Bragg Family South

Isn't it curious how cousins can make you do crazy things?  But I'm getting ahead of myself...  The second week of our summer 2016 vacation was spent in Michigan, visiting Hope's family.  One of the traditions we have upon arrival at Hope's dad's house is a tour of the grounds, to see how things have changed.  Below, Hope and Kenny help Rick with his frog inspections: Rick has really thrown himself into his garden this year, with everything responding quite nicely, even with a modest drought in the area: The big event was the family get-together on July 4 that Rick hosted.  Below, Rick operates the grill under the "supervision" of his brother Dave and Hope: The turnout was quite good, given that it was a Monday.  Below, the crowd starts to gather: This year's celebration was somewhat incomplete, with both Ann Pruden and Brenda Pruden both having passed since the previous fall.  A big attraction for all attendees was Rick's ra...

Beth shows her disapproval of wearing a coyote pelt...  This blog post is the first part of the tales of our summer 2016 vacation to Wisconsin and Michigan.  As soon as Hope finished her 4-H cooking camp, we hit the road.  Departing early on a Friday morning, we drove hard to arrive at our first destination, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.  Ste. Genevieve is a scenic, historic community along the Mississippi River an hour or so south of St. Louis.  One of the oldest permanent settlements along the big river, as its name implies, Ste. Genevieve was founded by the French in the 1700s, which shows in the architecture that remains: (The round disk in the wall of the building above is a millstone).  There is a state park that has preserved a number of these historical buildings, and for a small fee we had an entertaining tour provided by an enthusiastic guide; below, he tells us of the earlier French family that established a major trading operation (which rea...

While summer may not "officially" start for a couple more days, it has been here in south Arkansas for a while.  We've embarked on another hectic summer schedule, with our work weeks punctuated by explorations of regional culture...The picture above and below are from a local festival held in Magnolia, Arkansas, featuring a steak cook-off (and, obviously, a car show, as the gorgeous Plymouth GTX pictured above shows): Our big event early in the summer is the Arkansas Archeological Society's annual training program.  For most of the past decade, Bragg Family South has joined dozens of other archeology enthusiasts and professional archeologists for days of digging...Well, all is not digging--we have a blast camping with a great bunch of people!  Below is a picture of the camping area, hosted by Parkin Archeological State Park in eastern Arkansas: Over the years, we have become close friends with many of these people, and made new friends constantly.  They...