Sunday May 31

Today was beautiful. Warm and blue skies. We were just going to drive straight through to Deming, but realized that we would have been there really early. The time changed right when we left so we were on the road by 8. We decided to make a side trip to White Sands National Monument. It is a field of white gypsum in the middle of a desert. It just rises up like mountains. I hope my pictures turn out. I want to try and load them in the computer tonight and see if I can post some of them. White Sands is where they tested the first atomic bomb. We saw why. There is nothing for miles and miles and then all of a sudden there is this range of white.
Then we went to Alamogorda Space Museum. It was much more than we thought it was going to be. They have a lot of rockets and missiles and a lot of information about the early space program. It was worth the trip.
Our motel in Deming is much better than last nights. Tomorrow we are going to Tucson to see Rose and I am looking forward to that.
Hard to believe as it is, I got a little color today. In fact I got quite a bit of color. I should have worn my hat, but I look like such a dork I just can't do it.

Saturday May 30

Today was strictly a travel day. Nothing exciting. Saw cows, horses and dust devils. We got to Van Horn early because the speed limit was 80 and the road was really good. And Matt the hiway system in Texas was excellent. Van Horn however was dead. Everything was closed up and abandoned. And LindaSue the Motel was a "Winchester" motel. We wanted to go and get something to eat, but we didn't want to venture further than the motel. We went out and walked around a little bit but it was creepy. It was like the whole town disappeared. There were no people. So, we had cheese and crackers in the room and did crossword puzzles.
I went to bed early. I have been sick the whole trip. I was coming down with a cold when we left and it just got worse. Today was the best I have felt. I just hope Rich doesn't get it.
Tomorrow it is Deming New Mexico.

Friday May 29

I can't believe that it is Friday already. Seems like we just started out.
We got up early this morning because we wanted to do the River Walk. We got a good parking space and we went to see the Alamo. It was definitely worth seeing. There is not a lot of original structure left, but it was still impressive. There must have been 15 field trips of little rug rats. I'm glad that we got there early. We pretty much stayed ahead of them. We took the Trolley Tour of the area. The River Walk is really nice. Tons of restaurants and stores. We took the boat ride and that was really interesting and reasonable also. We ate at a Mexican Restaurant. That was one meal that I wanted to have and it tasted wonderful. I scarfed up the chips and salsa like I hadn't had a meal in a week.
Then we went over to the Mission San Jose. That was interesting. They still have services in the church and they have 300 weddings there a year. AND it was hot. The sun was hot. I loved it.
We walked the grounds and read all the history of the Mission. The best part was I was able to walk without all kinds of pain. There were five Missions founded in San Antonio by the Franciscans. They of course wanted to convert all the souls of the Native Indians and all they did was mange to kill most of them with measles and small pox.
Seems like I can't find any adjective other than interesting.
Tomorrow we are headed out to Van Horn Texas. I want to have one good Bar-Be-Que meal before we leave Texas. It won't be tonight because we had the Mexican meal today and we just can't eat like we used to. Will try and check in tomorrow.

Thursday May 28

This morning we got up to something really freaky. I think they call it the sun. Hooray!!! Finally some sun.
We stopped on our way out of Norman Oklahoma at Arbuckle Wilderness. It was a tour that we drove and there were free roaming animals everywhere. We got stopped by a herd of camels and they were very interested in the car. I don't know if it was the color or the taste of the polish, but I'll bet that we are the only people that you know that have a car covered with camel slobber. They licked Rich's rearview mirror and window and it has some lovely streaks of camel goo.
Our trip to San Antonio was uneventful except for the inevitable road construction. Got stuck in an accident jam and lost 45 minutes there. I do have some neat pictures of some animals up close and personal. I will post those if I can remember how.

Wednesday May 27th

This morning we got up to what else but rain. But as an added bonus it was cold and windy. It only got to 57 today and the wind was blowing away. Nothing exciting about the drive today. We are at a Comfort Inn in Norman Oklahoma and all we are going to do tonight is shower and bed. It is supposed to be dry and much warmer tomorrow. We are headed to San Antonio and I am hoping that it does not rain and we can do some of the things that we planned.

Tuesday May 26th

We got up this morning to something new and different. Rain, rain and more rain. We thought that maybe this morning we could sneak in Grant's Farm before we left for Kansas City, but it was not to be. We took the scenic river byway and saw the confluence of the Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Again no pictures. Everything looks the same in the rain. It would have been a beautiful drive if we could have seen it. So, it was off to Kansas City.
We did see an American Pelican, a pheasant, a fox, and a ground hog. That was our Grant's Farm.
On the way to Kansas City I saw a tent maker. I used to joke about buying my clothes at Omar the tentmaker, but had never seen a place that made them. This was Armbruster the Tent Maker. I was going to stop in for a fitting, but didn't because of course it was raining.
Tomorrow it is off to Norman Oklahoma.

Monday May 25

We got up this morning to a downpour. We waited to see if it was going to get any better, but you could tell it was one of those rains that was going to last all day. And that is exactly what it did. It just poured and poured.
We made it to the Great River Museum. In the rain. It was the also the Melvin Lock and Dam. I couldn't take any pictures because it was raining so hard and there were no distinguishing colors.
Needless to say we never made it to Grant's Farm or the Arch or anything else we wanted to do. Luckily, there were two casinos that we could visit. If not, we would have had to stay in the room for the whole day.
So, that was our second day.

First Stop 5/24/2009

Our first stop was at Springfield Illinois. We went to the Abraham Lincoln Museum. Believe me it is worth the 2 1/2 hour trip. It was really neat. It started with a show called Ghosts of the Library. It was a presentation using holograms interacting with a human narrator. There is really a lot to see in Springfield. We were there with Matt about 20 years ago and it has really changed and all for the better. We didn't run into any rain but it is supposed to thunderstorm tonight and tomorrow. If it rains all day tomorrow we will have to rethink our going to Grants Farm in St. Louis tomorrow.
We are at a Comfort Suites in Alton and the room is just fine. We used the GPS system and I love it. I don't know how we ever got along before we had it. Of course Rich loves looking at his maps and planning our course, but this just works so well. We are going to search for things to do tomorrow inside. There is a Great River Musuem that we want to check out and a Lewis and Clark museum also. Those will be good inside activities.

Ready or Not Here We Come

The time has finally come. We are planning on leaving tomorrow at 8:30. We will only have a few last minute items to pack up tomorrow. The logistics for packing for this trip have been a nightmare. We will do laundry along the way, but I don't want to do it until we get to Elk Grove. So, I packed for two weeks and tried to figure every different type of weather.
If we go on another long trip again I am going to stick with the Rick Steve's philosophy of packing. 1 pair of socks, 1 pair of underwear, 1 shirt and 1 pair of pants. Seems to work for him.
Ann and Desi took us out to lunch today at Olive Garden. We had a real nice time. It was for our birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day. We like to be efficient. They bought us our own GPS sytem. It is really neat. It does everything but make dinner, but does tell you where to find dinner. We have never had so many gadgets. I thought our antiquated cell phones were pretty state of the art.
Our nephew John is going to house sit for us while we are gone. It is nice to know that someone is going to be in the house "in case" of anything.
We told the neightbors we are entering the witness protection program and that is why we have to take so much of our household with us. That's our story and we are sticking to it.
Will sign on again tomorrow when we are at our first destination.

7 Days and Counting

It is one week from when we leave. We have a lot of things ready to go, but still a lot of things to do. We are going to pack the car on Saturday night under cover of dark so the neighbors don't think we are moving out. We are taking 26 days worth of "stuff". Just like George Carlin said you can never have enough stuff.

I am pretty organized and I like to plan for everything. I know that I bring a lot of "stuff" that is not necessary, but I like to be prepared. Rich keeps reminding me that there are stores on the way and we can stop and get anything we need, but I like to have the "stuff" on hand.

We are a little concerned about the weather. We have had so much rain and there is a lot of flooding everywhere. The storms have kept moving through a lot of the areas we will be traveling through. We borrowed Dona's Garmin and that should help if we have to detour anywhere.

We are really excited. This is the first trip that we can take our time and relax. Not have to be up at the crack of dawn and out of the motel. We can get up, go have breakfast and still get to our next destination in plenty of time.

I think this next week will go by pretty quickly and we are ready.