Exhausted ...

Thursday was a day to get ready to head back to Oregon. I got an oil change and some well deserved rest and we headed out on Friday morning at about 8 am. We got to my sister's in Seymour, Texas at lunchtime and had a nice visit. We hit the road again and made it to Gallup, New Mexico before we took a break (two hours crashed out in the van).

We got to the Grand Canyon mid day on Saturday. The wind was blowing and it was very cold so we only got our of the van a couple of times. We went through Page, Arizona on the way to Kanab, Utah and fought our way throuh a dust storm.

We left Kanab via Hwy 89 heading north to Salt Lake City, Utah and at an altitude of 6,000 feet we ran into snow, ice and more wind.

We made it to just north of Ogden, Utah where we took another two hour break. We hit the road again at about 4 am and made it to Bend, Oregon to have lunch with our friends Billye and Carl. We finally arrived home at about 6 pm on Sunday night. The run from Plano, Texas to Oregon City is 2,500 miles and we made it in 2 1/2 days. That works out to 1,000 miles per day - can you say "Exhausted"? I bet I can.

Plain old Plano ...

I made the turnaround in Tavares, Florida and am now back in Plano, TX. It was 18+ hours on the road but it went by pretty quick. We will head for Seymour, TX to visit my sister and then on to the Grand Canyon as Boyd has never seen it. I'm glad to be the tour guide for him. We should be home by Monday the 27th.

A couple of days in Florida

I had a very nice visit with Suzanne and Marc in Tavares, Florida. Today Marc took me out for a cruise on Lake Dora and the day was perfect for it. We circled the entire lake and I took lots of photos (posted on my Flickr account). There was a pair of Osprey circling overhead and lots of alligators in the water. We never got close enough to get a good picture as they would submerge as we approached.

I will head out in the morning heading for Shreveport to pay my respects at my mothers grave before heading back to Plano, TX to pick up Boyd for the return trip home. I should make it to Plano by Thursday midday. more later ....

Back in Florida again ...

I left Boyd in Plano, Texas with his brother Eldon on the 17th and headed for Houston. The weather was foul! The rain and wind made driving difficult for everyone and impossible for others.
I made it as far as Huntsville before I had to stop for shelter at an RV Park where I spent the night.
The morning of the 18th was calm and slightly overcast and I made it to he prison to visit my nephew at 8 am. During the four hour visit the sky turned almost black and the wind kicked back up. I left there at about 1 pm heading for Florida and only made it 16 miles before I had to leave the highway for safety. The sky was so dark it felt like 8 pm.

I waited for two hours and caught another break and made another 50 miles or so before I had to pull off again. I was just outside of Beaumont, Texas when Boyd called and said that he and Eldon where there taking shelter from the storm so I joined them at the motel they were staying in. The morning of the 19th was just slightly overcast with very little wind and it stayed like that all the way to Florida. I drove straight through from Beaumont to Tavares where my sister-in-law lives (that's DeJ's mom). I got in just before midnight which was 16+ hours. When my head hit the pillow I was out like a light and slept 10 hours straight. We spent today, Monday, just catching up and sharing. Tomorrow we might go out on her husband's boat and try to catch a fish or just cruise the water ways.

Texas - miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles

We left the Los Angeles area at 5 am on Monday and headed for Phoenix to visit with Boyd's sister. We spent the afternoon there and then pushed on toward Texas via Las Cruses, NM. We passed through El Paso at about midnight and around 2 am stopped for a cat nap at a rest stop. We arrived in Plano, TX to visit Boyd's brother yesterday (Wednesday) at about 6 pm. Along the way we stopped in Sweetwater, TX where I was stationed in 1966 and 1967 when I was in the Air Force. Like most places it has really changed in the last 40+ years and there was no sign of the old Air Force Station. The town has a brand new City Hall, a community college and much more. It was a quick stop (about one hour) so it was not much more than a walk down memory lane but I'm glad I did stop.
Tomorrow Boyd and his brother will take off on thier own road trip and I will meander down the road toward Rosharon, TX where my nephew is in prison, just south of Houston. I get a four hour visit with him on Saturday morning and then will head directly for the Orlando area to visit with his mom and stepdad.
More later.

Road Trip 2009 - part 1 - day 1

Boyd and I hit the road from Oregon City yesterday about 4:30 pm heading for SoCal to visit his son Don. We made it through Grant's Pass just as it was getting dark and stopped for a bite to eat in Redding about 10 pm. We stopped for two and a half hours for a nap in Stockton and then pushed through to Burbank/North Hollywood just in time to have a quick lunch with Don before he left for work at noon. I had a short nap and now feel quite refreshed. Boyd and I will go shopping for something for dinner to have ready when Don gets off work. Happy Easter everyone.