the jumping-off point

Hello faithful blog readers!

This update will be pathetically short, due to the expense of internet cafes (aka Kinko's) in the US! grrrr. We are here in Kansas City, MO, baking under the midwest sun. Tomorrow we leave for Denver, which means a 10 to 12 hour jaunt across the entire state of Kansas until arriving at the foot of the Rockies. I hope to see some sunflowers, and maybe a pair of ruby red shoes too...=)

There is way too much to say about the trip. It has been exhausting, exhilarating, nourishing, and long at various moments.

Highlights so far:

- Sunday mass at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Nashville. More than any place so far, that felt like home. It wasn't just the beauty of the architechture or the calmness of the liturgical rhythm, but plain and simple it was Christ. Just the same as at home, and anywhere, Christ was there to nourish us in his body and blood, and it was very, very good.
- The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville was quite fun, even for a non-Southern belle like myself! I lovedddd the bluegrass, especially the bango finger-pickin' madness.
- Oceans of Fun waterpark with an amazing slide involving tunnels and getting soaked - need I say more?
- The World War I museum in Kansas City. Very sobering, very informative.
- The peanut butter cup + fizzy chocolate syrup I enjoyed this afternoon at Clinton's Soda Fountain in Independence, MO - the very same shop that former president Harry S. Truman had his first job at!

Also, this lovely poetic twist to our trip has come to my attention: Tomorrow we are leaving from very near Independence, MO. Its fame (besides for being the birthplace of Truman) is that in the 1830s-50s, it was the key departure site for wagon trains heading west to Oregon and beyond. How fitting that our foray west will begin at the same site, traveling toward the same sunset. Pioneers we are certainly not, but hopefully some of their pluck and determination will be ours!

Until later, hopefully Denver...