Travel Makes the Heart Grow Fonder - Returning Home to Missouri

When out sailing the Caribbean as full time travelers, it's easy sometimes to forget how truly and awesomely unique our home state of Missouri is. Aboard our boat, we're sometimes overwhelmed with the "exoticness" around us as we hop from island to island. A trip back this 4th of July was just the ticket to remind us why we will always love the Midwest... It felt great to smell the smells, hug the people, and see the sights of HOME!

Ben and I both grew up in small towns in Missouri, smack dab in the middle of the USA. Ben hails from a little dot on the map called Oak Grove, best known for it's truckstop off of I-70 (I'm dead serious, they're very proud of their truck stops), and my home is the Lake of the Ozarks, a freshwater lake dotted with small towns and known for camping, boating, and watersports. After we got married, Ben and I became "city slickers" when we moved to Kansas City for work, but always will be small town people at heart.

Landing in Kansas City in late June, we were hit immediately with the smell the rain in the heavy air, typical of the midwestern tornado season when warm, moist air moves over the Great Plains. In school as kids, we had tornado drills where we learned to interpret the city-wide sirens, and cover our heads, crouched in the school hallways. At home, we huddled together in the basement, playing card games or Monopoly until the sirens quieted, indicating the storm had passed. There have been many a dark Caribbean night that I would have liked nothing more than to crawl into a musty old basement with a flashlight and some snacks to wait out the weather. It's too bad sailboats don't come with good, old-fashioned Missouri basements...

In KC, we rented a car and headed towards the Lake of the Ozarks to meet up with our families. The pastures and corn crops were in full bloom, and we drove with the windows down to smell the Queen Anne's Lace and honeysuckle along the highway. I spotted a farmer selling fresh red, plump tomatoes out of the bed of his truck, and pulled a quick u-turn to buy a box as a treat for the 4th of July BBQ. We waved hello to the cows, and all the cars that passed us, as the highways dwindled to two winding lanes, then to one, and the hills and oak trees began to hover over our heads...a clear sign the Ozarks were near.

Finally, we arrived at the waterfront and were greeted with the faint but familiar smell of lakewater - like rain, earth, and a bit of fish - and heard cicadas chirping all around. There with our families began all the regular activities that make up a Missouri 4th of July celebration - BBQs, wakeboarding, tubing, swimming and of course, heavy drinking, with parents, cousins, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews and friends we hadn't seen in over a year.

Tubing with nephew, Grevin

We set off fireworks, watched the sunset over the lush green hills, and watched our nieces and nephews catch lightning bugs. Rolling thunder growled in the distance, and we smelled rain, but the sky stayed clear.

Ben and I drove around the state to see our long-lost relatives and friends, with no shortage of laughs and hugs. With 9 nieces and nephews, we were on full-time Aunt and Uncle duty!

Quinn's side of the family, the Herrelsons

Niece Lila and nephew Quintin, barefoot free-range :)

Quinn and Step-dad, Dick

Ben's side of the family, the Deshazers and Oglesbys

Waiting for the sun to set so we can catch lightning bugs with nephew Grevin and niece Zoe.

As much as we love our homes now, as kids and even as young adults, we didn't realize the beauty in the land and people that surrounded us. Sights that pull our heartstrings, and fill our hearts with pride now - dusty gravel roads lined with brush and colorful wildflowers, strangers waving and smiling hello, cattle grazing in endless green pasture, mile high oak trees, fawns prancing in the woods - were ordinary, even boring to us as kids. Unthinkable to us now, when we brag to fellow travelers about our home state with grins on our faces an fond memories in our hearts.

Traveling is what made us realize the uniqueness and loveliness of our Midwestern home, which is anything but boring. Thanks for a great vacation, Missouri, and Happy Birthday, 'Merica!

"Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts"

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Thanks for Reading,

Ben, Quinn and Ruca