Go Tigers!

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far:  pronghorn, horse, llama, elk, bison, grizzly, bighorn sheep, mule deer, Uinta ground squirrel, wolf, black bear, moose, coyote, fox, bullsnake, bat, white-tailed jackrabbit, mountain goat, yellow-bellied marmot, river otter, longhorn cattle, prairie dog, white-tailed deer

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far: bald eagle, grouse, osprey, magpie, red-tailed hawk, Canada goose, great horned owl, American kestrel, sandhill crane, cliff swallow, mountain bluebird, Ferruginous hawk, cinnamon teal, Clark’s nutcracker, northern flicker, Brewer’s blackbird, red-winged blackbird, Lazuli bunting, common merganser, American white pelican, wild turkey

 [Click on any photo to enlarge.]

Our drive continued across South Dakota, Iowa, and into Missouri with some gorgeous fall foliage along the way and not just the yellows that we had been seeing previously!  Of course this photo taken through the front window does not do justice to the brilliance of the colors but seems none of those I took through the window
truly brought out their beauty.  This one at least shows the many different colors in one spot.  At our overnight stay at the Wal-Mart in Council Bluffs, IA, we were treated to a “bird convention” atop the nearby Menard’s sign.  Don’t think we’ve ever seen so many birds on one sign!

 

We arrived at Finger Lakes State Park (FingerLakes), about 10 miles north of Columbia, MO, and settled into the same site we occupied a couple of years ago.  The park is a reclaimed strip mine where between 1964 and 1967 Peabody Coal removed 1.2 million short tons of coal.  Now it’s popular for camping, fishing, mountain biking, and ATV riding.  Russ’ alma mater, the University of Missouri (Mizzou), is in Columbia, and this campground was the perfect jumping off point for us to enjoy campus activities for the next couple of weeks.

 

First up was the annual homecoming football game the day after we arrived. We didn’t attend the parade this year and opted not to attend the game but instead enjoy Doug’s tailgate party.  His set-up was in a corner spot of the parking lot just outside one of the stadium entrances near the end
zone, and we had a fairly clear view of the Jumbotron to watch the festivities and the game.  At one point before the game, a photographer was going around to the various tailgates taking pictures to post on a website called Hit-Pics.com (guess you can purchase the pics if you want but they also allow you to copy, post, email, too).  The guy saw Abby and asked if he could take our picture, and I was happy to oblige!  Mizzou was celebrating its 175th anniversary and its 103rd homecoming, this year playing the Vanderbilt Commodores.  The university was going to
try something new this year and asked that all who were attending the game wear either gold or black depending on the location of their seat which would give a black/gold striping effect to the stadium.  Amazingly it worked out pretty well and we noticed later that it looked even better on TV!  Final score -
   Mizzou 24 - Vanderbilt 14…that’s a winner!  We all celebrated the win with a late night dinner at the nearby TGI Friday's while Abby rested and recovered in the car from an exhausting day...she really hated all the fireworks that went off after each score!

 

   A few days later we went to a pre-season exhibition basketball game at the Hearnes Center with free admission.  The evening started with a great rendition of the national anthem sung by the Self-Contained Barbershop Apparatus Quartet.  It was a few days before
   Halloween and “The Antlers” cheering section was in rare form with many of them dressed for the holiday though they seemed not quite as raucous as their reputation and as we've seen them in the past.  Maybe it had something to do with the Athletic Director sitting
    not far from them! J  The men’s team was playing the William Jewell College Cardinals, and though the Tigers are a young team this year under new head coach Kim Anderson, they won convincingly 72-31.

Earlier this year I reconnected with another cousin, and since she and her mom live only about 40 minutes from where we were staying, I made arrangements for a visit.  Kathy made sure to let her brother, Danny, know I was coming so he was there when I arrived, too.  Unfortunately he
   couldn’t stay long since he had to get back to work, but I was so glad he stopped by and enjoyed some pizza with us.  Aunt Rosie, Kathy, and I had a wonderful time catching up over the next few hours.  We figured out that it had probably been over 30 years since we’d seen each other…way too
long!  While I was there, Aunt Rosie returned two pieces of embroidery artwork that I had made for her brother, my Uncle John, many years ago which she became the caretaker of after his death.  She knew they had always held a special place in my heart, and it truly touched me that she had held onto them all this time.  When she gave them to me, she said they were “going home”. It was truly a wonderful visit.

 

The following Sat. we made plans to meet up with Jim and Judy so we could carpool to the football game since we’d be sitting together.  However, before the game we enjoyed lunch at The Old Heidelberg Restaurant (www.theheidelberg.com/), a
     cornerstone of the Mizzou campus since 1963 and the gang's old stomping grounds.  Good food with good friends to kick off the day!  Then back at the stadium parking lot, the four of us enjoyed our own little tailgate before heading
    inside.  Our seats were 26 rows from the field, and it was standing room only with an attendance of 62,004.  It was Military Appreciation Day, and there were several tributes to service members including one of those touching moments of a surprise visit home for one family though I
couldn't get a decent picture of them.  Missouri was playing the Kentucky Wildcats, and it was an exciting game with the Tigers prevailing 20-10!  After enjoying another late dinner at TGI Friday’s, it was time to head back to the RV as we’d be leaving the next morning to continue east.