The Drive Down and Arrival

We left in the morning so that we could eat lunch on the road.  We loaded into the car and listened to some of the travel CDs I made.  With four people in the car, all with different ideas about music, the challenge was to find music all of us would enjoy and sing along with.  And, honestly, it worked.  "Iko Iko" was a big hit.  As were The Real Tuesday Weld, They Might Be Giants, The Ramones and the Magnetic Fields.  Oddly enough, though, the highlight of the trip, musically speaking, is rolling through the heartland having a family sing-a-long to "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”.  And why not?  It was fun.

We rolled in around early afternoon and picked up the key to our cabin.  This I was worried about.  I've worked with John on the most popular Walt Disney World planning site on the Internet for nearly five years.  I'm an expert vacation planner.  I've written entire newsletters about it.  This time, however, I just flew blind.  I found a place off the beaten path, in the middle of the woods, on top of a mountain.  We hopped in the car and drove through all the campsites into the section with the cabins.  All very pioneer and Matilda was salivating with her need for retro (and I mean retro) chic.  I could see in her eyes she was becoming one of the American Girls right before our eyes.

We pulled up in front of our cabin after some trick turning around to get to it.  Too much one way and I'd be plummeting down an 80 degree angle, thousand foot hill.  Too much the other way and I go careening into a thick cedar forest.

It was pretty frickin' cool.

We pulled up in front of the cabin and, as advertised, it looked like a hand-hewn cedar log cabin.  It had a nice porch with a handmade bench and a sign letting us know we were at Jumpin' Jack's Cabin (It's a gas, gas, gas).  We opened the door and it was pitch black, despite the fact that it was four in the afternoon.  I turned on the lights and all three girls gasped and started saying, "COOL!"  The cabin was cool, with a soaring vaulted ceiling, cedar walls, a fireplace, kitchen, trundle bed for the girls, bed for mom and dad and, best yet, a bathroom with real running water!

Our favorite part was the deck out back.  With a grill and two hand made rocking chairs it was perfect for just sitting and gazing into the woods as far as the woods would allow.

The view was pretty damn nice.

After the girls got settled and figured out their beds we decided that we would ride the ducks.

What are ducks, you ask?  Well they are amphibious vehicles that various cities offer (for a jacked up price) to allow you to tour the sites in about two hours (sorry about the pictures of the girls.  Some fat guy kept getting in the way).  We went to the top of Mount Baird, the highest point in Missouri, toured the damn and spill way, drove around groovy, windy country roads blowing our Wacky Quackers (I love those things) at unsuspecting bastards and . . .

With a hoot and a yell, we went barreling into the lake.  In our car.  Very  cool.  We motored around the Lake.

When the offer was made to drive the duck, Matilda was the first kid behind the wheel.  She drove gracefully, navigating the ship like an old pro as the boat/car's captain spewed out interesting tidbits about the lake.  Slowly but surely, the other kids made their way up to the front and drove the sucker.  Gertrude demurred, possibly out of fear or intimidation. 

When the last kid was done driving the boat, Gertrude changed her mind.  She hopped up into the seat and grabbed the wheel.  Where Matilda was reserved and cautious, Gertrude was anything but.  She whipped that wheel around with a gleam in her eyes that seemed to say, "Hold on to your ass, we're heading for the gulf!"  (Later, after we had gotten back to the Duck headquarters, our captain pulled me aside, pointed at Gert and said, in a warning tone, "She really enjoyed driving.  She seemed to know what she was doing."  Translation:  tie her up in the basement because the world ain't ready for her.)

We grabbed an uninteresting dinner, had our hands filmed for a commercial and went off to bed.

That night it rained.  Without the sounds of traffic or anything around us, the rain was louder than I'd ever heard.  We lay there listening to the rain all night long.

Day 2