Day 56: Into the Southwest...

Greetings from Flagstaff, AZ...


We left Texas this very beautiful morning and headed west...









A few miles down the road we drove past one of the most incredible sites we have ever seen...









Look closely... those are thousands of head of cattle in a huge feed lot... I got out of the car to take these photos and the odor just about took my head off! But it was still amazing to see that much livestock in one place!









Not long after, we entered New Mexico...









One of our first stops was a rest area... yes, that is an electronic polling station on the side of the restroom...









Next, Deb saw this motel that she wanted to take pictures of because of the doors...









Then came the beautiful geology along I-40... Table Rock...









This formation is called Church Rock...









Then we entered Arizona...









These formations were actually next to the rest area/visitor information area...














And much to Deb's pleasure (not!) this sign was also in the rest area...

I love it here... it feels like home to me. In fact, as we sat for dinner tonight, we both had the same feeling at the same time... it is hard to explain, but you could feel a difference, a familiarity that we liked... I think we could do this (if there just wasn't snakes and poisonous critters, says Deb).

Tomorrow morning, we are going to back-track about 30 miles to see Meteor Crater National Monument, something I have always wanted to see... then it is on to the Grand Canyon and finally Zion National Park for an evening photo shoot.

If you haven't heard, Laura (Cuff) Hansen's baby is due now, and it is believed that she and her husband Spencer have lost their home in the California fires... please keep them in your prayers!

God bless America and each of you!

Scotty

Day 53, 54, and 55: "Kyinilmokantexhoma" and "The Land of Oz"

I will finally sleep in Texas for the first time in 50 years... Greetings from Dalhart, TX...


Day 53: We spent the day in "Loovul" touring the "Louisville Slugger" factory and museum...













In the museum is this bat used by "Babe" and notched for each homer that was hit until it broke...










A rack of bats waiting for the logo to be burned in...











A bat signature of Vance Law (Jaysons buddy and coach for BYU) and the year he signed with H&B to supply his bats...










A short, bald, and slightly handicapped guy standing next to a huge ball and glove carved from a single piece of limestone (notice the cane that Deb bought me)...









Then we went to Churchill Downs, home of The Kentucky Derby, where Deb got this photo of the track...










Then it was through Indiana and back to Belleville, Illinois to spend the night at Frank and Kathy's home again...









Day 54: This morning we got up to a very nice breakfast prepared by Kathy before we went across the street to the lake to watch Frank fish with Josie and Trevor...

Trevor hooked a huge catfish but lost it while trying to land it...


Frank caught the same fish and then he lost it when it fell off his pliers as he tried to lift it out of the water... this shot catches the instant in time as it falls back into the lake...









Josie takes a walk with her great-aunt Deb...
























Before we left, I took a picture of Josie, Trevor, and Logan...











and Kathy and Josie...












Then we headed through St Louis again...











as we started through Missouri on our journey home...











We stopped in Independence, MO to visit the church history site of the future Temple to be built in Zion...










Across the street is the world headquarters and "Temple" of the Community of Christ Church formerly the Reorganized Latter-day Saints started by Joseph Smith III after his father's martyrdom...






Then we travelled a few miles to Liberty, MO to visit the Liberty Jail Visitor Center where Joseph Smith, Jr. and five other brethern was imprisoned under false charges for six months before their release...






The conditions in this very small dungeon were unbearable but proved to be one of the most important times in the mens lives as the Prophet Joseph received the revelations recorded in the Doctrine & Covenants, Sections 121-123...





Then we had a decision to make... Go north or go south? We called John and after checking the weather forecasts on the Internet, we decided to change our plans and head south to skirt the bottom of the blizzards heading across the northern plains and the Rockies...


So we drove until 0130 to reach Wichita, Kansas for the night....

Day 55: After a very restless night, I awoke to a morning with significantly less pain in my feet for the first time in a couple of weeks... During my visit to Liberty Jail last night, I had a personal revelation of sorts, and after a long conversation with Father last night, the prayers and blessings in my behalf took affect and I awoke much improved... lessens learned.


We started down Highway 54 towards Albuquerque, NM... along the way we took side trips to check out "off-beat attractions" in the GPS... the first was these "Hot and Cold" water towers in Pratt, MO...












Then we wanted to go to Greenburg, MO to see the largest hand-dug well and a meteorite...










Site was supposed to be under the town water tower... but as we got closer to the town, we realized there was no water tower... (This monument placed just today gave us a clue to what happened to the water tower...)












In fact there was essentially no town... It had been wiped off the map in May of this year by category F5 tornado that cut a path one-mile wide directly through the small town... This photo was taken two days after the tornado (click for Hi-Res version)...

It looked like a giant lawnmower had been set at a height of 10 feet before mowing down the trees and buildings... Locals say the trees were sandblasted bare and the foilage you see here is a rebirth of the trees since last May...


This building has not yet been cleared... notice the twisted steel I-Beams... This was one of the most eerie thins I have ever witnessed and just intensifies my feelings about tornadoes!








This has to be the flattest country I have ever seen... this was the scene in ALL directions...










Then we visited one of the hide-outs of the famous Dalton Gang... This is the house of their sister and has a tunnel thought to be used to allow them to escape the law through the nearby barn...









Self explanatory... go figure! (No place to hide!)











In Liberal, KS we found the "Land Of Oz" and at the end of Yellow Brick Road...










We found Dorothy Gale's home...











Then we "blew" through Oklahoma... the weather turned darker and the temp began to drop (When we left Kansas this morning it was 71 degrees and clear)...









Then we finally reached Texas...











Shortly after, it started raining and the wind started blowing and the temp dropped to the mid 30's... Perfect! (Only the third day of rain that we have seen in our 55-day journey).


Tomorrow, we will head through, NM and plan to be in Flagstaff, AZ tomorrow night (or someplace near).



Thanks again for the prayers... We love you guys and miss all y'all!



Scotty

Day 55: Travel Note...

Greetings from Wichita, KS...

I only have time to give a quick update of what we have been doing and our changed travel plans...

Friday we spent the day in Louisville, KY and then travelled to Belleville, IL to spend the evening with Frank and Kathy. We took this route because our plans were to take a route back to Utah through Lincoln, NE and Cheyenne, WY...

However, by the time we got across Missouri yesterday, the weather reports of the snow storms blowing across the plains and the Rockies changed our itinerary...

After checking with our flight controller, (Deb's brother, John), we decided to change course...

After visiting some church history sites in Independence, MO and Liberty, MO, we turned SW and drove until 0130 to reach Wichita early this morning.

Today, we are going to cut diagonally across the corner of OK and TX in an attempt to reach Albuquerque, NM... I don't think we will get that far but that is our heading (down Highway 54).

If we get somewhere at a decent hour tonight, I will catch up the blog for the last three days (photos and all).

PS... Keep the prayers coming... my foot is starting to feel a little better!!!!!

Scotty.