FALL TEXAS TRIP: Finally home!

We arrived home last night at about 10:00, after spending 14 hours in the van and driving for what seemed like forever! The endless stream of trucks, rest stops, fast food ... has taken its toll! I am GLAD to be home. :)
We started our day yesterday with just a little bit left of Arkansas to drive through. Traffic was really heavy. It seemed like solid trucks. Now and then we saw a truck with Scripture written on it. I always like to see that while out on the road. What a wonderful reminder of God's love to us.
I love crossing bridges, especially this kind. This is the bridge that crosses Big Lake Bayou.
Midway through, you also cross the Illinois State line ... at the very southern tip of it. Illinois is a really LONG state. We had a beautiful day for travel; although interestingly, everywhere we drove it was in the 90's. In Arkansas, it was in the upper 90's. All throughout Illinois yesterday, it was between 90 and 93 degrees. How unusual for this time of year!
I love the farm country of Illinois and enjoyed the miles we drove watching the farmers at work.

Psalm 65 is a beautiful song of David. He says, "You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The rivers of God will not run dry; they provide a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so. You drench the plowed ground with rain, melting the clods and leveling the ridges. You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops. You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance. The wilderness becomes a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy. The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain. They all shout and sing for joy!" And that is exactly what we saw all throughout our day yesterday.

We've unpacked the van and started putting our stuff away ... it's a process! I've uploaded all of the pictures from my camera now to this computer and have a bunch of editing to do. Grandpa Jones is off to the store to get us a few groceries. A cold front came through our area this morning with high winds and rain, so we are now comfortably in the upper 60's. The leaves are starting to turn ~ we thankfully haven't missed the peak ... but autumn is upon us! Our Texas families are far away, but each of them have shared their lives with us ... and we with them ... and we are thankful to be home again.