The Quad cities of Davenport and Bettendorf on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River and Rock Island and Moline on the Illinois side were as far away from home as we would to go on this trip. Though we weren’t planning to take the most direct route possible, from there on we’d be moving in a homeward direction. We didn’t get very far though! As soon as we got out on the interstate yesterday morning, it was obvious that we had a vehicle problem!

We’d actually been suspecting a problem for a couple of days. The check engine light had been on, then off, then on again and we’d started to notice an unfamiliar whine. Now we had no power! Believe me, it’s no fun crawling along a busy interstate at 40 or 50 miles per hour!

We managed to limp into the small town of Durant and find a garage. They were pretty sure we had a transmission problem which was also our greatest fear. After cooling off, the vehicle responded a little better and they recommended that we take it to the Chev dealership a little further down the highway at Iowa City. We had a little difficulty finding the place but once we did, we learned that though the transmission fluid needed to be flushed and replaced, the transmission itself was fine and the problem originated with the catalytic converter. It needed to be replaced.

The good news was that though the vehicle is no longer covered by warranty, the catalytic converter was! GM would pay for the replacement including installation! The bad news was that there wasn’t one available anywhere in the state of Iowa! One would have to be brought in from out of state. They could have one there by this morning but we’d have to pick up the cost of shipping. And, of course, we’d have to find a place to spend the night!

The dealership recommended the Heartland Inn and after phoning around, I discovered that they did indeed offer the best deal. We packed up the basics for an overnight stay, left the trailer in the secure lot at the dealership and were delivered to our hotel by the dealership shuttle. They were definitely doing their best to take good care of us!

Since we were without a vehicle and there didn’t seem to be much of interest within walking distance, we spent the remainder of the day hanging out at the hotel. The fact that it had a nice pool helped a lot! The shuttle picked us up shortly before noon today and 25 hours after pulling in, we were on our way again.

Yesterday, when I was beginning to stress out over what might be wrong with the vehicle and how we were going to cope with this unexpected setback, Richard reminded me that simply having a vehicle at all, not to mention a trailer to pull behind it and the opportunity to enjoy holidays like this one, puts us amongst the world’s most privileged people. Wow! That really put things in perspective for me!

Our main reason for coming to the Kansas City area was to attend a two day cross cultural orientation event at MidAmerica Nazarene University in preparation for possible short term missions work with the Church of the Nazarene. It was both informative and inspiring. The last question we were asked to discuss was “What’s next for you?” At this point, we’re not sure. We’ll simply continue to wait for direction. When the time comes, as I’m sure it probably will, that our skills match up with a need in the field, we’ll be ready to go.

Kansas City sits on the border between Kansas and Missouri. This morning we crossed the state line and spent most of the day on the Missouri side. We began by worshipping at Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene and then made our way to Country Club Plaza, considered by many to be the city’s crown jewel. Spanish inspired architecture, statues, tile mosaics and sparkling fountains make this 14-square-block shopping and dining district a perfect place for a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Kansas is known as the City of Fountains. There are over 200 of these public works of art in various locations around the city. We saw several of them in the Plaza area as well as one in front of Union Station, the second largest working train station in the US after Grand Central Station in New York. Built in 1914, it quickly became one of the city’s most prominent landmarks. Today, it houses a science centre, theatres, restaurants and a model railway display that would thrill some of the men in my family!

Bloch Fountain at Union Station

On the way back to the campground, after crossing the border back into Kansas, we stopped for a few groceries. I also decided to check out the shoe store that’s just down the mall from the grocery store and guess what I found? Red shoes! Super comfortable, I love them totally, red shoes! What could be more appropriate than buying red shoes in Kansas? Even better, not only were they on sale but the store was having a buy one pair, get the second pair half price sale so I also bought the same shoes in black!

Over the past two days, we made our way across the breadth of Kansas on the I-70, the interstate that’s also known as the Main Street of Kansas or America’s Main Street. Along the way, almost every little town or city has its claim to fame, some because of interesting landmarks, others for political or historical reasons.

Abilene was the childhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Russell, where we camped last night, was the birthplace of 1996 presidential candidate, Bob Dole. Lawrence was founded as an abolitionist settlement in 1854 and nearby Lecompton is known as “The Birthplace of the Civil War Where Slavery Began to Die”. Though we read about each as we passed by, we didn’t stop at most of them. We did, however, stop to look at the 24 foot by 32 foot reproduction of one of Vincent Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings that sits on an easel almost 80 feet high in Goodland, one of the nation’s top sunflower producers. We also stopped at Oakley and ate our lunch at the foot of a larger than life statue of Buffalo Bill Cody or “Cousin Bill” as we fondly refer to him since Richard is a direct descendant of his aunt! Apparently the Buffalo Bill legend began just a few miles from Oakley when Bill, at that time a buffalo hunter supplying meat to the construction crews working on the Pacific Railroad, won a contest with fellow hunter, William Comstock, to see which of the two Bills could kill the most buffalo in an eight hour period.

In many ways, Kansas reminds us of southern Alberta with it’s wide open fields and big sky. It’s much hotter though and at the moment, at least, much more humid. The thermometer reached 40C (104F) yesterday and a heavy rainstorm last night left today very muggy. In fact, it feels much like a summer day in Japan complete with the whine of cicadas, a sound we haven’t heard since our summer there! I have a much better internet connection sitting outside under the awning but I actually have to go inside the air conditioned trailer once in awhile to cool off! Another indication of the difference in climate between Alberta and Kansas is the fact that we saw combines at work in the fields and it’s only the middle of July!

We’re now comfortably settled in a campground on the outskirts of Kansas City and ready to attend a two day cross cultural orientation event at MidAmerica Nazarene University in preparation for possible short term missions work with the Church of the Nazarene. I think the Lord must have saved this spot just for us! The campground, which is located about 15 minutes from the MNU campus, is very much a city parking lot type but we have the end site at the back of the campground next to the dog run. Instead of looking out on another trailer 6 or 8 feet away, we look out on a lovely little wooded area & are shaded by a grove of big trees. Apparently the campground stays very full & they recommend reserving well in advance but I called yesterday morning and this was one of only two spots that were still available!

It wasn’t a hike but we spent several hours walking today! From store to store we went searching out bargains. We love American factory outlet malls and made sure to include a huge one located at Castle Rock, between Denver and Colorado Springs, in our travel plans.

The recent recession has hit the United States hard and that was never more obvious to us than today. The Castle Rock Outlet Mall has space for approximately 115 retail outlets but about half of them sit vacant! For whatever reason, it seems that clothing outlets have fared best and we visited many of them today. I have no idea how many garments I tried on! It would have been very easy to get carried away and buy more than we needed but we managed not to. We did come away with some wonderful bargains though. I bought two pairs of capri pants at Gap for less than $12 each. Richard and I bought four items at Izod for a total of less than $60. Any one of those items might have cost that much at Golf Town or in our golf club pro shop.

In addition to clothing shops, we also visited several shoe stores and Richard found a good buy on running shoes. I, however, did not find what I’ve been looking for for the past few months. Red shoes! I’m not sure why but I really want a pair of red shoes! Since I started looking, I’ve seen several pairs I liked. Unfortunately, they’ve always been on someone else’s feet. Tomorrow I’m going to Kansas; Wizard of Oz country. I really should have had red shoes.

I love the colours of Moab. Interestingly, they’re the same colours that enthralled me on PEI last summer but the landscape is entirely different. Unlike the serene fields and seascapes of Canada’s smallest province, here in southeastern Utah we’re surrounded by rugged red canyons and amazing rock formations.

This is high desert country; hot and dry but absolutely gorgeous! Apparently May and October are considered the best months for strenuous activities like hiking but we’re busy farming at that time of year so here we are in the mid summer heat! Clearly, we’re not the only ones though as we’ve seen a plethora of license plates from all across the nation and heard many different languages spoken along the trail.

Double Arch, our favourite of many

Morning is the coolest time of day so the alarm clock has been ringing very early most days. By about 8 o’clock on Wednesday, our first morning here, we were at the Devil’s Garden Trailhead deep in Arches National Park ready to begin our longest trek. We hiked about 11 km of moderately strenuous trail that day and saw many amazing arches. The next day, wanting to rest our weary legs but do enough hiking to stretch out tight muscles, we headed into Canyonlands National Park where many of the sights could be seen from viewpoints along the road. Short hikes gave us views of Mesa Arch and Upheaval Dome which is not a dome at all but a 1500 foot deep crater of unknown origin.

Upheaval Dome

Friday morning found us playing 18 holes on the beautiful Moab Golf Course. How they manage to have grass that is greener and lusher than ours back home and greens that are impeccable and lightning fast in the middle of the desert, I do not know! Later in the day, we enjoyed a scenic drive along the Colorado River. It’s easy to see why many movies, especially westerns, as well as advertisements and fashion shoots have been filmed in that area.

Delicate Arch

By yesterday our legs were ready for some serious hiking again so it was back to Arches National Park for an early morning hike to Delicate Arch, the only part of this entire week that was a repeat performance for us. About 15 years ago, while traveling with our kids, we stopped in passing and did the same hike. On that occasion, we hiked during the midday heat and I wore sandals because I was nursing a broken toe. In spite of that, the 480 foot gain in elevation seemed a little more daunting yesterday. Must be an age factor, I guess!

Today has been more restful. After sleeping a bit later this morning, we attended a local Baptist church then drove around the area looking at some of the numerous examples of prehistoric Indian art carved into sandstone walls. Though it was tempting to reach out touch them, putting my hands where the hands of ancient artists had once been, I didn’t. These are fragile remnants of the past and even the oils of a single handprint can chemically affect the rock surface. We were alarmed to see how much vandalism some of the sites have suffered. What kind of idiot carves his or her name into or takes shots at something like that?

Tomorrow morning we’ll say a reluctant good bye to Moab’s beauty and head eastward through Colorado. We won’t be doing a lot except passing through that state as we’ve seen much of it before but I am looking forward to stopping at one or two of the huge factory outlet malls!

Though I have a hard time believing it myself, I graduated from high school 40 years ago! Because my family left Vancouver just before my final year, however, I didn’t have the opportunity to graduate with my classmates and I’ve never attended a class reunion. The past few days have been a wonderful mini reunion though.

Janis and I were best friends through our years at Argyle Secondary School and kept in touch for quite awhile afterward. Motherhood and the busyness of life took precedent over letter writing, however, and we eventually lost contact with one another. We reconnected a couple of times and last saw one another 17 years ago but once again, we lost touch with each other. Then came Facebook! We found one another again a couple of years ago while I was living in Japan and began reading one another’s blogs and catching up.

Richard and I spent the past few days visiting Janis at her home in Clearfield, Utah. It was a wonderful time of sharing memories and getting to know many of her seven children and fourteen grandchildren. How amazing it was for her and I to find that we could simply pick up our friendship where we left off so many years ago!

Clearfield celebrated the 4th of July on Saturday. On Friday evening, we went with Janis to stake out a spot for the following day’s parade by laying out quilts on the sidewalk. A local tradition, many others had done the same thing leaving blankets or lawn chairs to hold their places! We started the following day at a pancake breakfast put on by the local Boy Scouts and then went to watch the parade. Sure enough, our quilts were exactly where we’d left them! Afterward, we packed a picnic lunch and went with Janis to tour Antelope Island, the largest of 10 islands in Great Salt Lake. A fairly barren place, it is connected to the mainland by a causeway and is now a state park and home to antelope and buffalo. We especially enjoyed touring Fielding Barr Ranch which was a working ranch from 1848 to 1981. Later, several of Janis’ children and grandchildren joined us for a barbeque supper before we all went to watch the community fireworks display which was quite spectacular.

Sunday was a quieter day with church and lots of visiting as well as more fireworks in the evening with Janis’ daughter, Emma, and her family.

With Janis as our guide, we spent most of yesterday touring 30 acre Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. We learned a lot about the history and the beliefs of the Mormon people who first settled the valley in 1847 after fleeing persecution in other parts of the nation. Most of the family gathered for another barbeque last evening and it was then that I had opportunity to spend a little while with my two namesakes, Janis’ daughter Rebekah Elaine and Bekah’s daughter, 10 year old Hailey Elaine!

Saying good bye was difficult but Janis and I have vowed to keep in touch and not to let another 17 years go by before we see one another again!

We left home on Wednesday morning and headed south. After crossing the wide open spaces of southern Alberta and northern Montana, we followed the Missouri River for awhile and drove through beautiful green mountains. Sometimes it’s the unexpected surprises that make traveling so much fun though.

Yesterday morning, we stopped at a rest area near Blackfoot, Idaho so that Richard could change into shorts and I could refill my water bottle. We ended up taking an easy interpretive walk through a high desert area known as Hells Half Acre. Thousands of years ago, molten lava seeped through fissures in the ground, hardened and created a rugged and fascinating landscape. Over the years, junipers, sagebrush and prickly pear cactus have taken hold in the thin patches of soil in the clefts between the rock. The cactus were in full bloom; something neither of us had ever seen before.