After a quick, but
memorable visit with the children and grandchildren in Tennessee we are continuing
our trek west to Arizona.
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| Cherokee Casino |
We left Florence,
Kentucky Sunday morning and made an uneventful short trip to Murfreesboro,
Tennessee where we were greeted by our youngest grandson waiting for us at the corner
near the family home. As soon as he spotted “the Beast” (as the children call
our Tahoe) he streaked home to announce our arrival. It’s so nice to be wanted.
Temperatures were
an extremely mild 60s all the way to Tennessee and when we arrived it was 67
degrees. So that was nice. We did end up getting some pretty heavy rain that night.
After opening Christmas presents, playing games with the children, we all went
to dinner at a local steakhouse.
Back home it was
more game playing and then a late night turn in. We were up fairly early on
Monday and our oldest grandson, who is only 10, made us scrambled eggs for
breakfast. They were really good.
Sadly we had to say
good bye and we were off on the next chapter of our adventure.
Often when we are
preparing to leave Michigan people will say “have a nice vacation.” Which is
understandable from their point of view but for us we aren’t on vacation, we
are just enjoying our life. Tucson has become as much a part of our life as is
Michigan. So we don’t think of it as vacation. A small, but minor point.
Many folks have
texted us worried that we are hitting this current “storm of the century” but
we are well south of any bad weather and enjoyed another very easy travel day
on Monday. Traffic was light, no accidents and barely a cloud in the sky.
Gasoline in
Tennessee is way cheaper than at home and I filled up in Murfreesboro for $2.01.
Later in the day in Arkansas I got it for $2.14, so that was also pleasant.
As we left on
I-840 in Murfreesboro we spotted our first Armadillo road kill. Temperatures on
this travel day were a little cooler than the previous day, mostly in the low
to mid-50s. We hit a high of 57 degrees
somewhere along the route.
A couple of times
we spotted large wet fields of white geese, thousands of them.
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| snow geese (not our photo) |
We were passed
twice by a brand-spanking new white Cadillac hearse along I-40. It was empty
which is the happier way to see a hearse.
After my terrible
deer crash this summer, I am extra cautious to keep an eye out for the
creatures. So when we spotted a lone deer grazing on the shoulder of the road I
was fully prepared to take evasive action if it started to move near the road.
He/she stayed put.
We passed the time by listening on the XM radio to a couple
of entertaining college football bowl games.
Upon checking into our hotel in Roland,
Oklahoma we headed to the nearby Cherokee Casino for dinner. By registering for a rewards
card we got a 2-for-1 buffet ticket and Joan ended up hitting a small jackpot
and we left not just full, but flush with $200 cash to the good. Not a bad
ending for the day.
Tomorrow we head
for Tucumcari, New Mexico, a place we have stayed before (and where we got
trapped in a terrible snowstorm last year) and we’ll ring in the New Year
there.
Looking ahead at our travel weather shows that we should be clean and
green the whole way. If something changes, we’ll adapt. If I don’t get a chance
to post tomorrow, may all of you nice people who follow our travels have a safe
and happy New Year!
Time out Florence, Kentucky (Sunday, 12/29/19): 8:16 a.m. (EST)
Mileage out Florence, Kentucky: 32472
Time in Murfreesboro, Tennessee: 12:17 (CST)
Mileage in: 32776
Time out Murfreesboro, Tennesse 12/30/19: 8:56 a.m.
Mileage out: 327766
Time in Roland, Oklahoma: 5:17 p.m.
Mileage in: 33324
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