Jason in the USA and PPF

It's Friday, and that means it's time for Darcy's Postcard Challenge, week 26,  and Paint Party Friday, where it's week 16 of year 2. Our postcard characters are off to the USA this week.


Since Cissie disappeared in Australia more than three weeks have passed.  Cissie and Thelma are sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast. Cissie is happy to be home after her outback adventure. Queenie is in the spare-room, still asleep. She needs lots of time to get acclimatized to  London. The *Kids* are in America, having their last, wild fling before they get married.
What happened to Cissie in Australia?
Cissie and Dougie got the address of a nature reserve where Queenie was supposed to be living as a sort of Therapy to cure her of her Crocodile obsession. The therapist thought that if she lived and worked in a place like that, she would get better. And she had been getting better, till one night she had heard strange noises outside her hut. Panic! She could hear something moving around outside, and she heard it saying her name!
Queenie just knows that she never wants to be attacked again, so she grabs her shotgun, opens the window, and fires blindly into the night. Then she hears a branch crashing down, and a scream. Then silence. She calls for help, and when a ranger comes, they investigate. No crocodile. No wild animals, just 2 strangers – a young man and a stout, elderly lady lying unconscious. An ambulance is called and they get taken to hospital. Nobody knows who they are, as their papers and passports are locked in their car. They are both badly concussed, and spend several days in hospital, until they are well enough to explain who they are and what they were doing. Queenie is called to the hospital, looks at Cissie, and says, *She's never my sister! I’ve never seen her before!* Cissie says, *Queenie, you’re my little sister! Don’t you recognise me?* *Nope! My sister is 30 years younger, tall and slim!* Cissie is very sad when she hears this, and says, *But that was a long, long time ago. You’ve changed, too! I’ve come to take you home for Jason’s wedding!*
When Queenie hears that, she looks hard at Cissie, and realises who she is. They are both too overjoyed to speak. (Quite an event by those ladies!)
Cissie still needs a few days to recover, and Queenie gets her things packed for a trip back to England. Cissie rings Thelma, to tell her what has happened, and tells her to book a last-minute journey for Jason and Shannon, to get them out of the way for a couple of weeks, as she is bringing Queenie home. Thelma books them a ticket to Chicago, they are completely delighted, and head for the airport, kissing and cuddling non-stop, and don’t even bother to think about why Thelma has suddenly become so generous….

They arrive safely in Chicago, and just love the town – there is so much to see and do, great places to eat, discos to dance away the night, and a wonderful atmosphere. Their fave eatery is Mitchell’s, where they spend a lot of their time and Thelma’s money.
They take a coach tour to see the sights:

 After seeing Chicago, they decide to hire an old Chevy and drive down the Route 66 through Illinois, and then fly back from St Louis.

They love the little town of Joliet, where they visit the historical museum and learn all about Route 66. Museums are not usually on Jason’s plan, but Shannon insists!

 In Pontiac they visit the Route 66 Hall of Fame and museum, where they have their photo taken for the card they send home. They have heard that Cissie is safely back, but do not yet know what wonderful surprise she has brought with her!

 They see lots of historic gas stations and diners, old stretches of road, and quaint bridges on their route. They want to visit Narda, a friend of Valerie’s, who lives in Percy, but discover that she is on holiday.

(All images courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

 From there it is just a short drive to St Louis, where they give back the car, do some shopping for souvenirs, and then go to the airport to fly home. Shannon asks Jason, *What did you like best about the tour?* *You!* he says.

Here is the postcard they send home:

I am sure you all want to see Shannon's face, but you have to wait till the wedding....

For Paint Party Friday I have more or less finished the heads I started last week. I cut them out, and glued them to the cardboard from the back of a sketchbook, which I first painted with black gesso. I used a picture of the galaxy taken from a magazine and added some numerals with a CWS stencil.  Then I collaged different bits and bobs to fit with the idea of *dreams*.

So, that was enough for today. Hope you all have a good day, and a great weekend. Take care, and thanks for coming by!