The Worst Day on the River...
...is better than the best day in the office. Of course, that assumes you actually GET to the river...
Wednesday we drove down to Bennett Spring State Park for one of our mini-honeymoon/vacations - a day of fly fishing for me and lots of sketching opportunities for Kate. We checked in to our cabin, #22, one of two surviving cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the '30s. We didn't get a good picture of it, but Kate got a pretty good sketch.
(Note: for some reason the pictures look a little fuzzy but if you click on them they clear up.)
We had dinner at the Lodge in the park - the second and last time we'll do that. It's not bad so much as it's just not very good and there are better options available. After dinner we went back to the cabin and I built a nice fire in the fireplace. We had stopped on the way and picked up LOTS of firewood (25 good size split logs for $5), had a drink on the porch illuminated by brilliant moonlight, and just relaxed. When we went to bed, we stayed up for a while reading by the light of a couple of very goofy lamps.
Thursday - after being a couple of slugabeds we finally got up, had breakfast and got dressed. As I was assembling my 100+ year old rod & reel my nose started to run like a faucet and in no time at all my head clogged up like the San Bernardino Freeway at rush hour. You have got to be kidding me! A freakin' COLD?!! I took a couple of Benadryl, telling myself that it was just allergies and it would pass in a bit. Spent some time futzing about with the rod, making sure I could get it into the Jeep without having to take it down (it's 9' 4" and fit - barely), blowing my nose, wondering if I could carry enough Kleenex in my shirt pocket, blowing my nose, packing my pipe & tobacco in my pipe bag, blowing my nose, packing extra Kleenex in my pipe bag, and... wait for it... blowing my nose. It had been running nonstop all the while: I wondered if putting snot in the river was considered bait fishing and if they'd fine me.
But it wasn't my nose that decided me: it was my head. There was no way I could stand in a cold running stream, cast, and keep my balance all at the same time, so I finally told Kate to head out without me - at least she could get in the sketching that she came for. She did some beautiful stuff, including a huge flock of buzzards that had gathered nearby,
a small stone building on the opposite side of the spring, and the other CCC cabin, #16, which we stayed in last year.
She also came back with the makings of a wonderful chicken soup!
Friday I was a little better (thanks I'm sure to the chicken soup), but nowhere near good enough to take on the stream so we packed up and headed for home. We'd planned on stopping in Cross Timbers to visit our friends, Ed & Jean Wilde but we'd gotten our signals crossed - they weren't expecting us until Saturday and were already on the road for another gathering.
We did stop for lunch at the Wheel Inn "Home of the Famous Guberburger" in Sedalia. We couldn't find the place last year because they had moved but it was a place that she and her friend Patti Delano (they are co-authors of the original Missouri Off the Beaten Path) have loved for years.
I'll admit the idea intrigued me and I had to try it, but in short, it's just a hamburger with peanut butter. Looks pretty good when she draws it, though-
We made a stop at Schreiber's Market for some goodies, another at the Post Office to pick up our mail and arrived home to the welcome of our five cats.
There's another week of fishing left at Bennett Spring and I'm sure I'll be over this cold shortly.
I wonder if Cabin #16 is still open...
Wednesday we drove down to Bennett Spring State Park for one of our mini-honeymoon/vacations - a day of fly fishing for me and lots of sketching opportunities for Kate. We checked in to our cabin, #22, one of two surviving cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the '30s. We didn't get a good picture of it, but Kate got a pretty good sketch.
(Note: for some reason the pictures look a little fuzzy but if you click on them they clear up.)
We had dinner at the Lodge in the park - the second and last time we'll do that. It's not bad so much as it's just not very good and there are better options available. After dinner we went back to the cabin and I built a nice fire in the fireplace. We had stopped on the way and picked up LOTS of firewood (25 good size split logs for $5), had a drink on the porch illuminated by brilliant moonlight, and just relaxed. When we went to bed, we stayed up for a while reading by the light of a couple of very goofy lamps.
Thursday - after being a couple of slugabeds we finally got up, had breakfast and got dressed. As I was assembling my 100+ year old rod & reel my nose started to run like a faucet and in no time at all my head clogged up like the San Bernardino Freeway at rush hour. You have got to be kidding me! A freakin' COLD?!! I took a couple of Benadryl, telling myself that it was just allergies and it would pass in a bit. Spent some time futzing about with the rod, making sure I could get it into the Jeep without having to take it down (it's 9' 4" and fit - barely), blowing my nose, wondering if I could carry enough Kleenex in my shirt pocket, blowing my nose, packing my pipe & tobacco in my pipe bag, blowing my nose, packing extra Kleenex in my pipe bag, and... wait for it... blowing my nose. It had been running nonstop all the while: I wondered if putting snot in the river was considered bait fishing and if they'd fine me.
But it wasn't my nose that decided me: it was my head. There was no way I could stand in a cold running stream, cast, and keep my balance all at the same time, so I finally told Kate to head out without me - at least she could get in the sketching that she came for. She did some beautiful stuff, including a huge flock of buzzards that had gathered nearby,
a small stone building on the opposite side of the spring, and the other CCC cabin, #16, which we stayed in last year.
She also came back with the makings of a wonderful chicken soup!
Friday I was a little better (thanks I'm sure to the chicken soup), but nowhere near good enough to take on the stream so we packed up and headed for home. We'd planned on stopping in Cross Timbers to visit our friends, Ed & Jean Wilde but we'd gotten our signals crossed - they weren't expecting us until Saturday and were already on the road for another gathering.
We did stop for lunch at the Wheel Inn "Home of the Famous Guberburger" in Sedalia. We couldn't find the place last year because they had moved but it was a place that she and her friend Patti Delano (they are co-authors of the original Missouri Off the Beaten Path) have loved for years.
I'll admit the idea intrigued me and I had to try it, but in short, it's just a hamburger with peanut butter. Looks pretty good when she draws it, though-
We made a stop at Schreiber's Market for some goodies, another at the Post Office to pick up our mail and arrived home to the welcome of our five cats.
There's another week of fishing left at Bennett Spring and I'm sure I'll be over this cold shortly.
I wonder if Cabin #16 is still open...