30 April– 1 May 2016 Slept in a bit this morning, all the way to 8 AM after our late nightconversation. We shared our pastries with D and chatted away themorning. We do not get an early start to Congaree National Park. Ofcourse we decide that our priority for the day should be finding abrew pub in Columbia for an early dinner before entering the park. Wesettle on one called
27-29 April 2016 We crossthe Bay Bridge-Tunnel and stop at Starbucks for coffee to accompany our Passoverblueberry-apple cake and yogurt. Our drive is uneventful. We have alovely visit Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with D, enjoying longconversations into the night about life, the universe and everything.On Thursday O and I drive into Myrtle Beach and down to a state parkwhere we do some walking and spy a rather large red-belliedwater snake at
More Wandering 2016 26 April 2016, Tuesday Today what is referred to as the “Acela Primary” is taking place. Grandpa has gotten several calls requesting his vote for Donald!? Per ourtravel plan, we have breakfast and all go off to vote together. Wethen return home, finish packing a much less cluttered than last yearcar, and try to reassure a very dejected Lucy that we will, indeed,return. We can easily see out our
3 November 2015, Tuesday We are driving through golden-brown Pennsylvania hills on the final 280miles of our more than 11,000 mile journey. We arrive home in theafternoon sunshine to an ecstatic Lucy and a very happy G-pa. With apologies to Tolkien for scrambling his poetry: Roads go ever on and on under cloud and under star, but feet that wandering have gone, turn at last to home afar. Eyes that fire
2 November 2015, Monday This morning we are in birders’ paradise. We eat our breakfast aschickadees, titmice, juncos, bluejays, and cardinals flitter in thetrees around us. We also see a red-bellied woodpecker, golden crownedkinglets, hairy woodpeckers, a yellow-rumped warbler and, in the treeright behind our tent, a pileated woodpecker. Great surroundings foreating our cherry pie breakfast! We chat awhile with our neighbors who are camping in a 20 year old VWvan
1 November 2015, Sunday Breakfast is at the Grand Traverse Pie Company. We share a slice ofbacon-spinach quiche and we each have a fruit pastry as well. Mine ischerry, O’s is blueberry. The day is so beautiful that it seems a shame to spend the night in amotel again. We cancel our reservation in Columbus, but we stop thereanyway to visit the Barley Brewing Co for lunch. Then we head alittle
31 October 2015, Saturday Today we travel from Springfield, MO to Terre Haute, IN. We cross back over the Mississippi River and we return to the eastern time zone. We lose an hour today, but we do not reset our watches because tonight daylight savings time ends and we get our lost hour back. We have passed the 10,000 mile mark on our odometer. Not much more to say about the
30 October 2015, Friday Our plan today, as we could not get a campsite at Devils Den, is to packup, hike more of the park and then travel to Springfield, MO for thenight. We have a lovely hike as the weather clouds in. It drizzles abit as we walk. I think tonight’s campers are in for some rain. Allof the campsites here are booked for the special Halloween weekendevents. Before we
29 October 2015, Thursday Everything went fine. The young man turned his music down, and I told him at thatvolume he could play it as long as he pleased. He admitted he waspretty tired and wouldn’t be staying up late anyway. We slept well. This morning we are back to baking our own breakfast cake which we eat with sourcherry preserves and yogurt. After breakfast we hike some of thetrails here
28 October 2015, Wednesday We awake before dawn today – mainly because sunrise isn’t until almost8 am! There are deer surrounding our tent and there is a pile offresh dirt that both of us are sure was not there last night. Threeplanets are aligned in the eastern sky. One is Venus, one is Mars,and we are not sure what the other is. As the morning light slowlyincreases we see the occupant