A Friendly Lunch and Dad's Well

Today we had lunch in downtown St. Joseph at Boudreaux's Louisiana Seafood and Steaks (http://www.heyboudreaux.com/).

We met up with Sean Wood and Marla Wilson, two friends and former co-workers of Marlon's when he worked at the 1/2 Price Store in the early 90's. Carol, Marla's mom, joined us for lunch.

Sean is now a security officer at Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph. Marla, meanwhile, is a Sergeant in the St. Joseph Police Department. She is currently their Recruiting and Training Officer and spent many years with their K-9 unit.

Marla carefully eats her Lobster Bisque.

Marla demonstrates her gun drawing stance.

Sean showed Marlon how to set the timer on the camera to capture a picture of the entire group.

After lunch, we drove back up to Rea, Missouri to see Marlon's dad.

While touring Monty's land, we decided to inspect his well.
All appeared to be well.

An after-dinner group shot.

For a few more pictures of today, visit http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/august/eating-lunch-with-m/ and http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/august/spending-the-day-wi-2/ .

To be continued...

Day with Marlon's Mom

Today we spent the day with Marlon's mom, Angie and her cat, Callie. We visited her in her apartment, which she will be vacating soon to move into her new townhouse.

Here is a rare picture of Doug holding Callie on his lap. She did not stay there for long.

Here's Angie perusing her brand-new Sprint bill for her new hot red Razor phone.

Marlon hooked up his mom's new LCD tv for her.

Marlon and Mom-Angie's porch is the one on the left-all of the flowers are hers.

We then went to visit Hunt's Grandview Orchard near Amazonia, Missouri. We forgot to take pictures but during the fall they have hay rides and a petting farm. While there Marlon tried their apple cider and gave it a thumbs up.

Next, we took a drive out toward Rosecrans Memorial Airport and saw this sight, somewhat reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

Some of the aircraft at Rosecrans Memorial Airport 3 miles northwest of St. Joseph, Missouri. Rosecrans is used for general aviation as well as being one of two bases for the Missouri Air National Guard.

After eating with Angie at Ryan's Restaurant, Marlon and Doug returned to the motorhome and came across this unusual sight.

For more pictures of this day, visit http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/august/spending-the-day-wi-1/ .

To be continued...

The Many Lives of Atchison, Kansas

Although we were now in Missouri, we decided to give Kansas one last hurrah and visit the historic town of Atchison.

Even though Atchison is only 33 miles from St. Joseph, Marlon had only driven through...he had never stopped.

Here Doug is standing at the official Atchison Visitor Center, Museum and Trolley Stop.

Being as Marlon had never been to Atchison, the teller at the bank didn't recognize him and refused to cash his check.

Atchison was made famous in several ways, one being because of the success of The Atchison, Topeka and The Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF).

In 1946, Judy Garland starred in the MGM musical "The Harvey Girls", which forever immortalized the ATSF in an Oscar Winning Song.

The Harvey Girls truly existed from 1883-1968 and worked in Fred Harvey's famous Harvey House restaurants. Extensive information about Fred Harvey and his Harvey Girls can be found on the internet.

The Atchison Museum is directly adjacent to the Atchison Rail Museum where many old railroad cars are on display.

Here is an actual railroad car from the ATSF Railroad.

This is a close up view of a United States Mail Railway Post Office train car. This particular car was #1604 Silver Pouch and was in service from 1953 to 1970 servicing Kansas City to Chicago as well as Denver. Railway Mail Service was discontinued in 1970.

Doug's dad, Bob, worked on the Railway Mail Service during the early years of his career with the USPS.

We found out that Atchison is the most haunted town in Kansas and has been featured on The Travel Channel.

This is the haunted Glick Mansion which now operates as a Bed and Breakfast.

This is the Gargoyle Home. You can read about its legend and the legends of many other haunted buildings in Atchison at http://www.legendsofamerica.com/OZ-HauntedAtchison.html .

Did we mention that Atchison lies on the Lewis and Clark Trail? They explored the Atchison area in 1804.

Another Atchison claim to fame is as The Birthplace of Amelia Earhart, the famed female aviator who disappeared at the age of 39 on a circumnavigational flight at the height of her international popularity.

Here's Marlon outside the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Musuem. He always seems to have a way with animals.

This is Amelia Earhart's order for the Lockheed Electra 10-E she was flying when she disappeared in 1937.

The International Forest of Friendship is located in Atchison. This arboretum and memorial forest was started in 1976 with the cooperation of the city of Atchison and The Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots.

It is a memorial to everyone involved in aviation and space exploration, including the crew of the ill-fated Shuttle Columbia.

This is the Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge, so named in 1997 upon the 100 year anniversary of Amelia Earhart's birth. The bridge, considered by KDOT to be "structurally deficient and functionally obsolete" will soon be replaced by a new bridge expected to be completed in 2009.

See you later, Kansas. Until the next time....

To view more pictures of the sites of Atchison, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/august/atchison-kansas/ .

To be continued...

Mom Buys a Townhouse and Alan Has a Luau

This morning we went to look at the townhouse Marlon's mom, Angie, was in the process of purchasing. Here are some pictures of it.

It has an open kitchen. Behind the sink and dishwasher, the kitchen opens to the living room.

This is the view from the back patio.

This is her patio. She already plans on screening it in soon.

Closing on the townhouse is set for October 1.

On Saturday night, we headed to the house of Marlon's brother, Alan. Alan and Susan (his girlfriend) were hosting a Luau party for family and friends.

Here are Marlon, Susan and Alan. Each guest was given a traditional "leiing" by the hosts.

Doug was able to find a palm tree to duck under.

This is the bridge over Alan's fish pond. The pond is stocked with many fish, most of them nishikigoi (more commonly known as koi).

Koi are believed to have originated from Eastern Asia. Koi and tattoos of koi are traditionally considered lucky.

Dillon, Marlon's 15 year old GRAND nephew, has a Hawaiian drink. The GRAND makes Marlon feel old.

Dillon, Trina, Mason and Maya (Susan's neice) after eating a delicious meal of steak and chicken kabobs, mango salsa and chips, potato salad and cake.

Maya was learning the hula hoop for the first time.

While Mason appeared to be an old hand at it.

Jennifer and Shannon are the proud parents of proficient hula-hooper, Mason. Delbert, Trina's husband, shares in the pride.

Thanks to Alan and Susan for a good time!

For more pictures of Angie's new townhouse, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/august/looking-at-marlons-/ . More luau pictures are at http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/august/luau-at-alans-and-s/ .

To be continued...

Exploring with Marlon's Dad

Today we went up near Rea, Missouri to pick up Marlon's dad, Monty. He would be our tour guide today.

First, we went to observe the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm. This facility is located near King City, Missouri.

The 27 Suzlon S-88 turbines are some of the largest and most powerful in the world. Each stands 260 feet, has 3 140 foot long blades and has the capacity to generate 2.1 megawatts.

Here is a video of the turbines in action. Right now the square is black, just click on the play button and the video will begin.

Next we headed to Conception, Missouri. There we were going to eat lunch and go on a self-guided tour of Conception Abbey.

Monty had recently been on a guided tour of The Abbey with a group from his Baptist Church and thought it would be a neat thing for us to see. And as evidenced by the following pictures, it WAS very impressive.

This church was originally completed in 1891. Upon its 50th Anniversary in 1941, Pope Pius XII designated the church of Conception Abbey a minor basilica. This honorary title was given to churches which were considered spiritual centers and Conception Abbey was the first such basilica west of the Mississippi River.

In 1999, a two decades long Basilica renewal project costing $9 million was completed.

Look at the size of those organ pipes! The smallest one is about the size of a pencil. The biggest one is almost big enough a man to stand in.

Monty and Doug stop for a picture outside Conception Abbey after lunch and tour.

The next stop for the day was in Clyde, Missouri. There we would be taking a guided tour of the monastery of The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.

There was a room full of tapestries which we were not able to take pictures of, but the rest of the tour was open for pictures.

This is a room full of relics. What is a relic? Basically, relics can be physical remains of saints or items such as clothing which have been touched by saints.

This is Saint Beatrice, the Martyr. This relic display contains actual parts of the saint's body, including the bones of her hands and feet.

This was one of many bejeweled solid gold items in the monastery.

Next we went to view the inside of the church at the monastery.


Our tour guide, Sister Jacqueline, poses with Marlon and his dad. Sister Jacqueline has been a nun for 53 years.

Next Monty took us to Maryville to show us his gravestone.

Monty's wife, Marlon's stepmom, Jeri, joined us later to go to dinner.

For more pictures of the destinations in this post go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/august/spending-the-day-wi/ .

To be continued...