The 'Journey' has begun!!!! aka Chrissyb's USA Adventure!!!
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hi all, I am headed to Shell Knob early tomorrow morning and s/b there by suppertime!
Yes, it's a long drive, but if Chrissy can get here from Aus, I can get there from Wis.
signing off now to finish laundry and pack.. I think sleep will be elusive tonight!
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ChrissyB, you are infamous! You have people coming to see you from all over the US. You rock!
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I just googled Shell Knob. Looks like fun. If I didn't have to work (and had the money) I'd be joining you there.. Actually, if I didn't have to work and had the money, I'd be joining Chrissy on her trek across America to meet the BCO gals and see the USA.
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Hauntie - that sounds like a good plan. I am still considering kidnapping her and telling her DH he has to come get her and then keeping him here too! Actually I think my DH and I will try to go see her some time in the next year or two. It would be nice to just travel across the US and see all the girls.
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Chrissy--------and all have a great time at Shell Knob. Thought about just getting in the car and going, but I'm still recovering from our one day adventure in south Florida. Chrissy did any of the pics turn out from Dania and Miami? L&H&P's sheila
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Hi all! Yes I know I'm a bit slack and I've left you hanging waiting for the nexr installment so here we go..........
After sleeping like a baby and sleeping in as babies do from time to time Saturday started slowly for all of us. Sas-schatzi had driven from her home to meet us for lunch so off we went!. We went to an All you can eat Restaurant that served a great variety of salads, pasta, pizza and breads. They also had the best brownies that I have ever tasted!!! with icecream of course.....lol. After lunch, 3jays and her DH left to do some errands and I left to spend the rest of the day with Sas. We had a great time following the A1A highway down the coast toward South Beach.
The first stop we made was to Dania Beach. It was beautiful and the water so warm it was hard to remove ourselves from it....lol. We watched the sailing regatta that was way out from the shore and we also checked out the condos that were up the beach aways.
Sas drove and I looked and snapped away with the camera. There were a lot of Art Deco buildings as well as buildings from the hey day of Miami, the fifties. The best one was the Fontainbleau Hotel....it was amazing! Sas dropped me off and I raced inside and took some pics of the front Foyer while she circled the block. When she got back to pick me up, she told the consierge that she needed to use the bathroom so could she park in the drve for a few minutes and then raced in to have a look for herself. When she got back, we laughed ourselves silly while we headed off down the road again.
I was blown away by the amount of condos linning the A1A, both sides of the road until the land hit one of the waterways. They are so tall, they seem to go on forever.
We eventually reached South Beach, the place where the movie 'The Birdcage' was filmed and saw the main strip lit up at night.
After our tour, we headed back to Sas's hotel where we once again donned our bathers and had a swim in the pool. We sat and chatted to well after 2.00am when 3jays DH came to pick me up. I had such a wonderful fun day with Sas and I just want to say thankyou once again to her.
After such a late night and a busy day Sunday was used as a rest day, something both 3jays and I needed.
More to come!!!
Love n hugs. Chrissy
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Thankyou for more pictures chrissy, i sure am enjoying following your wonderful adventure and time with all of your beautiful friends, I think i speak for everyone when i say you are truely an inspiration to everyone on here. You are a brave woman to travel the world as you have. thanks for taking us along with you!!
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Chrissy can't wait to see you next week in San Antonio
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Hey Chrissy!!! Sounds like you are having an amazing journey. DH and I got back from our 6 week trip to the UK on Wednesday - it was great!!! I didn't want to come home, I should have flown over there to join you.
Sue
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Chrissy, I'm having so much fun on your trip!
Leah
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Leah - that's exactly how I feel. Chrissy you're doing such a great job describing your adventures and the pictures are so awsome, I feel like I'm right there with you. I'm trying to remember where you've taken us. Of course I remember New Jersey, then there was NYC and Philadelphia, then North Caroline, Florida, Missouri...Did I get them all? Where to next?
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3jays DH had been unwell for a couple of days already and on Monday, I also began to feel unwell so it was decided to have an easy day, run a couple of errands and perhaps check out a few sights on the way back and then rest. The thing that I have noticed most while on my travels is the road system here. We have a few freeways and express ways but nothing that equals what you have here either in size or volume of traffic that they can handle. You might think this is a weird subject for a woman, and I can assure you that I am one......lol........but I have found the subject fascinating.
After a good day of rest, I was feeling a little better and my time in Florida was coming to an end so we decided to take a trip out to the beautiful Butterfly World. 3jays had been telling me about this place for a while and I was very interested to check it out.
On arrival, we were standing outside the car just getting organised and I looked up to see this little fellow sitting not far from where we were.
He was very busy digging up the nuts he had buried earlier and eating them very quickly right in front of us. It was soooo cute..........I never realised that these little animals were so tiny, I had always imagined them to be a bit bigger.
We headed for the front door and entered a beautifully cool building that led us through to the aviaries. The first one we visited was for the butterflys and oh boy!!! were there some beautiful butterflys just flitting around everywhere! It was truly amazing and I was mesmerised and tried to capture as many as possible on the camera!
And this tree was just filled with them.
It wasn't just the butterflys that were beautiful and interesting to look at but the plants that they survived on. Luckily each one was named so if you wanted and you lived in that climate, you could plant the same ones in your own garden to encourage butterflys to it.
The next area we visited was the aviary with the Lorakeets. They were so friendly, and you could feed them the special fruit juice that the keepers supplied to you for a small fee. As soon as you had the juice in the small cups the birds came straight to you and sat on our hands and arms and fought as they jockied for the closest position. They ended up flicking just as much juice on us and themselves as they actually drank.
From this aviary, we made our way across a bouncing bridge, (which was fun), and at the end of it, there sat two pairs of the most beautiful Macaw Parrots! They were not tethered in anyway but were quite content to just sit there util they were fed by the keeper.
From there were passed into the small bird aviary where we saw tiny honey eaters and finches of many colors.
By the time we had made our way through, it was being announced that the park was about to close so we were required to make our way through to the front door. We went on home and cooled off and then had tea (dinner) and then decided to go to the Krispy Kreme Factory as I had been craving one from the day I arrived.
It was mind boggling to watch those thousands of donuts on the conveyers being glazed and packaged.
Wednesday was my last day in Florida and it was spent sorting and packing my things ready for the next leg of my journey. I had been buying a few things here and there but it had gotten to the point where I needed to box a few things up and post them home as I was carrying too much in my suitcase.
3jays and her DH took me out to dinner that night and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. On returning home to their house we sat down and went through a few new things on the computer for 3jays before going to bed as I had a very early morning start, like 4.00am. The flight to Branson Missourri was due to leave at 6.00am.
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Chrissy The butterfly sanctuaries ----there is a better word ,but can't remember it------have become very popular in Florida. In a do over, I seriously would consider it as a career being a keeper. The Key West butterfly sanctuary was the most calming uplifting place I have ever been.
The background music was soothing to the whole body, the butterflies endless beauty, the plants ---there are host plants and nectar plants, all beautiful, and rocks and streams. Very ZEN and FENG SHUI. B/C of these sanctuaries more and more people are planting in their yards to attract the butterflies. Every year we see more. There is one women in Mid Florida---Kississimee area who planted on a wide space(?) she documented having attracted all 53 types of Florida butterflies. Can you Imagine morning coffee in that setting.
Pics are superlative ! Glad ya'll got to the Krispy Kreme factory. You could be the poster girl for bringing them to Australia LOL
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Chrissy - love the squirrel pics - that's what I wanted to see in the UK and was finally rewarded.
Keep having fun!!!
We have Krispy Kremes here already
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Chrissy, I'm having a great time on your trip! Thanks so much for posting pics.
Kathy
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When you get home you should write a book. Seriously!
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Chrissy, those were my favorites of all your pictures! Wow!
I am also a Krispy Kreme fan. I left the U.S. to live in Israel before they started and then on a few visits I kept hearing about them but didn't have any and sort of wondered what the fuss was about. Then on one visit I decided to try them and I learned immediately what the fuss was about! Yum.
Leah
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keep goin Chrissy....we are all waiting with baited breath for each detail.....YOU ROCK!!!!!!America loves you.xoxoxoK0
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The early morning flight left right on time.......6.00am! .....UGH!!!!......I had planned to listen to my ipod music so I got it all set up and my book out to read and promptly fell asleep! .....Yup you got it I slept all the way to Atlanta. I must admit that it made the flight go a lot faster......lol. After disembarking, I found a café/diner and got myself a bit of breakfast before heading to the boarding lounge for the next leg. It was here that I was to meet up with Amyjo and when I arrived I did not see her so found myself a seat near the back wall and ended up curling up and using my bag for a pillow and dozed my way through the next hour and only woke properly when they announced our flight. I looked around but still couldn't see Amyjo and was a bit worried that for some reason she had not made the flight but as I walked forward to the line up, there she was, sitting in the front row worrying that I had not made the flight!
Once again I slept most of the way to Branson and only woke when the Pilot announced that we were nearing our destination and letting us know that the day was cloudy with a chance of rain. It was pouring!!!!!! When we landed and only stayed dry due to the covered walkway. We were ferried to the baggage claim area where we were met by MissKitty who had volunteered to pick us up and drive us the rest of the way to Shell Knob. All I can say is that the drive, even though a wet one showed me some of the beauty that I was soon to experience. By the time we arrived at Uncle Bill's the rain had cleared and left a still cloudy but fine day. Marybe was there to greet us and there were many hugs between us all. Marybe showed us into the house with all our luggage, (mainly mine....lol) and I couldn't wait to pull the camera from its bag to take some snaps.
We sat around chatting as we knew we would until late and Marybe prepared hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and served them with German Potato salad and Macaronni Cheese with frozen Magaritas and Bourbon slushies........oh boy! they were Yum!!!
We were all pretty tired and the following day the fifth of our little group was due to arrive so we headed for our beds and much needed sleep.
Friday dawned a little foggy and cool but as we sat and ate our breakfast and dawdled over coffee, we watched as the fog began to lift and burn away as the sunlight got a little stronger. There was movement in the trees outside the house so we peered to see what was causing the tree limbs to be bobbing around madly. There were about four little squirrels playing chase and jumping from one limb to another, gambolling along that limb and then jumping to another. After awhile three of them went in another direction and one stayed around to feast on the end of season nuts that some of the trees produce.
It was decided that we would go and check out an animal shelter that was about twenty five miles away but somehow along the way we meandered off the main road and followed the farmroads through the deep dark woodland. We were laughing and joking a lot about the possibility of coming across an illegal still and some one guarding it with a corncob pipe in his mouth and a long barrel shotgun on his arm we were so deep in them thar woods! Fortunately for us we came through just fine and eventually found our way to the shelter where we were given a tour by the manager/owner.
It was heart breaking to see all those dogs and cats in such a situation but I guess that is the reality when people don't do the right thing by their pets. Fortunately in this particular shelter, they let them live out their lives in a place that is safe and comfortable with plenty of food and love.
On returning to Shell Knob it was not long before Badger arrived. Bless her heart, she had driven all the way from Wisconsin! What a journey! I'm so happy that she came and just in time for Marybe's fondue. It was delicious!
Believe me when I say that there were many words exchanged that night and much laughter and the night got quite late before we all were in need of sleep.
Love n hugs to all till next time! Chrissy
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Can't wait to meet you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PM your plans for SA and we'll see if we can't help you get around. It sure is hot here still, we were at 102 degrees today.
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so happy to have some idea of shell knob!!! i was dying for these pictures, ladies.. sounds like a lot of fun talking, and laughing... i'm sooo jealous.. a big hug to you all!!!! 3jays
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awww Chrissy...what a saga..
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well it was a whirlwind mini-vacation, but worth every mile!
Shell Knob is beautiful and the company was excellent.
so glad I went on this adventure! {{hugs}} to all
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Saturday morning was again overcast and the temperature a little brisker than the day before. I was actually enjoying the fact that there was a little cool air....... I'm really enjoying the change in the season and each day the leaves are just a little bit more colored. Breakfast was beautiful and so scrumtious! MissKitty prepared the best soufflé I have had in a long while! There was also cinnamon roll and fresh fruit salad and freshly brewed coffee ......... a feast for sure! There was a strange car pull up in the drive way and this strange figure stepped out from it. We invited her to eat with us but she somehow kept refering to the weather. I was wondering if anyone could identify her? This was taken a little later in the day as she seemed to dog our heels.
Again there was more talking and laughing and it was a few hours before we each got out of our pyjamas ......... it was almost like a big pyjama party........ you know, one for big girls.......lol. Once we were all dressed we decided to take a trip over to Eureka Springs in Arkansas but before we left Shell Knob, we had a look around the 'Shakin' in the Shell', a community run festival where people can show case their restored cars, their handcraft and wares and groups can raise some extra cash that is always needed. We found that the Animal Shelter that we visited the day before was running a dog show and the highlight was the 'Ugly Dog Contest'. This is the winner!
And this the runner up.
They run this contest with the hopes of getting some of their dogs adopted and some years are more successful than others. This year two of their dogs found new homes including this old darling who is thirteen and was crowned Queen of the show by popular vote.
We had a wander through the tents and had a quick look at a few of the cars .......there were quite a few there and some of them very desirable vehicles. Then we headed for eureka springs!
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Think the ugliest dog winner is actually quite adorable! So glad to continue to get the updates, you really are seeing quite the scope of this place. Thanks for sharing and continued safe and fun travels!
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Chrissy-------so who did the extra person turn out to be???????? did I miss that?????
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I was wondering the same thing.
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From the middies thread it was chrissyb, marybe, amyyjo, badger, misskitty, and elimar (the little pink dog in the above pic lol)
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I would have spotted Elimar anywhere!!
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