Journeys end

All good things must come to an end, somebody famous once said. And it's true. Somewhere around So. Dakota, it really hit both of us. Time to be home. Don did a marathon day of 703 miles. Wyoming, thru Utah and across Nevada to Reno. After we left Deadwood, I said, Okay Don, nothi g else on the agenda, just straight home. I won't ask you to stop. That was before Independence Rock and passing the GreatSalt Lake. I saw the visitors center and did a bit of groveling. I've passed by before but never stopped. Please Don, just fora few minutes so I can just wade a little. Also Jr wanted to go. So he stopped. What a waste of time. It was like wading in a septic tank.  Dead birds all over the place and the smell was horrible. There was a layer of slime over a hard corrugated base. I didn't go very far. I turned around after about 8 feet and said, I don' care what Jr wants, I'm getting out. Then I couldn't put my shoes on because of the black slime. Luckily Cmor has an outdoor shower and Don hosed me off. Then on to Reno to camp in the same place our journey began. Our last stop before home was Michael's shop to give him hugs and show him that Uncle Don still liked his new hairstyle. When we got to our
Driveway, there were welcome home signs and a bunch of welcome home balloons. 95 days and 15,700 miles later we were home. Don couldn't wait until the next morning to wash Cmor. He did it several times on the trip but we brought home our share of bug body parts. It's a big job so it was a good thing he had help. Amazingly, we never felt crowded and got into routines when things had to be done. One of my favorite memories will be on the side of the road in Nevada somewhere, Don realized he hadn't taken his pills and pulled off the highway. I got up to get a snack and the music from Dolly Parton's I will always love you was playing. Don grabbed me and we danced there in Cmor on the side of the road. Sorry, ladies, there is only one like him and he is mine. What a great way to end our trip. Thank you to all that made our trip so much fun and for the words that kept us from being homesick. If any of you find yourself with blog withdrawal symptoms we have about 10,000 pictures we can share. Hugs and love and farewell from Don, Donna, Junior and Cmor

Journey's end pics

After Omaha

Well my faithful followers, we are getting near the end of the trail. We are nearing home. A few more days and you will have no more  of what we are calling  "The Unini States of America". When we left John and Jackie's, we headed across nebraska. We stopped at the Great Platte RiverRoad Monument. It spans Hwy  80 and is actually ABM. you go up a very long elevator and walk through two floors of history. From Pioneers to the fifties. They really did a good job. I'm not separating this by days but only by what we did. My fingers are wearing out and these deserts have lousy reception. I don't know how the pioneers did it. We went to Carhenge. Don wasn't too impressed with most of it. Ihave a  great picture of him scratching his head. I don't think he really appreciates wierd folk art. We went to see the Crazy Horse Monument. There is something that none of us will ever see finished. Next stop was Mount Rushmore. Even the entrance to the parking lot was impressive. I had time to do the Presidents Trail that runs below the carvings, but I was really hurrying because half way around the thunder and lightening started. Big surprise on this trip. I talked to some bikers that I heard talking about Sturgis. They seemed to feel the storm was going a different direction. So off we went.I guess you can always trust a guy covered with tats because he was right. Our next stop was The City of Presidents, Rapid City. Bronze statues on the corners  of every President. I was only able to get pics of 5 or 6. We then went to Sturgis. As I told Michael, they almost didn't let us in the biker bar because we had no tatoos and I  didn't have enough skin showing. After they met Jr. They decided  we were a novelty and we had no problems. From there on to Deadwood and ABC where Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Re buried. Went next to Wyoming where Jr went on a river run. I rode a great horse. Saw where the deer and the antelope play. Beautiful antelope all over the place. Don's not slowing down so I took a pic from Cmor. He did stop at Independence Rock. I climbed to the top with a teacher I met as I was walking over. Hiking with him was like being with Sharon. We talked so much I didn,t mind the steep climb. That fact that he was very good looking didn't hurt either. On the top I was getting ready to climb up on a ledge,when I looked down. Thank you God! Right beneath the rock was a rattlesnake. We were both very careful after that about where we climbed. All over the top, were carvings from Pioneers. It was very moving to see those inscriptions. At the bottom of the rock were stories of the pioneers. One woman saw her husband's name that he had carved three years earlier so she knew he was at least alive that far into his journey. I can't even begin to imagine how brave those people were. They tried to get to Independence Rock by July Fourth because then the grass would be high enough for their animals but they would have time to get overtone mountains before the snow. That means the weather was the same as it is now for us. It was 91* when I was climbing and I had shorts on. Imagine long dresses and canvas pants.
Well, here I am in my air Conditioned Cmor sending messages to my friends and I don't even have to use the Pony Express or leave a message carved on a rock.
I am truly thankful I am living now. I will probably send one more blog before we end this adventure.       Hugs to all from Donna

After Omaha pics