August 21, Visitors from Texas!

I am glad that I have something else to talk about today, as I am really tired of posting pics of corn and soybeans! Many of my readers may have gotten bored with that, too. I mentioned yesterday that Clyde and Kelly Shank had driven up. Evidently, they had a grand daughter with a birthday party up in Illinois, and Clyde was quite excited that our journey through the area coincided with their party! He is a marathoner, a 50 stater, and a Marathon Maniac. They arrived last night, and we had dinner with them at the local country diner. We also ended up parking in their motel parking lot over night, in order to keep things simple this morning. And, that way both Kelly and I would be able to sleep! It worked out great. And, I found out later that this was their anniversary! Happy Anniversary, Clyde and Kelly! We had a great time hanging with you, and really appreciate you taking the effort to join our journey!

One funny thing, though. About 10 o'clock, a pick up pulling a camper drove into the parking lot. It was a big parking lot, and very few cars. I guess the little motel didn't have many guests. The guy in the pick up chose to back his camper up within literally a foot of ours! If he'd made any mistake, he would have taken us out... the dogs went nuts, too. They had some kids, too, but I'm not really sure where they all went. Maybe into the motel? After the initial noise of their arrival, there was no sound at all! Jeff was quite surprised to see their vehicle when he took the dogs out!

The guys went out a bit later than normal, as the weather forecast said rain, lots of rain. It was supposed to start sometime after midnight, but never did. Thankfully! The clouds hung in there fairly well until about lunch time. Then it was just hot and muggy. The guys stopped for lunch at a town called Hoopston, which just happens to be the Sweet Corn Capitol!

Miss Hoopston 2014 had pics at all the businesses!

     

The old theater is undergoing renovation.

               

And there was the token mural....

This was a surprise!

                 


Anyway, we had lunch at the local Dairy Queen. Then Clyde and Kelly took off to see the grand daughter.Jeff and I pressed on, as it was our goal to get to at least 42 miles. The guys did a great job, but we needed more. A few miles down the road, we finally crossed into a new state, Indiana. I know that Illinois was a short state, as is Indiana. However, nothing has changed. I am so ready for a change! I refuse to post any more pics of corn or soybeans!

Huge sign!

The road into Indiana.

                 

And I think there might be a Walmart in our future, tomorrow! One thing I could not find today was a place to dump the tanks and get fresh water. I guess the heart of the farmland in America doesn't get a lot of RV traffic...

Since we are getting closer and closer to our end goal, the 9-11 ceremonies in New York City, I wanted to make another plea to all ya'll about what we are doing. We are doing this for our non-profit, Support For Firefighters, Inc. The purpose of SFF is to raise awareness and funds for issues that affect firefighters nationwide. Our fund raising is falling way short of our goals at this point, and we are less than a month to the end. We figure most people know a firefighter, or have a relative that is a firefighter, or maybe even is themselves. There are a lot of people out there, I think, that figure if they can't give a lot, they might as well not bother. But even a $5 donation, from that many people, would blow our goals away! It's kind of like Fill the Boot.... change adds up in a big way! So, please, if you are on the fence for whatever reason, take the time to go to our website (supportforfirefighters.com) or Facebook page (support for firefighters) and make a donation. And tell your friends about us and what we are doing. Our journey across the country is about getting the word out, so please help us do that!

And, I don't even know what this Mailbox of the Day pic is supposed to mean.... But, at least we have a mailbox pic!