Had the New York and half-a-month’s-salary alternative panned out, I would have missed church on Sunday morning and missed seeing some folks whom I desperately needed to see—more than I realized. Some things money cannot buy.
My parents and I set out for an adventure, heading west of the Mississippi River. We also brought along Griffin, our trusty feline sidekick, who ferociously defends our motor home against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
We made some interesting stops en route National Parks in the western United States:
- St. Elmo, Illinois. Never knew Sesame Street characters got towns named after them, let alone canonization.
Liberal, Kansas. Home to the Wizard of Oz Museum. Also home to my 99-year-old great-grand Aunt Nell: my mother’s mother’s father’s sister (in case you were wondering how that worked). Not sure I had ever met anyone that old before. If I reach that age, I hope to have a tenth her splendor.- Panhandle, Texas. The stars at night are big and bright, except when the thunderclouds roll in and turn your motor home into a tympanic symphony, stirring those not talking late with kinfolk.
Gallup, New Mexico. Stayed at a KOA sandwiched between I-40 and Historic Route 66. A Denny’s Restaurant next-door served us dinner. I refused to order a Grand Slam, afraid I might choke, just like the National League in the ninth inning of the 77th All-Star Game Tuesday night.
We have virtually forsaken all gas stations except for Flying Js, due to their sunny disposition toward motor homes. Dad no longer says, “We need to find a gas station.” Instead we hear, “There’s a Flying J coming up in 54 miles.” Our bladders plan accordingly.
I laboriously debated whether or not to fork over $19.95 for Flying J’s WiFi to keep my blog sizzling throughout the adventure. I hope my faithful blog readership—the millions around the world who have already made “Wise and Otherwise” their homepage—appreciates my dedication to fresh content.
2 comments:
What a great trip! Traveling adventures are fun. St. Elmo, huh? That's pretty good. Now I'm wondering if other Sesame Street character names actually originated from saints of long ago.
Been a while!
I got stopped by Homeland for 3 1/2 hours in Portland being grilled. How bout you?
Sorry about not getting the money. Who were these people you needed to see? It's hard for me to imagine needing to see people more than money.
One of the folks in my church is now 97. He doesn't look a day over 78- very spry, for a Quaker guy.
So is that a cat or an armadillo? I heard they were the only mammal whose territory was actually *spreading*, but I hadn't known it had reached up to Mississippi.
Thanks for getting the Wifi. Much appreciated. I've been having fun with it, wandering down the street where I'm staying till I get an unsecure line. So many people have secure networks now! But a lot don't. I'm here at my mom's in Southern OR, and am using an unsecure network of a neighbor for this, which can only be used in the front room- the bedroom I'm in has 4 secure networks in it only. All these waves going through us, and I'm sure they don't have any increase in cancer. But it was great fun coming down on Greyhound, and as we pulled into Greyhound stations, sometimes I could quickly download and send email through a wireless connection.
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