West Coast Vacation-Day Twenty-three

There was rain and hail in the night, two inches or more. I am pretty sure the Platte rose more than 3 inches. We are up REALLY early and on Interstate 80 about the time I'm usually rolling out of bed! For the first time in a couple of weeks I do not need my jacket to walk Kelsey early, warm. I drive ever eastward at first the land is flat, flatter than western Kansas. The hay has been cut in some fields, the wheat has turned golden (the ground is too wet, I imagine to harvest) the farther east I get the taller the corn gets. I stop for coffee and potty breaks and that's it. I finally cross the Missouri River (also high and living up to it's nickname "Big Muddy") into Iowa! They have had too much rain as well and the areas designed to relieve the Missouri of some water so perhaps there won't be flooding downstream are so full that they have only feet before they are on the highway. Thankfully, Interstate 29 is built a bit higher than the smaller highway I was on! After only a short time I leave Iowa behind and enter Missouri! As I drive south I know more and more of the towns, highways and landmarks: St Joseph, Platte City, Kansas City International Airport, the I-435 loop, I-70, Noland Road, 44th Terrace, my driveway. It is 2pm and I am home! Altogether, Kelsey and I stayed in 15 Motel 6's (they leave the light on and like pets), visited 14 states (Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa) and drove 6,310 miles (I really don't believe that last thing but that's the difference in odometer readings-so unless I wrote it down wrong when I started. . . ) I AM SO GLAD TO BE HOME!