It seemed like forever until we crossed the line into Missouri. The flat land of Kansas didn't give us much to see, other than fields of corn and such. I did finally realize why there are circles in the fields when you fly over. I had always wondered why that was, and seeing the way they water the crops, now I know. These really long watering systems pivot on a stationary point and circle around the field. Being from Tennessee, I never had seen these sorts of things. I guess out there the need is greater for water and these things are necessary. Every field we passed, and there was TONS, had these things.
I didn't take many pictures, simply because I don't know how many photos of the plains would be too many. I mean this went on from Pueblo, CO to Kansas City! Once you cross the Rocky Mountains, the land is so flat that you can see for miles and miles. The people were great, we stopped in a few little towns to gas up and have lunch, and seeing a man in the Subway with a cowboy hat, wranglers, boots and spurs just isn't your everyday sight here in Tennessee. Sure, we have wanna be cowboys, but seriously, we were looking to see if we could find where he tied up the horse, because there weren't any other cars in the lot!
The local law enforcement officers were also a hoot. Seeing them in their cut off t-shirts, and their wranglers and boots was a real sight to see as well. You just knew that they didn't have a whole lot to keep them busy, really. We saw them chatting it up with the locals at the gas station and acting silly while pulling out of the diner in town. You gotta love the small town feel.
Once we crossed into Missouri, we started to once again see trees. Not as many as we have here at home, but at least there were curves in the roads and something other than farmland to look at. Tony decided to take another side trip and swing through the small town of Knob Noster, MO. This is the home of Whiteman AFB, another place he was stationed. Although it had been nearly 30 years since he was here, the town hadn't changed all that much, it had grown a little, but the places he remembered were still there. Unlike in Colorado, Whiteman wanted us to go get passes for those without Military ID's, so instead of doing that, we just turned around and settled on the look from the other side of the gatehouse instead of driving around the base. This was only a side trip, and we had all been in the car long enough for the day, so we headed on to Columbia.
Once we got to the hotel in Columbia, we were thrilled with our choice of the final hotel of the trip. It is called Stoney Creek Inn and it was decorated like a lodge with moose and deer everywhere. We had one of the Expanded Queen rooms, which was a little bigger than your normal room. They also had a really cool pool area, with an indoor/outdoor pool with a swim through as well as a Sauna and a Hot tub. Before we could get settled in and let Jon swim, we called up my cousin Craig to meet up for dinner. He came and picked us up and took us to a nice italian place. It was nice to catch up with him, as we haven't seen him since Dad passed away. Dinner was nice and we were joined a little later by his wife Jenny who had been on a bike ride.
After dinner we went back to the hotel to take advantage of the pool area. Jon had a great time and Mom swam with him. We finished the night off by going to the little gift shop and picking up a new board game called Road Trip. We all played a couple of rounds and had a good time before going to bed to get ready for our last day of driving. What a nice way to finish off our trip with such a nice place!
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