Oh My Gosh!

Old Glory

As of tonight we've traveled over 3,500 miles!  We're just now getting settled in the hotel in Erie PA.  We hit road construction on I-90 about 12 miles from our turnoff and it took us an hour and a half to reach the exit.  Tomorrow morning will be the same thing as we hit I-90 headed to our final destination, Troy NY.  They say that the construction goes on for quite a way but they don't know how far at this point.  We don't care, we have a couple of books on tape and we play with Jamison and talk.  We refuse to get upset or worked up at this point of the journey.  We've only scheduled 200 miles for tomorrow because we're so weary tonight we're not going to rush in the morning. It will have us stopping within a 100 miles of our goal.  Some may say that's crazy and if were 10 or 15 years ago you'd probably be right.  But for us, right now, this is right.  We've come to far to screw it up now.

Speaking of screwing it up, I really did a humdinger this morning.  We stayed at a Quality Inn last night in South Bend, IN last night.  When I checked they said they had internet.  They had it alright.  You just couldn't connect.  When I called the front office the gentleman said, "sometimes your security is too high and you need to reduce your security".  We talked with Aaron and he advised against reducing our security.  We also had no cell phone coverage in the room.  Outside of the room yes, inside no. TV coverage was about 5 stations and two of those you could barely see.  Needless to say, we read.  I wasn't concerned about any of it except for the fact that the first thing I do when we get in at night is plot our route and reserve our room for the next night.  Since I couldn't do it then I had Ray stop at a PILOT Truck Stop on the road this morning, I bought 24 hours of internet service for $4.99, purchased a Diet Pepsi and set up shop.  I just about screamed bloody murder when I tried to log on to the internet and it said there were no connections.  I took a deep breath, sat back, drank some Pepsi and waited for about 20 minutes and thought I'd give it another try.  In the meantime, it was 93 degrees outside and Ray was trying to keep Jamison cool.  I was not a happy camper.  Guess God didn't care that I was not a happy camper.  He was probably grinning.   After checking with Ray, I made one more attempt and voile, connection.  Ray and I checked out several hotel options, picked one and he went back out to take care of Jamison.  Just as I clicked the "book the reservation" button, our of the corner of my eye, I saw that the room I had booked was in Westminster CO!  Even if I flew as the crow flies I couldn't get to Colorado in time to check in this evening!  Excuse the language, but CRAP! There went $69.  Once it's booked, it's guaranteed.  Lesson learned.  I turned around, made sure I was located on  the bookings.com site for Pennsylvania and booked the room.  Done. By that time is was after noon so we decided to order sandwiches to go and eat on the road.  We got about 100 miles down the road and Ray said, "don't forget to give me my debit card back".  We use his card so he can check us in.  I said, "I gave you your card back after we selected the room the first time". He said, "honey, I don't think so".  Panic!  I grabbed my purse, took everything out.  Nothing.  I grabbed his Day Timer, shook it.  Nothing!  I picked up the road atlas. (yes, even with GPS we carry an atlas!) Shook it, thumbed through it. Nothing!  We hadn't stopped anywhere between where we were and where we had been. It had to have dropped on the floor.  Again, crap!  I picked up the phone (and amazingly enough, we had cell coverage) and dialed our bank and told them our plight. They checked the records for the last couple of hours and nothing had been charged since we left.  They put a block on the card.  Now, I need to order a card and have it mailed to a business.  The only business I know in Troy is Corey's, the Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group.  They all know me as Aunt Jan and that's a good thing.  Problem solved.

Jamison had done extremely well.  I bought a couple of pull down screens because of the sun and heat and he stretches out  and watches out the windows and is quiet as can be.  Tonight it was so hot we stopped at a McDonald's off the Ohio turnpike and had a hamburger.  They had tables outside on the grass and lots of shade.  He had a great time running in the grass.  Earlier in the day when I was walking him he cornered a opossum. Believe it or not, they can really move.  Earlier in the trip we came out one morning to walk and he came face to face with a jack rabbit.  I don't think either of them knew quite what to do.  The jack rabbit took off and Jamison decided he'd like to follow.  He couldn't get far on a leash though.

Troy home for the Jamison's

So, how was your day?

So....THIS is Day 10

Iowa State Capital at dusk

Tonight we are in Iowa City IA.  In the last 3 days we have traveled through Wyoming, Nebraska and half of Iowa.  Anyone who thinks they would like to drive a long-haul truck should first make the trip by car.  Traveling through Nevada, Utah and Wyoming could give them pause to reconsider! Nebraska was beautiful.  Rolling green hills and beautiful green trees and tons of water everywhere.  Iowa is gorgeous as well.  It's amazing how beautiful the homes are.  Not because they are grand, most are farms, but they are well kept, look freshly painted, beautifully groomed...even where there are acres and acres.  The fields here are full of newly planted corn that is just beginning to sprout above the ground.  There are hundreds of windmills pulling in the power.  I've seen hundreds in CA but they are so far away they look so small.  These are right near the road and they are NOT small.  They are enormous!  Today we passed a semi-flatbed carrying one of the propellers.  It hung over the back of the truck by about 10 feet.

Iowa windmill

We stopped at a Denny's today.  We had to stop at least once on this anniversary trip.  Denny's is where Ray and I went on our first date.  We ended up at Denny's because Ray was suppose to pick me up at 7pm, not 11pm and the place we were going to was closed by that time.  We sat and talked until time for me to go to work the next morning. That was August 28, 1970.  There was no going back.  He proposed on September 10th.  Yes, the same year..  We married on December 5th, 1970, 40 years ago.  Denney's was the first restaurant we took Aaron to when he was a baby for his favorite meal, green beans! Denney's has some great memories for us as you can see.

Wyoming is beautiful....in it's own way.  There isn't a lot to see but I guess that's what the people who live there like about it.  It's miles and miles and miles of seeing nothing but the most amazing rock formations.  Guess I expected Laramie to be a cowboy town like in the old wild west.  All I saw were trucks, trucks and guys with ball caps.  Between Nevada, Utah and Wyoming I finally managed to see one "cowboy" in a cowboy hat!  All was not lost.
                                                   

Since John Wayne has always been a favorite of mine, and my dad's, I don't think there is a  John Wayne movie we hadn't seen together at least once and probably numerous times.  While we were visiting mom last week I noticed that she still has all of dad's John Wayne movie collection.  Those are some great times together with my dad, and my mom.  No matter how many times she'd seen the movie she'd watch it again with dad.  Yesterday we passed a sign of John Wayne's birthplace as we entered Iowa.  We didn't take the time to stop this trip but if you're coming this way and you've enjoyed his movies you might want to drop by.

Nebraska is beautiful.  Not what I expected at all.  A lot like Iowa I'm finding. Since my grandpa Bothwell (my mom's dad) came from Nebraska it was fun to drive through and think about his life when he was born  in 1899; of growing up and striking out on his own at 16 to head for Oregon.  Grandpa always believed he lived in the very best of times. He lived the life of a frontiersman by hunting, trapping and living off what the land provided. He met my grandma in Oregon and began their family there.  My mom was born at the old Sacred Heart Hospital.  They later moved to Watsonville CA where I was raised.  In his later years grandpa saw the flight of the first airplane and watched the astronauts walk on the moon. 

Today we're staying in and resting up.  We have a couple of errands to run but we're waiting until things calm down.  This morning we've had severe thunderstorm, high winds and warnings to stay indoors. They've warned people to stay in, if they live in a mobile home to evacuate and go to a safer place. The storm is moving east along 1-80, our route.  If we had left this morning we would have been right in the middle of the storm.  It was so severe they closed some roads and big rigs were overturned..  We're thankful we listened the God's prompting last night and stayed over for the day or we would have been right in the middle of the storm for a good portion of our next leg of our journey.  God is in charge.  Please pray for us that we stay alert and responsive to His promptings.  It's good to rest.  Things are quieting down now and this afternoon we head out to do some errands and then tomorrow head for South Bend, Indiana.  Talk with you soon.

Day 6-9? I've Lost Count

By the time I booked our hotel last night for tonight and played an hour of slots, I didn't have a brain cell left to post a blog so I'll begin this morning and try my best to get in step again tonight.  Guess not, Ray's out of the shower and about ready to go and I'm running out of computer power.  I'll have to do it all tonight.  See you then!

Okay, two days late but finally an opportunity to blog.  I've been taking pictures so I could share on FB as we drove along.  However, we've not had phone coverage through Nevada, Utah and now Wyoming. They do have some beautiful scenery of mountains, flat, mountains, flat, Great Salt Lake, mountains and flat!  No cell phone towers though.  The desk clerk here in Laramie WY says that it picks up and is fine east of Colorado so this afternoon we should be fine. I did manage to capture a few.

Road to NV, UT & WY.  Do you see a cell tower?

Ray has been doing all the driving because he says it's more comfortable for his left knee.  For some reason there is more leg room on the driver's side.  We put Jamison's bed right behind the passenger seat on top of a suit case and the bag of laundry (it's about time to do that too).  He's high enough he can see out all of the windows and is perfectly content.  He can curl up or stretch out, look out the windows or sleep.

We bought a book on tape, can't remember the title right now, but it's a murder mystery and we listened through all three states and it concluded about 20 minutes before we arrived in Laramie.  I think I would enjoy Wyoming more if I could see cowboys in cowboy hats but all I see are guys in big trucks and ball caps!  Kinda ruins the illusion of the wild, wild west.

"There's got to be more to see than flat land.  Not even a cow to bark at!"

We made one amazing stop yesterday in Wyoming. Both for Ray and me.  We found the little church where he was youth and music minister when the pastor told him he was leaving for Watsonville CA and asked Ray if he's like to go with him and serve with him.  If Pastor Claybrook has not followed the Lord's leading and asked Ray to go with him chances are I would not have met Ray nor shared the last wonderful 40 years with him.  I am so thankful they both listened.  The church was much smaller that I had imagined over the last 40 years and they have added an addition.  The town is now 11,000+ but back in the late 60's Ray says there were less than 2,000 people.  It was a railroad town then and is today. It was an amazing piece of history connection for me and has made this entire trip worth while.  If I don't see anything else, that made the trip for me.  We both stood and looked and got teary-eyed.  It was amazing to be able to see it together.  These types of things are the reasons for this trip for me.  For Ray, I think it's being able to fill all the "holes" of things that I feel like I need to fill. It's the best anniversary gift we could have ever given to each other.  And to think, this is just the beginning.  How great is that!  I truly thank the Lord for this opportunity and I'm sorry that I ever doubted that he would fill this desire of my heart.

Today we're headed to Grand Island WY.  Thank heavens for TomTom...I don't know what we'd do without him.  I just make the motel reservations the night before, give Tom the address and bingo...we drive right up to the motel.

Thanks for following along.  Please remember Aaron and Kristin in your prayers.  Things are not getting easier and I know that Aaron is hurting more than he is letting on because I know he probably thinks he'd ruin the trip for us if he really told us what is going on and we appreciate that but we're his dad and mom and we know he's in a lot of pain.

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement.  Talk with you soon.

Day 5

Another super great day here on the mountain.  The sun was out, there was a breeze and all was right with the world.  Diane and I took mom out for the afternoon which is something mom doesn't get to do very often these days because of her health. We got up when we wanted to, had coffee together, laid around as long as we wanted, went to lunch, went shopping and came home and have been in our recliners since.

Ron had to go back to work this morning so Ray and Jamison were on their own.  It didn't seem to bother them at all.  They had lunch with Annie (Ron and Diane's little dog), had a deli sandwich, watched the news, washed the car, made phone calls, read and took a nap.  I'd say all in all we've had nothing to complain about.

Our belongings will arrive in Troy tomorrow by noon.  Our magic little elf has the key to our new home, is in contract with the driver and will be there when our belongings arrive. We leave tomorrow morning for Reno.  We'll be staying at the Grand Sierra.  Should be a lot of fun!  Nite all!

Day 4

On Highway 120, just 26 miles from the Yosemite Park entrance, the historic community of Groveland is the most convenient gateway to this treasured national landmark for tourists coming from the San Francisco Bay area, Sacramento, Stockton or Modesto. Groveland is also home to a great "downtown" with a park, shops, restaurants and the famous/infamous Iron Door Saloon said to be California's oldest continuously-operating saloon.

Groveland CA and family continues.  It's been a wonderful visit.  Nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, Ron's folks and aunt and uncle from Visalia here for a visit.  It has just been a glorious day of fun, laughter, jig saw puzzles, water guns and more. It is so awesome to hear the laughter of children.  It never ceases to amaze me how their laughter can bring out the best in everyone around them.  They had such an awesome time these last two days.  I'm so very thankful God gives children to the younger generation but they are so much fun.  It's really cool to see our nieces with families of their own.  It's so fun to sit sit and watch the little ones and remember the niece when she was little.  It's like watching a rerun.  Tomorrow will be a very relaxing day.  We moved from the motel this morning and are spending tonight and tomorrow night here at my sister and brother-in-law's.

The weather was warm today with a breeze.  The sky clear and blue. The heavens were shining and God was smiling!  Nite all, talk with you tomorrow.

Days 2 & 3

and as you can see, it's being written on Day 3!  We had a late start from Roseburg OR, mainly because we just move slower than we use to.  Neither one of us care so that works.  We're taking our time and enjoying the ride.  We did overdue it slightly last night arriving at 10:45 pm, therefore, we have decided that "when the sun goes down, so do we"!

The weather has been beautiful the entire trip so far.  We stopped at Grandma's House, Yreka CA 

Grandma's House is a place we have frequented every trip to CA; usually coming and going.  It's a comfortable family restaurant, serves delicious food.  Grandma is now gone, but for years you could often find her having lunch there and very willing to autograph her cookbook.  If you get the opportunity stop by and check it out.  I think you'll enjoy it.  Don't forget to grab a bag of their homemade raisin-walnut, chocolate chip or snickerdoodle cookies before you leave.

We had a very comfortable journey the entire day.  Stopped very, very frequently because "Jamison needed to get out and walk",  The country has been beautiful,, blue sky, green hills, a dozen of different greens in trees, fields of wildflowers, deer.  We've had a great time talking and singing and just enjoying each other's company.

God continues to give us the desires of our hearts as well as the needs as we make our journey. We both wanted an "IN-N-OUT BURGER" but the only one that's ever been on our route was on March Lane in Stockton CA.  It was already 6:30 PM and we knew we wouldn't make it another 2.5 hours so we almost stopped at a Denny's...but thought better of it.  This is where God comes in and takes care of another desire but not necessity of life.  Not 50 feet from the Denny's was a huge billboard announcing the opening of a new IN-N-OUT BURGER two exits away!  My goodness were they good!  If you coming through the San Joaquin Valley you'll locate this one on Road 202, Exit 256, Stockton CA.

Last night and tonight we're staying at the Groveland Motel and Indian Camp courtesy of our sister and brother-in-law.  It's a wonder little campground type atmosphere.  We're in a little cozy cabin with a wonderful bed, fluffy white towels and a cool breeze.  It was so great to get in to Groveland last night and have a nice clean fresh bed to drag our weary bodies into at 10:45 pm....past our bedtime, and Jamison's too!

We're visiting with family through Monday.  Today we had a wonderful BBQ mid afternoon and now some are visiting, some doing a jigsaw puzzle, nursing baby (gender specific on this one), laying outside in the sun, or playing Wii,  It's a great day!

   
 Uncle Ray talking with his most recent great nephew, Cole.  Uncle has a magic touch with babies and loves them dearly!

Day 1

A short blog this is going to be. The movers loaded the truck from 9 am to 4:00 pm today. The weight came in 1,400 lbs above the estimate so we'll see what that's going to mean in the form of dollar signs.  The driver told us as he drove out of sight, "we'll be in Troy May 24th or 25th..  Our house won't be ready until June so bless our little elf in Troy, she's looking frantically for a storage facility that accommodates semi-trucks.  We couldn't beat the truck there even if we left now, drove 24 hours a day and didn't stop to pee!
We loaded the car, and Jamison, took pictures with the kids, said our "see you laters" and headed down the road at 5:30 pm with the intent to make it to Yreka CA.  We made it as far as Roseburg OR!  It's going to mean a long haul tomorrow but neither one of us could have gone an inch longer.  We barely got the luggage to the room. Nite all sleep well, I know we will.  Jamison didn't even eat his bone tonight.  He just hit the bed and he's out!

Road Trip

 We've made many, many moves over the last 40 years.  This time, I just wish I could just pick up my purse and head out the door.  We have very little left to move and are trying to decide between driving a truck and towing the car or having a moving company move our things and taking the road trip we promised ourselves for our 40th wedding anniversary last December.  We both prefer option 2 but right now just dealing with all the details of moving it just feels easier to just load it in a truck and go. (It really comes down to which is the least expensive.) Then we stop and think about all that we'd miss because we'd have to focus on just getting there rather than being able to focus on the journey.  

We don't have any exceptional plans.  We'd like to stop and see my mom and family in CA.  

We want to go through Arkansas and see the town where my dad was born and raised until about the age of 11. We want to go through Jellico KY where Ray's mom talked about living when she was a young child.  The rest of the trip is just to see what we want to when we want to.  If we drive the truck and tow the car it will have to be straight across and do the other trips later.

Dealing with all these moving company gets pretty interesting.  We go on line and fill out the information for an "instant" quote.  Yeah, right.  It's instant alright.  Your phone starts ringing before you can get off the page. They give you an inventory sheet and want you to complete it, including how many boxes you have and how much they each weigh.  Now can't you just see me in the garage with a scale weighing each of those boxes?  Not!  Then there's the fear that we'll under estimate the weight and get socked with a big additional bill when we get there or, we'll over estimate and loose money.  One company offers 15% back if you've overpaid.  Right, I can just see that happening.  "Oh sorry, but you over paid us by $2,000 so we're going to give you a refund of $300."

We spent all day yesterday dealing with moving companies and were more confused when we got finished than when we started.  So, we've decided we'll get all the "loose" stuff we brought with us to Aaron and Kristin's packed up and everything in one spot.  Then, we'll call three moving companies who are willing to come and see what we have and then give us a quote.  Aaron found us an amazing site for moving.  www.moving.org  The site is providing tons of information which is going to be very useful this week.

If it works out that we can get an affordable quote for a moving company then we'll have them pick everything up and we'll head out on our trip May 18th.  Our goal is to be in Troy prior to the Memorial Day weekend.  We're working on an alternate plan should we have to drive the truck and tow the car.

Jon and Corey are working their behinds off helping us find a place.  There is a lot of inventory out there right now because school is ending so it's good for us.  We don't need anything fancy but we'd like it to have some character.  The Lord has the perfect place, we know that, so we'll be happy with what He provides.  We need to get back there and settled before winter.  It's not something we really want to do in the rain, cold and snow.  I'd rather sit by the fire and read a book during that!

We still have a lot of good-byes to say and a lot of people to visit.  Jamison has a few over-night play dates and visits too. God is still on the throne and for that we are very, very thankful.  Please continue to pray as we continue to seek the best God has for us.