Back in the Mid West
Kathleen here,
We are in good Old Iowa. Two weeks ago we had just returned from a base ball game between the Dodgers and the Diamond Backs in Phoenix. We were then excited to be going back into Phoenix for NASCAR. What fun that week was. Last week, we explored the sites at Tombstone, AZ. You all have read about that exiting afternoon.
We left Benson, AZ last Friday. I was looking forward to a week of lazy driving as we made our way to the Mid West. No hurry as the weather was still blustery with rain and cold and soggy driveways in Northeast Iowa. A long way to go and many places to stop and photograph. Evenings waiting for us to place another entry in our blog to entertain our fans.
I just don’t know what got into my bus driver. Well, I do know. Once we got onto I- 40 in New Mexico, George’s truck driving days returned and he kicked this old “semi” into high gear and we drove 10 hours that first day. New Mexico is a beautiful state with lots of cool places to stop and explore. We were beyond that state and into Texas before the sun set. A couple of hours and we said good bye to Texas Pan Handle and the Oklahoma Pan Handle. Ah, Kansas. We passed a sign that pointed to Dorothy’s house. “Let’s go and see,” I said. In a moment we were way beyond where Toto and Dorothy whirled into history. Then I pointed with my mouth ready to screech, “Stop,” that’s the way to Dodge City, Kansas. Matt Dillon, Festus, Miss Kitty.” This old bus just kept on. Ten more hours on the road. We boon docked that night behind an ALCO store.
I was disappointed but had to be satisfied that we did do quite a bit back in Arizona. I was anxious to get back to our homeland too. I even drove a couple of hours. The second night we boon docked at a Flying J truck stop. On Sunday we found ourselves in Des Moines, Iowa. We booked three nights at a Coast to Coast RV Park and made a couple of phone calls. Our nephew and niece, Jonathan and Nikki May live in Ankeny. We spent a delightful evening with them. Toured their beautiful home, met Vito, their pet Guinea Pig, and saw ultra sounds pictures of a baby who is coming later in the summer. What a nice time we had with those two.
When I was a little girl, my best friend was Nancy Hosch. We both lived on the same street in New Albin, Iowa. We have always kept in touch. She and her husband Phil live in the Des Moines area. She came over to see us Monday and we had a great visit. Then we drove over to her beautiful home and we visited some more. Then we went out to dinner and talked and talked some more. We had such a great childhood growing up in very small town America. The things we did and dreamed about all came back to us as we talked. It was so good to see her again.
So that takes us to Elkader, Iowa. We settled in late this afternoon (Wednesday). Then drove over to Garnavillo, Iowa to see George’s mom, Betty. She lives in a wonderful assisted living apartment. She was so happy to see us. She is a great lady and we are looking forward to spending a lot of time with her this summer.
