April 30, 2023 Travel to Missouri

(Note: This blog is picture intensive.  Many of the pictures were taken as we were driving so they may not be super sharp. But the scenery just had to be captured. Notice the topography changes as we traveled– Amazing!)

We woke this morning to blue skies and WIND.  I had forgotten how “Breezy” it always is in the Mid-West.  Since there were no warnings, we continued north and east.

In areas of the country where the wind always blows, folks will put trees or walls around their home to break the wind:

Old barns:

Old…have no clue:

Love the wavy road:

I can only describe this part of Kansas as wavy..  Southern Kansas is flat.  Very interesting.

Cleaned up and ready to go:

Looks like the road goes into the clouds:

If you look real close, this is a field of little purple flowers.  It was beautiful and such a treat to see.

Check out those birds and clouds:

Much more trees:

  

The wind was making our flag stand out!

Beautiful clouds:

Hard at work on a Sunday morning:

I just love the wavy roads.  This is US-36, the Pony Express Highway.  There is so much history along this highway and neat places to stay.  This will be one of our theme trips.

We have so much admiration and respect for our farmers.  It is a LOT of VERY HARD WORK:

This stood out for miles..have no clue:

Nice way to farm the hills:

How very nice – we will:

 

Crossing the Missouri River:

Into Missouri:

Missouri River:

Into St. Joseph, the birthplace of the Pony Express:

My Andy’s County – LOL!

Must be windy here – lots of trees around homes:

It was windy/breezy during our drive and Andy did a great job of getting us here.  We settled in Sharp RV Park in St. Joseph, did a few things around the RV and hung out.

We see forecasts of breezy, windy, very windy, etc. and wondered what that meant.  So here is the definition per National Weather Service:

“0-5 mph   Light or Light & variable wind

5-10 mph  None

10-15 mph None

10-20 mph None

15-25 mph Breezy or Brisk/Blustery if cold

20-30 mph  Windy

30-40 mph  Very Windy

40 mph +  Strong, dangerous, high wind

(If Gusts 58+) Damaging Wind

If the forecast for wind is between 5 and 20 mph, that is so mundane that it doesn't get a description. Wind adjectives will just not appear in the forecast.”

 

Isn’t that something!  So if we are experiencing 10-15 mph, the forecast will not mention wind.  However, they must report the predicated winds so that is what we need to look at.

Tomorrow we continue further into Missouri and will rest for a few days.  Our plans were to cross the Mississippi at Hannibal MO but we are watching the flooding carefully.  We do have options if that area is closed.

So stay tuned and enjoy today.

 

Today’s stats:

Miles Traveled: 192 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Kansas: Airport Park Road; US-81; US-36

Missouri: US-36; I-229; I-29; I-29B

April 20, 2016 Traveling Thru Iowa in the Rain

Spring in the Midwest and east – rain, more rain, followed by scattered showers and maybe a little sun.  That is our forecast for the next few days and more.  So with that forecast and home not to far away, we put our blinders on and headed east.  It funny but we get like this almost every time we head home – like my friend Pam says – we become like cows headed to the barn!

We woke on Wednesday to heavy rains and it did not let up.  So by the time we got all packed up go, disconnected, connected the car, and dumped – we were soaked!

Not many pictures today mainly because of the weather and our windshield wipers wouldn’t turn off – just a little glitch!

We headed east and crossed over the Missouri River:

Into Iowa:

Low clouds and rain:

Old Farms:

New Farms:

Just so you know whose angus they are:

Very, Very, Interesting:

We did find out that this house was built for the grandchildren.  Cute – .

We made our way to the Burlington Moose Lodge where we are staying tonight.  They had one 30 Amp plug and water next to their pavilion – very nice.  We enjoyed happy hour and supper and meeting some great folks at the lodge.

Tomorrow we continue our journey east so stay tuned and enjoy today!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 285 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Nebraska:  Schram Road; 96th Street; SR-370; US-34

Iowa: US-34; Curran Street; Mount Pleasant Street

July 1, 2013 - Museums, Rivers, and Statues

Happy July to everyone and Happy Canada Day to our Canadian friends.

I woke this morning and could not get on the internet no matter what I did.  The tablet showed a strong signal so I knew it was not that.  Hmmmm, I think we need to find and stop at a Verizon store.    

We paid for another night here, found out where the Verizon store was located and then went off on a road trip.

We wanted to see the overlook of the confluence of the Milk and Missouri River but took a wrong turn and ended up at the bottom of the spillway:

We finally did find the right road and climbed the hill with the Tracker.

Lewis and Clark explored this area in on their way to the Pacific Ocean.  They anticipated finding a large river that originated in the Rocky Mountains and finally emptied into the Missouri.  This river could be the northern boundary for the Louisiana Purchase as well as a valuable trade route and source of fur.  Around noon, on May 8, 1805, the Expedition reached this river and named it the Milk River because of its color.

The Milk River is in the center of the photo (going up and down).  The Missouri river is the one that stretches from left to right in the photo.  These rivers meet in the center of the photo:

Downstream, the Milk river mixing with the Missouri - notice the color differences:

Further downstream:

We hung out on the overlook just enjoying the sights and then we headed back down.  The road down (and yes, I was driving ):

(We have friends that would call this the “Diane” road.  If I were not driving I would be either screaming or closing my eyes - LOL!)

From there we went 20 miles to Glasgow to the Verizon store.  They did not know what happened to the tablet and re-activated it a few times until it started working again.  ????  They are still not sure what was wrong but did some me the different ways to activate.

While we were in Glasgow, we went to see the sculptures on the hill:

Still could not find any other info except that they are for sale by Buck Samuelson.

Further on down the road was the tin man - notice his heart :

Our next stop was the Valley County Pioneer Museum.  This was on the front lawn:

Many bones in the museum - most found in the area.  This Buffalo Skull was found by Alexa Barnes when she was 10. She found it in the summer of 2000. While playing in the Missouri River, she saw teeth sticking out of the water. She has donated this to the museum. She also had three other skulls that she has found.

Cool!  I wonder how many other people in this area have skeletons in their closet - LOL (I couldn’t help it!)

Neat early camper:

This Tee Pee was set up in the middle of the museum.  It is made with elk skins - more info below:

Many mounts:

Even a Jackalope (for my BIL Bill - they do exist ):

Scary - but this cat does have Dusty’s markings:

What a beautiful bar - reminds me of some of the older miner’s bars back east:

An early hair dryer - YIKEES!

The beadwork - WOW:

 

I remember these (Rosann, this is for you ):

Our last stop was to pick up some groceries at Albertsons before we headed back home.  We are heading further east tomorrow so stay tuned.

Please keep the families of the 19 Fallen Firefighters from Arizona in your prayers.  What a terrible tragedy.

I will leave you with a prayer that we found in the museum:

Enjoy today!