(Note: I have no idea what is going on with the margins on this post. Sorry I'll try and get it fixed befoe I post again)
On the road again!
After 9 months of doing circles in my bus, van and trolley in Oakland County,
Michigan the road warriors are back on the open road. And it feels so good.
Now the beginning
was a little interesting as a early winter storm blew in on Friday, December 23
just one day before our wheels up departure time of Christmas Eve. Weather
forecasters made it sound like the storm of the century (which it clearly
wasn’t) but it would have been dicey to leave on Friday.
So with everything
packed and sitting in our front hallway I braved the frigid temperatures on
Friday to take down all the Christmas decorations in the house (it is kind of
depressing to have to take down Christmas before Christmas Day, but it is what
it is). I also pre-packed some of our stuff in the car so I would have less to
do Saturday morning.
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| Interstate Inn key -old school |
We got up early Saturday, finished packing
the car, secured the inside of the house and headed off for our first
destination which was Louisville, Kentucky and Christmas with my sister,
brother-in-law and father. When we left Michigan the temperature was 3 degrees
and it didn’t get much better until we got near our destination in Louisville. The
roads were in so-so condition but for anyone used to winter driving in Michigan
– doable. We did run into an issue in Ohio when an accident near Dayton had
I-75 closed for about 9 miles which meant a 45-minute detour. Traffic was
slower than normal so the usual 6.5-hour trip ended up taking nearly 9 hours,
but we arrived safe and sound.
We
had a wonderful dinner and then settled in for a quiet Christmas Eve.
On Christmas morning I picked up Dad at his
senior living place and we returned for present opening and another dinner,
this one prepared by Joan at my sister’s house. Joan wanted to make dinner
because my sister Laura is always making us great meals when we are there and
Joan wanted to return the favor.
So leg two of our trip started on Monday
morning when we left my sister’s house. It was a balmy 21 degrees so a little
improved over the first travel leg. We made a quick stop at the nursing home
where my stepmother Janet lives and then we were on our way again. Roads were
slightly improved from the Saturday travel, but we did hit some snow squalls
and slow traffic, but nothing a seasoned winter driver shouldn’t be able to
handle.
With the prospect of seeing our son,
daughter-in-law and grandchildren for the first time in a while we were
determined to make it to Murfreesboro, Tennessee for another Christmas celebration
with more family. We had fun watching the grands open the presents we had sent (and
brought with us) and then had a wonderful prime rib dinner with the family.
The next day we were surprised (well, the
children were) with a trip to a local movie theater to watch “Avatar.” The
three-hour extravaganza kept us riveted (which means I didn’t fall asleep like
I usually do in movies) and then we went to dinner at a nice restaurant called
Bonefish.
Our two grandsons made us wonderful gifts –
one was a balloon airplane and two Lego individuals that had some of our
characteristics. We will treasure these gifts (well, at least as long as the
balloon holds air). Way too soon it was time to depart for our ultimate
destination – Tucson.
Wednesday
morning we said our good byes to the children and grandchildren and began the
long trek to Arizona. The temperature when we left was up to 44 degrees and
rose into the 60s by the end of the day. Last year, we went a different way
because we had my father with us and left from Louisville and not the Nashville
area. But we have gone this way previously so it was fun to see old sites.
You truly know you are in the South when you
pass exits with city names like “Buck Snort” and “Toad Suck.” The latter was a recreation area. The Mousetail
Landing State Park also is a strange name.
As we did the last time we stayed in Roland,
Oklahoma we stayed at the Interstate Inn, which to our delight has upgraded
many of the rooms, including the one we got and it was a very pleasant stay. Happily
they have retained the old school motel keys and dial telephones that we
enjoyed in the past. Across the freeway from the Inn is the Cherokee Casino,
which we like because it had great food the last time we were there. (We also
played for a few minutes and left $300 to the good last time).
So we checked in and discovered that the
restaurant we liked is not open on Wednesday night but only Thursday-Sunday,
perhaps as a result of staffing issues. We discovered that we had a few dollars
of free play and so we grabbed a sandwich at the snack bar and promptly sat
down and enriched ourselves to the tune of several hundred dollars without spending
any of our own. So that was nice. We left after a short time and counted our
financial blessings. We have a very fond feeling for the Cherokee tribe.
Our
blessings also include the opportunity and ability to make this annual trek to
Arizona where we escape much of the dark, cold days of winter in Michigan. We
are extremely grateful for that.
This morning (December 29) we left Roland,
Oklahoma and set sail (literally) for Tucumcari, New Mexico. We have traveled I-40 at least a dozen times
through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona and you can count on
one finger the times it hasn’t been blowing a gale. I truly believe that Oklahoma
must mean “hurricane winds.” Without the trailer it is not a huge problem, but
I lose at least 5 – 6 miles per gallon fighting the winds.
A few years ago while pulling the trailer
through Oklahoma I asked a gas station employee, “Is it always this windy?” And
she said without hesitation, “No, sometimes it’s way worse.” We are extremely
glad that gas prices fell a little over the last couple months before this
trip. The lowest price I have found so far was the $2.32 at Costco in
Murfreesboro. Mostly it has been in the $2.59-$2.79 range.
So tomorrow we will be in Flagstaff (the
weather looks decent) and we’ll pick up the trailer and head down the hill to
Tucson on Saturday, December 31. Friends have already purchased tickets for us
for the New Year’s Dance so more on that later. We hope all our friends have
enjoyed a wonderful Christmas celebration and we wish you all a Happy New Year!
Time
out from Lapeer, Michigan: 6:57 a.m.
Time
in to Louisville, Kentucky: 3:51 p.m.
Mileage
out: 113721
Mileage
in: 114143
Time
out from Louisville, Kentucky (Dec. 26): 8 a.m.
Time
in to Murfreesboro, Tennessee: 11:45 a.m. (CST)
Mileage
out: 114237
Mileage
in: 114465
Time
out from Murfreesboro, Kentucky (Dec. 28): 114473
Time
in to Roland, Oklahoma: 114997
Time
out: 8:42 a.m.
Time
in: 4:40 p.m. (CST)
Time
out from Roland, Oklahoma (Dec. 29): 8:30 a.m.
Time
in to Tucumcari, New Mexico: 3:51 p.m.
Mileage
out: 114999
Mileage
in: 115538
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