Home again

We got back home at noon today. Its good to be home, but its cold at 58 deg and was raining south of Seattle, big surprise.

It was good to see family again and in some cases for the first time. We enjoyed ourselves. We put 6963 miles on the truck and went through/across 16 states. (I counted WI in that total but I'm on the fence about counting it as we just drove through Prairie du Chine and never got out of the car before heading back to IA for lunch.) I also kept track of the fuel cost but am not brave enough to total it up just now.

This is a beautiful and big country and even though we were on the road for 5 weeks, we only saw a tiny fraction of it.

Reno

Today is our 1st anniversary. We went to Reno checked out a couple of fabric stores and had lunch and did a bit of gambling at the Silver Legacy. I lost $20 and Scott came out $18 ahead. We leave in the morning for home.

Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs made 2,000-10,000 yrs ago at Grimes Point outside of Fallon, NV.

Hawthorne, NV

Left Williams, AZ just before 7am. This is a picture of Walker lake north of Hawthorne, NV with a dust storm on the far shore. I'm surprised at how clear the lake is looking considering all the dust that blows around. The lake is pretty, the only bright color in this land of browns and beiges. Lots of dust storms coming up highway 95.

Walking below the rim of the canyon

I don't do well with heights but I've always wanted to walk down into the Grand Canyon. Today we went to the Bright Angel trail. We started down and I needed to hold Scott's hand. At the first turn in the trail I saw out over the canyon and there was no guard rail and I froze up. Had to stand there for a minute to get my courage up to walk the (very) short distance back.

Scott continued down and I hung out at the rim thinking if I didn't go down there I'd always regret it. People were coming back dusty, sweaty and smiling and it made me want to try again. So when Scott came back up I told him I wanted to try to walk down again and after a drink we started back down. I was still holding his hand, but I had my big girl panties on this time. After that first turn the trail widened and I was doing better. We didn't walk the 1.5 mi to the first station, but I was happy with the distance we traveled and I came back up dusty, sweaty and smiling.

Beer tasting

We had burgers and beer at Cruisers Cafe in Williams, AZ. It is 50s themed. We got a tasting platter of the beers from Grand Canyon Brewery which is next door. We weren't that impressed with the flavors but the sunset amber was good. Unfortunately they didn't have any of the raspberry wheat which is what I wanted to try. The bathroom stall walls are made from tailgates of old Chevys.

Grand Canyon and Solar Eclipse

The Grand Canyon is Awesome!! It is so big that looking out at it, it seemed 2 dimensional. We're going back out tomorrow evening for sunset shots.

The solar eclipse shadow is a pin hole made through a lightweight piece of card stock. I photographed the shadow against the truck. It was hard to get into focus.

...And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet...

Perpetuating Oklahoma stereotypes one flat wheat field at a time.

The wind is knocking the fifth wheel around a bit but at least its 75 deg and the heat hasn't come up yet. Left OKC at 8.30 and hope to make it to Albuquerque at least. By car it's an 8 hour drive but when hauling a camper we have to stop to fill up every 200 miles so we figure it may take us 10 hrs to get out there.

See you at the Grand Canyon.

Museum of Osteology

This is one of the coolest museums in Oklahoma.

J. J. McAlester house

J. J. McAlester founded the town back in 1889 or thereabouts and this was his house. He had a mercantile a block west of the house and would walk home carrying cash. His wife would post herself at the top floor window with a shotgun every evening ready to pick off anyone who may threaten him. The house is privately owned and in beautiful condition. The current owners do open it to the public a couple times a year.

Bluebird eggs

Four bluebird eggs in the box in my parent's backyard. The last egg was laid a few days ago. Dad thinks this is her second clutch of the season.

Made (by Gary) in the USA

McAlester is getting a new Braum's. My Uncle Gary made the Braum's sign in Watertown, SD. He didn't know where it was going until after it was made and crated up for shipping. When he called Mom last week for her birthday he tells her about it. They installed it on Friday. It's a huge sign, the tallest on the highway through town.

Old Town

This is a refurbished Conoco station in Old Town McAlester. It isn't a working station but it is pretty sitting on the corner.

Superbear

Scott's teddy bear wearing his superman shirt and sitting in a mini rocker.

Chicks dig egg salad

Scott's sister gives her chicken scrambled eggs every once in a while. Its good for them, but its wrong somehow.

And his mom has a mud and poop nest stuck to the side of her house and tucked in behind a wreath. I only saw 3 but she thinks there are 5 in there. She only pointed it out as we left so I didn't have time to stake it out to see what kind of birds they were. I'm thinking it's a swallow of some sort.

6 leaf clover

Got to Scott's sisters place outside of No Cell Signal, Missouri (aka Anderson) yesterday afternoon. While watching Scott back the trailer alongside the shed I found a 6 leaf clover.

Just before supper last night I took the dog out and found 5 and 4 leaf clovers as well.

Today's stops will include a Hobby Lobby since they don't have them in NW WA. I was told the one in Rogers was recently enlarged and remodeled.

Kansas City Zoo

Got to the zoo at 9.40am when they opened at it was already hot. Leaving now at 2.30 and 92 deg. I'm ready to follow this bat eared fox's example and take a nap.

Monona, IA

Leaving Monona, we'll have a quick stop in Gowerie to see Scott's dad's grave and get as close as possible to Kansas City. There are lots of cute houses in town. The typical two level modular farmhouse. Every morning and some evenings I'd walk Whiskey on a different route through town. There were a few houses that had porches so lovely I wanted to knock on the door and ask if I could have a sit for a while.

Carved chains

Scott's uncle's dad carved over 500 chains from a variety of wood. The smallest chains were carved from toothpicks. Elmer Marting Sr is in the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest known display of wood carvings made by one person. The carvings have their own room at the Monona Museum. He also carved farm scenes, quilt-y looking blocks and other stuff besides chains.

Little Brown Church

Stopped at the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashua, IA.

Sioux Center, IA

We left Watertown Friday afternoon after eating lunch with my aunt. It was very windy and seemed to get worse when we got on the interstate. It was only a 4 hour drive to Sioux Center, IA but felt much longer because of the head and side wind.

The Pencil Box is an office supply store owned by Scott's brother and his wife in Sioux Center.

The bird is a Yellow Rump Warbler, I've seen it several times on the deck, but it didn't hang around long. It found a dead moth and was snacking on it while I took a few pics.

Watertown, SD

The pics are of Pelican lake looking east toward Watertown and an old house that was a part of a farm that my Grandpa and his brother owned before Grandpa married Grandma.

The lake used to be the pasture behind the house before it was developed into a nice recreation park by the state after being sold a few times.

It was wonderful to see my family up here. Grandma is looking beautiful as always. The husband debut went very well.

After having 80s while in the Black Hills, it cooled off and Watertown stayed in the high 50s-60s with a lot of wind.

Headed toward Sioux Center, IA now to see Scott's brother, should be there between 4-5 this evening.

South Dakota Prairie

Vivian, SD. Not much to see out here but my inner Laura Ingalls is very happy.

Porta potty

Toured Big Thunder gold mine in Keystone. Then saw a stamping mill where the gold was processed out of the rock. And among the equipment was a porta potty. Anyone who volunteered to clean it out more than a couple of days in a row was suspected of swallowing nuggets to steal.

Mt. Rushmore

Saw Mt Rushmore, and Crazy Horse. The weather is in the mid 70s and the crowds were very light. Most of the touristy things don't open until May 1-15.

Then we stopped at Prairie Berry Winery for a tasting.

Still a lot to do and see so we'll be staying another day.

Montana morning

A bit of fog here and there this morning.

Drummond, MT

'Cause used cows are cheaper than new.

Idaho

We cross the state line and diesel drops 50 cents a gallon.

Eastern WA

Got a lot to live up to, Montana, cause the sky in Eastern WA is pretty big.

Keechlus Lake

Road trip prep

We're about ready to pull out with 5th wheel for our trip. Since we live full time in it, it wasn't so much packing as it was unpacking stuff we won't need to lighten the load.

We will be on the road between now and noon. I hope to post at least one pic a day from the road. More than likely it'll be a cell phone pic so if the quality isn't there, that's why.

We're excited about the sights, adventures, family and friends we'll be seeing.

Tulip Festival

Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley, WA. The weather was beautiful yesterday so we beat the weekend crowds and saw tulips. Tulip gardens were amazing with the variety of colors, sizes and textures of tulips. The fields were mindboggling with the rows and rows tulips and daffodils. Tulips planted in every square inch and when they ran out of room, they planeted them in the trees.