I'm back!

There's no particular reason as to why I haven't been on the ol' blog - just the usual stress of the homefront and now a whole new episode at work.  Oh yay!  

I have any annual cardiologist appt tomorrow and just know he's going to say "reduce stress" and he won't say it but it will be in my chart..."lose weight".  I've been having episodes of Afib lately even tho I've been taking my meds regularly.   

The grandkids started school on August 31.  Here they are at "Meet the Teacher" night.  

I went along with them, since sometimes I have to pick them up from school and it would be nice to know where their classrooms are.

Kindergarten & First grade!

The weekend before - August 29 was mine & Sis1's birthdays.  It happened to be the same weekend as the Spouse had BikeMS in Frankenmuth.  He's volunteered for these MS events longer than I've known him.  This was the first time I went along with him!  They basically patrol the route that the bike riders go to make sure nobody needs help getting to a rest area or back to the start/finish line.  I didn't ride with him, I rode along with a couple ladies and we had a good time! 

Even Chuck the skeleton made some new friends - Cookie the Goat and Stormy the Bear.

Then after a while, Sis1 met us at the start/finish line and I got in with her and we did some shopping in Frankenmuth.  We went on a horse & carriage ride and then on a riverboat cruise!  She's the one I share a birthday with.

We had a lot of fun.

Speaking of rain, we (like a lot of people) had some storms the week before Labor Day and the restaurant Mom wanted to take me to for my birthday dinner had no power!  So we went to a fancier steakhouse and OMG - prime rib. 

On the plus side, the Spouse has been taking meds for his diabetes (that most people take for weight loss) and it's been cutting his appetite - he's lost 20 or so pounds so far!  An I think it's affecting me subconsciously and I haven't been eating as much lately either.  Normally I would have polished off that hunk o meat AND the potato, but I didn't even touch the potato this time.  My Weight Watcher workshop has been closed the last 2 weeks and I worked late the week before that so I haven't been on a scale in over 3 weeks.  I'll see if I can make it for the entire workshop tomorrow or if I just run in to get on the scale.  I sort of don't want to waste a non-rainy day when it's H'ween set up time!

So the plan is to start putting the Halloween cemetery up this week.  However our lawn guy ghosted us and it hasn't been mowed in over 3 weeks - and we had some nice rains recently so it looks like a jungle!  I normally cut the front yard real short before setting up and letting it grow all October.  It's been raining most of yesterday and today so hopefully it'll dry out sometime this week and I can go mow it myself.  

Last Sunday, we were out in the yard and the grandson noticed this huge green caterpillar with spikey orange stalks all along its back.  I looked it up and it was cecropia moth caterpillar (thankfully harmless) and we let it go about it's business.  

Monday, I sort of wondered where it had gone to, and I started moving my headstones so I could clean the dirt & spiderwebs off of them and I found it!

On one of my headstones, of course.  And I looked it up again and read that they overwintered in the cocoon!  That's not going to work in my world.  I contacted the local nature center and they said I could slide an index card under it and move it to a woody debris area, which we happened to have in our yard, too!  But before I could get from from work Tuesday, something had eaten it.  I was so sad!  Probably those darn groundhogs in my shed.  This bugger would have been a moth as large as an adult's hand!  

The sisters and I went to have breakfast last weekend and went to a craft fair type place and one of the vendors told us about the pumpkins her husband just harvested.  So we went there and these were the prettiest pumpkins I've seen!  I bought 2 even tho I'm sure the squirrels will get hold of them before we could even dream of carving them. 

I had jury duty last week - I thankfully wasn't chosen but what I did see was entertaining.   Guy was being charged with 1 count DUI causing loss of life and 3 counts DUI causing serious injury - and he was pleading not guilty!!  I would have liked to hear the argument for that.   And even better - as soon as my group walked into the courtroom for the jury selection process, the prosecutor and the guy being charged freaked out and they and the other lawyers ran up to talk to the judge - the guy's MOM was in the jury pool!!  Needless to say, she was dismissed very quickly.  Can you imagine???

Speaking of last weekend - the Spawn had sort of a little gender reveal gathering for us and her best friend.  She ordered a pair of baseballs in the appropriate color and tossed them to the grandson (one was for backup).  I made a video so the sound was hilarious but here are some stills...

It's a boy!

Grandson was celebrating and rolling around in the blue powder.

The granddaughter however - I heard her excitedly say "it's a boy!"

and then she apparently realized what she said.

I stopped recording when she got up and came at me crying.

She went to both me & the Spouse and we reassured her that she was always going to be our special little princess.  Poor little middle child to be!

The Spawn claims she applied for assistance from the state but I don't think she really did. I don't know what she plans to do with her life. 

Send prayers and good thoughts!  Just typing those sentences made my stomach hurt - which has been a common thing with me lately.

Today's HodgePodge

I'm a day late this week, but that's just the way the ball bounces sometimes!  

Lots of Love and Hugs to the HodgePodge Queen, Miss Joyce from From This Side of the Pond who sadly lost her Mom this week.  May she be remembered with love & kindness & grace and the family be granted with peace & comfort. 

The same goes for the losses in the entertainment industry recently!  Mainly Dolly & Tim Curry.  Some people just seem timeless, like they'll always be around.  They've both made such a big impact on so many people, in so many ways.  In that respect, their memories will live on for many years.

You can't ask for more than that. 

1. How do you feel about the transition from lazy summer days to a busier fall routine?

I'm looking forward to it.  I'm a weenie when it comes to heat so I'll be enjoying the cooler days.  This chubby girl don't like to sweat!  My birthday is Saturday.  When I was a kid, that always meant summer was over & back to school, blah blah blah.  Now, since I'm all about Halloween - it's means time to start thinking seriously about getting my cemetery yard display out & getting it cleaned up & any repairs made.  A lot of stores already have had H'ween stuff out for a while, so I've of course already added to my anatomically incorrect critter skeleton collection.  It's an addiction!  And I'm glad I have a large front yard!

Fun fact - I share a birthday with my oldest sister (aka Sis1), she's 13 years older than me!

2. Your favorite cookie?  

Oh man.  I don't have any one "favorite" - I'm pretty broad in my cookie tastes.  (peanut butter with the Hershey's Kiss, if I HAVE to choose one).

Speaking of cookies, someone at my VFW meeting last night had a package of - get this - Chicken & Waffles Oreos!  Of course, I had to try one or two.  Definitely a lot of waffle flavor but no chicken.  I was kind of disappointed!  I was hoping for weirdness. 

3. What's something you've learned from a culture different than your own?

To go along with my Halloween jam, I also love to explore cemeteries.  One day I came across an Islamic cemetery and walked around thru it.  I wrote a post about it on my H'ween blog.  It was a very interesting place. 

4. Food critic, film critic, book critic, art critic...which hat would you most like to wear? Tell us why.

Hmm.  Maybe art critic?  I like to see other people's interpretation of what they see or imagine.  Especially photography.  

5. What's a small, random thing from your childhood that you still remember clearly?

The bathing suits I had when I was probably 5/6/7?  Both were 2 pieces.  One was red, white & blue with a ruffled bandeau top & ruffle-butt bottom and not your typical bathing suit material.  It was courser.  (also late 70s so yeah) and the other matched one that Sis1 had.  It was bright yellow and had a white plastic ring holding the top together in the front and one on each side of the bottoms.  I was sad when one of the rings broke. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of Sis1 - I was coming home from her house after search & rescue training last week and had to stop and get a picture of these sunflowers.  

They almost feel judge-y! 

I had to stop - FOR DEER IN THE CROSSWALK - on my way in to work one day.  

The doe and one fawn had already crossed. 

Good for Mama teaching them where to cross!

I've also seen geese cross here, too.  There's a pond over to the right and an apple tree on the left, a bit behind me here.  They were all being safe. 

Unlike the turkeys I had to wait for one time (same road but about a mile ahead) - the males just stood in the middle of each lane while all the females crossed between them.  They were just missing their reflective road guard vests! 

Ya know - I was just thinking about how Sis1 had to feel growing up with a built-in tagalong. 

I always hear stories about the day I was born - Mom woke her up the day of her big sleepover 13th birthday party to tell her she was going to the hospital.  NOOOOOOOOOO! was her reaction!  I remember seeing a picture of our cake for her Sweet 16 / my 3rd birthdays.  Mom made one cake and divided it in half.  Flowers, etc and clowns.  Can you imagine??  I don't remember her ever being hostile to me, tho.  

Thankfully, we're good friends now.  In fact, we're getting together Saturday, going shopping and buying each other lunch!   

High Flying HodgePodge

Happy Wednesday!  Linking up again with Joyce and everyone over at 

From this Side of the Pond

1. August 19th is National Aviation Day...do you like to fly? Last time you were on an airplane? The date is chosen in honor of the history and development of aviation and celebrated on the birthday of Orville Wright. Have you ever been to the Kitty Hawk area of North Carolina? The city of Dayton in Ohio (their birthplace).

Interesting!  I was just on a plane last month - after 2 days worth of delays - ugh!  

I prefer to remember back in 1995 when I flew to and from the aircraft carrier I was stationed on in a C-2 Cargo plane and also a CH-53E helicopter.  At another point, I flew on a C-5 cargo plane - which is one that still amazes me can get off the ground! I've attached a couple links from the 2015 A to Z Challenge with the stories that go along with them. 

Me & the family went to Kitty Hawk back in 2015 on the way to a reunion in Virginia Beach.  The Spouse is fascinated with planes so we went to see where the Wright Bro's first flight took place.   We also went to Kill Devil Hills to see the home of the monster truck GraveDigger.  Super cool.  We also went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington DC on that trip.  

My brother lives in Dayton, and so we've been to the museums at Wright-Pat Air Force Base to see all the cool planes there, too. 

2. In what area of your life do you tend to 'wing it'? Is this an area you should be winging?

I second the dinner thing!  It would be a lot easier if it was just me & the Spouse - he's not picky so he'd probably eat just about anything I put in front of him.  It's the 3+ younger inhabitants of my home that are the problem.  Needless to say, we don't eat as healthy as we should.   

3. A favorite book, song, or movie that relates to flight in some way?

I have to go with the obvious movies.  Top Gun & Top Gun 2. I've never enjoyed a part 2 of a movie until this one - it was the exact story line I was hoping for, and then some.  

4. Soft serve, gelato, sherbet, frozen yogurt, or good old fashioned ice cream...what's your pleasure? Your favorite flavor? How often do you indulge?

Soft Serve / Old Fashioned Ice Cream.  I'm happy with a chocolate / vanilla twist dipped in nuts.  Or a hot fudge sundae.   There are a lot of flavors that I like in the scoops.   I indulge probably once a month or so.  

5. I never get tired of______________________.

Among many things - this tree! 

I took this on my way into work this morning. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

According to Chuck the Skeleton, it's pumpkin spice time!! 

Last week was Baseball Camp for the Grandson.  I got home Monday and he met me at the car to show me his cool new bright orange wrist bands.  Didn't realize until Thursday that he earned them for impressing his coaches during whatever skills they were learning that day!  Only 1 kid per age group got the wrist bands each day! 

I went Thursday with the Spawn to pick him up so I got to see the whole set up.  They were at the Wayne State University athletic fields in Detroit, so I had to get a pic of him in front of the Old English D! 

He looks so grown up! 

He was looking all around the stands, trying to find us - and once he did, his whole face lit up!

There were 4 camps going on simultaneously around SE Michigan last week - and Friday they ALL congregated at Comerica Park where the Detroit Tigers play.  I worked from home to watch the granddaughter so the Spawn could go with the boy.  She said there were several hundred kids all wearing their little gray Tigers uniforms and if she hadn't recognized his coaches, she never would have found him! 

They got to tour the stadium and work on some skills on the field and meet a couple of the Tigers players.  

When they got home - the Spawn announced that we have to go back.  And showed me a picture she took of the grandson in front of the huge Tiger outside the main gate - it was pouring down rain! 

The HodgePodge

Last week was Volume 665 and next week will be Volume 667. Wow - Joyce has been doing this a long time!  I also see what she was going there - heehee!    Halloween is my jam so it doesn't bother me in the slightest.  

Linking up over at From This Side of the Pond.   Ya know - "pond" is a hard work for me to type, since I work at a place called Point!  I keep wanting to put that letter i in there....

1. I saw a meme on Instagram that went like this-'The movie Dirty Dancing came out in 1987 and was set in 1963, so if remade in 2026 it would be set in 2002. Now I need a little lie down in a dark room for a while."   Time is crazy isn't it? So...what were you up to in the year 2002?

In 2002, I was getting the Spawn signed up for kindergarten and had just met the guy who eventually became the Spouse.  I had only known him a few months when he asked me to go on vacation to Alaska with him - there we took a photo of us on horseback (his first time!) and looking at it a couple years later - it was taken exactly 4 years to the day before our wedding!  And we bought our house the end of 2002.  I also took my first trip to Arkansas - for the Spouse's Dad's funeral.  That's another whole bunch of stories right there - including the pastor, "Brother Bubba" who stopped in the middle of the graveside service to re-read the names of the surviving family members, clearly trying to figure out who I (and the Spawn) were.   Once he found out, he wanted to marry us right then!  

2. "Me? I'm scared of everything..." What's something that scares you that you'd like to try anyway?

It's not that I'm scared of heights, it's the thought of falling from heights...  That being said, I am still sad that we didn't get to have a Swim Call while in the Navy.  That's where you get to jump off the ship into the ocean.  I'm sure there's a lot of red tape involved in having to park all the planes and basically shut down all shipboard operations to do this, tho.  Someone probably would have had to push me, and I would have likely peed myself on the way down, but I would have done it - just to say that I did.  And yes - I would have been jumping off an aircraft carrier. 

Fun fact - there's people standing watch up on the flight deck with rifles - looking for sharks. 

3. Watermelon-yay or nay? Which melon is your favorite-watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew. 

Watermelon & cantaloupe are tied.  

Of the watermelon food/beverages listed which would you say yes to...
watermelon salsa ~ yes

watermelon feta salad~ yes (except without the red onions - blargh!)

watermelon sorbet~ sure
a watermelon Jolly Rancher~ take it or leave it 

a watermelon margarita~ hell yes! 

4. August 12th is National Middle Child Day. Are you a middle child? If not, where do you fall in the birth order in your family of origin? Do you think this has influenced your personality? Elaborate.

Nope, I'm the youngest.  I don't think I follow the typical "baby of the family" stereotype.  In fact,  I looked up personality traits according to birth order and this is what I found. 

Youngest children may be the last to be born, often with parents more relaxed and less strict. Traits can include:

• Charm, creativity, and spontaneity  (idk about charm, but the others, yes)

• Loving to entertain and be the life of the party (HA! no.)

• Adaptable and flexible (hmmmm, yes)

• Sometimes seen as “getting away with things”  (also - NO!)

• May develop strong social skills and empathy (social skills, no - empathy, yes)

5. Would you rather talk to everyone at a crowded party for a short time, or have a significant conversation with two people? Explain.  

The significant conversation with 2 people.  I'd probably attach myself to them all night, unless it's a crowd of people I know well.  I hate small talk and the thought of mingling makes me want to throw up!  Also, there's my ability of having the middle of my sentences interrupt the beginning of other peoples.  Meaning no matter where I am or who I'm with - I get talked over. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I took this while "American the Beautiful" was being sung.

Sunday, I went to the local cemetery with my VFW (since I'm the post social media peep) for the annual ceremony they have for VJ Day and the installation for the cemetery's WWII memorial.  

When the Memorial was dedicated in 1948, there were also 115 WWII veterans buried in what is the largest peacetime mass burial in US History.  

The Four Freedoms Memorial is absolutely beautiful. 

There is so much detail on it that I'd have to take 100 photos in order to show it all. 

The solider (left) and sailor (right) are both bigger than lifesize. 

SkyWatch Friday 07/31/26

It's been a lot longer than I thought since I linked up with everyone over at 

SkyWatch Fridays!  

July 8 was mine & the Spouse's 20th anniversary, and we went on a nice road trip to celebrate.  I have a LOT of pictures I could use for this post, but I'll use the ones I took out of the window of the plane.

Here's Part 1 in my travel misadventures.

 

A Grrrreat HodgePodge

Thanks to Joyce over at From This Side of the Pond for this week's HodgePodge. 

1. What was the last thing you celebrated?

Kind of half-heartedly - mine & the Spouse's 20th anniversary.  We were on vacation, away from home and just us together- so that's a celebration in my eyes!   We didn't even exchange gifts. 

2 July 29th is International Day of the Tiger. Besides the wild animal itself, when you hear the word tiger what's the first person-place-thing-whatever that comes to mind?

I was just telling my manager about the grandson going to baseball camp next month that's put on by the Detroit Tigers.  It's a M-F from 9am-3pm and it comes with a real Tiger's uniform and 4 tickets to a game! 

Love this action shot from last night.

The Spawn is going to start looking into getting him into actual Little League instead of just the local recreation league.  Right now, he's in the 5-7 age group which is a huge range when it comes to the kids' abilities and sizes!

I took this because it was hilarious - the mass of bodies were in his way, so he was bouncing left & right trying to figure out which way to go.  But look how big he is compared to 5/6 of the kids in green shirts! 

No idea where the ball is in this mob, either.  They were all going after it!

3. The expression 'eye of the tiger' describes someone with intense focus, determination, and the drive to succeed. What area of your life are you currently bringing that kind of energy to?

Respectfully skipping this one - I'm not feeling warm & fuzzy / successful with life right now. 

4. What was the last meal you cooked?

We've been eating out way too much lately.  But when I do cook, I have to take into consideration what the Picky Asses will eat.  So, we tend to go simple & easy when it's hot out.  The Spouse grilled boneless country ribs & I did corn on the cob & opened up a can of baked beans.  That & some Hawaiian rolls and it was good! 

Another story about the grandson - he's lost his first 2 teeth (on the bottom) so we had lots of jokes about him & the corn! 

5. Describe your July using exactly five words.

vacation / surprise / melty / dismay / Summerween

6. Insert your own random thought here.

So, I guess I can share the news we have here at the Shaque - grandbaby #3 is currently in the oven!  This is the medical drama that we had last week - she had been bleeding and had to go to the ER.  But everything is OK now. 

Quick description of the Spawn - she's 100 lbs in soaking wet winter clothes.  She's just over 12 weeks and isn't showing in the slightest.  Insane, I know.  She was in labor for about 6 hours with the grandson, approximately 3 hours for the granddaughter and both of them were over 8 lbs, closer to 9.  This kid will probably just fall out. 

Anyhooo.  That's what's up.  She's not working.  Her & the kids are taking up over half of our very small, 2-bedroom house.  Said house is a mess.  The Spouse and I have no privacy, and he works from home.  I just don't know what we're going to do.  Rent on a 2-bedroom apartment around this area averages $1500 +/- and even when she was working, I don't think that would have been possible.   Don't get me started on what daycare costs.  I only met the Donor once - he knows but I'm not sure what he's going to do to help.   I've looked up info from the state for assistance and sent her the link, hopefully she's applied.  If she has, she'll have to go talk to a caseworker, so I told her I'd go with (the best way to make sure she does something is to hold her hand).

Don't get me wrong - I'm sure we will love this baby as much as we do the other ones.  But right now - when I think about the situation too much, my stomach hurts and I feel like I need to throw up. 

Sorry this ended up being so mopey.

How about a picture of my DaisyMae?

She says NO, I can't have the shirt that she's laying on. 

The Lemon HodgePodge

When The Hodgepodge Gives You Lemons

Oh wow - I totally lost track of what day of the week it is!  It's just been crazy. 

Monday, I went to my new WW workshop - I live north of my work and the workshop is south of my work - and it's 2 hours after day workday ends.....so I don't want to hang out there for that long if I don't have anything pressing that needs to be done. Anyway, I get home and was sitting in the driveway with the Spouse while he grilled some ribs.  Here comes the Spawn running from the backyard, screaming & crying, and throws the granddaughter onto my lap, who is also screaming & crying, with blood dripping off her foot!  The grandson got into my gardening tools and left the manual trimmers out in the lawn and GD stepped on the blade and gashed the underside of her second toe.  It stopped bleeding fairly quickly and once she got all bandaged up, she was back out playing. This is on top of the lovely black eye she's currently sporting from some incident over the weekend.  That poor kid - it's a good thing she's tough and heals as quick as her mom (who had a million dance injuries in her younger days).  

Tuesday there was some medical drama that will probably be posted about soon.  Anyhoo.  Tuesdays are also baseball nights for the grandson now.  And since the oppressive heat & humidity has given us a break for a while, me & the Spouse went to watch him play.  It's amazing how much he's grown - a lot less playing in the dirt and more watching the ball in play. 

Wednesday, I had to meet up with the new Auxiliary President at my VFW post. I'm the chair for the VFW scholarship programs at the post and she wanted to know more about it.  Then I was there for the regular meeting (since I missed the last one due to it being mine & the Spouse's anniversary and being on vacation).  When I got home and finally had some dinner, I remembered it was my Mom's 92nd birthday and I hadn't called to sing HBD to her!  It wasn't terribly late, but the grandkids were already in bed so I'll call her tonight so they can sing, too.  

We missed our anniversary pedicures, so we went on the Spouse's birthday on the 18th instead! 

I really hope this evening is less eventful!

Moving on - linking up again with Joyce and a bunch of folks over that From This Side of the Pond!

1. Do your goals and dreams energize or exhaust you? Elaborate.

Meh, right now it seems both.  I have things I'd like to do, both dreams & goals, but having all the extra people in my house add a huge degree of difficulty.  At least the Spawn is collecting unemployment, but hopefully she'll get a new job soon.  Kinda hard to get an apartment when you don't have real income!  And finding out how to get assistance from the state is....waaaa too hard... <insert eye roll here>  so I am going to hold her hand and find out for her, but I haven't had time! 

2. July 23rd is national lemon day. Are you a fan of this flavor? What's a favorite dish or beverage you enjoy that calls for lemons?

Love it.   I love the taste and the smell is just so clean and refreshing.  One of my favorite dishes that I've mentioned it in a HodgePodge before is the lemon ricotta pancakes from a restaurant called First Watch.  OMG, so good! 

3. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"...is this something you're pretty good at managing? Have you had to do this recently? If so tell us about it.

I'm trying.   Sometimes I feel like I'm wearing too many hats and when I get home from work - I just want to fall on the bed and not move.   So am I good at managing anything?  No.  

4. Something you love that is lemon yellow in color?

When the Spouse & I bought our house, I told him I've always wanted a yellow kitchen.  So when we moved in, one of the first things we did was paint the kitchen yellow.  

Funny story - another favorite thing is the Sunshine & Lemon scent from Bath & Body Works.  (that and the Vampire Blood scent - I need to stock up since it's back in the stores now) I have hand sanitizer on my desk at work and on my purse.  At home I have the foaming soap.  My sisters also like it.  We were all out at Sis1's house one day and she had ~gasp~ refilled a BBW bottle with non-BBW lemon soap!  It was obvious.  So Sis2 called her out on it - asking where is the f*cking lemon soap?   So it's a running joke between the 3 of us, calling it f*cking lemon.   

5. How would you describe your attention to detail?

Like Joyce said, excellent with the written word.  And being part of a search & rescue team, we do a lot of training regarding attention to detail.  In 2 of the main certifications I had to earn, we had to go out into the woods for an "area search" meaning we had to completely search a sector ~for playing cards~ so many meters wide by 100 meters deep while maintaining a certain heading (picture a parallelogram)!  We had to write down which cards we saw and had to get a certain percentage of the cards in order to pass the activity.  Oh and there was a time limit.   And the parallelogram wasn't roped off or anything - we had to keep track of where our sector was, so we didn't cross into anyone else's. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

No real thoughts - but here are some pictures from baseball Tuesday!

So the kid catches & throws left-handed but bats right....

He's at the age now where they don't use tees for batting unless needed - the coach is actually pitching to them. 

I love little kid baseball when ALL the outfielders go after the ball! 

They had him playing first base.  

I'd love to hear some of the conversations that happen out on the field! 

Adventures in Travel - part 3

Days 7-8

(part 1)        (part 2)

Here we are in St. Louis!  Our first stop was the Gateway Arch!  Neither of us had been there, so it was a neat stop.   We rode in the tram up to the top - 630'!  And talk about an optical illusion - the base is also 630' wide!  The tram cars are round and sort of like a ferris wheel, so you swing a bit to follow the curve - that was unsettling!  You could see out of the cars, too - but you were looking at the inside of the arch.  Stairs & wires & various other things you'd see inside a building.   The cars held 5 people, if you were very cozy.  Luckily, the Spouse & I got our own. 

View from the top

Blueprint with the dimensions.

This is a cross-section of the keystone at the very top - those screens are livestreaming the view so people who can't make the ride can see what's up there. 

It's very efficient how they work the whole tram thing.  We had already bought our tickets (for a specific time) and when we checked in, they gave us a pair of "boarding passes" with a car # on it.  There are 8 cars per tram, north side & south side.  Then we went into the staging area and stood on the spot on the floor corresponding with our car #.  We got the story of the Arch and safety briefing from the worker. and then filed thru the picture area by car #.   Up a flight of stairs and then waited at our respective car loading areas.  The doors opened and people got off the tram, and we loaded and took the 4-minute ride to the top.   The trams reloaded, went down, unload/reload and came back up and that's when we had to reload back onto our same car.  So, you're up there less than 10 minutes and it's not terribly crowded at any time that you go.  

There are other things to do inside the base of the Arch.  There were several museums and a gift shop, of course.   We had "Ultimate Explorer" tickets, but since we didn't get the tickets far enough in advance, we ended up missing the documentary movie.  We did experience the virtual reality theater - which I wish I'd gotten pictures as we approached - it was basically a walled off area in what reminded me of a food court and several rows of stools.  There were a handful of people sitting on the stools with the VR goggles on, all looking around like a flock of chickens.  Quite hilarious!  We also got an hour-long Riverboat Cruise on the Mississippi River.  Take note - make sure you don't wander too far away from the loading area.  We did and suddenly 8 million people were in line before us, so we didn't even get to sit out on the deck due to no seats left.  But that's OK, it was hot, so even tho we couldn't see outside very well, we enjoyed sitting in the interior part in the a/c. 

When we left St Louis, we headed toward Gas City, Indiana.  The only reason I knew of this place is it's always where the Spouse stops when he drives home from his Mom's house in Arkansas.  I didn't think there was anything special about it, but come to find out, it's part of the Garfield Trail!  

Jim Davis, the artist who draws the Garfield cartoon is from Grant County in Indiana.  So there are 14 Garfield statues throughout the county in his honor.  We drove around and saw them all!  

This is #1 stop in the brochure - however we didn't go in numerical order, more like "map order" so we didn't do a lot of driving back & forth. 

I was happy to get to this one - we were driving around on a Saturday morning and this one is in the local library so we were hoping it was open!  They also decorate the statue for the seasons. 

This one is noted that you can only get to it during daylight hours, and between April-November since it's inside the pro shop at a golf course! 

This one didn't have a plaque - he's standing outside the James Dean Museum in Fairmount.

A family was just coming out so I was chatting with the mom who said she thought they'd just moved the statue here.  Come to find out they were also from Michigan, which was pretty funny!

This was their first stop and our 5th, tho.

Once we finished the Garfield Trail, we headed on back home.  

As usual, it's nice to be able to shower and use your own bathroom, even tho we did stay at some nice places.