Homeward Bound

Wildlife View

After the Buffalo, Prairie Dogs, Magpies and Coyotes, what a pleasant surprise:

Day 18: October 19

There were two Bald Eagles wishing us a fond farewell. Here’s the second:

We drove across to Murdo (an almost empty town with the cheapest apples and bread we’ve seen in the US!). Then we headed south to Nebraska. Guess because we were heading south, it was time to see Yucca (so unusual):

Here are some observations from our scenic drive:

• White River, a teeny town with two Casinos (in the two Gas Stations)
• the town of “Littleburg” which I read as “Litterbug”
• a “Save the Sandhills” campaign with lots of signs (save them from what? must check that out)
• CUSTER County (are we heading backwards?)
• “The Boneyard Creationist Museum” (?)
• the smell of cattle yards
• lots of these (but few Wind Turbines, though a highly unpopulated area; may explain the “Save the Sandhills”?):

• all of a sudden, corn was a high as an elephant’s eye (or an irrigation system):

• BUFFALO County (come on!)
• “Leaving Brand Inspection Area” notice, a throwback to those cattle-rustling days?

We finally stopped at the Grand Island Walmart or a quiet night and this view from my chair:

Day 19: October 20

More interesting observations as we drove and drove (well, David drove, and I sang, talked, pointed stuff out, and planned the stops for lunch and sleeping):

• “Beaver Crossing”, a dangerous town?
• “It’s Boots and Chaps and Cowboys Hats and Designated Drivers” flashing signs (I think I get they mean not to drive impaired OR Nebraska suggests you shouldn’t drive if you’re dressed up like John Wayne)
• Wahoo, Nebraska!
• a weird, mangled metal sculpture on an Omaha overpass (isn’t mangled metal the wrong highway message?):

• Iowa’s Rest Areas have free RV dumps!
• the crop fields here are interesting: terraced to flatten out the hills:

• and those, and other Wind Turbines were an interesting juxtaposition to this sign:

• a dead Raccoon on the highway between the South and the North Raccoon Rivers
• an interesting vehicle (not sure I “get” the connection to the Psalm, but we liked the idea of showers and laundry as disaster support):

• a distance to destination road sign with both LYNNville and DAVEnport!
• “What Cheer, Iowa” to match the earlier “Wahoo, Nebraska”

We got to the Walmart in Davenport for another free night with this quite lovely sunset view from my chair:

Day 20: October 21

Okay, more and more driving. With few observations, so also some final trip notes:

• Illinois, today, is Mandy’s 29th state (and their Rest Areas also have RV Dumps)
• I made (and successfully used) these screens for the passenger door. You can buy them (they’re called Skreenz, but they’re rather expensive and don’t ship to Canada), but I thought I could make them, and I did. Sliding door screen, seam binding, sew-on Velcro, some magnets, and some frustration yielded excellent results:

• the main reason we bought this version of Roadtrek (CS Adventurous XL) was the third seat, a throne for Mandy (not that every surface isn’t her throne) and a garage for her litter box:

• we had some traffic due to construction on Interstate 80 in Michigan
• we drove through Paw Paw (which made me laugh with our former sweet kitty, Cassie):

• we drove through Fort CUSTER, Michigan (jeesh)
• then STURGIS!!!!

Our final night was in the Lapeer, Michigan Walmart with this view:

Day 21, October 22

The last push. First, we saw a hot dog truck called “Beagle in a Bun”. Yikes.

Then, we sailed through Customs and enjoyed a quick drive home (other than typical 401 traffic).

We were home by 2:30 and finished vacuuming Cluster Flies by 5:00. Welcome Home!

Another great trip. See you again February!