The longest day...oh, I mean, day 4....

On the road again.... really, I can wait to get on the road again....

Off we went into more South Dakota- rolling hills of grain and all that jazz. We had passed 'next to' the Badlands the night before, so the rest of our journey through South Dakota was pretty uneventful, except maybe for the exit sign that proclaimed that we could exit now and see the home of Laura Engalls-Wilder- tempting, but worth the time off the road? Not this trip. Although, it may be a way to persuade my LHP addicted friend to come out East to visit.

Into Missouri we went, skirting Nebraska the whole time; this aggrivated Emma to no end, as she is collecting pins from each state that we travel through. I told her 'next to' doesn't count. Bummer. We arrived in Platte City, over 450 miles from where we started. I pulled into the hotel parking lot and saw a huge group of people congregating outside the hotel lobby doors. I thought, fire drill? Some sort of evactuation? But, no. Catholic mass. Sure, why not? Right outside the entrance to the hotel- the sidewalk leading to the door acting as the center aisle. How to get in? I really needed to use the facilities after that last two hundred miles! Finally, a nice lady let me in a side door and I was able to go check in. At the desk I discover that per the explanation of the baffled desk boy (he really didn't know why mass was being held in the entrance way and didn't quite know what to do about it) the congregation outside was actually a family reunion with 189 (obviously most Catholic) members in attendance. Interesting.

After we got settled in our room, we took the dogs and got back in the car to go and find my friend Joanna and her family in Lansing, KS.

I only had to turn around 3 times. Joanna had told me that the drive would remind me of driving up Whidbey. I have to say, she was right! It was a beautiful drive over rivers (not a similarity to Whidbey, but who cares?) through twists and turns galore. A fun drive. We arrived in Leavenworth, KS and I attempted to explain to Emma that there was a military prison here. She wanted to know if it was harder than regular prison. Hmmm. Good question.

We drove through town to Lansing and had a wonderful dinner (pizza and beer, one of my favorites! YUM!) with one of my oldest friends. She of course, had to tell at least one humiliating story to my daughter about 'what your mom did when she was little'. At least it was only the one where I threw up all over my desk on the first day of first grade. Emma got a good chuckle.

We said goodbye around ten and headed back to the hotel, where, despite the reunion of mass destruction, we got a good night's sleep. Only one day to go!