Ok. I Be Back. 5500 Miles. Still Tired.

Splash02bWe left my Uncle’s in Texas early Wednesday morning. Made it to Eufaula, OK and managed to get only slightly lost. Checked into a campground and had that Sweet Young Thing I’m married to send me the name of the graveyard my grandparents are buried in. Off we went. WAY too many graves for me to get out and walk around searching. Week long job there. So we didn’t see the gravesites.

Got on the road early Thursday morning. Got a bit turned around trying to avoid any Toll Road; and wound up on the major toll road going across Oklahoma. Did get to see Muskogee and Tulsa. Barely had enough cash on hand to pay the 1st toll. (So we stopped and got some. Cash.) Got to Hwy-35 North, which turned to 135 North, which turned to 81 North, until we got to I-80. Surprised it took only about 4 hours to get from I-70 to I-80. Made a left and got all the way to Kearney before we had to stop for the night.

Up early Friday and back on the road. Kearney to Evanston. Realize that it’s been mostly FLAT country from Eufaula to Evanston. Boring! Didn’t start to get interesting until we got to western Wyoming. That’s when it started to look like “The West.” Cool!

Got up early (again) Saturday morning and hit the road. Took less than a couple of hours to reach the back canyon to Ogden, Utah. Took 15 North to I-84 West. OMG, what a ride! Boise was a total cluster-fuck traffic wise.

Decided to take the Columbia River Gorge route (I-84) rather than go the Yakima way cause it’s flatter. Meaning I should use less fuel. NOT. The head wind was SO BAD that, even though I filled the tank just before entering that Gorge, I got to a point where I had to use my 5-gal emergency fuel before getting out of the Gorge and to a place I could fill up again. At one point, the wind slapped me so hard that I went from 55 to 30 mph in about a second. I thought I’d run into something! It actually locked my chest belt! Fuck!

And, in the meantime, OnStar and I are calling RV Parks on the route. Everybody was full for the weekend. (Of course, anything even close to the water would be full for the weekend. WHAT was I thinking?!) We tried stopping at a rest stop and catching a short nap; but it was too hot (87 degrees) and I couldn’t sleep.

So, after filling up, we went on through Portland to I-5 North and stopped at the first Rest Stop north of Portland. Buttoned up the truck, climbed into the Caravan, went to sleep. I was surprised how quiet it got after midnight. Really. Truckes stopped. People set up their tent-trailers. It was as peaceful as any RV park.

Woke up at 0400 and got back on the road. Missed my coffee. Decided to go through Tacoma to stay on major roads. Worked out okay cause it was Sunday morning. No traffic to speak of.

Got home about 0800 Sunday morning. Nice! SWMBO was still in bed. Nice!

And Ive been busy since! (And now it’s Tuesday. Got tired and went to bed. That’s what I get for starting this late.)

So, got home, spent some time with my Lovely-Young-Bride of 30+ years until she went to Church. Got out and started cleaning the Caravan and doing some things around the house until an early bedtime.Went to bed kind of early and started getting a headache. Had it all night. Our bed is uncomfortable.

Yesterday, Mowed the Upper-front and front yards and walking path, weeded & watered the garden, started trip laundry, all my regular chores, picked and processed my green onions, cleaned out the truck, made a milk run, Scanned about 800 of my Mom’s pictures that I got from my Uncle. Stayed busy until bedtime. Wow!

Today it was dump run time; so I did. Other than that: Not much. Just feel like taking it easy. Watering the yard is about as active as I’ve gotten.

And for some reason my chest hurts.

BTW, y’all can look at my trip pictures on my Flickr.

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