3.5 Layover at O'Hare....

Made our 0805 shuttle flight this morning from Springfield to Chicago, and now we sit- 

O Hare traffic seems to come and go on the hour-  right now our concourse is practically empty- 

Baseball Venue 101

Managed to swing around to Hammonds field this afternoon - the home of the AA Springfield Cardinals, the farm team for the St Louis Cardinals. Got a ball and pin- 
What a beautiful venue-  looking forward to getting to a game when we are out here next summer for the reunion. 

Park Number 252- Wilson's Creek

This morning, after a rotten night's sleep at Sherry's due to my shoulder problems, we packed up and headed on down to Springfield Missouri to rest up for our flight tomorrow to Chicago and Jacksonville. 

Along the way, we stopped in at Park # 252, Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in Republic, Missouri, a suburb of Springfield....

Also got a pin and a hiking staff medallion, as well as a couple of post cards. 

Still Hanging out

This is the view from Sherry and Fred's window, overlooking the 2nd green at the club.  Pretty colors, for sure. 

We continue to pretty much hang out-  we did get down to the War Eagle Craft Fair, and got to several different venues for that-  it's a pretty big show, they were predicting 100,000 plus visitors for the weekend, glad we got there the first days-  Didn't buy much, but then again, didn't need much.
Yesterday, we visited with Sherry's daughter and husband and their three sweet kids out in the country-  They are both educators and have adopted a sort of rural, simple lifestyle.  Very family oriented, and have three strapping young boys and a computer hook up, so life is good. 

Today, Fred and Sherry are off to play in a golf mini tournament and we are supposed to join them for dinner later-  I've not been feeling very hot this trip with my shoulder issues, so I may stay in. 

Tomorrow is another off day, don't feel much like heading off on any driving trips, and then Tuesday, we head back on down to Springfield to visit a National Park and a ballfield, then we fly home to Jacksonville Wednesday morning, this time through Chicago. 

Bonus visit to Park Number 251

On the way back from Bentonville to Camdenton today, I noticed that the way the GPS was taking us would lead us within 4.5 miles of the George Washington Carver National Monument, and the ladies graciously agreed to let us stop by-  So Park number 251 is done.

Carver, of course, was a true Renessaince Man for his day.  The VC does a terrific job of telling his story, and the Ranger was outstanding-  Very knowledgeable.  

Long day to War Eagle

Drove about 3 hours on down to the Bentonville Arkansas area
Along the way, we stopped in at Pea Ridge National Military Park-  our 250th park!

Then, on over to the War Eagle Craft Fair- 

It was big, but no great shakes-   just a big craft show out in the fields- The setting was pretty, and we paid 2 dollars to park, but didn't buy a thing-  Wound up eating hot dogs for dinner-

We'll do some more locations tomorrow around town, trying to get to maybe some flea markets also, and then head back up the road to Camdenton. 

In at Sherry's- Off to War Eagle tomorrow

We are at Old Kinderhook, which is the compound that Sherry and Fred live in here near Camdenton, Missouri-  what beauty here!  For the first time this fall, we are seeing fall colors, sorry, no photos just yet, I'll try to get one tomorrow.

Today, we vegged out, and recovered from the plane trip out, which was pretty much uneventful- 
We listened to music today, went out to the town for shopping, had a nice dinner tonight, and tomorrow, Bette, Sherry and I will head 3 hours down the road to Bentonville, Ark., so we can go to several different venues for the War Eagle Craft Fair.  Spending the night at a Town Place Suites in Bentonville, will also make a stop at Pea Ridge NMP, and I guess the Wal Mart visitors center as well, plus whatever else we can find. 

Rained like heck today, but I slept through it-  supposed to be very windy tomorrow-