US 50

We had a wonderful weekend with our Fairview Heights church family.  Thank you Debbie, Sara, and Rosemary for the time you spent with me.  I needed that girl time with each of you.  We left this morning for Mitchell, Indiana.

After looking at the map, we decided to drive from Belleville to Mitchell on U.S. 50.  We saw miles and miles and miles of farmland.  I love driving through the farmland.  I love getting off of the interstate.  There is a lot more to American than McDonald's and c-stores at every exits.

Our chosen route took us right through the heart of many little towns and right on the edge of many others.  The midwestern farm homes have a special kind of charm.  They are so warm and inviting.  They seem to be saying, "come on in and let's have a cup of coffee."  The old churches, both wooden and brick, have an unexplainable fascination for me.  We don't see those old churches on the interstate.  We saw old bridges and old highways.  I even saw a silo store.  I can honestly say I have never before seen a silo store.

I know before I even say this, that Nicole is laughing and making fun of me, but I wish we could stop and read every single historical marker.  But I don't even ask.

We have lived a lot of places and been even more.  I think weird things on these U.S. highways.  I think we could have come all the way from Placerville, California on U.S. 50.  We could keep going and end up in Belpre, Ohio, Karen's home.  In Flora, Illinois we intersected with U.S. 45.  We could have gone south and gone all the way to Columbus and kept going to Mobile. 

I had a delightful day as we traveled through the heartland of America.   We stopped for a little snack.  It was such a beautiful day.  We ate our snack outside.

We had pizza, one of my favorites, and warm, warm fellowship in Mitchell tonight.

I am expecting another wonderful day of travel tomorrow as we make our way to Bowling Green.

Terri