Category: My Temporary Home

We are home. Work has begun. The trip is now a memory. Everything is so normal that I’m struggling with the feeling that the trip never even happened. Is that how Susan, Peter, Edmund, and Lucy felt when returning home from Narnia? Unlike Jules Verne’s characters in Around the World in 80 Days, we were not mistaken bank robbers, hounded by the police and thwarted with unbelievable obstacles along our journey. We did take in some overwhelming and heart stopping sights. We did make it back a little before deadline.…

OKLAHOMA, ARKANSAS, TENNESSEE, MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA Ok. I have no idea what day it is really. I’ve lost all sense of time and direction. What city are we in now? Are we sleeping in the tent, the car, the cheap motel or something with sheets? I’ll drive. No, you drive. Where are we? Get out and take a photo, we’ll figure it out later. Do we have to? Yes. It’s the law. Brandon thinks I’m making up ailments. “There is no such thing as travel fatigue.” Yes. Yes, there is. I…

OKLAHOMA Yeah you’re gettin’ close now And you kick it into four wheel drive when you run out of road And you go, and you go and you go-go-go ‘Til you hear a banjo –Rascal Flatts Oklahoma City is easily the second favorite city we’ve visited. From Bricktown, in the downtown area, to Stockyard City over near the fairgrounds, the people are friendly, the city is clean and interesting. The Native American artwork is fabulous. We’ve been here before, so maybe that’s why it feels so comfortable. I haven’t been…

WYOMING, COLORADO, OKLAHOMA A day driving from Wyoming to Colorado. There just isn’t anything on the drive from Yellowstone in the upper NW corner of the state, down to Cheyenne in the SE corner of the state. Once we crossed into Colorado, we felt like we were back in civilization. There were homes and stores and exits. It was kind of sad to leave the frontier behind, but since we are not actually from the 1800s, it was a relief. We stayed in Colorado Springs and woke up at 4:30…

IDAHO, MONTANA, WYOMING Yellowstone Park: hot springs, sulfur springs, geysers, bison, bears, deer, elk, wolves, lakes, streams, fly fishing, boating, cycling, biking, hiking, camping. There is something for everyone here. This National Park is the oldest in the country and very popular. There is a North, South, East and West entrance and about 150+ miles to navigate. Of course, Old Faithful is there, but the camping and hiking are wonderful and the views are hard to beat. The most exciting thing about Yellowstone is the wildlife is bound to just walk…

CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, IDAHO This was a driving day. We went from Sacramento, CA, back through northern Nevada and into Idaho. As we were passing through wine country and all the vineyards, we stopped at the Sierra Knolls Winery in Auburn, CA. Family owned and operated, it is a new, up and coming vineyard. We enjoyed talking with them. They had a great patio area with an outdoor pizza oven and I’m sure on special occasions, this place is hopping. They did not seem to know about our Auburn tigers nor…

CALIFORNIA Sacramento REST finally! We arrived in Sacramento close to midnight and checked in. We slept late, ate brunch, and then took a nap. We, meaning Anna and me. Brandon was busy working while he has wifi and isn’t driving. Anna and I took a swim in the hotel pool and then they got ready to go to the California State Fair. I chose to stay and take another nap. We’ve been going, going, going, and we’ve been cramped in a packed car for 2 weeks. One day to stretch…

CALIFORNIA Monterey claims to fame: 1. Cannery Row-the location and title of a famous John Steinbeck novel. Lots of Steinbeck monuments, statues, and touristy attractions. 2. Home of a well known aquarium and bountiful marine life. Built by David Packard (Hewlet Packard) for his daughter Julie, who wanted to work with marine biology. She remains the Executive Director. 3. Gorgeous fisherman’s wharf with all types of sailboats and fishing boats as far as the eye can see. San Francisco 1. Best quote of the day: “You want to go to San Francisco…

CALIFORNIA Victorville, Los Angeles, Paso Robles, Carmel, Asilomar Leaving Vegas so late, we just couldn’t make it through Los Angeles and to Santa Barbara for the night. We drove through a dust storm in Death Valley or the Mojave Desert. It all sort of blended together in the same view. We stayed over night in a small town in California by the road and arrived in Los Angeles on day 12. We planned originally to drive straight through, but we decided to take a quick tour and see a little…

NEVADA Las Vegas baby! Leaving the Grand Canyon, we stopped at the Hoover Dam for a quick look and photo opp. But everyone was too tired to enjoy it. We drove on til Vegas. Priceline.com again for a good hotel. First we stayed at New York New York at a great price. We had a meal in the hotel (on a faux New York street corner), and went to the Bellagio to stand in line for standby tickets for the “O” Cirque du Soleil show. We were 2nd in line…