The Route as of right now

After researching Weather.com and plotting routes to avoid active storms, this looks like the best route. I will try for Hastings, Nebraska by tomorrow night. Then due south to Dallas, 610 miles, then Interstate 20 to Jackson, Mississippi. From Jackson I will head to Gulfport (not on the Interstate, though)) Then Gulfport to Ocala, FL then the final leg to Lake Worth. The cities are just reference points. I think the modern metropolis is a scab on the planet. I will use beltways to skirt them whenever possible. The Rand McNally mapping website includes weather forecasts and it looks like I had better not go too fast or I will run into the storms that have just passed us and if I go too slow, the next one will catch me. So just sort of half-fast will do it. 

Mission Delayed....

The Devil is in the Details...scurrying to pack and lift-off and Cuz Donna called and said Denver was in the midst of a storm and the roads and highways were slick. She had to use her 4WD Blazer to take a friend to work. She knows how much I hate Denver traffic on a good day, so as that leg of the visit was my only deadline- we scrubbed the mission and took a more leisurely approach to getting ready to blast off...tomorrow. I have been using a very useful website Weather.com which has an Interstate weather guide. I had been thinking a day delay woul allow me to follow behind a major storm instead of in it. I will have to hurry a little in the middle of my trip. As it was 16 degrees here this morning, I am motivated to get south.

Email came from Marylu Walker, West Virginia friend. They will leave for Weeki Wachee, FL in about a month (see my web album for my last visit with them) They have upgraded their Vans. I hope to connect with them Florida this winter and check out the new wheels and enjoy their company.

Bumps in the Road

I called David Alvarez in Lake Worth to see if my coach is ready to roll in seven days. I had tipped him generously to start it every month to keep the batteries up. Monthly is probably not frequently enough because it is deader than a doornail. Son Jason offered to get it attended to but I know a trick to use the coach batteries and am hoping they are not dead also. It is a tricky trick and I can not recollect the layout of the buttons well enough to tell anybody over the phone. Get it wrong, or fail to switch it back and permanent trouble ensues. That is the bad news.

The good news is that the rest of the Van checkout cost a grand total of $31.00. Good-t0-go except for a myriad of details in terms of packing, loading and local details several of which depend on others. I am working from lists. Leaving on the 28th would be really nice because Jason will available to help me on the 3rd and has to leave for Palm Springs on the 5th. His birthday is the 4th and I am not inclined to ask him to celebrate it helping me get set up. A 29th departure could still be workable but none of us are spring chickens and when Goody gets antsy and her ears go back I know I had better find a comfort stop pronto. Me too, except for the ears going back. Buster is our idol: he can go at will or last for hours. Ah (relative) youth!

On the Road Again (almost)

November 28 or 29 will see Arapahoe in our rear view mirror. Always mixed emotions about leaving home base and going to Snowbird land but it is turning cold after the most beautiful fall in my 30 plus year recollection of falls in Wyoming. But reservations and plans await. I have been reading the Palm Beach Post online for about a month getting in tune with the new environs.

Dogs and I have been enriching the local medicos with our checkups and prescriptions. All is about as good as can be expected for high mileage models. The same with the Van. The green van will have one more checkover tomorrow. Rear axles needed replacement and I am always happier getting that done with people I know and starting out with a little confidence. (sometimes false confidence)

We have a new Walgreen's in Riverton and I have moved my prescriptions there after careful comparison shopping. There is a Walgreen's on practically every corner in Florida and once you are in their computer, you can pick up anywhere. The others say you can but when I ran out on my way to Oregon, K-Mart I had to move my prescription to Elko, NV.

Hosted a little birthday brunch/farewell brunch for some of my valley friends last Sunday. It was ever so nice to see folks and share a laugh or two. I will miss seeing them but they check the blog so we will stay in touch that way. I have had some Email from some of my John Prince Park friends who are returning so friends (as well as Florida kids) await.

So the blogging will start up again, although I will rely on Picasa Web Albums for more in depth picture/story telling.