Wonderful Family, Beautiful Country

Wow! What an incredible past three days! I did miss my kits, but knew they were in good hands with Jim. Kathy and I left my apartment at 9:15 Saturday morning; we spent Saturday night in Clinton, Missouri. We arrived at the Nocks home in Pomona about noon on Sunday - we met and hugged and loved newly-met family members until about 6 pm, and then hit the road again; spending Sunday night in Nevada, Missouri. Kathy ran 3 miles in Nevada yesterday morning, and garnered a lot of stares. I drove around the old town center and found the house where our grandmother was born, and the shop-front that our great-grandfather ran his grocery and dry-goods business from. We left Nevada later than planned, and got into Kathy's driveway at 11 pm. We talked a few minutes with Jim, and then I crossed the street to Brandi's, loved her, gave her a few treats, and then she and I both crashed in Kyle's bed.

I was really happy to have done all of this without any of my usual clumsy accidents. I drove every mile to and from Sarah's, except the last 8 miles. I came home to my my apartment this morning; in crossing the parking lot to get to the front door of the building, I stepped on a few pieces of loose gravel, and fell flat my face. That fall took out the knees in one of my favorite pairs of jeans, cut up both of my knees, my right forearm, and scraped my chin. I guess someone or something was saying, "You're not home yeeettt." The kits are stuck to me like glue.

I've never tried to hide the fact that I'm much more comfortable with critters than with people, so I approached my meeting with our never-before-seen relatives with some trepidation. Within a minute, I was totally relaxed and knew that I was with family. I have been that relaxed with only a handful of other folks... I have photos to download and share; and I have a lot of wonderful memories of the family that I'll share. I'll start posting the photos tomorrow.... Take care!