Tuesday September 25, The Cousin’s last day.

The day started at 6:00 AM promptly. An hour and a half before it was supposed to. We wake up to a high pitched beep, beep, beep, beep. BT said I think it’s your cell phone downstairs. I said no I’m sure I turned it off. I put on my glasses and head down the stairs. As I get closer to the kitchen it is coming from there. The cell phone is turned off, the analog clock is beeping. I noticed yesterday it had military time showing so I pushed a button and it flashed 6:00, I thought oh, I need to reset it. Ha, at 6:00 in the morning I did need to reset it after I pulled the batteries out to shut the darn thing off.

I went back upstairs to bed and laid there half awake till 7:30.

I stopped for gas and a quick car wash on my way to pick up Mindy and Rei. After the country gravel roads yesterday the car was a mess. I was at Best Western at 9:00 exactly.

We head towards the Capitol and as we go inside the skies look threatening of rain. Still we go in without an umbrella. To me it was very disappointing inside, as there was repair work going on everywhere. The beautiful Missouri seal located directly under the dome was covered with tarps and plywood surrounded with 4 foot high orange plastic fencing. The chandelier fell as it was being lowered many months ago. The gift shop clerks told us it was on its way back to be reinstalled, as to the exact date, they weren’t sure. So why cover the seal ahead of time? Who knows? As we walked to the wings of the museum, there was scaffolding up and painting was going on. We still made our way through and saw most of the exhibits before we headed to the second floor to see the Thomas Hart Benton paintings. As we approached the 14 foot tall double doors to the Senate Chambers, they automatically opened and we walked in, where they closed behind us. Here we were in this beautifully painted room. We looked around and took several pictures, as we walked to the door, it magically reopened. We then took the stairs to the third floors to see the Hall of Famous Missourians, a growing collection of bronze bust of famous Missourians, including Bob Barker who was just dedicated last week with his personal appearance.

As we exited the grand staircase to the first floor we made our way to the front door only to be surprised that the sun was shinning. Thank goodness we hadn’t carried the umbrellas the entire time.

As we headed west of town towards California Missouri, I pointed out where BT was working. It was a scenic drive to Burger smokehouse located 2 ½ miles south of town. Out front we see this majestic white 4 story building which we would later learn is where the hams were curing. It was an hour before we were to meet cousin Barbara Hutchison and her daughter Kitts there for lunch. We had time to read all the displays, watch the tour movie and fill our cooler with pepper bacon, smoked sugar cured ham, homemade jellies, sausages and even a tomato knife for me before they arrived. We were resting in the parlor area when Barb came and Kitts’ was just a minute later. Today was Kitts' B-Day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KITTS! We all ordered our sandwiches, chips and a Pepsi and headed outside to enjoy our lunch at the picnic table under the trees.



Barbara invited us over to visit at her house as a fast moving storm approached. Just as we pulled into her driveway, the skies opened up. Inside her beautiful living room, it was raining so hard we could hardly see across the street. Her 3 dogs didn’t like the thunder and lightening at all, and we really didn’t either. Mindy and Rei had never experienced a Missouri thunder storm. The afternoon went so fast. It was such a joy visiting with the new found cousins. We learned all about Kitts' and what a wonderful family life she has. Her 2nd oldest daughter, Megan works at Shirk’s Market and we had to stop there on the way home.

A couple of hours later the sun came out and we headed back towards Jefferson City but not before we stopped at the market to meet Megan. Mindy was ready to squeeze the peaches and make a scene but Megan wasn't close for us to make a scene. So we had no choice but to just introduce ourselves. We filled a basket with spices, black walnuts and ornamental gourds before we left. Our next stop was French’s Antique Mall. After an hour there we were getting very tired. It was then that Mindy realized it's a small town when.............the lady checking us out was talking, asking where we were from, Mindy said Hawaii. Oh what brings you here? A Cardwell family reunion. The lady gives us this funny look, I know some Cardwell's. So I looked at her and said, do you know Clifford? Yes she said, my daughter was married to his son Allen, and my grandson from them just turned 15 last week. SMALL WORLD!!!!

I dropped Mindy and Rei off at their hotel. They would be out shortly with their leftover pasta from Madison’s. I drove home in another pour rain storm. We had a total of 1 ¼ inch of much needed rain. It was leftover Brats for BT, I grabbed a piece of chicken and just as we finished our Chocolate pumpkin cake, the girls arrived. Rei divided up their leftovers and popped them in the microwave. I shared the pickled okra with them from the Amish market. Their meal was topped off with cake and Coffee too.

We went to the computer and read a few emails and went through the Cardwell Reunion pictures one last time.

It was soon time to say our goodbyes. I can’t begin to tell you what an awesome 5 days I had with all the new found cousins. And I look forward to the day we get to go and pay Mindy and Rei back with a trip to Hawaii!