Blogs from Kansas, United States, North America - page 7

We've had a couple of days with spotty internet connections and a lot of traveling since leaving Kansas City, Missouri on Tuesday, including driving almost entirely across the great state of Kansas on our way to our first truly Western stop in weeks - Colorado. Kansas was very flat (no duh!) with wide open stretches of highway in between small, small towns. Jim had perfectly planned out this leg of the trip, taking into consideration the fact that there is very little out there on the open road. In fact, the state of Kansas capitalizes on this with a strange toll system - you take a ticket as the start of the highway and then have to pay a sliding scale toll when you exit. The longer you are on the highway, the higher your toll. ... read more

Hello, We've been on the road away from the RV for 5 weeks, so it's been hard to find time to write. Here's a review of our first three weeks in KC. A Summer Wedding We went back to KC for my brother Mark's wedding. He's been dating Cristie for 5 years and she already seemed like part of the family to me. She has a great disposition and knows how to have fun. She pulled off her signature move at the glow ball tournament by running around the green of the hole while a roman candle blasts into the air. Cristie grew up at the Lake of the Forest and knows everybody there. So the wedding was no small shindig. Everyone from the lake showed up as well as Mark's family and friends. From the ... read more

What I've enjoyed most about blogging while in Peru is that it's allowed me to tell stories of people I've met, people I've observed, and people I've come to admire greatly. Tonight, however, I have a very personal story about someone far away in Kansas. On Saturday afternoon I received a voicemail from my brother that my dad had a stroke. That's not a fun message to hear when you're 3,600 miles from someone that you love dearly, especially if you're in a taxi...stuck in traffic...unable to call anyone. For 20 minutes I was left alone with my overactive imagination as I desperately prayed. Just as the taxi pulled up to my house, my sister-in-law called and filled me in on the news, in the calm way that she handles everything. She told me that dad ... read more

This morning Mike helped Shelby repair his rock guard that decided to come loose from one side coming around St. Louis during rush hour the day before. It was great to have a place that had everything needed and Mike there to take charge of the task of replacing the rockguard. Later that day we were invited to join in a family pool party and cookout at Rhonda's cousins house. Gary and Sherry have a beautiful place about a mile down the road from Rhonda and Mike. They have a definite country/western decorating style that impressed us all. We loved the out buildings, and the pool cabana that they designed and built themselves. Gary hardly had time to enjoy the day as you will see when I list the food he prepared for the cookout. ... read more