Going to Wisconsin before the Corona

At the beginning of this month we headed off to Wisconsin.  Had the corona virus, which has brought a screeching HALT to our world, happened just 2 weeks earlier, we wouldn't have gone, as Hannah's concert and Sophia's play would have been cancelled, as well as the ladies' conference at their church!  When we went, the corona virus was just hitting New York and a 2nd death had been reported in Washington state. 

As usual, we were looking for a route we had never taken before.  We love to see parts of the States we've not seen before!  We first headed out for Hillsboro.  We had to stop at Dale's for some Hillsboro sausage to take to the kids!  We all LOVE rope sausage!!

The morning we left, I had read from James 4:14  "You do not even know what will happen tomorrow."  So true.  We do not know what a day will bring, but one thing I can be sure of is God's presence and care.  We could plan to be with the kids this week, but as much as we travel, it is His goodness that has kept us from a bad wreck.  But if it were to happen and we were to be killed, we would be with Him!  (We aren't afraid if the corona gets us!  We are elderly, I guess, by definition, being over 60, so we are "at risk".)  Al says "Our troubles would be over."  If you fear death, you need Christ!!  You might read "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn or "All Things New" by John Eldridge who explain what the Bible says about life after death.  It will NOT be boring!!!

I'd also read from Psalm 42.  "He is the help of my countenance."  You can so often tell a person's plight, distress or joy by their countenance.  And when one is at peace with the Lord, it is written on their face!

 When we got to Emporia, we pulled in at Starbucks for some coffee.  Alas, the countenance on our faces fell (ha!) because it was closed!

Emporia had experienced river water contaminating the water treatment system so Starbucks was shut!!  We ended up getting a bottled cold brew from the gas station.

A few miles past Lebo we headed north on 75.  We had never been on this highway before.  It is the one highlighted in yellow that runs through Topeka.  (The road highlighted coming through Lawrence is the one we came back from Wisconsin on.)

 We enjoyed going through small towns.

 I'd love to know the history of this log house!

 We ran into rain.  It helps to have Rain-Go on your windshield!

 What a cool church steeple!

An idyllic place to live!

There are 2 Indian reservations in NE Kansas.

The Potawatomi and the Kickapoo.

There are also 2 large casinos there.

We are not gamblers so we didn't stop.

 Seemed like a deserted farm house, except there is a satellite dish there.

 We got out to stretch our legs and read the sign.  What history there is here!!

 

The sky was just beautiful!

 Interesting architecture.

 A sad windmill.

Anybody want to buy a church?

 The point of crossing the Missouri we decided would be at Plattsmouth, not going as far as Omaha.  I was curious about the toll bridge there.



We followed a very winding road through Plattsmouth, then arrived at the bridge just before dark.  I didn't get a good picture of it, so here is one I found on-line.  There was an elderly gentleman who was at the toll booth.



When we told him we purposely came here to cross this bridge, he gave us a little history about it.  The bridge was built in 1929, replacing a ferry that previously operated at the site.  

Here is a 1929 Roadster to give an idea of what kind of vehicles crossed on this bridge when it was new.

The bridge has clearance of 14 feet 5 inches and a width of 20 feet.  Pretty narrow, so it limits who can drive on it.

The toll booth worker said he would be working until 10PM when someone else would come on duty.  The toll was $1.75.

Crossing the Missouri River into Iowa.

 It was dark by now and what we saw were hundreds - literally - hundreds of windmills dotting the landscape, their red lights blinking off and on.  I looked it up and found out there are 5 counties here in Iowa that together in total have about 1000 windmills!  We passed a rest stop that had a windmill blade stuck in the ground as a decoration piece.  It was dark when we drove by and it was across on the other side of highway 80, but I did find this picture.  Pretty impressive!

Before we got to West Des Moines, where we would be spending the night, we pulled off on a country road to see the stars.  There was no light pollution here!!  

(My friend Maritza took this photo!  Isn't it spectacular?!  I need her to teach me how to do this!  Incidentally, when I asked her if I could post this, she said "You don't need to give credit.  Just give God credit.  It's His beautiful work."  Thank you, Maritza!  )

Isaiah 40:26 New International Version (NIV)

 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:

    Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

    and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of His great power and mighty strength,

    not one of them is missing.

There is a song written by Rich Mullins called Step by Step.  One verse says 

"Sometimes I think of Abraham

How one star he saw had been lit for me."

What a thought!  

Loving you

This past week we celebrated Valentine's Day.  Adam sent me a picture of the breakfast pancake he made for Claire.  (He is known as the Breakfast Man!)

For supper, they had a heart shaped pizza!

I remember doing that when my kids were young.  Red jello (heart shaped, of course), sandwiches cut out in heart shapes, heart shaped cookies.....)

Mindy is very healthy when it comes to food, but there is this one thing.  She LOVES Little Debbies!  She cannot resist them!  I sent her this box.  She admitted that she had gone looking there in San Francisco where they just moved to, and could not find them!

I sent the other families some goodies too.  We don't go all out spending lots of money.  Just a little something to remind them that we love them!!

 Al and I shared cards and some chocolates.  Look at this card he gave me!  I have kept all his cards to me over the years.  I made him a card with pictures of US.  I am loving the adventures we have had over the years!  

  
There is also a card from Claire and also there is a vintage card that belonged to Allen's mother.  I cherish precious old things like that.  Yes, I keep them.  (see below)  My kids can throw things out when I die, but for now, I like to take them out of the box and look through them.  Brings me joy!  My mother also did that, as did Allen's mother.  

  
I taught the Christian preschool, Sunday School and Awana Cubbies this past week and used the above box in the Valentine lesson I taught.




"Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You."  Psalm 63:3

A busy weekend!

Last weekend, we attended The Queen's Cartoonists at the college with some friends from church.

 They play music from classic cartoons and contemporary animation.  Lots of fun!  Such  talent!

Our friends invited us over for coffee.  Wish I would have gotten a picture!  They are fairly new to our church and we told eachother our stories and found some common ground!  In fact, we are even related!

Saturday morning I took Kaho (a Japanese student who lives with us) to Oklahoma for an English proficiency test.

 On the way down on I35, we saw an airplane contrail like this.  Why would the plane do such a sharp turn?
1.  The pilot was being hijacked?
2.  The pilot realized he was supposed to be going to Dallas, not Atlanta.
3.  Oh no, he forgot the co-pilot!
4.  The weather stinks in Atlanta, gotta go to Dallas instead.

I dropped Kaho off at the location where she would take her test, and I filled my time by shopping at Target, and getting some coffee at Starbucks, reading a book and studying for Bible study.  Then I drove around a little too.

This is a large bronze statue of American Indian chief Touch the Clouds that once graced the Houston Astrodome.  It was purchased by Edmond, OK.  This chief is said to have been 7 feet tall and 280 lb., the cousin of Crazy Horse and fought alongside him at the Battle of Little Big Horn.  This sculpture is an addition to the city along with hundreds of other sculptures the city has acquired. 

Kaho's test was completed after 2, and we went to eat at McAlister's Deli.  Kaho had never been but she liked it!

On Sunday, we had small group followed by Pies with the Guys at church; a time for catching up with the elders to find out what is happening at church.

 There was a good turn out, but luckily we had enough pies!