A City Not Forgotten: Texas is the state that never ends...

It's hard to believe that even though we went through the "skinny" part of Texas (the small little square at the top) and you can go 75 miles an hour on almost every road, it still takes about seven hours to get through. And the scenery doesn't really change at all between New Mexico and Texas which makes the combined almost 24 hours seem even longer. Now that we're in Missouri, it feels like the drive is flying by.

We're eating breakfast at a Bob Evans in Springfield, MO. We haven't packed this place out quite yet, it's bigger than a few others we've stopped at. It's only 3.5 hours from here to St. Louis, another 2 from there to Bloomington, IL where we'll split into two groups (MTU goes through Wisconsin to get home and Ferris & Friends will continue through IL and MI) and then finish the drive home. Depending on how long the rest stops take, we might make it home at a fairly decent time, which would be an awesome change. All of us are ready for beds that don't move, that aren't a constricting mummy sleeping bag and that doesn't require sharing a room with 55 other people, with half of them snoring. The sleeping spaces in the van are getting smaller and attitudes are getting grumpier in the middle of the night, but daylight makes everything better.

Today is one of the hardest of the trip because everyone just wants to be home. We're so close after the days of driving, but yet it's still a long way to go. The tendency is to get grumpy and irritated with your neighbor who's taking up more space than you think they should, the rest stops feel like they take forever, and you just want to stretch your legs out without hitting the seat frame in front of you. But, for the most part, the students seem to be doing really well. We're able to travel more efficiently (you can go farther between breaks at night because everyone's bladder is asleep. At least, that's how it supposed to work. I jumped the curb accidentally and woke up my entire van and then we needed to find a Wal-Mart fast. My bad), and their attitudes are good. They're thoroughly enjoying breakfast and the sunshine outside and groaning about the weather forecast for Michigan for the next week.

It's been a really good trip. We're glad that we came and thankful for the friendships that we've made and the opportunities to serve that we've had.

Some photos from the last few days: