I'm Back!

Back from road-tripping, back from a LONG walk down memory lane! According to MapQuest, our trip was 31 hours, 14 minutes each way. The worst part about that, of course, was 31 straight hours in the car (we drove straight through both ways). The best part was the company in the car with me. Two of my sisters and my dad. Our family has always been good travelers. We loved going on trips when we were little, and, guess what, we still do!

I do wish that we had had the luxury of stopping to see a few of the more intriguing sites, but we were under a tight time deadline, so that wasn't possible.

It really made me grateful for the luxury of fast, easy transport. I remember hearing stories of my grandpa and his brothers driving out from their dry farms in Idaho to Detroit to pick up 3 or 4 brand new grain trucks. The drive was pretty epic--in the days before the interstate system, the roads were both haphazardly marked and mainly gravel. Their maximum speed was 40, which was exactly half of our average speed (I do love those high interstate speed limits!). No such thing as air conditioning (their trip was in the summer). It was a trip of several weeks and very few of the comforts I take for granted.

I really, REALLY love traveling in a car with a good heater. Dad's new car has an onboard thermometer--which allowed us to watch the temperature fall to -30 degrees. Nippy! When we got to Idaho, it was very cold, but perfectly clear. The sky was a perfect blue, the mountains unbelievably gorgeous. I do miss living in "big sky country". The sky here is usually boring, because of all the humidity. Ah, well.


I will be posting more about the funeral (which was a lovely tribute to a remarkable lady) as well as pictures from the trip, soon--I promise!