Travel Log, Columbia, MO

here we are in Columbia, MO, to do a show that we have been trying to get into for 3 years.

We left the house at 4:30 am, drove straight east into the sunrise -- beautiful pinks, purples, oranges.....then on across Kansas, literally through "amber waves of grain" as the fields are beginning to ripen...and then leaving the flatness of the plains to go into the Ozarks with the rolling green hills. Along the highway you can see where they cut through the rock to build the road and slowly the trees and grasses and vining plants are reclaiming the slopes and covering the cuts in the rocks with green

The "road kill" count goes on. We saw 3 deer, 6 racoons (outside of Colorado they don't blow up either), a large turtle and dozens of "peeled cats" (an explanation of that last item: when our daughter was little we used to travel and her dad would announce from time to time that someone had "peeled a CAP", as in the rubber off the outside of a tire. Our daughter thought he said "peeled a CAT", and the phrase has stuck in the family ever since)

Set up today was terrible. We arrived about 5:30 and found the vendor parking lot. Then had to walk all the way to the other end of the part to find the booth where we were supposed to pick up our packets. Bad news, the closest we could get to our booth was where we were parked in the lot.....no one was allowed to drive into the park itself even to unload. We had to haul the tent, weights, tables, etc., etc. from the parking lot up and down little hills in the damp grass to our spot, then set everything up. I found out by talking to artists that had done this show before that this is the first time they have used this park for the show. It used to be right on the college campus. I just hope that doesn't kill it for attendance, and I'm definately NOT looking forward to tear down and hauling all that stuff out again.

On the up side, before we left, I finished the bracelet, and I think it is awesome!! Check out the pictures.

Well, its now almost 11 pm, and I think its time for some sleep, keeping all our fingers, toes, etc. crossed for a good day tomorrow.