Memorial Day Weekend

More often than not, for the last 15 or so years, Jason and I have traveled to the St. Louis area for a boomerang tournament over Memorial Day weekend. The tournament is on Sunday so we have Friday & Saturday to travel there. We left Friday afternoon and were able to make a quick stop at a friend's house in Nashville. We ate dinner in Nashville and then spent the night in Clarkesville, TN. We stayed at a hotel with an indoor pool, so we were able to get in some late night swimming once we arrived.

Saturday morning we hit the road and didnt' travel too far before getting to the Kentucky Dam. We have stopped there many times as an interesting place to look around and stretch. The neatest thing (in my opinion) is that they have a lock between the lake and the river. It is SO COOL to watch a big boat go through the lock. Unfortunately they are doing lots of construction around the Dam right now and you can't see the lock at all. But the girls enjoyed climbing on the rocks along the edge of the river, watching the fishermen, and seeing the boats (all small ones).After viewing the Dam, we drove over to the other side where we knew there was a beach. However we saw signs for a craft show and decided to walk around the craft show rather than get everyone gritty with sand. We introduced the girls to funnel cake, but they didn't seem interested in it - so Jason and I HAD to eat it all by ourselves. (Maybe it's an acquired taste???) One of the vendors was a gentleman selling handmade furniture. He was not selling this chair, but it certainly was a great place for pictures! Quite a giant chair! He had a ladder for people to use to get up in it.After the Dam, we pretty much hit the road to Waterloo, IL. We had a great evening visiting with the boomerang throwers from around the country. We stayed at Chicago Bob's house, which we have for most of the years we've been. Although this year was quite different in that his lovely wife Angela had just passed away 2 weeks prior from ALS. She was a tremendous woman, a fabulous mom, and a great friend. So while it was hard, it was good too. We had very late nights looking at pictures, remembering, and telling stories.

The boomerang tournament itself was rough. I should have brought a kite rather than boomerangs. It was SOOOOO windy! But it was a fun day and a great weekend. We left Monday morning and drove ALL THE WAY home. We hadn't done that since having kids, but they all traveled quite well. We are blessed to have good travelers - and portable DVD players.