Day 4 - Destination: Kansas City

(... the Kansas side)

This was our shortest driving day, so we woke up, made coffee (are you seeing a pattern?) and said our goodbyes to Jeff, Nanette and the kiddos. Lots of hugs. Goodbyes are sad, but not forever with these folks. And then we were "on the road again". Started off the listening pleasure with some good truth from the book of Galatians - very good for our souls - while once again driving in the wrong direction. Since (a bit of) the point of our trip is to drive the entire length of I-70, we had to go back and pick up the piece we had missed coming into town. While Susi drove, I snapped some pictures.
This one is in honor of the (umpteenth) anniversary of Jeff's proposal to Nanette. Fourth of July, revolving restaurant, fireworks in the background...very romantic. Congratulations, you kids!

The rest of Missouri was beautiful - lots of rivers, hills, farms, trees. Very peaceful. Aside from a few annoying drivers, who haven't learned the intricacies of the passing lane, it was great driving. Both Susi and I are delighting in seeing more of the country than we knew. It's a strange feeling of being simultaneously "a stranger in a strange land" and completely at home.

On Nanette's advice, we stopped in Columbia, MO, where Susi's parents did ministry for a number of years before she was born. We were looking for "The Cool Cafe" based on a road sponsership sign we saw, and as we turned on the main drag, we saw this:

I know we usually call her "Hot Stuff", but I think this works, too. Totally chill store (great tunes!) and the help was able to point us in the direction of the local hip coffee joints.



Excerpt from Susi's travel journal (shown to the left):

It feels so good to hit the open road again...Hungry for Bum, for the wind in my hair, unconscientious cigarettes and good music. Freedom. No contraints but the speed limit and our wills.

We are sitting in a little coffee house called Lakota in downtown Columbia, MO. Mom & Dad's old stomping grounds. This cafe feels like the college town that Columbia is.

Brick walls, local artwork, good quiet music (boy & his guitar genre) strumming in the background, rustic wood chairs and tables, internet hookups, and college kids...

There's a good mix of non-college locals here as well. A man, about 60 or so, with a huge white beard is lounging at the bar with his granddaughter. I hope.