Sandhill Cranes in flight near Grand Island, Nebraska...
*by Barbara Taylor with Homer S. Sewell III * We have seen a lot more of this wonderful country of ours since we lasted reported in three weeks ago. On Washingtonís birthday Homer spoke to the students at Alton Elem School in Alton, Missouri and then on to Campbell Elem School in Campbell, MO. By the time he got home late that night he had driven 515 miles that day and spoken for six hours. Then it was on to Dixon Elem and Dixon Middle Schools in Dixon, and Camdenton Upper Elem School in Camdenton before heading to Brookridge Day School in Overland Park, Kansas. We then drove on south and spent the last weekend of February at Fall River State Park in southeastern Kansas. There is a big lake there and we walked along the shore and gathered some pieces of driftwood to make some craft items with.
The next week took us to West Bourbon Elem School in Uniontown, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School in Wichita, Bennington Elem School in Bennington and Ray Marsh Elem School in Shawnee....all in Kansas. Homer drove the car south one day to speak to students at Dale Elem School in Dale and then drove over to Gatewood Elem School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He also took a trip across the river to Mill Creek Elem School in Independence, Missouri.
We drove over to Maxwell, Iowa on Friday evening after leaving the Kansas City area and spent the weekend parked in front of the home of our Methodist Pastor friends, Don and Trish Burket and their two girls, Hope and Faith. We went to a fund raiser dinner with them on Saturday evening and to church on Sunday. We had a nice visit with them again. Trish and I spent some time on Saturday shopping while Homer and Don rounded up parts for a tune-up for the AbeMobile. We had a mechanic Don knew from his church put in new plugs, distributor cap and rotor and a new starter. The starter had been dragging more and more lately so we figured while we had someone who knew what he was doing we would head off any future problems and have that replaced. Homer dropped about $300 to get that all done. The RV starts and runs a lot better now.
This past week took us to Corinth Elem School in Prairie Village in Kansas and then on to Leonard Lawrence Elem in Bellevue, Tara Heights Elem in Papillion, both in the Omaha, Nebraska area. Homer also spoke at Garfield Elem in Clarinda, Iowa and Hiawatha Elem School in Hiawatha, Kansas. We then headed west Friday afternoon to Grand Island, Nebraska. This is where over 500,000 Sandhill Cranes stop between February and April during their migration from the south to the Arctic. What a beautiful sight they are! Bird watchers come from all over the country to witness this migration every year.
On Saturday we spent the day shopping. We found some more books to add to our collection, more tins and more music boxes. We went to see the new movie, ìReindeer Gamesî and ate dinner at Golden Corral.
We also bought and Homer installed a new antennae on top of the RV. We hope all of you back ìHOMEî are doing well and ready for spring as much as we are. We are excited about getting back to Pickens County sometime in late April or early May. Keep soaring with the eagles. Barbara and Homer signing off for now.