In to Illinois by way of Missouri (day 5)

Amazing skies as we drove from Kansas to Illinois

 fake ghost town? failed retail endeavor? sight-seeing from the car

proof we were in Missouri as we could not stop at the state line sign ...

 As bizarre as it may seem, we went through Mexico to get to Illinois (from Kansas)... yes Mexico, Missouri...

 close up, just in case

 you are welcome

 we saw a lot of this ... corn and soy bean, soy bean and corn ...

and some of this....

 As we approached another big river, I knew we were close...

And so it was...

 a little maneuvering and we were able to get to the sign...

 and then we were faked out by this historic marker ... that had a drive through lane, and then by stopping at it, we faked out the bus behind us ... not really intentionally...

 We passed through some picturesque "towns" -- ok, town is a stretch, populated areas...

 check out this guy's set up, and the baby octopus, sometimes you just have to amuse yourself while on the road

 There were many miles of this and no cell service...