Missouri

Today we finished up traveling through the state of Kansas.  After 3/4 of the state being flat with rows and rows of dry corn, it was nice to see Kansas end up being green and having some hills – finally.  Then we came into the state of Missouri!  I love this state. 

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It is green, has some hills, and the homes look like the old fashioned kind.  You know, like the ones that have a porch, have brick on them, sidewalks, steps made out of cement (not fancy stuff), yards that look like they are taken care of by the owners who take pride in their yards, but it doesn’t look like a nursery.  At least that’s what we have seen.

So, we went through our first toll bridge.  After calling Bryan, our son, three or four times, we figured out that you stop at the first toll station, take a ticket, then when you come to the next toll station, there is a human there who takes your money.  Simple.  Whew.  Some of the freeways are like working with spaghetti, but we made it.

Oh, we had a scare today.  We LIVE by what our GPS tells us to do.  Seriously.  We would drive off a bridge if it said turn left into the river.  Anyway, we stopped for a break, got back into the car and our navigation said we did not have a map to go by.   WHAT?!  So, in panic mode, cause we didn’t have a clue where to go next, I mean, what did we do before GPS?  I guess used maps, and  brains. . .So we said a prayer and asked for help and guidance as to what to do.  We really didn’t want to stay in Kansas for a couple of days.  Well, long story short, I thought I’ll just call Nissan in Roseville and ask them  what to do.  Mike, at Nissan, told us he had never heard of that but suggested we take the little card out of the front of our system and put it back in.  Yep, it worked.  We speak very nicely to our GPS now

We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch.  As we are standing there, a guy comes up to us dressed in coveralls, with dark glasses on and looks to be in his early 80s.  He booms out “Hey Elder”.  At first we were excited cause we thought “Oh, someone who knows about our church and wants to talk to us”.  We thought that until we realized he was saying “Hey, Elmer”.  Yep.  When he finally figured out our badge said Elder, then he asked some questions and said glad to meet ya’.  I got to admit, I was embarrassed cause he was so loud and everyone within eight miles could hear him.  I stood behind Roy like a little kid.  I let him do the talking.  Our first contact – hummm. 

When we left, there was a couple about our age.  We stopped and talked to them about the area and Missouri.  I thought Roy mentioned that we were going on a Mission to Maryland, and he thought I did.  But, it was nice to visit and they saw our badges and maybe that will give them the idea that us LDS Missionarys are fun to talk with.

Tonight we are at another Holiday Inn.  Roy is becoming a professional at loading and unloading our Rogue. 

       If all goes well, Thursday night we will be in our own apartment.  Awesome.