Day 1 - Westward Ho(hum)!

Well, after many misstarts, we are off! As many of you know, our Western trip was first postponed by Bill's bike trip across country, then by his biking accident on the Blue Ridge Parkway and subsequent surgery, then by Pocket's illness. But I think it was fortuitous that there were interruptions. Had we gone in Spring as planned, we may have found our way blocked by snowed in mountain passes we learned are often not clear till late May. We should be fine in that regard in late summer. Also, our trip started out one day after our 44th wedding anniversary. I think that was a good omen!!?? We'll see if we make 45 after a month to a month and a half on the road together!

We began our trip West by attending my niece, Holly's wedding in Indiana. What a beautiful affair. The ceremony was beautiful, the cake was beautiful, and the bride was beautiful. But most beautiful of all was the love that was so apparent between Holly and Billy. May their huge happiness increase as the years pass!

Today we set out for St. Louis. Coming into St. Louis, the weather was windy, cloudy, and rainy. Bill "photographed" the arch from Malcolm W Martin Memorial Park in East St. Louis located directly across the Mississippi River from the arch. I "snapshot" the arch. We spent about an hour there, then headed for St. Joseph, Missouri. That's where the hum comes in -- we travelled I70, Hwy 63, and Hwy 36. Those byways were virtually lined with cornfields. Having grown up in Indiana and lived all most of our adult lives in Ohio, we felt right at home. Our conversations consisted of, "Nice corn," "Look at those beautiful golden soybeans," "Was that sorghum or more corn?" I can blame those boring corn fields for my snoring half way through MO.

But seriously, we had a very nice, leisurely day. Tomorrow we are headed for the Bad Lands and Black Hills of South Dakota. Lots of photo ops. Signing off till tomorrow, the Second Honeymooners!