Sunday morning Hank and I drove my brother, Mark, back down the mountain to LAX for his flight back to Michigan. We were so glad that he finally got to see Kathleen and Tony’s house. We packed a lot into his short visit and he was a real trooper about all the moving around we did.
Monday morning we said our sad good-byes to Garrett and Madison—and Kath and Tony, too. Very hard being so far apart and not seeing each other very much. The kids lightened up the leave-taking by making faces in all the photos!
Since we got such an early start, we drove all the way through to eastern Arizona. Hot desert most of the way, so I was sure to snap a picture as we crossed over the Colorado River. We also passed through some more areas with lava fields on display. Our campground, in Holbrook, was near the Petrified Forest and had a log on display that was over 2 million years old.
Tuesday we drove to Amarillo, Texas and, once again, encountered the high winds that buffeted the coach and made driving very tiring for Hank. We loved the salmon and turquoise over-passes in Albuquerque and saw signs of the town preparing for the giant hot-air balloon festival later in the week. We passed many huge cattle lots and grain elevators and also saw the “largest cross in the western hemisphere”.
Next day we drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma and stayed there both Wednesday and Thursday night. Hank needed a break from driving and it gave us a chance to spend some time with my high school friend, Jeannie, who lives there. We have visited her before and she always treats us to a special home-cooked dinner in her beautiful home. We both love this area—except for the winds—and always have a great time with Jeannie. She pulled out our old yearbook and we marveled at how young we all looked. We’re hoping that someone will put together a 50-year reunion for our class in 2012.
Friday we stopped near St. Louis and met Dave and Peggy, friends from Royal Oak who were on their way to Colorado. We had dinner with them in St. Charles, Missouri and fell in love with this quaint little town—lots of brick in the buildings, streets and even the sidewalks. This is the place where Lewis and Clark started their expedition. We definitely would like to come back and spend more time here.
Saturday we drove to Indianapolis. The MSU-UofM game was being played that afternoon and we were keeping track of the score via our iPhones. We stopped for fuel and then parked in the back of the station to watch the end of the game. So glad we did as our beloved Spartans BEAT the Wolverines—FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW!!! The truck drivers parked on either side of us must have wondered what the heck we were screaming about.
Sunday we crossed into Michigan. It’s too bad it was a cloudy, rainy day as the trees are beginning to turn and the colors were so pretty—they would have showed up better in the pictures if it had been a sunny day. Back home to Royal Oak and our condo after driving over 8500 miles in the 67 days we were gone. We visited 16 states and stayed in 26 different campgrounds. We both feel it was the trip of a lifetime and are so pleased to have visited family and friends AND to have seen so much of the spectacular beauty this country has to offer.
Thanks for sharing this western adventure with us.
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