August 26th: St Louis

Poppy seed pastries

When my sister Julie heard that I neglected to take a picture of the poppy seed pastries when I was in Cleveland, she said, "No problem. I just bought some more today. I'll send a picture!" Of course, a fresh supply! It's a good thing I got out of Ohio when I did. Too much tempting food!

My trip to St. Louis was great. It was particularly enjoyable because my week long stay allowed lots of time to relax and catch up with my niece's family, the Toracks. It's hard to believe JP is a senior and Kaitlyn is a sophomore! I arrived Tuesday afternoon and enjoyed a nice dinner on the deck. I also met the new puppy Teeli. I learned that Teeli is named after Teeling Irish Whiskey, one of Will's favorites. Teeli and Rica are both great dogs.

The Torack Lake house

Christi informed me that Will, Kaitlyn and JP had a busy schedule the next couple days and she and I would go to the lake house with Teeli. Given a very busy Ohio trip, a few days relaxing at the lake sounded great! Will, JP, Kaitlyn and Rica would join us Friday evening. Rica would enjoy the escape from Teeli! Teeli likes to play, a lot... she is a puppy after all.

 

Christi and Teeli at the Lake House

This was my first visit to the lake house. It's on a small inland Lake, Lake Perry, about 90 minutes from the Toracks's house in St. Louis. There is a beautiful view from my bedroom. I took the picture through the screens. I don't like to mess with removing things that don't belong to me!

I love to Kayak. Christi had two kayaks, so away we went. Teeli came for a short ride but clearly didn't like it. It was a beautiful day and we kayaked through several small coves. We spotted turtles and some small fish. Christi said we needed to kayak to alligator island. Hmmmm. I don't think alligators are in St. Louis. We went into a small cove where sure enough there was a variety of "pseudo" animals. Someone knows how to have fun! Note the snake, bears and alligators

Alligator island

Teeli came for a short ride but clearly didn't like it. 

When we woke up the next morning we noticed the screen door was slightly bent and the lower screen was broken through at the bottom. We suspected Teeli was the culprit. She doesn't run away but does like to roam a little. I duct taped the screen and bent the door enough so that we could latch it. Christi put a small cooler in front of the door to deter Teeli. Teeli had no problem going over the cooler and out the top of the screen. Time for plan B. Christi put a small folding stool on top of the cooler. Teeli looked at it and gave up. Success. A little while later Teeli was at the front door. I was impressed! I suggested Christi go out on the porch and call Teeli so I could get a video of her vaulting over the cooler and through the opening in the stool. We were disappointed and had to laugh when she simply squeezed behind the cooler and out the door!

Christi told Will we would go to the grocery store, (Not close) so they wouldn't need to shop. That was fine with me. We were after spare ribs that Will would cook on the smoker. Of course we bought other good things also. But I suspect Christi had an ulterior motive. On the way out of town she said, "I think we need to check out the new ice cream stand I saw." Fine with me. She went all out with a chocolate sundae covered in shaved ice with whipped cream!

My hot fudge sundae was very large but paled in comparison to hers!

 

Will and family arrived Friday night. We played a card game of "Up and down the River". It was a fun evening. Saturday we spent on the beach. They have a ski boat and I planned to go water skiing. It had been a long time but I was going to use two skis. I was informed the ski rope had broken when they towed a boat in on the last visit but they tied it securely. The rope broke as soon as we started. Tried again. Same result. I knew I was eating too much in Cleveland! In my defense, the rope was quite worn and frayed! Good reason to come back with a new ski rope.

So back to the beach we went. Kaitlyn and JP slept in. Will started the ribs early as they take hours to cook. He showed me the preparation. I'm going to try the recipe at Big Bear Lake where our AirBnB has a smoker. When I say slept in, I mean like maybe 11:00am. So now Kaitlyn & JP were ready for action. We spent time coaxing Teeli to swim. My goal for the visit was to get Teeli to enjoy swimming. Rica loves to swim which helps. I eventually got Teeli to jump off the "LillyPad" (a floating mattress in the picture on the right,) and swim to shore. 

Christi decided we needed some competition. She called for kayak racing. After several heats we named JP the winner!

Kayak racing, Kaitlyn wins, not a phot finish!

After some more swimming we moved on to a Frisbee challenge. It's played with teams. The idea is to get the Frisbee in the barrel and the partner is allowed to help by knocking it as needed but no catching. It was fun. I don't honestly remember who won but it was a close game.

Will tossing to his partner Kaitlyn

There are plenty of lizards on the property. JP coaxed one to stay on his shoulder for a picture.

After leaving a bag of trash overnight on the screened in deck, we decided Teeli got a bum rap on the screen door. Raccoons broke through the screen again and made a mess. We decided they previously came through because they smelled the barbecue grill. Will and I decided we could make some temporary repairs to the screen. We at least got it to close again.

That evening a Great Blue Heron paid us a visit. A very large bird!

Will and JP needed to head back to St. Louis Sunday morning. Kaitlyn slept in, can't blame her, school starts Tuesday! 

Christi and I drove back into town for mass and a tour of the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. The complex was established in 1818 and began with a log church. The cornerstone of the current church was laid in 1827. The church is St. Mary's of the Barrens Church modeled after the Motherhouse Chapel in Rome. The church is quite impressive and the shrine is very nice. I appreciated that the shrine had real candles we could light. Maybe because it is outside and it's not a fire hazard.

There was also a Rosary Walk with wonderful landscaping. You can do a virtual tour of the Shrine and church at this link. Virtual Tour

Sunday afternoon was very relaxing and Teeli swam a little more. We played some more Up and Down the River and then planned Monday morning. Christi suggested we go for a hike on the way home. Sounded good. The hike was going well. It was fairly cool and a pretty walk, but kind of rocky. Teeli was leading the way. 

About half way into the loop trail, we came to a spot covered with tall grass and weeds. We had forgotten bug spray and all had shorts on. Kaitlyn suggested we turn around and go back. Christi decided she could beat down the grass with a stick. She moved forward and I had Teeli at the rear. 

We came out of the weeds and I resumed the lead with Teeli. Then I heard Kaitlyn say, "There are bugs all over me." Christi said, "Me too." I held Teeli while they were catching up. They had hundreds of very tiny bugs on their legs and arms. We weren't sure what they were, but knew that wasn't good! For whatever reason I had none on me.

We used our drinking water to wash as many off as possible. We knew they didn't get all of them off. We resumed the hike and got back to the car as quickly as possible. Using wipes, tweezers and more water they did the best they could to get them off. I suggested that perhaps Kaitlyn should become more persuasive!

We got back to the house and Kaitlyn and Christi headed for the showers. Kaitlyn was more successful at removal. She ended up fairly rid of them. Even with Will helping Christi, she still ended up with numerous itchy bumps. We learned on Google that they were seed ticks. Eventually, JP did a thorough search of Teeli and found some on her also. I kept checking myself but I never found any. I guess I just didn't taste good.

Fortunately, seed ticks have no previous host so theoretically they don't spread disease. Also there are no cases of Lyme disease in Missouri. Christi was still itching, especially overnight so she ended up getting some medication to reduce the itching and prevent any infections. It's a hike we'll all remember.

JP and Rica

I had to ask Christi for pictures of Rica as I didn't have a good one. Rica is a great dog, very patient with Teeli and deserves recognition. Here are some pictures of JP, Kailyn with Rica from last year.

Kaitlyn and Rica

Rica and Teeli

I was sitting at their dining room table and noticed it was an antique table similar to the one my parents had when I was growing up. Christi pointed out that it is the same table. They had it refinished and it is beautiful.

Despite the tick episode, Christi rebounded quickly and we celebrated Kaitlyn's 15th birthday on Tuesday. We went into St. Louis for a crepes breakfast. 

Then we had a great birthday dinner with a chocolate chip cookie cake, 2 small special cakes from the chocolate shop, numerous cupcakes from a neighbor and of course ice cream. We ended the night with one last game of Up and Down the River. I headed home the next morning.