Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Topeka West

... an armadillo, eager to explain how he had buried himself in some mulch and foliage in the corner. From the top of the stairs I could see a small, deer-like creature huddled behind the plants, yet unrestrained. I wouldn't have known of it's presence had I not spied it from above.

From here we came across a shy porcupine and two bald eagles who had been rescued but are unable to fly. Their keeper explained that if we saw them try to fly and sink like a stone, that they were ...

... over 4,000 feet today the landscape was rolling and I think we will be having a lot more of that to come. The weather cooperated with a quartering tail wind and rode solo. It was neat traveling through the small towns and looking at the holiday decorations and at the second SAG today it looked like the entire town was out on the village lawn having a picinic!

A short driving day today - about 3 1/2 hours, to Perry, which is just west of Topeka. Sherry and Joe, old friends of Greg's from 20-some years ago when he worked in Custer, South Dakota, had asked that we stop for a visit on our way past, and we are SO glad we did, because we had a wonderful afternoon and evening with them. We parked the motorhome in Slough Creek Park, next to Lake Perry, and they came to see the "house ...

Daniel here again. Today was a long hard ride. We did about 300 miles again today. Winds probably 20 miles per hour right in our faces most of the day. Blasts of crosswinds that almost kicks you off the road. Whoever called Chicago the windy city never rode a motorcycle across Kansas. The good news is that we didn't get rained on today. Yea! We did see farms of windmills. Hundreds of them ...

We left Mount Vernon Illinois this morning and found the Old Route 66 Bridge going from Illinois to Missouri.  As you can see Bill wasn't sure which way to go he was between states. We walked 3/4 of the way across and I took these pictures of the water flowing across the rocks which I guess this is where the name Chain of Rocks Bridge.  The rest of the day was spent just driving from one city to another Kansas City Missouri then Kansas City Kansas.  So far the ...

... Nebraska today.. its pretty awesome. We were going to stay the night in Nebraska, Lincoln to be exact. But instead, we drove to Iowa [just to add it to our list of states; we're at 8 total now.], then down to Missouri, then back to Nebraska, and finally to Kansas. Almost right after we entered Kansas, we saw lightening bugs, so we stop for about 10 minutes to get out, stretch, and enjoy the view. So many pretty buggies... and tons of gorgeous stars too ...

... there about 1300 mountain time. For the next several hours, there is absolutely nothing but long roads flat lands.... Cows and plenty of farms. Once I hit Kansas... yeah more of the same thing. There were some rather interesting billboards on the side of the road... such as ABORTION KILLS, JESUS SAVES, and the ever-popular JESUS IS REAL. My favorite was a billboard stating a farm had ...

... Did I mention that Linda Vaughn (Miss Hurst Shifter) was in the GM Performance booth the past two days? Looks like she went home today. Right now there's a bunch of people sitting along the major roadway outside the hotel with a sign that says "smoke em if you got em" Dave's filming, but there's not too much to see - yet. Off to Lincoln, NE tomorrow, hoping the dry weather holds out for us. I've got some editing to do, Good Night! Amy

OK. Almost 10pm and our flight leaves in 13.5 hours and finally almost everything is done so I can start packing. There's always so much to do at work and at home to get ready to be gone for 2.5 weeks. But why should I complain?! We're going to Italy!

With boxes marked for Antwerp, the family moved to Topeka. I returned 2 weeks early. What an adjustment. Didn't really make it. Did play soccer, but the climate was so different. School was not happy. Not a happy year, really. Worked at Chick-Fil-A, where I became the Chick-Fil-A boy to at least one group of girls. It is kind of fun to meet your fan club...but we'll do topeka on another trip, now.