Travel, Day 3

I drove 490 miles today.

Another beautiful day and some great sights along the way.

First...crossed over the Mississippi River into Iowa.

(picture is not so great because I took it while driving on the bridge)

There was a nice Southern-style riverboat docked there. It's a casino now.

Don't worry...I did not gamble all my support money away : )

Saw the world's largest truck stop.

Visited the Herbert Hoover Library Museum.

They had a great "Iowa from A to Z exhibit".

Up next was a drive through Madison County.

I found one of the bridges and John Wayne's home.

Even more exciting was this momma deer feeding her little one!

It took a long time to get across the state, and then up North to where

I should have been in the first place. (still trying to figure out how I got off route)

Finally got to South Dakota.

Had a good dinner at Taco John's and was ready to call it a night.

And here is tonight's sunset, because I know you love seeing them.

I drove 434 miles today, although it feels like much more. It was such a BEAUTIFUL day that I spent some time sightseeing. There's a place in Archbold, Ohio called Sauder Farm and Craft Village. It's kind of a mix between Lancaster and Williamsburg. Lots of little historical old-fashioned buildings and shops. Oh, and an incredible bakery and $1. ice cream scoops. YUM! Just down the street is the Candy Cane Christmas Shoppe. Their motto is "Keeping Christ in Christmas all year long".

The Ohio landscape was very bucolic, lots of farm lands. I used a tremendous amount of self-control to bypass the many garage sales I passed along the way.

Indiana was next after Ohio. No stops there.

Illinois was next. They did not have a welcome sign on the highway. How rude! I wanted to drive around downtown Chicago but there was a lot of traffic and I started in a "scary" area so I just changed my mind and got back on the higway. I did see Oprah's studio though. Not that I watch her show but those of you who do can go right ahead and be impressed.

I'll try to get the rest of the pictures on Facebook soon. Here's another beautiful sunset. Nice thing about driving West is that you spend about 2 hours driving off into the sunset. Such beauty in creation. Good job, God!
I'm in the central time zone now. That gives me an extra hour to plan for tomorrow.

The trip is off to a good start. I drove 581 miles today, ending up near Toledo, Ohio. So thankful the Echo gets great gas mileage even packed with so much stuff! To occupy my 10 hours on the road I listened to 12 Steven Curtis Chapman CDs. In order, of course. Nothing like an inspirational SCC music marathon and some crunchy healthy snacks to make the day go by faster.

I did not see anything too exciting (since I stayed right on RT 8o the whole time) but here's a few pictures I took along the way. Enjoy, and check back tomorrow for another update

**YES, I did stop on the side of the road to take the pictures safely.

YAY

Out of NJ

: )

next

state

The dark clouds are

the half hour of

torrential downpour

I drove through.

Then it cleared up and

was very sunny again.

beautiful

sunset

Today is the Day!

Check out this video of one of my new favorite songs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B300gQkgDS0

Today is the day I leave for Montana. Please pray for safety and that I not get too bored in the car. MUCH LOVE to everyone who has been advising, praying, encouraging, helping, providing, hugging, laughing, crying and more. Love truly is a verb!

Watch for updates from the road.

A classic "I love NJ" moment

Today I had to take an unexpected and last-minute trip to Parsippany. So I hopped into the car, plugged in my handy-dandy GPS and off I went. It took me through Paterson to get on Route 80 (the GPS loves P-Town!) even though 287 seems easier to me. As I was driving my 10 or so miles per hour through this "lovely" town, the remaining distance was slowly going down while the remaining time was quickly going up. It's as if I was driving back in time. *sigh*

Yeah, I sure won't miss having this happen. Hopefully from here to Montana will be all clear roadways and moving ahead. Although they are 2 hours behind us timewise, so maybe it will just all even out in the end.

And yes, the GPS did bring me home via 287 in half the time in case you were wondering!

Ten and Counting...

I realized tonight that these are my last 10 days in New Jersey. I thought it would be fun to share with you my lists of TOP 10 THINGS I will and will not miss when I leave. They are in no particular order because, well, that's just too much thinking for me to do right now.

Enjoy!

Things I will miss...
1. friends (awwww)
2. the shore
3. Sunday School kids
4. playing with Andrew
5. banana oreo ice cream from Gelotis
6. Vacation Bible School
7. Fred's 30th birthday party
8. Trader Joes
9. Christmas Tree Shops
10.Hawthorne Bible House (best store ever!)


Things I will not miss...
1. traffic
2. tolls
3. humidity
4. traffic
5. sales tax
6. crowds
7. traffic
8. rushing
9. excessive retail
10.traffic