The Party's Over

It had to happen. The trip had to end sometime. And so it has. After finding yet one more gem of a park, Letchworth State Park in New York, also known as 'The Grand Canyon of the East,' we are back on the Cape. We are still counting our blessings, grateful for the opportunity to ride around the country visiting friends and family. It has been great fun; we were so lucky with the weather and the health of our bodies, minds and car. When asked what my favorite part of the trip has been, I have to say it has been holding and watching new granddaughter Claire. OK, the Grand Canyon was more spectacular to look at, but Claire tugs at my heart strings more. Yes, we would do it again. No, we don't think we need an RV at this point, although one would have made the thunderstorm the last night a lot more comfortable. Thanks for all the nice comments about the blog. We enjoyed writing it, but I expect life in the really slow lane back home does not warrant any more entries. So, until we take off again...

917.3

As we near the end of 12,000 miles of blue highways, we would be slack if we failed to acknowledge the many public libraries we visited over the past three months, including Chapel Hill (NC), Palm Bay and Cocoa (FL), St. Martinville and Johnson Bayou (LA), Galveston (TX), Grand Canyon Village (AZ), London and Weston (OH), and finally Cazenovia (NY), where we were introduced to Jessie the Library Cat.
With wireless Internet, air-conditioning, clean restrooms, newspapers, and invariably informed and helpful staff to answer our questions, libraries were always a welcome stop along the way. (Jessie, by the way, comes and goes during the day, but returns before closing and lives in the library at night.) -DN

Lake Erie

We are just booping along averaging about 30 miles an hour, but seeing every inch of Lake Erie's shoreline. Walking the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, we saw a bald eagle, warblers, and dozens of goslings. In Vermillion we took in the Great Lakes Shipping Museum where I was almost as bored as a class of students there on a field trip. Doug soaked it up; I listened to the weather radio on display. However, the highlight of the day was a stop at Conneaut, Ohio's White Turkey Drive-In which has to be the cleanest restaurant on the face of the earth. Honestly, it was so cool! The immaculate restrooms have little turkeys stenciled on the floors, and the whole place is retro '50s. It has been in business since 1952, managed by the same family the whole time. Put this place on your list. Later we camped right on the shore of Lake Erie where the wind blew so hard during the night, I feared for my life. Wimparoonie that I am, I bailed for the car while Doug slept peacefully in the tent.

Tom Sawyer

Much like Tom Sawyer, Doug's brother Larry has convinced us that planting trees, washing cars and cutting the grass is really loads of fun! And it is...sort of. So we have spent the last two days doing what we have not done for most of the last three months - chores. We have had a great time working together, cheering Ted at baseball games, Margaret at softball and gymnastics, and picnicking on the back porch. It is family time at its best. We've had time to read and talk, walk and lounge, eat and drink, play cards and do puzzles. Another highlight was the nighttime tour of the Toledo Museum of Art. The new glass pavilion was spectacular! Wish you were here!

Polar Bears and Baked Steak

Traveling in Ohio has been lovely. Sure, the land is flat and the fog was thick, but the back roads wind through rich farmland with tidy houses sheltered by tall trees, lush lawns and sturdy barns. The fields are being plowed and new growth evidence is everywhere. Like comfort food for the eyes. Doug and I camped at Indian Lake State Park and rested along the Maumee River. Very few people, but lots of nature. We wandered around small communities - West Liberty, London, and Ada. Ohio Northern University, home of the Polar Bears, was picture-perfect - sunny skies, friendly town, everything in bloom, amid the bustle of graduation plans. People were so nice; one woman gave Doug an ONU Christmas ornament! (Is it too late to get another degree?)

Here's a question for our fellow travelers. We see it on most menus, cafe windows, and benefit dinner signs. What is "baked steak?"

So blue, they're black

These West Virginia back roads are so blue, they're black! We've been traveling on lovely winding, climbing roads through the green mountains. It just takes us a day and a half to get anywhere! The hills appear covered in velvet folds of new spring growth. The weather has been perfect and the campground last night was almost empty. Doug and I had fun catching up with Patty and Chuck in Roanoke on Tuesday and then made it to Greenbrier State Forest for the night. For someone who used to eat somewhat healthy, I have gone downhill big time. Yesterday I set a personal record by hitting Wendy's for a potato and a 'frosty' (what is that stuff?), and then cruised into a Subway for a carbo-loaded sub for dinner. Yum! The only greens I ate in 24 hours were some broccoli flakes on the cheese-soaked potato. Let's see what Ohio has to offer.

Not Done Yet

This baby business is very hard work! However, we are not done traveling the blue highways yet! As Doug and I were preparing to say our reluctant goodbyes to our family and friends here in North Carolina, I had a brainstorm. Why not just keep on truckin' and head semi-west to Ohio where more family awaits? We had cut that part of our trip when we raced back to the early baby. So today we will begin the slow route northward and visit Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. Staying a full two weeks here in the town we had called home for over thirty years has been fun in a bittersweet kind of way. I never tire of walking on the UNC campus and people watching on Franklin Street. We have had such a grand time catching up with our friends and everyone has been so generous with their hospitality. Still, I feel like I don't live anywhere anymore. Or maybe I feel like I live everywhere. It is like being a human tumbleweed, or a billiard ball. And some of these folks must be tired of seeing us on their doorsteps! Okay, okay, put down your hands! We're going!