Joplin, Mo

The Cstone trip is off to a good start -- we're waking up Monday in Joplin, Missouri. Matt's been doing this drive from Austin to Illinois far longer than I have, and this is the farthest from Austin he's ever gotten in one day, so that's a nice accomplishment.

Pretty dull trip so far - cut diagonally thru Oklahoma so we avoided most of the strange "do not drive into smoke" signs (seriously, is that a problem in Oklahoma? they sure give enough warnings about it). This morning, we'll head towards Springfield, hoping to get a mid-morning snack at Andy's Custard, then thru St. Louis, then north. I think Macomb/Bushnell is about 3 hours north of St. Louis. Hopefully we'll be there by early evening. The fest really kicks off tomorrow - but we can get settled tonight and hopefully catch up with some friends.

I always look forward, strangely, to the drive north from St. Louis. You start realizing that you are getting close - thru every little town that you have to slow down for, you start seeing signs and buildings you recognize. Then, there's the corn. Growing up in SD and moving away, I have a strange interest in corn for this one week of the year. There isn't exactly a lot of it around Austin... But, there's just something comforting to drive by a corn field at highway speed, watching the straight rows blow past.

Anyhow, this really isn't that exciting, but we have 'net access so I figured I'd say something...


OK, let the second marathon day of driving commence! :)

Cornerstone Again

After 2 years off do primarily to lack of vacation time (time spent on our honeymoon two years ago and in Europe last year), we're getting ready to go back to Cornerstone Festival next week.

Check it out at http://cornerstonefestival.com/ -- during the fest (mid to late part of next week), look for live coverage with photos, concert footage, and perhaps more (last year, a bunch of our friends contributed to a blog on the official site, for instance).

We're really looking forward to going back. Even then 1000+ miles and hot temps expected aren't diminishing our excitement to get back to Bushnell, Illinois! Any week off is better than a week of work, but this particular week off is always a good one.

Becky