IN THE LAND OF OZ

We were productive during our stay in Illinois. There was a Wal Mart right across the street to which we paid a visit to early Sunday Morning. With our bags in hand we walked back to the truck and with each step I took, I felt my hair growing bigger and frizzy as if it had a life of its own. Oh the humidity of it all! Only one thing to do, pull it back into a pony tail and put on a baseball hat.

There was a Cracker Barrel across the other street from the truck stop, so we thought, after working up an appetite shopping, that we would have a proper Sunday late morning breakfast. We have seen these restaurants throughout our travels, and have been told by relatives how great they are. We rarely eat out, preferring to eat healthy in the truck, so we were anxious to see if in fact it is a good place to eat. I can say we were not disappointed. We may just have to stop there again.......just to give it a second opinion and a chance to eat the pecan pancakes again!


We left the truck stop after waiting for the time restrictions they gave us for going through St. Louis. I saw this old paddle wheel boat on the Missouri River. Her name is "The Belle of the Night", and I can say, this Belle has stayed out late one night too many. I hope someone is going to restore her to her former glory. I can only imagine the stories she would be able to tell us.


We made quick work of driving through Missouri and found ourselves crossing the border in Kansas and the land of Oz. I couldn't stop thinking about Dorothy and Toto, not to mention the munchkins when looking out over the landscape. One day we will have to find the time to stop at the Oz Museum in Wamego, KS but until then Craig and I will just have to settle for another rousing rendition of "We're off to see the Wizard."

We passed by Fort Riley and of course that got Craig's attention due to all the Black Hawk helicopters that were lined up. He has had the honor of riding in this type of helicopters during his Search and Rescue days with El Dorado County. I of course could not quite share in his enthusiasm for these mechanical birds but took a picture anyway.

We spent the night in Salina, KS where we were able to shower, (this time a real shower), fax the paperwork to the Broker for our Canadian border crossing, and make a phone call to the dealership to alert them of our arrival time on Friday. We have an early wake up call to get started just a bit before sunrise. Off to bed I go, dreaming of the Lollypop Guild and lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!.......... Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!