Day 66, Friday, July 24, 2009
We left the Sumas RV Park at 10:30 AM PT. Our mileage was 28,782.0. We got gas at Bellingham. Our gas was $2.79 per gallon, a drastic difference here than in British Columbia. Because of a shimmy in the front end, we stopped at Pacific Tire in Mt. Vernon, Washington to have the front tires balanced, an extender replaced, and the lugs re-torqued. Sure enough the tires needed balancing. The cost was only $35.71 and we were back on the road in 45 minutes. We were told if there was any more shimmy, we should have the front end aligned. We arrived at Traveler Inns of Yakima RV Park in Yakima, Washington about 5:30 PM PT. It was basically a parking lot with a sliver of grass between sites. We had dinner, watched a little TV and turned it.
Day 67, Saturday, July 25, 2009
We left Traveler Inns of Yakima in Yakima, OR about 12:15 PM after doing our laundry. We stopped at Wal-Mart for groceries, got gas and stopped by the Post Office. Yakima has a nice small town feel and has amenities that would draw visitors. We left Yakima about 1:15 PM and drove across Washington and Oregon to Baker City, OR. We arrived about 5:30 PM at the Oregon Trails West RV Park. We were weary. We had driven about 230 miles in about 4 hours. We still have a shimmy in our front end so we will stop somewhere along the way to have it checked. We watched a little TV and journaled before going to bed.
Day 68, Sunday, July 26, 2009
Today is mom’s 81st birthday. She has been a real treasure in our lives. As I’ve gotten older, I look at myself and think I look like her and it makes me happy. I just hope I have her positive attitude when I get her age. This morning we left the Oregon Trails West RV Park at 8:00 AM PT. Our odometer was at 29,287.9. We got gas at Jerome, ID. Gas is going down every day. It is now down to $2.67. We stopped in Evanston, WY at a Wal-Mart to stay overnight, but the parking lot was very loud with lots of trucks. We only imagined they would have their motors running all night long. We decided to move on to Phillips RV Park in Evanston. It was nice and quiet and having the electricity was great since the temperature was in the mid-eighties we could run the air conditioner. This was a record day for us. We drove 505 miles in more than 9 hours, more than we have ever driven in a single day.
Day 69, Monday, July 27, 2009
We left the Phillips RV Park in Evanston, WY at 9:00 PM MT, got gas, and began driving through Wyoming. It is a beautiful state with lots of landscape variation along Hwy 80. It was rocky, hilly, then flat and scruffy. At exit 30 there were maybe 30 or 40 huge windmills under construction. The weather was mostly sunny with a few rain drops along the way. We stopped in Laramie to get gas. We were shocked to get it for $2.29. Woohoo! Ed took over the driving. The speed limit in Wyoming is 75 mph, but the maximum that we drive is about 65, give or take. Better to be safe than sorry. We crossed over into Nebraska and after driving 528 miles decided to stay in Ogallala, NE at Country View Campground on I80 at mm 126. It was nice and it was a warm evening so we needed air conditioning. We arrived at 6:30 PM MT, had spaghetti for dinner, and watched a little TV. Our mileage was 30,319.1.
Day 70, Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Today is mom and dad’s 60th wedding anniversary. When we get home, we will celebrate their milestone. We were on the road by 8:15 AM MT but the time changed to CT as soon as we got on the road. Nebraska is beautifully flat and grows LOTS of corn. The nice thing about Wyoming and Nebraska is that it is so flat that you can watch weathers patterns for miles all around you, most days. Today wasn’t one of those days because it was very cloudy and rained most of the day. We are still having problems with the front end of the LD so we stopped in Lincoln at Cross-Dillion Tire to have the front end aligned and the front tires balanced. They put on the spare because the left front rim was bent. It took about 2 hours but rode so much better. We arrived at the Kellogg RV Park at Exit 27 in Kellogg, IA around 7:45 PM CT. Our mileage was 30,821.5. We drove 502.4 miles today. Since we are back in the lower 48, the satellite dish is working again so we watched reruns of Will and Grace before turning in.
Day 71, Wednesday, July 29, 2009
We left the Kellogg RV Park on I-80 in Kellogg, IA at 9:15 AM CT. We drove to Swanton, OH and ate dinner at Shuckers. We had seafood. It was ok. We arrived at 5:30 PM. We were very tired from our 508 mile drive so we were to bed early. We stayed at the Big Sandy Campground. Our mileage was 31,329.1.
Day 72, Thursday, July 30, 2009
We left the Big Sandy Campground at 10:45 AM ET and drove toward Cuyahauga Falls, OH, where we visited with Jeanne’s childhood friend and wife, Pete and Margaret Sheppard. We arrived around 1:30 PM ET and visited with their kids and grandkids. We took a tour of Akron and visited Jeanne’s childhood home on Bank Street and middle and high schools. We stopped at Outback for dinner and didn’t leave the restaurant until about 9:00 pm. We then drove on to Youngstown and stayed overnight at a Walmart. We drove 211 miles today.
Day 73, Friday, July 31, 2009
We left Walmart at 10:00 AM ET with mileage of 31,540.9. We stopped at the Somerset Plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for gas, then stopped again at Breezewood at the Travel Center America to dump our tanks. It was located at the intersection of the turnpike and I-70. It had been raining cats and dogs all day but we pushed on and arrived at about 4:30 PM ET. The mileage was 31,846.
Day 74 to 76, Saturday, August 1, 2009 to Monday, August 3, 2009
Rest and relaxation. We left for Birmingham at 9:45 AM ET on August 3. We had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays in Charlestown, WV. Jeanne called Amy to wish her a happy birthday, then drove to the Shenandoah Valley Campground in Verona, VA at 3:00 PM ET.
Day 77, Tuesday, August 4, 2009
We left the campground around 9:30 AM ET and got gas. We drove to the Fort Chiswell RV camp in Max Meadows, VA at 5:30 PM with a mileage of 32, 281.8. We have stayed at Fort Chiswell before. They have full hook-ups including cable and the people that stay there are always friendly.
Day 78, Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Left Fort Chiswell at 11:30 AM ET. Got gas in Athens, TN and drove on to Desoto State Park Campground in Fort Payne, AL at about 5:00 PM CT. We arrived with a mileage of 32,632.7. We had driven approx 350 miles today.
Day 79, Thursday, August 6, 2009
We ate breakfast at the campground lodge. We toured the campground and thought it might be a good site for the SELD get together sometime. We took pictures. We left the campground about 9:45 AM CT and arrived home in Hoover, AL at 11:45 AM CT. We had driven 114 miles today and began to unpack and make plans for our next trip!
