2021 Oct 15, National Mushroom Hike at Joe Wheeler

 Today at 10:00 A.M., I took a hike on the Jimmy Sims Birding Trail with a group of people led by Sam Woodroof, a park ranger for Joe Wheeler. 

We saw Chanterelles, Jelly, Puffballs, and mushrooms. Mushrooms are fruiting bodies of fungi and a variety of species. 

Mushroom Hike 

Mushrooms

On the birding trail, we could hear a woodpecker but could never spot it. The trail ended at the overlook, but several of us walked a little further across a couple of creeks. It was a great day for hiking. 

We saw some blooming Indian Heliotrope, an annual hirsute plant that is a common weed in waste places and settled areas. Widely used in native medicines.

Indian Heliotrope

Once we got back to the boating dock area, everyone was dispersed. 

I walked down to the edge of the River at the docks, and that is where I saw a couple of gray herons, & a Muscovy duck.

Muscovy Duck 

🚗 2012 ~Aug 14-15, Days 2-3 Trip thru the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee

Day 3: Tuesday, August 14, 2012  

We checked out at 8:45 A.M. from Comfort Inn.

Comfort Inn serves a continental breakfast, so we ate scrambled eggs covered in gravy, round sausage, donuts, orange juice, and orange cranberry juice. 

We had our bags packed before breakfast; we collected our luggage and checked out at 8:45 A.M. 

We stopped to ride the Ducks, but the first load had already left.

We rode downtown to the train depot to ride the train, but it did not leave until 11:30 A.M. 

We rode back to the tourist area of the old town, where we walked around and stopped at 

Walmart bought Hubby a razor for $10.95.  

 Bas Pro Shop in Branson, MO

We walked to the Bas Pro Shop, which was along Lake Taneycomo and across the street from the train depot.

There, we bought a block of chocolate fudge for $3.00, a bag of cashews covered in cinnamon for $3.99, and diet drinks for $1.59, for a total of $9.34.

We sat down in front of the fish tank to eat our snack.

We finished our snack, walked outside, and headed down to Lake Taneycomo. 

Lake Taneycomo. 

Lake Taneycomo

Then we walked back and purchased tickets for the Scenic Train Ride. 

(It was anything but scenic.) Purchased four postcards @ twenty-five cents each and one bell @1.0,0 spent $2.19 cash.

Tickets cosadultslt $25.25

Tax $3.18

Total $28.43 each = $56.86

Tuesday at 11:30 A.M., ticket numbers 101 & 100.

The best part of the train ride was the people sitting across from u, they were a hoot!

Scenic Train Ride🚂🚂🚂

Scenic Train Ride

Scenic Train Ride

Montana Mike's Steakhouse is where we ate lunch.

I ordered a salad, a sirloin steak, a sweet potato, and iced tea.

Hubby ordered a Buffalo Burger with fried onion rings and a Diet Pepsi.

We spent around $18.00 plus tip. 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012 

We purchased tickets for the Duck ride at 3:00 P.M., ticket numbers 00075, 74 

Total Cost was $43.46.

Everyone had their pictures made before boarding the DUCK.

Riding the Duck 

My Hubby and I sat in the front seats. 

Captain Jed was our host, and he was a hoot.

He had us laughing the whole time and was informative about the ride. 

We rode the Duck across Table Rock Dam and up through the woods passing some retired ducks, a half truck, an Otter (T46 Amphibious Cargo Truck), a Crash Truck (G-7133 Airfield Emergency Truck), a Scorpion, (M56 Self Propelled Gun), a Store with a sign that read (Bologna, pickled eggs, pork n beans, Hubby pumped gas), an old home site. 

As we were about to embark on the lake, our Captain,n Je, said, "Be prepared to get wet," and we did. 

We saw the Showboat Branson Belle docked; she was in for repairs. 

Showboat Branson Belle

We floated along in the water; Captain Jed let all the children aboard drive the duck.  

He kept right up with his storytelling.  

Out of the water we came, we went from propeller to wheels, back on the road again. 

We again crossed Table Rock Dam and headed back into Branson.

I was taking pictures the whole time.  

We purchased the pictures that we had taken before boarding the DUCK, which cost us @21.73.

We ride on Highway 13 through Missouri, passing Kimberling City, which is also on Table Rock Lake.  

We stopped at Conoco 11907 State Hwy 13, Kimberling City, MO, at 5:09 P.M. for gas. 

We use pump 3 to fill 15.216 gallons of gas at $3.5499 per gallon, for a total of $54.00.

 Kimberling City

We rode over some steep, curving roads along the Arkansas-Missouri line, passing through Roaring River State Park.

We arrived in Rogers just before dark and stopped at Chick-fil-a, which cost $10.50. 

We checked in at Country Inns and Suites, 4304 West Walnut St, Rogers, AR 72756, telephone number 479-633-0055, room 208. 

We rode to Target in Rogers, Arkansas, where we purchased some Nail polish remover and headache powder (for Hubby). We spent $7.61.

We stopped at Best Buy store number 1148, where we purchased an 8 GB SD card for my Nikon Camera. 

We charged $27.24 for our Best Buy Card. 

We went back to the hotel, to our room, put on our swimsuits, and got into the hot tub. 

Before we got into the hot tub, Hubby went to check out the pool room.

While he was there, two women were enraged because a bearded man had dropped his shorts and put on his swimsuit in front of them. 

The man was still in the pool when we came down; he said little, just sitting in it.

Our stay at the hotel was brief, and the pool was too cold for swimming, so we returned to our room and went to bed.

Day 4: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 

We checked out of the hotel at 8:57 A.M.

After a good night's sleep and a shower, we pack our bags and walk downstairs for breakfast. 

We split a waffle.

Hubby also ate sausage gravy and a muffin.  

I added whipped cream and blueberries to mine, along with a piece of sausage.

We rode over to the Museum of Native American Art, 202 SW 0 Bentonville, Arkansas, which opened at 9:00 A.M. and were there until 10:22 A.M.

I bought three postcards at the Museum of Native American Art  @ $2.00 each for a total of  $6.54 

Museum of Native American Art Museum

Museum of Native American Art Museum

We rode to the Peel Museum. The curator was by herself and could not start the tour until 11 A.M. 

We walked through the gift shop, then went outside to take pictures of the grounds.

Peel Museum Gift Shop

Peel Museum

Peel Museum

The curator said there was roadwork ahead, so she gave us different directions to the Crystal Bridge Museum.

We thanked the curator and left at 10:49 A.M.  

We arrived at the Crystal Bridge Museum around 11:09 and left a little after 12:00 P.M. 

Crystal Bridge Museum

Crystal Bridge Museum

We did not stop for lunch, for we had leftovers, so I finished off the chicken fingers and fudge we had bought at Bass Pro Shops.

We had finished all the sodas we brought.

We stopped at Carlisle Exxon, 1515 Bankhead, Carlisle, Arkansas, for gas at pump five: $3.629 per gallon for 14.329 gallons, for a total of $52.00.

The drive home took us about eight hours.

I took several pictures with my iPhone on our trip home. 

We rode through Little Rock, Arkansas, to Memphis, TN.

Traveling to Memphis, TN  

Traveling to Memphis, TN  

We stopped at Joe's Crab Shack for supper.  

I ordered a Caesar salad.

Hubby ordered Joe's crab legs bucket, our total Cost was $39.24 

Joe's Crab Shack 

Joe's Crab Shack 

Joe's Crab Shack 

Hubby was very disappointed with his meal.

In his bucket were two claws, two potatoes, and a small corn. 

When we arrived home, Hubby sent Joe a complaint email, and they apologized and sent him a $30 gift card with no expiration date to compensate for his meal.

1-Crab, Dungeness $24.49

2-Tea $4.79, 

1-Caesar salad $2.99 

Total Cost $39.24.

We were both still hungry and stopped in at the Express Shop #6 in Corinth, MS Filled up with gas at pump 7; price per gallon: on 3.5.6 Total fuel cost: $31.00 for 8.678 gallons. 

We also purchased a soda and a peanut butter cracker, spending $5.00 at 8:03 P.M. 

We are just a couple of hours from home. 

We arrive home around 10:00 P.M., only to find that we have no electricity. 

An electrical storm hit our garage, tripping three breakers.

Lightning struck our house, knocking out our router, Vonage phone, and Internet. 

The food in our refrigerator's freezer had thawed, so I had to throw it away.

The trip was excellent, but the homecoming was awful.

My next trip will be to Hartford, CT. Sept 11-25, 2012 

🚌🚌🚌🚌The Bus ride and the Driver

With one bus, a token, and a senior bus pass, the family walked out the door of the Ronald McDonald House.

They walked down to Thirty-ninth and Chestnut Streets to take the SEPTA Bus to downtown Philadelphia.

The long-awaited bus comes to a screeching halt.

The driver immediately spots the little girl in the wheelchair.

The front door remains closed as he walks to the center of the bus to lower the lift.

When the lift is level with the road, the bus driver gets out and wheels the little girl onto the ramp.

He raises the lift back up and rolls the wheelchair into place. He buckles and straps the little girl in. 

The bus driver struggles to keep his cap on because the little girl in the wheelchair keeps pulling it off. 

The little girl had everyone on the bus in stitches.

When the bus driver completes his task, everyone on the bus claps because of his patience with the little girl.

The bus driver walks back to the front of the bus, opens the front door, and lets the rest of the passengers board.

Passengers are putting tokens or cash fares into the transit system as the bus scurries away, or scanning their bus passes.

The buses rule the narrow roads as they travel downtown. 

A conversation between the little girl's grandmother and an older woman began.

The woman said, "I once went to the hospital to hold the babies, but they would not let me because I did not have insurance." They missed a great opportunity."

The bus arrives at Sixteenth Street, and the little girl is wheeled again to the chairlift and onto the sidewalk.

The family thanked the driver, he opened the front door again, the passengers boarded the bus, and he scurried down the street.

At Liberty Square, the family visits the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the grave of Benjamin Franklin.

The family decides to take the seventy-minute amphibious DUCK.

There is no chair lift; the little girl has to be lifted onto the Duck, and her wheelchair is left behind.

The little girl squeals with laughter as the wind hits her face, and when the DUCK hits the water, she squeals even louder.

It was very dark when the DUCK ride ended.

The family pushes the little girl safely back to Sixteenth Street, then rides the bus to Chestnut and Thirty-ninth Street.

The family arrives at their stop, the little girl and her wheelchair are unloaded, and the family walks safely back to the Ronald McDonald House.

There has been a lot of violence going on outside the downtown area of Philadelphia.

Just the day before, there had been a police officer shot in the face during a routine traffic stop.

The next day, the family takes a taxi to the airport.

After the mother pays the taxi driver, she soon realizes that she has been taken to the wrong airport.

The mother takes out her cell phone and calls Angel Flight. Angel Flight, in turn, calls the pilot and tells him what happened.

Angel Flight told the family to stay where they were, and the pilot was on his way. 

Angel Flight is a free service (provided by privately owned airplane pilots) that volunteers its services to people with children with special needs.

The little girl had to be loaded and unloaded onto three different airpanes. She didn't mind, for she was going home.