2018 Harvest Road Trip – Day 4

Monday, September 30, 2018

We left the hotel at 9:25 AM. It was 47 degrees with light rain. We were afraid if the weather didn’t improve dramatically, we wouldn’t be seeing any corn or bean picking.

We weren’t on the road very long before Tommy slammed on the brakes and put the truck in reverse. I always know that means that there is something interesting to see. These were found in Oconto, NE.

When we saw a lot of this, we decided to call Amanda and ask if it would be OK if we showed up to their place early.

We then drove north of Lake McConaughy but didn’t stop at this rest area. :)

We found a grain elevator, a church and a field of sorghum.

The weather didn’t improve as we were driving over the summit from Cheyenne to Laramie.

When we got into Laramie at 5:45 PM, the fog had cleared and it was partly cloudy at 71 degrees. Amanda had to work so we went with Evan and Miss B to Born in a Barn for dinner. On the way there Evan told us they’d had some pretty amazing sunsets due to the clouds from the fires. Sure enough, as we were sitting in the restaurant the sky/sun was awesome. Unfortunately, my good camera was back at the office.

Total miles driven – 2,040

2018 Harvest Road Trip – Day 3

Saturday, September 29, 2018

We left the hotel at 9:35. It was a chilly 45 degrees, gray and chilly. Before leaving town we got gas, ice and breakfast. Then we headed out to, hopefully, find some harvesting.

Wakonda, SD
Pleasant Valley Lutheran Church, Vermillion, SD
Beresford, SD

Just across the road, GPS said these guys picking corn were in Wakonda, SD. As Tommy said, the line has to stop/end somewhere. In both the combine and the wagon, there were some young (probably around 12 years old) kids. I guess they were learning the family business.

Sometimes we would follow it, sometimes we would cross it.

The Missouri River
Wausa, NE

I’m not sure if this is a working church as there was no sign around it. It sure is pretty.

Magnet, NE

We haven’t stopped for many grain elevators this year, but liked this one.

McLean, NE

As we headed towards Kearney where we would spend the night we found a lot of churches!

I really want to go inside this church:

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Grand Island, NE

We finished the day at 6:45 PM at the LaQuinta in Kearney. We got KFC for dinner before checking into the hotel.

1,596 miles driven

2018 Harvest Road Trip – Day 2

Friday, September 28

We left the hotel at 9:25 AM, it was cloudy and 55 degrees. It felt like Fall. :)

We planned on getting breakfast on our way to the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately, when we got there it looked like everyone had packed up and left town. We did see, however, acres and acres of water lilies which had already bloomed. That place must be an awesome sight when the lilies are in bloom.

 

Grain elevator in Rock Port, MO

Tecumseh, NE

We kept checking the weather and the radar hoping we could get out of the rain. It looked as if we went north into South Dakota we could miss it, so we did.

It’s rather funny the things Tommy sees and I don’t and vice versa. When he turned the truck around to go take pictures of the following church, which I had not seen, I saw these gas pumps and he didn’t.

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Louisville, NE

As we wandered northward, we saw the steeple of this church from miles away. I know I’ve said it time and again but a lot of churches in the midwest are in the middle of corn fields. This shows it perfectly.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, David City, NE

I realized that we were fairly close to one of my favorite churches and asked if we could go find it. I knew that I had the address of the church somewhere but couldn’t find it. As we turned around (again) to go ask at a vet’s office we found the following sign. Tommy got out and asked the vet if he knew where the church was. He knew exactly as some of his wife’s family had been members there.

We wound up staying at the Best Western in Yankton, SD. We arrived at the hotel at 6:40 PM.

1244 miles driven

2018 Harvest Road Trip – Day 1

Thursday, September 27

Since our long road trip was in August, we didn’t see any harvesting. So we thought what the heck, we’ll hit the road again.

We left home at 5:45 AM–it was 71 degrees. We had already made reservations at the Drury Inn in St. Joe so I knew it would be a long, boring drive on our first day out. We stopped, as usual, at the McDonald’s in Cartersville at I75.

According to the radar, we would be going through rain. And we did.

Traffic was heavy in Chattanooga and it took us an hour to get through Nashville.

The rain continued on as we got to Illinois. We stopped at the first rest area and ate lunch. No sitting outside for a picnic though.

The bridge across the Ohio River from Kentucky into Illinois.

We got to the Drury Inn at 7:20 PM. Dinner was from Bandanas BBQ. Yum

840 miles driven

September 22, 2018

It took us a few days to rest up after our road trip. Then we headed for Balsam Grove for a few days. When we got back home we had to get ready for Miss B and her mom to visit for a few days.

But first, a photo from the backyard. What a cool looking moth!

The girls arrived Thursday night. Friday afternoon we drove up to Rome. Darlington was hosting a 20 year reunion for the players/cheerleaders/parents of the undefeated, State champion football team from Amanda’s senior year.

Amanda and one of her best friends from high school, Hank Johnson.

2018 Road Trip – Day 26

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

We left the hotel at 7:50 AM and it was 80 degrees and clear. We stopped in Eddyville, KY, at the house of a high school friend and her husband–Kay and Darryl Armstrong. They served us a wonderful breakfast!

We finally got home to Roswell at 4:45 PM.
7116 miles driven
2600+ photos taken

It truly was a wonderful trip. One of the best things about it was not having a plan we had to stick to…but seeing Miss B and her mom and dad was just as good!

 

2018 Road Trip – Day 25

Monday, August 27, 2018

As we were getting ready to leave the hotel, the front desk called to say they were having water problems and would be turning off the water shortly. Luckily, we were almost ready. We brushed our teeth and left. It was 9:30 AM and 80 degrees.

We went through Hermann, MO, which was a charming little town.

Not far down the road, in Owensboro, we found two barns:

In Potosi we found a really old church with a cool looking steeple.

And another church.

When we got to Ironton, we found this church which I think might be one of the prettiest little churches I’ve ever seen.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Ironton, MO

A courthouse and a church in Fredericton.


St. Michael Catholic Church

We didn’t stop anywhere for lunch so when we saw this ice cream shop we stopped. I got a hot fudge sundae. The thing was huge, but unfortunately, it wasn’t very good.

We found two more barns and then drove into Cairo. There are some beautiful homes and buildings in Cairo but the place looks like a ghost town.

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Cairo, IL

We got to the Drury Inn in Paducah at 6:00 PM. It was 94 degrees–yuck! This was our last night on the road.

6740 miles driven

2018 Road Trip – Day 24

Sunday, August 26

It was time to leave Laramie but I really, really didn’t want to go home. We left the kids at 8:30 AM and it was 54 degrees with some clouds. We got to Nebraska at 9:50 AM. I80 was under construction–still? again? It was one lane each way for a long while. We got to Iowa at 4:15 PM. The Missouri River there was full. We saw some eagles on trees in the area just east of the river. We had not seen any in that area since the big flood in 2011.

Arrived at the Drury Inn in Columbia, MO, at 8:05 PM. Because the KFC was closed for remodeling, Tommy went next door to Denny’s and got us salads. Obviously Denny’s is not the place for salads.

I got one good photo from the day. It was taken between Laramie and Cheyenne. Such a cool looking cloud (this picture was shot at 75 MPH).

6402 miles driven

2018 Road Trip – Day 23

Saturday, August 25

We all jumped in the truck and went to the Snowies for a picnic lunch.

On the way out, Evan saw three moose. Of course we had to turn around to take pictures. :)

It was a bit chilly when we got to Mirror Lake so we didn’t stay long.

This place is perfectly beautiful!

On our way back to town I watched as the clouds kept building. It’s so cool to be able to see the rain clouds form. I love Wyoming skies!

When we got home, we had to pack and get ready to head home the next morning.

2018 Road Trip – Day 22

Friday, August 24

Another day, another drive.This time we drove to Vedauwoo. Such cool rock formations here. Unfortunately, when we got there and started to drive the dirt road it was way too rough. So we decided to go look for eagles again.

On the way out we drove up to Lake Owen and saw some more fire damage. While we were out, the skies turned from perfectly blue to smoky again.

The eagle and the crow. This photo makes me chuckle. :)