Blast from the Past Travels

 We just returned from a fabulous vacation in the Ozarks with Hillcrest friends. Our 35th anniversary reunion of our term of VS at Hillcrest Home in Harrison AR. 35 years makes us sound slightly old... 🤯 

We've talked about doing this for a number of years. One of my pet peeves is talking about doing something, such as "let's get together for coffee sometime" without taking any initiative to make it actually happen. If you're not serious, don't say it! is my motto. So by merit of taking some initiative, we ended up in charge of this reunion. My poor hubby gets roped into taking charge of stuff because of me! 🙈 

In any case, back in February, we haggled over a date and I searched for group lodging. There are a lot more big condos available near Branson these days than there was back in our day, but many of them are set up for families with kids. We needed a lot of bedrooms with ensuite baths, not bunk beds. I finally found what I was looking for -a 3 story, 9 bedroom- and put a down payment on it, with fingers crossed that we wouldn't get stuck with empty rooms when the time came. It's always a little nerve-racking to be the one "holding the bag". It was a new unit with few reviews, but it turned out to be a good choice for our purpose. 

Actually, as the date drew near, we convinced a few more couples in the '89-'90 alumni to join us, so I rented a 3 bedroom cottage in the same development to hold the overflow. We were thrilled with the response! We haven't had a reunion for 18 years; normally it's just the ladies that get together. 

Richard & I left early Thursday morning. We were planning to carpool, but a funeral put the kibosh on that. With the increased speed limit, what used to be a 13 hour drive is now only 11.5 hours. 

When you get into Missouri and start seeing these bluffs... 

...it just feels like coming home! 😍

Eek! I can hardly believe we're really DOING THIS! 👏👏 

We stopped at a Buc-ee's for the first time.  

After we checked into a hotel in Branson, we drove down to Harrison AR. It's a 4 lane highway now- only a 30 min. commute. 

I was really wanting to go to Devito's restaurant, where we went on our first date. It was 2 days shy of being exactly 34 years later! 

The restaurant burned down in 2000, but the owners rebuilt it -it still looks the same. The original sign from 1990 is still there, in the landscaping now. 

I don't have a picture from our 1st date, but we asked our waiter to take a picture this time. This is even close to the same table we had the first time.  

Devito's is an Italian restaurant, but the owners also have a trout farm, so fresh rainbow trout is on the menu. You can even fish there and they'll fry up your catch. I decided in advance that I wanted trout this time. I love pesto, so I couldn't go wrong with the pesto trout. Richard had a steak.  

When the staff found out why we were there, they gave us dessert on the house. We chose chocolate bourbon pecan pie. It was amazing! 😋 I was expecting it to be very chocolate-y, but it only had a sprinkling of chocolate chips. 

Afterwards, we drove around Harrison, revisiting old haunts. Our kids would've totally been rolling their eyes if they had been with us, but we had a pleasant meander down memory lane. And of course, we had to find "the dip", for old times sake. Richard has a much better memory of where things are compared to me. 

Friday morning we lollygagged around too long trying to decide what we were going to do- meet up with friends and do a golf cart tour with them or go ziplining on our own. (We've never zipped before. I have money from my 50th birthday that I've been saving to go.) Till we made our decision, we missed the 11am zipline tour by 5 minutes. Therefore we had time to kill until our 1:30 tickets. I googled "free things to do in Branson" and found a scenic drive we decided to do. 

Henning Scenic Overlook in Branson

The Strip in Branson has gotten built up since the '90s, but God's creation hasn't changed much. 😍

I did think about it when we were selecting a date that this would be right after school starts. The school calendar doesn't affect many of our group anymore, so I didn't give it more than a passing thought. Turns out the locals told us our timing was perfect- we hit that short window of time known as "dark week". Families were not vacationing because the kids went back to school and the seniors have not started their fall vacations yet, so it was not as crowded with tourists. 👌 

We also stopped at the Dewey Short Visitor's Center at Table Rock Lake dam, where we watched a 20 minute video about the history of the dam.  

Harnessed up to go ziplining at Shepherd of the Hills canopy tour... hooray, I'm finally doing this!! 

We were in a full group of 12, including 2 preschoolers. The first line was a short practice run, but after that we were committed for 7 more lines. 

Loved that we were allowed to take our own cameras along. Instead of being forced to buy souvenir photos. We had a pouch clipped to our harness for our personal belongings. 

On the 2nd zip, our guide said not to brake so we make it the whole way up onto the [treetop] platform. So I didn't brake at all. I came in hot and nearly slammed into the tree. (I believe he pulled the emergency cord to stop me.) It was a little embarrassing. But we got better at "learning the ropes" as we went along, no pun intended. On one or two lines, I didn't quite make it all the way up and had to be pulled in, which actually makes me feel better about my menopause weight gain. On the highest & fastest lines, I focused out ahead instead of looking down, but it was still FUN! I have some fear of heights, but I would totally zipline again.  

The lady that sold us the tickets said they have Amish girls coming in all the time that zip in dresses -it's not a problem. But I felt self-conscious with the harness "rutching" my dress up; next time I'll figure out a more modest arrangement. 

We could check into the rental units at 4pm, so we went straight there from the zipline. Most of the group arrived at the same time; everyone was in the area and just waiting for check-in time. A few of us couples were hungry so we went to Gettin' Basted in Branson for some BBQ. Richard & I got the Moink burger and 10 out of 10 recommend it! It's a burger topped with pulled pork and bacon. It was huge; glad we shared.  

We went to a scenic overlook for sunset, but due to miscommunication our group ended up at 2 different overlooks. The view was gorgeous either place. 

One of the couples said that they were not able to come [to the reunion] due to a funeral at their church. Then I got a call later alerting me that they had changed their plans and were coming after all, but would be late. We were supposed to keep it quiet so they could surprise the group. I may or may not have told a couple white lies. Several people asked me straight up if they are coming or not. They walked in the door at 11pm. 

Saturday morning we made brunch at the condo. The food was great! We would expect nothing less with our favorite cafe owner in charge. 😊  

I don't know what the neighboring renters thought -because our group is not known for our quiet-ness, but we loved hanging out on the back deck of the condo. 

The men played a cornhole version of softball...

We picked up pizza for supper...

Then we went to see Shepherd of the Hills outdoor drama, based on the Harold Bell Wright book by the same title, that evening. (I read the book but did not remember being there before, but according to our scrapbooks, Richard & I went in 1992, our 1st vacation after we were married.)  

Back Row: Dave & Renita* Yoder, Ruth* & Paul Gingerich, Linda* & Myron Yutzy

Front Row: Richard* & Cheryl* Miller, Ken & Rosita* Martin, Bev* & Airell* Weaver, Delbert* & Rosi* Yoder, Yvonne* & Dave* Sommers, Loren* & Mary Ellen Yoder, John & Twila* Hostetler, Doreen* & Jay* Kurtz

(* = '89-'90 Hillcrest alumni)

Our favorite line is still Doc (on the right) "Oh, what would Sarah and the girls say?!" 

And the dapper Ollie was a classic! That high-steppin' gait... 😂

We might be getting older, but we simply cannot go to bed early whenever we're together. Ever. The FOMO is real with this group. The play was over at 10:30, but a game of Marble Chase was played yet. 

We cooked our own brunch again Sunday morning. 

Part of our Sunday service was singing some of our old favorites from the '90s

Then we drove down to Harrison, where 2nd generation Hillcrest staff gave us a tour. 

A tree planted in memory of the late Laura Hershberger -a nurse & friend from our era- is still there.

While much has changed inside the Home, there are still bits & bobs of the original, as we remember it. We were probably the largest group of 'formers' to ever tour the home. It was so fun to come back together! 

Although the household model is superior to the care we gave the residents back in our day, I would not trade our era for anything. We worked hard! We worked long hours when we were short staffed, which was most of the time. But we bonded like the staff of today do not. That bond is evidenced by our enduring friendships. We were/are the elite! Just sayin'. 

The annual staff group photos... we're way back there, "ancient" history. 

When us ladies toured through the girls dorm, the current staff girls just watched us. Oh, the memories that building holds!! We apologized for traipsing through their space, to which one commented that they find it amusing. We advised them to picture themselves 30 years from now. No doubt we look OLD to them. 😜 

Indeed, while we were touring through the nursing home, one of the residents said to us "you're going to love it here." Wait a minute! We do not look THAT old! Her eyesight was bad. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!  

These couples were administrative staff back in our day, and provided supper for us Sunday evening. Umm, they were not as old as we thought they were back in the day. 😁 The age gap between us has shrunk considerably.  

We stopped at Top of the Rock on our way back to Branson, so we could soak in another beautiful Ozark sunset over Table Rock Lake. I never get tired of this view! 

And because we never go to bed early, there was another round of Marble Chase. And hot tub time for some of us ladies. Soaking in the fellowship before we had to part ways again. 

I don't have pictures from Monday- we spent the entire day driving home. And we were so tired; it has taken a couple days to rest up from our vacation. 😂 But I wouldn't trade the memories for any amount of money! We checked all the boxes on this trip. 

 It amazes me that we only lived in Arkansas for 1 year, but it still feels like home to me 35 years later. 

We missed those who were not able to make it. 

Of the 11 couples who attended, 5 of us couples met our spouses at Hillcrest. Of the remaining 6 couples, 5 husbands & 1 wife were not Hillcrest alumni. I'm proud of these spouses who came to support the reunion with their partner even though they don't have the memories/connection. Well done!   

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. The older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young. -Baz Luhrmann 
   

Of Scorching July Days

**There is a new food truck around. Close enough to patronize, but not so close that we break the budget indulging ourselves. Because their acai bowls are SO good! And refreshing on a hot summer day! It's a personal plus that they are parked right down the street from my favorite scrapbook store...  

**Jeremy's journey to a pilot license was full of bumps and stalls, but I never gave up believing he could do it. As his biggest cheerleader, I envisioned being his first passenger but that didn't happen. Finally Arianna & I told him he has to take us up before he's allowed to take anyone else. LOL 

The surreal occasion - first time in the air with the family pilot!

From above, our community appears so compact. Our house (& neighbors) from 1000 ft. 

We get asked frequently what's next. He's accumulating flight hours to move up to the next level. 

**When wild black raspberries are in season and Colton wants a pie... Grammie delivers.

**A family camping weekend is one of my favorite summer activities. 

I would camp more often if I could con the rest into going. 

Wyatt has absolutely NO fear of water -it takes a watchful eye every second if we take him to the beach. He loves it, but we adults sprout new grey hairs trying to keep his face out of the water. 

**VBS is done for another year. Arianna did a great job with the craft station again. 

It was Colton's first year attending our VBS. 

**Sunflowers that decided to self-seed in our garden (along with zucchini & pumpkins)

**Richard has hauled several loads of rolled sod to new Raisin' Canes restaurants. 

Meanwhile it got so dry and scorching hot that our own lawn turned brown & crispy. 

**When my granddaughter gets poison ivy all over her hands, I might drop everything to go play with her, changing little doll outfits over & over. 

**Birthday brunch for the matriarch of the Miller family 

**Packing 2000 packages of soup mix for Ukraine was an enjoyable activity with our church family. 

**My car turned over to 200k miles in July. I like driving a car again, after years of minivan-ing. 

**I always struggle to keep hanging baskets nice all summer long on our front deck. I took this one down to plant something else in it and -surprise! Mama song sparrow had built a nest in my pot. Dear me, I was probably flooding her nest every time I watered the flowers. 

Waiting on these little guys to fledge so I can replant. One week makes a big difference. 

**One evening we took Avery & Colton to see a live stage production of Beauty & the Beast. They loved it! We have this old historic theater in town (with the original seats & box office window) that desperately needs some TLC, but they do a fine job with wholesome community theater & musicals. 

My favorite characters was Mrs. Potts & Chip. 

Avery's favorite was Belle; Colton's favorite was when the beast turned into a human again. 

Summer is rushing by. Before we know it, summer's heat will be just a memory and we'll be dealing with snow again. The older we get the faster time flies.