Traveling the American Road

When our grandson stayed with us for a week, we told him he could choose anything he wanted to do or anyplace he wanted to go.

After spending an entire day on the internet, he finally came up with an idea.

He told us he wanted to go to Riders in The Wind. I hadn’t heard about Riders in The Wind, and I had to ask him about it. He told me there were ponies rides, camel rides, and face painting before the event. There were horses and trick riders were on the horses. He saw a video where one rider was doing a split with his feet on different horses while going around the center ring. He was so excited about what he saw he was jumping up and down. When Papa got home, I told him what Sam wanted to do this week. He frowned and whispered the same question I had asked. What is Riders in The Wind. i told him he would need to google it and find out. He needed to buy tickets for all of us so we could take him. He especially wanted to go on the camel ride and get his face painted. My husband didn’t lookk overly enthused with the idea, but there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for Sam. He told me how much he had to pay for the tickets, but the face painting, pony ride, and camel ride had to be paid for when we got to the venue. I supposed it was like the circus, but hopefully they didn’t have clowns. I also hoped they had air conditioning and air purification, because the place was going to stink with all those horses.

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When we moved to The Villages, FL, all our neighbors were telling us we had to visit Gilded Matilda’s.

I thought it had to be some kind of bar, if you thought about their name.

My husband told me you can’t judge a book by its cover. I was talking to Angie, one of our neighbors, and she told me Gilded Matilda’s is a one of kind store. Apparently, Gilded Matilda’s features local artists and their artwork. They have home and garden decor, and she showed me some things she bought for her house. She was showing me the love jewelry and accessories she found at Gilded Matilda’s. There were gourmet gifts, Dixie Belle chalk paint and more than she could tell me. She told me the only way you could understand what Gilded Matilda’s was, was to go there. My husband wasn’t interested in going to a ‘junk’ store. He told me he would sty home in the air conditioning while I went. I didn’t want to go alone, and the next time I talked to Angie, I told her what my husband said. She laughed and confided she was hoping my husband was like hers. She wanted someone who would go to Gilded Matilda’s with her, because her husband couldn’t stand going into ‘junk’ shops either. Gilded Matilda’s was not a ‘junk’ shop, as our husbands called it. It was a menagerie of fun and interesting odds and ends. I was glad Angie took me to Gilded Matilda’s, because I’ll be going back with her, often, with or without our husbands..

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As you are walking into the Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History there is a thank you sign.

It thanks people for visiting and supporting their cause.

The Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History is open 361 days a year. There are more than 1000 animals from 137 species. This includes 24 animals that are on the endangered species list. The Great Plains zoo is over 45 acres with up-close views to animals not normally found in the larger zoos. These animals include Bears, tigers, primates, rhinos, an award-winning Snow Monkey exhibit, and giraffes. Along with the live animals they also have the Delbridge Museum of Natural History. The museum houses a collection of 150 mounted animals that includes 38 ‘vanishing species’. The first time I was in the zoo, I was overwhelmed with everything I was seeing. I couldn’t believe all the wild animals I could see. I was a bit put-off by the mounted animals. I thought it was cruel and inhuman, but when I was told they were found dead, or killed. After coming here for a couple of years, I knew I wanted to work here. They had some hired employees, and I was willing to be a guide, if that is all they offered. I have no problem telling people who are new to the area that the Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History is a must-see. Maybe someday they’ll realize what a good employee I could be and hire me. I thought it may be because I was almost seventy, but they do have a sign on the wall that says they don’t discriminate.

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I had some college friends come home with me this spring.

None of them had been to Sioux Falls before and I had kept telling them how nice it is.

It was the start of spring vacation and neither of them had anywhere to go. When we got home, it was the middle of April, the temperature was about seventy degrees and too nice to be inside. I asked if either of them would like to go on an adventure. We had a Sioux Falls Scavenger Hunt that was loads of fun. I told Jolie to bring her smartphone, because this was a self-guided tour. We grabbed the bikes that were in the garage and headed out. We saw several landmarks and even went to go to the waterfalls. There were clues, puzzles to solve and even some huge challenges. We were having a blast, but our legs were getting tired. About the time we were done with the scavenger hunt, we were ready to be done. None of them got crowned scavenger hunt champion, but we had a blast. Jenny told me that was the best way to get to Sioux Falls and she wanted to come back in the summer. I told her it was ninety degrees in the summer, and we couldn’t bike in that heat, but we could always take the car. She laughed and told me she would be back in the summer, as long as we had air conditioning in the car. Mom couldn’t believe we had biked all over Sioux Falls to do the scavenger hunt. I laughed when she told me if I had waited another hour, she would have gone with us.

 

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She told me she didn’t think I would ever be happy.

I moved to St. Petersburg, FL because I was tired of the cold and snow of the winter. I wanted to live where half my year wasn’t spent in pain and suffering, and I could never get warm enough. I read that even on the coldest days, it never got below fifty degrees, and that was night-time temperatures. My achy bones wouldn’t be screaming at me, and I thought this would be the best place for me to live. That my sister lived here was also a big draw. When summer arrived, I couldn’t believe how hot and muggy it became. I must have forgotten how hot and humid it got in the summers back home, but this seemed worse. My sister told me she had just talked to her daughter, and it was supposed to be in the nineties all week, along with having tropical humidity levels. I shivered, remembering those days back home. That’s when I wished I lived some place where they had cooler summers. When she laughed at me, I had to laugh. She told me she didn’t think I would ever be happy. We went for a walk early that morning so we could get in early before it got too hot to be outside. We headed to the Saturday morning marketplace and got some much needed veggies and fruits. We then headed home, where we had air conditioning to keep us more comfortable. We hurried back to the house because we were both worried about our fresh fruit going bad if we didn’t get it out of the heat.

 

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While we were visiting family in St.

• Petersburg, FL, I wanted to go see The Sunken Gardens.

The Sunken Gardens is 4 acres of beautiful botanical gardens that is in the center of St. Petersburg, FL. The entire time we were in the Sunken Gardens, my husband was complaining. He complained about the heat and asked if there was anywhere he could get out of the sun. Soon, he was complaining about being hungry and how there weren’t any excellent restaurants in the gardens. When he complained about how much he had to pay to come into the gardens, they should have served champagne. He then told me he had enough, and he was ready to go home. When we got back to the house, I went to the bedroom and slammed the door, while he sat in the kitchen with a glass of wine. My daughter asked me what was wrong, and I told her father said the Sunken Gardens were just okay. She shrugged and asked me if that was it. She thought the Sunken Gardens were just okay, too. I rolled my eyes and showed her out the door. I loved the Sunken Gardens, but that didn’t mean everyone had to love it. I knew my husband wasn’t a flower lover, but he didn’t need to voice it so loudly. My daughter crossed her arms and told me she thought I owed her father an apology. By the time I got downstairs, my husband had another glass of wine sitting next to him. He apologized first and told me would be much nicer the next time, but we needed to come in the winter when it was so hot his brain was frying. I had to laugh at him.

 

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I was anxious about the first snowfall

My husband and I were both retired, and were looking for a nice place to move into. I no longer wanted to take care of a five bedroom, three bathroom home. The house was amazing when we had six kids living at home, but it was just he and I now. When we read how much lower the cost of living is in Springfield, we started looking for a home. The biggest downside to moving to Springfield is that the summers are hot and humid, and the winters are cold and snowy. We had those same weather conditions where we lived. The cost of living drew us in, but it was Springfield itself that kept us interested. It was said there was a lot of crime in Springfield, but we had moved from an area where crime was also prevalent. We found a lovely little home in an area that was filled with people our age. There were few children, which I didn’t mind. I figured with only two bedrooms; we didn’t have any worries about the kids staying for any length of time. If they wanted to visit, there were plenty of hotels in the area, and they weren’t overly expensive. The home we bought cost half of what we got for our house, and we had plenty of money in the bank to do what we wanted. I was anxious about the first snowfall. I loved snow, and I already knew we had excellent HVAC in the house, or we wouldn’t have bought it. I wanted to take a walk in the first snowstorm, with my husband by my side, just like we did on our first date.

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I had never been to Pythian Home of Missouri, but I planned to go there some day.

My sister was one of those people who loved a good ghost story, and she was visiting me.

The minute school was over and she graduated high school, she told our mom she was spending the summer with me. After college, I got a job here in Springfield, MO, and loved it here. It thrilled me to have her visit, and I wanted her to meet some of my friends. Apparently, she had been grabbing brochures in the airport. The first thing she wanted to do while in Springfield was go to the Pythian Home of Missouri. She is a history nut, and she had read it was used to house POWs during WWII. She read the house was haunted, and they also knew it as the Pythian Castle. I didn’t know that, and I lived here for five years now. She told me the ghost hunters spent time in Pythian Castle, but she didn’t tell me what they found. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to Pythian Castle. I had seen some of those ghost hunter shows, and they scared the daylights out of me. If there are ghosts there, I didn’t want to know or feel the cold that supposedly happens when one walks by you. I hated the humid summers here. My air conditioning was running overtime all summer, but I didn’t want to be ghostly old. I told her we could go to Pythian Castle only if we went to the mystery theater. One of my friends went with her.

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When I moved to South Bend, IN.

I knew it was a great place to live. I moved to an area that was full of things for my kids to do, and where I knew they would be safe. I had been told that when it’s hot, go to Kennedy Water Playground. It was a water park designed just for kids. The water was only a foot deep and there were splash pads. What they didn’t tell me was that Kennedy Water Playground was no longer open. I was looking for the water playground, but I couldn’t find it online. They had directions, but that was it. Then I started reading the reviews. One person said not to waste your time going to the Kennedy Water Playground because it was closed…permanently. It was supposed to be scorching hot, I had no pool in my backyard, and the one place I was told was perfect for kids was closed. I had to go in search of something else for them to do. I found a place in town that rented kayaks and other river gear. I rented a pedal boat that was big enough for my two kids and me. We had a great time pedaling around the Big Sioux River. They were splashing each other with the water and laughing. They started out bummed because they had to stay in the house all day because of the heat. I promised to make them a tent in the living room, and I would turn the thermostat lower so it wouldn’t be too warm. I would have never thought of pedaling around a river would make them so happy. I knew I was enjoying myself, even if I was doing most of the pedaling.

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Living in South Bend, IN has more than just a nice place to live.

It has museums, casinos, and other fun places to go.

One thing I enjoyed was Thistleberry Farm. Every year, starting in mid-September, they had a corn maze. By the time Halloween came around, and they had their spooky hayrides, it got quite cool. We had to wear heavy clothing, since all the excitement happened after dark. The corn maze was huge, and I often got lost. That wasn’t a bad thing when I went with my boyfriend. Of course, my parents realized I was in the corn maze much too long, and found me kissing my boyfriend, which wasn’t fun. He broke up with me shortly after that. I don’t think I’ll ever forget all the fun I had at Thistleberry Farm. When I got older, I took my kids to Thistleberry Farm for the fall festivities. They love the corn maze, the hayrides, and even the pumpkin patch. From the time they were little, I would take them to the pumpkin patch to get the pumpkins for the jack-lanterns. I’m hoping that when they have kids, Thistleberry Farm is still here with all they offer for fall fun. I’m sure there will be other things to do in South Bend by the time they grow up. I can only hope there will be fall evenings when it is cold enough to bundle up. Those cold evenings with hot chocolate and beanie caps will always be memories I will cherish, and hope my kids can cherish too.
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