Sex on a Snowbank

hey, with a name like that...gotta try it!

Turn an OLD WINDOW into a WEDDING PHOTO FRAME...Love this idea!!!

what would be spookier than our own ghost hunt in a pasture in the middle of nowhere?

I was thinking at work while I was washing: why am I driving all over hell and high water to ghost hunt when I know the approximate location of the old Mercer County Pauper Cemetery in the pasture? the piles of stones that were markers were all scattered when Lije turned his cows into the pasture after Marie bought the farm. Kevin remembers seeing them. I could drive back there....with my little head lamp on....record on my phone...ask some questions...will ask Tracy what she thinks at some point and time. probably go in daylight the first time....Villisca Ax Murder House is having a $5 Halloween Night Tour....which sounds awesome. But Kevin works Mondays. and I have to work Monday & Tuesday. and it is a long drive. and I'm not brave enough to go alone...maybe next year Tracy & I can go...

Mercer County Roots Web website gave me location: T66-R23-S20. looked it up in 2015 plat book....sure it is right where Kevin showed me years ago. the poor farm was "a little southeast of town of Mercer 1869-1896, with pauper cemetery near."

and in the meantime....found this adorable fridge magnet on etsy!

Mallard, IA - Big Mallard Duck Roadside America Mallard on the town limits welcome sign.

if I make it to The Grotto, might as well check this out....19 miles away, I think...

Pocahontas, Iowa: Giant Statue of Pocahontas An impressive sculpture of the town's namesake, maybe 25 feet tall, standing next to a road that doesn't get a lot of traffic. Teepee added in 2014. Address: Elm Ave., Pocahontas, IA Directions: On the east edge of town, on the north side of Elm Ave./Hwy 3, about three-quarters of a mile east of the intersection of Hwy 4 and just east of NE 6th St.

The Grotto is frequently considered the “Eighth Wonder of the World” and The Iowan magazine has described the Grotto as a “Miracle in Stone.” The location was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 2001 and has been included in such features as Roadside America and Disney’s The Straight Story. A composite of nine seperate grottos, each portrays a scene in the life of Christ. The largest man-made Grotto in the world, the Grotto contains the largest collection of precious stones and gems found anywhere in one location!

West Bend, Iowa The Grotto of the Redemption is a titanic landmark to religious devotion and dogged labor. As a young seminarian, Paul Dobberstein fell gravely ill with pneumonia, and promised to build a shrine of precious stones to the Virgin Mary if she interceded for him. Mary apparently liked the idea, Dobberstein recovered and became a priest, and in 1898 he was sent from Germany to the tiny town of West Bend, Iowa -- one of the worst places in the world to build a shrine, since West Bend has no precious stones. Father Dobberstein was not deterred. For 14 years he stockpiled building material, mostly rocks that the local farmers pulled from their fields. Then he got to work. Foundations were dug, concrete was poured, rocks were set into slabs that were then bolted into place. When Father Dobberstein needed help, he would walk to a local pool hall and hire laborers for cash and beer. The mineral-minded Father weighed only 135 pounds, and his hands would crack and bleed into the cement at the end of a hard day's work. "There isn't any redemption," he would tell concerned parishioners, "without a little blood." Father Dobberstein completed his Marian shrine and then kept going. He hoisted and pounded and cemented for 42 years until he had built a miraculous mound that covered a city block, the largest grotto in the world. He did it mostly with muscle power, working until the moment of his death in 1954, when he laid down his trowel at the end of a long and likely strenuous day. Catholicism appreciates stagecraft, and Father Dobberstein knew that the grander his grotto, the more people would visit and be won to the faith. So he worked every imaginable colorful mineral and crystal into his design, washing the snazziest stones in his bathtub before carefully cementing them in place. He traveled hundreds of miles to rock havens such as Hot Springs, Arkansas, and the Black Hills of South Dakota to collect materials. He paid people to crawl into Carlsbad Caverns and break off formations. Glued into the grotto walls are semi-precious gems, logs of petrified wood, even a rock from the South Pole. Tons of stone were hauled to Iowa in railroad box cars, year after year, for a project that had no blueprint. Crystal bejeweled dome. Viewed from a distance, the Grotto today looks brown and spongy. Many of the rocks that once gleamed in the bathtub have dulled after decades in the weather. But the grounds are spotless, and the grotto itself is in excellent repair: no cracks, no loose rocks -- and there must be millions of rocks -- a testament to Father Dobberstein's diligent construction. Visitors are dwarfed by encrusted towers, cracked-coral tapestries, and big, irregular spires of petrified wood. Narrow walkways squeeze under arches, up staircases, around pediments, past alcoves. The entire mass tops out at 40 feet, surmounted by an empty cross with a marble Jesus slumped at its base. Each shiny agate and chunk of pink quartz doubtless reaffirmed Father Dobberstein's devotion to Mary, and her mysterious grotto plan. In his last years Father Dobberstein was assisted by a young assistant, Father Louis Greving, who continued the work and added a rock-encrusted museum and a life-size bronze statue of his mentor, clutching a hammer and holding out a rock for approval. The real hammer is one of the featured exhibits in the museum, as is the microphone that Father Dobberstein used when he gave tours, and a coat that was made from the bear that he kept at the Grotto until it mauled a visitor. Compared to other America's other rocky religious shrines -- Wisconsin's Dickeyville Grotto, Alabama's Ave Maria Grotto, Indiana's Ultraviolet Apocalypse Grotto -- well, there really is no comparison. The Grotto of the Redemption out-gems and out-glorifies them all. Variety of minerals. Father Greving himself passed away in 2002, and the grotto is now under the stewardship of a church deacon. New construction is clearly secondary to maintenance and upkeep, outsourced to regional stonemasons and artisans. They're good, but they're not under contract to Mary, and the grotto seems likely to remain as it is for the present, its century-old vision on hold until a new Father Dobberstein arrives to take up the work. Address: 300 N. Broadway Ave., West Bend, IA Directions: I-35 to Hwy 20, west to Hwy 169, north to Hwy B63, west to West Bend. On the north edge of town, two blocks west of Hwy 15. Hours: Daily guided tours May, Sep, Oct hourly 10-4, Jun-Aug hourly 10-5. Lit until 10:30 pm. (Call to verify) Phone: 515-887-2371 Admission: $5 adult, $2.50 child donation suggested. RA Rates: The Best

3 h 44 min (214.4 mi) via I-35 N and US-169 N

Valles Mines, Missouri

I first heard of this when a paranormal group 3 girls in the dark advertised an overnight ghost hunt here. of course, found this the DAY of the hunt. like when they were posting that they were there setting up. (confession: I had just found THEM, as well....) then I see something from Critter Lane Petting Zoo on my newsfeed....and I am intrigued. time to google how far away this magical place is! and the answer is-----5 h 4 min (317.2 mi) via US-36 E. down past St. Louis.

Here's the full article from 1998: $10 A YEAR TO CAMP IN MO. Property owner hopes to retain wilderness aura of 4,700 acres Monday, September 14, 1998 By Joan Little Of The Post-Dispatch John Valle Harrison has a dream. Whether it comes true remains to be seen. Harrison plans to sell what he calls "no-hunting permits," to attract people from the St. Louis area to a 4,700-acre wilderness around the former mining town of Valles Mines in extreme southern Jefferson County and northern St. Francois County. Harrison and his relatives own controlling interest in the land, which has been in Harrison's family for generations, perhaps as far back as the 1700s. Now a ghost town, Valles Mines was once a thriving area in the 1800s, when lead and later zinc were mined there by Harrison's ancestors, who owned the Valle Mining Co. Even until 1950, Valles Mines had a population of about 175. All that's left now is a general store built in 1885, a much older house that was originally a log cabin and the paymaster's shack. Built before 1840, it still has iron bars and a front door driven with hundreds of nails to discourage robbers from blowing it in. Harrison believes the property will be appealing to the public because it's an animal-release site for a St. Louis-area wildlife-rehabilitation clinic. The land has had raccoons, opossums and mink released in the past year. Harrison says people who buy no-hunting permits for $10 a year can hike, bicycle, picnic or camp on the acreage. About the only thing they cannot do is hunt or disturb the wildlife. As Harrison sees it, the property has a lot of potential. But he wants people to know that visiting the area today will be a primitive experience because there are no amenities. There are no utility hookups or running water, although the property does have clear, cold water running constantly from an artesian well. It feeds a nearby, crystal-clear stream. A paved road runs through the property, but otherwise the roads are rough gravel. The property has miles and miles of old logging trails, mining trails and abandoned county roads, but they are not maintained. It also has two lakes available for fishing, for $3.50 a day. "It's primitive camping; we make no bones about it," said Harrison. "It's basically untouched wilderness." People who buy permits will not be allowed on the property for about two weeks in the late fall and two weeks in spring, when Harrison allows hunting on all but two protected areas of the acreage. Harrison says he wants to try selling the permits because he doesn't want to see the land developed for housing. Jefferson County property taxes on the property are more than $6,000 a year, and he's looking for some way to use the land without destroying its natural beauty. The property has been logged in the past, as recently as 1986, but Harrison says he doesn't want logging operations anymore. "We're an endangered species ourselves," he said. "The developers want to turn this into subdivisions. They definitely want to buy this place." For all its rustic setting, Valles Mines is not far from St. Louis. Harrison says it's a 47-minute drive from the Gateway Arch. Motorists take Interstate 55 to Highway 67 to Route V. Harrison says he doesn't know whether his idea will become popular. He is printing handbills and plans to leave them at outdoor-type stores. Beyond its natural beauty, Valles Mines also has historical value. Harrison would like to restore the few remaining buildings and eventually give tours that would include six remaining mine shafts of the Valle Mining Co. The company won a silver medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair for its pig lead. Inside what was once the general store, Harrison has dozens of ledger books from Valle Mining Co., from as far back as 1819. A state archivist visited the store recently to make copies of the ledgers for a state record-preservation program. According to local lore, the general store was the scene of a Civil War shootout between Union soldiers and a local resident who was a Confederate sympathizer. The paymaster's shack, where miners got their paychecks, was robbed frequently, says Steve Frazier, a fifth-generation resident who knows a lot of the old stories about Valles Mines. Frazier's ancestors were former superintendents of the mining company. As the property's current superintendent, Frazier says he would like to see the huge tract of wilderness stay undeveloped. For information, call 586-3680 or 771-8844 or write to John Harrison, 401 Valles Mines School Road, Valles Mines, Mo. 63087. Copyright (c) 1998, St. Louis Post-Dispatch _________________ "If you get hung up on everybody else's hang-ups, then the whole world's going to be nothing more than one huge gallows." Richard Brautigan ...

The Lost History Museum preserves and displays local artifacts from Valles Mines, one of Missouri's oldest settlements. Tours by appointment (573-631-6875). Please call ahead as our hours vary. Walk down mainstreet of this ghost town and visit the general store, payroll office, smelter, furnace tender's cabin, or other historic sites. The museum itself is housed in the 1749 settlement house of Francois Vallee. Inside is an extensive collection of photos, miniatures, and primitives from a mining mining town that has come back again and again over the centuries*. Exhibit: The Paymaster's Shack, a small building with a big history. Jesse James blew the safe once. His hideout cave lies a few miles due East.

ok. Jesse James. I am all in on this one!

Bristol, Virginia/Bristol, Tennessee

if the Geico gecko isn't fucking with me, there is a sign in the middle of a street that I must see with my own eyes!

ghostly kc things!

In 2012, according to CBS Moneywatch, Kansas City was named “haunted house capital of US,” which is no surprise to locals, since Kansas Citians love a great ghost story. One such haunted place was serial killer Bob Berdella’s home on Charlotte Street; many witnessed ghosts of young men in the windows of the home before it was demolished in 1993

The Hotel Savoy The Hotel Savoy was built in 1888 on the corner of Ninth and Central streets by Arbuckle Brothers of the Arbuckle Coffee Company. During th Ross Griff via Flickr The Hotel Savoy was built in 1888 on the corner of Ninth and Central streets by Arbuckle Brothers of the Arbuckle Coffee Company. During the turn of the century it was the only hotel seen as folks departed the Union Depot offering luxury dining, marble walls, rooftop garden and ballrooms. This hotel was visited by some famous historical figures such as Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Sara Bernhardt and John D. Rockefeller. The hotel does not offer ghost tours but spend a night at the hotel and you may experience a haunting of two spirits, which roam Hotel Savoy today. One spirit, Betsy Ward is said to have passed away in room 505 of a heart attack. Those who stay in this room report the shower and faucets turning off and on by themselves, mysterious music and doors inside the room opening on their own. Another ghostly resident is Fred Lightner who haunts the fourth floor of the hotel, which used to be his apartment. Guest and staff claim to hear strange voices, laughter, doors opening and shutting on their own, unexplainable shadows and full body apparitions of a man dressed in 1930’s attire. Hotel Savoy 9th & Central Kansas City, Mo. 816.842.3575

John Wornall House The John Wornall House is one of Kansas City’s oldest homes in the area with a rich history of the civil war that haunts the home today. Th Paul Sableman via Flickr The John Wornall House is one of Kansas City’s oldest homes in the area with a rich history of the civil war that haunts the home today. The house is so haunted, according to the tour guide, “One neighbor keeps their lights on every night and hangs crosses all over their window that faces the Wornall house. While another neighbor complained of so many disturbances of vanishing people walking in their backyard -- which faced the Wornall carriage house -- that they whited out their windows.” During the month of October on Friday and Saturday nights you can participate in a Ghost tour to learn and experience some of these spooky events. Some hauntings you may see are armed soldiers patrolling the doors and balconies, smell of pipe tobacco, a woman in the kitchen bent in front of the fireplace, light orbs floating on the rocking chair in the children’s bedroom and other unexplained noises and voices. One particular disturbing incident reported by a staff member is when the guns hanging in the home all turned to aim at the front door.

The John Wornall House 6115 Wornall Road Kansas City, Mo. 816.444.1858

The Elms Hotel is another historic and haunted site built in 1888 in Excelsior Springs just 34 minutes Northeast of Kansas City, which is a Americasroof via Wikimedia.org The Elms Hotel is another historic and haunted site built in 1888 in Excelsior Springs just 34 minutes Northeast of Kansas City, which is a must-see and visit. The hotel was originally built so folks could enjoy the healing powers of the mineral spring. Unfortunately the hotel had a devastating fire in 1898 and was rebuilt in 1909 and has entertained many famous folks; such as Al Capone, “Pretty Boy” Floyd and Bugsy Moran who reportedly hosted illegal gambling and bathtub gin parties at the hotel. Other famous celebrities include President Harry S. Truman, Jack Dempsey and the New York Giants who visited and trained there. While they currently do not have any ghost tours scheduled, a stay at the hotel to enjoy the calming lap pool, luxurious rooms and see friendly ghost is always recommended. Some of the hauntings reported by guest and staff are the spirits of gamblers who hangout around the lap pools where the illegal gambling occurred and the presence of full apparitions wearing 1920’s style housemaid uniforms. The Elm’s Hotel and Spa 401 Regent Street Excelsior Springs, Mo. Phone: 816.630.5500