We got up at 5:00 am this morning, got our last minute chores done, finished packing the car and we were ready to hit the road. On the TCH between Petitcodiac and Fredericton, we spotted deer three times. Rosella also saw a bald eagle perched in a tree. We went through US Immigrations without a hitch, travelled through Maine all afternoon and stoped in Portland to spend the night.Niagara Falls New York
Monday morning we left Portland bright and early and traveled through New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York, We stoped in Buffalo/Niagara Falls for the night. Went to to have a look at falls from the American side. The view is very different than that from Canada.The Arch of St Louis Missouri
On Tuesday we headed West travelling through the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana where we stayed in Indianapolis for the nightOn Wednesday, it rained most of the day while we were making our way to Marionville via St Louis Missouri. We arrived at our motel late in the afternoon, called Rosella's sister, who lives in a hermitage community with other nuns in Marionville in South-Western Missouri, to make plans for our visit the following day.
Sister Regina (Rosella's sister Prémélia) Rosella and I
We spent Thursday visiting Prémélia's community and going over family photos with Sister Regina. On Friday, we visited Springfield Missouri where Sister Regina works and met Father David and some of the parishioners she works with at St Joseph's parish. After lunch, we took a ride to visit Branson Missouri, about 40 miles from Springfield. Branson for the most part was on Winter hiatus but we saw enough of it to get a feel for what the place looks and feels like. We then returned to Marionville via the Ozark Hills country roads. It was a very nice ride and my new handy dandy GPS took us right home through the back roads of Missouri without a hitch. That little gadget is really something else! We have used it all the way, haven't had to look at a map since we left Shediac.
Kurt and Michele at The Artist Valentine Chocolate Festival - Amarillo Texas
On Saturday morning, we drove through the rest of Missouri, crossed the whole state of Oklahoma and crossed half the Texas panhandle to stop of in Amarillo Texas for two days. While speaking to a Texan waiting in line at the restaurant, he mentioned that there was a Valentine Art Festival in town so after supper, Rosella and I went to have a look. While speaking to one of the artists for a while, we got into the "where are you from conversation". I told him we were Canadian and he cracked a little joke and he said he was from the Virgin Islands. I retorted that he didn't look like a virgin to me at which time his wife came in from behind the wall just cracked up laughing. A few minuted later, she caught to me to give me a rose to present to Rosella because it was Valentines day. We went back to the studio and took a photo of Kurt and Michelle and ourselves with Rosella holding the rose.Today, Sunday, we went for a ride to the Palo Duro State park where we rode around what is called the second largest Canyon in the US. Twisting and turning the car all the way to the bottom of the canyon and back was a really great experience. On our way back to Amarillo, we stoped to observe an aerial display of a pilot practicing his aerobatics over a field in the countryside. We watched him perform for about 15 minutes and he landed within view of where we were stoped. I drove to the hangar where he had just parked the plane, spoke with him foe a few minutes and took a photo of him in front of his plane. All in all, the folks here in Amarillo Texas are very very friendly!
