Our Amazing Journing!

Our amazing month (almost) long cross country journey has come to a sweet end. 
We traveled, round trip from Georgia to Pennsylvania, 1,670 miles, cross country,
4,565.7 miles, for a grand total of 6,235.7 miles!
From the friends that we spent this amazing experience with, Maria and Vern, to the hospitality of special people, Barb, Jim, Joan and Tom, to the many people that we met along the way. Thank you! 
I will always remember the picturesque and spectacular natural beauty of our majestic country. This has been a wonderful "once in a lifetime" experience and trip! I feel very blessed and grateful. 
Thank you, dear friends, for following our Blog. 

Journey's end

 

Dawn and Al are home!

Saturday, June 25

 

Good Morning! Arrived in TN at 7:45am. Temp 75, sunny. On the road again, heading toward home! 🏡

Georgia On My Mind! 11:25am! Sunny and 90! 

Settled for the night

 Abingdon, VA. The car is Dawn and Al's...not the bike!

More today

 

Entered VA 11:21am, temp 75. All for today ! Enjoy your day! 😊❤️🚙

Friday, June 24th

After another tearful goodbye this morning, Dawn and Al left for home in Dallas, Georgia. 

They entered Maryland at 10:45 and West Virginia at 10:56. 

Wednesday, June 22

Home!!   

At least for Vern and I. Dawn and Al will leave Friday morning for Georgia. They should be home by Saturday afternoon. Dawn said she'll post then. 

We went 188 miles today. And, a grand total of 4,565.7 miles!!  It seems impossible, but we did it!

What a beautiful trip we had and one that was certainly a hit in my book!  We saw and did so many wonderful things!

And, to visit my sister and brother-in-law was an added treat!  It was such a special visit!

To be able to share this wonderful vacation with such dear friends was surely a blessing!  

I'm going to miss being connected to all of you through this blog. Thank you for being there. It's been awesome!😃😃

Last Night of Vacation

 

Settled in for the night in Bedford, PA. 

Hope to be home tomorrow after lunch. 

It's been wonderful!

Welcome to PA

 

Welcome to West Virginia, 2:50, 88 degrees. 

 

And, welcome back to Pennsylvania, 3:00, 86 degrees!

Tuesday, June 21

 

Entered Ohio at 10:30, cloudy and 78 degrees. Perfect driving weather!  However, I'm not driving!

Indiana, June 20

 

We are back on Eastern time!!

Welcome to Indiana at 6:00, still 94 degrees. 

 

Checked into Best Western, Brazil, IN, at 7:00. Drove 407 miles today. Another great day!  We were thrilled that we got to spend some time at the Arch in St. Louis!

Monday, June 20

 St. Louis, MO--The Gateway to the West

Went to the top of the Arch on a small car that seats 5 tightly. It took 4 minutes to go to the top and 3 minutes to come down the 630 feet!  Mississippi River was East and Busch Stadium was West. 

 

Lewis and Clark Monument

The temp was 94 degrees and 105 back at the car!

 

Longest Day of the year

Interesting fact.........

Summer Solstice and 'Strawberry Moon' both happen today. That only happens every 70 years, hence the year Dawn and I were born and 2016. 

🎤On The Road Again 🎤🚐🚐🚐

Dawn learned how to knit after we left Utah and look what she made!  A beautiful dish cloth!  Awesome job!  She's already started her next one!

 

On our way to St. Louis today.  

More Sunday, June 19

Oops, sent the beginning of this before I was ready!  I'll catch on to this blogging stuff when I get home!😃😃😃 We are in Independence, MO for the night. 

Vern and Al decided on RedLobster  for dinner and then to an ice cream place for dessert! Yummy!!!

Sunday, June 19

 

After driving 509 miles

 

Happy Father's Day

Eastern Colorado Wind farm.   The wind turbine can be 328 feet total height. They are huge!  I looked it up and they can cost $11,000.

 At 10:00, we entered Kansas. 

The land has been so flat and we can see the horizon everywhere we look. Lots and lots of corn and wheat fields. 

Spectacular Mountain Scenery

What a special day we had yesterday with our friends, Maria and Vern.

We visited the glorious Rocky Mountain National Park. Words cannot describe

the beauty that we saw. Ranges of majestic snow capped mountains. At times, deep snow (10 ft +) along the side of the road and forest. Children were actually snow sledding down a small slope! What fun! 

We saw so many wild animals, moose, ( very close), herd of antelope, elk, big horn sheep and marmots.

The roads were very curvy and sometimes scary! At times I was almost sitting in Maria's lap! 

In the evening we visited "The Garden of the Gods" . The orange rock formations were 

fascinating and unexpected. 

What amazing memories we are taking with us this day. 🚙🌄

Saturday, June 18

 Started out early this morning to get our pre-ordered tickets at the Cog Railway.  Dawn and I are waiting at the station. 

 

In the car and riding to Pikes Peak, 14,115 ft. It was unbelievable, awesome, and breathtaking!  At the top, it was 43 degrees with the wind chill.  It is possible to see 4 states at the summit. 

 

Joan, Vern, and I at the top of Pikes Peak. 

 

Joan and Tom moved to Colorado Springs last August from Whitehall, PA. It was so good to see them. We had a delicious lunch at their beautiful home. 

 Arrived at hotel in Limon, CO at 5:00, 91 degrees. 

Continuing Friday, June 17

 

More pictures from Rocky Mountain National Park!  It's just so indescribable!  The snow was deeper than cars in some places.  It was 51 degrees this morning and 96 degrees going through Denver later in the day. 

 

We arrived at the Villa Suites, oops, motel. We were concerned what it would be like because there is an event going on in the area and we had trouble getting a room. It is clean and just fine. 

We had dinner at Mason Jar, a local favorite. It was great!

Then, we rode around Garden of the Gods!  Beautiful rock formations and we were so glad we got to see it. 

Friday, June 17

What a busy, exciting day it's been!  We started the day with breakfast at Chuck Wagon. It looked like an old covered wagon and has been there since the 1920's. 

Then on to Rocky Mountain National Park!  

 

Wow!  Wow!  Wow!  Very curvy roads with deep drops off the edge!  At times, Dawn and I held our breaths.   We saw a moose pretty up close and personal!

 

We also saw long-horned goats and marmots. 

Arrived at hotel

  

Granby, CO

Temperature is expected to go down to 37 degrees during the night!  Brrrrrr.......

Thursday, June 16

After a tearful goodbye to Mrs. Robert's, Barbara, and Jim, we left Cottonwood Heights, Utah.

 

 

We are headed to Grandby, Colorado, at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, where we will spend the night.

 Some beautiful scenery in Eastern Utah.....Starvation Reservoir, snow-capped mountains, and plateaus. Amazing!

 And, Welcome to Colorado!!!

Tremendous Comeback!

Last evening visiting Barb and Jim! 😢😢😢. It has been just wonderful!  They are the perfect host and hostess and we had a blast!

Also, last pinochle game tonight and, even if I do say so myself, the ladies had a comeback. 

Total games played.....9

Men won.....................5

Ladies won..................4

Wednesday, June 15

 Mudslides for lunch anyone???

Up Close and Personal

  

Tuesday, June 14, Flag Day

  What a great time at Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake!  It was almost a 1/2 mile walk to the lake, but we had to touch the water.  It sure was windy.  We saw bison, prong-horn antelope, and a lizard!  

 And, of course, the scenery was breathtaking!  The pictures just don't do it justice! 

We picked strawberries from Barb and Jim's backyard, had cocktails on the patio, and dinner on the veranda.  

 Oh, and can't forget the dessert selection!

This has been another amazing day!  Thank you, Barb and Jim!!😃

Flag Day

Happy Flag Day!  

God Bless America!

The Mountains!

This trip has been an amazing experience.
Making and sharing this journey with our friends has been awesome!
The mountains, in particular, have "spoken" to me. The majesty and grandeur of the mountains are almost overwhelming in their beauty. But, I also feel a certain serenity and peacefulness when I look at them. God is Good! As you can tell, I am enjoying our vacation a lot! 🌄

PINOCHLE

Okay, I know you're all interested.......The ladies have now won their first pinochle game!  We figure we'll have to stay here at least another week to catch up to the men!!!👍😃👍

Monday, June 13

  Golfing for the men and pedicures for the ladies today!

The mall was a stop for the ladies where we convinced Barb that she "needed" new clothes.  Afterwards we stopped at a fabulous quilt shop where the weather prevented us from leaving. It poured, hailed, and blew sideways!  Really!  Not kidding!  And, it's not just what we told our husbands!

Weather!

Sorry, Folks, but just had to mention the georgeous weather here.  50-54 degrees in the mornings and up to about 76-80 in the afternoons. 

Ski Areas

   Beautiful day yesterday visiting Brighton, Solitude, and Park City Ski Areas. Park City is where the Winter Olympics were held in 2002. And, there you have a sports history lesson!

It is just so awesome here!

Oh, and by the way, if any of the men wrote on this blog they would love to tell you of the two pinochle games last night. Enough said! 😰😰😰