Detour

(Disclaimer: My computer is refusing to allow me to space my paragraphs on this post. My apologies for the massive chunk of text!)

I am really good at directions. I excel at reading maps. I have a finely tuned internal compass.

So does my friend Carrie.

But it is amazing what some good catching up can do to a girl.

Please see diagram below (pardon its small size):

I met Carrie in Joplin on Thursday night and we planned to leave early Friday morning so that we would arrive at Kenan's small town around lunch time.

(Note: Kenan's town is not even marked on this map! But I did circle Jamesport, the Amish town that we visited on Saturday. They make good cheese. And that, my friends, makes a town worth circling).

Unfortunately--and we still have no idea how this happened--we missed the I-35 exit and ended up on I-29. And we drove up I-29 for quite some time. It wasn't until we were just across the border from Nebraska that we realized what we had done.

Take a look at that map. Do you see how out of the way we were? Do you realize how many "I-29" signs we must have passed along the way without noticing that we were on the wrong highway? Apparently reunions with old friends turn your brain to mush.

Ever been to Mound City, Missouri? Yeah, I didn't think so. Instead of turning around, we decided that we, with the help of our trusty Atlas, could navigate the back roads of rural northwestern Missouri. Back roads that don't even have numbers. Just letters like "Z", and "C." (I was particularly fond of the intersection of roads "B" and "O." It made me giggle like a junior high boy.)

Let me tell you a bit about rural northwestern Missouri.

It is very hilly. Carrie and I might as well have been at Six Flags for the number of times we "Wooo!"-ed while driving over the short but steep hills. Isn't that tummy-in-your-throat feeling the best? There are also a number of very cute little towns. If you blink, you might miss them, but they were charming nonetheless. I particularly enjoyed the plethora of baby farm animals grazing the pastures. Pretty sure Carrie had ample reason to be concerned that I would find a little lamb to take home as a pet. I really should never travel in rural farmland unchaperoned.

Oh, and wouldn't you know the back roads we traveled shared the same path as Lewis and Clark? The signs said so. Something tells me that they made a wrong turn or two in their day. They probably found themselves in rural northwestern Missouri, thought "Where the heck are we?" and then remembered that they were the only folks brave enough to travel that far West and that anything they did was pretty awesome, even if it was only routes B and O.

Just like Lewis and Clark, Carrie and I made it. We arrived at our destination with great fanfare. We were championed as heroes. And we will go down in history. If only on this blog.

(And Carrie, if I had to be lost in rural Missouri with anyone, I'm glad it was you. Quality Inn. Quality Memories!)