On the road - Newton to Hannibal

We enjoy vacations when the entire family can get together, but this year it wasn't going to happen.  So we are going to do 3 different vacations and spend time with each kid separately.  Vacation #1 was with our daughter Jill and her family.

Full trunk!!  And full back seat too!  Good thing we aren't flying.  The extra cost of all our luggage would be horrendous!

 Headed for Wisconsin!

A beautiful day!

 Farmers are anxious to get out in the fields!

 Wheat is turning gold.

Our first stop was in Hillsboro to pick up Dale's sausage.

The kids LOVE his sausage!  We brought along a cooler for the trip.

Driving through the Flint Hills

 Fox Creek School off 177

 I saw an old house off the road.  Al turned around and we took the road to see it.

 I would love to know their story.  How long did it take to build the house.  Did they live in a soddie first?  Did they travel here on a covered wagon?

Instead of looping back onto 177, we decided to continue on the gravel road a bit.

Our little detour took about 30 minutes, but if you want to just get off the road to see the old house, it would only take 5-10 minutes.  Back on 177, we headed on toward Council Grove.  The Hays House was built in 1857.  It is the oldest, continuously operating restaurant west of the Mississippi.  Seth Hays, great-grandson of Daniel Boone built it.  Most of the customers were those traveling along the Santa Fe trail, the main route to Mexico.  Both Jesse James and General Custer are said to have been here.  They bake incredible pies and homemade breads there!  I would have loved to stop for some kahlua pie! 

On 70, we passed our old alma mater, KU, at Lawrence.

 The Missouri River at KC was flooded

We went through St. Joseph and on to 36 highway.

At Laclede, MO, I saw a sign for the birthplace of General John J. Pershing.  I convinced Al to pull off the road at this small town to see his home.  Population 345.

He was nicknamed "Black Jack" Pershing because of his frontier service with the African-American Tenth Cavalry.  In 1898, at age 30, he went up San Juan with his troop under fire from Spanish sharpshooters who killed or wounded 50 percent of the regiment's officers.  Next came 3 tours in the Philippines where he disarmed the island's fierce Moro warriors.  I never realized that a person could have been forging the western frontier and also be involved in WWI, but he had!  In 1917, when he was 49 years old, President Woodrow Wilson selected him to command the American troops being sent to Europe during WWI.

 Here is a home across the street.  What architecture they had back in those days!

  Back onto 36.  So many trees!  I'm sure there are lots of deer, racoons, possoms.

We arrived at Hannibal before sunset, so after checking into our lodging, we took a little walk around town.  Mark Twain's boyhood home.

His father's office.  He was a judge.

We saw that they had the flood gates of Hannibal closed.  Last time I was here, I walked past these.  Didn't even realize there were flood gates.

They had sand bags on top of the dike!  The river was as high as the roof tops of the buildings down town!

The Mississippi river was 28 feet above normal

I showed Al the place I stayed at when I came by myself.  I loved it!

We walked the downtown 

 and stopped at the Java Jive for some dessert and coffee.

Continuing on to Wisconsin the next day....

Loving the birds here!

How I enjoy the birds!  My kids call my place the "bird sanctuary".

One morning I heard the loud call of a Carolina wren.  For such a tiny creature, it sure has a LOUD call!

 It was close by!  Peeking out the bedroom window, I saw it in my neighbor's vine that was wrapped around their stairs.  See it?       On the edge of the vine.  As I checked my camera to make sure I got a clear photo, I noticed another bird.  Rather, birds, plural.

Another look out and I saw lots of little baby sparrows!  I didn't see all of them at first as they blended in.

 A male downy woodpecker enjoying some nuts.

(female downy does not have red spot on head)

We have had lots of barn swallows!

We've taped foil strips above our speakers on the deck

so they won't build a nest there!  They were not happy.

What kind of "bird" is this?

My mother taught me this song.  Do you know it?:

The birdies in the tree tops sing their song,
The angels chant their chorus all  day long,
The flowers in the garden blend their hue
So why don't I, why don't you, praise Him too!

Psalm 66:4, ESV 
All the earth worships You and sings praises to You; they sing praises to Your name.