Flowers 08-01-14

It was a most unusual Roadside Rest Stop and I am not sure if it was in Missouri or Indiana.  I'd spent the night in Columbus, MO, and was on my way to Marion, IN, when I stopped for a walk around and to visit the facilities.  Someone has obviously spent a good deal of time tending the flowerbeds - they were spectacular. 

 

  I took my traditional picture of my car showing the license plate, just to prove I really was on a trip.  Unlike the landing on the moon. .

 

 

Coneflower with bee.

Coneflower sans bee.

Nicotiana (tobacco plant)

I have no idea what this is (see below) - Lobelia and Pinks in the lower right.

 

This is how this strange plant grows.  Anyone know what it is?

Friend Deb McKay identifies this as Amaranth - Splendens Perfecta.

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Wordless Wednesday 07-31-14

 

Indiana Roadside Rest  July 2014

 

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Thinking of Corky 07-29-14

Corky was born on this day in 1996 and died on November 17, 2013.  I miss him more than I can express, but I look at his pictures frequently and they make me smile and remember him with love.

2003 This always makes me smile - vicious Corky protecting his mommy? 

No, it is just a huge yawn.

His daddy sent this picture.  I would caption it, "The things they make me do are embarrassing."

"Let's go this way." on the 4th of July.

Sometimes he would be asleep and want to stretch out, but was too tired to actually get up and out of his bed.  So, he was half in and half out and sound asleep.

He always loved his stroller which he needed more and more as the years went by. But it made him smile and everyone who saw him in it smiled also.

 Sometimes he would get in a snit because I wouldn't do what he wanted me to. In this case, go to bed and turn out the light.

A vet told me once that sleeping was what dogs do a majority of the time. Corky slept a lot, but always kept track of what everyone else was doing.

This was taken just a year before he died.  He was usually a very happy active dog and this shows him as he ran.  Taken by Stephanie.

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Home again, Home again, jiggety jog....

...or however the old nursery rhyme goes.  I won't do a blog  tonight, unless I wake up in the wee hours and can't go back to sleep.  It was a great trip (4988 miles) and I appreciate all the good friends who kept track of me and worried about me.  I'll have more trip pictures and comments over the coming week.  Love, Del-at-home

Had at least a bit of "hanging rain" every day.  This is in Kansas on US-54.

Road Trip - Indiana Rock Springs, WY to Cedar City, UT 07-27-14

Rock Springs is infested with bulls!  They are made from plywood and have only four pieces - a horns, body with head, one pair of front legs and one pair of back legs.  Simple, but bull like.  I couldn't find out anything about them, but I had very little time in the town.   They are very colorful and add a little surprise to the streets.  I suspect they are a fund raiser where people bid on the different cows - maybe sponsored by the CofC.  But then, this weekend was the Fair and the bulls may have had  something to do with that.

 

The first view from the street that comes off the Interstate! 

From the other side with a more presentable visage.

Some of the bulls are identified with businesses, this JCPenney's bull has a glint in his eye.

Others don't seem to be identified with anything, but all are done by amateur painters.

Here you can clearly see the four pieces that make up each bull.

This one is Appleby's - clever.

Backsides all lined up.

Front sides all lined up - love the Appleby's teeth!

 

Other than this excitement I just drove - totaling exactly the miles of yesterday - 442 miles.

 

To "make my day" I met a blog friend for lunch in Orem, Utah.  Beverly Hart and I read each other's blogs and we had lunch together once before when I was driving through the Salt Lake area.  She is just a very nice lady with lots of talent - quilts and handmade soap that I have seen so far.  She once lived in and has friends in the area of Brea, Yorba Linda, Anaheim and Placentia, so she enjoys the images and info I sometimes post of those places.  We ate at Olive Garden and it was very good - I haven't been for years.  We had "small plates" AND a fabulous chocolate dessert, which we split.  I doubt that either of us could eat a whole piece, it is so rich.  And so delicious.  We had about a two hour visit before I was back on I-15 southbound.  I'm staying at HIE in Cedar City, Utah, tonight.  May make it home tomorrow, but I do want to stop at a few more Row by Row shops.  Many stores closed on Sunday in this very Mormon state, maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow. 

 

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