Sunday, March 22, 2020 - Early, Early Morning; Rain?; Resting; Afternoon Drive; Last Night of Stew and Homemade Bread; American Idol

Sunday, March 22, 2020 - Early, Early Morning; Rain?; Afternoon Drive; Last Night of Stew and Homemade Bread; American Idol 

I woke up to rain at 2:30 or so this morning.  It wasn't supposed to rain again until Tuesday.  I got up and went to the restroom.  Typically I can go right back to sleep, but not this morning.  After laying there for nearly 30 minutes, I finally got up and went downstairs.  I had not written the blog for Saturday yet, so I took care of that.

When Dean came downstairs he turned the coffeepot on and was kind enough to pour our first cup a short time later.  

He told me he would sure like to go eat breakfast this morning, but since that isn't really possible, I suggested we have breakfast burritos instead of our normal morning shake.  He was all for that.  We definitely will have to get some groceries soon.  It seems like every time I make a meal now, something else is emptied or used up.

We both tuned in to an online sermon at a church this morning.  Dean was listening to Pathway Church in Wichita, while I listened to our pastor at Oswego First Baptist Church. It was nice that it was online since we would not have been able to attend today.  It seems strange not to be in church.

We had a quick lunch.  I just didn't feel great, but I decided I was just tired, so I went to bed and while I did start to drift off a few times, I'd hear a sound and it would startle me - a bird, a truck, etc.  I put my ear plugs in, but I never could get to the point I felt like I was going to sleep again.  I got up, showered and got around.   We left around 1:45 for our afternoon drive.  Today we headed north on Montana Road towards Highway 400.

We saw several new calves in many of the fields this morning.

A beautiful old barn located in Labette County.

When we reached 400 Highway, we headed east to Cherokee, Kansas.

Circle C Pecans - a restaurant, homemade pies, pecans and all kinds of goodies here.

Wheat field - such a beautiful green

As you can see, many fields are very wet with all of the recent rain

Dean and I loved this land on the hill.  Would be a perfect for a house.

We headed south once we reached Cherokee, KS, another small community.  

Highway 7, south of Cherokee that leads in to Columbus, KS, was recently widened and newly paved.

Rather than drive to Columbus, we chose to head west on County Road 102 through Roseland and West Mineral.  

Bartlett Pear trees blooming alongside the road near Roseland

Entrance sign into West Mineral

Of course, we had to drive by Big Brutus and the History Museum of Coal Mining in the area.

If you are ever in this area, a visit to Big Brutus is worth it.  It's much bigger than it appears in this picture.

One of many mined land pits in the area.

One of our favorite roads along many of the mined land pits.

Once we reached Highway 169, we headed back west to Oswego, where we passed the Neosho River Bridge.

Same river 2 days ago.

See how much the water has dropped since then - you can see the bank here.  What a difference between sunny and cloudy!

We took a drive through Riverside Park before we returned to the RV Park.

More Bartlett Pear trees in bloom in the parking lot and park near the Community Center.

When we returned home, Dean went to the garage for an hour or so.  I didn't do too much.  While I drifted off a few times during our drive, could I sleep when we returned home?  Of course not!

Hopefully, I'll crash and sleep good tonight.  

I made some beer bread while Dean was gone.  I used to make this many, many years ago.  I saw the recipe on Facebook today.  It sounded much better than the 2 or 3 ingredient one we used to make years ago.  This one had 1/4 cup honey in it.  I didn't have a bread pan, so I put it in a square baking dish and cooked it about 15 minutes less than they suggested.  It was done after 30 minutes, but I would bake it at least an additional 5 minutes to brown the top a little more if I ever make it again.  We both thought it was really good.  We were so full, we couldn't even eat a brownie tonight.  I pinned the recipe to my Pinterest app.  Since we try not to eat bread it is not something I will make often, but it was perfect with our stew this evening.  

We enjoyed the duo round on American Idol tonight which ended a few minutes ago.  I think my early morning hours are catching up with me.  I am going to bid you all goodnight.

I'm thankful to be back in our little corner of the world, here in Southeast Kansas.  We love our travels, but this is where our hearts belong on a regular basis.