Made it!

We've made it. After a two-day long car drive, we've finally made it. Thank you, Lord! At about midnight, we arrived at the Countryman's house. Yes, I can't believe it! We're in Minnesota.

However, the journey here was long and arduous. We started all the way from Abilene on the 8th. We were supposed to leave around 9 am, but in the end, we left closer to 1 pm later in the afternoon, and it was unbearably hot by then. Thank goodness we covered our Oldsmobile 98 so carefully with every kind of sun shades we could find in Wal-Mart. If we did not do so, we would have been burned to a crisp.

After saying our elongated goodbyes to Jo's sister, Stephanie, we drove off to the uncharted territories of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.

First in the list was Oklahoma, the Native American State. Just bordering Texas to the north, we crossed into Oklahoma through the bordering Texas city of Wichita Falls. Not so different from Texas as I thought it would be... Like Texas, the immediate fields we passed through from Texas were filled with those horrendously ugly brownish spiky weeds. Even after we stopped at a Wal-Mart after some 3 hours of driving, we noticed that the air still smells the same, with the frequent hot gust of wind brushing through our hair like a natural hair dryer. Feeling quite exhausted, I decided to rest and allow Soo Li to take over the driving.

After some 3 hours later, we arrived in Oklahoma City, the capital of Oklahoma. It was already 6 pm ish by then, and all we wanted to do was to rest and eat some. So, we used our convenient little GPS machine to find the directions to an Asian restaurant to stop by. With a little difficulty, we finally decided to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant, called Pho Cuong. I thought the food was quite tasty, but apparently, Soo Li and Jo thought it was just OK. Well, can't blame them for being honest. After all, I needed to save face for choosing this restaurant.

We continued our journey after dinner. With a stomach too stuffed with beef noodles, I immediately was knocked out into slumberland, only to be woken up violently after an hour or so, when Soo Li became too tired to drive. Too groggy to put up any argument, I relented. So, the next 2 or so hours, I drove all the way to Kansas into the border city of Wichita (not to be confused with Wichita Falls).

At about 10.30 pm, we reached an inn at Wichita. We were so thankful that we finished our first day of driving. After all, the last 2 hours of driving up to Kansas was rather dangerous, the roads being almost completely dark, not to mention it thundering and drizzling by the time I took over the driving.

The next morning, we left at about 10 am, after eating a hearty breakfast. The next 3 hours were pleasant. The scenery had changed by the time we reached Kansas. It was, without doubt, GREEN. Soft, almost hair-like, rolling grass covered the meadows that was spread across the land. Just gorgeous.

However, by the next hour or so after crossing from Kansas into Missouri, things began to become dull (well, at least to me). The so-called "Show Me State," was not too beautiful, as I thought it should be. Well, maybe downtown Kansas City was alright... but the rest is pretty dull.

There, we struggled in our search for a decent eatery. Using our convenient, yet old and outdated GPS tracker, we tried in vain as we searched for an authentic Asian restaurant to rest and eat. After a whole hour running through the list, and finding no hope (all the restaurants went to were those Americanized buffet eateries), we settled with Hwang's. I picked this restaurant up because it bore part of my name. Although it was the usual run-of-the-mill American Chinese restaurant, the owners were extremely nice to us. We were the only Chinese they've seen for the last who knows when (and also the only customers they've got at that time), and so they were very happy to welcome us. Of course, their hospitality also came from their joy in serving the Lord, as they later revealed to us that they were Christians even before they left Taiwan for American some 35 years ago. The food was decent, and although Americanized, what we've ordered truly showed that the owners, a bubbly husband-and-wife team, really care about the quality of their food.

Having had a full stomach, we left for Iowa, where after some 3 hours of driving, we stopped by Des Moines for dinner. This place, Kwang Tung, was totally devoid of the "joy of the LORD". The waiter served us so unpassionately and so robotic, that one would mistake him for Frankenstein. The food was also barely passable. Well, can't complain here. Whatever God gave us, we humbly accept it from Him.

Later, we left for St. Paul. It was already night, and yes, it was dark. We had to drive for some 4 hours before reaching our destination. I drove the first two hours, before Soo Li took over from me. We reached Steve's house at about 12.30 am, and too tired to have any conversation, we just slept as soon as we got there.

Now that we are here, please thank God for us! It was an incredible journey up here, and it would not have been possible without the Lord, especially during the last leg of the race where it was not only dark, but also raining heavily. Praise the Lord that we've made it safe and sound.