For the first time in over two years I took a two-week break from Friday Fictioneers. The reason being that I had some special out of town guests and I wanted to devote as much time to them as I could. Many of you know these two stellar writers, Janet Webb from Naperville, IL and Douglas MacIlroy from Kamuela, HI.
Since Doug planned to be in town for a couple of disc golf tournaments I invited him to the “Fields Bed and Breakfast.” Naperville isn’t far from Kansas City so I extended an invitation to Janet. One of the perks of having more than one guest room is that we can accommodate more than one guest.
It was nice to relax and get in some recreational reading. I think I was waking up from a recreational nap when Doug snapped the photo.
Doug sitting at my desk.
One of the high points of the visit was a trip to Joplin where we had lunch with Russell and Connie Gayer. Since they live in Arkansas we met in a somewhat central location. On the way we stopped for gas in Webb City, MO. Doug snapped the next photo. Too good to pass up.
Janet Webb in front of that Webb City water tower.
Connie and Russell Gayer. A rather serious expression on one of our favorite humorists.
The man behind me is my husband, Jan. Connie took the picture.
We celebrated Doug’s victory in his division of the KC Wide Open.
One of Doug’s favorite Kansas City sites. A disc golf shop downtown. The photo’s a bit blurry but the expression on his face says, “I’ve found Paradise.”
Selfie in a reflection. Doug had to snap this one so you get an idea of the differences in our heights. (One of us has some.)
While Doug was in Columbia for his second tournament, I managed to break my toe, the second in two months. You can read all about it here.
Y’all come back now. Take your shoes off…at your own risk.
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 
Sounds like a great time! We need breaks in our lives. Not in our toes, though.
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Dear Deb,
The toe break wasn’t in the plan. It was a great vacation though, one that I’ll savor some time to come.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Looks like it was a great vacation…except for the toe-breaking part. I’m sorry I missed y’all!
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Dear Madison,
Things went better than I’d hoped (with the exception of breaking my toe). You’re being there was one of the only things missing…and you were missed very much.
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Dear R,
You look like you guys enjoyed yourselves, like you’ve found your piece of haven. I love it! And D looks like a 5 year old in a candy store 🙂
Love,
Cae
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Dear Cae,
What can I say? I couldn’t have asked for better. Doug’s as wonderful in person as he is in print.
Glad you stopped by.
Much love and shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, It sounds like a great time was had by all. Those are lovely photos to keep to remember it. 🙂 —Susan
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Dear Susan,
A very sweet time. I have quite a few photos I didn’t post. Times like these make me feel that Friday Fictioneers really is a vast extended family. Color me grateful.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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It was a great time and hopefully one that will be repeated in some way, shape or form.
janet
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Dear Janet
I think there will be more get-togethers among FF’rs…especially if we plan them. 😉 Glad you were here. It was fun.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hi Rochelle… It warms my heart to to read this post and see my friend Doug again. And, I’m damn jealous he got to see Janet. What a blast you guys must have had on your road trip. When I saw the fourth photo, I thought that you had stopped into the local Madame Tussaud’s and they had a statue of Russell. It was nice of you to not name the division Doug was in, but for those curious… it’s the old guys with white hair division. Yes, he must have thought he was in heaven, I didn’t know those shops existed… he probably needed a bigger plane back to Hilo. I see you are still getting milage out of the toe thing. We should have a convention of the FriFicFaithful in your neck of the woods. Ted
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Dear Ted,
There’s nothing I’d like more than having a FriFic convention.
Doug called his division the Halt and the Lame. I didn’t know about that shop either until Doug found it online. Of course we had to go there.
I tried to include K.D. McCrite and Madison in the Joplin meeting as a surprise for Doug but both of them had to back out at the last minute. Another time perhaps.
I should have included the photo he sent of the stack of plastic he collected while he was here.
Of course I’m getting mileage out of the toe. I have to wear this 5 lb. monstrosity for who knows how long I might as well have some fun with it. 😉
All in all I had a great time and the goodbyes were tough.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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What a truly amazing gift. Thanks for sharing these terrific pics. It is nice to know there is a B&B for FF writers. Don’t think I didn’t make a note of it. 🙂
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Dear Honie,
If you’re ever out our direction you’d better make note of the B&B, 😉 I’d love to meet you in person.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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get better soon Rochelle. loved hearing about your vay-cay:)
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Dear Contactrida,
Thank you for the well-wishes. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Looks like a fantastic time was had by all – if you can host FF online why not host it in real life too?! Mind you, if you want to have everyone there, you might need to hire a convention centre!!!
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We have a convention center in KC, Jen. Somehow I don’t think we could afford the fees. And then there would be the issue of where to house everyone. On the other hand, maybe we could get good rates at a local hotel. I’ve learned never to say “Never.” 😉
It was a great time. I hated to see it end.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Sounds like you all had great fun. I think I’m jealous. But, of course, I’m not at all jealous of the fun you’ve had with your two feet. I think I’m going to tell that Douglas MacIlroy that the next time he travels all the way from Hawaii to Missouri, the least he could do is hop on over to the neighboring state of Illinois and wave “Hi” to me before he heads back to the middle of the Pacific Ocean for who knows how long! Janet’s a lot closer. I need to try to make a connection with her at some point in the near future. Of course, she’s awfully close to Chicago, and we here in Southern Illinois consider Chicago another country, so I guess “closer” is a relative term. Anyway, so glad you were all able to connect in “real life.” And thanks for sharing it with us.
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Dear Sandra,
Clumsy feet aside, i had a great time. You really should try to connect with Janet. I think you’d enjoy her. I love meeting my FF’rs in person and love it when I hear of others meeting as well. It does feel like an extended family.
Thanks for commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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How wonderful you guys got together! Looks like a fun time. So sorry to hear about your toes. I hope this means more time to put your feet up at least. Thanks for sharing the pics!
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Dear Amy,
I wish I had time to keep my feet up. However I went back to work, Tuesday which means lots of time on my feet.
The memories of this visit will remain sweet in my mind for some time to come.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh, too bad you can’t put your feet up. How great to spend time together with all four of you there together, and that you guys made it happen! That’s a special event.
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You all look happy, carefree and relaxed, just as it should be. 🙂 So glad you all could get together and have such fun, minus the toe incident. I can see why you might have needed a vacation from your cake decorating job as well, with being on your feet. Guess you can’t very well sit down for that like you can to write and sketch. Hope it all heals up quickly.
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Dear Joyce,
We really did have a wonderful time. We didn’t do a lot of site seeing although there was some of that. Jan, Janet and I did go to the River Market while Doug was out in the heat flinging his discs. A lot of visiting. We introduced Doug and Janet to Kansas City Barbecue at Snead’s which has been open since 1956.
Doing next to nothing today other than putting my feet up, answering comments and reading FF stories. Back to work tomorrow. Working is physically challenging but I’m sure I’ll get through it. 😉
Nice to see you here.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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We loved the KC Barbecue place. Ate there twice I think when passing through. Its nice you have made some good friends through FF. I would enjoy meeting some in person like Janet and husband Bill, and Lora, Jan and Madison and Ted. Don’t really know the others or new ones except for when I did the FF stories. I keep busy enough with my own writing projects and will soon be leading a writers group at our church when we form some new groups with the sole purpose of building a bond and relationship with new members and converts. Will keep me more busy, but really looking forward to it. Tell Jan ‘Hi’ for us and have a very safe and fun July 4th.
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Looks like you had a lot of fun. Let’s get together soon–you and I–and catch up. (I’m borrowing my parents’ car while they’re on vacation this week and next, so I have transportation for once!)
Cheers!
MG
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Dear Marie Gail,
It was the best of times…yes, let’s make some plans. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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watch out those toes are needed
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A few of my friends have threatened to wrap me in bubble wrap. Thank you, Barbara.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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What fun! You got a well-deserved break, surrounded by those great creative minds.
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Dear Patti,
It was a lot of fun. :
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Sounds like a fun and well deserved break 🙂
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It was Amanda. It most definitely was fun.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You guys look like you enjoyed yourselves. Nice to live in the real world now and then. 🙂
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Real world? 😉 We did have fun, Kim.
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🙂
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That was lovely to read! I’ve been away for a week, ‘off-line’ as it were, and missed my family terribly, so reading this on the day I returned was perfect: thank you!
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Welcome back, Kingsley. We truly are a family. It’s what made me beg to take on FF when Madison moved on. 😉 Nice to know others feel the same way.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Simply amazing Rochelle and oh so much fun. One fine day you will see me there too 🙂 Last month I had lunch with two blogger friends here and I posted the pics on my blog. Unfortunately WP was being tricky and my followers commented that they could not see the pictures I posted.
You guys are fabulous. 🙂
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Dear Celestine,
I love meeting FF’rs face to face. I’ve met a few. I also love it when other FF’rs meet each other and send me photos. It makes me feel connected. I’ve felt from the beginning that there was something special about this group which is why I begged Madison to let me take it on.
I’ll have to say that this past visit was a major high point.
Prepare to be hugged whenever we do meet. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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What fun. You hosted a fun time for all. Makes the rest of us want to visit. Hope you have pliantly of room. ;0)
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Oops, that’s supposed to be “Plenty” of room.
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Dear Phyllis,
It was a great time. I love to meet other writers in the group. My dream is to have a gathering but with the vast distances between us I’m afraid a virtual gathering is the best we can hope for. But then, a year ago I might not have figured on this one so I never say “never.”
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I have a friend in Tapika and a cousin in far north Arkansas.
So who knows I might make it down there some day.
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Do you mean Topeka? As in Kansas? That’s not terribly far from here.
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Yes I do. Now I thought I got that one right. Oh well.
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This is SO fantastic! It looks like you guys had a really wonderful time; it’s so nice to see the photos and read about it! You know I’m a big fan of blog meetings, so if you get another together I’d love to try and meet y’all. Such fun to put faces to all those magical, written words. Thanks so much for sharing Rochelle!
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Dear Dawn,
This is one that I’d never have figured on a year ago. Although I met Russell and Madison a couple of years ago at an Ozarks Writers League conference I wouldn’t have figured on meeting those farther out. I have to give Doug the credit for getting the ball rolling or, rather, the disc swirling. 😉 The rest sort of “happened.”
But, rest assured, should the opportunity present itself I would dearly love to meet you face to face.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I think it’s so wonderful that we all connect through our writing, but forge new bonds! What a wonderful get together you must have had. I’m so glad you wrote about it for us. 🙂
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Remember if you guys come any where near to DC hmu (I learned that from my grandson. It means hit me up or rather let me know.). I don’t have any guest rooms but I have a car and can meet you.
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Dear Dawn,
It so happens that I’ll be close Wednesday and Thursday. I fly into Dulles Tuesday night. It will be kind of whirlwind visit to see my brother in Fairfax VA. I don’t know what any possibilities might be.
shalom,
Rochelle
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Well how about that. I didn’t know you had a brother so close. Maybe next time and we can plan it.
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How neat, Rochelle. Fictioneers meeting F2F. It sounds like you had lots of fun.
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It was beyond fun, Melody. Truly a gift.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Take care please…
And enjoy the vacations too! 😛
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Dear Satya,
The problem with vacations is that they end. Saying farewell was hard for me.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I would love to meet the F.F. crew someday! Congrats on your well-earned vacation
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Dear Pat,
Perhaps we should charter a cruise ship and meet on the ocean. 😉 We’re such a global family. Perhaps national leaders should take a lesson from us.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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