I didn’t have a guest today, so I decided to pop in very briefly. The trip, so far, has been a blast—other than a quick jag through Joplin, MO on our way up.

I can’t even begin to describe everything I saw in Joplin. At one point, we stopped the car and I stood on a little hilltop. I turned in a slow circle and can truthfully say there wasn’t anything within that 360 degree turn that wasn’t completely flattened. It’s a miracle more people didn’t die when that tornado hit.

Today, we stopped at Powell Gardens and toured their “Jurassic” exhibit. It was lovely; the dinosaurs were fun. We took tons of pics. Next stop was Jesse James’s family farm. That was a bit of a letdown because much of what existed during Jesse’s lifetime was gutted and rebuilt. Still, I took pictures. I’m hoping there will be a shadow in a window I can claim was his ghost (just to make it worth the detour!).

We reached my brother’s house this evening and stayed up talking until we were all yawning—as you must be now reading this blog. I am soooooo happy I have guest bloggers for the next few days!

Tomorrow’s tattoo day. I hope the artist has a good night’s rest. I don’t want the word he’s carving into my skin to be misspelled or crooked.

Take care and remember to comment! The day after I return home I’ll be choosing the winner of the pretty fairy journal. I’ll try to find something fun here in Iowa to bring back for a giveaway as well.