J and I stopped at Paula's Runway Cafe; we've been there before with a larger group of pilots, and I took pictures. Here, in case you need a refresher:

This time, it was just J and I. We got a nice little table in the corner to ourselves, which was pretty great! J got some french toast, and I got some biscuits and gravy, and a coffee!

The waitress who tended us actually caught me in the middle of getting the photos of the coffee and thought they were rad! So she asked me if I could send them to her, so that she could send them to the owner of the cafe, in order to make an Instagram post!! How cool!! I'll send the link here at some point if they actually do that!

I still wasn't able to gather up much in the way of scenery on the way back; it seemed to be raining everywhere all day today, and so everything looked really dreary, except for this pretty cool set of rocks jutting out from the ground:

I also got several really nice pictures of some birds of prey! I was actually pretty surprised that I was able to snag these, since I was zoomed in pretty far and we were in a fast-moving vehicle...

I even decided to edit a few of them to make them kinda funky-looking! I like how these turned out!

J and I stopped at a camping supply store before heading home. There were a few odds and ends we needed – some sleeping pads to insulate us from the cold ground, some sleeping bags that are rated for cold weather, a couple of water filters that will make any water safe to drink (we don't know the quality of the tap water in other states, and we still remember our experience in Washington D.C...), and a few other odds and ends that will make needing to go to the bathroom in the woods a little less awful, in case we need to do that. We also went to pick up my medicine – one that keeps my stomach acid in check, and another that keeps my blood pressure in check. Important stuff!

We were both pretty tired by the time we got home, but that's all right. I got to spend time time in a video chat with a dear friend of mine, whom we are hopefully going to visit during our trip! There are several people who read my silly letters to you, along the route we planned, who expressed an interest in us visiting them, actually! I am very much looking forward to this!

...Still... what a surreal thing that is!! Goodness!!

And that's really the long and short of today. I wish you could tell me how today went for you. That'd be super nice actually.

...You really don't know what I'd give to be able to sit in the same space with you and just talk to you for a little while.

I suppose I ought to end today's letter here. I wanted to maybe play some Valheim with J, and we're a'creep-creep-creepin' up on our bedtime, so... I had better get started on setting that up now.

I love you. And I hope someday you'll be able to have your own adventures that are similar to the kinds of adventures J and I have. Please stay safe so you can do that, okay?

I'll write again soon.