A Rough Journey Can Lead to Something Wonderful

 I loaded up Ginger...

 I loaded up Macy and Katherine and we hit the road.  We knew the 10 11 hour drive would be grueling...and it didn't disappoint. 

Macy made half a dozen potty breaks...

 We came to a bridge out sign and had to make a long twisty detour. 

Ginger gave us a smelly surprise in her carrier...YIKES! She's never done that before!!!

But the final destination was worth the rough ride...

 This is my favorite spot in the United States!  The deck on the back of our lake shack...But our journey was not quite finished....

Nature had left me a little surprise in the the cabin....EEK! A MOUSE!  Since this was a girls only road trip, guess who had to deal with it? ME! 

(I'm still quivering a bit.)

This is the other reason we come to Bull Shoals Lake....

It is breathtakingly beautiful!  The water is crystal clear, even...

 when the lake is a "little" high.  Yep, that's a street light!

 Macy doesn't care that she's swimming in the street...

She knows we'll get the boat out and head to deeper waters soon....

What's the moral of the story you ask?  You tell me...
(I'm reading on the deck.)

Have a safe and happy weekend.  (My Internet capabilities are kind of patchy here, but I'll give it my best shot to read your blogs. )

I Took the Dam Tour...What Happens in Vegas...part three of three

 Have ever wanted to do something, but been terrified to do it?  That's how I felt about going on the (Hoover) Dam Tour.  It's size is overwhelming.  Then the dam guide tells you if you are claustrophobic, have heart problems or are pregnant you might want to not take the tour.  Guess which one I am? 

I really wanted to go...

 I took a deep breath and focused on my Brilliant Husband and swore I could do it...

So we climbed in the elevator.

 And went down...

 down....

 down...

 deep inside the Hoover Dam. 

We had to listen to a lot of dam jokes...

 This is what the dam is made of...

Then we arrived...

I focused my breathing as we started walking into the dimly lit tunnels.

We went into a room above the turbines...

We could feel the floor vibrating from the flowing water....

 Yep...there was water filtering in through the rock...

 We walked into this MASSIVE room and looked at all the equipment.

 It was a huge room!

 It even had train tracks in it! 

And my camera went dead.  UGH! 

We walked through lots of tunnels.  We looked out of a vent in the dam. 

It was pretty amazing! 

We had to walk across a grate that was three stories deep! 

 Yep, I held my breath and my Brilliant Husband's sleeve and ZOOMED across it.

This was our first trip without our daughter...she's 15. 

We had a great time and didn't worry about her, she was with some wonderful friends.

 One last photo...

It's fake grass! 

 Lots of the casinos had it. 

 I guess it saves on water consumption.

Vegas was a lot of fun.  We had a super time!

Thanks for stopping in and checking out my photos....

(I really did use restraint posting them. )

Do you have an travel plans for the summer? 

Lenny Lee Fest

Dear Blogger,

I know I sometimes complain when you're not working right, but today I'd like to thank you for something. 

Last spring I was really sad.  My cat Stripes died, our house was damaged in a storm, and I really missed being in Saint Louis.  I stayed in bed for a week when Stripes died.  I watched a lot of TV and read a lot of blogs.  One of the blogs I "found" was the blog of a young man named Lenny Lee. 

I noticed that Lenny spread his sunshine all over the blog world.  He left wonderful comments that were so insightful...and he was only 10.  I started following Lenny and he started following me.  Every time I saw his sunshine, I knew he would say something wonderful and it would make me smile. 

Lenny and I started sharing emails and sharing our lives...It was my privilege to organize a secret birthday surprise for Lenny.  Just like me, everyone loves how he spreads sunshine throughout the blog world.  They all wanted to join in to show Lenny how much he is loved.

Lenny (and his family) has become part of my family.  We love him and he loves us.  Even though we live states away from each other, but it's like we are best buds that can hang out anytime.  (Thank you internet and telephone company.)

Lenny fills my heart with love.  He's the best cp (critique partner) , dap, and cep (cooking & eating partner) !  I'm so grateful to be part of his life.

Blogger...none of this would have happened if it wasn't for you.  Thank you!

Giant, enourmous, beastly HUGS,
Blom (AKA Sharon K Mayhew)