It’s been a while since I added a post because to be honest – it’s been really boring around here lately. Temps hit 65 degrees yesterday and it felt like winter may be behind us, but this time of year Wisconsin alway interjects a “just kidding” and today we’re back in the mid-30s with a stiff wind and cloudy skies.

The good news is Jim and I are both vaccinated now and we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel – at least with regard to Covid. We’ve started the initial planning stages on several trips, so the posts should be flowing again soon!

Click on the first photo in each group and scroll to see the square photos at full size.
To start at the beginning of this series, visit Third Time’s a ~Cancelled~

Colors of the Season

Since everyone is supposed to be staying close to home, we’ve really been enjoying our only visitors. These photos were taken in January before the snow started to pile up.

Cardinals just seem to go with winter, and although they’re around all year they seem to stand out more with a snowy backdrop. We had several cardinal-couples, and they didn’t seem to mind a bit of diversity at the breakfast table.

Pretty Birds

Blue Jays are one of my favorites. Although I had always heard they were very territorial and quite nasty with other birds, we haven’t noticed that so far. While they were ravaging the corn stalks that were part of our Halloween decorations, we decided to save the extra cobs in hopes of luring them back. It worked!

More Snow on the Way

The sky was so spectacular one evening, I could hardly believe another wave of snow was approaching. It’s piling up now and its frosting on the evergreens are a favorite site of mine, along with how the snow outlines the logo on our bench. Although definitely Badger fans, it always reminds us of our roots and where our loyalties lie when the Badgers play the Hawkeyes!

The Original Snowbirds

I’m loving the previously unnoticed birdies with the white bellies. It could be because these Juncos are also called snowbirds – something I aspire to! But unlike most snowbirds, they only come around in the winter instead of trying to escape it.

They also seem to clean up the area under the feeders, which gets quite messy with the frenzy of feeding going on above. There comes a point when a dusting of snow becomes a welcome thing – covering up the dirt-, salt-, sand-, and seed-colored snow (and the yellow snow) making it all bright and clean again.

Some People Love the Snow

While our oldest daughter and her husband were playing in the snow way up north on their snowmobiles, our grand-parenting skills came in handy as we watched their kiddos. Our oldest granddaughter joined in for a sleepover – complete with snow-play, movies, board games and pizza. Temps were extremely cold but they insisted, and I was out just long enough to snap some pictures of them enjoying Wisconsin’s winter weather. Oh to be young again.

March Getaway!

When we couldn’t take it anymore, we left for Ridgedale, MO to stay in one of our favorite timeshares. We decided we could sit around inside same as at home, or maybe even get outside more often with the mercury a little higher on the thermometer. We typically stay overnight in Sullivan, MO, leaving an easy drive the next day enabling us to sleep in, catch lunch in Lebanon and breeze into Big Cedar around checkin time.

Today we decided to go a different Route – 66 that is! We were able to drive the route almost the whole distance between Sullivan and Springfield – more than 150 miles.

Route 66 in Missouri follows pretty closely with I44 – on one side, then crossing over (or under) to the other side for a while – back and forth. At times it was a little creepy being this close to the oncoming traffic. Luckily there’s a big ditch between us in this picture, but at a few other spots, not so much. I tried to get pictures with water towers so I’d remember where we were.

Historic Wagon Wheel Motel

Opened in 1936, the historic Wagon Wheel Motel in the town of Cuba offers individual cabins that have been recently renovated. The Wagon Wheel is the longest continuously-operated motel on Historic Route 66 and looks pretty cool too!

End of the Road

Some day I hope we can get on a few more spurs of this Historic old Route 66. Today we ran into a few road blocks (literally) and we blurred the lines between historic and dilapidated, but it sure was fun!

Previous Posts on Missouri

For a couple of previous posts about stays in the area, please check out locations/Missouri. That’ll do it for this post.

Happy trails,
Barb