Back Home...And Warm!

I completely avoided winter this year! (Maybe I shouldn't gloat; this is Minnesota after all...we could still get more!) I arrived home yesterday and the only snow I've seen was in the ditches in Iowa. It's in the 50s here and should get to the 60s today. The dogs are really happy to be home; Rave has been lying outside in the sun for over an hour, Pacer is lying in the sun in the living room, and Wink of course has to be on my lap wherever I sit. I'm surrounded by a mountain of mail, and all the clothes, food, and other supplies unloaded from the MUTT. No hurry to clean it up...I'm retired!

I left Amarillo Wednesday morning and fought cross winds from the south all the way to OK City. My arms and shoulders ached from fighting the wheel all the way. When I headed north on I-35, it became a tail wind and no more problems. I stayed in Emporia that night and other than a thunder storm during the night while I was in bed, all the threatened bad weather was already to the east. Sunshine all the way home!

One very scary event during the drive: As those of you that have been reading this from the beginning may recall, my first day on the road I saw a serious accident when a pickup pulling a large trailer sideswiped a car, then went in the ditch and flipped the trailer before running into some trees. That happened about a half-mile in front of me and I got there right after it happened. This time, I saw a similar accident, but this one happened right in front of me! There was a semi in front of me and all of a sudden, I saw the pickup in front of him speed into the ditch, hit a guardrail, go airborne, flip over, and land on its side about 10 feet from the side of the road. The semi and I both pulled over and ran back. In no time, there were a bunch of other trucks and cars stopped. The truck drivers pulled the driver's door, which was on top, open and managed to get the driver out. It took quite a lot longer to get the passenger out, and then I decided there was nothing I could do, so I left. I'll skip the injury details. My hands were shaking for a long time afterwards! The pickup had had a blowout of one of his rear tires, and I couldn't help thinking about the state of my tires the rest of the way home. It seems eerily coincidental that the two accidents were on the first and last days of my journey. My friends that believe that everything happens for a reason might say I witnessed the first accident to caution me to be careful, and the last to remind me how fortunate I was to make it safely home.

I want to thank all of you who have followed my journey and stuck with it regardless of my rambling on at times. Thanks, too, for the emails and comments some of you have sent. I'm writing for myself as a record as well as for others, but it's nice to know that people have been following along. Until May, when I take off for North Carolina, I'll sign off...take care and travel carefully!