If you are interested in following this road trip from the beginning, click on the earliest date on the left side of the page in the Blog Archive header. After you've read to the bottom of each post, click on the next date in the archive. Hope you enjoy the trip as much as we did!

Hey all, we had some rude neighbors at the motel last night in Boise. They arrived after midnight and were very boisterous. Their conversation was as loud as if it were 2 in the afternoon! We wondered why some people are so thoughtless. Their children were wide awake, chattering and running between rooms that were across the hall from each other, so the door opened and shut 20 times! This particular motel was the first one of the trip that did not have carpet, so the sound was not muffled at all. On top of that they were the next room over! I had taken some Valerian Root so I was mostly knocked out, but Thea finally got up and knocked loudly on the door and repeated three times to them, “Please hold it down! We are trying to sleep!” A man’s voice finally said, “No problem”, but it took several minutes to get the kids settled down. Fortunately we fell back to sleep rather quickly only to be awakened by the jets taking off at the very nearby airport. Argh! As the night turned into day, the also very nearby freeway got busier by the minute. Then the guy above us clumped back and forth a thousand times in his size 18 work boots before he finally came downstairs and left. We finally threw in the towel and got up, showered and headed out. Enough already! We were going to see what time we got to Moses Lake and possibly stay there and drive the final stretch to Chelan in the morning. When we came south from Pendleton the passes over the Blues were difficult for snow and many trucks. Today was sunny and dry and the scenery had awakened into bloom! It was perfect! Traffic seemed light and since my balloon was popped yesterday, I set the cruise to 6 over, but we still made excellent time. We were in the Tri-cities by 2:00. Well heck, we’re only 3 hours from Chelan if that, so let’s just go all the way today. Why suffer another night in a possibly crappy motel. I thinks that’s what I’m most tired of; is motel accommodations. There were a few that were actually very nice, but why roll the dice when we are so close to our own bed in Chelan. It was also good to be back on familiar soil. Eastern Oregon has some very beautiful places this time of year. The change from southern Idaho was very pleasant. Pastoral and relaxing apply. Then there’s Washington. You know, we live in a pretty, pretty place on this planet! We still chose new roads for our journey from Pasco to Chelan. 395 runs through some wonderful farm and cow country. We ended up in Moses Lake on north 17 and continued up to Ephrata, turned west to Quincy. From there on we were back on familiar roads. Today was so nice and the scenery looked especially sweet to us. Even though we have seen them many times, The Palisades were as majestic as much of what we’ve seen the past few weeks. Washington is a good place to be. It’s good to be home! Very good! We will stay downtown for a few hours so Jake can have his youth group up to the house tonight and not have Ma and Pa cramp his style. We are anxious to see our kitty, Race and Sadie Beaty, our sweet little doggy. Weird how you miss those critters. I’m sure she’ll pee all over the place when she sees us! We’ll take tomorrow off, just veg and relax. Sunday will find us at church with Jake and then the last 5 hours to the house. It’s been an absolutely terrific trip and we’d do it again in a heartbeat! Maybe we’ll wait awhile though and let it all sink in. We traveled through 15 states and put a little more than 6,000 miles behind us! Whoa! We took three or four hundred photos and saw so many incredible sights and it will take a while to absorb it all. Oh, by the way, we stopped talking with the twang about an hour into New Mexico. In case you wondered. Thanks to those of you followed us along the way. Hope you got a good taste of our adventure and enjoyed it with us. Till next time, love you and stay safe.

We got away about 9:30 this morning and headed north towards Salt Lake City. After talking about it we decided to turn west on I-80 which would take us right by the Bonneville Salt Flats. Cool! Maybe I’d get a chance to wind it up. I’d really like to see what 160 mph feels like. I’d have Thea take a picture of the speedometer to show and tell. The road from Salt Lake to Bonneville is right at 99 miles. 55 of that is as straight as an arrow. It crosses the salt flats at the south and west of the Great Salt Lake. The road is raised about 4 feet above the salt and has maybe a 4 foot wide shoulder. Along the edge people have used rocks to form words and pictures and of course Bobby loves Mary kind of thing. We couldn’t figure out where they got all those rocks! We didn’t see any along the road. There were several places where cars and trucks had run off into the salt and when it’s wet or even damp, they got good and stuck! At the far end, just before you cross into Nevada, you come to the turn that takes you out onto the National Speedway. I was really getting pumped about it! We ran down this narrow road with salt on both sides again and it was apparent that in some places it was firm enough to support a vehicle. All of a sudden the pavement stops and you are out on the salt. We stopped in time and found the sign explaining that the salt was liable to be soft and that the Department of the Interior will prepare the flats for speed trial in early summer once it dries completely. Well shoot! The salt was still real wavy from the winter winds as it dried and had not been smoothed yet. Well shoot! We did drive out onto the salt a ways and took some pictures, but we did not get the chance to get up any speed. It was just too bumpy. Well shoot! It was still really cool to be out on that huge expanse of salt. When they do grade it, it’s a path 80 feet wide and 10 miles long. Wouldn’t that be cool!? Maybe another day. So we continued on into Nevada intending to turn north at Wells and heading north into Idaho from there. Wells is about 70 miles in and right inside the Nevada line you cross over a small mountain range and end up on a high plateau. We spotted a nice antelope buck laying about 50 feet off the road on a small rise, just watching the traffic pass by. I think he might have been counting cars. He looked so casual. The road out of the mountains were long down hill stretches that crossed the valley to the next rise on the far side. (See photo)Just before we came down from the second mountain pass into Wells, we got tagged by the Nevada State Patrol. He got 2 of us at once. Well shoot! He was very amiable and said he understood the urge to cover some ground on such an open and straight road, but there is a speed limit and I was going too fast to ignore. He reduced it some to save us some fundage. He really was quite a friendly fellow. I thanked him and away we went. I set the cruise at 76 to be safe and sailed down the road. We decided to push on to Elko and then head north on Nevada 225 into Idaho instead of turning at Wells. That might have been a mistake. Maybe 10 minutes later my radar detector went off and I saw a Sheriff going the opposite direction and then the radar thing turned off. Next thing I see is that same Sheriff coming up behind us with his lights flashing. It couldn’t be me he’s after, I checked and we were doing 76 in a 75. I pulled over and he did to. What!? He came up slowly with his hand on his side arm. I rolled down the window and asked him the speed limit in the area. He said it was 75, but that I was doing 90! I exclaimed, “No way!” He got a bit excited and told me to watch my attitude. I asked him how he’d react if he was accused of doing 90 when he was really doing 76? To make a long story short, he let me go after trying to say that my speedometer was incorrect and needed to be checked by the dealer. I told him that I had just been sighted for speed and the speed that officer had claimed I was doing was right on. I questioned his unit’s accuracy when he was moving and so was I. He admitted that it might be faulty and that he believed that I believed I was not speeding…..? Huh? Anyway we shook hands and away we went. He was part of a drug task force patrolling I-80. We did see 2 different vehicles pulled over and being searched by at least 6 officers each. We got off the beaten path and 225north was virtually empty! We wound north up past the Wild Horse reservoir and peaked at the dam before we started down the other side. The rocks were very cool. Some looked like the guy on Fantastic Four and there were many huge clumps that we thought looked like piles of Dinosaur poop! It was unique to the area. We hadn’t seen anything like it on this trip and we’ve seen a lot of different rocks, believe me! It was a great road that wound down the valley between the steep rocky cliffs with 25 mph suggested almost the whole way. They were very tight curves for about 10 miles. It was as fun as the road out of Branson in Missouri. I went a bit faster than 25. We finally crossed into Idaho at the Duck Indian Reservation. That side of the mountains was an immense high plain that seemed to go on forever. Soon we realized that the grassy plain had turned into marshland that disappeared into the far distance. Then we dropped off that high plateau and onto another that again seemed to go on and on. It was like coming down a series of 10 mile long flat steps onto the next one to the north. On the far north horizon we could see a mountain range with snow capped peaks. It was the lower end of the Saw Tooth Range where you’ll find the Sun Valley Ski Resort. We drove on for miles and then again dropped off onto another, yet lower plateau. It was cool to break out of a short winding canyon and see the next expanse of grassy plains open up before us. Cool! We finally got into civilization after about 86 miles of Idaho travel. We had not seen another vehicle going north and only 3 or 4 going south in all that distance. We got into Mountain Home and intended to find a room, but didn’t see anything that looked appealing. We found I-84 and pushed on to Boise where we found several choices. The time was 8:00 PM. The time changed in Nevada to Pacific Time and then back to Mountain Time in Idaho. It was a long day and the traffic stop popped my balloon. I’ll get over it….all is well. I just wish my radar detector would have said something! Tomorrow we’re thinking we’ll be back on Washington soil. Woohoo! Only a couple more days and we’ll be home. It will be good to be home.

We are so emotionally wrung out! Maybe you’ll understand after reading today’s events. We got away around the same time as usual and headed for the spot where the four state lines intersect. Right as we got onto the hiway, we saw a colony of prairie dogs which started the day off in a good way. They were just lazing around in the sun and going about their business. Cute little buggers! When we got to the entrance of the monument, there was a crowd and they wanted money just to see the spot. Not happening. We ran back into Colorado and then right back into Utah. We drove north through White Canyon which is the east end of Glen Canyon. I am really having trouble with a description of what we saw today. It just wouldn’t stop. It’s almost spiritual the beauty that is there. Every turn was so impressive that we actually choked up and tears ran down our cheeks several times. It was like listening to Mario Lanza or Richard Tucker with your eyes. Ma would have loved it! The day was glorious and the scenery was beyond expression. We had picked up a CD of Native American music in the visitors center at Marble Canyon on the way down a few weeks back. The flute with drums and chanting supported by symphony was haunting. The combination of music and spectacular scenery was almost more than we could take. “Wow” came out involuntarily a thousand times. We turned down a road that said it would become gravel for a few miles and would climb at a 15% grade with many switch-backs. It also warned about not trying it with a trailer or over 10,000 lbs GVW. What the heck; we could always turn back and I am adventurous so away we went. The road was gravel, but very smooth and it looked doable. As we climbed we began to wonder where the road could possibly go up this step cliff we were ascending. We drove at maybe 10 miles an hour and did stop for the view a couple times. We really had no trouble, but when we reached the top, we had climbed almost 2,000 vertical feet in 3 miles! We wondered who on earth built this road! It saved many extra miles, but it must have been a very tough job. Some of it was wash-board so the corners were paved to prevent crow-hopping on the decent and losing control. That would be disastrous. Once on top the terrain was still amazing. We were on top of a huge mesa that was covered with juniper and small pine trees. We came upon a sign that read, “Jacob’s Chair”. It’s the ‘chair’ looking formation beyond the cliffs in the foreground. We could see the black clouds in the distance, but didn’t know if the road would lead us into it or not. The road wound trough canyons and cliffs so high that it was like traveling in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. At one point we crossed the Colorado River and then climbed to a bluff overlooking the scene below. We walked out to the point and were overwhelmed with the sights all around us. Thea said that the many froms around us reminded her of huge mounds of carved fudge. It made her hungry for a brownie or hot fudge sundae. It did start to rain as we approached the town of Hanksville. It was a good time to stop for lunch so we pulled into a small cafe that bragged of buffalo burgers. That sounded good so we ordered. When we went to pay, they had lost the telephones and would not take our credit card. Hmmm. I’m glad we had plenty of fuel so we didn’t need to charge any there. We reluctantly left and saw another place just down the road. It was called Blondie’s and their phones were out as well, but would take a check from Washington. So we got some lunch and then needed to make some time, so we went north on east 24 that would connect to I-70 44 miles north. That road was nearly straight the entire way. I think there might have been 2 curves the whole distance. The road was good so I let the Vette roll out. We ran 44 miles in 24 minutes. You do the math. It was exhilarating. I- 70 was smooth and lacked much traffic, so we made good time there as well. Not as good as E-24 though. The road seemed to climb and climb and went through some more unbelievable scenery. It started to rain again and this time it got heavy. We crossed a pass that did not post a name, but the summit was 7,883 feet. Going down the other side made me cautious because it was very difficult to see through the down pour. It seemed like we descended for 35 or 40 miles. The mpg was way up today. That’s nice. Finally we connected with U-50 and then I-15 and arrived in Nephi right at 8 PM. We got a room at the same Motel 6 that we stayed at on the way though 3 weeks ago. When I opened the file for pictures, we had taken 84! Normally we get 10 to 15. I really wish I could include them all, but the blog site only allows 5 at a time. (Please click on each picture to see them better.) The whole day was sooo… amazing, incredible, spectacular, glorious, stupendous, not stupendous, but you get the idea. The camera did not even come close to the actual vistas and vast panoramas of what we saw. It was all too much! You really need to see this with your own eyes. We were humbled by it all. We wondered what forces created what we saw. If it was a vast plain, formed by a long time of sediment settling to the bottom of a sea or something that was eroded into the canyons and cliffs, where did all that was in-between go? Or was it when after the Flood the earth stretched to its present size and the low places formed and then erosion did its work? Maybe we can watch the “How the Earth Was Formed “video when we get to heaven and see for ourselves. It’s not a place we’d want to live, but it is worth seeing again and the next time we’ll have a better camera.

The drive from Tucumcari was pretty sweet. The traffic was very light and most of the trucks stayed in the outside lane. We knew we were climbing though, the air was noticeably thinner. There was some construction here and there, but we all moved right along. When we got to Clines Corners our suspicions were validated. Check the elevation on the wall at the store! It says 7,200 if you can't make it out. This store probably has the largest selection of stuff from New Mexico under one roof anywhere. It went on and on. Some of it was trinkets, but much of it was native creations. We did drop a few bucks there. New Mexico seems to take alot of pride in their state. Check out the cool overpasses. The inside has horses cast into the support surfaces. Double click the pictures to see them enlarged. The freeways are also all landscaped with cactus and multi-colored sand and stones. It's pretty cool. We made it to Albuquerque around lunch time and after a little screwing around trying to find our way back into “Old Town”, we finally recognized the area and found a parking spot. This time we could drive right into the square and not have to walk so far. Last time was a special weekend and the streets are blocked off to facilitate foot traffic. We were told that Tuesdays are usually the slow day and today was no exception. There were folks, but not the crowds that are surely coming in the next months. We had lunch at the same local café as before and it was as good as we remembered. It was perfect food, perfect timing and perfect quantity. Then we shopped around the square for a ring for me. I had seen a wonderful ring at the flea market in Tulsa and had to pass because I didn’t have enough cash. It was a Zuni inlay and felt so good on my hand. We figured we’d find another one on our way back though New Mexico, but alas, we did not. We looked and looked in several stores, but nothing jumped at me. Dang, I should have gone and got some cash in Tulsa shouldn’t I, yes I should-a. Too late, can’t go back now. We wanted to get up the hiway so we took off knowing that we’ll be back someday. I’m really drawn to this state. Driving up through the juniper landscape that turned into pine covered hills was so pleasant and visually appealing. We crossed the Great Divide at La Jara at 7,300 feet and the views were spectacular. We were going to stay at either Bloomfield or Farmington, but (we can hardly believe it ourselves) there was not one single room available in either town! There is a conference for the oil and gas company employees and owners this week. There are many natural gas and oil rigs along the way. So much for those plans! What do we do now!? Shiprock has no motels at all. Go back to Albuquerque? That’s almost 2 hours! We asked at a fuel stop and the girl behind the counter suggested that we push onto Cortez in the southeast corner of Colorado. We pushed on. The sights we saw are almost indescribable! Most of the landscape is very desolate, but….amazing! The distance is so huge and the mesas are, are, I don’t know, so incredible! Our pictures don’t even come close to seeing it with your own eyes. The Painted Desert has nothing on this place! We saw a storm way off to the west that was black and you could see the sheets of rain like curtains hanging from the bottom of the black clouds above. Some was not getting to the ground, but the darker curtains were. The area looked like it could use a good soaking. Although there isn’t much flora, so we wonder what would grow with water anyway. Like I said, the area is so desolate and that’s what our government gave to the Navajo people. I think they chose it though. To them it is sacred ground. I don’t know the reason but they are there and seem to be OK with it. The visuals of the area definitely give the impression that the Great Spirit has been a visitor there. It’s breathtaking! You should see Chimney Rock in person. Really! The rest of it is just as amazing. Do you get the idea that I’m taken by New Mexico? Well, I admit that I certainly am! I felt a serenity when we crossed the state line out of Texas and it hasn’t left. We’re staying at the Ute Mountain Casino and Hotel. It’s nice, but Oh My is it smokey. The room isn’t horrible, but the lobby is. We’ll retrace our steps back to the turn-off for the 4 state boundary intersection so we can stand in all 4 at once. Then it’s on to Salt Lake by way of Glen Canyon. More incredible sights! Oh Boy!

Wow, did we sleep well last night! We didn’t even wake up until almost 9:00 so we missed breakfast. Oh, well, we have oatmeal with us and that always works. We hit the road and the black sky was hard to ignore. The rain started right as we got away. Fortunately the traffic was light so we didn’t have to contend with all the spray from the semis. We seemed to be passing the storm as it moved east and north. Finally we saw a few sun breaks with blue sky right behind the clouds. Alright! We came into Texas a few weeks ago quite a bit lower in the state on slower roads. We are getting anxious to get home so we stayed on I-40, which is mostly Route 66 in northern Texas. We thought Texas was flat then. Well we found out what flat really means! We could see forever! Montana has nothing on Texas or New Mexico. I kept the speed close to the limit (maybe just a little above) because last night, on the way home from the church in Chico, we got pulled over. Finally! I’ve been speeding for almost a month now and finally got tagged. Turns out the night speed is 65, not 70; give me a break! Well when the nice patrol officer found out that we were from Washington and probably didn’t know any better and were leaving the state the next day anyway, he let us go. He did give us a warning ticket which means if we get tagged again, we’ll be in double Dutch! So I cooled it today….Hmmph! (The lower pictures are of Texas and the upper are of New Mexico) Once we neared the border, the terrain started changing and right as we crossed into New Mexico the mesas began to appear all around us. At one point we dropped off the high plateau and into a long valley between two of those wonderful mesas. We are thinking that our favorite state of all is New Mexico. Something about the terrain and vistas is so cool! What a pretty place. We reset our clock back an hour, but 6 ½ hours in the saddle is long enough. We found a room and set up camp. We turned on the news only to find out that there is another severe storm warning in south east New Mexico; tornados again and hail like baseballs! Yikes! We seem to be guided right out of the dangers because that’s the route we were going to take until yesterday. God apparently wants us to get home with minimal damage. Thank You God for Your guidance! Tomorrow should be fun. We’ll turn at Albuquerque and head towards the northwest corner of the state. If we make it that far, there’s a town called Shiprock which has some spectacular rock formations that we just can’t miss. If not, then we’ll at least get to Farmington, which has its own special and unique sights to see and then on through Shiprock on Wednesday. The road to the area is another scenic route and should be beautiful and at some point crosses the southern end of the Great Divide. Cool! The road eventually crosses the intersection of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. I’m told you can have one foot in 2 states and t’other foot in the other 2. If so, we’ll certainly get a picture of that! For now, so long, sleep well.

Today is Sunday. We headed for the New Beginnings church around 9 AM and got there plenty early. Service started at 10:00. I didn’t know what to expect; I’d only been to 2 other charismatic churches and was a bit wierded out to say the least. I’ve come a long way since then and I’m more willing to receive God’s grace in whatever form it takes. Besides, if God is using this fellow to heal people, I can use some healing; if I could breathe better, I’d welcome it. Dave Duell was raised on a cattle ranch in Colorado. It took until he was 30 to realize the salvation of Christ. It took another 10 years to realize that he had a gift to heal. Word has spread and the proof is in the pudding. People are actually having physical healing and it is documented by doctors who have treated them. Dave is now 70 years old and obviously is in touch with God. We never did talk to the doctors, so take it with a grain of salt if you wish. He seemed to know that something was up with both Thea and me. He hasn’t been to this church in a year so we could have easily been members, he wouldn’t have known anything about us. He asked me what my ailment was. I told him I had lung disease and he held me by my shoulders and made a quick motion with his hand and I felt like he’d punched me. It didn’t hurt, but it knocked me back into my chair. He had not punched me. I felt like a warm aura around my chest and that was it. I took some deep breaths and I guess we’ll see if it happens all at once or if it is a process that will take some time. Then he stood in front of Thea and asked her about her difficulty. She explained that she wanted her knees healed. He held her, made the big motion and she shot back into her chair. She didn’t feel anything at first, but he asked her to walk out and see if her knees felt any different. She says they suddenly felt very hot and tingly. That happened at 10:30 this morning and they are still hot tonight. Perhaps it is a process and time will tell. We were so taken with some of the people that when they invited us to lunch, we gladly accepted. We chatted with them for almost 2 hours and it was all good. Rose Drew is the lady from Starbucks that told us about Dave Duell coming, we met her husband, also named Dave, who is a manager for American Airlines and their daughter whose name is Amy. We met Dave Drew’s friend Tim and his friend, I’ve already forgotten his name; I’m terrible about that. He knows Don Francisco, a rather famous Christian singer who has been around for 20 or 30 years. It was just all good today. We came back to the motel to check on things, took a short nap and then went back tonight for another meeting at 6. Dave Duell is a very charismatic speaker and it was thought provoking and entertaining at the same time. Who’d-a-thunk that we’d be here in the small town of Chico, Texas experiencing a spiritual reviving like this? It makes us think that God has His hand on us all the time and arranged for us to be here. Some may think it’s just coincidence or BS, but we don’t and that’s all that matters. Believe what you want. We are feeling good about it all and will see how much healing actually happens. That’s it. Tomorrow we head back and hope to be in Chelan by Saturday and home by Sunday afternoon. I’ll continue to keep a record of what we find along the trail home. Later!

We slept pretty well although we weren’t sure how that was going to go. The Comfort Inn had a room at the back of the complex. There was a tall hedge at the edge of the parking lot that I could not see through. About 8 and then 8:30 and then 9 we heard the loudest train whistle I’ve heard in a long time! Oh No! The train was about 5 feet beyond the hedge and it sounded like it was coming through the wall. Thea gave me that look. I suggested that maybe the trains don’t run so often at night. I was grasping. We took some knock out drops hoping that we could sleep through the racket. Well guess who was right about fewer trains at night. I was! At least I only heard one until maybe 6:30 or 7:00 AM. We slept right through any others that might have come along. We had decided to head for Dallas on I-20. Texas is divided into 7 types of terrain. The panhandle is considered plains, Kellar is prairies and lakes and east texas is piney woods. These are the 3 we visited and each was beautiful in it's own way. Today was the Piney Woods. We remembered the big flea market that Ron and Cindy had talked about when we were here a week or so ago. This is the weekend that it happens! It’s every weekend before the first Monday of each month. It’s been going on since the 1850’s according to the literature. We found Canton and turned south. Holly Smokes! The place wasn’t big, it was huge! There were parked cars as far as you could see. We found a spot relatively close to some of the buildings. These pavilions were probably 400 feet long and full of vendors with everything you can think of for sale. We struggled along with the crowd and made it down one side and up the other of 2 of them and perused the wares of several more outside. There were many repeats of stuff, but here and there we found some unique crafts and taste sensations. Since we needed to make a few more miles to day, we tried to find our way out of there. That was easier said than done. I wondered, ”Now where did I park that car?” A guy heard me wonder out loud and came to our rescue. He pointed us in the right direction and eventually we found the car. We had barely gotten started and were surprised to find out that the thing covers 300 acres with over 7,000 vendors! No wonder many people set up camps for days on end. It was like the biggest County Fair you can imagine without the chickens and pigs and other farm animals. Amazing! We had no room for any more anything in the car so we headed out. It wasn’t too much further to Dallas and we veered north towards Denton and Decatur on north 35E. We got to Dallas just in time for the rush hour and man do they drive aggressively! Very seldom saw a turn signal used and most of the time our speed was 60 to 70 mph! We bunched up a few times, less than a car length, but never did slow down! I really prefer the less traveled roads, but we were past the point of no return once we got close to Dallas. We didn’t get hit by anyone, so I figure no harm, no foul and we found our way out the other end of the Dallas gambit. Whew! After we secured a room, we set out to find the New Beginnings church in Chico. The road to Chico is my kind of road! Smooth, fast, and almost no traffic; that’s how I like it! The directions that Rose gave us took us right to the door without a hitch. We’ll attend services tomorrow morning and then take the day off. We are kind a tuckered. Talk at you later.

The room we stayed in was quiet and we slept very well last night. We woke to very high wind and immediately switched on the tube to see what was up. There were tornado warnings for a long, wide line that runs north from Tyler Texas up in an arc through Kansas City and it was heading right for Little Rock. We were 30 to 40 miles north and east of there. We talked to the guy at the motel for advice on what to do. We watched the tube in the lobby for a while and the tornado seemed to have dissipated, so our only worry was high winds and rain. He said to just be careful and keep an eye on the sky. We left and picked up highway 70 towards Little Rock. The interstate was full of semis and the spray would be awful if it rained. I also considered that a truck hit by a strong wind would smash us severely flat if it tipped over while we were next to it. Not worth the risk; I prefer the roads less traveled anyway. There was no traffic on 70 and we only had to slow for the little towns along the way. It was very pleasant. The road was lined with trees and they protected us from the wind. For a while we were traveling along the top of a dike with water on both sides lapping the sides of the road. The area was obviously flooded and it gave us the creeps. A few houses were up to the windows with water and a camp site had a few trailers that didn’t get out in time. Another long section of road went past a cypress forest. At first it looked like a swamp, but it turned out to be the area next to a river. It looked like that was its normal state. The trees swelled near the bottom like what you see in the shallow swamps further south. It would take a shallow draft boat to travel through there. It was kind of cool. The plants and trees were very healthy except that most of Arkansas is infested with kudzu which was brought back from Viet Nam and has taken over everywhere. It is a viney thing that climbs the telephone poles and many of the trees all the way to the top. They say that it will cover a house in less than two years. It is everywhere there is a hint of water and there is a lot of water in south west Arkansas. As we approached Little Rock the sky was very dark. It kept getting blacker and the drops started tapping the wind shield. That turned quickly into larger and larger drops until the sky opened up and even with the wipers at top speed, I could barely see to drive. We found ourselves in North Little Rock and decided that a pit stop was a good idea. It was 71 degrees outside and absolutely pouring! We got wet running to the shelter of the building, but it wasn’t cold, so that helped. As we left town towards Texarkana the rain lessened and finally stopped all together. We figured we were at the bottom edge of the storms that were heading north and east. We stopped at Wal-Mart for some stuff and the pavement was almost dry already. We had decided to go to Shreveport Louisiana and enter Texas further south. The road that runs along Inter-state 30 has left many “Radiator Springs” along the way. Each town is quite run-down and there are many abandoned buildings. You could see that they used to be bustling little burgs that have seen much better days. There are a few hold-outs trying to keep it together, but most of the former residence are long gone. It’s kind of sad to see. The road was in remarkably good condition the last 30 miles in Arkansas. It wound up and down through the country side and was very smooth and in good repair. Most of the roads up until late today were in terrible, rough condition. It did start raining again, but it was short lived and it’s not raining down here…right now anyway. We found hiway 20, an east west hiway with several motels along the way. Turns out the area is swarming with military personnel showing up for drills at the base nearby. Almost every room was booked everywhere! The girl at the Comfort Inn did some juggling of rooms and got us set up for the night. Thank you, front-desk-girl. I really did not want to drive any further. Driving in the rain was tiring and we’re ready to stop for the day. We only got one photo today; maybe more tomorrow as we cross into Texas. I think we’ll try for Denton or Decatur tomorrow. I do want to stop by the Chevy dealer in Fort Worth to see if that guy came back and bought the white Corvette. We want to attend church in Chico, a little town west of I-35. It’s the church of the nice little lady we met on the way through a week or so ago. More to come; stay tuned.

Unfortunately we had another semi-sleepless night. It wasn’t the freeway though. Every now and then we heard rather loudly what sounded like someone dragging a garbage bag full of empty pop cans down the flight of stairs just outside our room. Just as we were slipping off into dreamland, it would startle us right back to wide awake. What the…? Thea even got up and went to the door and of course it would stop seconds before she opened the door. No one was there! We finally figured it out that it was the ice machine depositing ice into someones plastic bucket. It's located in the hollow passageway right next to our room. I think it might also have been the ice maker just dropping the last load into the holding tray. Then around 5:30 we were jerked awake by what sounded like a demolition derby right outside the window! After the brain fuzz settled we realized that it was garbage day and the truck that lifts the dumpsters had 4 or 5 within a hundred feet of our door. God! We had the hot breakfast which was actually not bad, packed the car and headed out intending to find the quilt store that Thea had read about in the visitor’s information pamphlet. I’ll be darned, we found it first try! What!? Yup, we did. The ladies that run the place were very outgoing and helpful. Thea was in quilter’s heaven. She found a pattern book with new (to her) patterns and a cutting deal to get the right amount of extra fabric at several angles. It worked for the patterns in the book. She even showed Thea how to use it and gave her some samples to take home. Well you don’t just walk out of a fabric store without fabric so we (yes we) picked out some fat quarters and a half yard of this and a half yard of that, paid for it all and then walked out. Tickled was my wife. It’s good to see her smile. We pointed the car towards Memphis and made plans to grab a bite on Beale Street down town. We found it easy enough, parked and strolled through all the sights, smells and sounds of the Blues Capital. They are famous for B-B-Q and a real fun place to be. Music (Blues) from several different live musicians was in the air. One guy we heard will be great in no time. Stevie Ray Vaughn comes to mind. He's the guy in the checkered cap. He was real good on that guitar of his. We ate at “Pigs” which boasts the best B-B-Q pork around. I bet they are right! We checked out the shops and found the Memphis Hard Rock Café. We found the brass note in the sidewalk for Elvis and then found the Gibson Guitar plant. We went inside the store that was full of pretty well every model of guitar they make. It was very cool. There is a festival starting tomorrow that will go through the weekend. I guess the place will really be hopping! Beale will be crawling with amateur and professional blues musicians, singers and those that love them. I’d love the music, but not the crowds so it’s good we got there today. We crossed over the Mighty Mississip and into Arkansas. Interstate -40 looked like a good bet to make some time. WRONG! I bet better’n half the semis in America were on that hiway today. It wouldn’t have been so bad except that they are all trying to pass each other and plugging the only 2 lanes for miles at a time because they are only going 1 mile an hour faster than the truck they are passing. Screw that! We got off at Wheatley and found a room in Brinkley a few miles down State hiway 70. We had to stop for a train, but that was OK with me. The truck traffic was way too intense this time of day. We’ll stay on 70 tomorrow and then go southwest from Little Rock into eastern Texas. Not sure which way we’ll go after that, but it will eventually get us back up into the Pacific Northwest in a week or so. I’ll keep-a-typin’ so’s you can follow us the whole way home. We are wondering where we’ll be when we stop talking like this! Oh, by the way, RABBIT! Til then, Happy Trails.

Well today was amazing! We didn’t sleep that well because of the proximity of the freeway, but we did sleep some. Right across the parking lot from us was the National Corvette Museum. We drove over and parked in “Corvettes Only” spaces right up front. That was cool. There are very rare and beautiful cars inside. In 1983 there was only one Corvette manufactured because production of the 84 cars began mid-summer. The museum has the only 1983 Corvette in existence. They have a display of all the 3’s in a long row as you enter. They have a perfect ’53, a ’63 and so on to the present. There was a display of the ‘62 that was featured in the TV show “Route 66”. There were so many beautiful examples of every version of Corvette from the beginning in 1953. They even had the prototypes with all the history and the designers. It was all so cool! I bought a couple posters for the office. One is the technical info with pictures of all the years up to 2006. 2007, ’08 and even ‘09 are virtually the same as the ’06. The museum is where you pick up your special order car and while we were there a couple was doing just that. They bought a 2008 Indy ‘Pace Car’. It's the one in front of mine in the picture in front of the museum. They got to watch the entire car be assembled from start to finish and were the first to start the engine and drive it off the end of the line themselves. We met them and talked a bit. This one is ‘his’ because ‘hers’ is a 2003 Indy pace car they drove up from Alabama in. He also has another earlier pace car back home. I don't remember the year. The guy even got to stamp the VIN numbers on the tranny and the bell housing himself during the production process which takes about 12 hours total time. After the museum, we had lunch at Bob Evans restaurant (they are everywhere down here in the south) where we ran into the new owners again and chatted some more. After that we went to the assembly plant for our own tour. It was so cool to watch the entire process from start to finish. I don’t know who orchestrates the process, but they get all the various parts installed on the right cars as they go along. I’m sure the guide said that they produce 130 to 140 a day! Many are special order and there are many choices so getting the right parts on the right cars must take some concentration to get it right. They do many tests as it goes along and then do a dyno and squeak test and finally a seal test where they high pressure each car from all sides with water to check for leaks. It was so cool to see all these different Corvettes taking shape. They have different versions for export as well. They have to have lens washers and the side marker lights are amber in back not red like the stateside cars. We did not see any right had drive cars, but they do make them. This plant also produces the Cadillac XLR which is very similar to the Corvette in many aspects. The body is composite like the Corvette and it’s a beauty! They say that the technology in the XLR is more involved than the first Apollo space craft. The 375 horse model base price is $85K and the 435 horse base is $100K. There is more electronic stuff than you can imagine. They aim to please. They only produce 8 of those beauties a day. They sure are perdy! The whole day was so cool! We met many Corvette owners and it felt good to be in the brotherhood. There are Corvettes all over the place! After wards we headed south past Nashville and found a place here in Franklin, Tennessee. Tomorrow we hope to find “The Quilting Squares” around here somewhere, which is a store of hard to find material and sundries for the complete quilter. They have Civil War reproductions and Thea is interested to say the least, so that’s what we’ll do. After that we’ll head for Memphis and see where the day takes us. Till next time, sleep tight!

Hey, all,
We got to Raymondville around 2:30 after driving through more still amazing countryside. The road wound through first hills and dales and that became rolling lush pastureland. It has all been so incredible. We ended up driving about 3 miles on red gravel roads to get to Tami and Roy’s place. The last ¼ mile was particularly deep and loose considering the minimal road clearance the Corvette has. No damage even though there was a lot of noise. The area they found is part of a 5,000 acre equestrian development that has many miles of trails for the owners to use. The land is divided into 5 acre parcels and you can buy 1 or a dozen. I think Roy said that it is about $2,500 to $3,000 per acre. That’s not bad considering that the phones and power are in. They have 5 acres and Roy built the log house himself and is now finishing the interior. Tami is quite artistic and has decorated the place in a western/cowboy/mountain theme. Their horse and mule enjoy the pasture that covers most of their piece. They are our kind of people and it was so good to finally get back together with them. The place is crawling with White tail deer and we saw quite a few wild turkeys close by. They took us for a drive and the place is so beautiful! There is a place called paradise valley that is a 150 acre grass pasture next to a wide meandering creek with 100 foot cliffs on the opposite shore. They used to hold rendezvous there, but with fuel prices being what they are, people are not coming to enjoy the experiences that can be had. I understand that during the depression, many families came to that valley and lived in the many caves that dot the area. The hunting was and is good and there is plenty of fresh water. Roy treated us to a wonderful pork bar-b-queue last night and home grown bacon with eggs and blueberry pancakes that he cooked on the outside gas grill this morning for breakfast. Our short visit was very pleasant and we hated to leave, but we still want to get to Bowling Green and had back-tracked about 150 miles to see Tami and Roy. When we got back to Poplar Bluff we filled ‘er up, ate lunch and did a car wash. That red dust made the car look pretty tacky. Not acceptable! Today we stayed on the Interstate because it moves much quicker. Even so we drove for almost 9 hours! I am beat, but we are here! The terrain change in eastern Missouri was striking. We went from rolling hills to dead flat in only a few miles. It also changed from stock farms to agricultural farms. We drove for maybe 50 miles and didn’t gain or lose more than a few hundred feet. Right after we crossed the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers we were into long rolling hills of Kentucky. We are just loving this whole experience! Every state has it's own flavor and each is simply wonderful! What a country we live in! Here we are 1/3 the way across Kentucky and we drove here! That's sooo cool! The car is running perfectly and the seats are still completely comfortable. I’m looking forward to the Corvette museum and we can take a tour of the factory. We will call first thing to let them know we are here and should be able to see how Corvettes are made after lunch. We are hoping to start back west tomorrow afternoon although we might also go see the Mammoth Caves that are only a few miles north of here. We’ll keep you posted.

We woke to a sort-of dreary day in Branson this morning. We had a decent breakfast provided by the Victorian Palace Motel. We realized that Branson is very much like Las Vegas except that there is no ‘X’ or ‘R’ rated shows and there are no casinos. After a little more exploration of town and some picture taking, we headed back north to find state hiway 160 east. Like I said, we were at the north edge of the Ozark Mountains. The topography is very hilly with deep draws. We found ourselves on the spine of a ridge winding across the state. I think we averaged about 38 miles an hour. It was such fun driving for me! The road rolled left and right, up and down continuously all day. The engineers did a great job with the road by making sure that the corners were banked in relation to the sharpness of the curves and the surface was smooth as silk. It was like skiing a slalom course. Many corners were right at the bottom of a dip; it almost felt like we were flying, soaring through the sky out of a rolling inside loop. Such fun! The forest was mostly Oak scrub at first and that turned into Hickory mix with splashes of flowering Dogwood in full bloom out in every direction. It was beautiful! There is virtually no underbrush and it would be easy to walk out through the forest if it weren’t for the extreme elevation changes every ¼ mile or so. The straight sections of road were just like a roller-coaster at Palisades Park! We actually got that feeling in our tummies when you go over the top and start down again. What fun! The homes along the way were small houses, some were little shanties, and most were well kept. There will always be the few that must collect dead cars and trucks and all the other “perfectly good” junk that could be, but probably won’t ever be used for anything useful. We remarked about the fact that the homes with grass around the house were freshly mowed. It was nice to see. A couple places we crossed the river or creek bottoms and the recent rains had caused pretty severe flooding. The water was right up to the bottom of the bridges. It was kind of creepy. We felt like we were skimming across the water to the other side. Much of the drive today crossed and re-crossed the Bull Shoals Lake system in western Missouri. Some poor souls had built their houses too near the shore and all that was visible was the ridge of the roof. I understand that this all happened in just the last week or two. We hope the people affected can deal with the damage and frustrations. The last 20 miles or so was much more level as the hills disappeared behind us. There were countless picturesque cattle and horse farms on every side. The vistas seemed to go on forever into the distances with long rolling hills covered here and there with woodlots of Hickory and Walnut. The grass was long and lush and the critters were plump. The whole day was terrific! We got to Poplar Bluff around 6:00 PM and found a room right away. We checked the phone book, expecting to find many listings for Beaty, Hindal and Garrison. Those are the names of distant relatives that we were sure would be numerous. We did find a few Garrisons, but none of the others. Not one! We might investigate some of the Garrisons to see if they are related to us somehow in the morning, but we must admit that we lost some of the wind in our sails. We called some friends that live a few hours north and will go spend the afternoon and evening with them tomorrow. It’s been over 6 years since we’ve seen them. Tuesday morning should find us heading east again with the goal of Bowling Green, Kentucky by the end of the day. That’s where we hope to find no flooding and spend some time at the National Corvette Museum. Yahoo! More to follow.

Hey, y’all from Branson Missouri! We were reading the pamphlet on Tulsa and found that there is a large flea market at the fairgrounds this weekend. It was on the same road as the motel, but when we got there all we found was a horse show. As much as I like horses, that’s not why we went there, so we decided not to stay. We almost turned right out of the parking lot, but I thought if we drive all the way around the fairgrounds, we can say we checked out the whole place. On the other side we found this giant pavilion and sho’nuff there was the flea market. It was typical except that there was tons of jewelry and Thea was in heaven! We spent an hour and a half looking and meeting some of the people there. It was fun even though we didn’t drop any cash. I almost bought a hand-made inlayed Zuni ring, but didn’t have enough money on me. It was real nice, but maybe it’s for the best. We found some lunch and aimed the car east towards Missouri. We followed route 66 almost all the way to Joplin and then found hiway 60 and then south on I-65. We passed through many little towns and hit a few stop lights, but it was very pleasant scenery the whole way. We didn’t choose I-44 because you miss so much and they want $3 toll to use it and the traffic is no fun. I am continually amazed at how the country side changes as you cross the state lines. Oklahoma was lush, but mostly flat. As we traveled further into Missouri, the terrain morphed into longer rolling hills and deeper and deeper draws with higher hills. This is horse country and so there are many large horse operations along the way. It is also tornado alley and many of the trees look shredded with tall piles of branches after the clean-up. We were told that much of the damage was also caused by recent ice storms. As we neared Branson, we stopped at the visitor center and found that we could make arrangements for a room and a show. Branson is an amazing little town. It’s the Las Vegas for Country Music. We saw a show called “Country Tonight”. It was wonderful. I really like live shows and this one was excellent! The band had some older musicians, but the dancers were young and full of energy. The singers were also younger and sang with lots of power and purity. I was impressed and very glad we chose that one. It would be good to spend some time here because there are about 100 shows going on every night. Right now there are few big names, but during the summer there are many famous country singers to enjoy. When you think of where we are on the planet, it makes me wonder, “Why here?” This is the northern edge of the Ozark Mountains. There are many hills and very deep and steep hollows and yet the town of Branson is spread over 7 miles through them. The exteriors of the theaters are as imaginative as anything you’d see in Vegas and there are many hotels and motels to choose from along with all the amenities you’d ever need. I’ll try to include some pictures in tomorrow’s post. We are so glad we stopped here and wish we could stay longer….maybe some other time. We hope to make it to Poplar Bluff tomorrow afternoon. We might spend part of the day Monday trying to find some records of our family who lived there at one time. Both Thea and I have relatives from Poplar Bluff so we hope our search proves fruitful. We shall see. I wanted to say that yesterday I posted 2 separate days because I couldn’t get onto the internet until then, so click the ‘Previous Post’ spot at the bottom of the page. That will take you back to the events of Thursday. Sleep well.

Hello from Tulsa Oklahoma! We were treated to 2 days and 3 fun-filled nights at the Johnson Resort/ Bed & Breakfast! The gourmet cuisine and the wonderful conversation was such a treat for us. After taking so long to get the car repaired, it was way too late to head out on the hiway and Ron and Cindy kindly offered us another night on that fine new bed. We thank them genuinely. We made good time today and were at Oklahoma State University early in the day. The fellow at the Visitors Center recommended the Museum of Natural History on campus. We found it easily and spent quite a bit of time looking and learning about the local prehistoric population as well as the current animal residence. We also perused displays on the Native peoples who were sent here after the Indian displacement that took place in the late 19th century. It is one of the largest College supported museums in America. It was very interesting. After lunch at Sonic, we found the cut-off to Route 66 that parallels I-44 to Tulsa. It was a winding, rolling ride and was mostly enjoyable. As we left the hiway a small car of 3 stupid girls passed us on the shoulder and cut us off. Because of the traffic flow, we ended up in front of them as we entered the small town of Dale. They were right on our tail all the way to McCloud. We came to a turn in town and they tried to dart in front on the left before we were even in the turn lane. We got on a straight stretch and they passed us on a hill, yelling obscenities and waving their middle fingers and took off. I think they were telling us they thought we were number one! Or maybe it was their I-Q. We caught up to them at another stop and they just sat there holding up the line of 3 of us behind them. Again with the fingers. Weird! We let them get way ahead of us and then caught up again as they turned into their driveway. Whatever! Maybe they were high or drunk or just don’t like foreigners. I’m not sure and I guess I don’t care. It just made our impression of Oklahoma a little tainted. Other than that the rolling lush green hills, topped with groves of mesquite trees and dotted with ponds and water holes and large herds of well-fed horses was made for a pleasant drive. We finally got to Tulsa and found the Days Inn. We get the Super Saver pamphlets with special prices at participating motels along the way. We checked in to a non-smoking room and dragged our bags up to the second floor. The smell of cigarette smoke became so strong that by the time we got into the room, we were struggling to breathe. The smoke from downstairs was rising up through the stairwells and probably the floors and was, for us, unbearable. I went back to the office and got our money back. He did not offer us another choice so we left. Super Savers had a Comfort Suites listed that is smoke free, has continental breakfast and Wi-Fi. There isn’t a hint of smoke and it is very pleasant. Tomorrow we think we will be halfway across Missouri; Lord willing (maybe). If something looks interesting along the way, we’ll stop and see just how interesting it really is. Sleep tight!

Well, we sure did welcome the chance to take a day of rest. Cabela’s was so huge. We didn’t buy anything; I’m pretty well set for hunting gear and I don’t fish much (yet). We still spent nearly 2 hours just looking at all the trophy game and displays of animals from around the world. We stayed and had lunch in the Cabela’s cafeteria. It was quite an experience and we had a great time. The rest of the day we just took it easy. We so appreciate the hospitality of Ron and Cindy. We slept so good and Cindy, as busy as she is, fed us well and we really enjoyed visiting with them. Thanks, you guys; you are welcome at our house any time! It got a bit dicey last night however when the TV broke in with Tornado Alerts! What!? The weather map showed these terrible looking storms coming right at us. Ron and Cindy seemed a little too calm. It happens often this time of year. The sky outside was being lit up every few seconds with huge lightning and huger thunder. I actually like a good storm, but then they started talking about hail warnings. They described them as the size of tennis balls! Cripe! Do you know what that would do to the glass on my car? The body might survive; it’s made of composite, but not the glass. I went out and covered the front glass with our car blanket, figuring that if I could save the windshield, I could at least see to drive. Then we strapped a tarp over the whole car to help if it would. We went to bed hoping that it would pass without much damage. No damage would be good… and within a half hour the heavy rain stopped and we found that the danger had passed and the warning of hail had been lifted. It had stayed a few miles south and missed us completely. Phew! The wind was still whipping around and it was still raining some. Then it occurred to me that the tarp might just wear through the paint on the car. I’ve had experience with that kind of damage and would be just sick if my perty little car got hurt. So, I went out into the wind and rain in my jammies and rolled off the tarp and pulled the blanket and put it in the back of the car. I didn’t want to deal with a sopping wet wool blanket in with our luggage. All was well and to sleep I went. This morning I went out to square away the back so we could pack up and hit the road. It’s got an automatic latch, but it would not release. I tried the fob, the switch on the dash and the button at the back. The release motor was humming and clicking, but the latch wouldn’t let the lid pop open. Well damn! I can’t load the suit cases through the front, so we are stuck. Cindy suggested a nearby Chevy dealer, so I called. They can get me in right away and they even had the part if it was needed. The car only has 10K miles on it so it’s still under warranty. I found the dealer easy enough and they did get the car right in there. Turns out the part they had was damaged and would not do. Hmmmm. Another dealer across town has one and it’s on the way, but it sounds like the fix will take several more hours. So, here I sit watching Jeopardy and recording the day’s events in the waiting area of the dealership. I’m sure it will all work out and this is the first and hopefully only glitch in the trip. There has been a slight change in plans. We have had this thing knawing at us ever since we left Flagstaff and it’s been getting stronger and stronger. It feels like we are missing much of the Southwest. The weather up north is not looking good and since we are down here already, we are thinking that we should still get to Bowling Green to see the Corvette museum and then head back down this way to see more of the sights there are. We want to go down to the desert country in New Mexico and drive past Area 51 and see the giant Sequaro cactus. We really are loving the Southwest and figure we can always do a trip to the Upper mid-west another time when the weather is more favorable. So, we’ll keep you informed as this thing unfolds.