Back to back trips

I got home from Arkansas and had a few days to do laundry, attend Bible study, teach an Awana lesson and also re-pack for a trip to Wisconsin!  I had offered to babysit (or I should say kidsit) the grandchildren while Adam and Jill attended the Gospel Coalition conference in Indianapolis.  I had intended to leave on Thursday and go up to Nebraska to see the Crane Migration,

but when I looked at the map of Nebraska, most of the roads in eastern Nebraska were closed due to the massive flooding and destruction of roads!  How would I even get across the state to Iowa on my way to Wisconsin?  And much of western Iowa was flooded also.

Please pray for the people of Nebraska!  Especially the farmers.  I've heard that possibly over 1,000,000 cattle have died!  Plus hogs and crops destroyed also.  It will mean rising costs at the grocers for sure!

So I resigned to seeing the crane migration next year.  And anyway, Al might be able to come with me then.  But now snow was in the forecast Friday so I decided to leave Thursday anyway. 

As I was leaving town, it began to rain.  I decided instead of going on Highway 50, I would take 1st street all the way to the turnpike, as that way looked clear whereas it looked stormy going on 50.

 It was a good thing, because a post from a friend who works at the school in Walton, showed this picture of hail there and I would have been driving right through Walton at that time!

 Driving past our children's old school, Berean Academy.

 One thing I love about 1st street is that there is hardly any traffic at all.  Perhaps the entire road, I met 3 cars in the 39 mile stretch!

 I love the wide open spaces!

 I haven't been on this road for awhile.  It looks like they have changed the sign at Cassoday.

 Here's the old sign.  Perhaps I just missed it, but I sure didn't see it.   Perhaps they are no longer the prairie chicken capital of the world?

How I love to drive through the Flint Hills!

I didn't capture a picture, but here's one I found online.

It takes my breath away each time!

I love country roads and do NOT LIKE to drive through cities AT ALL!  So I turned east before hitting Kansas City.  At Ottawa, I went east on 68 to Harrisonville.


"Interesting" mail box.

I was going to go north on 7 to Buckner, but my Tom Tom (which is outdated and is too old to update at this point) took me back into KC instead straight north!  I should have turned on my Google Maps on my phone for this part.  It began to pour rain in buckets and then I had to deal with all those lanes of traffic.  YUK!! 

But as I prayed for the Lord to help me not freak out, I made it back on to a 2 lane road and onto 24.  Al called to ask me how it was going, so I told him. 

"You might find somewhere to stop for about an hour and let the rain pass by you.  It looks like you are just travelling right along with the storm."

 I decided to take his advice.  And where I stopped to pass the time will be on the next post.