Kansas is so misunderstood

For many years my family and friends have traveled from either Missouri or Texas to Colorado. The jokes were usually about the long boring ride through Kansas. It is long and boring if you drive straight through and stay on I 70. We set out to find some of the back roads of Kansas and see what this state has to offer. We were a bit surprised to find a really pretty and historic area. Before I get to that, I need to do some catching up.

We spent a week at Bull Shoals in Missouri before leaving the Springfield area. As I have said in my previous entries, we have not skied this year. We decided to take a week and get the boat down to the lake. We skied 5 days and I really enjoyed my new ski. Here is a picture of our site overlooking the marina and the lake and Beaver Creek confluence.

We started out this trip with a new addition. My good Friend Bob D. built a rail on the back of my trailer, so that we could add a motorcycle. Here is a picture of that set up. It works great. Thanks Bob!

We decided on the DR 650 for this trip. The plan is to do some two up riding in the mountains of Colorado.

Here is a picture of Scott doing some skiing on my new ski on some perfect water. 

Here is a picture of Kim skiing. She had a good week until her last time on Monday morning. She tried to drop one ski and took a spill and bruised some ribs. It is now two days later and she is doing much better.

It was time to move on, so we headed out and after climbing the big hills between Branson and Springfield, we turned west on the old route 66. We then took a few straight back roads and ended up on Hwy 400. We planned a stop in Fall River State Park. It is a very pretty area with rolling hills lots of birds and flowers. Here are a few shots.

I needed one item for dinner, so we went to the town of Fall River, Kansas. It is a very cool, VERY small town built right on the river. The high school (no longer in use) was built in 1917. The big win was the grocery had what I needed and some home made cinnamon rolls that were awesome.

Tomorrow we will move on to the other side of Kansas. We will not be on I 70 and I am looking forward to seeing what else this wonderful state has to offer. 

Here is one final snap of the sunset on Bull Shoals:

Have a great day, whatever you are doing. 

On the Road Again...

We have had a very eventful and busy late spring and early summer at the ranch. The big event was the marriage of our daughter Shannon and Brian. They invited both his family and ours to a Florida beach house where they planned a wedding on the beach. It really turned out cool and we all had a great time all week. Here is a picture of the ceremony:

The ceremony really celebrated the joining of the two families. Her three kids and his two. Kim and I now have a new Son in Law and two new grandchildren. We are very happy about the additions.

We had all three of our sons and daughter in law and additional 2 grand children together. It was a memorable time. Here is a picture of the entire clan:

It was a very busy June. The race went well on the 15th. We did not have a huge turn out with only about 90 riders, but we got lucky with the weather and the guys had fun. That is the most important thing to me.

I was able to spend a bit of time with my brother Bob and his family when they made the annual trip to Arkansas. We spent the day at Eureka Springs and then went back to their condo for some swimming and a cook out.
Here is a picture from the train ride we took in Eureka Springs:

Kim got up one morning and looked outside and saw a new friend doing a little trimming on the lawn.

I spent the rest of the month doing brake jobs on the truck and the mustang and we rebuilt
Scott's motor in his motorcycle. I have not been doing any skiing because of the problems with the truck and weather issues.

We are camped out at Bull Shoals for the next week or so. Last night, my son Scott joined us and he did some skiing. He skied for a while on my slalom and then tried out the jumpers. Kim and I also got our first skiing in for the year. 

We will start the trip west to Colorado next week. We will spend most of August and September in the cool mountain air of Colorado unless we decide to do something different. We will see.

Family time

Life at the ranch has been busy. I have been getting ready for a race that is scheduled for June 15. This is the make up date for the race that was cancelled in March. We have had rain 15 out of the last 18 days. The ranch can take it, but it has been very wet. The woods look very green and are growing quickly. The trail work is about done. Now I just need to do about a day of mowing.

We are getting "hitch-itch" and are ready to get on the road again. We will start by just going to the lakes region along the Missouri/Arkansas border. I just hope the lakes are not too flooded. My brother is coming from Colorado, so we will try to spend some time with his family also.

Last week, Kim and I made a quick trip to Arkansas to see Michael, Audrey and the kids. Here is a good picture of the family:

We took lots of pictures of Cameron. He is getting so big. He is now 3.5 months.

Here is one with Grandma:

Grandpa got some quality time with Connor. We have a blast wrestling.

I love blueberries. So we got out and picked a few at a local farm.

We had a nice drive home up through the Ozarks. Here is a view from the Rotary Arm turnout on Highway 7:

These are some of the best street bike roads in the country. We saw many groups of riders enjoying the beautiful day. We also made a stop along the Buffalo River. It is a beautiful place and we know we need to get down there for a canoe trip:

We just got our feet wet for a while, but it was a nice break.

We got to work on our slide and it is now back to normal. I am very happy with the way it turned out.

I have to end on a beautiful sunset. Take time to enjoy yours.

Time Marches on

I was reading a few blogs the other day and looked at the last time I posted. I was a bit shocked that it has been a month and a half. I expected to write much less while we were staying at the ranch for a few months, but time kind of got away from me. I could say that there has not been much happening, but that would not be true. I think the reality is that I have been keeping very busy. It has almost been like work, but much more enjoyable and at my own pace. Here are a few highlights of the past couple of months:

Easter - We enjoyed having Michael and Audrey here for Easter. Here is a picture of Connor hunting eggs and Grandma holding little Cameron in the background.

Cameron is growing by the day and we will have to get down to see him soon. 

We sold the Toyhauler - As I posted in an earlier entry, we had a problem with one of the slides in the Ti. The damage was going to take a few bucks to fix. As luck would have it, I got a call from a friend in Tulsa that was looking for a Toyhauler. I agreed to sell him mine and it looks like it will work out perfect for both of us. The money was timely, but when they drove away it felt like a chapter of my life was ending. I put many miles on that trailer going to races all over the central US. We had some great times and now I hope the young couple from Tulsa can have some more great times. Here is a last picture for posterity:

That trailer taught me how to RV and led me to live the lifestyle that I do now. Thanks ole girl.

We had a beautiful spring. The dogwoods were very nice this year:

This is why we come to the ranch each spring. We love it here during the spring. As I write this now, all has changed. It looks like a tropical rain forest. Everything is green and you can't see very far through the woods. 

Shannon's kids are playing Spring sports. Isabella is playing soccer:

Shannon is coaching the team and her Brian is helping.

Good coaches have many duties. William is also playing soccer. Jacob is playing baseball.

Isabella had her first communion. Here is a great shot of three generations:

It was getting about time to take the boat out. The water was too cold to swim or ski, but it was good getting it out.

I love my boat!

We put on the race on May 4. It went very well and we were all quite pleased with the turnout and the overall race. We now have the makeup race on June 15 for the one we cancelled in March. It will be hotter than I like, but much of the course is done from the previous race.

We took the trailer in around the first of May and were without it for two weeks. That is when it is nice to have the ranch. We can just stay in the lodge or rock house. Here is a shot of the repair. It looks good. Now I just have to finish the inside of the slide.

I asked them to add the stainless steel plates to prevent this from happening again.

We had the opportunity to take all 5 kids (Shannon's 3 and her Brian's 2) to Silver Dollar City for a day. It was a bit cool, which was nice. We rode roller coasters and had a blast. Here are a couple shots of our new grand children. Here is Hannah, she is 14:

She is a very talented young lady. I am sure I will write more about her in coming entries.

Here is Eve, she is 6, almost 7:

Jacob got picked to be the assistant in the magic show:

Hannah and I rode "Outlaw Run". It is one of the top roller coasters in the country.

It was a very wild coaster. I really enjoyed it. Hannah is an old pro and has done it 10 times in a row. Once was enough for me.

The kids have just 3 days of school left. It is that very busy and exciting time of year for them. 

Our Plans (subject to change):

We are going to stay here at HHR until the June 15th race is over. We are then going to go down to Bull Shoals for the rest of June into early July. We will then go to Florida for Brian and Shannon's wedding the second week of July. When we get back, we will make a decision if we want more lake time, or if we are ready to move on to the mountains. We are heading to Colorado for much of August and September. We are expecting to be back to Missouri around October 15. We have a race at HHR just after Thanksgiving. We will then head south to Texas for the winter. That is about as planned as we get. 

Thanks for reading this very long entry.

Grandchildren, Motorcycles and a Bird.

We have settled in to a very relaxed life at the ranch. This is exactly what I was looking forward to. I keep active with working on the trails at the ranch to prepare for an event on May 3-4, but that has been at a relaxed pace - for now. I have also been doing some riding with some visitors and new members. I really enjoy showing people around this beautiful place.

We have also been enjoying some time with the grand kids. Jacob spent this past weekend at the ranch. We seem to be able to really enjoy them when it is one on one.

Last week William had a preschool presentation. Here is a picture of that. He never did smile. I don't know why he had such an attitude, that is not like him at all.

William is the one with the checkered shirt in the middle with the lack of a smile. 

Spring has come to the Ozarks. While out walking, I did get a few pictures of flowers. I think this is a crocus.

Some watercress in our spring pond. I think I will make a watercress salad.

We have a bird feeder by the trailer and love to watch the many types of birds that come and eat. We have a large picture windows on that side of the trailer. We have had a few birds fly into the window. They normally bounce off and just keep on going. One time one flew into our open door and knocked himself silly trying to get out. Kim picked him up and I let him sit on my finger for a while until we was ready to fly again. It was about 30 minutes of swapping stories and talking between two bird brains.

I think he is a Tufted Titmouse.

I went to a motorcyle race this past weekend to hang out with my son Scott. He has a job working for a race promoter. He does work in his shop during the week and then helps with races on the weekend. This was a very beautiful piece of property right along the Gasconade river. Here are a few shots.

They even got to ride through the middle of an old farm house. It was cool.

I will close this entry with a sunset and a picture of the rock house and our trailer sitting behind it. 

Enjoy your day.

A new bike for the Grandkids.

I have not been posting as often since we have been at HHR in Missouri. I have been catching up with friends, doing some riding and overall just enjoying a relaxed lifestyle. Have I mentioned how much I don't miss work?

I did need to make good on one promise I made before we left. My grandson William is 5. He loves anything with wheels. He loves to ride on my motorcycle and he likes to run the throttle. He rides his bike, scooter and 4 wheeler quite well. I made him the same deal I made my own children. If he learns to ride without training wheels, I will get him a motorcycle to ride. This is not his alone, this is for all of the grandkids to ride. I did my research and bought a Yamaha TTR 50 from one of my partners at the ranch that owns a motorcycle dealership. I went and picked William up from school and took him to the dealership. Here is a picture of him:

He was a happy boy. I then took him out to the ranch to give him the opportunity to ride it. He did very well, but it will be a while before he is confident.

If you want to get a laugh, watch this video. Here is Grandpa chasing William around. 

We have been having a very varied weather pattern. We have had some freezing temps and yesterday it was 80. We had two strong storms hit us yesterday, but thankfully no damage. It is spring and here. Here are our first daffodils to prove it:

We did have one of those little bumps on the road happen the other day. I noticed that we had a problem with the floor of our bedroom slide. This turns out to be a defect in the way the slide was built. I took out the interior and found this water damage. 

We are arranging now to get it repaired. This is just our closet, so no big deal. I do expect to have problems with the house (trailer) from time to time. We still love this trailer and the lifestyle. 

I will finish this post with a sunset picture. My brother sent me a note recently that said, you know when you are living life when you start noticing sunrises and sunsets.

Enjoy your Day!

Shawn