A Week’s Worth of Missouri!
When we started the contract in Wisconsin, we knew it was going to end the week of October 4th. We decided that we were going to take the next week to get some things done in Kirksville before we headed to the next location. As things went, we decided to extend the contract in Wisconsin, but still made sure that Amity had this whole week off for some relaxation, family time, a 20th Year Kirksville High School Reunion she had been planning for the past several months, and a surprise wedding where Amity’s dad, Mike, planned to marry Karren. Time to stock up on curds and road snacks for the long drive ahead of us.
Mile: 72,391
Quote of the Blog: “Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa.” - Field of Dreams
Song of the Blog: “Beverly Hills” - Weezer
Our first stop on the trip was all the way down in Leawood, Kansas, to hang out with the Earlys, see the kids, and make sure to pass off a special birthday gift for Andy. We figured that with his recent Jam of the Month gift, a fridge full of cheese would only be fitting! On the way out of Wisconsin, we found a place called The Mousehouse and we stocked up! Everything from fresh curds and aged cheddar to chocolate cheese. Yes, chocolate cheese is a dessert cheese that is more like cream cheese than anything else. You have to love a cheese store that has a gigantic mouse out front! The rest of the drive was long, Iowa was boring, and we pulled into the Kansas City area later in the evening, just in time to make it to Atticus’s soccer match. Unfortunately, his team isn’t very good, so he has had a rough season. He still played great and we were happy to see him out there. After the game, we finished our trip to the Earlys’ house. It is quieter with Briley being in college, but the dogs made sure to fill the room with entertainment. We were happy to spend the night catching up with Andy and the kids.
We started the next morning with a high school cross-country race that Baylor was running in. He has been progressing a lot over his freshman year, and we were excited to be there to see him run. One of the most exciting parts about being at a cross-country race is running around with the parents and spectators from place to place to cheer along the way. Andy knew the course, so we just followed him. We all had some good laughs while navigating the mass of people, getting around the course, and making sure we didn’t run into any actual racers (Atticus nearly did!). The race was quick and Baylor did great! He was happy with his time and place, which is great to see—his realistic approach to running and focusing on his own performance level instead of solely on winning. After we got back to their house, we regrouped and headed down to the West Bottoms area of Kansas City. Amity had found a Halloween-themed event that was supposed to have trick-or-treating for the kids and some shopping. Turns out, it was just antiquing, with no candy… total false advertising! We still had a good time showing the kids old things and explaining to them that their mom, dad, grandparents, and even we have used some of these things (like a typewriter). We found some good humor in that! The night ended with dinner back at their house, followed up with our obligatory trip to Andy’s Frozen Custard. It truly is the best ice cream (or frozen custard) out there! On the way home, Atticus and Finley took us to the best decorated house we have seen! Bonus points for them for giving us directions in their best British (probably more Australian) accents! Mate!
The next morning, we had to move on with our adventure and head north to Columbia to see Asa, Kelsey, and little Seger. We wanted to celebrate Kelsey’s birthday with her, and have a night in at their house before finishing the rest of the drive north to Kirksville. Asa smoked some chicken wings for us, and we got to play with the little man for the afternoon. Seger is a solid little guy, and this trip we learned some of his tricks and that he has quite the throwing arm on him! He is busier than a Hollywood assistant and made the afternoon with him feel like a whole weekend! It was great to spend the night catching up with Asa and Kelsey. We could have stayed there longer, but we all knew we would be seeing each other in a couple of days for the big wedding day.
The third leg of the drive was quick and easy. After running some errands with Segar, we made the quick drive up to Kirksville. We had a lot to get done over the next five days we were there. After getting unpacked, our first item on the agenda was to head out to Thousand Hills State Park and test out Julie and Jeff’s new pontoon boat. It was a perfect evening to take the boat out. They had just purchased it in the last month, and had only been out on it once before. We couldn’t have asked for a better evening to decompress after a couple days of driving and constant go-go-go. I have always thought that if more people knew about boating on this lake, more people would think positively of Kirksville. It really is a beautiful spot, and there are never boats out there. They should be very excited to have their new toy and to be able to get out there whenever they want. It was a great way to return to Kirksville and do something different.
Over the next couple of days, we bounced between staying at Julie and Jeff’s house and staying at Mike and Karen’s house. We had some doctor appointments that took up too much time, and we found out we are both healthy as oxen and that aside from my broken front tooth, I have amazing dental health and never, ever have to go back to a dentist again in my life. How relieving! HAHA I wish! We also spent some much-needed time at Woody’s catching up with Dan and the crew there. It’s the only bar I feel comfortable going to anymore without Amity. In other places, I just feel awkward because I don’t know anyone. At Woody’s, I at least know Dan, so that helps. The big events for the week fell on Friday and Saturday. Friday night we had the Kirksville Homecoming Parade and football game. This was fun for me, as I was able to become more of an observer of Amity’s high school friends. At one point, we even convinced one of them that I had gone to school with them, and that he must have just forgotten me. It has been years since I have gone to a high school football game, but Kirksville has a really nice field—way nicer than the one in Whitefish! I don’t know who won or lost, just that it was a good time!
Saturday was the day! Not only did we have the 20th Year Reunion that night, but we also had Mike and Karen’s wedding in the middle of the day. Mike’s goal was to keep things simple, do it in the backyard, and have things wrapped up in time to watch the Missouri Tigers football game. They accomplished all of this, but did it in the most touching, loving, and perfectly “Mike and Karen” way! Mike tried to keep his emotions at bay, but they spilled out a couple of times in the most authentically loving and heartfelt ways. Karen wore a dress and looked amazing!!! Amity and Asa were their “Best Man and Maid of Honor”. Their dog, Gunner, stood guard, keeping the local cat situation at bay during the ceremony. We are very happy for the two of them to make this step together, and now we have a new step-mom: Karen Sparks! Following their ceremony, they gathered some friends at Woody’s for a little reception party. We were able to stay for a short time before we had to head out to get ready for the reunion.
Amity, being her Class Vice President, had to do a lot of planning for this event, and couldn’t have been happier that it was actually happening and that people had purchased tickets to come. We headed out to Jackson Stables, which is where they had last partied together at their Graduation Party in 2005. They did not have a 10-year reunion, so how the night would go was up in the air. Things ended up being fantastic! Everyone had a great time! It was fun to meet all of Amity’s high school friends and to catch up with the ones I already knew. Amity enjoyed being able to spend some quality time with those she spent so much of her life with. The night’s activities spilled over into some after-party bar hopping in downtown Kirksville. A night we thought might be a flop turned into a fantastic night of partying with Amity’s friends! We are grateful for everyone that came back to Kirksville for this night, and I am stoked I got to meet Chuck! Maybe we can do this all again in 5 or 10 years, or whenever Amity is ready to go through the planning again!
Our last activity in Missouri was to swap out our clothing for the next location. This was a little trickier this time because we still did not know where the next contract was going to be. We knew it was likely that we would be headed to the Southwest for winter, but there was still a chance that Colorado could happen. So, we did our best, and we will find out what we need when we come back in December. After this was done, we said our goodbyes to both houses and hit the road for our fourth leg of the adventure: back up to Wisconsin. Knowing that we had to make it through Iowa, we planned to hit a couple of spots on the way to make the state a little more exciting. Along the way, we found that the house that inspired the iconic painting American Gothic was just off the highway. This was pretty cool, minus the fact that the whole state had recently fertilized its farmland, making the entire northern half of Iowa smell like poop! We got a quick photo in front of the house doing our best American Gothic poses and hopped back in the car.
The next stop was not much further down the road and was a little more than just another roadside attraction. This was the Field of Dreams film set—probably the coolest thing Iowa has to offer the world. We spent some time playing catch on the field. It was fun to go out to the cornfield in the outfield and walk through it. We checked out the shop and made sure to hit some dingers before we left. We could have stayed longer, but they were closing and we still had another three and a half hours to drive home to Fond du Lac. What a wild week! Time to recoup, because the next Live Rad Adventure is four days away!