10/15 - California, Here I Come!

Writing a final travel blog post is always bitter-sweet.  Bitter because another adventure is over.  Sweet because tomorrow I'll be sleeping in my own bed!  This is it - my final post for 2012 September Trails. 

I wish I had something exciting to report, but we spent the entire day in the car traversing the great state of Texas.  Good ol' Lexie carried us 825 miles from New Boston, TX to Las Cruces, NM. Less than 700 miles to go!  Other than gas and potty breaks, the only stop we made was to check out the now defunct Webb Air Force base in Big Springs, Tx. 

Tony was based at Webb from 1967 to 1969 when he was discharged. Tony has many stories and memories from this time and wanted to see where he spent two years of his life.  The base closed in 1977 and is now an industrial park and municipal air strip.  We were able to drive through the streets.  Other than the air hanger, none of the buildings were familiar to Tony.  Sadly, the only remaining residents are prarie dogs and inmates - part of the base is now a federal correction institution.

Within 45 minutes we were back on the interstate making our way to Las Cruces where we're spending the night.  Tomorrow morning is our final leg of this adventure.  We should be home for supper!

Here's a link to today's pics.

10/14 - Three States, Two Roadblocks, and One Welcomed Hotel Room

And suddenly, it's almost over.  We woke up this morning overlooking the Cumberland Plateau for the last time.  We are anxious to get home, but sad to see this part of our journey end.

Ron & Barb, Sue & Randy plan to travel with us as far as Cookeville, 45 minutes west of Fairfield Glade to see Erin (Whynaught daughter) & Stevie's new home.  So after a quick visit, tour of their beautiful home, and final group photo, Tony & I hit the road at 10 am.  Our goal is to get west of Texarkana this evening. 

The roads are quiet, it's Sunday morning (in the bible belt) and we make great time.  As we round a curve in Memphis a beautiful purple church bus merges onto the freeway and we hear a loud CRACK!  We got stoned in Memphis!  Yep, that beautiful purple bus shot a piece of gravel at our front windshield. The crack is sufficient,  inch with a tiny spider crack off to the side.  Bummer, but if this is the worst of our trip, we're not complaining.

On to Arkansas  We continue west on I40 and hit a couple of major road construction spots resulting in 30 minute delays at each spot - one east and the other west of Little Rock.  One observation since getting back on the freeways after Wisconsin is that semi drivers are rude and sometimes very dangerous in their road behaviour.  Those things are sooooo damn big!

We get to Texarkana before dark and decide to push another 20 miles to New Boston.  During a quick pitstop we 1) find the potty 2) pick up a pizza 'cause the hotel receptionist informed us there were few open restaurants around the hotel in New Boston, and 3) stop at a grocery store to pick up a bottle of wine for the evening.  OMG!!! We're in Boone County, TX!!!! It's a dry county!!! Now we have a pizza and no wine!!!  Ahhh, wait a minute, we threw a couple of beers into the cooler (with ice) before we left the Whynauchts.  Thank goodness for some advanced planning.

So we're tucked in in New Boston, TX.  We're still on target to get home on Tuesday.  Hopefully there are no squatters at the house!

Here are a couple of pics of the day.

10-13 Paddleboating

Today we woke up to the sun shining on the Cumberland Plateau.  After breakfast the guys took off to the swapmeet and the girls toke a drive around the neighborhood to admire the views.

After lunch we headed out to a local lake for a paddleboat ride.  Barb & Ron's daughter Erin, son-in-law Stevie, and granddaughter Madison joined us.  It was wonderful, the weather was perfect, the scenery beautiful and the two hours were up way to quickly.  After the ride we headed back to the Whynaucht house to enjoy their million dollar view and an evening of visiting. 

We also met neighbors John and Shelly and got a tour of their wine tasting room.  Ron built the cabinets AND the door.  Check out the pictures from today!

It'll be an early night.  Tomorrow we're heading home.

10-13.......Heading Home Part 2

10/12 - On Thursday morning we said good-bye to the Combs family and headed south.  On our way to Tennessee we stopped Mammoth Cave National Park and took a 2 hour tour through a very small portion of the 350 miles of caves and passages. 

The bus took us to a remote entrance in a wooded sink hole and we decended 250 feet on a maize of steps.  We then walked through different caverns and passes and ended up in an area referred to as Frozen Niagra.  The chamber was covered with stalactites dripping off the walls.  It was a fun, informative tour and a great break on the 7 hour drive to TN.  Here are a few pics from the tour:  Mammoth Cave Pics

After leaving the Caves, we headed to Ron & Barb Whynaucht's home in Fairfield, TN.  The Whynauchts were Sue & Randy's Wisconsin Rapids neighbors for 25 years.  We arrived around 7 pm and enjoyed a relaxing dinner with our hosts and headed early to bed.

10/13 - We rose to a beautiful valley view of the Cumberland Mountains.  Beautiful!!!  Our morning started out slowly.  After being in the car the day before we decided to take a walk around the hilly neighborhood of Fairfield Glade.  This area is  very new.  The majority of residents are retirees and the houses are as beautiful as the views.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, playing cards and visiting.  And in the evening Tony & I made fajitas for our hosts.  Again, it was an early evening.  Saturday we plan to go boating.

10-12 Heading Home........... Part 1

After three weeks we're heading home.  Right now we're in Crossville, TN visiting friends.  More about that later.  Soooo, let's catch up.

9/28 thru 10/8 - From Branson, we decided to drive directly to Sheboygan, arriving on Thursday evening.  Our timing was perfect!  The colors were peaking.  This is one of the things I miss about living in Wisconsin.  The fall colors.  We took the next couple of days to relax and access the "to do" list hanging on the fridge.  We also got some family visiting in including a visit with my sisters & families at the Estebrook Bier Garden in Milwaukee. 

We also got to attend the 5th annual Oktoberfest at Al & Al's in Sheboygan.  We stopped by on Friday night because my mother wanted to hear the Jerry Schneider polka band.  Mom, Sue & Stephanie were with us and we had a great time drinking beer and dancing to the polka music.  Check out the pictures!

The Sunday before we left we (Tony, Mom & me)  went to the Fall Fry for the Black River Advancement Association and Fire Department.  The Flight for Life helecopter landed and we got to see it land and check it out.  We have alot of helecopters flying over our house in San Diego.  But it rarely happens in Black River.  So it was exciting!  Here are a couple of pics of the fall colors and sights around the Black River area.

10/9 thru 10/11 - This past Monday we headed down to Hartford spending the night with my sister, Sue & Randy.  The next morning we were heading out on our road trip to Indianapolis to visit daughter Sandy for a few days.  We had a great time in Indy, more specifically, Fishers, IN.  Sandy & Travis were gracious hostesses.  While the kids were in school, the adults headed down to see Monument Square and the Canal Walk in downtown Indianapolis.  The weather was a bit nippy, but it was a wonderful, relaxing afternoon. 

After our sightseeing we headed back home to enjoy a great evening of Travis' home made pizza, games with the kids, and great table conversation.  Oh, yeah, and somehow Sandy managed to talk me into some quick alterations to her halloween costume and a couple of mending jobs.  Oh, and I forgot, I also got to stretch spider webbing across the ceiling in preparation for the 5th annual Combs Halloween party!

That catches us up to Tennesee which is where we are right now.  Will post a bit more later.  It's time for dinner!

9-30 Sheboygan

Enjoying being off the road.  Spent Friday settling in and catching up.  Saturday morning we ventured out to 1) take the trash to the dump 2) visit the farmers market 3) Meet family at the Estebrook Beer Garden in Milwaukee for Oktoberfest #2.  Make that "Bark-toberfest", a dog-themed Oktoberfest.

Don't miss the pics!

9-27 Destination Accomplished

Lonesome Pine

Last minute, we made some changes to our itinerary.  Originally we were planning to stop in Galena, IL, an historice town in North West Illinois.  But after looking at and comparing the route to heading straight up to Sheboygan, we realized they were nearly the same distance.  So we decided to head to our destination and 11 hours later we were turning on to Lonesome Pine Road.

The ride up was uneventful, nothing really to report or photograph. We've completed the first vacation portion of our road trip.  Now for some visiting and some chores around mom's house - she always has a "Tony" list of "To Do's". 

Anna & Brian are heading down to Wisconsin from upper Michigan.  Hope to see them somewhere tomorrow.

Thanks for following us on our trip.  I won't be blogging daily for the next week.  But check back periodically to see what we're up to....if you're interested.