Highlights of Road Trip 2010 (leg 1)

I'm home now after 5 weeks and 10,315 miles on the road. I hit the road the day after my aunt Ivy passed away and was in a very contemplative mood. Even though I wanted to see friends along the way I avoided visits for the next few days. I spent two days in the San Angelo State Park (Texas) waiting for my mood to change and the storm to pass.

My first visit was with my two half-sisters in Waco and Seymour, Texas and along the way I payed my respects at the Walls family graves in Cleburne, Texas.

Then I made my way up into northeast Kentucky to the town of Carlisle where I found documents that confirm that my family lived there and that my great, great, great grandfather, Thomas Walls was in the Revolutionary war and lived near Richmond, Virginia.

Then I was off to visit Margie and Mason at their RV Park in Elkton, AL before heading to Charlotte, NC to visit my cousin Kay and her family.

From there I made my way to Atlanta to pay my respects at aunt Ivy's and aunt Frances's graves.

I then made my way to Clearwater, Florida to pay my respects to my fraternal grand parents graves and then I had 3 wonderful days off the road with my friends George and Janet in Brooksville, Florida.

From there I made my way to pay my respects at my mother's grave in Shreveport, Louisana. All of these visits to family graves were, in part, to document their locations (GPS coordinates) for the genealogy research I have been working on for the last 15 years. This work will continue as I find more relatives locations, especially those of the Walls line.

From there I drove straight across Texas and then zig-zagged through the southwest visiting Carlsbad Caverns, Chaco Canyon, Four Corners, Monument Valley, Zion National Park and so many other little places along the way. It was cool driving some of the old Route 66 again.

I headed home from Kanab, Utah by way of Las Vegas and Los Angeles because the route through Salt Lake was pretty bad at that time.

All in all it was a great trip even though the weather did not cooperate (stupid weather !). It is good to be back in Oregon City so I can begin to plan leg two of Road Trip 2010.