Leaving Kansas

 After months of planning for our trip to Romania, it was time to go!

We came to a stop for construction.  There was one-way traffic.  We had to wonder about the guy in front of us.  Did he have a dummy in his side car?  Al said "Get out and check it out."  Since we were waiting for the traffic coming from the other side, I did just that.

What a laugh!!  I asked this guy if I could take his picture and he said sure.  What do you think about it?  A fish head with a wig and scarf.  Hmmm.  I should have asked him to explain.  Maybe he is "married" to fishing?

We were headed to  Harrisonburg.  Al had not been on this road before, but I had a couple of other times.  Once to avoid KC and go through the middle of Missouri, and another time when I met Staci to pick up Emeri.  This time Josh was bringing Emeri for us to pick her up.

Harrisonburg is about 3 hours for each of us so a good meeting place.  And a Starbucks to boot.

After hugs good-bye to Josh, we went north.  At Cameron, we stopped to fill up with gas. We decided to have lunch at the DQ in town.  I have driven by Cameron many times on the north side of town on Highway 36, but had never been through town before!  On the way to the DQ, we came across a cemetery and had to drive through it of course!  We saw these large tombstones and I had to find out about them.

There had been a cemetery tour in 2020 and information about this couple on-line.  The Tuggles migrated to Missouri from Kentucky in 1881.   Three days before his death in 1886, a will was written by Jonathan, who was 66 years old. "In the will he stipulated the great sum of $10,000 be set aside from his estate to erect the two monuments. One for himself, and another for his wife Polly. Having no children as heirs, he left $1000 to his sister-in-law Matilda Sloan. He then left the remainder of his estate to his wife, saying for her to “use and dispose of it as I might do, were I still living”. Interestingly, he further specified only $1 each to his brothers in Kentucky, and his nieces and nephews."  

(Oops!  Guess there were some family issues there!!)

Mr. Tuggle’s statue gazes skyward with its outstretched arm pointing the pathway to heaven. The index finger is missing, possibly from vandalism or storm damage.

Mrs. Tuggle passed away at age 85, twenty-three years after her husband.  "The second figure was ordered to be a companion piece to the first one. Her monument has a classic Roman hairstyle and is wearing Roman Stola and Palia garments with one arm resting on an anchor. This is an anchored cross indicating HOPE and is the primary symbol of the statue. The reference comes from the New Testament, Heb. 6:19  'We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.' The opposite arm with its hand held over the heart symbolizes FAITH. Faith and hope being two of the Christian virtues. It is estimated that is would cost several hundred thousand dollars to duplicate the Tuggle Monuments today."

We found the DQ and ordered lunch.  

Of course we had to get dip cones!

We decided we must stop at Des Moines.  The trees were in full bloom!  So beautiful!  Why the stop?

The Cheesecake factory was calling our names.  Hey, we're on vacation.  2 desserts is ok, right?  We don't have a Cheesecake factory anywhere close to us so it's a treat!

We arrived in Wisconsin around 8 pm.  Claire gave us a performance of her piano pieces.

After a good night's rest, we attended church.

There were 6 baptisms that day.  Are we willing to follow Jesus even if it means it would cost us our lives?  It may come to that possibly.  It does for many people around the world.  In some countries, they know if they decide to give themselves to Him, they might only live 2 weeks tops.  Is He worthy?  Yes, He is.