I'm off!

I recently returned from a trip to Brazil, Paris, Versailles, Lebanon, Canada, Mexico and Palestine.

 Well, actually I took a road trip and did not go to the places you think of when saying those names...

Other places I went to were Detroit, Charleston, Madison, and Kansas (Illinois), and Louisiana.  Again, not the cities we think of.  Also 3 Hillsboros! 

My assumption is that I also drove through Assumption!

 The first "city" I stopped in was Florence.  

(Not Italy - wouldn't that be nice! - but KS, population around 2,290.)  

 They have a pretty wonderful bakery in that town and the owners are very special young women!  I grabbed a little breakfast to go and continued on my trip.   I had my camera with me to take pictures along the way of course!



My first pull off for a picture happened shortly when I saw a heron sitting on top of a post!  I'd never seen that before.  I have seen them in the lake behind our house and in the tree, but never on a pole!

I was headed to a True Woman conference in Indianapolis and on to Ohio to visit my uncles and their wives.

 I had hooked up my Tom-tom but had studied my good old trusty road atlas ahead of time and sort of had decided the roads I might take.  I was going to travel on many 2 lane roads, a few dirt roads even.  Back road-ing it to Ohio!


I avoided Kansas City (sorry brother Dave, a couple of nephews and a cousin).  I DO NOT care to drive through big cities.  Nope.  For me that is stressful and scary!

 2 lane roads are much more relaxin'!  

It is THE WAY to travel!  Give me tractors and grain trucks in front of me and going through podunk towns.    No traffic except for mailmen and a few farm implements.  Really, so very little traffic!!  I could stop mid road if I wanted to grab a picture!  (I was always careful to make sure I could see a good distance and no one was coming from behind!)

  No knotted shoulders and having to get uptight about all the fast traffic!  

I drove through a little town called Freeman, population under 500.

 I didn't believe my GPS at Harrisonville (it looked like it was taking me into a residential neighborhood) and ended up going further east.  I was pretty much in the boonies.

 I was on dirt road for awhile.  

SO FUN!

This road took me into a little town of Bates where I joined onto Highway 70 for awhile.

Rest stop.  Highway 70 wasn't so heavily trafficked, but I needed to stretch.

I walked on the sidewalk for a couple of loops to get the blood pumping.

 Next stop:  Curryville and Pittsfield.