So far, we've covered over 39,000 miles and the night before we left Omaha for North Platte (our final stop before Colorado), Lori asks me if I'd like her to drive a bit on the way to North Platte! I just smiled...sure, now that we're 500 miles from home, why not "take the plunge" and drive the truck and trailer. So after a gas and bathroom break, I pulled off at a rest stop and we did a quick driver switch so Lori could take over. Despite the kids' gloom and doom comments, Lori did a good job taking us down the road and pulling into another rest stop about 75 miles down the road to switch back to me driving since we were about 15 miles from our campground. Well done!
Not only is North Platte our last stop before getting back to Colorado Springs, I also gave the final presentations during our trip about the World Meeting of Families. Michael Davis spearheaded a tremendous welcome for our family and graciously hosted us for several presentations in the 2 nights we've been in town. We met and got to share family stories with scores of people and our family was abundantly blessed by the North Platte community! In between the presentations we visited several historic sites in North Platte, which has been a major operating location for the railroad (Union Pacific) and is also home to William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The Lincoln County Historical Museum has done a marvelous job capturing and preserving the frontier history of North Platte and literally has dozens of buildings and railroad cars as part of the museum. The kids had an especially memorable day at Cody Park where I gave a lunch time presentation while the kids got to play in the park, pet a baby fawn, ride the amusement park rides and get ice cream to top things off!! Thank you Michael for orchestrating such a fun day!
I think I have a bit of denial about tomorrow being our final drive back to Colorado Springs. Spending these 14 months together with Lori and the kids as we explored the natural beauty of our country, reconnected with friends, visited family and worked in communities that we may never visit again has truly been a blessing that words fail to describe. I'll work on some more words to encapsulate our trip and somehow express the deep gratitude and joy I feel from the adventures I've shared with the ones I love most in this world. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us on our journey....this has been a grace-filled expedition that has been a pleasure to share!