Final trek


After traveling through Nebraska, south to north fortunately, we made it to South Dakota for a few miles. We actually slept at an RV park just before we got to SD, but we used the Laundromat in SD. Then it was on to Iowa where we found our friends, Bernie and Ellie Maas whom we met in R B I and hadn’t seen in about 42 years. They gave us a tour of Rock Valley and we were quite impressed with the work of Hope Haven and Justice for All. Bernie was instrumental in starting Justice for All, which is an agency that collects clothing and other items, sorts and packs them up and ships them all over the country. We enjoyed great fellowship and delicious food. The next morning we had lunch with the Bakers whom we worked with at DRS. It was good to renew old and not so old acquaintances.
In the afternoon we left for Minnesota and visited Bonny (DeGroot) Messer and had pizza with her. Her husband, Bob came home later so we got to meet him, too. Bonny is my 2nd cousin and was one of my best friends through elementary and high school. We had a lot of catching up to do, but all too soon had to leave. We slept at a Wal-Mart in Redwood Falls, and left in the morning for Willmar to spend time with my brother Gary and Corrine. We also went to visit cousins Rog and Marcy in the afternoon. Steve and Jill and Kari came to Gary and Corrine’s for supper, so we got to spend time with them too. Jill is Gary and Corrine’s daughter, my niece. The next day we had lunch in Litchfield with my brother Wayne and his wife, Agnes. Their daughter, Debbie, showed up, too, and we had a nice visit with everyone.
Finally, we had to say our last good-bye and left for Michigan on Friday about 10:45. It was chilly and got colder. We went through a lot of rain which turned to snow in Wisconsin, then back to rain in Michigan, then snow, then rain, etc. We finally stopped at a rest area on Lake Michigan and slept there for the night. It was very cold and wet but our sleeping bags kept us warm. Our battery was running low and wouldn’t run the furnace fan, so we didn’t have much heat.
We had breakfast at a nice quiet Big Boy--not many people were crazy enough to be out in that weather. This was close to the bridge, and the rain let up enough for a nice passage across. There were a few more flurries in northern Michigan, but mostly rain.


HOME AGAIN!
At last we pulled in to good ol’ Scottville and up to our humble home.
Everything looked good and as much as I loved our trip, it is good to be able to cook in a normal kitchen. It will be even better when the gas is turned on so I can use my stove. We also had to heat with electric heaters because of no gas, and heat water in the coffee maker, and I can’t wait to take a warm shower and wash my hair, but we’ve been adapting to much worse.

Ari has made himself right at home, acting like he never left. The spring flowers are in full bloom--some past bloom, but the Magnolia tree is at its peak. I also found that a Momma Mourning Dove has made a nest in our bird feeder. I scared her away accidentally and saw her two cute little chicks. She’s been faithfully brooding over them ever since. Our little house on the pavement has served us well, and as soon as we get it unpacked and cleaned, we’ll park it for a much deserved rest.
It was a fantastic trip--the trip of a lifetime. We’re asked if we’ll do it again. We probably will, but it won’t be so long, and not as vast, but we know there are many things out there yet to explore, and if God gives us the time and ability, I’m sure we will be making more happy trails!

Final days in CA and heading north

Some of our final adventures in California involved another night of "Cruisin' the Grand" and a day trip to Las Angelis to visit Universal Studios with Rose Vidal and some of her relatives. Rose is Tracy’s mother. We took a shuttle tour of the movie set where a lot of movies have been filmed and also a lot of TV shows. They also showed a lot of special effects and involved us in some of it. It was very interesting and a lot of fun. Bruce and I also went to the animal show where they showed how they trained some of the pets for different shows and how they used animation for some of the movies.
I went on the Mummy’s Tomb ride which was pretty exciting but very short for the long wait in line.
We went through a museum of some of the historical artifacts, saw a live demonstration of Water World, and some of us did the 3-D movie of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator with special effects and live action.

Saturday, after church we had lunch at Sonic Burger where the waitresses and waiters come to your car on roller skates. The food was very good, too. From there we went to Oceanside Beach for a while where I got to dip my feet in the Pacific Ocean--feels just like the Atlantic. Finally, we went to San Luis Rey Mission where they were having a festival of sorts for earth day. Breanna and I got to pet every dog the Humane Society had there for adoption--mostly pit bulls. There was a beautiful flower garden there and the oldest pepper tree in California. There was some stuff for kids to do. Breanna made a sand painting of a road runner. This was baby Chloe’s first outing, and she did very well, was a real hit with all the grandma’s along the way.

Sadly, we had to leave the beautiful state of CA and our last set of kids and grand kids. We left Monday noon and headed for Las Vegas. Bruce had wanted to go to a car museum there but changed his mind because he thought all the good cars were gone! We found a Wal-Mart to camp at and spent a good night there.

Next we headed to the Grand Canyon, got there in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day checking it out. We took the shuttle bus along the south rim and got off at various points to check it out and take pictures. What an awesome site! We could have spent a lot more time there, but have to get home some time. We camped in a trailer park there and took off the next morning. There was also a prediction of snow in that area! I did get to see a very pretty bluebird--first one since LA.

We started out Wednesday morning and soon noticed that it was very windy. A little past Flagstaff it was not only windy but very dusty. We got stopped in a traffic jam road block between Flagstaff and Winslow because of the dust storm. Visibility was ¼ mile or less and there was a serious accident farther along. Three people were killed and 15 injured. We saw a boat trailer tipped over and wondered at times if our trailer was going to go over. We were stopped about 11:00 a.m. and for awhile were totally stuck between semi trucks. I went to the camper at one time to get some supplies and could hardly shut the door of the car or the camper. The winds were up to 70 MPH and the dust was awful. The car got it inside and out. I must have lost my glasses at one point when I went out because I can’t find them now. We spent the day listening to the radio, played some games, napped, read, called Amanda, etc. We watched the moon come up and then decided we might as well try to sleep in the camper. We were just settling in, trying to pretend that the wind would rock us to sleep as we swayed back and forth, when the traffic started moving and we saw police cars along the way, so we got out, (around 10:00 p.m.). We still couldn’t go on to Winslow so we headed back to Flagstaff where we got a motel for the night and got a chance for a shower to wash the dust off. It took awhile to find a motel because a lot of other drivers had the same idea.

So Thursday we took off again and made it to the painted desert and petrified forest. It was truly awesome--still very windy, but that just made for fewer tourists to compete with. God sure has made some fantastic scenery, and we are so privileged to be able to enjoy it.

We went on through some more beautiful scenery in AZ and at last got to NM. We spent the night in Grant in a Wal Mart. We did see some snow in AZ and even more in NM. Our car had a light coating in the morning. We left there, tried to find a service station, but had to go to Albuquerque to find one. I kept thinking of Bugs Bunny--”I should have taken a right at Albekoiky”.


We spent the rest of the day driving through the ever changing landscape of New Mexico until we were back in Texas! We just had to go through the corner of it, but even that seemed big. We spent the night in a trailer park in Dalhart. I talked to Norm from Minnesota. After breakfast we took off again and were soon in the panhandle of Oklahoma for about 30 miles, then we were in Kansas which reminded us so much of Minnesota with it’s flat farmlands and lots of green wheat fields. The weather was very good, cool but little wind. We made good time, and I was even able to give Bruce a much needed haircut. We met a couple from Whitehall MI in a Wal-mart parking lot and had a nice visit.


We’re not in Kansas anymore, but flat, boring, Nebraska. At least I found a McDonalds that had WiFi, so here I am sending this to all who are interested. We’re heading for Iowa to visit friends there and then to Minnesota before heading back to good old Michigan.

Updates

We have just a few more days to spend in California with David, Tracy, Breanna and Chloe. The time has gone so fast, but we have enjoyed it immensely. This is such a beautiful area, and it is so good to get better acquanted with our grandaughters who live so far away. Breanna loves her baby sister but has the typical issues of dealing with all the changes in her life. Hopefully she will soon settle into the new life style.
One final farewell to our kids, and then we'll be off on our next adventures.
Tracy's mom is taking us to Hollywood to see how movies are made tomorrow, so we will have one more big day here.  
 
 
 

 

A few more pictures of Chloe.

 

 

 
 
 
 
Chloe Joyce finally made her appearance after a long hard labor ending in a c-section. Praise God all went well and mom and baby are fine. Dad and Grandma are still recovering from lack of sleep. Chloe is beautiful-- looks a lot like Breanna and sounds like her, too! I heard her crying before I saw her and recognized the cry--just like Breanna. She seems very calm and easy going so far--unlike Breanna, who still makes her wishes known loud and clear.

 
 
 
 
Here are a few more photos from the Wild Animal Park

Wild Animal Park

 

Since the baby decided not to show up after all, we all went to the Wild Animal Park. When Bruce was working on the fence between the David's place and the neighbor's, he got free tickets from the neighbor who works at the park.
The weather was perfect and we had a great time. Tracy got to walk around and hopefully encourage the baby to make an appearance. I am now trying to add pictures in a different way, apparently I can only add 4 at a time. I'll keep trying.