SuZan Klassen

Last week I wrote about Grandma M’s Trip to Iowa with her five granddaughters. This week’s story recounts her trip with her grandsons to Stockton Lake, Missouri. She’s a busy lady.

These trips always begin with the children’s arrival at Grandma’s house in the morning. They arrive with suitcase and sack lunch in hand. They always stop for lunch in a small town park.

Rich Hill, Missouri’s “Big Mouth,” 44-ton coal scoop in Caboose Park made an interesting photo shoot and place to climb.

After lunch in the park it was time for fun exercise on the playground equipment–a great way to keep the wiggles at bay for the rest of the drive.

Their cabin (the Crawdaddy) at Stockton Lake turned out to be much bigger than your typical cabin. It was a full-size house.

Grandma M had activities planned for her grands. Among the activities this time was a Nature Scavenger Hunt. Each of the boys were instructed to collect objects to fit in their sacks. As you can see in the photo above, their sacks weren’t large. One object on their list to find: a y-shaped stick.

“Yes, son. That is a y-shaped stick. Do you think it will fit in the sack?”
(Future over-achiever?)

Boys in summer with water–what could be a more natural combination?

Unless of course, you include fire. Boys and fire. Hmm.

“That was interesting,” Grandma M said. “This grandma has no fire skills. I finally ended up using a fire-starter log. It hurt my pride!”

Oh, well. Next time the boys may start the fire. Now that could be really interesting.

Travel Light Tips
Cabins at Stockton Lake, Missouri
https://cabinsatstocktonlake.com/search.aspx?
Stockton Lake information: https://www.stocktonlake.com
https://mostateparks.com/park/stockton-state-park
Rich Hill, Missouri — The Town that Coal Built. Here’s the story: https://www.nevadadailymail.com/story/1845167.html

Small city parks are often easy to find. According to the story (in the link above), Rich Hill, Missouri has several parks. If you don’t find what you’re looking for after a short drive through town, ask someone.

One of my favorite joys of travel through small Midwestern communities is the friendliness. Although, I must admit, COVID has made some people reticent to speak to others.

Grandma M had more activities for both her grandsons and granddaughters. Enough for at least one more blog post. However, I’ll save them for the future. I have something else planned for next week.

Tell me about your adventures with children or grandchildren in the comments below. Or tell me about your favorite small or large Midwestern park or community.

Until next time . . . Travel Light,
SuZan

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