Summertime friends

While in Raleigh I have been trying to see my old friends as much as possible--a small bunch of really great girls, some I have known since we first moved to North Carolina 13 years ago. Danielle, now living in Golden CO, was in town for the weekend so we caught up over frozen custard at Goodberries, the old high school hangout. On Tuesday Meghan came with me to get my haircut to make sure I wouldn't chicken out (after having long hair my entire life I decided it was time for a change). Yesterday I drove up to Chapel Hill for coffee at Fosters Market (oh how I miss Fosters) then met with Christina and Steven for dinner at Allen and Son BBQ (THE best Carolina pulled pork and the greatest old-fashioned atmosphere). I wish Seth could have joined us :o( Christina and I then went to yoga, taught by my favorite teacher. The resulting stomach aches we both endured were pretty painful, but it was great to be in one of Scott's classes again, especially since Christina and I were the only ones in attendance. There is something about the way Scott teaches that you totally miss out on by doing Bikram, Power Yoga, or pretty much any other yoga, so it was well worth the effort to be there.

The long ride home

On Saturday morning we checked out of Still Waters Resort, said our goodbyes, and I drove with Mom and Dad 1055 miles to Raleigh. Seth had to go back to MA early so was spared this 17 hour car ride. At least it was an interesting drive. In fact, I wish Seth and I could have spent time exploring some of the areas we passed through. The three of us stayed the night in Nashville, and I felt a bit guilty he couldn't have been there with us because I knew he has always wanted to see this city famous for it's country music scene.

Amish buggy vs. train, somewhere in Missouri

One of the numerous, gigantic churches. They were everywhere! Was the population even large enough to fill them?

Nashville!

Printers Alley--the historic 'Men's District'. It was pretty early (about 8:30pm), so the city was still waking up.

Every bar was hoppin' and swingin' with live country rock. I saw my first guy literally get thrown out of a bar (the bouncer chucked him onto the sidewalk and started yelling at him). It was so stereotypical!

Jack's BBQ on Broadway. After three years of not having pulled pork, this was THE BEST BBQ place... ever.

We made it to NC!

I love the Blue Ridge Mountains

We stopped for more BBQ in Asheville

We finally made it home. This is a typical summer scene in front of our house: heavy late-afternoon rain and steam rising off the streets. It was 99 degrees this day.

Branson, Las Vegas of the Ozarks

Last week Seth and I flew down to Branson, Missouri for a Landstrom family reunion. These gatherings involve Dad's three siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins (he has 28), my second cousins, and their kids, and usually some extended family from Sweden. Held in a different part of the country every three years, the reunions are big productions with generally around 100-130 in attendance. This was Seth's first reunion, but he had at least met all of my aunts and uncles and most of my cousins at Andrew's wedding, so it wasn't terribly overwhelming for him (I don't think it was anyways...).

Though we rarely get to see the cousins (we now all live in opposite ends of the country), we grew up fairly close, getting together a couple times a year; there are 11 of us, our ages distributed evenly within 10 years. Needless to say, there is always lots of anticipation and excitement over seeing everyone.

The city of Branson seemed to have been developed solely for the purpose of tourism, but just outside the city was very rural and far more interesting. Giant modern churches, confederate flags, farm communities, Amish buggies, and lots of Ozark goodness. We even saw two armadillos (Jennifer spotted the first one), though they were both dead on the side of the road. I had no idea armadillos live in Missouri, and I had never seen one in the wild (if these count), so that was really amazing. Seth and I also spotted a black rat snake and lots and lots of red-headed woodpeckers.

Breakfast

The Maynard Landstroms. We are all here, except for Christina :o(

Trying to get organized for the big group picture. With a 105 of us, it was very much like herding cats.

Old Town Branson

A neat fudge shop

Is this what Missouri thinks is fun?

Seth socialising at a daily happy hour

Boarding the Scenic Railway for a ride. In truth, it was incredibly non-scenic.

Carter and the ticket guy giving a 'Thumbs Up'

Me with Eileen and Darlene and Cinnamon Roll

A ride on a pontoon we hired for the morning

Eileen and I getting ready to be dragged in a scary inner-tube behind the boat

Ducks watch as Dad and Uncle Dennis get ready to have a go. If you couldn't tell by the look on Dad's face, it was pretty hard to climb aboard.

Getting rid of Dad, Uncle Dennis shows up everyone (it was the funniest thing I had seen in ages)

We take cards very seriously

Root beer float break

Patrick and Seth

Something here doesn't belong. Keep to the left, indeed.

Out for a hike in Ruth and Paul Henning State Forest

Q and A session with our great-aunt and great-uncles

The kids out for Tex-Mex!!!

Downtown Branson = Cheese-fest USA

By night, Branson resembles Las Vegas's silly little brother

My nephew, Carter, is too cute

This is not a funny camera angle, I really am that much shorter than my cousins. The next shortest, Emily, is the youngest (17 years old) but still 3-4 inches taller than me. Nathan (also 17), on the far left, is a foot taller than me at 6'4". I am a member of a family of giants. At least the Donnelly kids, not in the picture, are normal height.

My first time grilling

Jennifer has a ride behind Uncle Kevin's speed boat (zooming at 40mph)

Picnic with the Donnellys in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Eureka Springs, Arkansas. A bustling hippie town with lots of hills and cute, clustered Victorian cottages.

Cowboy supper and show. It was hard to tell how serious to take it.

Eileen, Emily, and me with the stars of the show

Uncle Mark and one of the Swedes won free tickets for us to ride go-karts. We thought about riding earlier in the week but decided it wasn't worth $10 for 5min.

Morning run by the lake

The resort

More wedding pictures

Here are a few more shots from this weekend