Day 24: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jig

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.

 Lin Yutang

We did it, we did it, we really, really did it!!

 We completed our final leg and arrived home in the afternoon. Here are the final stats:

24 days

24 states

2 Canadian Provinces

7722.1 miles

Millions of memories

1 happy dog (when we returned!)

We've had many new, varied, exciting experiences, and seen many beautiful places.  This has been the trip of a lifetime (although I'd love to do it again taking a different route).  Still, in the inimitable words of Dorothy:  There's no place like home!

 

 

Day 23: The Last Leg!

You need a village, if only for the pleasure of leaving it.  A village means that you are not alone, knowing that in the people, the trees, the earth, there is something that belongs to you, waiting for you when you are not there.  

~Casare Pavese

New Mexico to Arizona
390 miles

Happy Independence Day!

It's the first time in 19 years that I'm not at the Club organizing relays, pie-eating contests, cannonball contests, and watermelon races (and then staying late to make sure the "happy" revelers aren't throwing kids over the backstroke flags or losing their suits in belly-flop contests!).  This is freedom!

We left New Mexico and headed west and north.  As we got close to Tucson, we could see ominous clouds around and ahead of us.  Eventually, we were driving in the most driving, ridiculous rainstorm for about 1 1/2 hrs.  We saw several bad accidents -- very scary and exhausting. When we finally made it to the hotel, the stories were all about the rain, flooding, and funnel clouds in the area we had just crossed.

We're finishing our trip on a high note.  We stopped at the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale -- very nice place & beautiful room (for $60 less a night than the awful motel connected to the water park in Rapid City, SD!).  Went out for a fabulous dinner, and were settling in for a good rest before the final push for home when the fireworks began.  So, here we are, sitting out on our front patio in our jammies, eating our take-out creme brulee, and watching the show from ASU.  Doesn't get any better than this!

Day 22: Oklahoma to New Mexico

A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.

Tim Cahill.

Oklahoma to Texas to New Mexico
588 miles

Got an early start out of Oklahoma for the long drive ahead.
[Oh, I've got to share one more story of our motel clerk in OK.  When we went to get in our room, we realized that most of the rooms on the second floor did not have room numbers.  We went back downstairs to report this to the clerk and she told us, "Oh yeah.  We had a big weddin' here last year and they broke some windows and ripped off screens and took off all the room numbers.  I can go up there and count it off for y'all if you want."  Last year??]

We drove through a little more Oklahoma and a lot more Texas.  Lots of cows, flat land, and dirt-- right out of "Giant."  I expected to see Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor at any moment.  When we crossed into New Mexico, the terrain changed.  Beautiful desert scenes led us to destination #1 of the day:  Roswell and the International UFO Museum! This was decidedly NOT a beautiful scene.  The only plus was that clerk in the gift shop informed us sadly that we had just missed "Alien Fest 2012," and its 15,000 attendees by one day.  Tragic.  As it was, apparently not all of the UFO nerds and conspiracy theorists had left town.  The museum was packed with a very odd assortment of people!

Driving out of Roswell, we went through some mountain passes, dramatically cut canyons, and trees.  On our drive through New Mexico, we saw not only Roswell, but also (purportedly) the beef capital of the world, the largest pistachio nut in the world and the largest chili pepper in the world!

We were thrilled to arrive (in the rain) in Las Cruces, at the Ronga house.  We had a great visit with Michelle, Tony, and the kids, had our first good food in days (El Sombrero, Bob.  Just across the street from Roberto's).  We had their casita to ourselves, and plenty of entertainment from Teah, Emma, and Anthony (who, after beating Mimi soundly at Hungry, Hungry Hippos gave her a very patient lesson in success at the game).  After several long, hot, hungry days on the road, we had a wonderful and relaxing visit!

Day 21: Elvis is in the building!

I'm going to Graceland
Graceland
In Memphis Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poorboys and Pilgrims with families

But I've reason to believe
We will be received
In Graceland
 Paul Simon

545 Miles
Tennessee to Arkansas to Oklahoma

Up early with anticipation and a desire to arrive at our destination before the oppressive heat and the crowds.  Graceland!  We arrived before it opened, which got us in the first tour on the first shuttle bus.  Perfect.  I was really impressed by the place.  It's run like a well-oiled machine -- very organized, and everything presented very respectfully.  The rooms in the mansion are recreated really well, and the awards, costumes,  and accolades are presented tastefully.  Another potentially tacky place that exceeded expectations!

Note Mimi's Sea Bands.  She was ready in case she got "All Shook Up"!

 After Graceland, we just drove, drove, drove.  We arrived in Weatherford, OK (No waving wheat, but a threatening storm ahead.  Mimi was making tornado survival plans!), tired and hungry (common theme?).  We asked the girl at the front desk if there was somewhere nearby with good food.  She saw us looking at a "menu" (mimeographed, black and white sheet of paper), and said, "Luigi's looks real nice on the menu, but don't worry.  It ain't.  It's real affordable."  Unfortunately, after driving through town, Luigi's was closed :( .
On to New Mexico tomorrow.  When we figured out we were taking a more southern route, we realized we might go through New Mexico.  The change of plans is going to take us by Michelle Ronga's.  We're really looking forward to seeing her.

p.s.  We've been largely "off the grid" except for updating the blog when we have Internet access.  It's been pretty easy, except when we get the occasional call (today from both Mimi's mom and my mom) making sure we're still alive, because we haven't been heard from!  I must say though, that I was really happy tonight to get the first "Housewives" fix I've had in more than 3 weeks!!

p.p.s.  We've listened to Carole King's autobiography over the last 2 days.  Mostly interesting and insightful, but it could use some serious editing.  Do we really need an entire chapter about subways?

Day 20: Walking in Memphis

I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel

Marc Cohn

528 miles

Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee (20 states total so far)

Got out of Cincinnati fairly early and on the road to Kentucky.  We drove the scenic byways and saw a lot of beautiful country and farmland (though no bluegrass that I could determine) M: "Look at the pony.  There's a pony.  Cute pony... What's a pony?".  The ride was comfortable despite the fact that this part of the country is entrenched in a major heat wave.  So, every stop was oppressive, and we saw very few people (or animals) as we drove across the countryside.

We arrived in Fancy Farm, Kentucky (population 600), the home of many of Mimi's ancestors.  I said yesterday that we wouldn't have cemetery pictures, but we spotted the big Catholic cemetery on the way into town, and started exploring.  Jackpot!  The majority of the graves in the large cemetery bore the names of her paternal ancestors (Cash, Hayden, Hobbs).  When we get home, we'll try to sort out who's who.  After tromping around the cemetery, we found the picnic grounds where the annual Fancy Farms Picnic is held.  This has been (for 132 years) a picnic, Catholic Church fundraiser, and political rally -- complete with drinking and hecklers!  It's said that, if you want to be elected to office in Kentucky, you'd better attend the (bipartisan) picnic!  Pretty cool (at 105 degrees) little town.

Fancy Farm, KY

Our final destination for the day was Memphis.  We got in after 7:30 (8:30 our time -- we gained an hour today), hot, tired, and starving!  After checking into our room, we decided to walk the mile or so to the famous Beale St.  In the 100-plus-degree heat, at 8:00 in the evening, it was a little wild.  The street was hopping -- loud, hot, noisy, drunk, and stinky!  Way too much heat, noise, and energy to wander around trying to find something to eat, so we hightailed it back to the hotel where I promptly filled the tub with cold water and submerged myself.  For a short time, I thought I might die in Memphis!  Fully recovered and fed, I'm happy again, and looking forward to visiting the King tomorrow!!

Hooray!  First sub $3 gas purchase today.

Day 19: I Love Lucy!

California, Here We Come!

California, Here I Come 

Right back where I started from

Where bowers of flowers, bloom in the spring

Each morning at dawning, birdies sing at everything

A sunkissed miss said, "Don't be late!"

That's why I can hardly wait 

Open up that golden gate
California, Here I Come

674 miles
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio

Do you pop out at parties?  Are you unpoopular?

LONG driving day today.  We headed across New York to my destination of choice: the Lucy-Desi Museum and Playhouse in Jamestown.  Although I think Lucie and Desi Jr. could invest a little $$ to up the class level of the museum, it was fun and interesting.  They had mock sets, old costumes, movie memorabilia, and were airing clips from shows & movies.  The weirdest part was seeing the sets and clothes IN COLOR.  I never pictured the furniture or some costumes in anything but black and white.

Mimi in front of Lucy and Ricky's living room

Then we took the Ohio River Scenic Byway, but because of damage from last night's storms and road construction, lots of it was not so scenic.  It made for some slow going at times, so we decided to plug on to Columbus.  Unfortunately, something must be happening in Columbus (too late and too tired to figure it out right now!), and there weren't any available rooms, so we kept going all the way to Cincinnati (arriving at 10:45)!  Got in with only 5 minutes to spare to order a burger from room service (hadn't eaten since a Subway stop for lunch).  Yum.

When we planned the return trip, we sort of thought we'd be really anxious to get home, and that we'd take the quick, boring route through the middle of the country.  As we drive, we find interesting byways and sights to see, so have altered the plan a little!  Yesterday's detour to Cooperstown is one example, and looking at the map tonight, we've discovered another for Monday (more on that to come!).  Tomorrow we're off to Fancy Farm, Kentucky, so Mimi can dig a little into her roots for a change!  I don't think we'll have gravestone pictures, but we'll see some beautiful country in the Bluegrass State!