I have one goal every Monday morning at 8:00. One objective to motivate me to get out of bed after the alarm goes off (many, many times). That one thing? Friday afternoon. I could be more specific and say lately it has been the discovery of glorious Friday afternoon naps. But that sounds like I just celebrated my 31st 29th instead of my 11th. So, let’s just say my favorite time of the week is when I clock out from work on Friday and walk down the hall toward the door.
Grandma’s Poem
by Margaret (Tomie) Teters
God all mighty Savior of my soul.
Please, please help me from this hole.
If I would but take the path of righteousness
then my soul you would bless.
One last look – my Missouri road trip in pictures
State #1: this sign about tore up my car. It snuck up on me and is a very unassuming sign. Kinda like, “Hey, looks like you’re entering Nebraska. It’s a pretty long state. “
One long stretch of 25mph in Nebraska
My excellent security system. Hey, it allowed me to sleep at night.
State #3
State #2
Independence Temple Plot
Community of Christ temple
First edition Book of Mormon
Independence Temple Plot
Independence Temple cornerstone
Independence Temple cornerstone
Because you know I dig random statues
View from the Community of Christ’s temple
I don’t know why this sign outside of the Truman home made me giggle. I think the humidity got to my brain.
Jim Bridger?! You know, we think we’re the mobile generation but people have always been on the move. Jim traveled over 900 miles. And he didn’t do it in a car!
Creepy dude laying claim to the pool
No worries! The restroom situation is covered at Adam-Ondi-Ahman
Adam-Ondi-Aham
Adam-Ondi-Aham. A pretty photogenic place.
Adam-Ondi-Aham
Adam-Ondi-Aham
Adam-Ondi-Aham
Adam-Ondi-Aham
Adam-Ondi-Aham
Cute little missionaries’ home at Adam-Ondi-Ahman. How cool would that be to serve there?!
Long stretch of Missouri road
Haun’s Mill
Adam-Ondi-Aham
Haun’s Mill
Haun’s Mill
Haun’s Mill
Missouri River
Zoom in. Closer. Closer. There – see the Kansas City Temple?
Kansas City Temple
Kansas City Temple
Kansas City Temple
Kansas City Temple
Kansas City Temple
Kansas City Temple
Kansas City Temple
Liberty Jail Replica
Liberty Jail Replica
Liberty Jail Replica
Liberty Jail Replica
Me in front of Liberty Jail. Kinda weird, I know.
Flowers at Far West. So Utah!
Far West Temple Plot
Deseret Book at Far West
David Whitmer’s grave
Oliver Cowdery’s grave
Salvaged tombstones from Pioneer Cemetery
Richmond cemetery on the hillside
Richmond cemetery on the hillside
Missouri River
Approaching the Missouri River. Way. Down. There.
Just gave me the giggles.
Um, the Missouri River?
Missouri River
Missouri River
Missouri River
Missouri River
Missouri River
Missouri River
Missouri River
State #4. Believe you me, this counts!!
State #4. Believe you me, this counts!!
Winter Quarters Temple
Foggy morning at Gothenburg. Oh, that’s a good title for a murder mystery.
Read this while watching Twister on tv.
I snuck up on Winter Quarters Temple
Winter Quarters Temple
Winter Quarters Temple
Winter Quarters Temple
State #5. No other reason for crossing the border than to get this picture.
View from Abe’s overlook. This is Wyoming.
Abe turns up like a bad penny! Ain’t I hilarious?!
You know, Our Lady of Peace statue at the border of Wyo and Nebraska. Makes sense – right?
Mr. Lincoln – at the highest point of I-80 (originally the Lincoln Highway)
2,263.5 miles!
State #6. Let’s just say, I got it.
My birthday road trip: day 7 (500 miles)
August 9: sad day.
KOA’s are not as comfortable as they used to be. But I was tired enough I slept most of the night. At about 3:00am I woke up with my body telling me, “I think you may need to use the restroom.”
I convinced it otherwise. Since I would have to leave my cabin and walk across the road I became determined to not use the facilities.
“Okay,” my body said, “but don’t blame me if the results are disastrous.”
My birthday road trip: day 6 (heading back)
August 8: Time to head back. Unless I can make a living out of being a nomad. No, don’t think so. Have to head back today.
At the start of the week, I unwisely boasted I could visit 6 states in one week. As of this morning, I had only collected 3 “Welcome to [insert state]” signs. In order to meet my goal, I had to cross over into Kansas on the way out.
My birthday road trip: Day 5 (wandering)
August 7: My original plan for the day fell through (due to my poor planning). What to do?
I decided on two objectives:
One, get a picture of the Missouri River.
Two, go shopping – specifically for souvenirs.
One task turned out to be unbelievably easy. The other, seemingly impossible.
My birthday road trip: Day 4 (church history tour)
August 6: It stands to reason, in my opinion anyway, that the Garden of Eden in its present earthly condition would be fertile land. Full of growth. A land to be cultivated and farmed. That’s the conclusion I came up with after hours of driving on back Missouri country roads.
My Birthday Road Trip: Day 3 (Independence)
The floating head (my apologies) explains day 3 video
August 5 (aka my birthday, aka the best dang day of the whole year): It had a rather inauspicious start. At 4:00am I was awakened to a big THUD coming directly above me. Apparently, the people in the room right above me wanted to get a very early start. And at least one of them was clumsy. And all of them had the singular gift of knowing which floor boards are the creakiest.
My birthday road trip: Day 2 (pulling into town)
Day 2 video
August 4: Another day of driving.
I woke up to my alarm buzzing. My phone said it was 7:30am. “No,” my body insisted. “It’s lying. It is only 6:30.” Both were right. Right before I got to North Platte, Nebraska yesterday I crossed into the Central Time Zone. I lost an hour.
Birthday Road Trip: Day 1 (Nebraska)
My Road Trip Begins! video
August 3: My Missouri Road Trip, aka my 11th 29th birthday road trip, aka my 2013 Road Trip is officially underway. I traveled a total of 479 miles today.
One advantage of traveling alone is I picked out a couple of books on CD. I’ve been listening to Wicked. My dreams should be fairly entertaining tonight. If I get to sleep long enough to dream.
