Day Twenty-Two, Wed, 9/25/24, Alliance, NE to Kearney, NE; 279 miles, 7 hours

Just south of Alliance, NE we hit I80 East and traveled to a Motel 6 in Kearney, NE.  This Motel 6 is bare bones, but clean and new.

Lynx card

back of the Lynx card

Owl card

back of the Owl card

Day Seventeen, Fri, 9/20/2024, Conrad to Bozeman, 252 miles, 4 1/2 hours

Bozeman is the Austin/Boulder/Lawrence of Montana.  A university town, lots of traffic, boutiques, fancy and expensive restaurants.  We drove all over town to find a Mexican restaurant in a small mall on the west side of town.  The meal was delicious and surprisingly, someone comped us!  I went to find and pay the waitress, and she informed me that our meal had been paid for!  Wow!

Jo chowing down

Accommodations in Bozeman are expensive, so I went with a Motel 6.  This was the most expensive Motel 6 room ever, AND it turned out to be the very nicest Motel 6 room of the entire trip!  We were very pleased.

What was meaningful about this day?  It was a short driving day, and Bozeman was interesting.

What did I learn today?  That Bozeman is hotsy-totsy.

What would I do differently if Mary and I traveled together again in the future?  Avoid Bozeman altogether.

Day One, Wed, 9/4/24, Newton to Goodland, 325 miles, 7 1/2 hours

 

Our first stop for lunch at the Fossil Bar & Grill, Russell, KS

 

On our first day, we hit the road at 9:30am with Mary driving all the way to Russell, KS where we ate lunch.  I took over after lunch, but we had to exit I-70 at Wakeeney (exit 128) and drive KS 24 from Hill City to Colby.  We drove through Hoxie, KS relatively slowly behind a caravan of 18-wheelers, fancy trucks, and sedans, all of us traveling west.  We heard later that the road closure was due to a bridge being collapsed.

We listened to Robert Ohotto's class on Saturn in Pisces.  What is enlightenment?  How does a wave become a particle?  What is my Saturn original wound?  What House? (9) What sign? (Libra)

Pit stop in Colby; Flame in the shade of the window

 

Goodland is just a few miles west of Colby, and I had made a reservation at the Motel 6.  Just to be clear, this Motel 6 is the very worst I've ever stayed at.  And I've stayed at A LOT of Motel 6's.

No hot water in the shower.  The room door didn't close all the way.  Flies coming in the door all night long.  No coffee in the breakfast area.  And the reception area door (glass) was cracked and duct-taped together.

It was cheap in every way.  I was seduced by the cheap price of the room.

What did this first day mean to me?  Don't be seduced by the cheap price of a room!

What did I learn this first day?  Be prepared for road closures and don't let them get you down.  They end eventually. 

What would I do differently if Mary and I travel together in the future?  Be more careful about where I make reservations, especially with Motel 6's in Bumfuck Babylon!

However, we did get into our room in time for the CSJ Meaningful Conversation Zoom meeting based upon Sr. Jean Rose's June Assembly remarks.  We discussed the legacy of the CSJ charism--holy women, prophets, mystics, communal interior poverty, WE, relationship building.  What is a Holy Woman?  How do we manifest ordinary holiness?