The World's Largest Ball of Twine! Yes, we saw it and it was magnificent. Connor and I both took pictures with it and signed into the log book. It was a proud day for me. Now it's Topeka, Kansas City (BBQ, yum!), and on to St. Louis.

This is the sign on the door of the Beloit, KS, Super 8 motel. They take their gun control pretty seriously around here. We got to the hotel about 11.00p local time and are already saturating their wi-fi with emails and blog updates. We drove 470 miles today through snow and rain, over mountain and plain. Tomorrow is another 460 mile trek to St. Louis, MO, plus a fun surprise in the morning. I'll tell you what it is tomorrow. For now, sleep well. I know we will....

Great steaks. Back entrance looked like a shack but upon further examination the restaurant was deemed respectable. Tj loved the homemade green-bean and dumplings soup and deep fried pickles turned out to be a great and healthy appetizer. The barren landscape gave Tj many photos of nothing nothing nothing. Prairie dog safari tomorrow. Stay tuned for more.

Connor looks dejected in the photo because Prairie Dog Town was CLOSED! We drove like bats out of Denver to get here. Now we don't get to see the prairie dogs, the rattlesnakes, or the six-legged steer. Argh! Ok, back on the road. We're on the lookout for a good steakhouse since we are in cattle country. We'll try Hays, KS, a short 90 miles away.