Our first Soccer season and our first Expedition of the new season.

 Here she is, all decked out for her first practice.

 Are they all suppose to be facing the same way?

 Her team.
Don't know what the colors will be till the uniform comes in.

 Sat. had promised lots of rain, which we got, but not enough to bring the rivers up to kayak.
So we headed for the country to pick apples.

 And boy were they looking good. Although only one variety was ready, there sure was a lot of them.
Jonathon's.

 You could pick them down low. . . .

 . . . or you could pick them up high.

 And I didn't even end up with any applesauce in my hair.

 Proud picker.

 Old tools.

 And some history.

Wow.

 They also had a play ground.

 The apples were on a Century Farm in rural St Charles County. Daniel Boone country.
The farm was started in the early 1800's with the house probably built between 1830 and 1850.

This the main structure was made of logs, with siding added later.

 Nice front porch.

 Beautiful chimney.

 The walls under the porch still had exposed logs.

Love the blue on the door.

 Dovetail corners.

 Look how thick the logs were. That really suggests an old building.

The logs were anywhere from ten inches to twelve inches in diameter.
Many later built homes were eight to ten inch logs.

 Explore/helper.

The barn was built about the same time.

Great afternoon picking apples.

 Sunday was pool party with friends.

Monday would be 'Expedition' day.
There was an old log cabin we pass every time we go to the farm and I have always wanted to stop and get some pictures.

 Right next to the highway and has not been lived in for a long time.

 You can see from this front view that at one time it was a very nice looking farm house.
Five gables.

Settlers usually always started out in a log building, but as resources became available they soon covered up the logs. Usually incorporating them into one or more of the rooms on the newer structure.

 As you can see on this building, just the northern-most front room was log.

 A closer look.

 Everything is kinda sagging now.

 Explorer/helper taking a look.

 Lots of junk. . . and maybe some treasures.

Typical to have the stairs in the center of the house.
Some times this was done as part of the design and other times placed here between two log structures.

 After or cabin exploration we checked out the little country town of Frankford Mo.

Once a very active farming town with a railroad. Now just by-passed by the highway.

 There are however still some nice buildings in town, and several nice churches.

And they had a nice playground/ball park.

 Daughter wants to buy this purple house we she gets married.

 Some were kept in nice repair.

 Have never seen a keyhole window before.

 Others need lots of work.

The town had many big old houses, attesting to it;s once more fortunate period.
But many of them were beyond repair.

 We also visited the cemetery.

 Which was in better shape than the town.

 This is a really old grave for Missouri.
It would be interesting to find out if he was born in Missouri or not.
I will vote 'not'.

 We of course stayed in town for lunch, and stopped at one of the only business's still open on the main street.
'Wagon Wheel Cafe'

Their is nothing five star about the place, but the burgers were ok and the fries good, and they had sweet tea.

 Daughter and Grandma at the Wagon Wheel cafe.

We will come early enough for breakfast next time.

 On the way home we also stopped at New London Mo.
County seat for Ralls County Mo.

Although the town boasts this wonderful court house and a few other homes built of stone, for the most part it had even less old homes than Frankford, although it is a bigger town.
The town square had very few old shops around it.

 This is the old train depot.

What a great day in the country and what a great weekend.
Lots of exploration and two new log cabins found.