Friday, Feb. 15- Winter Tour

Getting on the bus seems kind of like a dream; 6:30 a.m. is not the prime time for most of us. As we peered through “half-mast” eyes we stumbled onto the bus, claimed our territory and settled down. The bus probably wasn’t out of Hesston before some of us were asleep (after saying hello to Alvin, of course).

Our path leads us to Morton, IL which is about a nine hour drive from Hesston. The morning was uneventful, mostly filled with sleeping. Lunch proved to be a bus picnic of sack lunches at a rest stop somewhere along the way. A few of us attempted to brave the cold and eat our lunches on the bowed picnic benches provided by the rest area, but a chilly wind drove us back to the shelter of the bus.

We arrived in Morton at about 5:30. After unloading our possessions (all into the same room, how is this supposed to work? J). We attempted to work out our “bus voice.” We then ate a delicious supper of salad, spaghetti, and fruit. Before supper Mitch decided it would be amusing to give me my first experience of being “swept off my feet” (literally). He must like to rub it in that I am more than a foot shorter than him.

After a good concert with a few glitches, such as Bradley forgetting to give us the pitch for Vamuvamba, we ate again and visited with the people who had come to hear us.

Kory and I stayed with Don and Ruthie Roth who live right across the road from the church. They took us the roundabout way home, showing us every business and church in Morton, as well as the old family farm. Once we got home they, (while feeding us again) stayed up until midnight telling us the history of Morton. She is the head of the English dept. at the high school and he served as mayor of Morton for 8 years. It was after midnight when Kory and I said goodnight and crawled into our canopy bed. What a day!

~Sarah Hooley