This is the tenth in a series of posts sharing photos from a 21-day road trip I did with my older brother in June. The first nine posts and photos may be seen in the Nature and Wildlife photography forum.
Rocky Mountain National Park marked a transition in our adventure. The first two weeks had been devoted to exploring the American West, visiting national parks, seeing wildlife and some of North America’s great natural wonders.
The last week would be devoted to family. My brother’s daughter, Emma, and her family are in Springfield, Missouri. I hadn’t seen Emma and her husband, Chad, since their wedding, which meant I hadn’t yet met my great-niece and great-nephew. As much as I love spending time in national parks, I was truly excited at the time we had planned with Emma and her family. But first, we had to get there.
The day we left Estes Park was the longest of the trip. We drove 600 miles to Topeka, Kansas (about 9 hours) for a layover night. While we’d taken backroads and “the scenic route” whenever possible those first 14 days, this was a day when we needed to put some miles behind us. It was I-70 all the way.
The next morning, we got an early start so we could arrive at Emma’s house by lunch and our timing was pretty much spot on.
Our time in Springfield was to treasure. Emma gave us the driving tour of Springfield so we could see where she and Chad had lived prior to their current house. Chad is a Captain in the Springfield Fire Department and gave us a tour of the station where he works. We enjoyed a day at the pool and quality play time with the kids.
It was a wonderful visit, made even more so by my decision to set the camera aside for a couple of days and focus on renewing connections with Emma & Chad, and on getting to know the kids. Those three days were all about family.
From Springfield, Missouri, our next stop would be Springfield, Illinois. We were back to taking the scenic route and decided to drive through farm country to Jefferson City, the Missouri state capital. While in Jeff City, we stopped at the Capitol for an impromptu visit. Boy, were we in for a surprise. We just happened to arrive on a day the capitol rotunda was closed for a special event. The Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs had brought the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the capitol. It was set up on display in the rotunda and anyone who wanted could get in line to have their picture taken with the trophy.
If not for the fact that I’m a diehard Packer fan, I would surely have gotten in line. But I did make some photos.
Here, are a few photos from our visit to the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.
