B.J's Bits and Pieces: Fall makes me happy.....

This is my favorite time of year and I'm enjoying the cooler temperatures so much. I sat on our patio lastnight until after dark enjoying the 60 something degrees which felt very warm. It was nice to sit around because I went with Mark in the afternoon to shop for a used car, which is more exhausting than you would think. He's been driving his car for 5 yrs. now which has to be a new record for him. He would rather change cars every 2 yrs. so he's long overdue. Thankfully, he doesn't want to change his wife like that.

Last month Mark and I drove to Jumonville, PA where his parents met as church camp counselors. We had been there before and found it to be quaint and full of places where we could imagine that they sat and talked or possibly stole kisses. It was Mark's father's dream to have his and Mary Esther's ashes spread together after their deaths so they could be together again at the place where they met. Bruce was such a romantic and Mark was so pleased to be able to fulfill his father's last wish. If you look closely at this photo of the 100' tall cross on the hill at the church camp you can see the ashes blowing up in the wind with the cloud in the background. Some people don't really like the word, closure, but fulfilling his dad's wishes brought closure for Mark and he felt this was the best way to honor their lives together.

Did you know there is an awesome Military Museum here in Groveport, Ohio? I was not very thrilled to go to it, but thought Mark (who reads every WWII book he can find) would enjoy it..... so off we went. It was really fantastic and informative with artifacts dating back to the Spanish/American War, Civil War, WWI and WWII. They will be opening a new wing that will have information about the Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a replica of the Eddie Rickenbacker house (full scale) plus military vehicles in the fenced in grass area in the back of the museum which includes one of the six still existing "Higgins Boats" that pulled up to Normandy Beach and dropped it's front to let all the soldiers off. We found it very interesting to talk to Warren Motts, the owner, about stories he shares with people. My favorite story was about General Paul Tibbets, Jr. who was the pilot of the Enola Gay which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Gen. Tibbets was on the advisory board of the Motts Military Museum and lived here in Columbus until his death in 1992.

http://www.mottsmilitarymuseum.org/

For my birthday in October we flew to Missouri to visit with some friends. They took us to Eureka Springs, AK which is such a great artistic town. We love going there when we visit Scott and Arlene. This is just one of the cute buildings that houses specialty shops and galleries.

They took us to Branson, MO one evening for dinner and we enjoyed the fountain show there.

We drove to Oklahoma City, OK after our visit in Missouri. Our friends over there showed us a great time too. We went with Karen to the Murrah Building Memorial which brought tears to my eyes. It is so beautiful and is such a wonderful tribute to the lives lost there. Here are a few photos from there.

These brass and glass chairs are engraved with each individual's name who lost their lives that day in the bombing. They are located on the land where the Murrah Building stood.

This reflecting pond is where the street used to be where Timothy McVeigh pulled the Ryder truck up in front of the building. The wall at the end there has the time 9:01 which is the time right before the bomb went off. There is a wall at the other end that has the time 9:03 which is the time that lives were changed forever in just 2 minutes.

This is the outside of the new Murrah Building that was erected a block away. The protrusions on the windows are to represent crosses for the lives lost.

Off we went to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.....

www.nationalcowboymuseum.org

which I like to call the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Did you know that there are 8,000 different types of barbed wire??? Who knew?

See the vertical slide out drawers under the photo? They had about 1-15 different kinds of barbed wire in each of them and those surrounded the room.

Clothes worn by John Wayne in the movie True Grit.

The End of the Trail statue

Then dinner at Larry's, who is Karen's boyfriend, and a great cook. He made lamb which was scrumptious.

We drove back to Kansas City, MO for the flight home, but had time to visit that city for a night and day. We liked it and would recommend if you ever travel to there you must eat at Garozzo's for the best meal in the city!