When I Take Over My World: Show Me

Last month Randy, Roxy and I made a Secret Squirrel trip to Des Moines. (Iowa, not Washington.)

Going through Missouri, Des Moines is pretty much a straight shot north from us. There is a law in these parts that you have to get behind at least one slow moving driver. Usually at a point where there is no way to pass.

Randy's luck in finding a way to pass a slow vehicle is directly proportional to me having to stop to use the restroom within one mile of his passing said vehicle.

This trip, we managed to get caught behind two slow drivers. Luckily they both turned off the highway before I had an accident.

Anyway ~

The most perfect road trip for me would be one where I was able to have Randy pull over so I could take the perfect picture when I want to. As I mentioned, we were on a Secret Squirrel mission and this was not the time to yell "Stop! Turn around! Pull over!" What pictures I did manage to take, I took from our vehicle as it was speeding down the backroads of Missouri and Iowa.

Helpful hint ... when taking pictures out the window of a moving vehicle, always wrap the camera strap securely around your wrist.

Anyway ~

My photos don't show it, but Missouri is very beautiful. Rolling hills of farmland, dotted with old barns, cows and bales (rolls?) of hay. I have picked out a few of my favorite pictures along with mini-lesson on Missouri history.

Missouri is the 'Show Me' state, an expression coined by a congressman in 1899 when he said 'I'm from Missouri and you've got to show me."

Missouri is bordered by a total of eight states: Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, R-Can-Sauce, Tennessee, Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. No other state except for Tennessee touches so many other states.

The state animal is a mule.

In 1865, Missouri was the first slave state to free its slaves.

From the never-ending fields of corn we passed, I am surprised to learn that as a crop, soybeans bring in the most revenue for the population of Missouri.

On August 10, 1821, Missouri was the 24th state admitted to the Union.

Credit for the Missouri Bootheel goes to landowner John Hardeman Walker. In 1818, when the first petition came to the United States Congress for Missouri to organize into a state government, Mr Walker found that his land would be under Arkansas jurisdiction. He wanted to be a Missourian and lobbied successfully for the 'bootheel' to be included in Missouri.

I always thought it was the 'Boot Hills' of Missouri. Kind of like chester-drawers or prairie knife.