This morning we packed up the car to hit the road again, and Dad treated us one last time to a great breakfast across the bridge. It was another opportunity for mom to say goodbye to Matt. Last time, it was, "I'll see you in a week," while today it was, "I'll see you in just a month." A month from now, it will likely be, "I'll see you next year." It never seems to get any easier on mom. But, although Matt always seems resolute in these goodbye photos, he sometimes lets slip where his mind still is. For example, during conversations he'll say things in the present tense, like: "back home in New York," or "this guy I work with," or "so-and-so from my congregation." He'll sometimes follow it with, "I guess I don't really have a home right now..."

Packing up to go	Mom and her boys	Ok, now smile...	Ready to go
Matt's favorite car	Dad	See - Matt's not the only one who'll be missed	Crossing the bridge for the last time

We drove about 12 or 13 hours straight today, trying to get as close to Wichita as we could. We ended up at "The Wyatt Earp Inn" in some tiny place called Lebo, Kansas. We only stopped for gas and to wipe the bugs off the windshield. I hadn't had a network signal in three days, so it was nice to drive past some major cities and get an internet connection. It's just too bad my laptop battery only lasts four hours. I discovered to my disappointment that the charger pulls too much juice from the car, and wont work if the laptop is completely drained. I also discovered that the one nice thing about a featureless landscape is an unimpeded view of the sunset. Also, being hours away from the nearest town let us see many, many more stars than we'd ever seen in New York.

Ahh, On the road again	Funhouse Tanker	Crossing the Mississippi	Chrome hub
Des Moines Skyline	Filthy windscreen	Sunset On the Road	Behind a cloud
Fireball in Missouri