September 1, 2015

It has been a year to the day that Phil and I left for our Western tour of the United States.  I haven't blogged too much since our return.  But, I thought I might do a little reminiscing as I peruse and review each day of the 2014 'Trip of a Lifetime' blog.

So, please endure my musings and remembrances and see if there are other memories I can add to each daily post?

There are moments or days when thoughts of our travels wash over me this past year....remembering what we did, what I enjoyed and what I didn't care for too much or at all!  Realizing that I am a "worry wart" at heart and sometimes feel that I am the exception to such musings......

I am a stay at home kind of gal....and love my house and its surrounds.....I am blessed to have my children and grandchildren close by.....I am blessed to live in Winona Lake...a place I have known since I was a little girl....to be part of a church that offers me sanctuary and friendship and worship....my world is very small and, I realize all this as I age....  

I'm becoming maudlin, so, I'll move along....

Remembering the morning we left, September1, 2014.....the 4-Runner was loaded to the roof of the car.  Phil had done all his GPS programming prior to our leaving.  He had entered each Holiday Inn Express address at every town we had planned to arrive that particular day.  We had talked about how most days would start following a Holiday Inn Express stay.....eating breakfast they offered and then heading it down the highway....stopping early evening for a nice dinner and then chill out the rest of the evening.  It worked.

Our first morning out as we traveled beyond Chicago the skies became overcast.  However, past Chicago the skies cleared and the farmland was verdant.  

I took a lot of photos through the windshield of the car...trying not to catch reflections and etc.  but, that always didn't work.

I began to officially start the blog posts.

We stayed in a HIE in Iowa.  Found a Mexican restaurant....it was just okay.

The next morning, Phil wanted to find a Verizon store and purchased a "Hot Spot."  It is a device that gives you wi-fi no matter where you are....in the car or deep in a mountain's forest.....or in a foreign country.....(like Canada on this particular trip). He thought I could do the blog posts while driving down the highway....

Regardless, it became a valuable piece of our travels.

P.S. The first bag of gummie bears are gone.  FYI, I did not eat one single gummie bear!

Just sayin'