Catching My Breath

What a show! The Great Lakes Congress show is always a good one and this year's October show was no exception. My show string did well, I sold a lot of haversacks, and I sold both my extra Chevaliers.

Even better, I caught up with a lot of friends.

Since I dislike driving on the freeways in and around Chicago, I always take state highways and drive through the country to get to Huntley where the show is held. That drive is longer, but it has several bonuses.

That route takes me past some very old family graves in Onarga and Watseka, Illinois.

I always stop by and visit them. This year I cut some snapdragons from my front flowerbed and laid them at the graves. (Sorry, no pics of those but they sure looked cheerful and pretty.)

On the way home after the show I stopped at a Caseys in Forrest, Illinois for a break and leg stretch. It's harvest season in the Midwest and the corn dryer across the road was working hard and was incredibly loud!

At first I thought the noise was from a train approaching. (The Caseys and the corn dryer across the road sit on a very busy set of train tracks.) Nope, just midwestern corn drying before going to market.

Stopping at the family graves as well as for lunch or dinner adds additional time to my trip to and from Huntley. Luckily for me Liz Cory made sure I was well prepared for the drive home. She surprised me with several cases of Vanilla Coke Zero!

For some reason, the stores in West Lafayette and Lafayette no longer carry Vanilla Coke Zero. Huntley does, and Liz and Sam thoughtfully made sure I had enough to last for a while. (As you can see, I drank several cans on the way home!)

I'll catch my breath today and then write more tomorrow and share pics from the show. Stay 'tooned!

 

Memorial Day 2015

Craig and I did a road trip on Memorial Day to visit family graves in the area. Eighty-two and a half miles later, we had gone to graveyards in West Lafayette, Lafayette, Colfax, and West Point!

 First stop? My father in Grand View Cemetery.

 My mother's parents are buried there, too.

Then it was on to Rest Haven, off Sagamore Parkway in Lafayette.

 Craig's Fairchild grandparents are interred there.

 A memorial marker.

Next we made a jaunt out to Colfax where Craig's great grandparents, grandparents, and father are buried in Plainview Cemetery.

 It's an isolated spot that sits on a windy hill way out in the hinterlands.

On our way back to town, we swung around through Linden so we could grab some lunch at one of our favorite way stations.

 The Lindy Freeze!

The food is unremarkable, but it's fun to stop at the tiny building, grab a sandwich, and sit on the picnic benches eating.

 Our last stop was to see a grave I had never visited - Craig's Uncle Don who died in World War II. He's buried in West Point Cemetery, West Point, Indiana.

He left behind a pregnant wife who gave birth to a daughter after his death. So sad.

Visiting the family sites prompted us to discuss where we would like to be buried when we're gone. We didn't come to a decision outside of the fact that we want to be together wherever it may be.