For Amber Waves of Grain

Today's song = "America the Beautiful"           
Mileage:  about half-way to San Marcos, CA


I am grateful for:
   being born in the USA
   being frugal


Yesterday = 25 hours!  Gained an hour, but still slept a bit late.
Gas in MO:  $3.58; Gas in KS:  $3.48


Today's favorite food pick:  Ribs and steak at Tucson's in Salina, KS + $3.00 beers!


Favorite sign:   

This is a souvenir shop in MO, full of all the tacky souvenirs you can think of including, shot glasses with state slogans, hilarious sunglasses, beautiful, soft moccasins, fake coonskin hats, phoney log artifacts like mugs or whacky log knicknacks -- my favorite is a hand-size log with matches attached labeled, "bathroom deodorizer".  Another favorite is the Roadkill Cafe T-shirt with this menu on the back:

"Smear of Deer" and "Thumper on a Bumper" sound particularly appetizing.


I don't have a whole lot to say today.  My husband observed that when we left CA and headed east, we took our time and stopped to visit some areas for a while.  Now, it appears that we are making beeline for the home return.  Columbus and St. Louis offer a lot of attractions, but we just didn't feel like taking the time.  When we left St. Louis this morning, it was already hot and muggy, but along the way the weather cooled down, heated up, and cooled down again.  
The roadsides are peppered with billboards, farm implements of every kind, and cell phone or microwave towers.  Usually, these are standing out in rich, green farmland.  As we entered Kansas, today, we were surprised to drive through some hilly areas with plenty of trees which dispelled our preconception that Kansas was a flat grassland.  Eventually, there was more grassland than trees as we neared our destination of Salina, a city in the breadbasket surrounded by beautiful golden wheat fields, as well as other crops. 

Except for this evening, we've been using the Cracker Barrel as a stopping place since it is recognizable and always near the interstate.  There we rented an audiobook -- Dark of the Moon, by John Sanford.  It did hold our attention, but is definitely not high literature.  We do not intend to "read" another of his -- though suspenseful, the language style is pretty simple structure and sometimes too base -- don't know if by using crass references, the author might be trying to appeal to male readers, but it didn't work for us.  Maybe all those college lit courses have spoiled me for "lite" reading.
I am in awe, as always, of the vast land resources endowed upon our nation which truly does give us great natural wealth and power.  However, I wish these were used more wisely to benefit the majority of our citizens rather than just the top percentage.  Better stop this op-ed here before I lose some of my favorite readers....