On to Memphis

We did a lot of texting back and forth with the kids as we were all driving toward our meeting spot in Memphis.  They sent the following pictures.

Everyone excited about a beach vacation!!

Our off-the-main-highway adventure took us through the Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri.

Twin Bridges

We were both feeling a need for a stretch.  We ran into construction and it looked like it might be a 

L    -    O    -    N    -    G 

wait.  So we both got out of the car to stretch our legs.

Al:  Be careful which way you bend.  You never know who might be taking a picture!

We saw a few interesting places.  It would have been fun to explore a little closer.

I keep my camera at the ready

but sometimes I can't whip it out fast enough to get a good shot.

Sometimes Al turns around for me, 

but we were meeting the kids for supper, 

so we really couldn't turn around every time I wanted to.

It's blurry, but what the heck is this?  A house in a log?

a prison get-away van?

Entering Tennessee, crossing the Mississippi

Is it really that dangerous to cross the bridge???!!!

We arrived at the hotel almost the same time as Josh's family.

And we drove close by to Chick-Fil-A to meet Jill's family

It was Claire's 6th birthday!

(we would celebrate at the island)

Back at the hotel, the kids did some swimming.

Sophia and Hannah hung out with us while Claire was put to sleep in her room.

Neither of us have cable tv so we enjoyed watching HGTV!

tomorrow....on to Dauphin Island!

Driving to Dauphin Island

I woke up at 4am with a bad dream.  But I wasn't sure if it was a dream or if it was real.  I thought Al told me he got a phone call that Jill had been bit by a bug and might need to be hospitalized.  So since I wasn't sure if it was real or not, I prayed for my daughter!  We were all leaving for Dauphin Island, but if she were hospitalized, their family would not be able to come!

 When Al woke up, he assured me it was just a dream!

 All our bags were packed and set by the door the night before and Al loaded up our vehicle that morning.  The car was FULL!!  No way could we fly down to Dauphin with all we were dragging with us!

 On the way!  Leaving Kansas behind....

 Much of the wheat was being harvested.

 Sometimes this led to having to slow down.

We were on 2-lane roads much of the day.  We like to take roads we have never been on before just to see this country.  Like County road M east of Pittsburg.

Pretty wild flowers growing on the side of the road.

Corn

Cattle seeking relief from the summer heat. 

 To pass the time, I read from the compilation of newspaper articles from Pandora/Bluffton, Ohio from the 1900s.  We got some pretty good laughs!

We also listened to '60s music.

"I Wanna Hold Your Hand" with the Beatles

"I Got You Baby" Sonny and Cher

Chug a lug lug (talking about root beer) by Beach Boys

These songs were so fun and not songs about killing cops or some such awful songs as you can hear today.  But Al did remind me of Bob Dylan's "Everybody Got to Get Stoned".

 I don't recall that I've ever seen a triangular cloud before.

We got off the 2-lane road and onto the highway.  Busy, busy highway!

 People going every which way!

Then back onto country roads again.

There are Swiss-German Old Order Amish in Seymour, MO.  There are some Grabers too, who are most likely distantly related to us, as our roots take us back to the Amish back from the times before we immigrated to America.

 We drove through some small towns.

 Lots of trees!  What a beautiful country we live in!

We saw some interesting things loaded on the backs of trucks.
HUGE tires

Cinderella's carriage?

??

To be continued....