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The fall colors in our area have not been as outstanding as in past years, but nevertheless this is my favorite season and I like going for a drive to photograph the changing landscape. We decided to combine a fall drive with a genealogy trip, something I am not able to talk my husband into very often. But he doesn't mind visiting cemeteries, so he was okay with coming along for the ride to an old cemetery. I have been tugging on a branch of my dad's tree recently, and found a link to some ancestors who are buried in the Denson Pioneer Cemetery located just north of Ursa, Illinois. The Hightower family can be traced back to early Virginia in the 1600s, and beyond that to the 1500s in England and Ireland. Of course, there is the small matter that I have to prove the lineage.

George Hightower, my fourth great-grandfather, and his family moved from Virginia to Kentucky sometime before the 1800 census was taken. George and his wife then moved to Ursa, Illinois prior to 1840, and two of their six adult children also moved there during this time period. I found the burial information on the on the website findagrave.com. I highly recommend this website if you haven't already checked it out. Volunteers are photographing headstones, transcribing them and putting them on this website. It is very helpful in corroborating death dates and/or locating exactly where your ancestors are buried. Often family associations are listed in the description of the deceased as well.

Kirby in the pumpkin patch

We took a leisurely drive to Ursa on Sunday, stopping whenever the mood struck to take photographs. I feel fortunate that my husband is just as enthusiastic about taking pictures as I am. Otherwise, one of us would not have been having a good time yesterday. We took the dog along, and he is definitely not as enamored with pausing for photo ops. He also did something at the cemetery that probably has resulted in him not going along for the ride in the future. More on that below.

The fall colors actually seemed a little prettier the further north we traveled. The area near Hannibal was the nicest I have seen anywhere this fall. Mark Twain would definitely have had something to write about had he been looking at the beautiful colors this weekend.

Denson Pioneer Cemetery sign

We arrived at the cemetery shortly after lunch. I am glad that the findagrave website included instructions on how to get to it, as I have no doubt I would have been unable to locate it on my own. You exit the county highway onto a tractor path to reach the small cemetery, which is completely surrounded by cornfields. The farmer had already mowed down the corn stalks, which made me wonder if you could even see the cemetery during the spring and summer months. I wasn't sure exactly where my family members were buried in the cemetery but I needn't have worried as it is quite small.  We found the headstones rather quickly. The state of the stones is quite sad, and not just the ones belonging to my ancestors. You can tell that a veterans group (most likely) is replacing the stones of the men who served in the Civil War, as they look pretty new. But many of the remaining stones are broken and/or toppled over. I don't think it is vandalism but instead is the result of years of the elements taking their toll on the limestone or sandstone markers. Here are the stones of George and his wife, Frances Ann (Hall) Hightower, along with their son Austin and his wife Mary (Caldwell) Hightower. Also we found George and Frances Ann's daughter Mary and her husband John Riddel. And while we were photographing the stones, the dog decided to take a roll in the hay, so to speak. Unfortunately it wasn't hay but horse manure he found. Why someone was riding a horse in this precious cemetery is anyone's guess. Let me just say that it was an extremely long ride home with a smelly dog.

Mary Hightower

Austin Hightower

John Riddel

Mary Riddel

Frances Ann Hightower

George Hightower

Necklace from Astral Glass Studio

 Jim and I did not see much of each other Saturday since I had an all-day conference and he had a company picnic that went into the evening hours. Sunday afternoon we decided to take his fun little car out for a drive, heading west on Interstate 44. We ended up in New Haven, which Jim was familiar with as he has ridden his motorcycle there before. The old town area has some interesting shops, some with antiques and another showcasing the work of local artists. The one that really caught my attention was Astral Glass Studio. Beyond having beautiful glass pieces on display throughout the store, there is a small seating area where you can sit and watch the glass blowers. How fun! I decided to pick up a necklace, and we had a nice young woman helping us. She patiently drug out all the necklaces I wanted to look at. I finally had it narrowed down to two, and chose the nature design because that is near and dear to my heart. It wasn't until I made my selection that the gal shyly told me that it was a necklace that she had designed and made. That made my choice all the more special, and we had her autograph the little card that was displayed by the necklace. I can't wait to wear it.

We decided to have an early dinner at Somebody's in town. We were the only ones in there, which was kind of weird. The service was so-so and I would describe our meals the same way. After I got home I looked at reviews of the place and they have a good reputation. I wish I would have researched it before we got there and made a different meal selection. Oh well...

After we ate we walked along the river trail a bit and checked out the two bed and breakfast houses. They both look cute, though the one is for sale. Room rates are shown at $150 per night, which seems pretty steep for the area. Maybe that is why the one is for sale.

Overall, a very nice stress-free day with the hubby. We needed it for the weekend we have coming up!

glass and copper necklace

Rox & Dan

This past weekend we went up to Minneapolis to attend the wedding of the daughter of our good friends, Kathy and Paul. Kathy and I went to high school together, then on to Iowa State. Paul and Jim were fraternity brothers at Iowa State. Kathy and Paul sang at our wedding, and went with us on a cruise when we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. we have traveled together multiple times in the four years since then. They are the first of our friends to have a child get married, and considering our connection it was great fun to be there for their daughter's wedding. We did not know anyone else at the wedding, so that was a little strange but we met some interesting people at our table and had fun dancing at the reception.

the wedding cake

The wedding cake was amazing. Rox and Dan both enjoy outdoor activities, so the cake was designed to represent the things that they like to do. Absolutely everything you see in the picture (poor quality but I did not bring my good camera up to Minneapolis unfortunately) is edible, including the baseball. The cake decorator must have had a ball, pardon the pun, designing this cake.

The next morning Kathy and Paul had their family members and the out of town guests over to their house to watch the "kids" open their presents. We actually had a little more time to talk to the two of them at that point, so I am glad we went. We also met another couple who live in Iowa and graduated from Iowa State. Interestingly the husband graduated with a degree in horticulture, so he and Jim got to chatting about that and landscape architecture. The wife said that she started out in one major but changed her sophomore year. So did I. She graduated with a degree in Family Environment. So did I. 1978? Yep. Her area of concentration was Family Services. So was mine. We had to have taken a class or two together somewhere along the line. What a small world! I wish we had sat with them Saturday night so that we could have talked more.

All the driving for this particular wedding left a bit to be desired though. We left St. Louis on Friday and stopped in Charles City to spend the night with Jim's mom and dad. They had agreed to keep the dog for us. I think they were more excited about having Kirby stay with them than seeing us! Not really, but they do enjoy him. Saturday morning we headed back up the interstate for an additional three hour drive. We were able to check into our room early, which was nice so that we could freshen up before the wedding. On Sunday we headed back to Charles City and stayed the night again there. Then Monday morning it was back on the road to St. Louis.

Wickiup Hills wetlands area

On the way home we stopped at Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center, which was a good spot to walk the dog. They have multiple trails you can walk on, but it was pretty hot so we took the path to the wetlands. It has a really cool wooden plank walkway out over what normally is the wetland area. It should be renamed Drylands as there was not a drop of water to be found. It made me wonder what happened to all the wildlife that normally lives in the area. So sad. Unfortunately we all picked up a few ticks in the park. Yuck!

This has been a pretty busy summer for us, and there is no end in sight. Three of the four weekends in July we have full schedules. So far only one weekend in August is taken, so that is kind of a relief.

Jim and I went out for a fall drive yesterday hoping to catch the last of the fall color. Since we were out of town the past two weekends we sort of missed the peak season. We took Jim's fun little sports car, put the top down and turned the heat up, and away we went. Jim knows a lot of great back roads due to his motorcycle riding, so we headed out west towards Labadie. We had lunch at the Hawthorne Inn, and I have to say I just wanted to bottle our waitress. She was the most bubbly little thing! I ordered a french dip sandwich, and it came with sweet potato fries. Oh my gosh! Probably the best french dip I have ever had, and the fries were yummy as well. And I felt less guilty about eating them since they were sweet potatoes. Ha!

We headed back down the road and ended up at Klondike Park. I had no idea this park even existed. The 250 acre park is on the site of an old silica sand quarry. The Katy Trail ties into it so they have biking and walking paths all throughout the park. There was a boy scout troop camping out, so they
were having a great time riding their bikes along the trails. A family was taking their own portrait along one of the trails we walked, while on another we came upon a guy down on one knee popping the question to his gal. Since a professional photographer was there, I'm not sure how spontaneous it was but it was sweet nonetheless.

It was a great day for a drive, and nice to spend the afternoon alone with my own groom. No kids, no dog, just the two of us. Fun!