The Great Plains of our country are expansive. On Saturday, we traveled across mile upon mile of crop fields and pasture, some flat, while others rolled across once-fertile hills. Many acres were parched and brown, criss-crossed with stressed corn stalks trying to endure the August heat. The southern wind rattled our rig as we crossed Nebraska on I-80. Semi trucks whipped by us.
We settled our rig at the Diamond B Horse Motel in York, NE, in the early evening. Diamond B offers a an overnight location for those traveling with horses, affording pastures for grazing and a barn for shelter. Diamond B also offers Harvest Host members an overnight stay. Two other rigs parked along side us.
As midnight approached, a deluge of rain tumbled from the sky, including hail. This marked our third episode of hail in our two-week journey. The fiberglass shell of our rig magnified the tinny sound of pelting hail as we tried to sleep. Hefty wind rocked the trailer. It was unsettling to say the least. Nonetheless, we knew the rain was a blessing to the Diamond B ranch and the surrounding Nebraskan farms. The gully washer, as Skip calls it, left a soupy driveway as we pulled out of the Diamond B ranch and headed east.
Our final stop last night landed us at a quintessential Iowa family farm. The surrounding corn and bean fields look healthy. We were welcomed by the owners, Jim and Pat Hill, who are long time family friends of Skip’s. We savored a casual dinner and meaty conversation, including Jim’s brother and wife, Craig and Shirley Hill. What a blessing it has been these past two weeks to experience rural America!
Today we return home, enriched by our experiences. We will hold these memories of joy, beauty and hope close while the world and its challenges swirl around us. We hope you’ve been blessed in traveling with us through these blog posts.
We’ll return to our rig and blog posting in late September as we head east to serve with a SOWERs team on a service project in Massachusetts. Hope you’ll once again come along for the ride!