about the trip where it rained . . . everywhere!

I am realizing that I have blogged much about my thoughts of my roadtrip, but not much about the roadtrip itself. And, seeing as you may want to know, I will tell you. (If you do not want to, I do not mind at all if you exit this window and come back to read my next post).

Let's see - our roadtrip was full of rain. I believe that it rained everyday. We also got lost. Very lost. We kept telling ourselves of a wise priest's words - Nothing in God's creation is bigger than he his and even more exciting: This great big God created all of creation just for us! This came to be very comforting as we were lost in the backwoods of Indiana surrounded by many fireflies (it was very pretty) and even more so when we were lost in downtown St. Louis (a bit more scary).

Between being lost, we had a wonderful trip (for the top ten list check out kristi's website, link on previous post). We headed north from Wichita to travel to a destination found in a well beloved book. It seems that many of my destinations have come from books. (This is what comes of being an English Teacher). This book is Pierced by a Sword by Bud MacFarland Jr. It is a must read for any Catholic, and a great read for those who are not. We saw many of the destinations mentioned in this great, if not so classic book that took place mainly on the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, IN. One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was praying a rosary at the grotto on the campus of Notre Dame. During the middle of the rosary it started to rain and we finished the rosary inside the grotto. This was extremely neat because there were so many candles lit inside the grotto that it was warm inside!

On Sunday, the 4th of July (my favorite secular holiday) we drove to St. Louis, followed by our new friend Chris, got a leak in our tire, switched our rental car, got lost in St. Louis, decided to stay at Harrah's Casino to make up for being lost, got turned away, and stayed in a hotel down the road.

The day would not have been complete without some fireworks. So, seeing some from our hotel, Chris and I wandered across the street and stood in the median watching the fireworks through the trees. Not the most magnificent show I've ever seen (any A-town people reading this!!) but it was fun and with good company.

Monday we woke to rain (suprise, suprise) and headed back to the real world. We did however, make a few fun stops - one at a winery in Bland, Missouri (very good wine suprisingly) and another at a Marian shrine in Laurie, Missouri. The statue of Mary there is modeled after JPII's mother and is really neat.

Ok, I will stop posting now, as I am sure you are done reading. Really, our road trip did not entail a whole lot except spending time with friends and getting out there doing something. But, these activities in and of themselves can bring a lifetime of warm fuzzies, just think about adding them to the fun of the road!!