.

This time a nice young couple took our picture without any disaster happening.

St Louis, Mo - The purpose of our trip.

This is the home where the Luenstroth family lived.

The Chapel at St Peters Cemetary in St Louis.

Rev. John Johnson conducted the service.

Jan and Grayson after the service.

Joyce and her roommate Debbie.

The final resting place - and the rain stopped.

The real purpose of our trip was to take the ashes of Grandmother Elizabeth home to St Louis to be buried next to her beloved Harold. The burial was to be one year after her death on May 15, 2009. Jane got sick and so could not be there. Rev. John Johnson, a Presbyterian mimister and friend of the family, conducted the service. The night before we had dinner together with John. The next day the Heavens opened and pored gallons of water on the cemetary. We were able to have the service in the chapel. John did a wonderful job. Elizabeth would have been so pleased.

After the service, we visited their old home place. It is a beautiful old section of town. The next day, Joyce got the realtor to let her tour the home. She took lots of inside pictures. She said everything looked the same. We had already left for Branson.

Branson, Mo. Visit 2010

This is the Lodge and Convention Center At the College of the Ozarks. We stayed here during our Branson visit.
This is the sign for the Lodge.

This is the front gate leading into the College. It has a beautiful campus.

This is the view from our second story bedroom at the College.

Ducks and geese live on the pond. A beautiful swan lives on the island in the pond.

Branson, Mo. We spent three days there. We stayed at the College of The Ozarks. It is a very unique place. Full time students do not pay for tuition. Instead they commit to working 15 hours per week at the college and then two 40 hour weeks during the summer. They work in maintenance, in the kitchen, cutting grass, at the front desk of the lodge, security, etc. The college has the nickname of " The Hard Work College".

While in Branson we went to three of the stage shows. They were variety musicals. Had a great time. At the Star Theater, the performers "dragged" me on stage and I sang a song with them - the YMCA song made famous by the Village People. Jan said I did OK. Doesn't take much for me to make a fool of myself.

On Sunday we went to church at the Chapel. It is a beautiful building. The electric power had been knocked out due to a storm the previous night. So we worshiped in the dark. Except for having a hard time reading the song book, it was a wonderful service. We even sang "Onward Christian Soldiers". Wow! If you go to Branson, check out The College on the Web. We then moved on to Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Visit May 2010

Queen Wilhemia State Park in Oklahoma

On our last day we drove to the State Park. It is on the top of one of the mountain

ranges in southeastern Oklahoma. The view is spectacula.

This is Joyce and Grayson. We almost got blown off the side of the mountain.
This is the whole group minus me. There is Debbie, Joyce, George, Jane and Jan.

Here are the three sisters - Jan, Jane and Joyce. We were

on our way to another state park. We stopped to drink some water out of a fresh

stream fountain. The park we went to had Runtstones there. Look up on the internet to find what that is about. Very interesting.

This is the cabin that we stayed at. It was in an RV Park. We slept like babies.

George is a rancher, farmer, carpenter, etc.. We are at their "Ranch". They have 26 heads of longhorn cattle. George is in his hog heaven when he is with his cows.

George admires his herd. He took us on a guided tour of his ranch. He is refurbishing a house at the ranch for them. We hope he gets it completed before we all go to our great reward.

This is our host. He is preparing his famous Hungarian goulash over the fire outside.

I have great faith that the meal will be superb and it was.

Jan is eagerly awaiting for the stew to cook. It goes well with red or white wine. We spent 3 days with George and Jane. They were wonderful hosts. It is 925 miles from our house to theirs. We left on Thursday morning and got home at 330PM on Friday. Marty was so glad to see us. This is the first time Jan and I spent so much time with each other in our 32 years of marriage. It was a great blesssing to us.

May 2, 2010 - A Visit With Ian and Audrey

Ian and Audrey have been our friends for 32 years. They were our first friends in Canada. They moved to Charlotte with Celanese about 1992. We have kept up with their children and their families. Helen and her husband Doug and their 3 daughters live in Charlotte. Doug is a fireman and Helen is a nurse. The purpose of this trip was to meet new granddaughter Kate. Kate's dad is Michael Slack . Mom is the pretty lady Andrea. They live in Canada. Kate is precious and was the life of the gathering. Jan got to hold her alot. Daughter Melody is a school teacher and lives in Greensboro. And then we had dinner with them. Audrey always prepares a feast for a King. Ian is retired and is a master gardner. Audrey teaches piano to 30 children. We love them dearly. the day was a wonderful blessing.

Jan and Grayson with little Miss Kate. She is a darling.
Jan, born to hold a baby.

This is Mom (Andrea) and cousin Alivia.

Another look at Uncle Gray and Auntey Jan with Kate.

Three pretty girls - Kate, Melody and Jan.

Jan has a hold on Kate.

All four of the granddaughters

A whole lot of girls - alot of talking going on.

Uncle Ian - Granddaddy Ian - the master of the house.

Audrey, the real master of the house with daughter

Melody.

The Mike Slack family from Canada with cousin Alivia from Charlotte.

Grayson all dressed for church and the trip to Fort Mill.

Aunty Jan is also quite spiffy this morning for her trip to

see the new baby Kate, 8 months old, from Canada.

A Few New Plants for 2010

Jan doesn't know what happened to Grayson. All of a sudden with no pressure from Jan, he decides to beautify the back yard. We first thought about sodding it but changed our mind. Grayson was too cheap. So he decides to plant "stuff". Twenty five plants and three days of digging and watering with about 15 bales of pine straw later, he calls it quits. He is too pooped to do anything else. However, he did manage to play golf af Cross Winds on Monday and Thursday. He got a birdie each day. You don't get tired when playing golf. It is in the Bible in chapter 66 of the Book of Rambunkshus. Check it out. I am a Sunday School teacher and a very good one, if I do say so myself. Well I need to study the lessson for tomorrow. Come check out the garden. We will serve you some iced tea. Amen and amen.

One look at the garden

The birds who drink from the bird bath are very large!

Marty thinks I am loveable. Too many kisses here.

A look at our backyard and also the neighbors. They just built a gazebo.

Marty is caught red handed.

This is a Knockout rose. They are very popular this year. I planted six of them.

Another look at the walkway and the azaleas.

A look from a distance. Hopefully, next Spring everything will have

grown larger and look prettier.

This is my favorite. It is my "Always" plant.