20 Aug Part Deux. Fini!
Wow, it’s been a month since our last blog post. Clearly if I ever wanted to make a living at this writing stuff, I’d be up the creek without my trusty paddle. I really enjoy this, when I can get my thoughts to all be in the same place as I am, at the time I’m wanting to write. Such admiration for what it takes for those who take writing seriously.
So where did I leave you? Oh yeah, saying goodbye to that slice of heaven in Shasta CA that Joe and Karen where so very kind enough to share with Dave and I. On our way back to spend a bit more time with Sara, we stopped by to check on Christopher Robin, since we hadn’t seen CR since April 17th and my plants were desperately needing water.
Back story on my plant that I shared a few years back on Instagram. Our wedding favor way back was a prayer plant for each guest. Dave’s mom had lovingly cared for hers till she passed away. A few years ago, I needed to split the plant, and viola, some plant siblings arrived. Emma has graciously taken care of the original plant while we journey, and Dave rigged a sweet spot in the camper for us to travel with its offspring.
Plant looked great. Unfortunately the power to the frig must have tripped and turned off, so anything in there went bad. And bad it went. CR smelled pretty ripe until we cleaned everything out.
We stopped at a bucket list brewery for Dave, Russian River in Santa Rosa CA before we met up with Sara again. Wait, aren’t they all bucket list breweries? Nah, this one truly was. As we were seated by the waiter, I noticed a couple EACH having a flight of 24 beers to sample. Dave hadn’t notice yet. I just looked at him and said no! Then he got what I was commenting about and laughed. If that wasn’t enough beer, this couple then each got their own pint! I am such a light weight for sure.
Russian River Brewery
When your kid lives 3000 miles across the way, being able to spend extra time was sweet. Matt had traveled back east for some bachelor festivities for a friend. We were happy to have a few days more just loving our daughter. We love Sara and Matt, the traffic in CA, not so much. Took a drive down near Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world, and came back with highway traffic anxiety that could rival any NYC commute. Ughhh! Good thing In/Out burger was there to put a smile on our faces.
Enjoying watching Sara play on her kickball team
The next few days were about eating some good food, doing a little shopping, housekeeping stuff, but mostly just soaking up time with Sara. And soak we did. After about three weeks away from the camper, we hugged the kids goodbye, and headed back to CR to begin the journey heading east, by way of visiting old friends in Idaho. A very long day of travel led us to a stop over in Winnemucca, NV. If you’ve never been….your really not missing much. Nuff said.
Arriving Kuna ID
Our sweet spot at Vickie and John’s place
“Old stories are like old friends. You have to visit them from time to time” quote by George R.R. Martin. Finding our way to the home of John and Vickie, in Kuna Idaho, fit that quote to a T. Being able to bring our “home” to their home, and that they had electric hook up for us to plug CR in, was such a welcomed gift. Their homestead is beautiful. There dog Gus, so sweet, Dave again started with the threats of kidnapping their pup.
What a blast we had the next day, riding around their property on quads. Daryl and his wife Theresa joined us for a BBQ. Catching up and reminiscing about life 40 years prior was amazing! Hearing John, Daryl and Dave talk about stories of Park Ridge antics, Montauk happenings and Burrough’s’ work escapades was wonderful! The belly laughs real!
Gus 🙂
Life is busy. We all experience that. Being able to pick up with people who were part of our lives so very long ago, and feeling so at ease and comfortable, was a blessing in big measure. Reminded me especially, never to take those relationships for granted. And to always make that “not so hard” effort to stay in touch. We count it real joy knowing that these fine folks are once again integrated into our world. No getting rid of us now 🙂
After breakfast the next morning we said farewell and plopped ourselves in Clifford and CR for a now home focused drive to Delaware. Drove through Utah and into Wyoming, stopping at Walmart overnight. Driving, gas, driving, more gas, driving, gas again and finally a nights rest at Oliver Reservoir Recreation Area Kimball NB. A storm was looming, we didn’t want to unhook from the camper and we weren’t near any place that we could get food supplies at, so we found anything that we could in the camper and ended up with the classic chorizo lettuce wraps. Dave cooks well! The freight train that we heard every 20 minutes the entire night was great white noise.
Cabella’s in Kearney Nebraska provided us a spot the next night to sleep. Here we unhooked so we could visit Thunderhead Brewery down the road. Mother’s Day 2018 was spent driving, getting gas, driving, eating lunch, driving, more gas and finally a stop at Big Springs Lake Campground Lees Summit MO, after passing through Iowa.
Into Kansas City for some Arthur Bryant’s BBQ. Wow! This cafeteria style joint has been around since the 1930’s. The bbq was delicious! The place a hoot! Caught in a time warp, but one worth enjoying if you ever find your way to Kansas City. Four thumbs up from Dave and Hedy!
We gave ourselves an extra day here and then headed out again. Our next destination was Lake Haven RV in Indianapolis IN. Our plan originally was to stay just a night, but the Speedway was sooooo close and Dave has had Indianapolis Motor Speedway on his bucket list for a lifetime, It would have been a mistake to not take the time to appreciate this place. We paid for a second night and then explored the museum at Indy and enjoyed watching practice for the Indy 500 the next day, which was happening in the next few days. It wasn’t being there for the actual race, but it was still terrific to enjoy the energy of all that was happening pre race. So glad we made the choice to hang around an extra day.
We ended up at a place called Stone Creek Dining Company for dinner. Here we met Hannah. Our waitress, who if we could have, would have probably taken with us. Do you see a common theme here of wanting to kidnap animals and people we fall for? No joke, she was the sweetest server we have ever had the pleasure dealing with. It had been a really rough day for her, and through all our chats about her life and our journey, we ended up hugging and shedding some tears. Makes me love humanity when sometimes I don’t find it easy.
Super early start on our ninety ninth day of travel. Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland. We spent our final night at 1812 Brewery in Cumberland MD, a Harvest Host site. Beer was great, owners super friendly, location beautiful. We had fun ordering takeout dinner that night and having it delivered to CR. Not sure how many people have done that. We found is amusing.
Our first CR food delivery
Day 100 brought us back to Delaware after a 5 hour drive from the brewery. I was pleasantly surprised to feel that welcome home feeling, even though DE is a new home for us. We are tired, we are happy, we are blessed, we are blown away that we have been on the road for 100 days. 24/7. Dave and Hedy. We have learned a lot about being together in a home on wheels. There have been awesome and wonderful days. There have been trying and exhausting days. Won’t trade any of it. It’s through it all, the good and difficult, you understand what you are made of.
Until Part 3……thanks for sharing Part 2 with us.
For Us, It’s Not Abad Day 🙂