Day 5 - The Clouds

Day 5 Captain's Log

A young teenager, laying on his back next to a vineyard on a hill overlooking Lake Erie was watching the clouds roll by, thoroughly enjoying the moment. His motorcycle parked right next to him still creaking and popping as it cooled off from the ride. That motorcycle represents freedom and the smell of the grapes growing on the vine is sweet; the clouds rolling overhead are awe inspiring. Watching them roll along the boy wonders about many things - nature, flying and heaven.

What will heaven be like? He wonders. The setting is so peaceful and brings a sense of wonder to his spirit with a realization that God has put all this in place for his glory and for our pleasure. Wow!

That moment in time was many, many years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. It was one of those moments when all of nature comes together so God can speak to you because you just happen to be listening for a change.

I was reminded of that experience as we were tooling along today and the clouds kept rolling by overhead all day long. Some were thick and heavy with rain and others were light and fluffy while others still were gilded with sparkling rays of sunlight!

We left Lawrence, Kansas and hopscotched our way through a few sightseeing spots that were off of the beaten path. As we were leaving Topeka and cresting one of the rises in the road, it was as if the entire landscape had been transformed. The trees were far more sparse and the terrain had become much flatter. A few more miles down the road and we entered the Flint Hills that are unique in their own way. There are hardly any trees and prairie grass in all directions with no farming at all.

From Salina we turned north, heading for a national wonder - that's right, a national wonder in Kansas! [More on that in a moment] But while we were traveling north, the landscape continued to get flatter and flatter so I stopped to take some pictures out of amazement that God seemed to have found a way to use an iron on this part of the globe.

As I was taking those pictures, my phone rings and it is Jackie! What timing. It must have been God's timing because 5 minutes earlier or later and would have been back on the road and would not have heard it, then she would have been at work and we wouldn't have been able to talk to her! Anyway, as it turns out, she had some bad news for us - my Aunt June had passed away in her sleep last night. She was an incredibly faithful woman and was always willing to serve the Lord however she could.

Aunt June, you will be greatly missed but I know that you are rejoicing with the Lord right now because you have been waiting your whole life for this very moment!

So I handed the phone to Dawn and couldn't help but be taken back by the contrasts - the weather was peaceful yet unstable, the land was a huge expanse of fields and pasture yet seemed so small in comparison to heaven, and there was Dawn all bundled up in Kansas during mid June! Crazy.

Continuing on our journey, because I know that Aunt June would have wanted me to do that, we reset our sights on that national wonder - you guessed it - the world's largest ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas! The town was tiny and we missed the main attraction, but on our second pass, there it was, big as life! This one's for you Ellen!

Next, we traveled just over an hour to a place called The Garden of Eden. You can check out the website - just google it for some history. It was really interesting to learn some of the history of the place, but in a nutshell, the owner build the house and grounds out of sandstone and concrete. Like, the trees and decorations around the house were all concrete and the statues were all representations of his faith and philosophies.

After that stop, it was off to our final destination for the day, Dodge City, Kansas. Along the way I couldn't help but be amazed that the ground became flatter than any we had seen before. This panoramic was taken on Rt 163, south of Rush Center, Kansas. We could not get over the expanse of it and marveled that farmers would harvest these areas. It must take them weeks to harvest some of these fields! I don't know that for sure, but Will or Ellen, you guys might have some insight on that.

We got into Dodge City and checked our odometer - 463 miles on the day! Which brings our trip total to 1486 miles so far. Not bad, eh? The bike makes all the difference.

Tomorrow the Great Adventure continues as we are hoping to get into Taos, New Mexico, but with the weather around here being pretty volatile and unpredictable, so we will see. Of course, the volatility of the weather is what creates such beautiful "skyscapes" - the clouds were wonderful all day... I wonder what they look like from Aunt June's perspective?