I Can See for Miles and Miles...

We worked in Kansas City Wed. thru Fri. Mike worked at USDA and I worked from the hotel room. I was stir crazy by the time Mike got back to the hotel each evening. It felt like the hotel room walls were closing in on me!

Friday evening we hit the road again to continue our Big Red trip. We drove from Kansas City to Salina, KS - where we stopped for the night. We stayed at the Courtyard in Salina (a really fancy Courtyard!) and then went into town for a Kansas steak. The front desk recommended Martini's and it was a good recommendation!

The next morning we got up early as we were hoping to make it home by Sat. night.

I've never seen so much corn in all my life. There were acres and acres of corn fields. They stretched on for miles - literally as far as the eye could see. One of the fields had corn and also the oil pump jacks (nodding donkeys). It was the first one we saw and Mike blurted out that they were digging for "Corn Oil". We both laughed for a good mile at that joke....we were getting car crazy! :o)

We were driving along I-70 and both Mike and I let out a little scream. Right off the highway was a F-14 in a park. Of course we pulled of the road and then visited little WaKeeney, Kansas. There was no plaque or any explaination as to way there was an F-14 in a park there. I think it was just a sign - Dad saying hello along the journey. I got a little bit emotional as it just felt so significant to see that plane while driving Dad's truck. (for those who don't know - Dad was the Deputy Program Engineer for the F-14). Dad passed away in January 2007 and we have since googled the plane and it was delivered to the park in March 2007.

We drove for another few hours and then pulled off at the Prairie Dog Town in Oakley, Kansas. This tourist stop has signs all along I-70 advertising and when the exit finally came up we just had to stop! The have a bunch of rattlesnakes in a wooden box. You can stand on a step stool and look down on them. Wow - are they loud when the rattle! Then you walk outside amoung the prairie dogs and a bunch of caged animals. It's a bit sad as the cages are tiny and there is not enough room for them to really stretch their legs. Their claim to fame is the "World's largest prairie dog" - which is a 8,000 pound plaster prairie dog. It was quite funny. We've got a Piggy Pic that we will hopefully post soon.

Then we hit the road again. As we were driving we kept admiring the huge fields of sunflowers. There are so beautiful - bright yellow against the blue sky. I tried taking pictures from the truck as we were driving but they did not come out. We also saw a crop duster come in for a dusting. At first I honestly thought he was about to crash. The angle of attack was incredible as he was coming down over the field. But he straightened out in a split second and must have been a foot or two above the corn. We could have watched him all day as it was like our own personal air show.


On the atlas there was a marker for Comanche Crossing, KS as it is famous for the spot where the first continuous, uninterrupted chain of railroads joined up on the Kansas Pacific Railway. Of course we had to stop! We pulled into a museum and they gave us a photocopy of the Comanche Crossing Times newspaper from August 15, 1870. It's a really cool article and talks about how there was an east bound crew and a west bound crew laying rails. The crews were really tired and so the Colonels measured the distance to be covered and then put a keg of whiskey and an American flag at the mid-point. The first crew to reach the keg could enjoy their reward! The west bound crew reached it first (mainly because the east bound crew ran out of rails and had to wait for more to be delivered) at 2:53 on August 14, 1870. The article goes on to talk about the "little upstart town of Denver". It's a really neat piece of history. The town is hoping to raise money to put a monument at the point where the east rails met the west rails.

I must say that the people of Kansas are some of the nicest people we've ever met. All had cheery smiles and were ready to talk to everyone - even us travel weary strangers. So, cheers to you Kansas!

We made it home at about 7 pm. It was so nice to pull into our driveway but also a little bit sad as we had such a great time on our trip. I would have been happy to keep driving for a few more days. It really is nice to see the US at ground level instead of flying above it at 40,000 feet.

Hopefully our next big adventure will be in Ukraine!!! Stay tuned....

Gateway to the West

On Tuesday we made reservations for the St Louis Arch (also known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial). It was great! There is a visitor's center under the arch and plenty to keep you busy while waiting for your turn. The ride up the arch is scheduled and you buy tickets for a certain time (can buy online or over the phone to avoid the long lines). A few minutes before your scheduled time you gather in a line and watch a video about the arch. Then it's almost like a Disney ride - there are 8 "pods" which hold 5 people each. You wait outside your pod door and then climb in. Although they don't warn you - I'd really not recommend it if you are claustrophobic...or over 5'10" tall !! I've forgotten the exact times - but it's about a 4 minute ride to the top and a 3 minute ride back down. I'd love to see a replica of how the "elevator pods" maneuver up the arch as it is quite a feat.

The top of the arch was great and it was a clear morning so we could see quite far.

After leaving St. Louis we made our first dent on I-70 and got to Missouri. We stopped off at the President Truman Library & Museum in Independence. Unfortunately for us, we arrived at 4:30 pm and it closes at 5 pm. We literally ran thru the museum to try and take in as much as we could in that short amount of time. I would highly recommend this museum (and give yourself more time!). Included in the museum was a replica of the Oval Office and his famous "The buck stops here" desk plaque; letters and mementos from US citizens (including a button down shirt with a letter from a congressman stating that a gentleman felt he was being taxed so much that he literally sent the "shirt off his back"!); and hand written notes written during the time he decided to use the atomic bomb (ironically we were at the museum on the anniversary week of the bombings). It had so many exhibits that I would have loved to read and look at more closely. Hopefully we will be back this way again.

Our Dossier was submitted!!!!!!!!!!!

We interrupt this big red truck travel story to bring you exciting news..... We heard from our translator, Vlad, via email that our dossier was submitted yesterday. YAHOOOOO!!!!!!! We are trying to not get too excited as we are waiting to hear that it is ok. The SDA will be inspecting all of our documents to make sure everything meets their needs. We are a bit worried as a few of our documents are very near the 6 month rule for expiring (which is why we started working on the paperwork updates before we left for this cross-country trip). Please say a prayer that all is well and we get a travel date to pick up our children soon!

Meet Me in St. Louis

This morning we took the tour of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat factory. The tour itself is short but it was very good. You actually walk among the the machines that are making the bats. There were many young kids on the tour and it was great to see their excitement at the mention of the pro baseball player's names. At the end of the tour you get a free mini bat. Although we were not allowed to take photos during the tour - we made up for it by taking a number of photos of the famous six story high bat in front of the factory!

We then went to Churchill Downs- of course famous for the Kentucky Derby horse race each spring. The building is huge! We were shocked at how big it is. One top tip - we didn't have time for the walking tour as we really needed to hit the road. We spoke with a lady at the gift shop who told us to go to gate 17 - where we could pay $2 and could then view the track. (It's a top tip as the information desk told us the only way to see the track was via the tour). So we went to gate 17 and got to see the track and walk amoung the seats. We could just imagine all the men and women dressed up watching the race and drinking mint juleps. And of course I thought of my friend, Grace, who I think about each Kentucky Derby day!

The rest of the day was just spent driving. We arrived at St. Louis around 6pm. We got so excited when we first caught a glimpse of the arch. We will tour that tomorrow morning.

We're in Kentucky

After leaving VA we drove thru West VA. Along I-64 we saw a sign for the Greenbrier and decided to pop in there. It's a beautiful grand old hotel first built in 1778. Of course it's most recent claim to fame is the "secret" bunker built for congress in the 1950s. We didn't have time for the tour as it is 90 minutes but were hoping to get a peek at the door to the bomb shelter - but we could not as they like to keep the "mystery" of it alive so would not tell us where it was located. Mike laughed that this was turning into a tour of old hotels instead of a trip across country! :o) No more hotels!

We drove thru the capital of W. VA, Charleston, although we did not stop, the capital building looks beautiful.

We stopped and had the oil changed in W.VA as the sticker in the window said the last time it was changed was 2005 and that worried us a bit! We also stopped to get new wiper blades as the old ones were just smearing and man did it pour in Kentucky. People were pulled over on the side of the road but we plugged on at a snail's pace.

Kentucky is a beautiful state (finally seeing your home state, Grace!). There are huge horse properties with enormous houses. We stopped by the Wild Turkey distillery and took a Piggy Pic as I had to think of Mrs. R's cocktail of choice! :o)

We've been learning a lot - just from driving! We went over the Chuck Yeager bridge in W.Va and by Muhammad Ali St. in Louisville. I had to search the web to verify these were their home states.

The Big Red Truck is on the Move!

After a couple days visiting family (Grammy, Dianne, Scott & Kathy & Kristen & Emily, Doug & Pat, Jason & Paige) we have started our cross-country journey. We had a problem with the tonneau cover that we ordered on-line. I had called to check the status of the delivery and was told that it would arrive the Friday before we left VA. When it still hadn't arrived Friday afternoon I called again to verify and was then told that it had not shipped from CA yet! Good grief - that put me in a frenzy then trying to find something to cover the back of the truck. Kathy and I started calling every business within 70 miles to try and find a tonneau cover or truck topper that would fit a 1996 Ford F-150. Every business told us there was basically no way we'd ever find one as it is almost impossible to keep stock for every truck body type. We'd given up hope and had set our minds on using a tarp and hoping for the best - when Scott called and said we should try Shelly's in White Post, VA. I called and they had some toppers!! So a big shout-out to Shelly's as they really saved us and did a rush job during their lunch break to get the topper on the truck for us. The topper is fire-engine red and the truck is a tomato red so it looks a bit funny - but beggars can't be choosers! One of the truck toppers that they had was a royal blue and my niece, Kristen, said she'd paint stars on it for me so we could have a US flag truck. She is so sweet (love you Kristen!!).

Our first day of driving got off to a late start as we had to go up to White Post to get the topper on the truck and then head back to Scott's house for lunch and to load up the truck. We didn't hit the road until about 5pm....kind of a late start for a cross country trip! :o) We stopped in Staunton, VA to see the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and I must say that it is a beautiful hotel and beautiful downtown area. I work for the company that manages the hotel so I may be a bit biased - but it is really nice. Mike and I have already decided we need to explore Staunton a bit more on a future trip.

We were getting tired around 8pm last night. I started calling hotels along I-64 and every hotel was booked and we ended up driving a bit further just to find a hotel with a room. We stayed at a Best Western in Covington, VA last night. It's a small town and all the teenagers were hanging out in the Food Lion parking lot - typical of a small mountain town! We're off in a little bit and our destination is a Residence Inn (I got the rate) in Louisville, Kentucky. It sounds like it's in the downtown area so we hope to get some Piggy Pics at the Louisville Slugger factory and at Churchill Downs!