"It fills my heart with love."

We are way behind in getting travel posts published this summer because we're having too much fun traveling! So we won't be confused about when each "wandering" happened, we'll start each blog with its actual date.

October 11, 2022

We left the Bass Pro Shoppe parking lot in Columbia, Missouri in the rain this morning. This is the last day of our summer journey, and we have three hours and 180 miles to drive today.

When the rain stopped, the side winds kicked up to over 20 miles per hour with gusts close to 30. After a season with little wind in the northeast, we can tell that we have once again arrived in the Midwest where the winds come right behind the rain. Winds can certainly make travel days no fun.

Through the rain drops and the wind, we saw some of the best fall foliage of the trip.

We were glad when we saw the highway sign welcoming us to Kansas--our destination for the next week or so. We settled the motor home into its parking spot at Hillsdale State Park.

Then we drove the pickup as fast as it would go back towards Kansas City to our son and daughter-in-law's house. We couldn't wait to see them, and our two little grandchildren!

Eli is about to turn two, but he is doing some impressive things since we last saw him five months ago. He's riding his balance bike!

Our four-year-old Carter is now riding her new bike with training wheels, and we all went for a bike ride/walk together.

We hiked up into the city park hills that are lined with the new fall leaves.

Some of those new leaves are almost as big as a four-year-old!

We have been face-timing for the last five months, so we were glad that both of our grandchildren were so happy to see us for real time. Eli is talking more now, even though he still has some problems pronouncing "Gram." He calls Mark "Doo-Dude" because it's a little hard for him to say Grand-dude. Or he can just smile, and he doesn't have to say a thing.

Carter has over-nighted with us in the motor home before, so she was looking forward to another camping trip while we were visiting in the motor home.

We did all the camping things. We roasted hot dogs, and then had smores for dessert.

We played the piano and sang . . .

pretended we were the bus drivers taking the students on a field trip . . .

and played school around our kitchen table. We think a stuffed panda and a colorful sippy cup make good additions to our motor home decor!

When we took Carter back home the next day, she cried to return for another night in the motor home. But she had preschool the next morning and had to stay home. She is obviously glad to have Gram and Grand-dude back after their summer of exploring New England. She gave us a big hug and told us the first night we were back, "It fills my heart with love." Our hearts are filled with love as well!