Iowa to Kansas; Cities and States

It was a perfect day to get back on the road.  This morning we said our goodbyes to Lindsey and the girls - Mark had already gone off to the hospital before we woke up - and left Iowa City for Kansas City.  We had a great time with the Krohe's for the past few days.  Their daughter P is a charmer and entertained us endlessly and Mark and Lindsey both cook up some delicious dinners!

Baby P

We set off around 10am, loaded a full tank and set off for the 5-6 hour drive.  The sun was shining as we headed down 80 (yaaawwnn).  It was beautiful on 35 south headed toward KC - long, rolling hills with cattle roaming.  We saw a couple of guys riding horseback on a ranch and made me wish we could get to the farm on Montana sooner.

A little after noon, we stopped off at a rest area for a lunch in the sunshine. We (finally) cut into the giant loaf of rye bread we were looking forward to and smothered it in peanut butter with little jelly packets we picked up at the Bob Evans in Springfield and crumbled gold fish, all served up on the roof of the camper.  First meal of many at a rest stop: success! 

We got to my friend Sheila's house just as she got home from work and let Boo, her dog Trixie and her boyfriend Glen's dog Josie run around the yard to stretch their legs. Sheila is a great friend I met while hiking the AT - she's an incredible adventurer! - and looked forward to a chance to spend some more time with her.  Her trail name was N'da'Wind because she's a Harley driving woman.  She and Glen had a few errands to run so Dave and I popped a squat in the backyard to read our books and enjoy the rest of the sunshine.

Sheila's Backyard

All four of us had dinner at a great Mexican place nearby with killer margaritas (top shelf!) and stuffed ourselves silly. It was great.

We wrapped up the night with a perfect campfire under the stars and a bright moon.  First campfire of 2011! It's supposed to be a Super Moon this week with the brightest full moon in 20 years.  I'm hoping for a clear night.

Now we're back to sleeping inside in Sheila's guest bedroom tonight.  The van is surprisingly comfy but it's been brisk so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

No agenda yet for tomorrow.  Sheila doesn't have to work and offered to take us hiking on a great trail that she used to train for the AT.  She said it'll kick our asses so I'm looking forward to it.