Woodsie

So on the way to St Louis, The Husband tells me we are stopping in Terra Haute to break up the trip. I'm thinking, "Why does that sound familiar?"

Well... considering my niece Megan has been going to school near there for three years perhaps it should!

Lucky me! I gave her a call when we rolled into town and she came to pick me up and gave me a tour of the St. Mary of the Woods campus - plus I got to take a ride in her shiny new car!

She told me the legend of the bridge - which I cannot remember too clearly. Something about if the bells from the tower ring while you are crossing headed one direction your true calling is to become a nun of the order there - if it catches you crossing the other way you are soon to meet your true love.

Lucky for me the bells didn't ring - so no career change is in store!

It was great to see her and her school even if it was too dark to capture too many images.

Beautiful Trees

The whole way to St. Louis we kept seeing the most beautiful bursts of purple color along the road.

Well, that and a bonus number of sightings while playing HAWK!

Great game - almost as good as the license pate game...

Best part was when I sighted a coyote!

I digress - the trees are Eastern Redbuds and I want one!

Jefferson

The Museum of Westward Expansion is great - they pack a ton of information in there!

Of course it is dedicated to my pal Thomas Jefferson.

One cool dude.

(Except for the slaves and such but I'm pretty sure he'd realize now that was a very bad idea...)

Shutterbugs

It is nice to hang out with someone who takes almost as many pictures as me.

Instead of getting "the look"

Do you know the one?

The one that says, "I do not know her. She is clearly an insane woman who is receiving messages from the mother ship to send back more and more data for research. She means you no real harm though, as long as you don't block her shot. Someday her photos will save the planet. Or at least make really nice scrapbooks - I do like the scrapbooks. They're neat. Just not so many pictures please?"

Top of the town

Made the journey up in the arch - what a view!

We came to town for the 10th Annual Hot Wheels Nationals so I got to spend some quality time with my pal Edwina.

Yea!

Guess where we went

Can you figure it out?

Vegas, Baby!

Let's review those important sins we all live in mortal fear of... m'kay?

Because I blew all of them last week in Vegas celebrating the husband's 50th birthday!

Here we go:

Let's start with GREED - the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. Shiny machines spiting out easy money. Enough said? Maybe not. The slots I picked gave all the money to someone else - probably to save my soul. Thank you cosmic universe.

Then there is GLUTTONY - an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires. Food, drink - Dionysus would have been so proud.

LUST - an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body. After years of travel there, I finally made it to a real old school Vegas topless review. Fabulous! Spectacular! Best of all.... SHINY! I love the shiny. How does that tag line go? "The headdress weighs 35 lbs. but the rest of the costume could fit in a teacup." Bally's Jubilee! was well worth the wait.

There was a wee tinge of ENVY as well. The desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation. On one hand, most of the fashions I saw in the windows of the myriad shops I would not have worn to a trailer park (no offense intended to any readers who may reside in a trailer park... but you know... the reputation and all) however: the jewelry stores were another matter entirely. Want. Want. Want. Naughty Connie.

Ah PRIDE - excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. And frankly that applies when we are overly enamored of our children's beauty and accomplishment as well. Seriously? He's that good looking and can stack a double tower of all the creamers on the table to entertain his mother while we wait for dinner? Righteous!

Then there is SLOTH - the avoidance of physical or spiritual work. No work. No school. Very little deep thinking. There was a LOT of walking though so perhaps I was not a super sloth. But I tried really, really, hard. Really.

And lastly I am left with ANGER - manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. Anger that we do not get to play there everyday. Anger that I have not yet visited the real Paris, the real Pyramids, the real Venice. Anger that I sometimes do not appreciate every single day even we don't.

So there is today's cosmological examination.

Now you'll probably have to go to confession as I have likely corrupted you with only the telling of my sordid story.

Have you learned your lesson?!

Over the Falls in a barrel

As promised - the vacation within the vacation!

Took a detour on the way home from fishing to see Niagara Falls.

Enjoy some of the photos from our walking tour to see one of North America's finest natural wonders!

Our hotel was very nice and very reasonably priced - just a few steps from Casino Niagara and a hop, skip, and jump from the Falls!

Our Canadian neighbors have done a beautiful job landscaping the walking path along the falls.

You can see the proximity of our hotel using the Casino Niagara tower as a landmark.

The Skylon Tower - next trip I'd love to see the view from the top!

The American Falls

I was excited to see that the binocular stands for closer viewing are still there! I remember these from a trip here as a child. (I think the cost has gone up!)

The illumination station used to light the Falls after dark. Serious wattage here folks!

Me in front of the Canadian Falls: Horseshoe Falls

Be careful! Here be spiders! (Seriously, as we waited for dark when they lit the falls - out came the bugs and spiders to feast on them...The wrought iron provides awesome web building potential!)

Beautiful sunset!

A quick visit to Fallsview Casino

Last but not least - the Sky Wheel. So cool! Next time I'm on it!

One more stop for next time - even John couldn't finish a chocolate dipped in chocolate THAT big!

And no - I didn't really go over the Falls in a barrel - after all, only ten of the seventeen who've tried it survived to tell the tale! Who would have written this post!?

It's Canada, Eh!

We've just returned from another year of Canadian fishing wonderfulness. This year we visited Woodland Echoes Cottage Resort in Magnetawan, Ontario. As usual, we picked a week where "they weren't biting much" but since we just put 'em right back in again, I guess it's all the same in the end.

I've come a long way since the first year John took The Boy and I into the wilds of Quebec. That time we had a propane stove and refrigerator, a wood stove for heat, and there were no electrical outlets, but we did have light from the generator from dusk to midnight - special! And it was only about three hours to the nearest store that sold canned food and beverages - neat! Did I mentioned it rained every day that week? And yet I signed up for a second vacation filled with the same amenities the next year. During that second year I added amateur exterminator to my list of many skills...

Like I say - I've come a long way!

This place was a resort with many activities. Not only did we have power, we had satellite television (my new favorite show is Trailer Park Boys - don't judge!), a jacuzzi tub, fireplace, microwave, and wireless Internet. Yup. Welcome to the new millennium!

Enjoy this random photo montage prepared especially for my friends here in Bloglandia! Um, you may want to get a frosty beverage while they load!

big (enough) sky country!

tether-ball anyone?

lovely gardens all about the grounds

ah... sunset!

morning herbal tea on my Adirondack chair

meet my new guy for mani-pedies

I think the black queen is looking at me...

just dipping in my toes

mink!

can't get enough of these awesome skies

morning comes to the dock

steam boat tours

one of my loonie friends

an end to another gorgeous day

our neighbors the ducks

you should know by now that I can't resist a flower

hello Mr Bee!

Freddie Froggy

(don't ask John how many shots I took to get this one...)

birdwatching

more flora

Mr Blue Jay

seriously, I sat for about 30 minutes waiting to get this shot of the hummingbird, wondering if it would even come back! it is awful - but I'm claiming it anyway! he's right there in the upper left in front of the flower... really.

this more sensible model posed much better

brightly colored sails

and another brilliant sky!

Next up: the vacation within the vacation! Stay tuned!