Write On!

              6 were compliments of the Chamber of Commerce. What a nice gesture. We left Watertown at 7:55 a.m. The weather was cool with a bit of wind. We saw quite a few sheep and cattle farms as we traveled. Then we noticed some beehives, the first we had seen. J 0 informed us that we were now traveling through the countryside where Laura Ingalls had lived. We passed Rapid City and, at 10:00 a.m., we arrived at Vermilion for our coffee break, stop and shop. Back on the bus, we were heading south towards Elk Point. It was almost 11:00 a.m. when we crossed into Iowa. As we entered Iowa, looking up, we saw a statue of an Indian with a gun on top of a hill. He guards this site. At noon, we stopped at Buffalo Run Casino in Council Bluff for lunch. There was a nice restaurant in the Casino. We didn't really have time to try our luck at the machines unless we wanted to go hungry. In an hour we would be back on the bus. There was more foliage on the trees here, and the colours were beautiful. Shortly after 2:00 p.m., we crossed into the state of Missouri. It had been raining again. We arrived in Kansas City about 4:30 and would be spending the night here. However, our rooms weren't ready, so some people went over to Wal-Mart and others went to the Cracker Barrel, a very nice place with restaurant and shop combined. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn. Our room was comfortable and clean. Wednesday, October 27, the temperature this morning was 63F, foggy and drizzling. We had a light breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and boarded at 8:00 a.m. An accident ahead kept us at a standstill. It took two hours to travel twenty-seven miles. Our morning coffee break was at Peculiar, at Hying 1's Truck Stop. At noon we arrived at Precious Moments. It was sunny and hot. The grounds were beautiful with flowers blooming everywhere. Sam Butcher, the artist who designed the Precious Moments dolls was inspired to create a memorial to his son, who was killed in a car accident. There was a chapel with beautiful stained glass windows and figurines of the dolls, like little children, painted on the walls. There was also a gift shop and lunch bar. The variety of food was very limited. They had hot dogs, chili and ice cream, but no hot tea, only cold drinks. At 2:00 p.m., we were on our way to the Fantastic Caverns. At the caverns, they were waiting for us. There were two wagons, each pulled by a quad. We got into the wagons and had a fifty-five minute ride through the caves, which had been discovered in 1867.