Lee's Summit & Lebanon, Missouri

Last week, my Mom, Sister Jennifer, and I boarded a plane to Kansas City, Missouri.  We met up with my Aunt Barb at the airport and rented a car for the week.  My grandmother’s family is in the area of Lee’s Summit and my grandfather’s family is in the area of Lebanon.  We had plans to see both sets of family and my aunt did a great job of rounded up the maximum amount of people.  It was a pretty big deal with my Mom traveling all the way to MO.  She has not been back there in many years.  The highlight of the trip was to see my Great Uncle Wilbert, who will be 95 next year.

On Wednesday evening, we met up with my Cousin Lindsay (sort of named after me but my name is a family name) and her mother, Delilah.  Lindsay has the cutest two boys and we were able to meet her husband.  It was a very nice visit.

We were super tired after our long day of travel and finally made it to our hotel room late that evening.  The first two nights we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Lee’s Summit.  The breakfast was really good.

On Thursday, we visited with our Lee’s Summit cousins.  Sadly, my cousin’s wife Mary Sue had fallen and broke her arm the day before so our visit with her was in the hospital.  It was a fairly minor break that needed surgery and she came through with flying colors.  Our Cousin Floyd gave us a driving tour of Kansas City and afterward, we had a get-together with all the other cousins.  My cousin, Dot, got an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.  It was delicious.  I had so much fun meeting the next generation of cousins.

Friday, we headed towards Lebanon.  Along the route we saw a cheese store so we had to stop and sample some cheese.  I miss our cheese factory in Nampa.  We didn’t stop at the Amish Trading Post but on the drive between the cheese shop and Lebanon, we spotted a horse drawn carriage with a driver.  It was really neat.  We also spotted a deal armadillo on the side of the road!

Friday through Monday was spent visiting the Lebanon cousins.  We mostly gathered at Cousin Glenda’s house but also visited the old homestead in Ola as well as had a picnic at the riverbank.  All of the cousin’s on my Mom’s generation came together for a noon lunch at T’s Saloon in Lebanon.  The food was served cold but still tasty.  My Mom’s cousins came into town from Minnesota and Oklahoma as well as a few that drove over an hour to be there for our visit.

I made a special trip to Rolla to meet/visit with my Weight Watcher Buddy Nichole.  We’ve been friends for a few years after “meeting” on the WW message boards and finally met “IRL” (in-real life), which is what they say in the WW circuit.  I’ve already starting thinking about our next trip to MO, which will start in St. Louis so I can have extra time to visit with her again (and her cute daughter).

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with family and I always wish they lived closer.  Many times I found myself tearing up realizing that this could be the last time I see Uncle Wilbert.  My Great Aunt Pauline passed away a few months ago.  We had our trip planned, flights booked, and the hotels reserved when we heard that she was no longer with us.  Life is too short to put off spending time with those you love.  Make the time to do so before it is too late.

Our final night was spent back in Kansas City where my aunt rented a room at the Ameristar Casino.  I had some gambling money with me and we learned there was $6 pitchers of beer during the Kansas City Chief’s football game.  We staked out a spot in the bar and had a great time drinking, laughing, more drinking, and more laughing.  I didn’t have much time to gamble so I ended up breaking even.

We had a very short layover in Las Vegas on our way back to Boise.  I put a little money into the slot machines and ended up coming out $52 ahead.  Not a bad way to end a really great week.