Family Reunion: Saturday

On Saturday morning, we met the very extended family in Barnett, Missouri (where my grandmother grew up) for breakfast at Gayle's Cafe. The cafe is located inside the old grain elevator, which my great grandfather helped build (at least according to the story on the menu cover):

From breakfast, we started a mixed walking/driving tour of Barnett, Versailles, Pyrmont, and the areas in between. Here are some of the sights along the way:

Across the street from the grain elevator was "the old store:"

And around the corner, was "the old hotel," where my grandma spent her first 11 years:

Here's the group en masse:

Maya met some goats in a Barnett backyard:

Here's what was referred to as "the Routen house," where my grandmother's parents lived right after they were married:

These were all in Barnett; from here we started driving down windy country roads (ok, we took some windy country roads to get to Eldon in the first place...). We saw the "Barnett Institute" (I thought everyone was kidding, but apparently they called schools fancy things back in the day):

Then the land where our ancestors first settled when they moved to the area:

We obviously didn't venture far down the lane...

We then went to the house where my great grandfather grew up:

Oops, turns out that isn't the original house. There is some speculation that this one is:

Through all the ins and outs of the car, Maya made a new friend:

We finished our driving tour and headed to the Pyrmont Church and Schoolhouse where we met up with some more family (I'd estimate about 50 people in all) for a potluck lunch. Dad found some Bubba cola:

Maya made a clover necklace and discovered basketball:

Here's Bob and Cathy (my grandma's great-niece and her husband):

(Sorry, it's a bit blurry; I'll use the excuse that I'm still getting used to the new camera...)

After the festivities in Pyrmont, we went to the RV park where many were staying for a cookout. Maya sat with grandpa:

And played with rocks and sticks:

Grandma and Milton sat and chatted:

While others relished reconnection to cell phone networks: