On Sunday, after a 2-week break from “the road” (because of the weeklong cruise and the weeklong stay at our friends Dan & Cindy’s lakefront home in northeastern Washington State) we loaded up the car again and headed south. We’ve driven more than 5,000 miles on this trip so far and I’m going to guess we have another 5,000 to go before we pull in the driveway in Florida sometime in mid-October. Then, after a few weeks of rest at home, we’re going to head up to North Carolina (to visit Kristine and Gary) and Washington DC for the third, and last, leg of the Epic 50th Anniversary Grand Adventure Road Trip.
When the Adventure is completely finished, which will not be too long before our actual 50th Anniversary date of December 12, 2025, I’ll total up all the information and statistics from the Grand Adventure and write a blog post summarizing the pertinent data. It’ll be interesting to me, and a way to memorialize it, even if no one else really cares.
The afternoon I’m writing this blog (Monday, Sept 29) is the day after the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Ian. Believe me when I tell you I had a lot better day yesterday sitting in the car, driving through the high desert of Oregon (especially Highway 84 which runs along the south shore of the magnificent Columbia River for miles and miles). I really like the scenery full of mountains in the distance, but add some water in too and I am definitely in my happy place.
I need to read-up on the Columbia River. I know it played a major role in settling the Pacific Northwest, and I think Lewis and Clark used it extensively in their exploration of the west. Interestingly, one of the books I put into the pile we brought along on this trip for reading material is Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. It’s purported to be the definitive account of one of the most momentous journeys in American History. Undaunted Courage has been on my bookshelf for years, but now that we’ve explored that area on this trip, it’ll be that much more meaningful to read.
Today, the afternoon before I post this blog, we drove through the Crater Lake National Park. I didn’t do my homework and had no idea the scenic turnouts on the rim of the lake were at almost 8,000 feet elevation. It was raining and very, very windy. The temperature on the car said it was 43° but I’ll take bets the wind chill was in the 20s. It was FREEZING cold for a couple of southwest Floridians, much, much colder than I thought Alaska was. And we literally had our heads in the clouds this morning. The island in Crater Lake is called Wizard Island, which I like just as an interesting thing to remember for a future trivia contest.
As we drove out of the park, the elevation dropped quickly and the temperature rose to 61°, much more palatable for us.
We’re spending the night in Mt Shasta, California which is kinda, sorta, our old stomping grounds. It’s still cold, wet, and grey, but we’re on our way to our next set of forever friends. The thought of seeing them warms me up a lot.
We lived in the Sacramento, California, area for 12 years when we returned to the US mainland after our 3-year stint on Guam. In addition to Cindy, who you’ve read about before, we became great friends with Don and Ina. Randy and Ina were stationed in the Air Force together. When she married Don while we were all in Sacramento, the 4 of us hit it off and are fast friends to this day. They went to Bellows AFB on Oahu with us one year for a week’s beach vacation, and about 5 years ago we met in Colorado in our respective RVs for a camping vacation near the trailhead of Mt Elbert (the second highest peak in the lower 48 states) at an elevation of about 9,000 ft.
We’ll arrive at Don and Ina’s home in Grass Valley, California on Tuesday where we’ll spend 3 or 4 nights. I know we’ll do a whole lot of laughing and have deep discussions about the meaning of life. I’m so looking forward to seeing them and spending some quality time in their company.
We have two more sets of forever friends we’re going to try to see on this trip, but we haven’t nailed down firm plans yet. Our friend Bunny lives in San Antonio. We met her when we were stationed at Chanute AFB in Rantoul, IL in 1976. She and her husband, Don, and Randy and I spent a lot of time singing together. We all were a part of the “guitar group” in Chanute’s Catholic church. Later, Don and Bunny were at Yokota AB, Japan when Randy and I were stationed on Guam. We visited them there and then reunited yet again when we rotated back to the states and all ended up at McClellan AFB in Sacramento. Our history with Bunny is long, though Don died years ago.
And the final set of forever friends we plan to visit on the Grand Adventure are Randy’s high school friend, Craig, and his wife, Annette. They live, happy as clams, in a 5th wheel in a full-time RV park in Athens, TX. You might recall the blog post I wrote about the band, Whirlwind, Randy and I were in for a couple of years right after we were married. Craig started that band and kept us all in line for the time we spent performing. Here’s that post, if you’re interested in reading about our short-lived music career.
We still haven’t made up our minds about firm plans for the journey between Grass Valley, California and San Antonio, Texas. Any suggestions? We’re thinking maybe Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Tucson (with a quick trip to Nogales to set foot in Mexico for our first time ever), Saguaro National Park, White Sands National Park, Roswell, NM, Carlsbad Caverns. If we try to do all that we might not get home till Christmas, but now’s the time, isn’t it?
I hope you’re not too bored reading about our travel adventures. This trip is, honestly, one of the most interesting things we’ve done in our 50 years of marriage. And it ain’t over.
P.S. I’m almost afraid to say anything, but Florida hasn’t had any hurricanes yet this year. We pray it stays that way.
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