The End 9/25/15 & 9/26/15

In two days, we have gone from crisp mountain mornings with our heater on, to sleeping with the windows open and a soft breeze, to needing the air conditioning.

Bob took the truck to the dealers and was given the all clear to head home. If the truck had needed work, they couldn't have gotten us in till the next Wednesday and this was Friday. So we were most fortunate. St. Joseph was nice, but not that nice.

We celebrated with a fabulous breakfast at The Big Biscuit and got back on 36 across Missouri. In Missouri, 36 was a four lane highway and very nice. The north part of Missouri was pretty rolling farm country with an increasing number of trees. We thought we might see some of the Ozarks, but those were in the south.

At Hannibal we crossed the Mississippi and went into Illinois. We saw all of the signs for Mark Twain places and would like to go back to those one of these days.

We got on Highway 72 east which was a freeway. We were at the point of just wanting to get home the quickest way. It is beautiful country, but oh, we miss those mountains.

We hit Highway 74 and crossed into Indiana on our way to Indianapolis. It was getting late and we were lucky to find a nice KOA in Crawfordsville. Again, there were no other parks around. RV people must not travel this way. The park was in a pretty grove of trees about a mile off the highway. People had campfires going and it smelled great and felt cozy. It was very dark as we set up and we heard trains and coyotes softly in night.

We treated ourselves to a last breakfast on the road at the Cracker Barrel in town. We, of course, ran into stop and go traffic north of Indianapolis. They always have road work in that city.

I had been reading a mystery/detective novel out loud to keep us going through boring stretches of highway throughout this trip. I finished the book as we entered Coldwater, Michigan. It was perfect timing.

Meanwhile, our daughter in law, Lindsey had been in a half marathon in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which we had just driven through. Our son had been sending reports. We got a text from her as she was now driving home, asking where we were. We found out we were only three miles apart. She caught up with us and passed us in Coldwater and held up her medal for us to see. Pretty cool!

We stopped a last time for gas and slid into our driveway at 3:00 in the afternoon. We were sad it was over, but so thankful to be safely home.

Thank you to those of you who followed along and a most "Happy Trails to You!"
The End (for now!)
Bob & Cherie