SE Kansas countryside

[Dedicated to my son-in-law, Khalil Coltrain, who grew up only a few miles from Coffeyville, Kansas.  In fact, his alma mater was a big rival of Coffeyville and vice versa.  Enjoy the pictures, Khalil!]

I took a few pictures on our trek from Branson to Coffeyville, KS today, so will share them with you.  It's such a different scene from the Ozarks to southeast Kansas.  This is what Snookie would call a "going down the road" picture as we leave the Ozarks behind us.Everything is still very green in Kansas with all the rain from Ike. You will notice in a lot of these pictures just how ragged the trees look.  That is because they were ravaged by the 2007 ice storm. I love all the farm houses and old barns along the road.Fresh dirt.  There are a lot of soybean fields here.Harvesting of this corn field has begun. Lots and lots of these tall weeds boasting pretty yellow flowers that I wish I had a close-up of.Ah, ha!  Sad looking, isn't it?  See the broken limbs?Almost got the horses in the picture. Lots of work going on in the fields of Kansas.Isn't this a neat looking farmhouse? More ravaged trees An old brick silo way out there on the edge of the field. I missed most of them, but there was a row of old combines at this place... about eight of them. Today was a beautiful day.  See the reflection of the trees in the muddy, yet glassy water.  And the sky... so blue with lazy white clouds about. Even the pecan orchards look ragged, but a lot of cleaning up has been done.I like this picture. Yep, pretty muddy.  Not like the rocklined rivers of the Ozarks. Going through Chepotah, KS... or was it Chetopah?  (update:  I Googled it... it's Chetopa.)  Iron wheel, anyone?  I think you might find one here.Slow-paced, rural American town.Folks doing work that must be done.  I almost missed this tech in the bucket, evidently replacing a burned out street light.  (I almost didn't get him in the picture!)A Kansas grain elevator in the distance.A southeast Kansas farm. Oops, a short delay for roadwork.Is there a story here, or what?  So much life, heritage and history in all these pictures today.A beautiful farm place on a knoll.  (I believe they need to bale the front lawn.) Notice the trees.  That was some ice storm that came through this part of Kansas, western Missouri and eastern Oklahoma.I was looking out Don's window and almost missed this on my side of the road.This was a really pretty place.  That dark square shape below the house is the opening for the garage under the house.Can't you just smell the apple cobbler and yeast rolls baking?  Of course she's wearing an apron.  Are you kidding?Another Kansas farm community.More fresh dirt.  Well, freshly plowed.  Reminds me of that story.... "no, no, no... make your own dirt."  Love it!Kansas tax dollars at work, no doubt.  A little highway improvement. OK, totally not planned.  The focus here is the sign: "Coffeyville - 1 mile.  However, it appears we picked up a passenger on our antenna.  My guess is... grasshopper.We made it!!  We've picked our site and getting set up.  We chose a site under the pecan trees.  There doesn't seem to be too many pecans this year, so maybe we won't get "rained" on by falling pecans. OK, let's see.  No sewer, no cable, no wi-fi (put we have an air card, yeah! and we get great reception here), 30-amp service only.  Gonna be an interesting three months.

Yes, our 4 hours on the road today confirms once again that the creation around us testifies of God and His intelligently designed creation.  Why is that so important?  Because there are those who may have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet they are inclined to say as they look around them,  "This didn't just happen.  I sure would like to know who created all this."  This is where the God who sees and hears all will move heaven and earth to get the Good News of Jesus to that one person, who wants to know, even if they are in the jungles of the Amazon in South America or driving down a highway in southeastern Kansas.

Dan Rominger came out and greeted us when we drove into the park.  It's his day off.  He's working nights: on two, off one, on two, off two, to get his 40 hours per week.  He said we just missed Yvonne as she just left to go back to Springfield to watch their grandson play in the band at the football game.  Dan and Yvonne are friends we met last summer in Branson at Oak Grove RV Park.

Thank you for praying for us.  Now that we are here safely, please don't stop praying.  There's work to be done here and we count it all joy.