On Vacation

We are on vacation, so to speak, this weekend. Our trip is actually to witness the wedding of our nephew with a great young woman from Wisconsin, so we're in Wisconsin today with the wedding tomorrow.
We drove from Wichita yesterday to the quad cities area (quickly, name the quad cities of Illinois/Iowa). Today we finished the trip to the pennisula of Wisconsin on past Green Bay. The wedding will be tomorrow, then Sunday we'll begin the two day trek home, staying in Des Moines Sunday evening.
Of course, I have a few observations to make and want to make them now (at 11pm) before I forget. The first is how well-kept the farm steads are in Illinois and parts of Wisconsin. They are generally well groomed. The outbuildings are generally in good repair and painted, and many of them have a postcard look. It's obvious that farmers in this area are proud of where they live and work hard to keep their places in shape.
Second, there are a lot of silos on the farms up here. Silos in Kansas are falling down with lack of use and upkeep, but up here, it seems they are still being used and are an intregal part of farm life.
Third, I would look out over a 180 degree span and count as many as 12 to 15 farmsteads within just a couple of miles of where we were at any given point on our travel. Farmsteads in Illinois are everywhere!
Now the penninsula of Wisconson is another story. It's beautiful up here! The weather is great, about what we experience in Kansas in mid April. Spring is bursting out all over and it's just a gorgeous place, at least this year at this time of the year. There's water everywhere, and it's not all in Lake Michigan. People are friendly and we are truly enjoying our time here with the future in-laws and with the people of Door County, Wisconsin. I may have more to say on that later.
Suffice it to say now that although we won't be here long, this part of our country has already endeared me to itself. I know that the winters can be long and hard. I know that it isn't always picture perfect as it seems to be now. But this is a place I may want to visit again when we have more time.
Dan and Dara, good health and a good marriage to you two. Take the principles with you into this relationship that you learned from your respective families and create your own family...your own reality...your own spot in this beautiful place that God has provided for you.