Day 51 - There's no place like home!

I apologize for not getting this blog posted earlier, but I had to wait to post until we had our internet up and running at the house again!

We left Ardmore, Oklahoma amid rain showers but the closer we got to the Texas border, the lighter the rain became!  This was a good sign, as the rain that was suppose to linger along the IH 35 corridor actually moved out rather fast and the rest of the day was blue skies and plenty of sunshine! 

We had planned to stop and visit with our son in Arlington, but as it turned out, he had a few committments at school that would keep him busy, and our time to visit would be limited.  So we determined we were close enough to home to drive the rest of the way, so that is what we did!  The closer we got to Port Lavaca, the more excited we became!  Of course, the closer we got to Port Lavaca, the hotter the temperatures were! After being in much cooler weather, this was an adjustment!

On the ride home, we talked about the fact that we were certainly going to miss being on the road......we've had such an amazing time traveling!  We talked about all that we had seen, the deserts, the mountains, the beautiful waters and flowers in Hawaii, the snow, the cacti, the beautiful homes along the lakeshores, the lighthouses, the Pacific coastline, etc.  We talked about the people we had met along the way, the different foods we had tasted, and the fact that we made it home without any major incidents or issues! (Other than losing Speedy in the snowbank in Montana!) As I have stated before, we have been truly blessed!

Once home, it was time to face reality.....unloading the truck, unloading the RV, washing clothes, going through mail and basically getting back in the groove!  It's been a little bit of an adjustment, but it is amazing how fast things seem to get back to "normal" once you have got the big chores out of the way!  The dogs are certainly pleased to be back home, and ran around the yard like crazy dogs when we got home! 

We are home earlier than originally planned, primarily because the lighthouses we wanted to visit were easier to find than anticipated.  On occasion, we have been known to spend days looking for lighthouses as some are precariously perched on cliffs, or on private property and we need to attain permission to visit the lighthouse, or after searching feverently, we have discovered the lighthouse has disappeared (been distroyed or crumbled on its own).  We were amazed at how easy it was to find the lighthouses on this trip.  We only added one lighthouse to our Hawaii lighthouse quest this trip, as we had seen the other lighthouses on Oahu on our last trip to Hawaii.  Most of the lighthouses in Southern California were too difficult to reach or required a lot of walking , which Jim was not up to doing, so we passed.  The great lakes on the other hand, are teeming with lighthouses around every bend.  We only visited a few this trip, and will catch more when we return to that area on a future journey.

The other reason we are home early is so that my sister and my brother-in-law can begin their trip to New York by May 29th, to attend a surprise birthday party for a relative on June 3rd.  They have been watching our house, taking care of our yard, collecting our mail, calling us when bills came in and taking care of our 13 year old cat!  This made our trip much more enjoyable because we knew things were in good hands at home!  Now we get to return the favor as they begin their travels!  Thank you June and Phil!

Other than Hawaii, our favorite places to visit on this leg of the journey were Washington and Wisconsin.  The area surrounding the Columbia River in Washington is very nice and picturesque.  Our time spent there was very enjoyable and the RV park on the Columbia River was very serene and inviting.   Door County, Wisconsin was very unique and quaint, and we enjoyed visiting the different harbor areas. There is a lot of scandanavian history in this area and most of the towns are comprised of scandanavian restaurants, shops, museums and other interesting sights. Just a very nice ambiance throughout this area, unlike anywhere else we traveled to date.

So, here's a summary of our travels on this leg of our journey:

Gone 51 Days

Visited/Passed Through 16 states

Made 22 overnight stops

Traveled 6,785 miles

 (Not counting side trips or travel in Hawaii)

Traveled 8,256 miles

(Counting side trips on the mainland)

590.5 gallons of gas consumed

Averaged 13.9 miles to the gallon

(towing the RV)

25 Lighthouses visited

(Total Lighthouses visited to date 130!)

We were delighted to meet our new "adopted" Speedy when we arrived home, and will take some time to get acquainted with him prior to our departure on the second leg of our journey in August.

So far his personality seems to be very comparable to our first Speedy, so we are not anticipating any issues!

Please keep watching the blog as we continue to sort through the events of our journey thus far, and prepare to set out on the second leg of the journey in August. 

Thank you for coming along on the journey with us!  Peace be with you........

Dallas Skyline - Still gray, but not raining!

I knew we were "home" when I saw this truck!

Cornfield on Hwy 316 (close to home!)

Trip Data

Meet our new "Speedy"  Lounging in the pool!

Our Angel Trumpet plant at the front of the house!

Hundreds of blooms and they smell wonderful!

Beautiful!

Day 50 - Whole lot of nothing goin' on!

There is absolutely nothing to write about today.  The ride was boring, the scenery was boring and I forgot to put my memory card back into my camera after posting yesterday's blog, so I have no pictures to share either!  Sorry, some days just don't go the way you want them to! 

We left Emporia about 8:45 AM.  We immediately hit the Kansas Turnpike and for the next sixty-six miles the scenery was flat farmland, no billboards, and nothing exciting going on in the landscape!  I can certainly understand why tornados raise havoc in this part of the country!  Wide open spaces provide lots of room for tornados to touch-down!

It wasn't long before we were in Oklahoma, and we did our utmost best to get through Stillwater (OSU) and Norman (OU), Oklahoma as quickly as possible - before they saw our Longhorn emblem on our truck!

The traffic today was a little hectic at times, but once we got through the major cities, things settled down. Clearly it wasn't as bad as driving the RV through downtown San Francisco, but driving through Oklahoma City was a little crazy!

We are now in Ardmore, Oklahoma and will hopefully cross the Texas state line in the morning!  We will stop at the Casita manufacturing plant in Rice, TX to pick up some replacement parts for the RV.  Then we will head to Arlington, TX to spend some time with our son Gary who is a middle school Principal in Dallas. 

Even tho we are close to the end of this leg of our journey, we are already looking forward to the next trip, which, as I stated in yesterday's blog, will begin in August.  Yes, we are anxious to once again sleep in our big bed , have the dogs roam their own yard without being on a leash, and preparing meals in our kitchen which is bigger than a 2x3 foot space! However, we will miss the excitement of discovering what lies around the next bend in the road, and we will miss the opportunity to meet new people. We have been blessed to have this opportunity to travel, and trust the Lord will continue to look over us as we continue the journey down the road!

Tomorrow is another day!

Day 49 - No Dorothy, No ToTo, No Oz

Well, we are in Kansas now and the ride here was pretty uneventful. The weather was cooperative with cool temperatures in the morning and warming up to 74 degrees this afternoon when we arrived in Emporia. Nice!

The ride itself was uneventful.  We passed through the rest of Iowa (picking up IH-35 in Des Moines) and then drove through Missouri and crossed the Missouri River at Kansas City, Missouri and then into Kansas.  There were a couple of interesting things on the ride today, but for the most part it was an easy ride.

We spent most of the day talking about all that we had seen, done and experienced on this leg of our journey, and the changes we will make as we prepare for the second leg of our journey which will begin in August.  At that time we will head to North Carolina to see our son Jason and his family, then travel to the west coast of Florida to continue our lighthouse quest (we've already done the east coast of Florida), then on to Key West to relax and create new memories! 

We are staying in Emporia, Kansas.  Emporia is located between Topeka and Wichita Kansas.  Emporia is known for its newspaper, the Emporia Gazette, published in the first half of the 20th century by the legendary newspaperman William Allen White.  The paper became the widely perceived model of excellence in small town journalism.

Other interesting facts about Emporia:

1.   Emporia is the site of the first Veterans Day observance in the United States in 1953.

2.  On June 8, 1974, a F4 tornado struck Emporia killing six people, injuring 200 people and causing $25 milion in damages. 

3.  Emporia State University is located here.

4. Several large private sector employers such as Tyson Foods and Dolly Madison make their home here in Emporia

Off to find Aunt Em..........

This is a picture (on the run) of the Iowa Speedway which was located across

the road from our KOA camp site last night



Took this picture as we live so close to Indianola (TX) This Indianola is in Missouri

We discovered several cities and towns with names that we also have in Texas!



Missouri welcome sign





Buffalo at Missouri Visitors Center (It is a metal sculpture, but it looked real)

Bridge that connects North Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas City, Missouri



Church Steeple, Emporia, Kansas





Day 48 - Potpourri

Today we have an assortment of tidbits to share with you!

First, we were up at 6:30 AM and on the road by 7:00 AM to make a quick run back to Port Washington to see the lighthouse we missed yesterday when we were there.  I'm glad we did, as the St. Mary Lighthouse is a very nice lighthouse.  The original name of the lighthouse was the Old Port Washington Lighthouse, but is was later changed to St. Mary Lighthouse after the new light was built and placed on the breakwater at the marina downtown. It was named St. Mary's Lighthouse because it is located close to St. Mary's Catholic Church.  The Port Washington Historical Society has done an excellent job of restoring the old lighthouse and the keepers quarters.  Is is now a museum which tells the history of the area lighthouses and lighthouse keepers.  Really nice!

We were back at the RV site by 8:30 AM and were on the road by 9:00 AM.  It was hard leaving Wisconsin as we enjoyed our time spent here so much!  It is as diverse in its landscape and people as  Texas!  As we were leaving Wisconsin and entering Iowa, the scenery changed from farms with silos and dairy cows, to farms without silos and lots of pig stys!  The western part of Wisconsin is hilly and flat at the same time.  Iowa started out hilly - then became mostly flat farmland. 

The weather was good today, although the wind gusts were a bit troublesome, especially when the 18 wheelers passed by!

We did see another quilt square on a barn as we were leaving Wisconsin, it was taken from a distance, but it was still pretty and one we can add to our collection.

We stopped for gas and there was a motel across the street that had a dancing cow in their front yard!  I think the further we got out of Wisconsin, the crazier the cows became!  See for yourself in the picture below! 

We are now at a KOA campground in Newton, Iowa.  We arrived about 4 PM and that gave us time to catch up on laundry, take showers and catch up on bills. (Somehow, even tho we are not home, the bills still have to be paid - you figure!)

Tomorrow we will probably enter Missouri...not sure how far we will get, but we are hoping we see some interesting sights.

Til then.......

 St. Mary's Lighthouse (Old Port Washington Lighthouse)

The fresnal lens was removed and put in the light now on the

 breakwater at the marina in Port Washington



The Keepers house and boat

St.Mary's Catholic Church steeple

Another quilt square

A very happy dancing cow!

Radar for flight control - Milwaukee Airport

 The scenery definitely changed today....entering Iowa

Bridge between Wisconsin and Iowa

Mississippi River

Government building in Dubuque, Iowa

XXXXXXXXLarge Hefty Garbage Bags!



Country Church





Day 47 - Oshkosh By Gosh!

Today started with Jim taking the truck in for a oil change - it had been 5,000 miles since the last oil change (grin).  I stayed at the RV with the girls.  The weather was gray, but no rain was in sight or on the radar, so we decided we would begin the lighthouse quest again once Jim returned from having the oil changed.

This part of Wisconsin is not as quaint as Door Coounty, but it does have a few port cities that are rather interesting, which we discovered on our travels today.

The first light we visited was in Fond du Lac.  It was located on Lake Winnebago.  The light is in very good shape, maintained by the  Historic Preservation Commission of the city.

In the process of traveling from the Fond du Lac light to the Oshkosh Light, also on Lake Winnebago, we noticed that there were hundreds, no, make that thousands, of Mayflies all over the place and of course directly in our path.  These Mayflies are short-lifers that breed near water in this area during the month of May - thus their name.  They are very similiar to our Love-Bugs in Texas, and just as annoying!  Our truck was covered with at least 1/3 of the Mayfly population of the area, as were the houses on the lake shore! 

I had always had an interest in Oshkosh - based primarily on their clothing manufacturing  history, but I have to admit I was not impressed with Oshkosh.  Most of the town is comprised of empty factory and warehouse buildings. Very depressing.  It appears that commerce in the area is now based on tourism; primarily summer vacationeers who rent cottages and houses on the lake shore. 

The Oshkosh Light was located on a point in the lake and I had to be a bad girl and trespass on private property to get the picture of the light.  This light is well maintained as well, and I suspect that the property owner is the one who keeps the light looking so nice!  For that I am thankful!

We next back-tracked from the West side of Lake Winnebago to the East side to a county park in a small town called Pipe to see the Pipe Light.  This light originally was a water tower at a furniture factory that was dismantled, transported to the park, reassembled and became an observation tower/navigational aid.  It is not very attractive, but the community of Pipe, (individuals and the county commissioners), together raised close to $100,000 to replace the wooden stairs and platform with steel.

There was an interesting pub/grille (restaurant) at the entrance to the park that we thought we would stop and eat lunch, but they were not open for business as they were remodeling.  We were disappointed as we thought it would have some nice ambiance and their signs indicated good food! It looked like an old colonial inn that you would find in New Jersey.

We once again back-tracked and headed to the western shore of Lake Michigan to the town of Sheboygan to the Sheboygan Breakwater Light. (Not impressed)  This light is located on the end of the breakwater for the Sheboygan Marina.  It was missing its top and was in sad shape. This is a shame consideriang there is obviously money in this town based on the yachts in the marina!  It would not take much to repair the light and have this light shine again  - no pun intended.

Our final light today was the Port Washington Light.  This light is also located at the end of the breakwater for the Port Washington Marina.  This light is in great shape and is well maintained. by the US Coast Guard.  Again, the boats in this marina were awesome, and the town itself was quaint and inviting.  We stopped here for lunch at a pub/grille (very common in this state) and I had a wonderful Philly Cheese Steak sandwich and Jim had enchiladas which he said were very good.  We discovered when we arrived back to the RV site that there is another light in Port Washington that we missed, so we will probably swing by there in the morning on our way out Wisconsin. We have certainly enjoyed our time in Wisconsin and would consider returning to this wonderful state down the road!

So now we have seen the lights/lighthouses we had scheduled ourselves to visit on this leg of our journey.  We have seen a total of 18 lights or lighthouses in Wisconsin alone.  Add the lights/lighthouses we saw in California and Hawaii, and we have seen a total of twenty-four light houses!  After tomorrow our total will be twenty-five!

Where do we go from here?  We are not sure. We will probably start heading south again and based on what we might see along the way, we may stop and see the sights,  or we may continue our trip south.  We are actually looking forward to some warmer weather!

To date we have traveled 5,296 miles (not counting our side trips), been through thirteen states and seen twenty-five lights/lighthouses.  We  have meet many interesting people along the way and we have seen places we have only read about prior to this journey!  (We have also discovered that we can tolerate being with one another 24/7!)  We have come so far and been blessed with good health, safe travels and wonderful travel companions (Lacy and Penny)!

Enjoy the pictures!

Fond du Lac Light

 

Locomotive in the park at Fond du Lac

Oshkosh Water Tower

Oshkosh Light

Pipe Light

Pipe Pub/Grille

 

Sheboygan Light

 Boats at the marina at Sheboygan

Thought this was an interesting Fire/Rescue Boat

Port Washington Light

 Port Washington Marina

Iris in bloom at Port Washington

Canadian Goose at Port Washington

 More flowers in bloom at Port Washington

More boats of interest

 Decorative Lighthouse outside of building in Port Washington

The Fisherman Statue  in Port Washington

First United Methodist Church, Port Washington