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.
