THE SHOW ME AND SUNFLOWER STATE

We are feeling just a little bit sore today, but actually we are surprisingly JUST FINE!

Before we left Illinois, we stopped in Springfield at the Abraham Lincoln Home and Tomb. The home was so meaningful for me. It was in this very house that Lincoln lost a child, was asked by the Republican Party to run for President, was nominated(no candidates attended the conventions then), won the election, and waited until March in this houseto become President during which time 6 states left the union! Just think of all the emotions

Missouri is a beautiful state. We were SO GLAD to see the St Louis arch after being lost for a while in East St Louis searching for the elusive Chain of Rocks Bridge. The thing we have discovered is, finding the correct allignment of the old 66 can be really time consuming and a teensy bit frustrating to be lost so often!. Larry promises it won't be like this farther west.

Larry drove 350 miles today through Missouri, and Kansas. Beautiful rolling hills covered with forests in Missouri's Ozarks. We stopped at the Civil War Battle of Wilson's Creek. I was surprised to learn it was the second battle in the CW and the North turned and ran from this one too. The ranger was explaining how the North claims a victory because they wouldn't have run if they hadn't run out of ammo!!! WHERE IS THE NO SPIN ZONE??

We went down to Devils Elbow, a bend in the Big Piney River. Just beautiful! We had stopped earlier at the famous Arison Cafe and had THE MOST FABULOUS desserts for lunch....neither of us ever got hungry for dinner. We saw a gazillion billboards and barns advertising Meramec Caverns. Kinda like a "See Rock City" thing...but when we got to their exit, they were closed!!

I have to admit I have an appreciation for clever business names. Today we saw a Chinese restaurant WOK AND ROLL!!!

We drove through a little corner of Kansas with a string of little mining towns that were like going back in time 100 years. We did find the Rainbow Bridge that everyone signs and added our names. The countryside is beautiful and GREEN! No wonder Dorothy wanted to come home!