Missouri - The Picture-Laden Part Two

As evidenced by the title of this entry, this is the second of a two-part entry. Reading the previous installment first is reccomended. ;-)
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Monday/Tuesday
For Ashley's last full day in MO, "the gang"--Jason, Josh, Aaron, Joanna, Tyanna Miller, Cory Hamp, Rachel Link, Kyle Link, yours truly ("Ashley"), Ashley Lakey ("Other Ashley"), and, later, Quinton Hamp--go to spend the day in downtown Springfield. Starting with breakfast at MudHouse, the local coffee shop. Then moving on to Hoover, the music shop, where Josh picks out a $2,500 acoustic guitar and hands it to Ashley, saying, "Try this."
Euphoria ensues.

After what seems like a period of time not nearly long enough, Ashley tears herself away from amazing guitar and wanders around the store, watching the "real" musicians play on their fiddles, and violas, and violins, and mandolins, and basses. Very cool.


Josh playing....I think it's a violin. Maybe a viola, though...


Rachel Link tuning the store's mandolins


Kyle Link playing fiddle

Ashley makes it out of the store, very proud of herself for having spent less than $40 there. She now owns a songbook containing tabs for all the Beatles' stuff, and a chord-flippy-chart-book, and some new bridge pins. She refrains from buying all the cute musicians' bumper stickers for her guitar case. *smiles*

From Hoover, the gang heads to the ice rink. Rachel, having never ice skated before, catches on disgustingly quickly. ;-) Ashley, having only ice skated twice before, falls down too many times. Ashley is glad her skirt is long.


Joanna (right) and me, pathetically trying to keep each other from falling on the ice.


Joanna and Joshua (and Rachel in the back)


From left: Rachel Link, Tyanna Miller, Joanna Burks, Ashley, and Other Ashley

After ice skating, gang heads to Cheddar's for lunch. Quinn meets up with gang there. Much fun and the promised "nothing of importance" commense.



On the way home from Cheddar's, gang gets stuck in traffic. While moving through traffic at a turtlish pace, stupid, angry man driving a big blue truck that's pulling a 20-foot trailer tries to muscle gang's 15-passenger van out of the lane. Jason lays on horn, to no avail. Stupid, angry man's truck scratches van and takes out driver's side mirror.
Joanna and Other Ashley scream.
Jason asks stupid, angry man to pull over and is met with four-letter words in generous abundance. Both vehicles pull over. Aaron, seeing that stupid, angry man is potentially volatile, dials 911. Jason gets out to talk with stupid, angry man. Joanna sends all the other boys in the car out to back 'im up. hee. Stupid, angry man spews obscenities and threats at Jason. Man sees Aaron get out of the car and walk toward him. Man visibly wavers a bit, but keeps mouthing. Man sees Josh get out of the car and walk toward him. Man hesitates, starts stuttering and shifting his weight a little, still swearing. Man sees Kyle get out of the car and walk toward him, hiking up his belt as though it were a threat. Four men are now standing in front of him. Man has had enough. Man is scared. Man says, "I--I...have nothing more to say to you boys. You get back in your van!"
Gang waits 45 minutes for police officer to finally show up and remedy a problem that could've been solved in five minutes, had stupid, angry man just swapped phone numbers with them and let them go.

Gang is exasperated.

Gang drops Tyanna off at her house, then goes home to change clothes before going to MNT to play volleyball.

Gang arrives at MNT. Guys play basketball. Some of the girls decide watching basketball is boring, and waste time in the girls' room instead. Girl chat and mirror pictures in abundance.


The little bitty camera propped up under the mirror is taking a video of our photo shoot. I wish I knew how to post the video!! I was bummed that I couldn't get the flash to turn off. :-(

As girls are leaving ladies' room, girls notice the sign hanging on the door, which reads: "Friends Gather Here"
Girls take another picture:



Girls join group in the gym for volleyball. Ashley, not being suitably dressed, sits out and passes time reading and watching "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on Aaron's iPod.

Volleyball session adjourns and most of gang heads out to McDonald's and does more nothing. When it comes time to go home, Ashley says her goodbyes. Ashley will particularly miss Rachel, Kyle, and Other Ashley. Very cool kiddos indeed.

When they arrive at home, Ashley, Joanna, Aaron, Jason, and Cory fall to several rounds of Apples to Apples.


[picture 1] Aaron and Joanna --- [picture 2] Jason and Cory after too much caramel corn


[picture 1] Jason, Joanna, and Cory -- [picture2] Jason and Cory

In between games, one of the guys teasingly asks Ashley if she'll cry tomorrow. Ashley answers, "I might when I get on the plane, if I'm really tired."
After a few more rounds, Aaron decides he's tired and goes to bed. Joanna makes enormous pot of caramel corn and gang plays Loaded Questions until 2:00 in the morning. Ashley and Joanna are then required to retreat to Jo's room. The girls are resolved to stay up all night, instead of wasting Ashley's precious few last hours at the Burks home in unconsciousness.
Benjamin (2) wakes up at around 3:00 and keeps girls company for a couple of hours, until Jo's mom comes in and makes him go back to sleep.
Benjamin's company is missed. :-)

At around 5:15 in the morning, Joanna takes Ashley out to the deck to look at "real" stars. As she had never seen a night sky outside of the city, Ashley's only encounters with stars had been dampened by city lights and smog.
Ashley is startled by the number of stars, and explains to Joanna that in Sunday School, when they talked about God telling Abraham to count the stars, and that that was going to be the number of his descendants.....the children used to raise their hands and say, "That's not very many..."
Ashley tries to take a picture of stars. She can't get flash to turn off, so it doesn't work. Bummer. Ashley returns to gawking at the sky.
Ashley and Jo get too cold, and return to the her room.

Sometime before 6:00, Josh stops by to find out if girls actually did stay up all night. Josh doesn't believe it, because Joanna had never stayed up for a full night in her life. Josh leaves for work.

At around 7:00, the girls get up "for real", and try to eat some pancakes. Having not eaten anything save the caramel corn munched during Apples to Apples, both the girls are famished to the point of nausea, and can't eat much at all.

Ashley decides she should probably go and zip up her suitcases anyway. Ashley has been putting off such a task, because once the bags are packed and ready, she's only waiting to leave. And that is sad.

It's time to go, so Ashley delivers and recieves "goodbyes" and "I love yous" from the kiddos and Mama Burks. Despite the fact that he still appears to be asleep on the couch, Ashley delivers "goodbyes" and "nice to meet yous" to Cory, who surprises her by saying "goodbye" back.

While Ashley watches Mr. Burks load her bags into the trunk, she hears a voice overhead. She looks up and sees a whole bunch of Burks looking out the upstairs bedroom window, waving goodbye. Ashley almost loses it. In order to avoid losing it, Ashley takes a picture, which is an action that she finds strangely comforting in many circumstances...



Mr. Burks treats Ashley and Joanna to a hit-and-run breakfast at MdD's. Due to the aforementioned nausea, Ashley has no stomach. But she orders a fruit and walnut salad and makes herself eat it anyway.

The car ride to SGF gets really quiet as Joanna falls in and out of unconsciousness numerous times. ;-)

Ashley and Burks arrive at SGF. At the door, Ashley dumps out her untasted coffee....too much for a nervous tummy, she thinks. Trashing a whole cup of perfectly yummy, hot coffee adds to depression. ;-)

The time comes to say goodbye "for real". Joanna cries. Ashley tears up. Hugs and kisses and a need for tissues ensue.

Ashley boards plane. The plane takes off, and Ashley takes a last, lingering look at the green and red and gold and orange hills. While stealing consolatory aerial photographs, she realizes she probably won't see her new friends for a very long time.
Ashley cries.
Ashley takes more pictures.

Gradually, the thought dawns on her that she's going to see the family she's missed immensly and hasn't seen for a week. The thought of seeing her family in a mere hour and a half becomes quite thrilling to her.
Ashley cries.

Ashley is tired.

Ashley arrives at DFW Airport safely and ahead of schedule. She calls Daddy on payphone, and is uber-happy to discover that he is waiting for her right outside. Ashley almost cries again.
Ashley probably needs a nap.

Ashley finally arrives at home, sweet home. Finds that not much has changed, save the fact that Erinne is noticably sunnier and chattier, with another tooth and two more coming up.

After revelling in the bliss of just being home for a few hours, Ashley takes a much-needed nap.

Etc.
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So now you are all caught up on what I did all last week. I suppose that was perhaps more like a play-by-play than the highlight reel I had originally envisioned....but oh well!

I promise you the next entry won't be nearly so long. ;-)