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OKLAHOMA/TEXAS TRIP DIARY
Hi, Folks. Mark and I are headed to Oklahoma to wind up a few loose ends in the Tulsa area. I write this journal as I have opportunity to share with my readers. You will notice that some of it is written in past tense and some in present tense--kind of depending on the moment of writing. I'm sure you can go with the flow on that. Monday, April 04, 2005, Leaving Bend, OR We'd hoped to leave at 8:00 am. However, Mark didn't get home from his appointment (which turned out to be an on the spot job for the day) until 7:30 pm. We had decided when he left yesterday that we stay for the night rather than starting our trip while already tired. Mark didn't make it back before the office closed; we wanted to refill the propane before leaving in case cold weather makes the furnace kick on while we are gone. Another chore that needed doing was to get the oil changed in the Tracker. We chose to go to Walmart since we didn't have any coupons and didn't know where is the best oil changing place in Bend. Walmart quoted us 1 1/2 hours; we were there 2 1/2 hours. They did give a free small soft drink at McDonalds to car care patrons. About 2:00 pm, we were on our way! We had snow off and on much of the day. It didn't do much to impede our progress but was a frustration. I'd originally planned to stop in Boise for the night. We fueled there and waved at the Walmart where we slept a few weeks ago. All along, Mark ahd been saying we were going all the way to Salt Lake. Look at the map and see how far that is! Even with 75 mph speed limits! We agreed to take Hwy 84 from Ogden to connect with I70 rather than going into SLC. The road was windy. He decided he was too wasted to continue so pulled into a Rest Area. It was a beautiful green grassy rest area with picnic tables and restrooms. We expected a pleasant night--or what was left of it. We could recline Mark's seat a little but mine wouldn't because of too many things behind it. I can sleep in the car so didn't anticipate any problems. No sooner had we settled down when there came a loud racket. What was that? I was too tired to investigate since it stopped fairly quickly. Then it came again. So we poked our drowsy heads up--to find we were parked next to a railway. Trains came through rather frequently. Tuesday, April 5, 2005 Across Wyoming to Denver Mark gave up about 6:00 am. No sleep for the weary. It was beautiful to see the sun coming up in the mountains. We connected with I70 and gassed up in Evanston. It's been interesting tracking the miles per gallon during this trip. We got really great gas mileage of 32-34 mpg while in Oregon. Then once we got into flatter country with higher speed limits, Mark began to push it. (The lowest we've gotten in the Tracker is 25 point something miles per gallon.) Remember the extremely cold weather when we went through Wyoming a few weeks ago? We'd emailed ahead to Ben Whitfield in Rawlins in March to learn that he was to be out of town that week. This time we found him in his office. He treated us to a wonderful lunch at a restaurant next to his office. I don't know if it was considered victorian or not. But it was a nice place. I had the molasses bourbon barbecue which was wonderful. Mark had a Reuben Sandwich while Ben had the salad special. We've been talking by email over the months but it has been a long time since we've seen him; we met through mutual friends. After leaving Ben, we decided to see if Steve and Ada Grabowski were available in Laramie which is approx. 100 miles beyond Rawlins. I was surprised that I didn't have a phone number for them in my Palm Pilot so called my sister who fortunately had their office number since no one was home during the day. They told us how to get to their store, Fashion Optical. We knew we couldn't stay long but it was certainly good to visit with them and their son Stan for a couple of hours. We've been very blessed to see friends on this trip. We continued our trek to Denver, calling ahead to make arrangements for the evening. Bonnie and John Greene were scheduled to be home by 7:30 pm which gave us time to arrive in Aurora and split a spaghetti meal at Fazoli's before going over there. It sure is convenient to be familiar with a city. Bonnie had a computer left over from Linux Mall that had the various graphics on it. We stuffed that into the car along with everything else. (I don't think I've packed any more than usual but our car is sure loaded. Of course, we also have the tow bar in the back so we can tow Tracker home with Truckster. The toolbox and our laptops take up a bit of room. But so do two suitcases and an assortment of bags. Tracker isn't very big--it's a Barbie jeep!) Suzanne and Jason Wille had invited us to come over so we went over to their house for cheese, crackers, elk sausage and assorted beverages. They both worked for us during our LinuxMall days. It's so wonderful to still be friends with our former co-workers. When 10:00 pm rolled around, we left for our final resting place. Wednesday, April 6, 2005 Long day from Denver to Hominy We stayed the night with the Armstrong Family as we normally do. It's so nice to have friends that want us. Mark got up early to meet Dave Shaw who was one of the players in LinuxMall. Glad they could get together. I stayed at the house to visit with Connie for a while. Then we loaded up the stuff, went by our bank and then headed to Oklahoma. There isn't really much to say about that day. We finally stopped in Salina for dinner at Spangles. We called the Bryants to let them know that we weren't going to make it to Hominy by 10:00 pm. They said they'd stay up for us. I hated for them to do that but it was nice that they cared. Thur-Fri, April 7-8, 2005 Days in Tulsa area We enjoyed getting up late after arriving in Hominy after midnight. Betty and Howard nicely stayed up until we arrived; we visited for a few minutes but we were all exhausted. Mark and I had brought some items in from the car last night. We brought the rest in and Mark took some things over to the truck. We were anticipating that we might need to have space in the car. We'd planned to pick up Gayle from work and spend the evening. However, her work had a mandatory stay late day because they were changing computer systems. We did have a wonderful lunch with Kevin Borutski, meeting him at the Spaghetti Warehouse. I hope he didn't get in trouble with his boss as he took a very long lunch. It was good to see him again even though it has been only a few weeks. We had a good discussion about various spiritual beliefs. After leaving the restaurant, made stops at the thrift store (wanted to buy me a bathing suit so I have more than one this summer) and the RV park where we lived while in Tulsa. Then went to my dental appointment to get my final crown. So far I'm having more sensitivity/pain than I had when it was broken or with the temporary crown. I hope it will clear us soon. Betty had supper waiting when we got back. Then all of us dashed over to The Gathering Place for evening worship. Good to see those who came. Howard gave a good study about salvation. Friday was a relaxed day. I went over to visit Beverly at the Drummond House. We've been emailing but it was nice to see her again. I was able to take an afternoon nap. Then we went to Falecia Hinton's wedding. She was a beautiful bride! I wish I could describe it but am without words. I was amazed at how well they were able to make the facility look like a bridal fest rather than the high school auditorium and gym it used to be. The building now is the Hominy Community Center. Sat-Sat, April 9-16, 2005 Vegging out in Branson Saturday -- Were able to to get a leisurely start. Betty offered to pack us a lunch which I declined except for a bunch of bananas. We ate a couple enroute. We arrived about 4:30 pm at the Westgate Branson Woods. I'm pretty tired so Mark took me out for dinner at MacFarlains in the Imax Mall. We need to hit the hay early since we have to get up in the morning. We plan to go to the grocery story tomorrow after church. Sunday -- It took all our will power to get out to go to church this morning. But we knew that it would be good for us. A friend had told us about Keith Moore being in this area. So we went to Faith Life Church today. Everyone was friendly and the message was good. On our way to the church, we passed the Stone Hill Winery so decided to take in their free tour as long as we were in the vicinity. They showed a film about their main winery in Hermann, MO. We especially enjoyed the wine tasting. They only gave a splash in a glass. However, the number of splashes added up with 17 wines and 3 juices. For the hearty, they separately were allowed to try the Brut Champagne and the Port. Now I understand why the gentlemen are always lingering over their Port in romance novels. While I can't speak for other brands of Port, I certainly will vouch for that made by Stone Hill. We were disappointed to learn that the Stone Hill products are mainly sold in this part of the country. Apparently there are laws about shipping wines. Monday -- Just got home from seeing/hearing John Fullerton, Branson's Singing Cowboy. This show was actually held at the resort where we are staying so it was part of the activities. John is the local expert on the Sons of the Pioneers which was the group founded by Roy Rogers, Sr. and two others, Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer back in the 30s. He regaled us with a number of cowboy tunes plus a few others. The crowd was small on a Monday evening so it was neat to be "right there" with the performer. The second time he took requests, I raised my hand, requesting Home on the Range as the only "cowboy" song that I really know. Although I found I didn't know it as he sang more verses than the Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam. To see who I'm talking about, see his website at http://www.johnfullerton.org . I had a shock when he told us his age and I realized he's young enough to be my son. I remember my mother telling me a few years ago "imagine when these adult people are young enough to be your grandchildren." Tomorrow we plan to so see Jim Bakker at the Studio City Cafe. A friend told me he's back on TV. I never watched him in the old days but we thought it would be interesting to be there for the filming of a show. We sat through a sales pitch on time shares today so we can get tickets to an event. I decided to show tickets since everyone says "the shows are so great." The other thing we did today was the Nature Walk advertised on the resort events calendar. Jordan took us down to the waterfall. Hope I can do that again before we leave. I'd get in shape if I stayed here. There are a number of hiking trails and even the roads are a challenge with a lot of ups and downs. I won't say that I'm breathless but I can tell I didn't exercise enough this winter. We checked out the swimming pool area so I'll know what to expect when I finally get over there for a swim. Tuesday -- We decided the air conditioner wasn't working. I called the front desk this morning. Their repair people were on the doorstep before I'd finished dressing. Fortunately I was out of the shower and did have some clothes on. The temperatures haven't been bad here but it takes a while to cool down at night which is why we've missed the air conditioner, wanting to run it for a few minutes. I am doing a load of wash this morning. I'm glad I'll be able to start the remainder of our trip with clean clothes. Went to the Jim Bakker Show at the Studio City Cafe. Volunteers currently make food to feed to whoever comes. Today's offering was meatloaf and macaroni and cheese (homemade, not Kraft) with bar cookies for dessert. The TV program they were taping today dealt with Temperament tests. With the idea that one can use it in counseling combining with the word of God. They offered the tests free of charge to those in ministry in the audience. We're also going to a class that is being offered this evening. I've fixed a late lunch for us and hope to doze for a little before we have to go out again. 10:00 pm Wow, we're kind of in a state of "huh?" We got our temperament tests back. They have three categories: social, control and affection. It was no surprise that for the most part I'm a melancholy in social and control; I came out as a phlegmatic in affection. I'm still trying to figure that out. Mark was sanguine in a couple of things and I believe the other was also phlegmatic. There's a lot to think about. We'll have to do some more research. Wednesday -- We didn't expect to have such a long day. We went to the Hughes Brothers morning show which also included their wives and children. We'd gotten the tickets by sitting through an evaluation of the facility in which we are staying and a sales presentation. They did fairly well at not pressuring us to buy. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. One brother was more the spokesperson/comedian. We were able to talk to him. He told us about the roles the brothers play: accounting, choreography, music arrangement, etc. Apparently they have their squabbles but do really enjoy working together. They always enjoyed singing together at home; then people started offering them money. Their mother encouraged them and here they are today in Branson, MO. My new acquaintance in La Pine, Pat Abernathy, had told me about the Stonecroft Conference Center just south of Branson overlooking Table Rock Lake. It is a beautiful facility. They graciously welcomed us and took us on a tour. The news was that they are putting the facility on the market; it doesn't fit the goal of the ministry any more. If you know anyone that wants a conference center which includes banquet facilities and rooms, this would be a wonderful place. It's far enough away from town to be secluded but close enough for sightseeing. They have 109 acres, RV hookups and other cabins, etc. We went to downtown Branson, walked around. Enjoyed the Black Forest clock shop and various other shops. Bought some postcards to send the family. I've got to remember to do that tomorrow. Then went to the Branson Mall and watched a couple of performers on the Center Stage. One favored Elvis; the other did songs by a number of artists. Glad to get "home" again after being out all day. Thursday -- Decided to go back to the New Jim Bakker TV Show taping. This time there were less people visiting the set. So we actually were able to shake hands with Jim and Lori. I understand the show will be aired on Thursday, April 28th. You'll have to check the scheduling to see if the show is aired in your local area. Although we were on the second row of tables, it didn't seem as if any of the cameras aimed in our direction. I saw Mark's elbow once and I was on a couple of times while the guest, Dan Betzer, was singing. I'm the gray haired lady in the gold knit sweater on the bottom right of the screen. Mark made sure I got back in time for the water aerobics class. I've been wanting to go to the pool all week. The water was great! I enjoyed talking with the instructor since I will be doing that in a few short weeks. Dionne is new at it, too, so we were able to compare notes on basic moves and expectations. I was pleased to see that my bathing suit was a little loose; so at least I haven't gained weight on this trip. I've been trying not to overly indulge. Although I ate ice cream and cookies this evening. Dionne mentioned that her husband was in charge of the Karaoke activity this evening. To make a long story short, we're the only ones that showed up and stayed the whole time. Mark and Dionne wouldn't sing. I've steered clear of this type of activity before because I'm afraid of looking stupid. I figured this time it didn't matter since not that many people were listening. I was able to pick out songs that I sort of knew and did find a few that I did know the tunes as long as I had the words. My rendition of The Sound of Music was the best of the bunch. The music was exactly as played for Julie Andrews on the movie so it was the version we've all heard so many times. My sister had a Rogers and Hammerstein music book. I used to sing by the hours while she played. So I was able to since that song with confidence. I sang a lot of other songs, some were okay and I bombed on others. It was all in fun so I had a great time! Friday -- Today was a lazy day. We decided to basically stay "home" and enjoy each other. We did run out to the Stone Hill Winery. A couple of days ago we went over there and enjoyed the tour so much that we wanted to do it again. As evening was coming on, we went for an after-dinner hike. Probably should have been the other way around. But it wasn't that strenuous. We walked to the waterfall we'd seen on Tuesday and then found a trail that went to a smaller waterfall. Then we took a trail we hadn't been on before and followed it to where it joined the lower trail. At the top of the hill, we toured the new sales office which will officially open on Monday. Then we came back and watched Star Trek Enterprise. Guess they are now down to the last six episodes counting today. We don't get that channel in La Pine. We'll get up and load the car in the morning. I'm doing a last load of wash and then will organize a few things. It won't take long to get it together. We called the Bryants to let them know that we are still on schedule for coming in tomorrow evening. At least Tulsa is on the same time zone. That's always a bummer when heading west. We hope to get to a Kinkos in Tulsa some time during the weekend to post this journal. Saturday -- Leaving Branson today. We loaded the car and go then Mark agreed to go to Baldnobbers for the breakfast buffet. We'd taken most of our meals at the condo. It seemed like we weren't home that much so it was nice to munch instead of going out. We'd bought a few basic foods at the Country Mart. My theory was that we wouldn't consume as many calories if I cooked it myself. We drove back to Oklahoma on smaller roads instead of getting on the interstate. We were surprised when we made faster time. On the way north, we had missed had followed the advice of the turnpike staff and driven into Springfield. So we decided to travel the road we'd ignored the first time. We made it to Howard and Betty's in time for dinner. Sun-Mon, April 17-18, 2005 I wish there were more to say about the next few days. We had a fairly uneventful trip to Amarillo and then to Lubbock. We had picked up our truck while in Hominy and took it to Amarillo where it is staying at the O'Dell's house while we drive around seeing other people in this southern region. We enjoyed seeing my sister and of course we wanted to spend time with my father. He's recovering well from his surgery. It hurts to do the exercises but they are saying his shoulder is responding with range of mobility, etc. Tues, April 19, 2005 Drive from Lubbock to San Antonio We woke up early this morning. Had a pleasant breakfast with Daddy. His friend Corinne came over to see up before we left. We got a little ways out from Lubbock and realized we left the garment bags hanging on the closet door. I'll have to take credit for this mistake. Mark opted to go back rather than me moaning about it. We do have clothes but those are our nice clothes. Plus then someone else would have had to cope with mailing them back to us. Corinne told us about a route that would cut off about an hour. We were glad because we needed to have the Texas inspection done on our car. Because our vehicle was out of state when we registered, we were exempted from the inspection at that time. Of course, we needed to do it since we would be driving around. We thought we'd do it along the way. Went to three different places only to discover they were out of the stickers or the inspector was not "in." Finally found a town that had stickers and inspection personnel. We arrived at our destination in San Antonio about 6:00 pm. Dave and Trish Whitinger have been gracious hosts. We always enjoy visiting with them. Although we became acquainted through business back when we had LinuxMall, we've become closer because of our relationship with Jesus. Wed, April 20, 2005 Relaxing in San Antonio We have been busy talking, just swapping stories about our ministries. It's interesting where the Lord takes people when pursuing a love relationship with him. I called my cousin, Bryan Prindle, this morning. His mother is my father's sister. We will have dinner with him and Susie this evening. Then we will leave for Arizona. More about that later. 9:00 pm Well, all good plans don't always work out. On our way to meet my cousin, we had a collision. It was one of these unfortunate things. We were trying to turn left onto a busy street. A bus was blocking the far lane. When we saw an opening and started into the road, a car suddenly came whipping around the bus (guess he saw the same opening) and was headed for us. Mark threw it into reverse. The person behind us was tailgating us into the opening to turn right while we were turning left and of course we backed into her since she was now driving forward. So now we will be dealing with that hassle. It was an unfortunate thing and hindsight tells us how we should have turned right and went around the block or something. I called Bryan to let him know we were detained. He eventually arrived where we were since the scene of the accident was only a few blocks from where we were to meet him. His wife, Susie, joined us at their favorite restaurant, Maria's. The food was good. I had a platter that had an enchilada and a crispy taco and something called a puffy taco. That was an open faced taco but the tortilla was somehow puffed up. After dinner we started talking and decided we are tried and have no business adding the extra miles to Arizona where a couple with whom we've been communicating live. We hope another opportunity will arise for travel there. We called my father and asked him if we could come in tomorrow morning. We'll drive for a little ways and stop when we get tried. Thursday, April 21, 2005 Day with Daddy in Lubbock We had a leisurely morning. Slept uncomfortably in our seats (Tracker is rather small) for about six hours. Then got up, took a long walk, had breakfast, etc. Before long we were on our way and arrived earlier than Daddy expected which was good because he was headed to his therapy appointment. Had a nice day: lounging around, talking. took a shower, did a load of wash, etc. Our friend, Corinne Allen joined us for an early dinner at Furrs. Daddy had suggested that as an option after I said we had Mexican last night in San Antonio. (My niece Christy worked at Rosa's in both Amarillo and Lubbock so the O'Dells got Daddy hooked on going there.) Somewhere along the line, Mark has begun calling this trip a Mission Trip. We are missionaries to America and wish to visit with and encourage all our friends. On our trips, we see who we know in any given area and call them. I have to say that I have been learning a lot about life and relationships as well as being a witness for Christ from these travels. Fri-Sat, April 22-23, 2005 Time in Amarillo We left about 9:00 am this morning to head to Amarillo to pick up our trip. We don't know how long it will take as we need to get the lights on the truck working and get an inspection done. We spent the entire afternoon working on the truck. Mark was having yearning for Italian food but I insisted on eating lunch at my sister's house. It was a good thing we did because we used every minute we had. We went to an auto supply store to pick up a bulb for the license plate light. Decided to do the wiring for the tow lights since we'll be towing Tracker for the rest of the trip. Our big issue was needing to have the TX inspection done since we had the vehicle inside the state. My brother-in-law sent us to an inspection station they use. We were told our vehicle was too big and they couldn't get it inside their shop. So we went to the Texaco station up the road. None of our other vehicles had such a thorough inspection. Fortunately, Mark knows his way around motor vehicles so he could fix everything right away. He even had to get on the roof and fix the marker lights. Then when we thought there couldn't be anything else lacking, they sprang on us that one of our mud flaps was torn off. Imagine trying to find a specific size mud flap at 5:00 pm on a Friday afternoon plus be back before the garage closed. Mark finally found one that was workable that he could cut down to the size needed--at the fifth store we went to. We dashed back to the Texaco and they gave us the inspection sticker with five minutes to spare. My brother-in-law is the pastor of a church; they were having a special service that Friday evening. Although tired, we went and enjoyed seeing the people. I've known many of them from my visits to Amarillo over the years. It was a treat to see Eddy McMurtry who was visiting from Shamrock, TX; I've corresponded with his wife, Perri, off and on. Perri was out of state taking their daughter to one of those school contests. The church was having a potluck and then an evening Bible Study on Hebrews. During the afternoon, Mark and I realized that if we pushed, we could make it to Colorado Springs in time for Sunday church services at Charis Christian Center where we attended during our year in Bible College. We hadn't intended to go through Colorado Springs but have wanted to do so. We left Amarillo about 7:00 pm. Got as far as Pueblo. Mark pulled in at the Cracker Barrel so we could sleep. It's an easy run to the Springs from there. We also gained an hour when we left Texas so that helps. Sun-Mon, April 24-25, 2005 Renewing our friendships in Colorado Springs It has been a great two days. We got as far as Pueblo last night before Mark gave out. Which was an easy running distance to the Springs this morning. We'd decided that we could make it to Charis Christian Center for church. It was wonderful to see everyone. I made a list of all the people we would like to see. Called several to let them know we were in town and would be at church. A number of people were there because Andrew Wommack was speaking. That was a treat. A lot of the students attend there; however, Pastor Lawson Perdue is now on both TV and radio locally. There were a lot of new faces. I'm glad the church is growing. CCC had their third anniversary in October. Ed and Jalen Waltman invited us to go to lunch with them at the Armadillo. Mark and I were glad we split a meal because it was a large platter of food. We talked for several hours while it rained outside. We had parked the truck at the AWMI building. Ed was our chauffeur rather than unhook the Tracker in the rain. Once he took us to the truck, we made several phone calls. We had invited ourselves over to Jo and Chuck Reynold's apartment for the evening so still had to unhook in the rain. But it was nice to be able to relax with friends. We took a change of clothing along; they let us refresh ourselves. Jo served a delicious dinner of tequila lime chicken wings, homemade bean dip with chips and raw vegetables. I have to say I enjoyed that variety. We ended the evening by watching Star Trek Enterprise. It is winding up its final season. We spent the night in the truck, then got up to go to school on Monday morning. Saw a number of people that we hadn't seen on Sunday. Especially nice was getting to visit with Penny Irwin (director of Missions) and Wayne Knurr (dean of students). After school let out we headed to Denver. My tooth has continually been hurting since I had the crown put on. If anything, it has gotten more painful. We went to see the dentist we used in Aurora. He did quite a bit of "sanding" to fix the bite. Hopefully the problem is solved. Then we went to the Armstrong's house for a couple of hours. They offered to let us stay the night. While we would have liked to have attended Cara's concert, we felt like we needed to head north. We called the Brixius family, thinking that we might be able to make it there tonight. 10:30 pm On further reflection, we decided it was idiotic to drive all the way to Nebraska tonight. Therefore, we called Aldo Ramos and Dee Mercier to see if they could meet us for a while at the Cracker Barrel in Loveland. Dee brought her friend Lea so she wouldn't have to drive alone at night. That was nice seeing the three of them. Turned out they had a mutual friend in Texas with whom Aldo is working on a project. It is a small world. Tuesday, April 26, 2005 Headed to Scott's Bluff/Gering We had a leisurely getting up and breakfast this morning. We parked behind the Cracker Barrel and just stayed the night. The night would have been good but delivery trucks started arriving early so we aren't quite as rested as we had expected. This is the first time we've ever encountered that. We've been driving to Cheyenne. I just realized that my arm has gotten sunburned. I've tried to put sunscreen on but never thought about it this morning. I can see the freckles popping out on both my arms and my face. We're headed to Scott's Bluff to see the Brixius family. You may remember that we saw them last summer when we were on our trip around Texas. We'll spend the night and then come back to the Flying J to pick up our truck. I ask God to place his angels as a hedge around our truck during this 24 hour period where we are leaving it behind in this parking lot. 2:00 pm We are settled at the Brixius's house. It's nice to veg out in a nice location. I was even able to do a load of wash after our showers. 10:00 pm It's been a nice day. Peter is President of the Panhandle Coop; he graciously took the time to show us around town and all their facilities. We were really impressed. It was nice to see him so happy in his work. Peter and Colleen served us a chicken dinner. The guys went downstairs to play fooseball, leaving Colleen and I to talk. So that was nice. Wednesday, April 27, 2005 A long day of driving across Wyoming and Utah We always seem to wake up early when we visit the Brixius Family. However, that's nice because it means more time to visit. Colleen fixed us a wonderful breakfast of eggs, potatoes and toast. She had the day off today so we were able to continue the discussion we'd started last night. Colleen has been attending some studies of the Torah and shared some of the things she's been learning. We left about 10:00 am. It was so good to see our truck. Actually, the semis were so backed up that we parked on the side next to the Dairy Queen (I think it was) while Mark walked over to the parking lot to get the truck. It was a lot easier driving out than in. It only took a few moments to hook up and visit the facilities before moving on. So again we are "westward ho to Oregon." Evanston, WY We just had one of our most interesting adventures of this whole trip. I was so tired that my brain didn't argue when Mark said it was only 250 miles. Apparently he'd seen a sign for mileage to Rock Springs and was thinking Evanston. Our fuel gage doesn't work well on the truck. Anyway, as we were waiting at the red light of the off ramp, the truck suddenly died. Fortunately, the Flying J was on the corner across the street. To make a long story short, Mark got in Tracker, put it in 4-wheel drive and pushed our big truck around the corner while I steered into the gas pumps. The only snafu was when I put on the brakes when trying to figure out what pump had diesel. Which settled my wheels in a hole. So Tracker had to really dig to get going again. Mark said only one person seemed to notice that this small car was pushing a big truck. We were really proud of Tracker. We got our fuel and I went to the restroom. Anxiety always stresses my bladder and I'd had lots of water that morning. Snowville, UT, sometime late Mark just came in from pumping diesel and said we are packing it in for the night. He had almost put gasoline in the diesel tank (realized when he was pushing the diesel button on the pump that he had the gasoline spout in our tank). If he's too tired to think diesel, he is too tired to drive. I've been dozing in the seat so don't have any business driving either. We'd hoped to make it to Boise tonight but we didn't leave Cheyenne until noon. Thursday, April 28, 2005 6:50 pm Back in La Pine We had a good sleep although the night was too short. We stopped in Boise for lunch. Mark humored me when I wanted to go to the Chuck Arama Buffet. (It is across the street from the Flying J gas station.) It was nice although we were surprised that they had more chicken dishes than beef dishes. They had a lot of fruit on the salad bar so we enjoyed that. There isn't much to say about this segment of the trip. It was mostly fuel, restroom and driving. Connie called just after we'd gotten into Oregon. Fortunately there was enough signal to talk for a while. 6:50 pm Just made it back in after a brief stop at Wild Oats in Bend to replenish the refrigerator. So nice to see Bussie sitting there. Al, the owner of Cascade Meadows came out to greet us. We'll put the frozen foods away and go over to the restaurant for a quick meal before going to bed. We are pretty tired. That's all folks!!! Back to Virginia's Journal |
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