First, I want say Happy Memorial Day. THANK YOU to all of the Veterans and families who sacificed their lives for this country. We appreciate your sacrifice and service. We salute you.
Travel RECAP
We got home from our 20-day adventure on Friday, 5/24/19. We traveled a total of 4,138.5 miles and visited eight states; California; Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona. It was an interesting and eye- opening journey. We saw the ocean, mountains, forests, prairies, gardens, valleys, plains, deserts, lakes, snow, rain, hail, lots of bridges, volcanos, boiling mud, geysers, hot springs, elk, bison, deer, cows, goats, sheep, chickens, donkey, llama, road runners, squirrels, butterflies, an eagle and more. Very happily we didn’t experience many flies or mosquitos. 😁 YAY!
We saw some of the most amazing sunsets and experienced the most spectacular moon rise ever in MY lifetime! It was AMAZING.
Moonrise
That particular moonrise, in Utah, in the desert, on a plateau was an emotional experience for me. It was so beautiful and an amazingly tranquil moment that the four of us that were talking, just stopped, and watched the moon rise. The sky was so very clear and blue and the moon was full. It was one of those moments in life that takes your breath away because it is so beautiful and tranquil. I will always remember and treasure that moment as a gift that I was able to experience with two other very cool couples; Matthew, Rachel and Chris and Lea, who appreciated the beauty of the moment as much as I did. That was my FAVORITE moment on our entire journey. Unfortunately, we didn’t experience many sunrises; as we typically slept thru them.
Sunset
We drove on some of the most twisty-turny, narrow mountain roads, and experienced some of the WINDIEST stretches of highway that were reminiscent of our drive across some of the southern states in January. We met some of the kindest, friendliest and helpful people along this journey.
We visited with friends in Penn Valley, CA and Prescott, AZ, and we made new friends; Matthew and Rachel in Utah. These visits and meeting new people have been one of the most rewarding benefits in our travels.
SIDEBAR: We have to admit that before we began traveling, YEARS ago, we both had certain preconceived notions about people in other states, and some people in general. Growing up in Los Angeles, in less than stellar neighborhoods, as minorities, one develops certain defense mechanisms and are suspicious of people different than you. Certain prejudices and sterotypes were developed as we watched the news, TV shows and witnessed injustices in our neighborhoods growing up. One developes defenses and suspicions if someone is nice….”what do they want?” “why are they being nice?” we ask ourselves. I am happy to say that traveling has broken and proven our preconceived notions to be grossly incorrect and in fact, ignorant. We had to “drop our rocks” so to speak and let our defenses down. When we did this we REALIZED that people are genuinely GOOD across this country. In my heart of hearts I have always believed that there are more good and kind people in this world than there are bad. The more I travel, the more I see that we, people, are the same all over. We are more alike than we are different. People just want to be happy, loved and take care of their families. Period.
Traveling has proven to be a growing and learning experience for us, as I’m sure it is for most. Travel is so very beneficial and rewarding and I have loved every minute of it and look forward to many more adventures.
Like I said, we got home Friday and unpacked. Saturday was laundry day, and giving shorty a much needed bath, inside and out. I cleaned the inside and Craig the outside.
Shorty, nice and clean.
Sunday was church and a family gathering. Today, Monday, I organized my maps and highlighted the routes we took on each state map and then highlighted the routes on my US map. (I like to track where we have been). So far we have visited 18 states….we have 32 more to visit.😳😁
Sidebar: the Goodyear blimp resides in Carson , CA
Other than a few day trips here and there I’m not sure yet when we will hit the road for another 3 or 4 week run.
This may be my last post for a while, as our day-to-day life is rather low key, borderline boring. 😉 We are both retired. We take walks, go to the gym, movies, or beach, have an occasional game night with family and friends, and handle the day-to-day chores of a household. We may take a hike or bike ride if it’s sunny. We lead pretty low key happy lives.💗🥰😁
Although, I am looking into volunteering as a summer seasonal worker at a National Park….I’ll keep y’all posted on that!😁👍
Until next time.👍
Road Trippin' with the Green's 