We were in Salina, Kansas last night. Again we got upgraded to a double sized room with a living room and a bedroom, each as big as most hotel rooms. And it had a huge Jacuzzi in the living room, but we didn't use it.   The room was comfy and so was the bed. We both slept well and got up refreshed. We hit the road at 8:25 this morning and 79 degrees and got back on I-70 moving east.

Soon the landscape changed from prairie to rolling hills of lush green grass with lots of hardwood trees and occasional crops, mainly corn. We saw a lot of cows, too. I would like to watch a heard of cows for a day. They seem to enjoy being together. Do they have a leader? They often move in single file all going to a gathering place. I wonder what they are thinking. Hmm. We even saw a rare field where there were both horses and cows, but they were not together. They each gathered with their own kind, like cliques.

We passed through Kansas City mid-day and I posted a couple of photos to remind Sharon what she left behind when she moved to Florida. Around 3 PM we arrived in St. Louis and we spent about an hour driving around, each of us remembering things we did and places we went to when we had business trips that brought us here. Of course, the Gateway Arch was a target and I took many photos of it from different angles. It is very impressive and we each recalled having climbed to the top.

After we were satisfied that we had seen all we wanted to see, we headed out of town to O’Fallon, IL which is not far from the city and checked into our hotel, and again they upgraded us to a super-sized room. It pays to stay in the same hotel again and again, when available. With all of our travels, we achieved Elite status and that is why we get upgraded whenever a better room is available. It’s a nice perk.

Tomorrow, we head to Tennessee and Pigeon Forge, where our hotel is across the street from Dollywood and just up the road from the Smokey Mountains.