Our Last Day with Grandpa!!!!!

And again, congrats to us all for skipping that yucky hangover thing! We all woke up fine and filled with laughter.......(Sorry Lil Deb, I know you will curse me for this photo, but it reflects the fun morning in just one shot!)......Hmmmmm, trying to drink coffee when a room is filled with giddy jokers!!!! (Luv ya Deb!!!)

Anywho! We were slow leaving the room this morning. We laughed till we almost cried. We showered quickly and ran back to the living room to stand in front of the air conditioner, and we laughed some more. We were reliving the moments from the past couple of days, when we were all together and when we were separate! We caught up on all the activities each had individually with my family. (Yes, I did actually snort a time or two! At least I did not fart!)

So with the room all empty, cleaned spic and span, and the car loaded, off we went to attack yet another giant breakfast! Than again, not. It seems that in Potosi, Monday's are some sort of dining void. We attempted at least four places, and nothing. In fact, the last place, which was actually the gas station, had tables and menu's and everything, but no service! We walked in, sat down, and waited. Waited, and waited, and waited. The other table of people in the room finished up and left, but we waited. Hubby had his crossword going, and Lil Deb and I eyed the people leaving and wondered "What the F%^&K"? We looked right back at each other, cracked up laughing (a little too loud probably) and decided to leave as well. Hubby of course was knee deep in his crossword, but got up anyway! We decided to skip breakfast, as it was almost noon anyway, and headed to Grandpa's.

It was such a nice day, I drove slow through town, and pointed out places that were of interest (well at least to me)! All of the sudden, from the back seat, Lil Deb blurts out "OH MY GAD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD" and proceed to fill the car with hysterical laughter! "Turn around, turn around, you have to get a picture of this for the blog! Turn around! Oh, my, it is a good thing we did laundry at Grandpa's yesterday! I may need another pair of panties!"

So, of course, for no other reason then to join her, Hubby and I were cracking up as well. We turned around and got these two photos! If you don't see it, open the picture and enlarge to check out the back yard there.

Up there on that rock protruding out, is a toilet. Now, through the fits of laughter that chortled throughout the vehicle, we belted out line after line of colorful (and not quite so tactful) tales of how, why, and for what that toilet was placed there. I will not relive those items for you, but my guess is you have a few of your own! Of course we did have to discus the implications of strapping it to the back bumper of the car, for travel purposes! Great for saving water! Very Green thinking.......(oh no, here I go again....)......

So, tword the end of town, we thought we would stop at the Brewery for lunch (since we had just decided against breakfast not 6 minutes earlier!) Of course the place was closed as well. Hmmmmm, a sign from above?

So below is a picture of the "Bottling" building next to the brewery. Still has the old window glass!!!

And finally, back at Grandpa's. My eyes were still watery at the continued onslaught of toilet and deck for sale jokes that spewed forth from us. I think there may have been something in the water back there!

So, we got out of the car, and I walked over to my Uncle M who was helping fix a big sprayer that was there for the fields. He called Uncle R, and we set up the plans for our final day there. Hubby, Lil Deb and I turned to head inside and noticed a dead Raccoon, laying just beside the driveway. I turned to look at Uncle M, and He said "Number 5"! I explained to Hubby and Lil Deb, that once a Raccoon gets food or breaks into a building, they never go back to wild. They even bring their friends in! The coyotes eventually start venturing in to get the raccoons, and then two species are screwed up! So, with the chickens, cats and other livestock to watch, the Farmers tend to break a cycle before it begins.

So, sadness for Mr. Raccoon number 5. May you rest in piece, and I hope that marsh-mellow you had in the trap was very tasty!

Into the house we went, and there was Grandpa with Pastor Dave. Grandpa can't make it up the stairs to church, so Pastor Dave comes out to see Gramps on Mondays for a private prayer. Paster Dave is a heck of a guy. In fact, he and Lil Deb went toe to toe for the titles of smartest and most interesting! They talked about religion and political moves from churches, future planning and expectations. It was amazing! Not an hour before we were laughing so hard about a stray toilet that we almost squirted, and here in my Grandpa's house was Lil Deb bantering line for line with an actual man of the cloth! She simply threw topics out on the table without a second thought. Pastor Dave, picked them up and off he ran with them. They were like two peas in a pod. People, places, church doctrine, and even daily practice. It was amazing! They were on the same wavelength completely, and I would venture to guess they learned a bit from each other as well. As the conversation grew more intense, Grandpa and I looked back and forth at the Pastor and Lil Deb. Grandpa then winked at me and started laughing. Our Lil Deb went all genius on us. I think at that very moment, Grandpa took a true look at Lil Deb and the Hubby and realized that I was in fact very blessed. I looked at Lil Deb and realized how happy she was to speak to someone at her level, intellectually speaking I mean. It was really a wonderful moment. Then Grandpa told a joke about a Priest and an alter boy, kind of brought the moment right back around to something more my level!!!!!

Speak of the Devil! Here is Grandpa!!!! (That is Old Joe all curled up there on the table beside him. Old Joe really liked Lil Debs legs to weave in and out of.....)

And here is a shot of my Man doing his impression of a Wooden Cigar Store Indian. HOW!

Anyway, I finished planting Grandpas seeds in the garden. My Uncle R made it over and we started doing the slow good-by thing without talking about it. We were all relaxed and the whole "Gay" thing just did not seem to even be a thought at all. It felt, well, normal. Well, until we started taking pictures!!! Then there is nothing normal. Grandpa likes to mess with photo ops!

Grandpa, Lil Deb, The Hubby and me! (Please note the burley, butchness that I have with that mustache! Yep, I should have been a 70's porn star!!!)

Uncle R, Grandpa, and Uncle M with me on the right there. I love this photo. It is the only one I have with the three of them. They got me through life until I was old enough to go out on my own. I owe them big time......

Okay, I lied. So I have two picture with us all together. I just thought that I should edit out this one as Grandpa is being crude. Then I thought, he is always crude, so I put it back in. At least he didn't have a cucumber out of his fly!!!!

So, Good-by all around. Thank you, and Thank you, and Oh and Thank you! We had a great time, but have to get to the next adventure!!!!

In the car, down the driveway, and off to the house of Batman!!!!

We had to do it! We went miles and miles out of our way, but we got it! We have a photo of the Gotham sign! (okay, you could at least act like our efforts were not completely wasted. You could pretend. No really, go ahead, pretend!)

So, after high adventure in Gotham, off we headed to the House on the Rock! More on that tomorrow.......

This last picture is in the woods. I took it because it hit me in one moment. In my youth I spent days, even weeks, in the woods. Just being alone, finding myself, thinking. This photo reminded me of those days, but opened up a path to share it with Lil Deb and the Hubby. Like Grandpa always said....."A path into the woods, also leads out of the woods. It is not yours alone to use. So don't shit on the path, I may have to walk there!"

So, we had completed one of our four visits, still had a week ahead of us, and no one shit on our path! These were good days! Oh, we also had lots of clean underwear thanks to Lil Deb and Hubby doing laundry!!!! Three cheers for clean underwear!!!!