My American Experience 2010 (part 2)

Now where was I? Oh that’s right – listening to that awful football match on our way from Lincoln, Nebraska down to Neosho, Missouri!

After more miles than I care to remember and several hours later we arrived in Neosho at our ‘home from home’. Black clouds have threatened for several hours as we worked our way south and we were not disappointed to hear rumbles of thunder in the distance. Summer in Neosho is lovely except for the really high humidity – a good downpour really helps to clear the air. And that is just what we got – a good downpour for several hours! It’s amazing to sit on the front porch and watch the weather roll in.

Our time in Neosho is generally spent relaxing and shopping, Walmart is a real favourite as is the nearest mall which is in Joplin, about 30 miles away. I love Bath and Body Works. I probably spend more there than I would ever spend on soaps and stuff at home but they are just so nice! As the summer sale was on I managed to get some bargains plus a saving of $10 on $30 spend – John said we’d never get the $10 off, he was wrong. I ended up with about $70 worth for $25!!! And then there’s Hobby Lobby – I wish we had them over here in the UK! I could have so many hobbies!! I bought more yarn but I really need to get going and actually use some of it – I’m running out of storage space!

To give our hosts a break, John and I took ourselves off to a lovely place called Eureka Springs in Arkansas for an overnight stay which we spent at the Red Bud Manor Inn where we were very well looked after by the owner, Deb. She recommended good places to eat and we opted for Italian at Ermilio’s. It was absolutely delicious and the waitress was so fascinated by our accents we got very special service that evening!

                                      

We had a very comfortable night and a delicious breakfast on the side porch before paying for our stay. Panic. John’s wallet had an empty slot where his Visa card should be! We backtracked and remembered that the last time he had used it was the previous night – slight problem in that they only opened between 5-9pm. Deb kindly phoned and somebody was there and they confirmed that they did have the card.

A few days later we all went off for a day out of a scenic railway. The alarm went off at 5.15am as we had to be at the station for 7.30 and had an hour and a half drive! We were headed of to Van Buren, Arkansas which I’m sure is a lovely place. If it’s not raining cats and dogs. All day long. We had left home unsure of the weather as it was still quite dark but by the time we were half way there the heavens opened – we spent the day hopping (in my flip-flops) from shop to shop avoiding the puddles and trying to keep dry. I did have a lovely time in a fabric store though – and ended up feeling that I was more than able to make a quilt, after all there was a lady in the store who only started quilting four months previously and had made about six quilts now – and they were amazing. I bought some fabric. I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to using it – I am not a sewing type. Crochet – yes, cross stitch – yes (well, not lately ‘cos I can’t see so well!), knitting – yes. Sewing – well, no not really. But I do want to. Really. Anyway, I’m rambling – again!

And then of course we had July 4th! As it was a Sunday this year most celebrations were held on the Monday but we did go to fireworks in a small town called Granby – they do quite a good show for such a small place and the people watching is second to none!

I just kept clicking until one came out better than the others! 

Thanks for sticking with me – almost done now! We always go to a show in Branson when we visit and this year we saw Jim Stafford (remember ‘Spiders and Snakes’ from the 70s?) which was a really good show.

Sadly all good things must come to an end and so we end up back at Kansas City airport for our return flight. You’ll never guess why take-off was delayed! Bloomin’ Air Force 1 had priority over us! Can you imagine, did they not know how important we were?

So we’re back in blighty, on the bus from the airport to the car park when John says ‘Where’s the small black bag?’ he’d only gone and left it on the luggage trolley! So we weighed up whether it was worth the hassle of trying to track it down. It was only books and hairbrushes. And the camera – too right we had to get it back! Almost three weeks of memories were in  that bag. And do you know? It was the easiest thing to get it back, the staff were so helpful and within an hour of discovering the loss it was back in our hands. Thank you Terminal 3 at Heathrow!

All those miles of interstate and freeway and then the M25 near Heathrow!!

So that’s it for a while, back to normal now work, work and more work. Never mind that’s what makes the holidays worth waiting for!!