The Drive, Day 19-26, Tues - Tues, 9-15 thru 22, Family Visits & Driving Home...

Tuesday, September 15th, we started our day with a video call from Nelson. He showed us his abscess on his shoulder. He was set for surgery this day. 

This day would be a family day. We left Tremonton and drove to Brigham City to visit John Johnson. John was married to Joann, Claude older sister. Joann passed away from cancer several years ago. John fell a couple of years ago and was moved to this beautiful assisted living. We stopped in to say hi. He was very happy to see us. He was finishing his breakfast. 

Next we drove up the canyon to Huntsville to visit with the Drysdale's. As we drove, I received a text message and an eMail for Jensen/McKay Tours saying a copy of our passports was needed for our trip to India and Nepal next year. Fortunately, I keep a copy on my cellphone and was able to take care of that very quickly.

We saw Rick, Lynette (Claude's sister), Daniel and Brian, their sons. They had a sandwich buffet for us to enjoy. We were able to visit for several hours before heading to Bountiful Utah. 

We got word that Nelson did great with his surgery. Yeah!!

As we drove to Bountiful, we passed what I call the mountains 'stretch marks'. It is actually a fault line in the mountain. To me it looked like was wider than ever. Yike!!

We found 5 Guys in Bountiful. Cordell, Claude's brother, and Kris, his wife, were headed to Pendleton, Oregon for the rodeo. They go every year. They have a little dog. Cordell has a daughter, Sadie, who lives in Bountiful. She would meet us at 5 Guys and have dinner with us, then take the dog home with her while Cordell and Kris were in Pendleton. Sadie's oldest, Laney, was with her. We had a wonderful meal together. It was a quick visit but very happy it happened. 

From 5 Guys. we drove up the mountain to Junie and Steve's home. Junie is my sister. She is 14 months younger than me. They live at the top row of homes on the mountain with a magnificent view of the Salt Lake Valley. We would spend this night and the next with them. 

Wednesday, September 16th, was a great day of rest at the Gulbrandsen's. Claude got a great nap in the afternoon while Steve went to his doctor appointment. Junie and I sat on their patio and enjoyed the fresh air. In the evening, Junie served us Cranberry chicken. Yum!! We watched the movie "What About Bob?" in the evening. Then sat on their front porch and enjoyed the views of the valley. Absolutely delightful, restful and all the good things. 

Thursday, September 17th, Day 21, we left Bountiful at about 8:30am with the car headed to Laramie, Wyoming. The odometer read 4,852.5 miles to start our day. We stopped at a McDonald's to get Claude a little breakfast. He pulled my Dots pretzels out of the food box for me. 

We drove past Devil's Slide. This was a highlight when we passed it when I was a child. It was a landmark for Nissa, Andie & Jake when we drove from Colorado to Utah.

This cloud cover was a welcome respite from driving east into the sun. So grateful for clouds. 

Sometimes the road just goes on forever. Note the wind turbines along the ridge.

We crossed the Continental Divide in Wamsutter, Wyoming at about 12:50pm Mountain Time. 

We arrived in Laramie, Wyoming about 3pm, just in time to check into our hotel. It was sprinkling a little and the air was chilly. So we found a Wendy's and had a small chili for dinner. Yum.

Gasoline this day was $4.49 in Rock Springs, Wyoming. 

Day 22 was Friday, September 18th. We left Laramie with 5,248.9 miles on the odometer. After having breakfast at the Days Inn, we were on the road about 9am. Our goal was Hays, Kansas. This would be a longer drive day of 6 hours and 41 minutes. 

We arrived in Colorado about 9:30am Mountain Time. This was a beautiful part of the drive. Always was when we lived in Denver and drove to Utah. On the other side of these mountain is the Snowy Range. We drove through there and took our kids to a place with a two-story outdoor toilet. When we camped, our Andie went to sleep with gum in her mouth. When she woke up in the morning, all that long hair was full of gum. We used our peanut butter to get the gum out. Many happy memories of drives of this area. 

These are the mountains we looked at when living in Denver, Colorado for 8 1/2 years. So very beautiful.

When we are planning a trip, I put the key cities in my weather app and track the weather for a while before leaving. This helps me be prepared with what to pack and what to expect. The month before this trip, every time I check Poteau, Oklahoma (when my sister lives), the temperature was well over 100. As we approached Hays, Kansas, we were beginning to feel that heat. 

To the right in this picture is a farmer on his tractor plowing this field. Behind him he left this little trail of dust devils. 

They are building a wind turbine. Look at that crane!

While driving this day, I said to Claude on a stretch of road like this picture, "This is exciting country." Claude said to me, "There is something around every bend." My response, "The bends just don't come very often." Silly us!

Somewhere near Kanorado (combining of Kansas and Colorado) we changed time zones to Central Time. 

We got to our motel, checked in and walked across the street and around a gas station to El Dos Mexican Restaurant. Claude finally had a steak with his meal. He was very happy and it tasted very good. He usually has at least one steak dinner when we travel. We had been all this time on the road and he had not yet had a steak dinner. 

In the evening we had a video call from Katelyn and Raelyn. Raelyn had been invited to speak in Stake Conference. That was to happy on Sunday. I sent her an eMail telling her we would be attending church with my sister in Oklahoma but we would be thinking of her. Raelyn called to give us her talk via this video call. How precious to us that was. 

Gasoline bought this day was $4.09 in Limon, Colorado.

Day 23 of our drive, Saturday, September 19th, started at 5,710.5 miles. We left Hayes, Kansas at 10:30am Central Time after having a bit of breakfast at the hotel. We would arrive in Poteau, Oklahoma at 5:15pm Central Time. And the car registered 102 degrees again as we drove.

During this drive we kept seeing something that looked like short corn but with a fuller, browner head at the top of the stalk. I Googled what plant looked like corn but was shorter. We learned we were seeing sorghum growing in the fields. I knew of sorghum syrup from being a kids in Louisiana. It mixed really well with butter to put on my mother's homemade buttermilk biscuits. sorghum is also used to feel cows. 

We also got curious about how a wind turbine works. Does someone have to flip a switch. No, they do not. They are built with a computer in them that senses when the wind is moving enough for those big arms to turn. The computer turn on the big arms. Then, the computer senses when that wind has died down and shuts down the turbine, saving the life of those big arms. Cool. 

Neffie and Mike made us a great dinner of mini-meatloaves. Very tasty. We took a tour of their home and property. This home is up for sale. Neffie and Mike are moving in November to Missouri. We took a tour of their new home via the website. 

Sunday, September 20th was our 24th day on the road. Our car would stay parked as we took a full day to rest at Neffie and Mikes. We attended church with them in the morning. Claude and Mike took naps in the afternoon while Neffie and I talked. The Hurst's made us Italian Chicken for dinner. Another Yum for our travels. I booked us a hotel in Union City, Tennessee using my points. 

Monday, September 21st we headed for home. Mike sent us off with a styrofoam box of iced down halibut. We left Poteau at 9:30am starting at 6,199.0 miles. 

Claude found us a Bojangles in Clarksville, Arkansas. Oh my heavens, were our tummies happy!! 

We got to Union City, Tennessee and checked into our hotel. We drove down the road a bit to have dinner at Arby's. 

Gasoline this day was $3.89 in Searcy, Arkansas. 

Our final day of driving was Tuesday, September 22nd. It was a rainy morning. The car told us we had driven 6,621.2 miles. We were on the road at 9:30am Central Time. We entered Kentucky at 9:45am Central Time. Kentucky is cut in half between Central and Eastern Time Zones. 

While we drove, I made our flu shot appointments. 

We stopped in Litchfield for gas and a hot bowl of chili at Wendy's. They had the coldest bathroom I have ever been in. Gas was $4.04. 

We entered the Eastern Time Zone at 2pm Eastern Time. 

We arrived at our home in Georgetown, Kentucky at 3:30pm. The mileage on the car was 6,998.9 miles. I will forever ask myself why we didn't simply drive 1.1 miles more for an even 7,000 miles. 

We had an amazing trip. After visiting my sisters, I came away with the realization our parents raised three very strong daughters. We loved seeing family. We loved learning about Lewis & Clark and the importance and difficulty of what they accomplished. We loved seeing things on our bucket list. We really loved doing this trip. My 10-year old car didn't give us a lick of trouble. It did cry out for an oil change as we were on the parkway in Kentucky almost home. We were blessed with great weather. We decided we could do this again on some other roads and be okay. Great trip!

The Drive, Day 17 & 18, Sun & Mon, 9-13 & 14, Driving to Utah...

Sunday, September 13th, we started our drive having driven 4,125.5 miles. We left our hotel in Crescent, Oregon at about 9:30am headed to Ontario, Oregon. 

As we drove, I asked Claude why there was a passing lane on a flat highway. You see them all the time as you go up and down mountain roads. Claude's response: "It's for those of us driving the speed limit to let those speeding get around!" Oh My!!

Here are pictures of our drive through Oregon this day. 

I love it when we are in the west and the sagebrush is blooming. Claude pulled over so I could get these three pictures. I immediately made one my phone screen saver.

We changed to Mountain Time in Juntura, Oregon. 

We drove along a creek that changed names three times but still appeared the be the same little creek. 

We drove past a field that had the tops of something green in them. They looked like remains from harvesting corn. Clearly it was not corn. Later we saw a barn with the side painted with a little boy holding up a big onion. That was our answer. These were fields of onions. The tops were cut off and the onions were still in the ground. Amazing. 

We had dinner at The Country Kitchen. Claude and I both ordered the Country Fried Steak. I love this meal and have not ordered it in a long time. It was perfectly done. Melt in your mouth good. 

When we got back to the hotel, I went to their guest laundry to get some clean clothes for us. I read the instructions and followed them carefully. I put the detergent in with the clothes on top. Then I shut the lid and put a quarter into the money slot. It went from $4.00 to $3.75. All was going well until I put the second quarter in. The machine now read it could not take my money. It had 50 cents and would not return it. I gathered up my clothes and headed downstairs to the front desk. The clerk was folding towels. I explained that I had difficulty with their guest laundry. She said, "It didn't work, did it?" What? I assured her it did not and it had 50 cents in it and the bottom was full of detergent. She said I could leave my laundry and she would run it through their washer and dryer and bring it to me after she finished the guest before me that had the same issues with the washer. Why had there not been a sign placed there. I did not leave my laundry. I would do laundry another time.

This evening Aubrey let us know that Nelson had an abscess on his shoulder and was covered in a rash. He was in the hospital in Grand Rapids and the doctors where trying to decide why he had these things and what to do about them. 

Day 18 was Monday, September 14th. We would drive from Ontario, Oregon to Tremonton, Utah. This was a shorter driving day allowing us some time to rest before meeting up with family. We started our day with 4.432.5 miles on the odometer. We left about 9:30am. 

Thanks to 80mph on I-80, we arrived in Tremonton about 1:30pm. 

We were trying to see all our siblings on this trip. We had hoped to see Tami, Claude's sister, and Bill, her hubby, but they had to leave the day before for a trade show in Washington State. We decided to pop into the auto parts store and surprise Joey, their daughter. She was surprised. We got a hug and met Trey, one of her sons. 

It was time to catch up on some chores. Joey told us the best laundromat in town. Claude took me there to get two loads of clothes washed and dried. Claude bought me a Mountain Dew from the vending machine. I was a happy girl. While I did that, he filled the car with gas and took it through the car wash. He got him a soda from a drive-thru. 

While at the laundromat, this popped up on Facebook. Oh my. In preparing for The Drive, I noted that some placed close up shop by September 15th. We were blessed that we got to do all of these wonderful things before things had to shut down. 

With laundry done and a clean, full car, we were ready to check into our hotel. We would stay at The Western this time. This hotel has been in Tremonton since Claude and I were married. That means it is over 56 years old. We got to our room and had the most pleasant surprise. Two recliners in the room. We would enjoy and evening in recliners. Almost like being home.

For dinner, we decided to go to the Bowling Alley. When we married, Bonnie, Claude's mom, and Tami, his sister, were on bowling leagues. We would go to the bowling alley to watch and have a little snack at their little eatery. Over the years this has become a full-blown restaurant in the front of the bowling alley with a door to the bowling alley. Nice to enjoy that bit of history and a good meal. 

We went to Dollar General to replenish our water supply. Then to the hotel room to fold and repack the two suitcases. One would go to the back and not be moved till we got home. The other was the one we would take in with us each of the remaining nights of the trip. 

Nelson was supposed to have had surgery to remove the abscess on his shoulder. That did not happen. They wanted to run more test to determine the type of infection and/or allergy they were dealing with. He was in good spirits. Aubrey was doing well.