Mileage: 79,082

We are home!

I am not certain what the days and weeks ahead have in store for us. We have no definitive plans for our next adventure…but we have lots of ideas. We have to wait and see what happens. We will let you all know when we get ready to take off again!

Mileage: 78,787

Another long day of driving took us across Tennessee and into Virginia. The trees are budding and blooming and the sun was out all afternoon though it was still chilly. This is a beautiful ride. There are tons of tractor trailers on the road. There are very few cars and only a few RVs.

Today I got confirmation that I can live with my mom at Carroll Lutheran Village as a 24 hour caregiver. There are things to organize and prepare and then next week, I plan to move in. No one knows what our future holds…we all just need to do the best we can to take care of one another.

Tomorrow we will be in Reisterstown…not our traditional happy homecoming but even so, we will be glad to be home.

Mileage: 78,596

It rained all night and much of the morning. It was nice to finally see some blue sky peeking through before lunchtime. The Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers were swollen and nearby farmland was soupy. They certainly need some sunshine here. One bright spot on this long trip home has been the fuel prices. Today we got diesel for 2.24 a gallon! Another bright spot came this afternoon. Walmarts along 40 East in Tennessee so not allow overnight camping. The campgrounds in this area do not open until May. We found a Cracker Barrel just outside Nashville that warmly welcomed us to stay in their lot! They wanted us to have a safe place to stay. The restaurant is not open but they were offering carryout…it was nice to have a comfort foods meal tonight. Every mile we drive brings us closer to home. We are almost there!

Home for the night:

Thank you for your hospitality!!

Mileage: 78,204

JB RV Park Benton, Arkansas

It was hard to pass right by Aledo, Texas, where my brother, John and my sister-in-law Dana live without stopping. We just can’t take the risk of exposing/exposure…love and hugs as we go by!!

The rest of the day was spent crossing the remainder of Texas. We crossed into Arkansas and stopped about 100 miles in at a small campground in Benton. It was raining and chilly. We had leftovers for dinner. We made phone calls this evening and did a load of laundry. Tim has been driving for days and we are still more than 1.000 miles from home…

Mileage: 77,800

Eastland Walmart Eastland, Texas

Texas is really big…we drove across Texas as far as Eastland and decided to park at a Walmart overnight. We were hoping to get a Walmart pickup order tomorrow morning but that didn’t work out like we had hoped. We did not want to go into the store. Fortunately there is nothing we really need. We did walk laps around the parking lot. Most of the day was spent making phone calls and working out logistics for our arrival at home. Thanks to all of you for your travel blessings and prayers for mom…it means the world to us.

Mileage: 77,493

We traveled across New Mexico and entered Texas at around 10:30.

We settled in Pecos, Texas. Dominoes pizza delivered to the RV for our dinner after a long day of driving.

Mileage: 77,120

Lordsburg KOA Lordsburg, New Mexico

My mom met with an oncologist this morning about her pathology results. She has been diagnosed with Diffuse B Cell Lymphoma. She is facing lots of tests, chemo, and radiation. Suddenly, it was time to head home. We drove across Arizona and stayed at a KOA just inside the New Mexico border. The drive was lovely but I took no pictures…but for this…

Day 4 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

We took a nice walk first thing this morning. Then we packed a cooler and headed to Kofa. Last winter when we spent time in Yuma, we really enjoyed spending time at the wildlife refuge. We drove to Palm Canyon and hiked up to see the palms.

There were lots of wildflowers blooming and the desert actually looked fairly green.

Cool lizard.

We drove toward King Queen Canyon and found a picnic spot…the ultimate in social distancing…just us!

Prickly pear cacti are just starting to bloom.

I made a nice dinner of sautéed fresh spinach, baked potatoes, and the last of our Baja shrimp. I even used real dishes and a tablecloth. I think that it is important to try to stay hopeful and positive. Sunlight, exercise, and taking care of one another…so important.

Day 3 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

Tim took a walk this morning while I cleaned the RV. We packed a lunch and went to West Wetlands Park along the Colorado River for a walk. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to be outside and moving.

We stopped at Prison Hill Brewing Company to get salads for our lunch. They had curbside service.

We sat outside at the campground to enjoy our meal!

This afternoon we went to pickup our Walmart order. I was impressed by the way things were organized and it was nice to get most of what we needed without having to go into the very busy store.

We may stay put here in Yuma for another couple of days…

Day 2 Arizona West RV Park Yuma, Arizona

The day was spent doing 5 loads of laundry and catching up with family. We also took a good walk this morning.

We were able to order supplies from Walmart online and have a pick-up scheduled tomorrow.

We packed a lunch and took a drive through farmland. It looks like the cabbage has been harvested. There were fields of kale and red lettuce and parsley.

The orange trees were laden with oranges and the air was fragrant with their scent. They say that scent is a powerful cue for recall of past experiences. The orange trees smelled just like an AVON orange blossom perfume that my grandmother used to give to me when I was a young girl…beautiful memories.

We had a picnic lunch in the deserted park in the town of Somerton.