We have been working our way north to Kansas City, waiting for that phone call that our son and daughter-in-law were heading to the hospital for the birth of our first grandchild. We knew we wanted to be situated in a campground near Kansas City before the due date, and we accomplished that. Then we got the news that they were planning to induce labor the very next day. What great timing! But all the beds in the birthing wing of the hospital were actually full that morning, so they delayed us until noon. That gave us a chance to meet Luke and Jordan for breakfast. As you can tell, we have a bun in the oven as we take a picture in the parking lot of "The Big Biscuit."
Jordan's parents had arrived the night before, so all the grandparents were poised and ready to go to the hospital. We stopped by Hobby Lobby for crochet supplies on the way, so we could "get our grandma on." We're crocheting baby headbands to keep us distracted during labor.
Actually, we had plenty of distractions. Jordan and Luke are game players, so they suggested we bring games to the labor room to help pass the time. We played cards, dice, and video games most of the afternoon. Here we're all staring at the I-pad, waiting for the next question in the JackBox game we were playing. Each player uses their smart phone as a game controller to answer questions and draw pictures. We got the impression from the nurses that this wasn't the usual protocol among mothers in labor.
We also rotated through the cafeteria downstairs for meals. There was a stunning group of tulips at their peak bloom right outside the cafeteria. Knowing that first babies are usually slow, we thought that we would probably be here all night.
But then things started happening both inside and outside. The expectant grandparents were escorted out as they were setting up for delivery. At the same time, we were upgraded from tornado watch to tornado warning. In the waiting room, we found out that the tornado sirens were sounding here in Overland Park.
With the sirens, the entire nursing staff went into motion. They moved all their patients from their rooms (with windows) into the hallways. Mark took a screen shot as the leading edge of the storm and the tornado warnings hit our area. Being from Oklahoma, we recognized the hook-shaped formations that indicate tornadoes. Instead of going out into the hall, Luke and Jordan got escorted into the operating room for the final pushes.
Because our son is a physician, Jordan's doctor invited him to suit up. He even got to deliver the baby and cut the cord. That's one happy father!
Meanwhile, the grandmothers are in the waiting room, pretending to crochet. But we are praying our way through a tornado, hoping that everything is all right. When Luke finally got around to text us that the baby had been born, there were lots of high fives and hugs in the waiting room. Once Jordan was settled back into her room, it was like the paparazzi had arrived with their cameras!
We finally got to meet our sweet little granddaughter--Carter Lynn. Her eyes were wide open for the first hour or two as she stared with admiration at her Mother. Jordan had done a great job!
The six of us had spent all day together, waiting for this seventh member of the family to arrive. We are blessed to be sharing this little granddaughter with a wonderful set of grandparents.
We wrestled Carter away from her parents in order to do the first pictures with the grandparents. We couldn't wipe the silly grins off our faces! It's love at first sight!
There was more poking and prodding by the nurses, all documented by the grandparents-turned-paparazzi this evening.
Our little angel has arrived in the middle of the storm, and we think she is beautiful!
Mark superimposed that peacefully sleeping picture over the leading edge of the storm radar. It was a stormy night with a beautiful ending!
After living in a small space of a motor home without slides out, we are ready to push to our next destination. But before leaving Carthage, Missouri, we have one more stop. The owner of Camp Mi Casa on Route 66 told us about Red Oak 2.
Red Oak 2 is a private project of a local man named Lowell Davis. He came back to southern Missouri and wanted to preserve part of the town he loved. Mr. Davis was raised in the tiny town of Red Oak. After this artist became successful, he came home to find his home town had turned into a ghost town. So he began moving some of its most iconic buildings to land he had purchased close to Carthage.
He bought old buildings that were falling into dis-repair in other nearby parts of Missouri. Then he lovingly restored them to their original grandeur . . .
and very often gave them a bright new coat of paint so they looked better than ever.
Besides the brightly-painted buildings, Red Oak 2 is decorated with full-size sculptures and other pieces of Mr. Davis's art.
Some of the sculptures scattered around town are brightly painted, with titles like "Woman's Work."
It was a fun place to walk on a beautiful morning, as we saw little pieces of Missouri history carefully brought here to Red Oak 2.
We continued to see glimpses of Lowell Davis's sense of humor. This metal plaque looked very important in the middle of a walkway.
The sign on this local jail cell reads, "Red Oak Child Care Center, 50 cents per hour, Get Key at General Store." Denisa stepped inside to get a feel for this day care center, and found old metal trucks and toys to entertain the children.
Some of the old houses at Red Oak 2 are inhabited, as this is actually where Mr. Davis and a few friends reside. But our favorite residents were the fowl-tempered Red Oak citizens roaming the streets.
Other birds were memorialized by Lowell Davis in this sculpture titled, "The Thieves."
One of our favorite pieces of yard art was this home-made airplane. While we were taking pictures, we were joined by a group of guys from Europe. It looks like this is a popular stop for visitors working their way across America on Route 66.
We took a few more pictures from our whimsical stop at Red Oak 2 before we headed on down the road.
Then we put the motor home in drive, and made the final two-hour drive to our campground south of Kansas City.
As with most cities, camping is more expensive and harder to find here. We are now parked about 20 miles south of Kansas City, signing up for a month-long stay to make it more affordable. We can finally put down the jacks and roll out the slides, because we are home here and waiting for the birth of that first grandbaby!
We found that we could have stayed in Carthage for several more days. This historic town situated on Route 66 has many fun sites, and we had to rush to see as many as possible during our short stay. We started a long day of touring by heading south towards Diamond, Missouri, where we found the George Washington Carver National Monument. The monument plaque explains that he "rose from slavery to become a distinguished scientist and a great force in creating racial understanding."
The picture above shows a statue of young George, down at the creek that he loved as a child. He always enjoyed nature and plants, and he grew up watching them grow on this very patch of land in southern Missouri. When we began our visit, we only knew George Washington Carver as that guy who invented all the uses for peanuts. But today we were reminded that he was also born a slave. He lived his first years in a cabin in the woods here. That cabin is gone, but the foot-print of its size and location is on the one-mile walking trail at the national monument.
Orphaned by the time he was a toddler, he was raised by his owners--Susan and Moses Carver. George was a sickly child, and they allowed him to live in their modest home, doing household chores. The Carver family cemetery is also at the monument, and we could see that his owner and foster father, Moses, lived to be 98 years old.
Even though the Carvers were land and slave owners, they certainly weren't the rich plantation czars we usually think of. Their humble little home is also available to walk through at the national monument. It was a beautiful day to explore the natural setting that inspired a man ahead of his time. One of our favorite George Washington Carver quotes from the visitor center was, "I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in."
Just a few miles from our campground is the Precious Moments Chapel Center. Even though we've visited here before, it was too close to just drive by.
Inside is a store with all things precious, as well as a lobby that looks like Christmas all year round.
Those little figurines are bigger than life at the Precious Moments Center.
A stop here would not be complete without a tour of the Precious Moments Chapel. It looks rather plain from the outside, especially if you don't get close enough to see the hand-carved wooden doors from the Philippines.
Inside is a totally different view. The main hall of the chapel is 32-feet tall, with wall-to-wall precious moment paintings from their inventor--Samuel Butcher. He uses themes in each row of pictures. The top row is angels, the second row is Bible heroes, and the third row is Old Testament stories. All of them are painted with facial features made famous from precious moments figurines. The large painting at the end of the hall is "Hallelujah Square"--Sam Butcher's interpretation of a precious heaven.
In the outer courts of the chapel, the outside sunshine helps to light up the rows of detailed stain glass windows that are also modeled from Bible stories.
As we exited the chapel, one of the trails led us to a viewpoint. From here we could see the creek below, with a little house in the middle of an island of sorts.
We recognized it as "Grandpa's Island." Inside the chapel, Sam Butcher did four paintings of the island--one for each season.
As we left the precious moments grounds, we had to take one more picture near the walking path. Cubby Bear's RV is a must-photo-opportunity for full-time RVers like us.
We were taking full advantage of the beautiful weather, so we stretched our day to include one more stop. Denisa likes lighthouses on the coast, and she seems to be enamored by county court houses here in the Midwest. This is the pride of Jasper County, sitting proudly in the middle of the Carthage town square. Made of local limestone, this castle-like court house would rival those we have seen in Texas.
We took a self-guided tour of the inside, where the original elevator is still in use. We noticed that the people working in the building seemed to prefer taking the stairs to using the elevator.
The first floor of the courthouse also houses a small museum, showcasing some of the rich history of Jasper County since this courthouse was completed in 1895.
This history includes the Civil War Battle of Carthage and much more. It looks like we're just going to have to come back for a longer visit to see more of the best of Carthage, Missouri.
With no jacks down or slides out, it's fast and easy to leave a camp site. So we headed out of Twin Bridges State Park, heading towards a new state for the motor home. Even though Mark and Denisa have traveled in Missouri many times, this was the first time that our motor home had crossed over this state line since we started this journey over three years ago. Since we are on a back road, the state line sign was not very impressive, flanked by two beer sale signs.
We are headed towards Camp Mi Casa on Route 66 for a couple night's stay at their half-price Passport America rate. But once again, we're not putting out slides because we want to be ready to move at any time if we get the phone call that our granddaughter is about to be born. Camping along Route 66 means that there are some tourist sights in our neighborhood, and of course we needed to see them all. We were amazed to see a long line of cars pulled off Route 66 right by our campground. What could be so important that so many people would be lining up?
We are just down the road from the Route 66 Drive-in, one the last of the original theaters along this historic road. It's a popular place to be on the weekends--especially when the double feature includes the Avengers and Black Panther movies. We saw cars lining up at 4 p.m. This time of year, that's a long time before dark when the drive-in movies start.
Before there was a famous highway, there was a railroad that ran through this part of the state. That railroad has since closed, and has become a rail-to-trails bike path.
Just over a mile from our camp site, we found a trail head for the Ruby Jack Trail. It was a beautiful weather day, and we headed down the bike path for a nice ride. The rock surface doesn't allow for any coasting, so we were pedaling even on slight declines.
This is her first time on a bike since Denisa's crash. As we went up the first incline, her bike chain locked up and refused to turn. Bike parts get rusty and cantankerous from being in the weather on the back of our car. Denisa suddenly had a sense of deja vu, as she remembered the same thing happening as she went up that steep incline when she fell off the top of the wooden bridge. Now she seems sure that her clutzy riding-skills weren't totally responsible for her crash. It seems that equipment failure also helped. Once she found a gear that her rusty chain seemed satisfied with, we had a pleasant ride on down the wooded trail.
We planned to ride about four miles, then turn back towards home. But we kept riding to the little town of Oronogo, hoping it would be a worthwhile destination. Then we realized that the nice breeze that was pushing us there, became a head wind that we had to pedal against for the seven miles back to the car. We kept ourselves busy counting wildlife crossing the trail in front of us--15 cardinals, 5 rabbits, and 1 imaginary lizard (that Mark saw and Denisa did not).
We got some good exercise, even though we have to admit it was a pretty boring ride. The three pictures we used for today's blog all look alike, even though they were taken miles apart. We both decided that a 14-mile bike ride on a rock trail might be too far for people old enough to be grandparents at any moment. We have another day of activities planned around Carthage, unless we get that phone call tonight.
