Tonight we are in Denver, staying in a hotel.  Imagine, I don’t have to go out in the night looking for the bathroom.  I don’t need to wake Nick up if I need to “go”.  And we have a shower right in our room!  After the last few nights of taking in our linens and towels, it is nice to have a short break.   

The cabins have really been fine.  Better, in my opinion, than sleeping in a tent!   When we leave here we are headed to Grand Junction, Colorado.   We will be in a KOA campground again.  Nick decided to pay the difference and get us a “lodge”.  That’s a cabin with indoor plumbing!

Driving through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and today, Colorado has been educational.   The further west we go, the drier the corn and the more devastating the drought appears to have been.  In Ohio the corn looked green and healthy.  

Indiana and Iowa were so flat until we got into the hillier parts of Iowa.  Then it resembled a Grant Wood painting of the rolling hills with farms that stand miles from each other.

Modern, turbine wind mills are amazing.  They stand about 300’ high.  We saw trucks carrying individual blades for the wind mills and could not believe how huge they are!

I have been taking hundreds of pictures as we travel.  Some will get posted here if I can do a better job of getting the pictures I want and get them to transfer in the size I want.

what the heck just happened?

Oh well, I just wrote a really long post, but Google ate it.  I am sitting outside (at a KOA in Gotherburg, Nebraska) and it's getting dark.  I'll try again tomorrow.  Yikes, the bugs are starting to eat me!

We went to the Des Moines State Fair today.  Wow was it huge.  Loads of walking and we are both wiped out!

We are in a KOA campground near Des Moines, Iowa.  This is the third KOA and so far the cabins are all pretty identical.    They are very nice.  Comfortable beds.  Air conditioning or heat as needed.  So far we have used the A/C twice.  Last night we had the window open and tonight we may even need to put on the heat.

Yesterday we visited Nick's grandparents' graves in Toledo, Iowa.   It's been a while since we have been there, but they haven't moved or changed.   We went to the museum in Tama, Iowa and could have spend hours there.  Such history for such a seemingly small part of the world.   I guess it all shows that everyone is connected somehow.

One of the things that has me pondering is how many parents had to bury their children in the 1800s and early 1900s.  I know that it still happens, but not with the alarming frequency.  One family has seven children buried near the parent's graves.  All of the children died very young.  Some just infants, I think that the oldest was 7.  And who knows if they had some who lived on to adulthood and raised their own families.

The WiFi only works well when I am outside, and I am afraid that it is about to rain.  So I will wrap it up for now.

Our first night on the road was not as restful as we would have hoped.   The hotel was stayed in (free thanks to loyalty points).  The bed was so soft you sort of fell into it and were stuck.   At one point I woke up to find Nick's feet at the head of the bed.  He explained to me that his side of the bed was not level and his head was pointing downhill- with all the blood rushing to it.  So he had to move.

We are now in Wapakoneta, Ohio in  KOA campground.   We have a lovely log cabin and as I write, Nick is making the bed- you supply your own linens here.  This bed feels like it will be a lot easier to sleep in than last night's bed!

Yesterday, on the drive to Columbus, we ran over a dead animal.  It made a "clunk" sound under the car.  The sound got pretty strong on the way here today and Nick discovered that some part of the underneath of the car was scraping the street- at least the animal wasn't still there.  We went to Lowe's and Nick had managed to duct tape the bottom of the car back together and hope it holds.  At least until we find a Toyota dealer.

We went on a tour of the Airstream Trailer company today.  They are amazingly cool looking trailers, but the tour was long and a bit hot.  And I don't think I want to spend the amount they charge for them.  It was worth a look though.

I think we are going to go for a swim, get some dinner and go to bed soon.

I've taken lots of pictures that I will try to load soon.  None were allowed inside the Airstream factory.

Two more days.  I am freaking out and I cannot understand it.  I have been traveling all my life, packing and unpacking.     But this time it's different.  Nick and I have not traveled alone with each other- without kids in ages.  I mean, we have done weekends, but nothing this long.

I am excited and scared and worried all at the same time.  I am stressing about what to pack and what I will forget.  I am afraid that something will happen while we are gone and I won't be here to take care of it.  Of course, I am replaceable as far as taking care of the cats and the house and my sister.   I am having a hard time "letting go".  I am used to being in charge and being in control and I am having feelings of the "undertoad" haunting me (look it up, I have not figured out how to make links yet).

Ok, now, back to doing laundry and chilling in front of the TV.

Counting down

I have been traveling all of my life.  So why am I so worked up about this trip?   Maybe I have always gotten this worked up and have forgotten. 

This is the first trip Nick and I have made alone in ages.  And the longest trip we have made alone since our first child was born, in 1978.

I really cannot wait.  I am so looking forward to getting into the cat and going.   Seeing America together.  Spending time alone with no distractions.  Talking and laughing.  Looking at sights- together.    We have been married for 40 years.  We have more memories of our lives together than we have of our lives when we were single.  This is going to be a trip of new memories that we will share for the rest of our lives.

Please, everyone stay healthy.  That means family and friends and pets.   Be boring while we are gone.

This evening I think I figured out how to load pictures onto Nick's laptop.  That means, I should be able to post pictures of our travels on this blog!

Nite nite for now.

Testing this thing out.  In time, I am sure I will be creating wonderful, inspiring blogs that all the world loves.  Or not.  As long as I am having fun, that's what it's all about!