Civilization!

I am happy to announce our arrival in the state of Missouri! It has been quite an emotional trip but we have finally made it and could not be more excited that we have left South Dakota, cold weather, and depression behind (for now). It has been only about 24 hours that we have been in Springfield and already the birds are chirping louder, the sun is brighter, and Kina and I are being even more obnoxious than ever. After a pretty tumultuous relationship with Interstate 29 (story to follow) we get to our hotel to find out that our worst fears had come true...NO CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST! How could this be, you ask? I wish I knew. Even worse, there's no outdoor pool. Its a travesty, really. Kina and I did what any normal, enraged women would do. We put on our swimsuits, headed outside and tanned on the hotel lawn like gigantic hoosiers. Don't give us the kind of service that we want and we will make your hotel look like it is overrun with people in town for a NASCAR race. take that.

As I mentioned before, our trip wasn't exactly easy. We saw a alot of flooding on our 10 hour trip and were eventually detoured off the Interstate and forced to take back roads through the rest of Iowa and into Missouri. As we were getting off the highway we realized that we had no gas and the street leading to the gas station was closed..due to flooding. I'm not pointing any fingers here (though if I were, they would not be pointed at me) but SOMEONE let the gas gauge get low enough that we were worried that we may run out of gas and be stranded on a country road. Luckily, we found a town with a gas station....that had no gas. The 7 inhabitants of this town, which were all standing outside of the gas station, gave us directions to the next town with gas. When we get to the second town, named Farragut, we drove around unable to find a gas station even though there were only about 4 roads. Finally, we ask someone and they point us in the direction of a gas station with no price sign, pumps that look like they haven't been used since 1972, and a building that seemed to be vacant. To our surprise, we pulled up and a man popped out from under the hood of a car that I would swear hadn't run in years and pumped our gas. He was even friendly enough to let me use his very sanitary bathroom (see photo).

Needless to say, I would rather risk getting a little pee on my hand than ever touch this sink.

As many of my friends would know from my recent facebook updates, I am currently OBSESSED with the Amish. They are fascinating and wonderful and I wish that I could spend all of my time observing them and watching TV shows about them (thankkk you A&E). Luckily, I have discovered that traveling from South Dakota to Missouri is Amish wonderland. I even saw a man on his horse trotting down the highway. In St. Louis we have "Share the road" signs...well, so does Iowa, the difference is that in Iowa they are asking you to share the road with horse and buggies. AWESOME. If I saw someone in a horse and buggie on the highway, I am certain my life would be complete and consequently I would have nothing left to live for.

After our tanning, we decided to head to the gym. Kina and I are struggling to stick to Crossfit in these hotel gyms because usually there are only a couple dumbbells. Today we reverted to a Bro workout and we did abs and bi's. Tomorrow..glamour muscles. We gotta get jacked and tan before the lake.

and finally, the part I am sure you have been on the edge of your seat waiting for....the MY COW update. In a thrilling game that literally has consumed our traveling, the bad guys are still winning. Kina: 2196 Allison: 1468. All I need is one graveyard and I will DOMINATE this game.


peace and brown cows,
Allison