On the road again! Winter weather fails to derail

 (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.

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

A windy trip home from our 'happy place'

    Home sweet home!  But getting here was pretty involved.  So soon the fun is over.

Stored for the summer

    We started the journey home as we always do with a stop at Camping World in Tucson to get the trailer winterized. While we were out killing time, actually watching a movie called “Dog,” I received a text notifying me that my trailer brakes were not working.

    The word was they had not been working for a long time so I authorized the shop to fix them as trailer brakes can be very important or perhaps you already knew that. The problem turned out to be a fried brake controller which was probably the most inexpensive fix possible.

   With that we rehooked up the trailer and began the trip to Flagstaff to store the trailer. But first, we got to do our annual (except for years when Covid screws everything up) stop in Casa Grande for a leisurely dinner. Unfortunately, our favorite restaurant there – Mimi’s – apparently didn’t survive the pandemic so we settled for Buffalo Wild Wings, which is the same place we grabbed food and ate in the parking lot in 2020 during the opening weeks of Covid.

Killing time at the mall

   After dinner we gassed up in Phoenix and began the long slow trip up the mountain to Flagstaff. We refueled again about 9:30 p.m. on the mountain and then arrived at our usual rest area about 10:30 p.m. only to find it completely full of trucks and RVs. Soooo,  we made a turnaround on the freeway and headed back to the rest area on the opposite side of the freeway where we found lots of room. It did mean about a three-mile back track but we both got a good night’s sleep.

    The trip up the rest of the  mountain in the morning was uneventful and the temperatures dropped to around freezing when we arrived at the storage lot about 6:50 a.m. It took us about 40 minutes to transfer our luggage and other stuff back to the Tahoe, secure the trailer for its storage and then made our departure.

    After picking up a cup of coffee for Joan we started the first leg of our trip to Bakersfield. Much of the freeways on the way there have been significantly improved and the journey was smooth all the way. We did have to negotiate the California agricultural inspection stations, which has become a joke.

 The inspectors merely stand at the finish line and wave everyone through. They used to ask if we were carrying fruit but apparently there is no need to do that anymore.  We could have been carrying a half a ton of citrus into the state and they didn’t even ask. Not saying we were carrying any citrus, but my lunch was really good that day.

California gas (cheap)

 We checked in at the Comfort Inn and had dinner at the same restaurant we ate at several years ago. As always this served as Joan’s birthday dinner. I really know how to treat a lady on her special day.  It was 82 degrees when we arrived.

    The next day, Sunday, was a shorter trip up the California valley. It was sad to see how many former farms are now just wasted fields overgrown with weeds. Lots of signs bemoaning the lack of water coming to the valley.

    Again, an uneventful journey and we arrived at cousin Cynthia’s at 1:12 p.m. The area was enjoying warmer than usual weather. Cynthia cooked us a wonderful dinner (it was our anniversary after all) and we enjoyed a nice dessert. Cynthia is a world class host and we have been the recipient of many wonderful visits there.

   On Monday, I headed over the hill to Santa Cruz to visit our son William arriving in the late morning. William and I enjoyed a nice day catching up and then we watched movies and William’s favorite – professional wrestling.  On Tuesday, I got up early, dusted his furniture and did some extensive yard work in front of his mobile home to satisfy the rules of the park. HOA rules and all that.

  While I was working Cynthia and Joan were enjoying lavish spa treatments, wine tastings, shopping and great food.

Joan and William

   I returned to Cynthia’s Tuesday night and enjoyed a night with my cousin and my wife and then on Wednesday, Joan and I got up and went back to William’s to spend the day. The weather was incredible and we were able to sit outside William’s patio and enjoy a wonderful time of visiting. 

   That night we met with William’s mother, husband, William and Joan and I at the Hindquarters Restaurant for a family dinner. All too soon it was all over and Joan and I dropped William off at home and headed back to Cynthia’s.

    On Thursday, the three of us got up, enjoyed a great breakfast and then headed out to do a little Livermore wine tasting. We had a delightful afternoon eating lunch and Joan and Cynthia did the wine tasting at Garre Winery. I, as always, was the designated driver. We had a delightful waitress there who made it a very fun day.

    On the way back to Cynthia’s house from the winery we noticed that traffic on I-580 eastbound was completely stopped. Several California Highway patrol officers were walking side-by-side down a long stretch of highway looking for something. I speculated shell casings and later on the news I learned I was right!  Just a routine California highway shooting and fortunately on the other side of the road from us.

Jim and Liz at Cliff House

   Then it was Friday morning and Joan and I headed out for a visit with our friend Jan who lives in Hidden Valley Lake California. We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Jan, including a short trip to the local Twin Pines Casino for dinner. Back at the house we visited some more and then headed to bed. I also found the cheapest California gas ($4.89) that I would find during our week stay. The other two tanks we purchased (at Costco) were $5.25, which in California terms is a real bargain.

    Just as a reminder Jan and her late husband Norm are longtime friends of mine and now Joan. They drove to San Antonio in 2012 to visit us there and we had a great time. Sadly, Norm died just a few months later, but we love visiting with Jan at her wonderful home.

    Saturday morning came quickly (hard to believe we have been gone from Arizona for a week now) and we were off on the first leg of our long trip home to Michigan. First we had a lunch date with another good friend of ours.  In recent years, we have always stopped in El Dorado Hills to visit Kenny, a man I worked with at the Atherton Police Department in the 1970s, and his long time partner, Liz.  Sadly, Kenny died earlier this year, but we wanted to stop and visit with Liz. We had a beautiful lunch at the Cliff House Restaurant on the American River in Folsom.

Liz and Joan at Cliff House

   And then too soon that was over and it was time to really start the trek home. The first part of the trip is a 60-mile climb over the beautiful Sierra Mountains near Lake Tahoe. Some years we come through and the snow is piled higher than our car. This year it was not so deep. In fact there was a severe shortage of snow. Another storm was expected just a day after we drove through so while we are happy they were getting more snow, we were equally happy it waited until we got through the pass.

   We did pass a semi truck and trailer that had an interesting slogan written on the side: “India kills minorities.” And something about “Never forget the Seik Massacre,” or something like that.  When I get a chance I will do a little research and find out what that’s all about.

   The temperature ranged from 55 degrees in the morning, to 76 degrees near Sacramento and then down to 53 degrees a little east of Reno. We saw a pretty persistent dust devil along I-80 in Nevada, a few wild prong horn antelope and we cruised into Winnemucca, Nevada about 5 p.m. at the Days Inn. There was time for Joan and I to visit a local casino and leave behind a small donation for the locals.

   The next morning we were invited to take our free breakfast back to our room due to ongoing Covid regulations and when I stopped to drop our room keys off at the office on our way out I forget to look where I was going and tripped on a curb. The fall was stopped by my face on the concrete walk which left my face a bloody mess. I’ll post a photo. Fortunately, the only thing really injured was my pride as I failed to break any bones. Just a solid bonk on the head.

On I-80 near South Lake Tahoe

   During our trip through Nevada, Utah, including the endless Bonneville salt flats, and then Wyoming we once again marveled at the varied beauty of the west. Also Wyoming has done a great job of building overpasses that allow deer, coyotes and other wildlife to safely cross the freeway. They have erected very high fences on both sides of the freeway and the animals are funneled to the overpasses for crossing. In some places there are tunnels under the freeway that serve the same purpose. We also went through Pumpernickel Valley, which must be where pumpernickel comes from.

   Our highest temperature in Utah was 46 degrees. I haven’t mentioned yet, but will start now describing our windy conditions that really began almost as soon as we left our friend Jan’s house in Hidden Valley Lake. 

   The wind would plague us in varying, but non-stop degrees all the way to Illinois. We were grateful that we missed the other bad weather that was following us, but the wind played havoc with gas mileage and with the ease of driving. Sunday ended in Rock Springs, Wyoming a place we have never stayed before.  We stayed at the Clarion Inn there and it was very nice. They had a nice restaurant where they served a wonderful free breakfast for people who stayed at the hotel.

   It would be good to mention here that Wyoming and it’s sister, Nebraska are very long states when going across them. Wyoming has some interesting scenery, but aside from a small area where flocks of Sand Hill cranes can be seen east of Kearney, Nebraska, not much to see in the Cornhusker state. We had a nice dinner at a local chain restaurant called Whiskey Creek.

Busted face

   We stayed, also for the first time, in Kearney, Nebraska at the New Victorian Inn and Suites which was a nice stop also. The wind was still following us and at this point it would have been a big money saver if I had purchased a spinnaker and main sail to aid us on the rest of our trip.

   On the long trip out of Nebraska from Kearney, we witnessed a semi-truck and trailer completely engulfed in flames on the lanes opposite ours and were confident that the fire had been reported but it was quite a while before we saw the emergency vehicles headed in the direction of the fire. It appeared the driver had gotten safely out of the vehicle, but we offered a little prayer just in case.

    A little further along we witnessed a semi-truck and trailer that had literally been blown over on its side. The winds were probably to blame. As for the sand hills we have seen more on previous trips.

    Our final stop (usually we stop at my sister Laura’s in North Aurora, Illinois the night before we head home, but she moved a couple years ago and I’m sure the new owners would probably not let us stay) was in Davenport, Iowa at the Rhythm City Casino and Resort. We had a nice dinner and after using up my free play and a little extra I went to our room and started on this blog post. Joan stayed behind in her never ending quest to aid the local economies of numerous reservations. The hotel and casino were relatively new and beautiful, but out in the middle of nowhere.

   On Wednesday, we headed out in only mild winds for a change, for home. We had a pretty easy Illinois crossing, but as we approached Michigan the rain started falling and we spent the rest of the trip wet. As we left I-69 in Lapeer for the final three miles to our house I quipped to Joan that we would probably get stopped by the train. Sadly, that turned out to be prophetic as our final leg home was delayed by a medium length freight train.

   We pulled into our driveway a little after 4 p.m. and almost 4 months after we left in December. Thanks again for joining us on our latest adventure. We started out on December 21 from Lapeer and landed back at home on April 13. We drove a total of 11,563 miles during those months.

Departure from Voyager RV park April 1

Mileage: 89952

Time: 8:22 a.m.

Departure from Camping World Tucson

Mileage: 89998

Time: 5:26 p.m.

Arrived at Flagstaff storage lot April 2

Mileage: 90282

Time: 6:49 a.m.

Departure from storage lot

Time: 7:34 a.m.

Arrival at Bakersfield April 2

Mileage: 90756

Time: 2:50 p.m.

Departure from Bakersfield April 3 (Happy Anniversary to us!)

Mileage: 90756

Time: 9:15 a.m.

Arrival at Cynthia’s house in Danville, California

Mileage: 91008

Time: 1:12 p.m.

Departure from Cynthia’s House April 8

Mileage: 91350

Time: 10 a.m.

Arrival at Jan’s house in Hidden Valley Lake, California

Mileage: 91449

Time: 12:15 p.m.

Departure from Jan’s house April 9

Time: 8:30 a.m.

Arrival at hotel in Winnemucca, Nevada April 9

Mileage: 91882

Time: 5:26 p.m.

Departure from Winnemucca April 10

Time: 8:15 a.m.

Arrival in Rock Springs, Wyoming April 10

Mileage: 92412

Time: 4:47 p.m. (MDT)

Departure from Rock Springs, Wyoming April 11

8:37 a.m.

Arrival in Kearney, Nebraska April 11 (CDT)

Mileage: 92982

Time: 5:42 p.m. (CDT)

Departure from Kearney, Nebraska April 12

Time: 7:56 a.m.

Arrival in Davenport, Iowa April 12

Mileage: 93465

Time: 3:05 p.m. (CDT)

Departure from Davenport, Iowa April 13

Time: 8:02 a.m.

Arrival at home in Lapeer, Michigan April 13

Mileage: 93923

Time: 4:09 p.m. (EDT)

Winter getaway wraps up with many friends

Life and time in the desert spins out of control like one of those clocks in an old fashioned movie. It seems like we just got here and now we are in the final throes of cleaning out the refrigerator, cleaning out closets in the trailer and packing for the trip home.

As I write this (March 29) we spent the day checking our closets for stuff that has to go and for the stuff that will stay put in the trailer after we store it Saturday morning in Flagstaff. This year, more than others, we put some extra time and money into trailer maintenance and just today we ran into a new issue. Two mornings in a row we woke up to a pool of water on the kitchen floor. The first morning we passed it off as a water bottle that may have leaked, but when it happened again we realized we had a more serious problem. So down on the floor I went and discovered that our 15-year-old water heater has sprung a fatal leak.

There is no time or ability to replace it in two days, so we bypassed the water heater, shut it off, drained it and will deal with it when we return next year. For the time being we are boiling water to wash dishes, so just like real camping. It’s just for two more days so we’ll struggle through. We had all the trailer decals replaced and the outside of the rig detailed and it looks practically new even though it had started to show some of its 15 years outside. When I last wrote (I know it has been more than a month) we had just attended a Tucson Roadrunners hockey game and were getting ready for the Michigan Party on Monday, Feb. 21. We had a lower than normal turnout but still 38 of our fellow Michiganders showed up to celebrate all that is the Mitten State.

On Wednesday, February 23 Mr. Boogie Woogie performed in Bourbon Street Bash and it was a raucous but wonderful show that left our toes tapping and our hands clapping. The shows here this year have been simply wonderful. More on those later. As I love to do I have continued to hike at least 2 times a week and sometimes a third. I’ve done Ventana Canyon, Wasson Peak, Chiricahua Mountains, Phoneline (which turned into a 9-mie slog in 85-degree heat), Gabe Zimmerman, Cactus Forest Trail in East Saguaro National Park and a couple others. I also had a memorable day hiking with my friend Bob from Lapeer. On Thursday, February 24, Bob and I headed out so we could hike to Ft. Bowie in southeast Arizona. It’s not a difficult hike, but it gets a lot harder when you have to do a third of it over because you dropped your cellphone on the trail. Yes, that’s right, I lost my cellphone on one of the more difficult parts of the return trail.

I noticed it was gone when I reached for it in my pocket to take a photo of the fort from the top of the hill overlooking it. When we couldn’t find it, Bob headed one direction and I headed back in the direction I came from to see if I could find it. I was on my way down a fairly steep hill (which I had just climbed up) and looked ahead about ¼-mile and saw a couple holding something in their hand. When I was close enough to yell at them they immediately held up my phone and said they were in the process of trying to unlock it so they check my phone logs and try to call someone who would know who it belonged to. Thankfully, they were honest and caring and my panic over losing my phone and all that it contains subsided. I still had added about a mile to the hike.

Ft. Bowie is famous because it is the location where the Apache Wars started back in the 1800s. There remains a small post cemetery than includes the remains of a number of Native Americans, including a son of Geronimo a few farmers, but all the soldiers who were buried there were moved a long time ago to a national cemeteries elsewhere. I’ve read two books on the Apache Wars and it was moving to see the actual locations where many of the events in the books occurred. OK, back to other activities, Joan and I attended most, but not all the Thursday lectures. Joan attended the one by a local DEA agent on opioid abuse and I attended one on electric vehicles. Because of Covid restrictions only four lectures were held this year.

Both Joan and I continued to attend the separate mens’ and womens’ Bible studies and last Thursday I completed the 12-week study that I led on Thursday nights that centered on the lives of the 12 Disciples. I had a great group of 24 people who attended by Thursday studies and I learned more from them than I’m sure they learned from me. We’ve attended dances almost every weekend, including a new group called RAW, which is the remnants of one of our favorite groups, Retro Rockets. Since I last wrote we attended another Reminiscence Dance, which is a group made up of musicians who live at our resort.

DJ Delores, another resort resident hosts a monthly dance with recorded music. At most of the dances we joined with our friends Mike and Sue and Joe and Sharon, although Joe and Sharon left the park early to begin more of their retirement travels. We did get a chance to introduce Joe and Sharon to Monday Night at Maynard’s and we are hoping they will return here in a future year.

The other concerts we attended were Walkin’ the Line, a Johnny Cash tribute; One of These Nights, an excellent Eagles tribute band, Surfin’, a Beach Boys tribute and finally Woodstock, a show that we previously saw on February 7 with our friends Bob and Karen. They left the park at the end of February. On March 15, we skipped our usual Tuesday night potluck dinner and went to the Gaslight Theater again this time to see “Arizona Smith” which was a spoof of Indiana Jones. Lots of great music and laughs with good friends. We’re going to do more of the Gaslight offerings in the future.

We have been blessed this year with the company of great friends from Michigan. Roger and Jessica who have stopped and stayed the last few years, made a point of staying in the resort in their RV for about 10 days. It’s all the time they had this year as they made a detour to Hawaii which ate into the time they usually spend with us. Can’t blame them for choosing Hawaii though. Roger was my first editor at the Flint Journal and he has been a great friend. While Roger and Jessica were here another former colleague, Jane, and her husband, Chuck, joined the four of us for dinner at “Sauce” one of our favorite places to eat. Roger also knows Jane, who was a photographer at the Journal.

Jane and Chuck also joined us for the Wednesday night “Woodstock” concert at the resort on March 23 and dinner before hand at Fat Willy’s here at the resort. It is fun to share our time here with people we know from back home. Another visitor was George Overman. George and I both served on the USS Cogswell DD-651, but not at the same time. We have become friends through the ship association that we both serve on. He was in town for the Family Motor Coach Association rally at the Pima Fairgrounds. He also visited us at the resort for dinner. It was great to have George here as well.

Joan has continued to attend and enjoy her polymer clay classes on Friday afternoon. She recruited her friend Suzy, who is now a frequent attendee as well. She continues to enjoy her Zumba classes two times a week and her aquacise classes which are also two times a week. And when Joan isn’t doing all that she is volunteering as a receptionist at the medical clinic here at the resort. The nurse practitioner who runs the clinic takes her volunteers out to lunch each month and Joan enjoys those get togethers as well. Joan was also honored at the March birthdays party at our friends’ Darcel and Barry’s house in the Cove. Everyone sang the birthday song, but mostly we got cake and ice cream.

As for me I am in my 8th year of volunteering on the table and chairs team, which is more intense that it may sound. We set up 625 chairs every Wednesday night for the concerts, 300 chairs every Sunday for chapel, dozens of tables every Saturday for coffee and donuts in the ballroom, not to mention tables and chairs for the dances and other gatherings. Our table and chair leader is Carl, a retired airline pilot, who is a joy to work with. There was another Market Daze and finally this past weekend, Joan, me, Roger and Jessica did our annual wine tasting tour through the Sonoita region just south of here. I’m the designated driver but we had a ball sitting out on the patios and looking at the gorgeous scenery. We ended the evening with a very nice dinner at the Copper Brothel (really!) Restaurant in Sonoita.

There has been one other adventure this past month or so. Joan’s dentist in Michigan warned here in December that she had a crown and tooth that probably would need attention. Joan opted to wait until we returned in April, but the tooth had other ideas. So we began an odyssey to find a dentist who could diagnose and fix her toothache. Eventually we found a good dentist in Tucson who, along with the help of a local Endodontist performed a root canal. The original dentist is installing the new crown on Joan’s birthday, March 31 the day before it’s wheels up for us as we depart our winter paradise. This is the second time we’ve had to have emergency dental work done for Joan here. Finally we have found a doctor/allergist here in Tucson that was willing to give Joan her allergy shots so that has been a good thing this year. One of the big dramas, well one of a couple dramas here this year, involved a stray dog that residents nicknamed “Buddy.” The pit bull mix has been wandering free here since our arrival and survives off the scraps left for him by the residents. A failed attempt to tranquilizer and capture him had folks up in arms, although truly the best thing for this animal would be for him to be caught and given a good new home. The second drama involved a Javelina, a wild pig like (but not actually related to a pig) creature that broke through the floor of a park model and ended up sleeping on the bed after trashing the inside of the trailer. Local sheriff’s deputies chased it out of the park model with a curtain rod and an open front door.

Another active month in our desert paradise

  It’s been a busy few weeks in the desert since Dad left at the end of January. The weather has been a little bit of a roller coaster (a very mild coaster, one that most youngsters would be allowed to ride). We had a couple days in the low 80s, a bunch in the 70s and a couple in the 50s.   We also had two days where it rained, but again, not so much.

   After Dad left it was a bit of a letdown for us as we had kept pretty busy with fun activities (if you call falling out of an airplane fun) while he was here. So after a couple chill days we started back on our normal activities.

   Joan has resumed her volunteer receptionist duties at the Voyager clinic and I have been busy with table and chair duties as activities have picked up as the Covid numbers have gone down.

Me and my shadow

   The Wednesday night concert series has been really good this year. The three concerts while Dad was here were great and the ones since have also been very good. The night after Dad left we saw the Chicago tribute show, which was terrific.

    The following week was The Spouse Whisperer, who we’ve seen here before, but he showed up with a lot of new and very funny material. That show contained an unplanned heckler but the entertainer dealt with it with great humor. At one point the woman heckler shouted out that “I live alone!”  The comedian shot back, “Ma’am I think we can all be thankful for that.”

    Shortly after that she stumbled her way out of the concert (I think she was just a little tipsy) and tripped and fell over a chair in the dark room creating yet another interruption before she finally made her way out the door.

    On February 9 we say the show “O Canada” which celebrated the many musical artists that have come from north of the border. Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Anne Murray, a band called Tragically Hip (never heard of them before) and several others. Mercifully, they did not include any musical offerings from Justin Bieber.

Steel drum fun

    The last night, February 16, we saw “Trio,” which was a really good “girl” show with Tribute artists doing songs from Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. All three women singers were great. Interestingly, Mindy Ronstadt, the niece of the famous singer, reprised the songs of her famous aunt.

   We’ve been attending the Thursday lecture series, one on the Sonoran Desert Museum and Joan went to the Thursday lecture today on the new Art Express Theater here in Tucson. (I stayed home to write this blog post).

Hike thru Rattlesnake tunnel

    On Saturday, February 12, along with our Lapeer friends Bob and Karen who are staying in the resort for two months, we headed to Tubac for the annual arts festival. While Joan and Karen shopped for unique items at the arts festival, Bob and I went and toured the nearby Tumacacori Mission. After that we met up with Karen and Joan and had lunch. On the way home we made a detour and drove up Madera Canyon.

   Bob and I also made a trip to Huachuca City and did a nice hike at the San Pedro House. We also did a short hike to the remains of the house that once was the residence of the Clanton family of the famous "Shootout at the OK Corral" fame.

   In early February we went with Bob and Karen to a show at the Gaslight Theater in Tucson to see the Tributaries perform “Woodstock.”  The show also included Mindy Ronstadt singing and was really, really good.

   I’ve done a couple great hikes, Tanque Verde Ridge, Bridal Wreath Falls, Seven Falls, Brown Mountain and Cactus Forest Trail in Saguaro East National Park. We also attended another of the monthly Market Daze art sales here at the Voyager on February 9.  I dropped Joan off at the Tucson Gem Show on Saturday, Feb. 5 and picked her up a few hours later.

Tucson Roadrunners hockey

  Along with Bob and Karen on February 7, Joan and I went to the Gaslight Theater (first time we’ve gone there) to see the Woodstock tribute show that also included singer Mindy Ronstadt.

   We’ve also done a couple of Saturday dances here at the resort, the RAW Band and then the local dance band made up of musicians who live here.  We always have a good time at those.

   On Friday, February 4, we attended the Voyager talent show, which showcased some of the incredible talent that resides here at the Voyager.

    Another night we went with friends to the nearby town of Sahuarita and saw a great free concert with a local steel drum band. The outdoor setting was beautiful and we had a great time with our friends.

Remains of Clanton ranch

    Joan continues to make polymer clay jewelry on Friday, works out in the ballroom Monday and Thursday with her Zumba classes and her aquacise classes on Tuesday and Saturday.  So she is certainly busy. My hiking schedule is pretty much Monday and Friday. We both continue with our Bible studies here as well.

    Our weekly Meet Me at Maynard’s event continue with the addition of our friend Deborah Peterson who just arrived her from Minnesota. Deb and her husband, David, used to go with us down there in previous years. Sadly, Dave died last year so we were really glad to see Deborah make it down this year. This past Monday Joan and I won tickets to see the Tucson Symphony Orchestra perform Duke Ellington’s “Harlem” this coming Sunday.

    As well as the volunteer and fun activities we are currently waiting for some major maintenance work to be done on the trailer. More on that in a future blog post.

Brown Mountain trail

    Friday night, February 18 we went to the second Voyager dinner show. The entertainment was the Tributaries (the same group that did the Woodstock show at the Gaslight Theater) and again for the third time this season Mindy Ronstadt was here to perform in their “Good Morning, Vietnam” show.

    On Saturday, February 19 we headed to downtown Tucson with friends to see a Tucson Roadrunners AHL hockey game. The Roadrunners are the farm team for the Phoenix Coyotes so of course I wore my Detroit Red Wings Darren McCarty sweater.

     It was a great game and the Roadrunners won it 4-3 on a shot with 15 seconds left in the game. A great night and fun to see hockey in the desert.

   The music, singers and musicians were all terrific and we are truly blessed to have such talent available to us here.

    So as you can see (and I’m probably forgetting a thing or two) we have been busy out here in Arizona. We’ll be back soon with further adventures.

Sky diving at 96, a special tour and too much fun

   What a month it has been with Dad here. We had more fun that a human has a right to have, but before I bury the lead to this story let me just say that my 96-year-old father accomplished a 70-year dream to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. On Saturday, January 15, after several back and forth messages with Sky Dive Marana and communications with Dad’s cardiologist it was a go for the jump.     My father was not nervous at all, but me and the owner of the Sky Dive business were a little nervous. This dive had been in the works for many years. For a long time I thought he was kidding or being silly about wanting to do this dive. In recent months it became clear he was not kidding and really wanted to do this. Here’s the Reader’s Digest version of why: 

Waiting to jump

    During World War II Dad trained for an emergency parachute jump as part of his training to be a B-17 crewmember. Although he did the ground training he never got the opportunity to actually do a test jump. Thus the 70-year delayed jump. 

    One of the things the owner told me when I first contacted him about this unique tandem sky dive was whether Dad was able to lift his legs high enough so that the skydiver accompanying him could get his legs under Dad and slide into a safe landing. Dad spent a week exercising and making sure that when the time came he would be able to pull up his knees and avoid a bone-breaking, gravity induced tumble on earth. 

    Two of our resort friends, Bob and Jean, asked if they could accompany us and watch and Dad said that would be fine. We arrived about ½ hour early for the 11 a.m. scheduled flight but when we arrived the owner said he wanted to move Dad’s jump back an hour so a skilled (and by that I mean tall, lean and mean) skydiver named Steve could be the one to bring Dad back to earth. 

    Once I saw Steve almost all of my worries evaporated as Steve was taller than Dad, built like a brick house and with a great positive and enthusiastic attitude. Steve serves in the Navy (another great asset for me) and is a parajumper in the service. He assured me that everything was going to be fine. 

Falling to earth with Steve

    They put a harness on Dad and then it was time to fly. Steve grabbed ahold of Dads harness and walked him to the twin engine jump plane and off they flew. There was a 20-minute wait while the plane climbed to 10,500-feet and then we watched as these tiny specks began dropping from the airplane. The first speck was Dad and Steve. Just about six minutes later Steve and Dad came into a sliding, but safe landing in front of us. 

   Dad was a little winded but very excited about his achievement. Two men from Iran, who jumped at 10 a.m., waited around to see Dad jump as they were impressed with this old guy who wanted to jump from a plane. 

   As it turned out Dad was the oldest person to jump at Sky Dive Marana exceeding by four years the previous oldest jumper who was 92. We called my sister, who knew there was going to be an attempt at a jump but didn’t know what day it was going to happen, as soon as we got back to the resort and let her know that the feat was accomplished and that Dad was safe and sound. 

    At the resort chapel the next day the pastor had Dad stand and explained to the 250 people there what Dad had done the day before and he became an instant celebrity at the resort. In fact, Dad left for his Louisville home on Tuesday, January 25, but people are still talking about “The Sky Dive.”

Getting close to the ground

 

    Now you would think it would be hard to top that, but we almost did. As soon as we arrived here I made contact with the public affairs officer at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to see if there was any way I could get Dad on the base for a tour. 

    In a number of back-and-forth emails the public affairs officer and I discussed dates and ideas. She finally offered a Friday, January 21 tour of the 47th Fighter Squadron based at Davis-Monthan. The 47th Fighter Squadron is now an A-10 Thunderbolt, known more affectionately as a Warthog, reserve unit. The reflects the affectionate name of the squadron "Termites."

    The 47th traces its lineage to the attack on Pearl Harbor when two of its pilots were the only airmen that got airborne during the Japanese attack scoring 7 “kills.” 

   It has been in almost constant service since, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan. I avoided telling Dad about the plans until they finally came together about 3 days before the scheduled tour. He was beyond elated about the prospect. The tour was scheduled from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Dad getting cockpit tour of the A-10

   We arrived at the gate a few minutes early and were met by a sergeant who escorted us to Hangar 8 where the 47th had pulled an A-10 into a hangar with a floor so clean you could have eaten off it. 

   We were met by a Chief Master Sgt. who met us in the hangar along with several other members of the A-10 squadron. The crew took turns welcoming Dad to the hangar and then raised up some mechanical steps so Dad could get a close up view of the cockpit interior. 

   Another enlisted man sat in the cockpit and gave Dad a tour of the cockpit. Sometime during all this Dad boldly asked if they had a two-seat version of the plane (the meaning of that was not lost on anyone) and they regretfully said that while three two-seat versions were built, none are currently in service. 

    Another crew member showed Dad the 30mm gatling cannon that the plane is built around. They had opened up the access door to the weapon so Dad could get a good look inside the weapon. Before the tour continued with an A-10 pilot, the crew members presented Dad with two posters and a 30mm dummy shell that they had engraved Dad’s World War II Army Air Force rank and name on it. It left Dad speechless, but the tour was just starting. 

    Major James Buchanan, a 2006 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy took over the tour from the hangar. Next Dad was taken to the recreation room (bar) used by the A-10 air crews. 

   The interior of the room is a testament to the history of the 47th Fighter Squadron. A photo of the two hero pilots from Hawaii hang on the wall along with a squadron sign that came home from its place on Iwo Jima after the war. The 47th Fighter Squadron was based at Iwo Jima and escorted B-29s on bombing raids to Japan. 

Dad and his 47th FS friends

    At some point while Dad and Major Buchanan were talking “shop” the Major pulled out several squadron patches and a challenge coin and presented them to Dad. There was more speechlessness.           Major Buchanan finished a detailed tour of the recreation room and then we followed him to a large Air Force training building where they had set up the high tech A-10 simulator for Dad to use.  

        Unfortunately, the tightness of the space left Dad concerned he could never get out of the simulator cockpit so Joan was quickly substituted as the A-10 pilot in training. With some help from Major Buchanan Joan was able to take off and began flying around the Tucson area which with the help of computer graphics was somehow filled with enemy aircraft and Russian tanks on the ground. 

    Using missiles and cannons Joan had the privilege of destroying a Russian made tank on the ground and shot a MIG 29 out of the sky. Not an ace yet but then it came time to land the A-10. I guess the best thing we can say about the landing is that she walked away from it. But it didn’t actually land on the runway. But, hey, it was her first combat flight so there’s that. 

    Our two-hour tour had turned into an almost three-hour tour an it was time to leave, but with many happy memories and some great souvenirs soon to be applied to a new jacked for Dad.

Dad and engraved 30mm shell

    It seemed as much as Dad was honored by the tour, the members of the 47th Fighter Squadron were honored to meet a member of the Greatest Generation close up.

    In between skydiving and air force base touring, Dad went to two more concerts at the resort, one was a Paul Simon tribute show and the other was William Florian, a former lead singer of the New Christy Minstrels who gave a really fun concert. 

     Also highlighting Dad’s visit was some research Dad and I did at the county clerk’s office where we found the address from Dad’s late mother-in-law (my step grandmother) who once lived in Tucson. No one remembered her address, but I was able to pull up some old deed records and found her former address (she left in 1990). 

     I visited her once there back in the mid-1980s and Dad and my sister had been there previously too. Those old investigative reporter skills still come in handy once in a while. 

    After we got the address we drove to the house and after finding it I decided we should go to the door and see if anyone was home. A very nice lady was there and invited us into the house. A lot of changes had been made, but it was still pretty much as we remembered it. She had some questions for us about what the house had looked like when we saw it and then it was time to leave. 

    It’s hard to remember all the things we did while Dad was here, but here is a quick list: 

    A second visit to downtown Tucson and Meet Me at Maynard’s. 

    Two trips to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. The first time we went was on a Wednesday which is the only day they don’t have the “Raptor Free Flight” show, so I took Dad back the day before he left for home so we could see the show. 

     A car tour of Saguaro East National Park. 

Dad and Major Buchanan and coin

    A car tour of Madera Canyon where we stopped and paid our respects to “Michael’s Mountain,” which is actually Mt. Wrightson, but the place at the summit where I took my brother’s ashes a number of years ago. On the way home from there we stopped and had a picnic lunch at the Titan Missile Museum. 

   We had both toured it previously so we skipped the tour. 

    We made one more trip to the Pima Air and Space Museum so we could finish touring all the buildings there. We stopped in and visited with the B-17 pilot again on a Thursday. 

    We took a car trip up the road to Mt. Lemmon. Dad and I rode the guided tram tour up Sabino Canyon. 

    We went and saw another movie – King Richard – the story of Serena and Venus Williams and their father, Richard Williams. Very good movie by the way. 

    Dad attended resort chapel with us each Sunday.  

    Joan, Dad an I went to the Friday dinner show at the resort. The entertainment was a program called “Back to the Fifties,” and we enjoyed it very much. 

    We had dinner out at Chuy’s a Mexican Restaurant we had never eaten at before. 

    Dad was kind enough to go on several chore runs with me to get the car washed, gassed and pick up odds and ends, including filling our large propane tanks for the trailer. 

"Termites" sign from Iwo Jima

    So soon the visit was over and we drove Dad to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix for his flight home to Louisville. It was kind of a letdown to get up the next day and know that he was not here in Tucson anymore. 

    Wednesday night Joan and I went to the resort concert which was “Chicago Experience” which was a really good tribute to the band with the same name. At the previous concerts Dad had used my ticket and sat with Joan at the shows so this was the first time I was back in my “assigned” seat. 

    More fun to come.

Back (finally) in our Happy Place - Tucson

 

   Curse you Covid!  It’s been awhile since I have posted here, but Covid be damned we are back in our happy place – Tucson, Arizona – after taking two weeks off (er, 21 months off) to flatten the curve. Remember those days. All we had to do in those early days was to isolate for two weeks and then everything would be good.

   So last year we stayed home because the resort was basically closed to all activities other than walking outside alone. But life must move on, the pandemic will become an endemic and we will just learn to deal and live our lives again.

    This year we are very excited to be able to bring my 96-year-old father with us to Voyager.  My Dad used to travel to Tucson on business and he loves this place. Or at least he loved this place then.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Nice chairs

    We left Lapeer on Tuesday, December 21.  Our neighbors thought I was crazy as they watched me take down all our Christmas decorations 5 days before the big day. But by the time we get home in April I really don’t want to come home to a house decorated for a holiday three months in the rear view mirror.

   Prior to leaving we had an early Christmas with daughter Elin, her partner Justin and our son Tim.

   So with a new security camera system in place and our bags packed we left Lapeer with the temperature at 28 degrees.

   Our first night on the road was spent in Cave City, Kentucky and the hotel was nice, but the hotel’s recommendation for dinner left a little to be desired. The clerk told us that “everyone” loves the Watermill Restaurant. Apparently, we are not “everyone.”

Things 1,2,3

My chair

  For starters, the place had mismatched tables and chairs, which we could live with, but they were out of everything we wanted to eat.  My mouth was watering for fried chicken. Nope, out. Also out of salmon, rib eye steak and
sweet potatoes. We both settled for a chopped steak (hamburger patty). The vinyl chairs had gaping holes in them, but at least they required using plastic gloves for the salad bar. It was an eclectic group of diners including Amish folks and rednecks.

  
The next day we passed through Bowling Green, Kentucky just a week after the massive tornado raced through Kentucky. We could see twisted trees, damaged buildings, trees with sheet metal wrapped around high branches and plenty of tarp covered roofs.

$5 donut place

  
Our first destination was Murfreesboro, Tennessee to spend a couple days with our son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren for an early Christmas. While there we were taken to a beautiful outdoor Christmas light display that was coordinated with music. We also went to a special donut store ($5 per donut) where the donuts were incredible.

Christmas light drive

    We had fun watching the children and grandchildren open their presents, but all too soon it was time to depart.

    Next stop was Louisville, Kentucky and Christmas with my sister and brother-in-law and father. While there we had another Christmas light adventure in a mega cave near Louisville and a great meal out at a 5-star restaurant. It was here on the actual Christmas Day that we celebrated our third Christmas for 2021.

    On Tuesday, December 28, we departed Louisville with Dad aboard and spent the first half of the day driving through rain in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and through St. Louis, Missouri. The rain finally let up after St. Louis and we breezed through Missouri and spent the night in one of the weirdest hotels we have every stayed in.

    I’m not too fussy about hotel rooms, I desire them to be clean and reasonably priced. The Microtel in Joplin was both, but it was like staying in a closet. It was only $60 a night, but next time I’ll pay extra to have a room with a little more room.

   On Wednesday, morning the 29^th we left Joplin and had a nice breakfast at a nearby Cracker Barrel (the Microtel doesn’t offer anything) and then hit the road. As we passed through Oklahoma we saw an antique store with the name “Dead People Stuff.”

Christmas with the kids

    With a destination of Tucumcari, New Mexico we were traveling through Amarillo, Texas the place where my Dad went to boot camp in the Army Air Corps in World War II. With some help from OnStar we located the place where the base was, except it wasn’t there anymore. Acres and acres of empty fields where military buildings once stood greeted us. The roads were still there but all vestiges of the base were gone.

    We talked to a couple guys who worked in a new building on the former base property and they said sometime in the 60s or 70s a Democratic President closed the base in a cost saving move. “We’re a Republican state, so that’s probably the reason,” the man said.

    After the short tour of empty fields we stopped and ate at The Big Texan. It’s a famous place where if you order and eat a 72-ounce steak within one hour you get it for free. Two guys tried but failed while we were eating there.

     Dad with his World War II hat always attracts a lot of attention and people were gracious and thankful for his service.

The Big Texan dinner

    We arrived at a very crowded hotel in Tucumcari, New Mexico and because it was relatively late we all went to bed in our rooms. The hotel had a basic breakfast and after eating the next morning we headed out into a very strong headwind. That wind played havoc with my gas mileage, but we landed at the Twin Arrows Casino and Resort in Flagstaff, Arizona about 3 p.m. on the 30^th.

Dad and the colonel

    The weather forecast for the following morning was ominous. Predictions of 6 to 8 inches of snow in Flagstaff had me rethinking my plans for picking up our stored trailer in the morning. Remember that we hadn’t laid eyes on our trailer in the Flagstaff storage lot since March 2020. I wasn’t sure I would find the trailer with flat tires or other issues so I decided to drop Joan and Dad at the resort and head the 30 minutes to the storage lot and see what I was facing.

Dad and the B-17

   On the off chance the trailer was towable I decided to fill up the Tahoe at a gas station near the storage lot. Once at the storage lot I found the trailer in good shape, all tires inflated and made the decision to off load the luggage in the Tahoe and put it in the trailer.

Me on a hike

   When I arrived back at the casino I met Joan and Dad at the sports bar and had dinner. Then I got to watch Michigan State pull out a come-from-behind victory over Pittsburgh in the Peach Bowl.

    Hooking up the trailer early turned out to be one of my better decisions, as it was snowing hard in the morning and hooking up would have been a real mess. Having the trailer hooked up and ready to go we missed the brunt of the storm and after driving down the mountain about 2,000-feet the snow disappeared and the driving was smooth all the way to Tucson.

I've learned over the years that the trailer tows better and the Tahoe runs better if I balance the loads between the two. The temperatures were cold, but not as cold as they would be in the morning so I removed the tire covers, put the battery on the trailer, and hooked the unit up to the Tahoe. All this took a little over an hour and I was frozen by the time I was done.

Dad and a C-47

    We arrived into the Voyager Resort in the early afternoon. It was a beautiful 69 degrees, nearly 36 degrees warmer than when we left Flagstaff. After checking Dad into his hotel room (he’s staying a month here) we got help setting up our trailer on our usual spot. Miraculously our 14-year-old trailer was in good working condition and everything (gas, electric, slide outs, hot water, etc. all worked to perfection).

   After dinner at the new restaurant at the Voyager, Dad went to bed and we went to the New Year’s Eve Dance at the resort.

    The next day, New Year’s Day, we had breakfast at the restaurant and went grocery shopping but then came back and spent the day watching the football marathon that is New Year’s Day.

    On Sunday, after we all attended chuch at the resort, we took a little drive with Dad to show him the resort and watched some NFL football.

The Eagle has landed

    Still recovering and catching up from our long driving trip Monday was laundry dad and then we took Dad downtown for Meet Me at Maynard’s. The weather was a little chilly, but we took Dad to one of our favorite restaurants.

    While Joan started her water classes, Dad and I drove to a car wash and got the Tahoe cleaned on Tuesday. We drove around a little and then returned to the resort for the weekly pot luck dinner.

    On Wednesday, I took Dad to the Pima Air and Space Museum, which was half the reason for his trip here as he has been eager to visit for many years. We spent several wonderful hours and then returned home for dinner in the trailer followed by the Wednesday night concert at the Voyager. Dad enjoyed “The Starlets” a group of women singers who relived the girl group hits of the 50s and 60s. “Sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at suppertime, be my little sugar and love me all the time.”  Lots of great songs.

   On Thursday, after my Men’s Bible Study, Dad and I headed back to the Air and Space Museum to continue our touring there. I was excited to learn that a man I have heard talk there before in the B-17 building was still giving talks under the plane. The man was a B-17 pilot in World War II and he and Dad spent a wonderful 40 minutes swapping stories under the iconic airplane. The pilot will turn 99 in March, Dad will turn 97 the same month.

    Following that Dad and I took the tram tour around the outdoor airplane exhibits. We still have unfinished business at the museum so we will return and finish two of the buildings we haven’t toured yet. We again had dinner in the trailer and I led my first Thursday night Bible study here.

   On Friday morning Dad and I ventured off campus to do a little shopping (I needed a new sewer hose for the trailer) and Dad needed some stuff as well. I gave him a tour of the Tucson International Airport and then we returned to base and had lunch. Later we headed out to the movie theater and saw “American Underdog” the movie about the life of Kurt and Brenda Warner. Kurt was the quarterback who defied the odds and became a great NFL star.

    Saturday morning brought a free donut at the Voyager ballroom and then Dad and I read our books on the patio until it was lunch time. After lunch we took Dad for a riding tour of Saguaro East National Park followed by a T-bone steak dinner at the trailer.

    Finally to bring you completely up-to-date, we went to church on Sunday here at the resort and then watched NFL football all afternoon. We also did laundry. More fun to come.

Mileage out from Lapeer: 82360

Time out: 9:08 a.m.

Mileage in Cave City: 82871

Time in: 5:02 p.m. (Central)

Mileage out Cave City: 82362

Time out: 8:31 a.m.

Mileage in Murfreesboro, Tenn: 82997

Time in: 10:51 a.m.

Time out (Dec. 24): 8:57 a.m.

Mileage out: 82997

Time in (Louisville -ET): 1:25 p.m.

Mileage in: 83216

Mileage out (Louisville – Dec. 28): 83439

Time out: 8:36 a.m.

Mileage in (Joplin, MO): 83988

Time in (CT): 4:06 p.m.

Mileage out: 83988

Time out: 7:25 a.m.

Mileage in (Tucumcari, NM): 84606

Time in (MT): 6:08 p.m.

Mileage out: 84606

Time out: 8:02 a.m.

Mileage in (Flagstaff): 85077

Time in: 3:01 p.m.

Mileage out: 85154

Time out: 7:59 a.m.

Mileage in: 85443

Time in: 12:51 p.m.