It was hard to take a picture that feels like it captures eastern Kansas and western Missouri. It's not the epic flat of central and western Kansas. It looks a lot like much of the east. Trees. Fields.

Historic Markers. (This is outside Lawrence, KS.)

Maybe tomorrow we'll pass something that says "Missouri" to us.

I was confused crossing the Missouri river twice. We crossed it once in Kansas City and again here at "airport/riverport" just west of St. Louis, proper. Tomorrow, though, we cross the Mississippi and leave the west behind.

This river port area is a suburban office building campus. It's not scenic, and it's good we brought left-overs with us from Salina. This is one of those weirdly isolated places — we're surrounded by cities, but there's no neighborhood right here. The closest sign of civilization is other hotels, a gas station, and a fast-food joint.

This is COVID-19. Many things are closed or have reduced hours. These acres and acres of office buildings have empty parking lots.

But even if people were using the office buildings, there's nothing here but parking and a gas station.

Next time, we need to find a less isolated-feeling place to stay.