BE READY TO TAKE THE LONG WAY

I had a slow week so Dana’s going to do the honors this week. Archie

Time is the nemesis of every RV traveler who has to plan around their work schedule while flexibility is the key to stress-less RV trips. And once you get on the road or, sometimes, even before, your plans can change.

For example, we planned a motor home vacation to visit the east coast residence of that famous mouse.  I’d saved up enough vacation time to cover our drive to Orlando, Florida, 12 days of fun at the park and and then spend the rest of our time site seeing throughout the state until we knew we had to head for home.

This big of a trip, for us, takes a lot of planning which we started four years earlier. My boss gave me her blessings when I asked. At the time, I didn’t know she was planning to retire a couple of years before we went.  It was four bosses later when it was time to go. My present supervisor, having only been in her chair for less than a year, wasn’t quite as excited about our trip but she knew we had been planning this for quite some time, so off we went.

The initial plan was just to see Florida cities and sites, that is, until assorted relatives got wind of our trip and didn’t think it would be too much trouble for us to swing by and include them in our itinerary.

There was an uncle who wanted us to stop by the cabin he’d just finished building in the mountains, after all, Georgia bordered Florida. My father-in-law, who lives in Nashville, knew we would be swinging by to say “hello” so when could he expect us?  A grand-niece would be graduating from high school in Kansas and wondered if we were planning to stop for the celebration since we would be headed west by then - an invitation was in the mail.  My folks were going to Omaha at the time and “wouldn’t it be fun to ride home together?”  Oh, and we might as well stop to see Aunty in ‘Vegas, which really was on our way home now.  So our original route to and from Florida would now take us from Florida, to Georgia, up through Tennessee, to Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Nevada before heading back to California. 

We realized, we weren't going to get to see the Florida Keyes this time. Although nothing like our initial plan, we still had fun.  We did get to see the cabin and some gorgeous waterfalls in Georgia,

I didn't get to see the waterfalls...

but I did meet Thunder and Starla. - Archie

Then we were on our way to Tennessee - beautiful scenery.

 where we visited the home site of my father-in-law and a Confederate soldier.

Then it was on to Branson, MO

I compared statures with Trigger - what do ya' think? - Archie

Do you see what I see?                                                                                   Got it!

where we stopped to see sites - a stop with no relatives but, it really was on the way.

OK - you know if there is water around, I'm gonna find it! - Archie

Made it to Atchison in time for the graduation and dropped by Amelia Earhart’s birthplace, right next to the great Muddy.

We swung by Omaha and picked up my folks traveling home via a route, we learned, has been used for a long, long time. 

We made some great memories with my folks as we traveled home. Next thing we knew, we were in Colorado where we soaked in a hot tub as we watched snow fall in the Rockies at the end of May.

In case anyone wants to know, I love the snow. - Archie

The best benefit?  Happy faces all along the way - everybody was glad to see us and we have the pictures to prove it.