And Happy New Year from Missouri!

We drove to Missouri on December 28th, through a snow storm. It started snowing on us within an hour of leaving Azle and kept on for a few more hours. We arrived at the lodge mid-afternoon after a non-eventful drive through some pretty country. At least we think it was pretty, it was hard to see as far as we normally could because of the snow. The lodge and property are called Coal Ground, because it is where they used to mine coal in the early part of the century. Huge steam shovels would dig deep, long pits to take the coal out of, and now they are filled with water and make a series of long, skinny lakes all over the property. It is in the southwest part of the state, not far from Joplin. The property across the road from the lodge is in Kansas. It is one of the few recreational properties still owned by the family after real estate's demise several years ago, and it's for sale as well. Everyone wants to get as much enjoyment out of it as possible before it has to go. Hence, our trip to spend time with family and to hunt "on the way home."

Evidence of our snowy travel.

 

The lodge is really cool. It's a huge metal building but the inside is finished out like a house. Part of it was left as a huge garage. My dad and uncles developed several recreational properties with this lodge design.

James had to make sure Shannon had the right sized rifle so he'd be ready for hunting early the next morning.

The garage is a great place for cousins to play.

There was as much fun had indoors as outdoors this week.

The next several pictures were taken before a couple of different hunts. (Afternoon ones, that is. I missed the 4:30 am hunting preparations.) 

The first morning James took Shannon with him, where he promptly curled up in his oversized clothing on the ground in his blind and fell asleep.

Dad.

Those who didn't hunt played. Those who did hunt played when they weren't hunting.

 

Avery got to go with them during the afternoon hunt. He loved it, even though they shot at a deer and missed. It looks like he's going to be our hunting/fishing guy, since he seems to show the most interest in it. Shannon likes it too, but somehow managed to fall asleep again.

Gonna get me a durr.

The amount of miscellaneous camo clothing at that place is amazing. There's something for everyone, even if the everyone is too small for some of it.

Gary's girls like to go with him. Abi took a turn this day. Gracyn killed a deer while we were out there.

Evidence that they let me come on vacation.

Abi.

Gracyn, deerslayer.

One afternoon the girls who stayed back made snacks while the others hunted. Take a Bugle, fill it with peanut butter, then dip the end in chocolate and let it harden. Pure genious.

Amelia decided the taxidermied wildlife needed a stylist.

Warning: if you don't like to see what meat looks like before you cook it, look away.

 

Way before you cook it.

There's a huge cooler on the back of the lodge where the processing can be done. Everyone took home a good bit of venison. We packed ours in trash bags on the top of the car since the weather was cold. James ground most of it at home and we had a few tenderloins to enjoy as well. It didn't last as long as I wanted it to.

Putting together a puzzle is serious business. Apparently the paparazzi was not welcome.

Ah, such a sense of satisfaction when one conquers a puzzle.

A slightly odd place to play games on a phone, but it works.

Anybody remember Sally Jesse Raphael?

So many emails to return, documents to type, so much business to conduct. It's a wonder these kids even had time to go on vacation.

Then there's this.

We've long since stopped taking responsibility for every action our kids take. He dashed in, arm raised, shouting, "I'm Captain Underpants!"

I asked him if the underwear came out of the suitcase or the previously worn pile beside the suitcase...I will let you guess.

What does the world need a super hero like this one for, anyway? To save us from burrito and chili night? Avery is his own person and something he says or does makes me laugh every single day.

There was a bit of static in the air.

We spent a lot of time outside. It did snow while we were there, but didn't stick.

This is the storm shelter. Not a bad idea, considering Missouri's history these past few years.

There are lots of great places to take a walk.

Or hitch a ride.

The driveway out to the road past the lodge.

The driveway out to the rest of the property, out the other way.

When it's duck season there's duck hunting on the lakes. Here's a bunch of dead plastic ducks.

Aunt Reda and Sara.

This place is covered in fields, perfect for deer. There was a horrific train wreck on the tracks you can see at the end of the field last year. Thankfully no one was killed but there was a lot of excitement around there for awhile.

Big ole turkey tracks. Or maybe it's a pterodactyl.

This is part of one of the lakes. They are everywhere.

We brought in the new year mostly asleep on the couches in the main room of the lodge. It was very exciting, as it tradition in the Adams family. On the 29th a few days before we had celebrated Mom's birthday. I somehow missed the cake and ice cream photos. Not that a cake is a great thing to have for your birthday when you are gluten intolerant anyway!

Early on the morning of the 3rd we headed out for Georgia. It was a very enjoyable week, and over all a super fun two weeks. You can't put a price on that kind of time or fun spent with family. We took a route that drove us through the Ozarks, across Missouri, we waved at Illinois, went through Kentucky, Tennessee, briefly hit North Carolina, then back to north Georgia. It was a beautiful drive. By the time we arrived home we were ready to get out and go to bed. I wasn't anxious to tackle the unpacking then Christmas decor putting away that awaited me, but we got everything back in order quickly enough.

I must have neglected to take any pictures of Christmas stuff at home, because I can't find any. That's probably because Crappy the Camera and I weren't on the best terms. I had taken Old Reliable to the shop just before we headed to Texas, and naturally they called to tell me it was ready the day after we arrived at Mimi and Papa's. Oh well, as we are fond of saying around here, "It's nice to have a rich man's problems." Taking slightly less than stellar photos beats the crud out of hauling malaria infested drinking water any day, as a good percentage of the world is forced to do daily.

It was a very good year. It seems time continues to speed up every year. We'll all be dead before we know it! (Happy thoughts to cheer up your day.)

Try not to think about it, and I'll try my best to start posting about the new year which is nearly over before the week ends.  Farewell, dear two readers, until next time.